by King, Ryan
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get away from the electricity issue. Reggie had expected some trepidation from the average citizens, but was shocked by the near open panic and irrationality of the leaders gathered around him. Reggie could only explain their reaction as denial. They had convinced themselves for so long that nothing had changed. Oh, they would admit that some minor things had changed like not being able to watch Monday Night Football, but nothing of real significance. They could pretend that N-Day never happened and that the world outside wasn’t a desolation. Cutting off the electricity took away this illusion and forced them to admit reality. Some hadn’t dealt with the current reality very well.
Most areas remained calm, but not everywhere. Within hours of Tim Reynolds’s radio broadcast, the station was mobbed and looted. People were looking for Reynolds, convinced he had more information he wasn’t giving out. Thankfully, he had already left the station.
Reggie was also careful about his public appearances, and the JP put the police and military forces on alert. Surprisingly, Paducah remained calm through all the turmoil justifying his trust in Brazen.
So far, things were still under control, but they could come apart at the seams at any moment, and Reggie wasn’t quite sure what to do. He wished Clarence Anderson were here to give him counsel, but the General had taken the local guard forces south and was working on organizing the southern defense against any incursion by Sampson.
Reggie was aware of someone beside him also smoking. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Brazen. “Mind if I hide with you?” he asked.
Reggie smiled in spite of himself. “Help yourself, but they’re sure to find us eventually.”
“At least you didn’t have to deal with introducing me,” said Brazen with a smile of his own.
That was true. They never got to that topic and Reggie judged they probably never would. It would simply now be a given. They were within their power after all to appoint him. He only intended to bring it up as a courtesy and if anyone asked later he could always say the discussion was dominated by other more pressing matters.
“Yes, Colonel Walker, that was the silver lining to this particular cloud I suppose. You know things are getting ready to get bad, don’t you?”
“I think I do,” answered Brazen, taking a long draw off his cigarette. “I’m down to only one carton. Figure I’ll be out of cigarettes in less than a month. I’m scared to think what the world will look like after that.”
“You know what I’m talking about,” said Reggie, amused nevertheless.
“Yeah, I know what you’re talking about,” answered Brazen. “And all we can do is keep doing what we have been. Get ready and then see what happens. It’s not all on us you know? If the people want to have the JP, there’s going to come a point where we’re going to have to fight for it. Not just the leaders, but everyone.”
Reggie was silent for a moment. It was somehow encouraging to think that the weight of everything wasn’t squarely on his shoulders. “Yes, I suppose so. But will we be ready?”
“We’ll be as ready as we’re ready,” answered Brazen. “It’s going to suck, but not as much as the uncertainty. There will come a time when there just isn’t anything you can do to get ready for bad stuff. You just can’t prepare yourself for a kick in the balls. You can see and know it’s coming, but nothing is going to make it hurt less.”
Reggie started laughing and realized it was the first time he had laughed in quite awhile. It felt pretty good. He turned to look at Brazen, “Colonel Walker?”
“Yes…sir?” said Brazen.
“I sure hope I’m right about you, because, if I’m not, we’re all doomed. Everyone is going to be focused on the south with Sampson, and here you will be in the north controlling most of our wealth, manufacturing, people, and everything else. It would be a good opportunity for you to set yourself up pretty nice, if you wanted to.”
“Yes it would,” said Brazen. “But I won’t.”
“And how do I know that?” asked Reggie.
“You don’t,” answered Brazen as he snubbed his cigarette out against the wall. “You’re just going to have to trust me, but I’ve given you my word.”
They looked at each other for another moment before Brazen turned and began walking away, but then turned back abruptly.
“Oh yeah,” began Brazen, “regarding our lack of electricity. I’ve been thinking about that.”
“Haven’t we all,” said Reggie with a grimace.
Brazen smiled, “You see all the abandoned cars around here with no use whatsoever?”
Reggie nodded.
“Why not just pull the alternators out and hook them to something that turns like a crank, or a windmill, or wagon for that matter. It would charge a car battery which could be used to power just about anything small for a short period of time. Might take the shock out of peoples’ minds if they realize electricity isn’t gone forever, even if the dam is never fixed.”
Reggie froze. It was so simple, yet none of them had thought about it. He looked at Brazen in amazement.
“Don’t look so shocked,” said Brazen with a mischievous smile as he turned away again, “I was an engineering major at MIT after all.”
Reggie smiled to himself and realized that he wasn’t so tired anymore.
Chapter 10 – The Right Time
Ethan Schweitzer had always enjoyed intelligence work. He liked the idea of secrecy and being able to know things that others did not. Most of all he liked being important and having powerful men ask him what to do. To Ethan, that was just the cat’s meow and made all the effort and time worth it.
After mandatory retirement he made his peace with the fact that he would never have that feeling again and he was okay with it. But he had just been lying to himself. He was not okay with it. Now things were back the way they were supposed to be.
