by Ira Tabankin
The other governors sadly nod their heads in agreement.
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Jay and the other senior leaders of the farm/shelter sit in Jay’s family room watching and yelling at the televisions as the President lists his new Executive Orders. Jay frowns,
“He’s asking for an armed uprising. He’s all but ensuring the country explodes in violence. I bet he’s planned it so he can declare Martial Law and postpone the upcoming elections.”
Jay’s interrupted in his yelling at the television screen by his phone ringing.
“Hello, this is Jay.”
“Jay, I got your number from your radio room, this is General Arthur, do you have a minute?”
“Of course, what can I do for you?”
“I’d like to come over and meet with you and your key advisors. Is it possible to do so right now? To be honest, it’s very important or I wouldn’t be bothering you in the evening.”
“It's early, my advisors are all here, we’ve been watching the President’s address to the nation. It’s a good thing you interrupted us, or I’d thrown something at the screen and we’d be out another television. Without replacements, I’d have to take one from one of the families.”
“I fully understand. I felt the same way watching the speech. I’ll be right there. I’m also bringing an encrypted radio with me. If the discussion goes as I think it will, someone will want to talk with you.”
“We have an encrypted set in the shelter.”
“It’s better if we use mine.”
“You know the gate code; I’ll have you brought to the family room when you reach the front door.”
“See you in a couple of minutes.”
Five minutes later General Arthur is sitting in the family room surrounded by Jay, Fred, Franco, Tony, and Lacy. He takes a cup of coffee from the pot on the coffee table.
“Jay, are you aware of the Confederate movement?”
“Of course, who isn’t? I thought we already had this discussion. What does that have to do with us? We’re a small farm in central Tennessee trying to mind our own business.”
“Jay, the governors are each looking for a secure location so they can’t be bombed or easily attacked by the North. I told the Governor about your shelter…”
“You did WHAT? I didn’t authorize you to tell anyone about our shelter. I told you, we’d help you build your own. Part of our security is the existence of our shelter is kept secret! You of all people should respect our opsec! Damn it! You could have placed all of our lives in jeopardy! Why is it the outsiders I think I can trust turn out to be untrustworthy?”
“Jay, please calm down. I told him in confidence…”
“Oh great! Government confidence is as oxymoronic as government intelligence. I know all about how the government keeps secrets, so do you. Anything they know, the world knows. They’ve only been able to keep a couple of secrets. General, you’ve really pissed me off tonight.”
“Jay, WAIT! Please let me finish. I told him because he’s thinking about visiting you.”
Tony looks at the General.
“Why would he want to come here? Our farm is a dust bowl; we don’t have any crops to share. No one was able to locate us a tanker truck we could move water with. We have nothing to share or show him, nor do I want any media here. It seems I have enough of a problem trusting people I know to keep their mouths closed. I don’t want to worry about a government hack keeping his mouth shut, we both know none can resist telling the media everything.”
“You know why he wants to come here, it’s buried under the fields. Your shelter.”
“What does he want with our shelter?”
“Remember I said he needs a secure location? Your shelter may be the best location outside of Cheyenne Mountain, which isn’t in the south.”
“Wait one fucking minute! You offered him my shelter to use as his new base to govern? Do you hate us that much? You might as well have painted a giant sign pointing to our homes saying, bomb here. What do we do if he decides to move into our shelter? Where are we supposed to go?”
“Jay, why can’t you quickly dig a new one? The ground above the shelter is nothing but dust, you wouldn’t be losing any crops. You have the plans; you own the cement plant. If my people were to help, you could get another built very quickly.”
“Based on your reasoning, why not build one under your base as we discussed?”
“Because yours is already there and it’s almost bomb proof. They, or at least the Tennessee Governor, needs a secure location ASAP. He could be here in a day. You have the radio room and hospital already operating. I know you’re working on soundproofing the interior, it would be just a small group to start with.”
“General, I know government and small group. That means he’ll bring a few hundred people and we’ll have no place to go when they come looking for him. We’ll die to protect him and his staff. I’d like to support the cause, but not by placing my family and our extended families lives in danger. Everyone on this farm is my extended family, they all worked their asses off to earn a place in the shelter. I don’t understand why the Governor can’t build his own shelter.”
“Jay, it’s a matter of timing. Of course, he can have his own built. However, once the declaration is made, the Feds will be looking for any shelter construction near the capital buildings. Yours is already built, they most likely don’t know about it. I’m working on getting a tunneling machine, it will be a small one. It should enable us to expand your shelter without anyone upstairs looking down on us being any wiser.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Our friend across the street, Captain Black knows about it. I thought he was going to be a close friend, now I think he’s a snake just waiting to strike. I’m sorry I took him in and showed him everything. How do you plan on dealing with what he and his people already know?”
