Chapter 8 

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Tyler went to the back of the room and disappeared, apparently to an exit unseen
from where Gordon was sitting.  He returned in a couple of minutes with another
young man, about the same age as himself.  The new arrival was wearing a tan
twill uniform with what appeared to be a company logo, with his name over the
left breast pocket.  The name was Alex, and the patch over the right pocket
advertised a plumbing service.  

"Alex, this is Brigadier General Gordon Williams, U.S. Army, Retired,"  Tyler
informed Alex.  "General, this is Alex Monroe."  The men acknowledged the
introductions with the slight nod that had become more common in greetings
between strangers.  "Alex traveled by automobile, and wore a uniform to match
his presumed profession" he continued.  "It is no longer possible to be too
careful out there - paranoia is quite justified at all times.  Would you like a
drink, Alex?"

"The tea looks good" Alex replied.  

"You've got it" said Tyler.  "Be right back."

Alex sat down at the small table, one of several in the dining room, each set up
for eight people - three on each side and one at each end.

"How does a retired army general get involved in these things?" asked Alex.

"Mostly luck, or whatever you want to call it." replied Gordon.  "I didn't set
out to do it, but events dictated otherwise.  When we have some time I'll tell
you the whole story."

"From what I've learned" said Alex "in the short time I've been in - there seem
to be some very professional and well organized people out there, and they
always seem to know what they are doing."

Tyler returned with a pitcher of tea and a tray with several glasses filled with
ice.  The glasses filled, Tyler joined them at the table.

"General, the reason I wanted you to meet Alex is that both of you have an
important part in the resistance - let's call it what it is - if you are willing
to accept it."

"Could we drop the General part?" asked Gordon.  "I'm no longer in the Army, and
I'm quite comfortable with first names, even with younger men, when they are as
professional as you seem to be."

"We could" said Tyler, "but first I'd like for you to consider - we are forming
an army, an army we hope will be quite large eventually, and as we have a lot of
former military types, it might be advantageous for them, those who know, to
know they are dealing with an experienced senior officers.  As you probably
know, there are a number of retired officers in the operation.  I believe
keeping some consciousness of your status would be a good idea."

"I'll trust your judgment" said Gordon "although in internal councils like this
we might relax discipline a bit."

"Certainly" said Tyler.  "I believe we can manage that."

"So" Tyler continued "here is what we're working on.  Alex, you've had some
experience already, working with elements that are not part of any formal
organization.  Having those organizations out there, difficult to detect because
they are small and don't communicate with with one another much.  Yet some of
them can be quite effective, as you saw with the recent operation.  The Reds, or
the Blues, alone couldn't have pulled it off - working together with some
assistance from the League, it was a perfect operation no losses on their side
and the enemy still doesn't know what hit them.

"That, General - Gordon, is something we want to do on a larger scale.  We'd
like to eventually be able to pull together whatever type and size of force is
needed for an operation, made up of smaller elements.  Your experience, as well
as your ability to assess strengths, identify and ameliorate weaknesses, would
also be quite helpful.  And of course, the League, primarily in the form of Mike
Charlie, provides guidance, intelligence, and other assets to strengthen the
overall operation.  Does that give you a general idea of what we want to do?"

"Pretty good" said Gordon.  "I hope Alex and I are not alone out here?"

"Hardly" said Tyler.  "Myles is on his way out now, and there will be a number
of support personnel, primarily for security.  You'll rarely see them, but they
will always have their eyes on you.  And of course, there will be others on an
occasional basis.  We want the organization to be as small as possible.  How
about you, Alex?"

"I'm in" said Alex.  "I've been in for a while as it is, and this seems like a
logical plan."  

And I owe it to Patrick, he knew.  His mentor had moved out to Montana some time
back, telling Alex it was best to pursue his work and not worry about him.  "My
time has passed" he said.  "My daughter lives out near where I'm going - she and
her husband will keep an eye on me.   This old heart doesn't have much time
left, and I'll hire a couple of servants to keep the house.   What you're doing
is much too important to worry about me.  I'll see to it you're informed about
any changes."

When it's over is what he means, Alex had thought.  But he knew Patrick was
right, and wondered if he could handle his own fate with such serenity.  Patrick
had leased his estate to him for a small sum, and told him it was left to him in
his will.  And they he had quietly left one day, while Alex was away on a
mission.

