WAR (40 page)

Ron says, “Captain if it weren't for the efforts of the Commander, you’d still be fighting.”

Jack says, “Captain, I’m requesting political asylum, given what I’ve done here, I can’t go home again.”

“Who are these other people?”

Ron answers, “My wife, best friend, his wife, and coming up behind us around twenty people from the local militia who survived the attack on the Wynn.”

The Captain pulls his mic to his mouth repeating what Ron told him. He listens and smiles, “You’ve been invited to lunch with General Chekov and Colonel Zell. If you would hand your weapons to my people, you can follow me to the mess area.”

Ron smiles, “Thank you. Captain, lead on.”

General Chekov looks up, he pauses before saying, “I guess these are the moles who got into the tunnel between hotels to bring my invasion to an end.”

Ron holds out his hand saying, “General, you’re correct. I’m sorry if we killed any of your people, our intent was to block your exit and fill the hotel with smoke causing you to seek a way out of the situation neither side really wanted.”

Shaking Ron’s hand, he says. Sit, break bread with us.”

Kathy and Bev excuse themselves to find a working bathroom to clean up. The three groups exchange stories of the invasion and battles. Over coffee, the discussion turns to their families. Pictures of wives and children are exchanged.

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Jason and Sharon saved up their ration points for a quiet dinner out. They sat in a small local Italian restaurant enjoying their alone time when Sharon notices a black DepLIES van pull up to the front of the restaurant. “Honey, do you see what I see?”

“Yea, I wonder what they want here.”

“Maybe they like to eat here too.”

“Not likely, but I’ll go along with it. What’s really funny is it doesn’t look like they’re leaving their van. I wonder what they’re doing.”

“Something doesn’t smell right. If they’re after someone they usually just grab them and go, if they’re on a sting, they don’t usually show up and sit around.”

“I’m not going to worry about it.”

“Me either, if it were us they wanted, we’d already be in the van. Let’s order dessert.”

“You are feeling hungry tonight aren’t you?”

“Wait till we get home.”

Jason and Sharon smile at each other nodding in their love.

After paying for dinner, they exit the restaurant, a tall agent dressed in black is waiting for them. “Jason and Sharon Smith?”

Bob says, “That’s us. Is there a problem agent?”

Sharon says, “Is it our children?”

The agent looks at both of them saying, “IDs.”

Both hand the agent their ID cards. Others on the street pretend not to see the DepLIES action so they aren’t stopped. The agent says, “Please come with me. I’m sorry, but there is a situation at your home we need to review together.”

Sharon says, “Our HOME? Are our children OK?”

“Mrs. Smith, your children are fine. Please enter the van so we can quickly go to your home.”

Jason asks, “What about our car?”

“I promise you, we’ll take care of it.”

Sharon and Jason know they have no choice, the agent opens the van’s side door. They see it’s not a normal DepLIES prisoner van, this one has three rows of captain seats. The agent says, “Please click your seatbelts, we’ll be at your house in a few minutes.”

When the van door closes and locks Jason and Sharon look at each other trying to figure out what’s going on. The agent sits in the driver’s seat, he turns on a small box mounted on the dash, “OK, now we can freely speak. I understand you would like help leaving the LSA.”

Jason says, “I’m sorry, but you must have us confused with someone else. We’re very happy here.”

“I know about the email and coded message. I’m not a DepLIES agent, I work for the USA CIA, here’s my ID. I’m here to escort you and your children across the border. Who’s going to stop a DepLIES van?”

Jason looks at the CIA ID card, he hands it to Sharon asking, “How do we know this is real, we’ve never seen one before.”

“Leon took Scott’s email to his parents who contacted Sean, who contacted us. Shall I repeat the email back to you? Shall I tell you about when Sissy wanted a puppy and Joan helped train the puppy, I think the puppy’s name is Rebel. Her training the dog was never shown on television, she did it in the kitchen where the street cameras didn’t see her.”