“I believe the good Captain is going to switch sides. You’re not supposed to know. He’ll meet with his senior staff in a day or three. After he does, I’m sure he will ask to speak with you.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because I spent most of the day with him. We had a heart to heart chat. He’s unhappy with the way things are going in the country. He got a warning order preparing him to begin disarming the people in his region. He told me he’s going to refuse to carry out the order.”
“Do you really believe him? I’m not sure I do. Don’t the Special Forces always follow orders?”
“I think they know which ones are legal and which aren’t. I have faith in the Captain.”
“All of our lives are going to depend on him. If he’s a spy and tells Washington where the shelter is, we’re all going to die. We don’t have any anti-air or anti-armor weapons. We didn’t expect to fight a real war against a regular army.”
“I have such weapons and the staff to help defend the shelter.”
“General, we don’t have the space for the Governor, your people and ours. Before we discuss expanding the shelter, we need to know how many people we might have to house.”
“I’ll get back to you tomorrow morning. I’ll bring Captain Black with me so you’ll be able to see for yourself what he thinks.”
“You can return, I’m not ready to have Black here yet. Don’t bring him.”
The general leaves a stunned group sitting in Jay’s family room, they’ve ignored the ‘talking heads’ explaining the President’s speech. Jay looks at his best friends and wife.
“I think we all should sleep on what we just heard and meet for an early breakfast. Franco, before you leave, how much larger can the shelter be made?”
“If we have the right equipment and enough building supplies, the only limit is going to be power and air. Our current power and air filtration systems were designed for one hundred people. I’ll look into revising the plans.”
“Thank you, does anyone have anything they want to say?”
Tony smiles,
“I can’t believe we may have the g
overnor here, when he finds out how I used to make my living, he’s not going to be happy. It’s not going to be good for his next election.”
“I can’t wait to see the look on his face.”
Lacy shakes her head,
“I think we’re getting in deeper than we thought. It’s one thing to support the movement, it’s another to be housing one of the leaders who will make us a prime target. What about the kids?”
Everyone is silent. They agree to meet again in the morning after they’ve slept on the question.
Chapter 33
Admiral Jefferson is walking laps around the eight hundred eighty-seven-foot-long deck of the USS Missouri. He’s reading the orders he received for the fifth time trying to make sense of them. His reply when he asked for confirmation came almost instantly which added to his confusion. His friend and Captain of the Missouri catches up to him as he circles the rear main turret.
“Admiral, the men are getting concerned watching you walk laps around the ship. Is there anything I can do to assist? Per your latest orders, the Task Force is steaming in a large circle.”
The Admiral hands the Captain his orders saying;
“Read for yourself and tell me if you make any sense of them. I’ve read them five times trying to figure out what’s behind them and why the sudden change. I’m at a loss. I asked the CNO who responded, ‘follow your orders.’ Let me know if you understand their logic.”
The Captain stops to read the orders; he looks at the Admiral with a surprised look on his face. He re-reads them shaking his head.
“Sir, are these real, has the CNO confirmed these?”
“Yes, he did. He wanted to know why we haven’t already started steaming east. Per his orders, we’re to break off all action with the Chinese, we’re to stop all action trying to break their supply chain to Hawaii and steam to Panama where we’re to cross into the Atlantic and then into the Gulf of Mexico where we will be given new orders.”
“I haven’t heard of any threat in the Gulf. Why would they have us break off trying to box the Chinese in? We’ll be handing them Hawaii on a silver tray. We’ll also be leaving our damaged carriers defenseless.”
“I know. Did you read the part about ordering any working carriers we have to head south and go around the point and meet us in the Gulf, They’re ordered to steam at their maximum speed.”
“Sir, at their max speed, their own escorts won’t be able to keep up with them. Only the Virginia Class subs can keep up with the carriers when they’re hauling ass at forty plus knots.”
“I’m not sure it matters, as of this morning, we don’t have any carriers which are able to make the trip. The first one won’t be battle worthy for another five weeks. I had to check if we could make it through the canal. I learned we can with a few inches to spare. I hope the old gal didn’t gain too much weight in her old age. I hope she was able to keep her slim waistline or we’ll get stuck in the canal and really screw shipping up.”
“Admiral, don’t worry about the old lady, she’s still as slim as ever. If you give the order, we’ll make it through the canal and into the Gulf. What we do there is another story. If you issue the order, I’ll get us there.”
“Captain, I guess we all have to follow our orders. Please make it so. Set course for the Gulf of Mexico.”