"In that case, gentlemen, how this gets done is largely up to you.  As I said,
you'll have guidance and logistical assistance, and whatever you need to make
things happen.  We have a fair number of places out here, safe houses and the
like, so you can set up whatever you need in the way of a headquarters.

"I expect Myles to be here tomorrow, and I'll be leaving shortly thereafter.
Myles has the experience needed, and can get you whatever you need from Mike
Charlie.  What do you say we have dinner?"

After dinner Tyler asked them to accompany him to a nearby hotel.  As they
parked their vehicles and walked to the entrance he explained that it was also a
property of Tango Zulu.  Rooms had been reserved for them, and before retiring they
had a few drinks and cigars in a suite on the top floor.  

The next morning they were joined by Myles, who had just arrived.  Tyler
introduced him to Alex, and after a final discussion of a few matters Tyler left
for the airport, where the aircraft that had delivered Myles was waiting to
return him to Mike Charlie.  Gordon suggested they go to his ranch to continue
preparations.  Gordon departed, but before leaving Alex called for a replacement
vehicle - keeping the plumber's van much longer would not be a good idea, and
certainly having it at the ranch was not wise.   Myles had taken a cab from the
airport, and when Alex's car was delivered he rode out to the ranch with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Myles took Alex and Gordon on a tour of several freeholds within a range of two
hundred miles or so.  Sir Walter had advised them of their visitors and their
mission.  Myles knew all the leaders, mostly from meeting them at various League
conferences.  Apprised of the mission, they briefed Alex and Gordon on how to
contact them and gain entry to the safety of a freehold compound in an
emergency, and set up some basic communications protocols that could not easily
be compromised.

While a nearby freehold could serve as a safe house in some cases, it was not
the most desirable even for League members as it could draw attention to some of
the more inconspicuous ones.  And for non-members, it was best to keep them at a
distance.  Accordingly, they began to set up some safe houses in the area.  A
real estate rental company was a good cover, and buying several old houses in
various places, usually in less prosperous neighborhoods, provided for this
need.  The usual procedure, keeping the house in a constant state or repair,
deflected most attention.  Normally a truck with some building supplies and
tools would be present much of the time, even though the house was quite
functional inside.  They were cheap and were a minor expense, and could be sold
when they had been in use long enough that their secrecy was no longer assured.

The final task was to visit the two organizations Alex had worked with earlier.
He contacted the leaders of the Reds and Blues and set up a conference, and
arranged a meeting.  The military background of many of their members
contributed to a considerable amount of interest in Gordon, and their respect
for him was apparent.  There were no opportunities for operations in the near
future, but that could change quickly.  More interesting to Myles and his
associates was information they could provide about other groups like their own,
and their assessment of whether they could fit into their plans.  The Red and
Blue leaders promised to provide any information they acquired, and Myles
assured them they would have priority in mission planning if something turned
up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks, and then months, passed quickly.  Myles made a number of trips back to
Mike Charlie for a variety of purposes - mostly for personal briefings with Sir
Walter, and planning operations.  The visits with Sarah and Tanya were welcome -
just seeing them for a day or so calmed his chaotic thoughts somewhat.  Things
were happening fast now. At each of his meetings with Sir Walter, things that
could not be transmitted even through ostensibly secure methods were discussed
at length.

Atlantis was not much changed - slow and constant movement, with no way to
predict the end result.  But the country was changing rapidly.  The unrest that
had for years now smoldered under the surface, known only to those with an
interest in observing and measuring it - the government and the resistance, of
which the League was the largest part - was beginning to erupt in various places
at irregular intervals.  

It remained, for now, unrelated incidents - citizens resisting police
oppression, government agents taking out citizens they regarded as troublemakers
- and there seemed to be no organization to the resistance.  But there were some
who knew better.

With all the police forces, down to the smallest cities, now operating - whether
the individual personnel knew it or not - under government orders, the League
had expanded its activities into tamping down their activities.  As police had
often practiced entrapping suspects, the League operatives now entrapped some of
the more troublesome members of the police.  Assisting revenge-seeking citizens,
they provided weapons, intelligence, and hiding places for any who came under
suspicion. 