General Sampson might be the most powerful man in North America and he was looking at Ethan with such an expectant and open face that Ethan just had to take a moment to soak in the feelings of…well, what was it? Ethan thought for a moment. He was many things, but self-delusional was not one of them. He had spent a lifetime manipulating people to do what he wanted them to do through recognizing and exploiting their wants, needs, and vulnerabilities. Ethan could certainly recognize his own. He had a need to be accepted which characterized itself so typically as egotism mixed with a deep insecurity. Knowing this about himself did not cause Ethan to want to change anything about his character.
“So, what’s this all about?” asked Sampson. “Is Anderson for real?”
Ethan nodded, “It appears he is telling the truth. The power plant of Kentucky Dam is shut down indefinitely and the whole JP is without electricity just like we are. My sources tell me they came close to a burnout of some sort at the dam and had to cut everything off to stop from causing damage that possibly could never have been repaired. A wise move, I would say.”
“How long is this going to last?” asked Sampson.
“They don’t actually know,” said Ethan. “They’re without many trained technicians and electricians, and of course replacement parts are an issue.”
“Those pompous jerks should have asked me for help. We have several Tennessee Valley Authority guys here who escaped from the east and worked at dams. They might have helped,” said Sampson.
“General, they fear your influence on the dam. They fear your power, your leadership, your vision. As a matter of fact, that fear is likely the only reason they agreed to let us keep getting electricity from them in exchange for compensation,” said Ethan. “They believe that the electricity they are providing you is worth far more than what they’re getting in exchange and would cut us off if they could. When the time is right for them, they will cut us off. Rest assured.”
Sampson rubbed his chin in thought. “How long until they would feel secure enough to do that?”
“Hard to say,” said Ethan. “But they are getting m
ilitarily stronger every day. Their borders are more secure, that regimental system of theirs is a joke, but it at least frees up their other troops. They also have the weapons they need due to the raid on Fort Campbell. All in all, they’re nowhere close to us, but given enough time they could be.”
“What about the people there, what would their feelings be towards an annexation into the WTR should it come to that?” asked Sampson.
“In my opinion General, their feelings would be irrelevant. As long as you provided them electricity, they would be happy with whatever else you allowed them to keep. The dam, General, is the key to everything because electricity, and all the other things it makes possible, has become the rarest of commodities.”
“Are they expecting an attack from us over this?” asked Sampson.
“Almost certainly. The fact that Anderson called you immediately and offered to give everything back shows that not only does he consider it a possibility, but something he fears greatly. Additionally, we know they are pushing troops south and preparing defensive positions. All their forces are on alert.”
“So we’ve already lost the element of surprise?” asked Sampson with a frown.
Ethan smiled, “Not necessarily.” He moved over to the map on the wall and pointed at the common border. They are expecting attacks, or at least some sort of intimidation, here along our northern area. But not in these regions,” Ethan pointed at two other areas of the map. “We could feint toward what they expect, and attack where they do not, catching them by surprise.”
Sampson was suddenly intense, “It might work. I know what I think, but what about you? Is it the right time?”
Ethan felt the enormity of the moment upon him and something akin to a physical rush. “General, this is exactly the right time. We could not have planned a better time. Not only is the JP unprepared for a conflict with us, they do it without the benefit of electricity, which means limited communications and much lower production. Their people will also be demoralized and lack confident in their leadership due to the sudden loss of power. On top of that, you have a perfect pretext to start a war. They broke a deal with us. We paid and they didn’t give what they promised. It’s not our fault they cannot properly manage the great responsibility given to them in the dam. Perhaps other more capable hands should take over that responsibility for the welfare of all concerned. JP, as well as WTR citizens.”
Ethan smiled again to himself. “Honestly, based on what my sources tell me, the mere threat of invasion may cause the JP to settle with us without the need for conflict.”
Sampson stared at him for a long moment absorbing all that Ethan had said. He then nodded and began to smile. “The time is now. This is what I was put here to do. Right here and now is the time for me to fulfill my destiny!” Sampson stood and began to walk out the door and then turned and looked at Ethan, “We’ll move forward immediately. And…what about the other thing we discussed, is it ready?”
“It is General, my man is ready.”
“Then do it,” said Sampson forcefully. “I want to strike a blow to their heart before we meet them on the field of battle. The JP might just roll over and welcome us with open arms after we’ve dealt with Mister Phillips.”
Ethan started to say something but Sampson turned away and continued walking, calling back over his shoulder. “And Ethan!”
“Yes, General?”
“I want you to stay very close to me from now on. I’m going to need you even more in the coming days,” Sampson spoke, as he disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.
Ethan’s heart swelled and his mind raced. Actually, it is my time, he thought to himself. Things are coming together the way I wanted them to.
Ethan suddenly realized that N-Day was the best thing that ever happened to him in his entire life.
Chapter 11 – The Coming Storm
General Clarence Anderson stared hard at the map spread out on the large table in front of him. Acetate plastic sheeting covered the map and there were red and blue magic marker sketches showing the locations and dispositions of their forces and those of the WTR’s. At least as best we can guess, he thought.
