by Ira Tabankin
Everyone talks over each other causing Jay to get more frustrated. After five minutes, Jay pounds the table so hard the shock wave knocks the empty coffee cups over.
“STOP the bullshit! We can’t stop the governor from coming, we can’t bar him from seeing the shelter, he already knows about it, which I didn’t approve of. Right now our task is to decide how we’re going to approach the discussions with him. Backing out isn’t an option. Sitting on the sidelines isn’t an option. We need to buy time until Franco and company can finish the new shelter so we have a fallback plan.”
John smiles, “Maybe the Governor can bring us some rain. He’d warm my heart if we got a massive thunderstorm when he was here. I agree with Jay; we can’t sit on the sidelines. We might not like the idea of secession, we might not like everything the Governors stand for, but, do we have any options?”
Fred whispers, “We could side with the North. We could become an armored fort in the middle of the South.”
Everyone at the table throws their balled up paper trash at Fred. Tony laughs, “Have you looked at a map lately? It’s not like we’re only a mile from the North. We’re sitting in the middle of the Confederacy. If we chose to support the North, we’ll be attacked by everyone. We won’t be safe for a minute. I personally agree with the secession. I’ve had enough of the progressive bullshit; their name calling, their hate mongering. They claim to have open minds, but, in reality, are racists with closed minds. They only agree with people who agree with them. I’m tired of being accused of being the cause of the country’s problems because I believe in Jesus and own guns. I vote we accept the Confederacy and embrace it. We do everything we can to support and nurture it. We don't have the option to sit on the sidelines; the only way we can have a say in our destiny is to put our complete support behind the secession.”
Jay looks around the table,
“Does anyone have a different thought? If not, then I suggest we look into how we can support the Confederacy and still protect our families. Franco is building the new shelter. He’s been using help from the surrounding towns to speed up its construction. They think they’re building a large underground grain storage bin. Once the tunnel is dug, the rest of the construction will be performed by us. I don’t want any outsiders knowing anything about how this shelter is constructed. I haven’t allowed the Army or Militia to know about the new shelter. They think we’re expanding our existing one. There are less than twenty locals who know where it’s located, only six that know its details. If Franco can finish before the war starts, we’ll have our security. We’ll be secure without anyone other than our families knowing where it is.”
Fred smiles at Jay.
“Is this one soundproofed?”
“I learned that lesson the hard way. I hope it is. The rooms are little larger. I’ve saved our surprise for the Governor, I’ve had most of the existing shelter’s supplies moved to the new one. There’s no reason why we should arm or feed the Governor. I don’t care if he becomes the new President of the Confederacy. I won’t spend our resources allowing him to get fat while the rest of us starve. If the people are hungry, he should be hungry too. If he’s going to rule, he should feel the sufferings of his people. I’ll be damned if we pay the price in blood to break away from the Union only to launch another ruling class.
What else scares the shit out of me is a real civil war. By that, I mean a hot war versus a war of words where each side fires a few bullets across the border and yells at the other. A war like the one in 1860 will be a lose-lose for everyone. A civil war fought today is going to be a mess, one we’re all going to lose. I hope he has a plan how to secede and not get us all killed.”
John has been silent most of the meeting, he looks at his friends at the table, “I’m the only one at this table who’s fought in a real war. It’s not a video game, it’s not like most of the movies show. I’d say ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is close to showing the destruction and pain a real war brings. Hundreds of thousands of women and children are going to be displaced, wounded and killed. We could lose an entire generation. The country’s infrastructure will be destroyed, schools closed and destroyed. The things we take for granted, clean water and electricity, will most likely be gone. Look at Syria to see what a modern civil war will look like. I agree, we don’t want one. I’d go so far as say, I’d rather lose some of my rights versus turning the country into Syria.”
Tony shakes his head, pointing at John,
“Come on, we all know Syria is being fought by a bunch of crazy Muslims, they don’t fight like we would. They don’t care about anything, they destroy their own infrastructure, we wouldn’t do that.”
John frowns, “Wouldn’t we? Are you prepared to do anything it takes to win? Are you prepared to bring pain and suffering to your friends you have living on the other side of a line? If not, don’t ask for a civil war.”
Jay sits with a surprised look on his face,
“John, you’d give up your rights to avoid a civil war?”
“Yes, and if you’d seen and lived through what I have, you would too. So what if the government outlaws guns. We both have weapons no one knows about, they can’t find them all. They’d most likely try a buyback program like they did in the UK and Australia. They’ll outlaw the selling of ammo; they know that sooner or later those who held onto their weapons would be afraid to fire them because there wouldn’t be any more ammo or spare parts for them. Once they collected most of the guns, they’ll declare victory and move on to their next goal which is redefining free speech so no one can talk shit about them. I personally would accept their bullshit rather than see America or the Confederacy turned into a third world country, one we’d never see rebuilt in our lifetimes. I don’t want to see New York City or LA turned into Beirut.”
“Then what are our options?” Asked a frustrated Tony.
John frowns, shaking his head, “Hope the crazy, self-absorbed politicians can cut a deal. If not, we’ll have to pull a Nam.”
“A Nam?”