“Aye, aye sir.”
“Leave two DDGs behind to guard the carriers undergoing repair. Tell the rest to follow us. I wish I knew what the geniuses in D.C. have planned for us.”
The captain nods. He leaves the Admiral to his thoughts, he issues the new orders. Within five minutes the American fleet begins its journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Admiral Jefferson wishes he knew what was behind his orders. He walks to his cabin telling his aide,
“I don’t want to be disturbed unless we’re under attack or the President is on the line.”
“Aye, sir.”
What the hell can be so urgent in the Gulf, in our own backyard we have to hand Hawaii over unopposed.
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Ricky is leaning against his rake watching ATVs come and go around the farm. He’s wondering what’s going on. Everyone on the ATVs is armed. He flags down Franco’s bright red ATV to ask.
“Hey, Franco what’s going on? All of a sudden everyone is driving everywhere around the farm.”
“Big changes coming. I might have to expand the shelter. Some very big visitors coming. Hush, hush, you can’t tell anybody. I’m not supposed to say anything to you. Don’t tell anyone I told you okay?”
“Sure, you can trust me. After all, it’s not like anyone comes here to visit or chat with me. I’m left out here by myself.”
“You keep your head down and stay low. Maybe Jay will forget about you. He has many things on his mind. I think a real war is coming.”
Ricky’s head picks up when he hears the word war.
“I’m not going to be safe out here, I need to get back into the shelter. I’m naked, completely unprotected. This isn’t fair. If you don’t get me inside the shelter, I’ll file suit against everyone for placing me at risk.”
Franco looks at Ricky’s bright red face and bulging eyes.
“Stop acting like a baby. I didn’t say we’re at war now. I said, maybe a war is coming. I’m sure Jay knows you’re out here. If things turn bad, I’m sure someone will come get you.”
“Do you promise me I’ll be protected?”
“Only Jay can do that. I’ll try to talk to him.”
“Don’t try, tell him, not letting me in the shelter is the same as murdering me. He’ll have my blood on his hands. His precious princess will never forgive him for my death.”
“Ricky, calm down. I’ll talk to Jay when I get back. Right now, I need to measure for the new shelter.”
“I’m going to the castle to demand access to the shelter.”
“No, that’s not a good idea. Jay and Tony are very busy right now. There’s also a general here. They are tied up in constant meetings.”
“A general here? Maybe I can make my case to him.”
Franco realizes he said too much.
“Ricky, forget what I said. I’ll talk to Jay and come back to tell you what he says. You better stay here.”
“Franco, I’m not staying here if war is coming. I don’t have any way to defend myself.”
Franco leaves Ricky is a cloud of dust. He stands to watch Franco drive away thinking, if they’re all consumed with something else, this is the perfect time for me to sneak away from this shack and either get away or get some additional supplies. I remember talk about the army building a base across the street. I think their commander’s name is Black. If I sneak around the hill, I should be able to make it to the army’s base unseen. I’m sure they’ll take care of me. I’ll tell them I’m a refugee. Yeah, tonight when it’s dark, I’m going to sneak out of here and find an officer at the Army base. I’ll get my revenge on Jay yet. I’ll offer to help Black beat Jay.
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Lacy looks at Jay lying in their bed,
“Hon, you look awful, you need to try to get some rest. Tomorrow isn’t going to be any easier, the day after is going to be worse.”
“I can’t get my mind to slow down. No matter what I try, I think of more things to worry about.”
“Why don’t you take a sleeping pill? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I really don’t know what to do. If the fools declare a new Confederacy, the Feds are sure to attack, if we house the Governor, we’re going to be a prime target. If I don’t allow the Governor access, he and the General will think we’re Federal sympathizers and consider us their enemy. We can’t fight off the General’s militia when they know everything about us. If we allow the Governor to use our shelter as his base of operations, we’re sure to get bombed by the Feds. Every way I look at the problem, all I see is lose, lose for us. No matter which way I turn, we piss someone off who will attack us. I can’t figure out a decision which doesn’t lead to us being attacked. We’re in our
own ‘Kobayashi Maru.’ I understand how Captain Kirk felt, I too hate to lose. The problem is I can’t figure out how to reprogram this damn test. I wish I had a Spock to help me.”
Lacy climbs into bed, she pulls Jay to her spreading her fingers saying,
“Honey, live long and prosper. Let’s sleep on it. I’m sure things will be clearer in the morning.
End Book4.
The War Jay doesn’t want comes to the shelter in The Shelter Book 5, “War” which will be published in April 2016. Here is the cover and first chapter:
