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Chapter 3
Myles got up early despite his late night work, wanting to be up before Sarah
and Tanya. He had just made coffee when they arrived, still in pajamas.
Despite having just gotten out of bed they looked quite beautiful. Tousled
hair, rumpled pajamas, bare feet - it seemed there were few early morning sights
more pleasant. Sadly, the girls were a complication he could ill afford just
now.
"The girls," he thought. "I'm already thinking of Tanya like family." Whether
it was because she needed help, or because she was Sarah's friend, he didn't
know. Probably both.
Sarah busied herself fixing breakfast, with Tanya helping her. Myles thought
she seemed calm, wondered if she was still under the influenct of the sedatives. She didn't seem to be -
there was no sign of lethargy or uncertainty in her movements, and her chatter
with Sarah seemed normal.
He sipped the hot black coffee and stayed out of their way. Talk of serious
matters would come soon enough. During the night he had spent several hours in
discussions with Sir Walter and his staff. He couldn't remember Tanya's last
name, and in fact he wasn't sure he ever knew it. She had visited briefly a
couple of times, and on both occasions Sarah had stopped by while they were
leaving on a trip. It wasn't difficult, however. Springdale wasn't a large
city, and finding someone named Tanya who worked at one of the few banks there
didn't take long. Sir Walter sent a picture of the person they found, and sure
enough it was her. Her name was Tanya Webster, and her brother Travis was a
member of the November Three freehold in the western part of the state. It was
small, about four hundred members, initially financed by a couple of wealthy
sponsors who did not live on the site, much like the relationship Myles had with
Mike Charlie. The freehold not occupied twelve hundred acres of land, which
included a ghost town which they had rebuilt. The freehold operated several
businesses in surrounding area to finance their community. The connection of
the business operations to the freehold was known by few outsiders, and even
they knew nothing about the purpose of the freehold.
The possibility that Tyler's arrest was connected with the assassinations was
nonexistent. It had happened while they were in progress, and in any case it
was unlikely the government had yet connected them to the freeholds. Not that
it mattered, Myles thought. They knew enough about the freeholds to fear them,
and would likely use any excuse to attack them. It was more likely, he thought,
that Tyler was arrested because of his own political activities - or because his
brother was known to be a member of a freehold. In any case, a lot of things
were about to change.
He watched Sarah and Tanya for a minute, then got up. "We've got a few things
to do" he said. "Why don't we meet in the rec room in about an hour?" Both
girls nodded, and he went back to his apartments.
After a shower and shave, he brushed his teeth, and put on his usual uniform.
Myles ran his hands briskly over his short hair, leaving it just slightly
disheveled. A royal blue baseball cap went on over it, and he went downstairs
to wait for the girls.
They eventually arrived, and sat down at a small table, Myles on one side and
the girls on the other. Tanya looked better, but was clearly distressed. Best
to get on with it, Myles thought.
"I need to explain a few things" he said. "Tanya, your brother Travis is a
member of an organization which to outsiders looks something a commune, or even
a cult to some people. They usually buy large pieces of real estate, a few
hundred acres at least, in remote areas, or at least some distance from the
nearest large cities. Because they don't allow outsiders in, and most of them
don't spend much time outside, they may look suspicious to others.
"What these organizations are, and there are a lot of them, are groups of people
who have want to live in a particular way, and live with others like them, for
mutual aid and protection.
"One of their primary interests is in the way our society has declined in recent
years, and the constant erosion of our liberty. They engage in a certain amount
of political activity, but also prepare for the eventual possible, even
probable, complete end to our way of life. Which, in the end, will mean
resistance. We always hope it will not come to that, but if so the government
will pay a high price. They know that, and spend a lot of time and money
keeping them under surveillance, trying to get spies inside, and other ways of
finding out what they are up to."
Myles paused. Tanya's expression was unreadable.
"You said 'we'", said Sarah.
"Yes", Myles replied. "I didn't want have you worrying about it, so I never
told you that I am a member of one. A big one. I suspect both of you are now
going to have to learn about them, and probably a lot of other things you would
rather now know about.
"Tanya, it seems that Tyler was also involved in some sort of political
activity. Do you know anything about it?"
"Not much," Tanya replied. "He's active of the local Federalist party, attends
a lot of meetings, rallies, that sort of thing. He writes for some political
web sites, has one of his own. I'm afraid I don't know much about any of it."
Myles felt a dark presence rising inside him. These two beautiful, sweet young
women, one of them his own sister, had not the faintest idea of how bad things
were. Yet they, and millions of others like them, would be ground up by the
malevolent machine that had been set in motion decades ago, with no active
resistance at all since the Second Civil War, and that had been close to a
hundred years ago. While the truce between the dissident states and the federal
government had included a number of effective reforms, within a generation or
two they were being ground away like the original constitution.
"It's likely his activities were the reason he was arrested," said Myles. "And
from the description Sarah gave me, it certainly looks like a federal operation.
They usually try to catch their target somewhere alone, no witnesses at all.
But if they must arrest them, they do it at night, unmarked cars and no
uniforms."
"But why?" asked Tanya. "I don't believe he did anything wrong."
"Probably not," said Myles. "But the regard for law, never all that great, is
greatly diminished these days. Ever since the Solomon's Creed massacre produced
no adverse reaction at all, the abuses have become ever more egregious. As long
as they can claim that the victims were criminal, or some sort of strange cult,
or whatever they can say to prevent the larger part of the population from
having any sympathy for them, there are no consequences.
"We are now at a point where the federal government can completely shut down
entire cities or even states, closing all transportation services and
essentially imprisoning the entire population. They started by using disease
epidemics or terrorism as an excuse, now they don't even bother explaining -
they just do it. So making a few citizens disappear now and they isn't a big
deal to them."