Jason exhales, he relaxes, “How are you going to do this?”

“We’re going to your house, you’re going to get Scott and Sissy to pack an overnight bag, you’re going to get them to quickly get into the third row in the van. We’re then going to spend the night at a safe house before we leave for the USA tomorrow.”

“You’re going to just drive us across the border?”

“Yup. No one will stop us, we’re broadcasting the right code to the DepLIES receivers, this is a real DepLIES van. There’s paperwork buried in their computer system with an order to pick the four of you up, which once we have Scott ad Sissy, a message will be sent saying the four of you are collected and heading to secret site X4.”

“X4? Never heard of it.”

Laughing, “That’s because it’s a secret location reserved for high-profile political prisoners. It’s actually close to the border in the desert.”

Jason thinks about it for a minute saying, “This could really work.”

“I hope so. We’ve done it before. One nice thing about government bureaucracies is as long as all of the expected forms are on file no one thinks anything is wrong. No one will think anything is out of the ordinary because all of the forms have been properly filed.”

Sharon nervously laughs saying, “You’re using their own bureaucracy against them.”  

“Right. Do you think you’ll have any problems with Scott and Sissy? I can come in if you think it will help.”

Bob says, “Seeing you might panic them, when we get home, give us a couple of minutes to talk to them.”

“Will do.”

When they pull up in front of the Smith’s home, the agent says, “I’ve deactivated all of the cameras around your home for fifteen minutes that’s how long you have.”

Sharon says, “We’ll be back within fifteen minutes.”

“You have to be, we can’t keep the cameras off for any longer than fifteen minutes.”

Jason and Sharon exit the van, jogging into their home. Scott says, “Is something wrong? That’s a DepLIES van.”

“Remember the email I asked you to send?”

Scott nods.

This is all part of it, please run and quickly pack a small overnight bag. Time is very short.”

“Should I bring my school tablet?”

“No, it can be tracked. Hurry Scott.”

Sharon enters Sissy’s room where she’s fast asleep. Sharon packs a small backpack, she wakes Sissy telling her to get dressed for a special treat.  In thirteen minutes, the four of them are in the van just as another DepLIES truck turns down their street. Jason says, “Crap, is this trouble
.”

The agent says, “We’ll see. Don’t say anything. If I speak, follow my lead.”

The other DepLIES van pulls up behind the agent’s van. A DepLIES officer comes to the driver’s side window saying, “Need any help?”

“Nope, everything is smooth. TS case.”

“OK, call out if you need assistance.”

“We’re good. We’re taking them to see the VIP.” Winking at the other agent who whispers, “I’ll have to remember that one. Have a good night.”

Both vans drive off in different directions. After driving two hours, the Smith’s pull into the garage of a small house at the end of a dark street. The Smith’s go into the house to find it stocked with food. Sissy finds her assigned bedroom she quickly falls asleep. Scott looks around questioning their location. Bob says “Scott go upstairs and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very long and tense day.”

“OK Dad.”

Jason and Sharon look at the agent, Jason asks, “Are we OK?”

“Fine, everything is on schedule. I suggest you two get some rest too. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. By the way. I’ll be joined by another agent tonight. It’s usual in these cases that the DepLIES uses two officers to escort people. If I was alone, it might raise questions.”

At 5:00 AM the agents knock on Jason and Sharon’s bedroom door, “Wake up, we leave in one hour. Breakfast in thirty.”

The six climb into the van for the eight-hour drive to the border. Sharon asks, “How are we going to cross the border in a DepLIES van?”

“We have a tunnel under the wall. We spent two years building it. The DepLIES hasn’t found it yet. The tunnel is in an underground office building garage. We bought the building through a shell company.  We’re going to drive right under the wall. When we cross the border, still in the tunnel, we’ll change into an official US government car for the ride to the airport. From there you’re going to fly to Washington D.C.”