Thus, increasing the reach and power of their network provided a considerable
return on their investment of time and a little money and some weapons and
equipment.  With over two thousand men now quietly waiting in the shadows of
small towns and rural areas, awaiting any opportunity to strike, yet another
obstacle to the looming tyranny was being put in place.  And as other such
forces were being created around the country, the already considerable power of
the League was greatly augmented.

The final piece of the puzzle was exploiting the militias.  This was the most
problematic aspect of the plan.  Many of the militias were small groups, usually
less than a hundred men, who were driven more by anger and desperation than
ideals, and sought the society of others enduring similar hardships.  There were
a great many unemployed people now, after years of inept and corrupt governance,
and the payments to the unemployed and poor were worth little - the more money
the government printed the less it was worth.  Many, probably most, of the
smaller militias were involved in some sort of crime - mostly drug trafficking
and theft, with others being involved in illegal gambling, prostitution and more
unsavory activities.  Those had to be avoided and their members identified and
tracked so as to avoid any entanglements with them. 

Then there were the large ones.  Several of these had tens of thousands or
members.  They were generally managed through a system of affiliate
organizations, in much the way the League was building its force.  Some of them
had been around for a number of years and seemed to have good organization and
discipline.  It would not be so simple as giving them some weapons and supplies
- the large militias already had plenty of everything they needed.  This would
be a matter of creating an alliances, if possible.  If that could be managed,
the government had no chance of prevailing in an unconventional war against the
League and its allies.  The trick would be restoring an effective government
afterward.

Eventually, they all took some time off and flew back to Mike Charlie for update
and planning sessions.  A shell company operated by Mike Charlie had leased an
airplane from a company with a base at the local airport, a six-passenger
twin-turboprop machine that could carry the three of them comfortably and
relatively fast, with an occasional extra passenger or two.  Myles enjoyed being
able to fly again - he had been a passenger for most of the past several years.  

Gordon, at a couple of inches over six feet, found the accommodations a little
tight, but a lifetime of riding in military trucks, helicopters and other less
capacious vehicles allowed him to tolerate any environment.  Alex, smaller than
Myles and on the thin side, found the seating more than comfortable.  He sat in
the co-pilot seat as Myles started the engines and began going through the
pre-flight checklist.  The small airport was never busy, and before long the
Cirrus C110 was climbing through the cool morning air on the way to Mike
Charlie.

Myles suppressed the urge to go see Sarah and Tanya as soon as he arrived.  They
knew he was coming and likewise waited patiently to see him.  They knew what was
at stake, and did not want to distract him at this time.  Alex had never met Sir
Walter, and Myles noticed that each of them seemed to instantly approve of the
other.  Sir Walter that that way with younger men, indeed with men of any age.
Gordon, in the middle of a rather nasty affair, and technically regarding him as
an adversary, respected him from the start.  And shared military experience has
a way of bringing men together.  Alex wryly reflected that he was the only man
without military experience.  But neither had Tyler, who would be joining them
for a working lunch.  Still, Myles had other experience of value, and Tyler had
certainly proven himself.  But the mark of serious men is that they do not dwell
on such matters - they know their worth and that of their comrades without such
reflections.

The day began with a working lunch in a conference room.  There would be no
discussion of Atlantis, Myles knew - only he and Sir Walter, and to some degree
Tyler, would be allowed to know of it.  There were plenty of other matters,
however, of which Gordon and Alex needed to be apprised.  After the main part of
lunch was over, they smoked cigars and drank tea while Sir Walter briefed them.

"Gentlemen" he began, "while we are all much more aware of the state of affairs
than most of the population, even we have no way to predict events.  We have a
general idea of some things, but governments, particularly ones such as this,
are unpredictable.  It might not seem so, but tyrannical governments are the
least competent.  They are able to cover most of their failures by intimidating
the population into silence, but the cracks are always there.  

"And similarly, while it is tempting to believe that there is no dissent within,
there are always ambitious people who want to run things, and disagreements over
policy.  So it is not a monolithic, impregnable entity - there are always
openings for attack.  "And resistance, and outright attacks, expose those
weaknesses and erode the defenses, while draining valuable resources.  