"But they can't just keep him locked up forever, can they?" asked Tanya.
"Without a trial, not letting him communicate with his family?"
"Them seem to be able to" said Myles. "However, this is the first time we know
of they've grabbed a family member of a Freeholder. We may be able to do
something here."
"What's a Freeholder?" asked Sarah.
"That's a long story" Myles replied. "Tanya, have you contacted your employer
yet?"
"No," she replied. "I was so scared, when I got home and found out some strange
people had been asking about me, and couldn't contact Tyler. When I found out
what had happened, I called Sarah, and she suggested I get out of town. Anyway,
today is Monday, and it's early. I can call in sick. Why do you ask?"
"Don't panic," said Myles, "but you may not ever be able to go back to that job.
You want to leave on good terms, in case you have to use them as a reference in
the future. Go ahead and call in, tell them you're going to the doctor. I can
get you a letter from a doctor later, if you need it."
He looked at Sarah. "I'll explain everything shortly. Meanwhile, get ready for
a trip, and possibly being away from home for a while. Don't worry about your
homes, whether you have enough clothes or whatever - I can take care of those
things later.
"I'll make arrangements while you get ready. I know things have gotten crazy
all of a sudden, but you're in good hands. I know people who can do all kinds
of things, OK?"
Both women nodded, Tanya looking mostly confused while Sarah gave her brother a
searching stare - not long, but he noticed. Then they turned to go, and Myles
headed down out to find Frank.
Within an hour the three were in the minivan, Myles driving. If he ever needed
an inconspicuous vehicle it was now. Sarah was in the front passenger seat,
Tanya in the second row. They would drive straight to Mike Charlie, no
diversionary routes, aircraft or other vehicles. He would have to trust to the
efficacy of their security, and to Frank and his men who were running ahead of
and behind him, looking for any potential interference.
As far as Myles knew, his carefully constructed shell of anonymity was intact -
the freehold's security was even tighter than his own, and to any observer, even
a curious one, he was just a young man living a carefree life on inherited
wealth, and had a sister who was doing the same. Even so, he could see having
to leave Southfork, as he called it, behind. There was no word yet on reaction
to the first strike, other than the usual news, which was worse than useless.
Especially in this case, since absolutely nothing was known by anyone other than
the perpetrators. Still, sooner or later the state would have to do something,
and the likely target would be one or more of the freeholds, since they were
strongly suspected to be acting against the state, even if in some vague,
unknown manner. If his connection with the freehold movement became known, he
would have to move inside and abandon his home, at least temporarily.
It was a quiet ride. Myles had promised Sarah and Tanya an explanation once
they were in a safe place, and the two women chatted quietly as he drove. Frank
had him take a couple of detours due to suspicious situations along the route,
but it was otherwise uneventful. In just under three hours they were at one of
the seldom-used gates of Mike Charlie. Looking like a pasture gate on a farm,
it was accessible only by a narrow dirt road a half mile from the highway.
Myles had cleared entry for Sarah and Tanya, and the guards - a couple of men in
jeans and plaid shirts who had arrived on a tractor - identified them and opened
the gate. Myles drove to the area where Sir Walter's house was located. This
would be a very private meeting.
They were expected, and one of Sir Walter's people directed Myles toward a
garage, where one of the doors opened as he approached. Inside, the three got
out and were ushered into the house. They sat for just a few minutes in a
casually furnished living area before a member of the household staff appeared
in a doorway and motioned to Myles.
"I'll just be a few minutes" he said to Sarah and Tanya as he departed.
He found Sir Walter in a small study, with little in the way of decor or any
material suggesting he did much work there. Probably, thought Myles, he didn't
often meet with people here either.
"Glad you arrived safely" said Sir Walter. "There have been some developments
you need to know about, but first let's get your ladies safely stowed somewhere.
"I'm fairly certain Sarah will have no problems -- she thoroughly trusts you and
so should be able to weather any disconcerting revelations. Her friend, I of
course know nothing about. I suppose having a couple of dissident brothers
could be a good sign, but one never knows."
"At this point she shouldn't have any problems with anything" said Myles.
"She's terrified, and Sarah is one of her closest friends. She will trust her,
and therefore us. Along with us offering some hope of rescuing her brother, I
believe she will be manageable."
"Yes, the brother." said Sir Walter. "We're not altogether certain we can
manage that. We have never been able to find where any of the disappeared
people go. No doubt a secret prison somewhere, but none of our assets have been
able to tell us about the disappearances. They must have a small, tight unit
handling that."
"There's one way we might find out," said Myles.
Sir Walter waited silently. "If we could get one of our people picked up," said
Myles "we could track him.
"Of course" he continued, noting Sir Walter's expression, "we'd prefer not to
have them actually succeed in an arrest. We could grab the abductors and make
them talk."
"Given the intensification of the situation, you may be right" said Sir Walter.
"Our action has obviously produced a reaction, as you may have noticed if you've
had time to watch any news. Things may heat up quickly."
Myles had seen some coverage of the assassinations, mostly on the cable
television and some news sites, but no one in the government seemed to know what
to make of it.
"We may have been too effective" said Myles. "and they have no idea who did it.
There is no way to know how they may retaliate - only that they will."
"Precisely," said Sir Walter. "They may, indeed likely will, attack some
dissident organization unrelated to the freeholds, even though they know a good
bit about us. At this point we can only wait. I suspect they will spend some
time investigating, as much for appearances as to actually get some useful
information. So it could be a while. There will be some clues in the news
coverage, as they still try to show some justification for appearances.
"I do have another item of interest for you, but it can wait. Let's get your
ladies in here and try to calm them."