Authors: William W. Johnstone

Firebase Freedom (15 page)

BOOK: Firebase Freedom

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C
HAPTER
S
IXTEEN

Fort Morgan

Willy Stark got in touch, via shortwave radio, with a group that called themselves the Brotherhood of Loyalists. When he made contact he called Jake over.

“I've got the Loyalists,” Willy said.

Jake took the microphone. “Loyalist, this is Firebase Freedom Six.”

“Authenticate, Firebase Freedom Six.”

Over the last several months the various groups had put together and exchanged an SOI, the
Signal Operating Instructions
, which had a daily authentication code. No conversation between the groups could be conducted without first authenticating the transmission.

Willie pointed out the sign and countersign authenticators.

“I authenticate Red dog,” Jake said.

“Blitz,” Loyalist replied.

“Loyalists, I am announcing today the birth of a new nation. We are calling ourselves United Free America, and we are prepared to work in alliance with our brother freedom fighters wherever they might be. Our call sign will still be Firebase Freedom, but that will be but the military arm of the new nation of United Free America.”

“Roger, Firebase Freedom. And congratulations on your move. I think some of the others are contemplating the same kind of action. Watch the Gregoire broadcast tonight.”

“Will do. Out.”

“Out.”

At five o'clock that evening, everyone at Fort Morgan gathered around the television to watch the broadcast from George Gregoire. Before the collapse of the United States, Gregoire had been one of the most popular conservative commentators on TV. But shortly after Ohmshidi was elected president of the U.S., he issued, by executive fiat, the “Fairness Act,” which deemed Gregoire's broadcasts to be advocating revolution. He declared Gregoire to be a traitor, tried him in absentia, and sentenced him to death.

Gregoire had gone into hiding but continued to broadcast by pirating a signal off the satellite. That didn't last long before AIRE was able to interrupt it. But AIRE also reestablished the Internet, and Gregoire's technicians managed to put together an Internet operation which, while hiding the source from hackers, enabled Gregoire to continue his television operation via the World Wide Web.

Willie Stark devised a way to connect the computer feed to the television screen so that the broadcasts could be followed easily. The broadcast started with the red and white striped letters “GGTV” appearing against a blue background.

“
We are the truth!”
Gregoire's voice shouted over the screen.

The music for the intro was “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and the picture was the Stars and Stripes, billowing in the wind. Then the image faded to images of Navy ships, U.S. Air Force planes, and Army tanks moving majestically across the screen.

When the intro was done, a short, rather stocky red-faced man with close-cropped, white hair appeared.

“Hello, America.

“And thank you for tuning in to GGTV. I will bring you up to date on the latest news we have been able to gather. Tonight, there is a new star in Freedom's firmament. A group of loyal patriots have issued a declaration of independence from the outlaw government that usurped power from the people of the United States. These patriots have formed the nation of United Free America, and declare in their constitution to continue allegiance to the United States of America as it was before the election of Mehdi Ohmshidi. They also pledge to coordinate a plan of action by which we will take back America.

“Take back America. Let that be the rallying cry of true Americans of all stripes, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.

“And now for the news. The chief justice of the so-called American Islamic Republic of Enlightenment, Sulymam Ayambuie, was killed when a bomb destroyed his car. Authorities are saying that it was a random terrorist attack conducted by traitors to the new state. But, there is an interesting parallel to a few other recent killings.

“You may remember that on a previous broadcast, I told you about a young woman, Margaret Malcolm, who was raped in Arlington, Virginia, then taken to Washington, D.C., where she was brutally stoned to death. Yes, I call it Washington, because I refuse to refer to it by any other name.

“Margaret was raped, but her rapist, a man named Billy Donner, wasn't prosecuted. On the contrary, he became the witness for the prosecution, because the defendant in the case was not Billy Donner; it was, amazingly, Margaret Malcolm. Her crime was adultery. Now, I want you to think of that for a moment. Margaret Malcolm was raped, but she was tried for adultery. She was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. The execution was carried out by stoning.

“There is a followup to that story. Since that happened, everyone involved in that case has diedâor, I should say, has been killed. First, it was Billy Donner, found dead in the alley behind the convenience store where he worked. A few days later the two Janissaries who, rather than coming to Margaret's aid, delivered her to court for her trial, were also found dead. And now, Justice Sulymam Ayambuie.

“Do you want to know what I believe, ladies and gentlemen? I believe that justice has been served.

“Now, we have pictures for you, of a successful strike against an AIRE detention center.”