"Overcoming a guerilla force is almost impossible for any nation, as long as
there is a steady stream of replacements for losses among the insurgents.  That
should have been learned long ago by any nation, in our case Indochina, the
Middle East, and South America.  But the architects of war always believe they
are the ones who can do it."

He paused for a moment, as if awaiting a comment or question.  Gordon spoke.

"That's a good assessment" he said.  "Do we seem to  have a good supply of
replacements?"

"I believe so" said Sir Walter.  "You probably have a better idea of the
government's resources - do you believe they can deal with, say, eighty thousand
men of the sort we in the League can call on, with probably another forty
thousand at this point, all practically invisible and as well armed and equipped
as we are?"

"That would be unpredictable at best" said Gordon.  They have the army down to
under a million men now, and recruiting and retention is difficult.  Since in
the kind of action I suspect you envision, they can't use their more effective
assets - tanks and helicopters are of little use, and large-scale battlefield
engagements are pretty much a thing of the past in any case.  The air force is
likewise not of much use, and the navy isn't likely to have any part at all.
The only significant role for the army would be the special forces, and in
recent times they took a severe beating in the places you mentioned.

"I suspect, at this point, they would be hard pressed to fight a war against the
organized resistance, and dealing with unorganized rebellions would be a
diversion they can't afford."

"You see the spontaneous uprisings as a major factor then?" asked Sir Walter.

"Indeed," replied Gordon.  "Seeing a war underway - and it is unlikely to escape
their notice for long - many regular citizens are likely to launch their own
attacks."

"That is what we have suspected as well" said Sir Walter.  "My father told me
sometimes, when discussing past revolutions, that the image of the peasants with
pitchforks is quite inaccurate.  Revolutions are rarely made by peasants - they
see it started, usually by the middle and upper middle class, and then join in
for loot and revenge."

"I suspect you father was right" said Gordon.  "Still, they can be useful.  We
organized poor people in places where there was a clear hostility toward the
ruling forces - there were always some who, whether from idealistic motives or
the loot and revenge you mentioned, would risk their lives for a shot at it.  Of
course, the less people have, the less they have to lose.  And the American
people are having less to lose every day."

"We certainly plan to make use of those resources" said Sir Walter, "but there
is a final element - the militias.  Some of the groups you are working with are
in some ways militias, but not like they big ones that see themselves as the
next liberating army.  Those are much larger, and in many cases less
disciplined.  But like the peasants, they will join when they see the battle is
joined."

Sir Walter paused again, and Myles spoke.  "General, do you have any recent data
on desertions from the armed forces - the army anyway?  One thing we would have
use for, if the war is at full intensity, would be deserters.  Giving them an
place to hide while also acquiring information from them, and perhaps giving
them a way to participate."

"On a large scale it would be a disaster" said Gordon.  "When I retired, it was
beginning to be a major problem.  Getting new recruits and training them, only
to lose them after one enlistment was bad enough - but we were averaging
something like two to three thousand desertion cases at any one time, and a lot
of them were being written off as the resources for pursuing them weren't
available.  So if they dropped the case after say, a year, they were losing at
least a thousand a year.  During a war it would quickly become much worse."

"In other words" said Sir Walter "our chances of at least paralyzing the
government and forcing some sort of truce - one in which abuses are curbed and
conditions improved somewhat - are reasonably good."

"I would think so" said Gordon.  "I'm guessing, but a truce, perhaps a lengthy
one, would be advantageous in terms of preparing a replacement government."

"That's about it" said Sir Walter.  "Most revolutions fail because they don't
actually make things better, and usually make them worse.  The ideal situation
would be an incremental return to constitutional rule, but there are many
obstacles to that.  So it would most likely have to be done by force, and we may
not be quite ready for that.  Having nothing happen for a while is better than
having bad things happen.

"More to the point, this could all go wrong if the insurrection suddenly
explodes, the large militias enter the fray, and suddenly there is a war we have
no ability to influence.  So it is a quite uncertain situation."

He looked out at the courtyard, where the sun hung behind a light veil of
clouds.

"Gentlemen" he said.  "I believe it's time we took a break.  Alex, you've never
been here before, and Gordon hasn't seen that much of it.  Let's find a couple
of vehicles and have a look around."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sir Walter drove one of the Bobcats, with Sir Walter as his only passenger.
Tyler drove the other one, with Myles beside him in the front and Alex in the
back.  Myles had enjoyed a good relationship with Tyler from the day he arrived,
and was beginning to see him more as a brother than a friend and
comrade-in-arms.  Of course, the fact that Myles had been instrumental in
freeing from a brutal imprisonment and reuniting him with his sister, most
likely contributed.  As did the fact that his sister was Myles' lover.  Still,
Tyler was a likable young man, courteous to those of all stations, honest and
courageous. 

With Tyler driving Myles was free to talk to Alex and describe what he was
seeing as they drove around the more developed part of the freehold grounds.
There were thousands of acres of forest and field surrounding them, and they
would drive through them later, but Myles and Sir Walter wanted to show their
guests the areas where most of the work was going on. 

At one point they stopped at a large building, like most it was a steel-framed
building overlaid with heavy sheet metal.  As they went in, they were greeted by
a man who chatted briefly with Sir Walter before showing them around.  It was,
Gordon and Alex soon discovered, a weapons factory.  A number of people were
assembling small guns, and their guide took several from a batch of recently
completed ones and handed one to each of them, excluding Sir Walter.  Myles used
his to demonstrate to the others how they worked.

They were simple devices - four smoothbore barrels about eighteen inches long,
connected to the receiver by a hinge to create a break-action shotgun.  Such
guns, with only two, much longer barrels, were common and used mostly for
hunting.  Occasionally they were used, with shorter barrels, for defense, but
the four-barrel device was quite unusual.

"As you can see" said Myles, "these are simple break-open guns, only with four
barrels instead of one or two.  Shortening the barrels keeps the weight down
close to a regular shotgun, and of courses enhances maneuverability at close
quarters.  And the double-action operation, like a revolver, makes them safe to
carry fully loaded and easy to use.  The trigger pull is not bad - heavy enough
to prevent accidental discharges, but in such a heavy gun it seems quite mild."

"Are they all in twelve gauge?" asked Alex.  He seemed quite interested, and
Myles suspected he was envisioning using it in combat.

"At this point, they are" said Myles.  He could see Gordon examining the one he
held and discussing it quietly with Sir Walter.  "We have been looking at
others, perhaps sixteen and even twenty - the lighter ones would be useful for
people of smaller build - women and children.  Although they're not bad as is.
Another possibility would building them for a large, probably fifty caliber, for
special uses like breaching doors or using against unarmored vehicles.  But
since a twelve gauge slug, especially a hardened one, would be at least as
effective."

"I can see some places these would be of use" said Alex.  His seemingly idle
musing was in fact a question, Myles knew.  Sir Walter heard it as well.

"They're primarily a weapon for partisans, those who show up late and without
proper weaponry" Sir Walter said.  "When you have a large force of willing
fighters who are not well armed, and there isn't time to equip and train them,
things like these are useful.  Most guerilla warfare, street fighting, and the
like are at close range.  Very often close enough to touch an adversary, and
weapons like knives are useful as well.  But firearms are much more decisive,
and in those situations it's often just a matter of pushing the weapon against
the enemy and squeezing off a round or two.  Survival is unlikely when you're
hit with one of these."

"Just what I was thinking" said Alex. 

"It's obviously something you, and some of the people you work with, can use.
Let us know where and how many.  We've been making these, and some others,
notably small revolvers and derringers, for several years now.  It's mostly
automated, the mills, drills, lathes - we just assemble the parts.  Ammunition
is also produced cheaply on a large scale, so it's readily available."

Leaving the factory they visited other points of interest, and eventually, while
driving around the mostly unpopulated area, they stopped at the crash sites that
marked the fate of the four attack helicopters which led the attack on the
freehold a little over three years earlier.  There was still debris on and in
the ground at the sites, so they were off limits to agricultural operations for
a while.

"You took down four AH-2s?" asked Alex.  "That's impressive."

"In about a minute" said Myles.  "We expected them, and they are vulnerable to
certain types of missiles.  Especially with well-trained operators."