He swore in disgust as much at what he was looking at as at his own lack of planning. What have I been thinking? Did I really think this day would never come? Actually, I thought it would, but not so soon. We've made great strides, but we're not ready.
One of the biggest problems was they didn’t know exactly what they were facing or where to focus. The JP had a general idea of the WTR’s forces which were forming along the border, but they didn’t know exact composition, disposition, or intentions. Anderson couldn’t risk sending patrols across the border and spark an actual conflict if Sampson’s intention was only intimidation. They should have been working earlier on an intelligence network similar to what the WTR obviously possessed in the JP.
The other major problem, stemming from the first, was that they did not know exactly where they needed to defend. The JP had to array its forces in order to respond to any incursion along the entire southern border. He had decided to pull all his guard troops back and keep them in reserve to respond using transport trucks when, and where, needed. Anderson hated the idea of using the precious fuel, but if there was ever a time for it, that time was now.
The Hickman, Graves, and Calloway County Regiments formed thin screens along the border and their mission was simply to harass, slow, and report on any attack until the guard forces could arrive. It would have to be an elastic defense in depth. Some key strongholds were ready, but not enough to hold up a general advance.
The electrical outage caused a number of unforeseen problems. One of the biggest was the lack of communications. They had relied upon the land lines and cell phone towers, which all required electricity. Now everything was communicated through runners and bicyclists, causing serious delays. They had a few satellite phones, but not enough. General Butch Matthews had thankfully brought back many old sets of TA-312 army crank telephones and bundles of wire from Fort Campbell, but you couldn’t just run a hundred miles of wire across the entire border. The phones helped, but mostly at the tactical, small-unit level.
Thinking of Butch made Anderson look at his watch and wonder when he would return. He had sent him to their consolidated supply warehouse in Paducah to bring back every single mine of any type they could find. If they were lucky, they would have time to lay them along the border and if they were even luckier they could use them to channel Sampson’s forces into narrow areas, possibly negating some of his numerical superiority.
The lack of information, and ability to communicate, was so damn frustrating. It made Anderson think of books he had read about the First World War, when they had carrier pigeons, and even in some cases trained messenger dogs. Too bad they didn’t have any of those, although it might not be a bad idea to try to train some if they ever got out of this spot, thought Anderson. Intel had been a problem back then too and the great need for it actually led to the birth of the air corps. Those little biplanes had initially been nothing more than platforms to view enemy dispositions, similar to hot air balloons during the Civil War.
Anderson caught his breath with a stunning idea. Would it work? At least worth a try, why not?
He grabbed one of his staff officers at random. “Take my car and go to the nearest airfield you can find. Find a pilot from anywhere and get up there as fast as you can. I want a detailed report on what forces we face out there, and what they are doing from the Mississippi to the Cumberland River. But don’t cross the border, stay on our side. Do you understand? Any questions?”
Lieutenant Beau Myers looked a little overwhelmed by the instructions. “But sir, do we even have fuel left for planes?”
Anderson nodded. “Possibly, airplane fuel is different from regular gasoline. I think it still works in automobiles, but maybe someone at an airport saved it or forgot about it.”
“Sir, I don’t know where to find a pilot!” the man said with alarm, but then stoppe
d, thinking. “Well, maybe I do at that,” he said as a thought came to him.
“Good,” said Anderson. “Get up there and get me information as fast as you can. I need the information to be accurate; but I also need it quickly, so don’t stay up there all day. Make one trip up and down and then back to me, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” said Beau.
“Then get after it!” yelled Anderson and then remembering something else, called him back. He scribbled an order on a piece of paper and gave it to him. “This is in case anyone gives you grief about using a plane or fuel. Better yet, take two armed soldiers with you, and if you get any trouble, take what you need by force. This is very important.”
Beau nodded again and took off at a run.
Anderson knew the odds were strongly against them, but there was always a chance. It was then that he noticed the grey menacing clouds along the horizon. That could be trouble for the plane he thought to himself. He hoped they could at least get some information before the weather turned bad.
He looked back into the sky and saw how the grey clouds swirled together, but there was almost no wind at ground level. Everything had also gone eerily silent. Anderson had seen this sort of weather before; as a kid it would have caused his family to go to the cellar.
There's a bad storm coming, for sure, he thought.
Chapter 12 – Delay
Joshua thought he was in just about a perfect position. They were on a tall hill covered with thick trees overlooking the Cumberland River. What had drawn them to this location were numerous rumors and hints gathered from locals talking about activity along the major waterway. Joshua and his recon squad now saw the activity they were referring to.
Below them were what appeared to be several dozen small boats and six larger double-decker passenger ships typically used for tours along the river. Currently, the large ships were empty, but through the binoculars Joshua could see several hundred men, and their tents and cooking fires, in the wood line nearby. Meanwhile, men were working furiously to mount large machine guns, grenade launchers, and rockets in various configurations onto the smaller boats.