Over the next few minutes fuzzy video on the screen showed an attack against a jail in an unidentified location. There was a brief firefight between the attackers and the defenders, culminating in the release of several happy prisoners, both men and women. After that, the picture returned to Gregoire.

“This wasn't your ordinary detention center. The prisoners held there had been given their choice of public conversion to
Moqaddas Sirata
, or public execution. They are now safe with their families in one of the many pockets of freedom that are scattered around our country.

“Now, I want all of you to think about the group of patriots I told you about at the beginning of this broadcast. They are brave men and women who have taken control of their own lives, and they are but one of many such groups around the nation.

“Ladies and gentlemen, patriots all, I want you to consider doing the same thing. We have all tasted freedom in the past, and once you get a taste of freedom, you are loathe to give it up. I believe that the day will come, and soon, when there will be enough of us to coalesce into one powerful nation, a nation that will possess both the will and the means, to drive out our oppressors.

“Thank you, good night, and God bless America.”

“Tom, we'll get you and Sheri set up in your cabin, then you can have dinner with us tonight,” Jake said after the telecast that evening.

“I don't know, what are you serving?”

“Tom!” Sheri scolded.

“Road kill,” Jake answered, without skipping a beat.

“Sounds good, we'll be there,” Tom said with a chuckle.

After dinner Jake took Tom up onto the wall of the fort and pointed out to sea. From there, they could see nearly two dozen well-lit offshore rigs, some very close, some so far away as to be barely visible.

“That's the one we're going to take first,” Jake said, pointing to the closest one. “That is AGCP 98-1, the one where Webb was working, and he assures us that he can have it up and functioning in less than twenty-four hours.”

“How are we going to approach it?” Tom asked.

“There's a fisherman, Gary Bryant, who lives out here . . . in fact, he supplies us with most of our fish. He has a boat that he, Marcus, and James converted to run off wood gasification. He has done a lot of fishing very close in to the rigs, so they are used to seeing him. He's agreed to sneak us out there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tom agreed. “How many on our strike team?”

“There will be a total of six, counting you, me, and Gary. But Gary won't do anything but drive the boat.”

“If you don't mind, I'd like to meet the other team members,” Tom said.

“No problem. Come on back down and I'll introduce you.”

Tom followed Jake back down from the wall, then over to where a small group of men stood.

“Gentlemen, this is Tom Jack. Tom is a former SEAL who has volunteered to help us take the gas platform. Tom, this is our team, Deon Pratt, Willie Stark, and Marcus Warner. And this is Gary Bryant, he'll be our boat captain.”

Tom shook hands with the others, then they began making plans for the operation.

As they were talking, a small toddler started toward Marcus Warner, holding his arms out to be picked up.

“And who is this handsome little fellow?” Tom asked.

“This is John Clay Warner,” Marcus said, picking the child up.

“John Clay. That's a good, solid-sounding name,” Tom said.

“It comes from a couple of really good people, Sergeant Major Clay Matthews, and Sergeant John Deedle,” Marcus said.

“They started out with us,” Deon explained. “But both were killed.”

“It looks like you've found a good way to honor them,” Tom said.

“Yes, and when John Clay grows up, I'm going to make certain that he knows the significance, and the honor of having the name he has.”

“All right, gentlemen, if there are no questions, I suggest you all get a good night's sleep,” Jake said. “Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

That night, after Tom and Sheri got into bed, Tom sensed a bit of uneasiness.

“I know this cabin is pretty rough, but we won't be here forever. We'll find some place a little nicer than this. It's just that I think we should be here now, as long as I'm going to be a part of Jake's strike force.”

“It's not the cabin that's bothering me,” Sheri said. “I'm okay no matter where we are, as long as we're together. It's tomorrow I'm worried about.”

“Tomorrow? Why, what happens tomorrow?”

“What happens tomorrow? Have you forgotten? You and some others are going on a crazy mission to take over an oil platform.”

“It's not oil, it's gas.”

“You know what I mean,” Sheri said in exasperation.

Tom reached over to take Sheri's hand. “Darlin', the advantage is all ours. When you think about it, how many people can they have out there on that rig? And they won't be expecting us. I wish you wouldn't worry about it.”

“I have to worry about it,” Sheri said. “You sure won't.”

“Well, if I've got you to worry, then I don't have to, do I?”

Sheri chuckled. “You make me so angry sometimes.”

“That's just to keep things fresh,” Tom teased. “Hell, if you never got mad at me, how boring would that be?”

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