Alex didn't ask where the missiles came from.  He had an idea but Myles didn't
seem inclined to elaborate, and they soon boarded the Bobcat and continued.
They had seen the wrecked APCs and Rhinos earlier - after the battle they had
been towed to a convenient place and left to decompose.  The enormous craters
had eventually been filled in as well.  Myles gave Alex a brief account of the
battle and the subsequent events, albeit without some of the more interesting
elements.  There was no point in advertising, even to allies, that they had set
up a large number of government buildings to be explosively demolished at their
leisure - one of them had been used to close the deal after the battle, and to
discourage further attacks.

Eventually the onset of darkness ended the tour.  As the first moon rose,
extending the twilight period slightly, they returned to the headquarters
complex and prepared for dinner and bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Protocol had dictated having dinner with Sir Walter and the guests, so Myles was
limited to a brief visit over a couple of glasses of wine before bedtime with
Sarah and Tanya.  They were sufficiently happy to see him that their enthusisam
was not at all diminished.  And of course Tanya probably wouldn't see her
brother until the next day.  Some wars are worse than this, Myles thought, as he
fell asleep.

They had some more time together in the morning, over a quiet breakfast in
Myles' quarters.  Then it was off to headquarters for more meetings.  

Sir Walter had collected and analyzed some news items over the past several
weeks, and spent some time examining them.  Calling them news was rather a
stretch, and there was no need to remind his audience.  And while they were
aware of most of them, having the time to discuss and analyze events was useful.

Then watched the video clips, with Sir Walter occasionally pausing the recording
to comment.  The first one began with what appeared to be public demonstration
of some sort - a common enough occurrence - with the ubiquitous blonde
commentator describing the action.  As they watched, police cars began to arrive
one or two at a time, until there were about a dozen.  The police approached the
group, probably two dozen of them to what looked like over a hundred men.  They
did not appear to be armed, but they were not carrying signs or other protester
paraphernalia.  

The broadcast began to transmit the sound, and they police could be heard
ordering the men to disperse or be arrested.  Myles thought the scene had a
rather sinister tinge that the cops were missing - the men remained silent and
unmoving.  An ultimatum was issued - be gone in five minutes or you will be
arrested.  Probably waiting for vans to arrive, with enough backup to arrest and
transport them.  He saw one man step forward and speak with the cop who appeared
to be in charge, but the words were not audible.  Suddenly two more cops moved
in and grabbed the man's arms, attempting to handcuff him.   As they did, the
remainder of the men produced handguns and spread out across the parking lot,
kneeling or crouching as they aimed their guns at the much smaller force.  It
was not possible to know who fired the first shot - but it was followed by
hundreds more from the civilians.  Several cops went down immediately, while
others ran for the cover of their vehicles.  The crowd of men did indeed disperse
then, disappearing in seconds in many directions.

"Seven cops dead, at last report two or three in critical condition" said Sir
Walter.  "Obviously it was planned - a mass assassination, one might say.  They
didn't lose a man and no arrests have been made."

"No useful surveillance video" asked Myles.

"Apparently not, or they're not saying" replied Sir Walter.  "Of course,
disguises of various types can conceal one's identity easily enough, if one
knows how."

"I thought it worked on all disguises, in complete darkness, through brick
walls" said Tyler.  "Or something like that."

They all laughed.  Facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and various other
technologies had been promoted for years as foolproof, yet failure to identify -
or worse, erroneous identifications - still plagued the technology when it was
put into use.

"Am I correct in suspecting that we are trying to identify them?" asked Gordon.
"They seem to know what they are doing and are rather ruthless."

"We are," said Sir Walter.  "As for the ruthless part, they certainly seem to
have limits on what they will tolerate in the way of tyranny, but they don't
strike me as engaging in gratuitous violence.  There had been a number of small
altercations with police engaging in unnecessary violence for trivial offenses
like curfew violations, and it seems they were out to settle them down a bit.
Reports are that the video shows that one of the cops fired the first shot, but
whether it was deliberate is not known.  Still, there seems to be little
sympathy for law enforcement these days - they seem unable or unwilling to deal
with crime, but rather eager to oppress the populace. 

"In any case, that is one of a number of incidents that have made the news
lately, but there are quite a few more that have been suppressed, and I suspect
that they will not be reported at all, officially at least, before long"

The next two videos where from other cities, and showed less organized violence.
It seemed the authorities where worse off against amateurs, Myles thought, as
vehicles and buildings burned and unmoving bodies clearly visible in what looked
like massive urban battle scenes.  The rioters seemed to be a cross-section of
the population, with adults of all ages and apparently some younger
participants.  