The trip goes uneventful, they enter the USA through the hidden tunnel where they switch cars, they are handed new ID cards. They enter the twilight zone, free in the USA. Sissy asks, “What about my friends and all of my stuff?”

Sharon says, “Honey, you’ll make new friends, we’ll get you new toys to play with. Everything is going to be good, you’ll see.  In fact, do you remember Beth?”

“Beth from the TV program?”

“Yes, we’re going to see her soon.”

“Really Mom? Really? What about Rebel? She’s going to be all alone.”

The second agent says, “Sissy, do you mean the puppy in the cage in the back?”

“Rebel! When did you get her?”

“When your parents were packing I gave Rebel an injection to make her sleep. I didn’t want her barking. She’ll wake very soon.”

Sissy hugs Rebel and the agent with tears of joy in her eyes.

Chapter 29

Race riots continue to rumble across America’s cities. As soon as one is put down, another starts up. President Rand knows the LSA is behind the riots, he doesn’t have one hundred percent proof yet, but he knows from how the riots break out that they are being funded and instigated by race baiters supported from the LSA. President Rand consults with his advisors, he’s faced with a hard decision. The people of the USA want the riots stopped, they want to feel secure. The President meets with Sean, “Sean, I don’t think I have a choice. We have to put a stop to the riots. We have to bring stability and safety to all of our people. Everyone deserves to be safe and secure in their town, cities, and homes. I know the LSA is behind the riots, but we can’t prove it yet. I think my only option is to send the National Guard into the cities to ensure peace and the safety of our people.”

“Mr. President, I don’t like the idea of having American troops patrol our cities.  I know you said they would be the National Guard, to most people they are the same thing. When people see military uniforms, they’ll only think you sent the US Army into their towns. Our people, the people of the world, will see the US Army patrolling the streets of our largest cities. It will be used against us around the world. Many will compare us to a third world dictatorship that sends the army to control their people. We will have lost the PR war. The LSA will look the most peaceful to the people in the world, we’ll look like war mongers.” 

“Sean, how do we ensure the security of our cities? Right now, we have cities burning out of control. We’re losing thousands every week. The police aren’t able to control the cities.”

“Sir, I think we need to prove the LSA is behind the riots, once we prove they are behind the uprising, we can shut it down at its source.”

“Sean, I agree with you, what are you thinking?”

“Sir, I agree we need to support the police, I agree with using the National Guard but have them dress as first responders instead of in their regular uniforms. From the media’s point of view, they won’t know the increased police are really guard units. We can start with the Guard MP units which are already trained for these issues. We can send the other guard units to MP school so they can respond like police units. Acquire regular police cars versus armored vehicles for them. Do everything possible to hide the fact the new people are Guard units. Tell the people you’re sending volunteers from other police departments to the cities to provide additional assistance. Send them with peace offerings to show our people and the world we’re not resorting to violence against our own people.”

“Won’t the media figure out we are using the guard when guard units disappear from their normal jobs?”

“Mr. President, I suggest you also announce you’re assigning some guard units to reinforce our borders and to provide aid to the areas that suffered invasions. I would send regular guard units to Las Vegas and Tysons, Arlington, and the southern border. This will cover the missing troops while most of them are really in the cities.”

“I like it, write up the press release and a draft of my speech. I’ll go on the air this evening to announce it.”

At 8:00 PM, EST, President Rand addresses the nation and the world saying; “My fellow Americans. It’s with a heavy heart I come before you this evening. First the good news. We’ve reached a cease-fire with the invading Russian forces in and around Las Vegas, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. Soon we’ll be sending the invaders home. We don’t hold them responsible, we hold the LSA responsible because the LSA forced Russia and their other allies to honor a treaty most never thought would be required. We know some of you have lost family members and property, we know many have lost loved ones and treasured belongings that are priceless. The government will be working with each family that lost members of their family or their belongings in the battles. We hope we can find a way to compensate for your loss. While we can’t bring your loved ones back, we can help you make a new start.