"Looks like they're just out to break and burn things" said Myles.  "Pure anger,
seemingly no reasoning at all."

"So it would seem" said Sir Walter.  "Again, this has been increasing lately,
but reporting seems to be less.  Not much we can do with that, except use the
distraction."

Which meant that at an appropriate time, they would incite such events in the
places where it could be useful.

"This last one is quite interesting" Sir Walter said as he introduced the last
one.  It began with what looked like a criminal mug shot.  The subject was an
older man, Myles guessed in his seventies.  The name, Harold Brognola, wasn't
familiar to him.  The volume went up as the young blonde news reader appeared.  

"Mr. Brognola was reportedly a retired auto worker from Antrim, New Holland."
she said.  "He had been treated for cancer recently, and acquaintances said he
had recently ended his treatment as there was no improvement and no other
options existed.  He had been living quietly at his home until yesterday."

The scene changed to show the outside of a restaurant, with yellow marker tape
around it warning that it was a crime scene.  The now invisible narrator
continued.  "He was at the Bella Italia restaurant on West Dewey when the
governor and her entourage, touring the neighborhood on a campaign trip to
Warren, entered to meet customers and staff.  Witnesses said Mr. Brognola
remained seated at his table as the governor approached, they produced a handgun
from under the table and shot her five times in rapid succession."

The obligatory picture of the gun followed, presumably the murder weapon, but
one could never be sure.  Mr. Brognola's picture reappeared, and the narrator
appeared with it.

"He was arrested without incident," she said,  but appeared to faint as he was
led away, and an ambulance was called.  He was reported in critical condition on
arrival, but died several hours later.  The cause of death has not been given,
but as we noted, he was apparently in the final stages of terminal cancer."

"That's one of the more interesting things we've seen lately" said Sir Walter as
he paused the recording.  "There have been a couple of other cases that fit this
mold - men with terminal illnesses, usually cancer of heart disease, suddenly
decide to kill a prominent politician or other operator such as media
executives.  You may remember that the CEO of ABS was bumped off a while back,
getting out of his limo at the NBA awards.  The old man had on an event worker's
jacket, got close enough to shoot him.  He was shot by security personnel, but
survived.  For a couple of days.  He had terminal cancer too.

"The five shots is interesting - in the latter case the gun was a Delphi Arms
Undercover.  As you know, the only model with that name is a five shot revolver
with a two or three inch barrel, chambered for .40 revolver.  Very slim, light,
snag-resistant hammer.  Marketed to law enforcement for undercover work and as a
backup, it proved quite popular.  Reportedly sold in the hundreds of thousands,
possibly into the million range.  

"In any case, we're interested to see what gun used in the New Holland incident
is."

Myles knew the .40 caliber was a versatile size and was used in a number of
cartridge types, including a rifle round manufactured within the secret
factories of the League.  The revolver version was a rimmed cartridge, the .40
Auto was for autoloading weapons.

"You suspect a connection?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Sir Walter.  "There have been some rumors about a resistance
group, or perhaps more than one, referred to as dead-enders.  Men with incurable
conditions, like cancer, going on one last mission - or perhaps their only one -
before they die.  Apparently the two we just looked at were quite near the end."

"That's quite cold-blooded, even for a hardened military man" said Gordon.

"Indeed" said Sir Walter.  "For the last act of one's life to be a murder,
assassination, or whatever you call it, is quite serious.  No sane human being
wants to kill anyone.  There is an immense amount of anger, indeed pure
unadulterated hatred in some quarters, for what some call the ruling class.  And
it's not unjustified.  The incompetence and corruption of this government, along
with its contempt for the people, is almost beyond belief at times.  We should
probably be surprised it isn't worse.  And as the negative economic trends
continue, particularly unemployment, this sort of activity will increase.
Desperate people cannot be controlled, as they have nothing left to lose.  There
will be millions of dead-enders, of a different sort.

"We can only hope it doesn't boil over too soon, hence the need for increased
organization of reliable elements - we'll just have to let the uncontrollable
events happen as they will."