“Yeah, create enough body bags that their people back home demand an end of the war before it turns into Syria. Most of the progressives don’t have the stomach for a long bloody war. They got used to seeing smart weapons and drones fight, versus soldiers coming home missing arms and legs. If war comes, we should line the border with millions of IEDs and land mines. We’ll need to make their crossing the line so bloody they think twice about the value of fighting. In the Iraq war, many came home wounded, but they were hidden away. Our goal will have to be to send so many home wounded that they can’t be ignored. At the same time, we should drive fear into the population.”
Jay stares ahead,
“What are you thinking?”
“Take down their electrical grid. Leave them in the dark. Their cities will turn on themselves, they’ll have much larger problems to deal with than us. It can’t look like we did it, if we get caught taking their grid down, their people will want revenge. We make it look like someone else did it, say ISIS. Hell, we can contract with ISIS to do for us, or the Chinese. If the progressives think they have to fight us and the Chinese or ISIS, they’ll fold. Our key will be convincing the military to join us. If we can get most of the military to side with us, they won’t have anyone to fight us. We’ll use ‘psyops’ against their people. Most of them live in a world of instant gratification. They forgot what reality is. We should teach them a hard lesson as early as possible.”
“What about all of the armed government agencies?”
“Fred, none are really trained. Those will be easy to defeat. They’re bullies with guns. Hit them hard and they’ll fold, just like any other bully.”
“I like it. I suggest we draw up a quick plan. I’m sure the Governor has already given the military side a lot of thought, maybe John has some ideas they haven’t thought of. If so, we’ll be in a stronger bargaining position.”
“Agreed. I’ll get right on creating an outline.”
“So we have some ideas h
ow to fight a war, do we have any how to avoid one? Or what we can accept from the Governor when he wants part of our shelter? I’m not going to bend over and kiss my ass goodbye so he can be safe in the shelter we built while we’re naked outside.”
Tony stands, walking around the small room,
“Jay, I think we’re going to have to hear him out and see what he wants and what he’s willing to offer us.”
Jay frowns, sadly looking at his friends,
“Do we have a choice? He’s got us over a barrel. I think our last resort is we have to be willing to turn him down and we each go our own way. He may be angry, but he can’t just take our shelter from us, can he?”
Fred lowers his head, he whispers the two words that send cold chill through Jay like a knife being driven through his guts,
“Eminent domain.”
@@@@@
The Governor of Tennessee and a small staff of three people and four armed security people are riding in a caravan of two unmarked gray SUVs to Jay’s farm. He asks his Chief of Staff,
“What do we know about Jay Tolson? Is he a supporter of the Confederacy? How did he come to our attention? Where did his money come from? Can he be counted on to keep his mouth shut?”
His CoS reviews everything they know about Jay and Lacy Tolson.
“Sir, General Arthur brought him to our attention. Here’s the report he provided, notice the chapter about his shelter. We believe it will make a perfect location as our base of operations, not just for the state, but the Confederacy’s government. It’s secure, it’s underground, it’s very well made. It has a state of the art communications room. It’s everything we could hope for.”
“Is there enough room in this shelter to run the government? What about security?”
“The shelter has room for around one hundred people and the shelter has survived many attacks. General Arthur says he thinks it can even survive an aerial bombing attack. The farm itself is over one thousand acres. General Arthur wrote that Jay Tolson has a small factory that builds land mines which they’ve used to kill hundreds or maybe even thousands of attackers. They’ve got cameras that keep an eye over all of the land around them, the cameras are tied to some very good software which spots movement and anything out of place. You could drop a bag, walk away from it and the software would alert them to the bag. General Arthur said they control their local area and given the construction of the shelter, it would take a lot less people to defend it than it would to attack it.”
“What crops are they growing?”
“Sir, that’s an issue, it hasn’t rained over the farm in months, most of their current crop didn’t survive the drought. They have a few hundred acres irrigated which they harvested and are trying to squeeze everything possible from. They surprised the General by clearing land around a lake and using its water to irrigate the new land. Overall, they’ve had a decent year. If it rains soon, they can get another crop in. Their full acreage will feed thousands. It will be a good place to house the government, a large farm feeding the state’s hungry. Think of how good it’ll look, you in the fields next to the workers, a common man growing the people’s food while running the government.”
“Yes, it will make a great background for my election. I like it. Remind me to thank the General. How much longer till we’re there?”
“Less than an hour. Remember, when we arrive don’t step anywhere except on the driveway. Whatever you do, don’t walk on the grass.”
“Remind me why?”
“General Arthur said their lawns and most of the fields are mined and filled with various traps.”
“What kind of farmers are these?”
“Warrior farmers, the kind we’re going to need to defend the land when the time comes for us to have to defend what’s ours.”
“I still don’t think the President is going to attack us. I think he’ll look at the chess board and fold. He won’t want to commit the rest of the nation to a costly, bloody war.”
“Sir, it isn’t his blood which will be spilled. He doesn’t care about the military. The officers I’ve spoken with seem to think he’d like getting rid of most of the military. Once he does, he won’t have to worry about them going against him, there’s been rumors of the military pulling a coup for a long time.”
“They wouldn’t, he’s replaced the majority of the most senior officers with ones who are loyal only to him. They’ll give the orders to attack without thinking about it. They won’t care, they’ll be safe inside the Pentagon.”
“Maybe the General can figure a way to get to them in the Pentagon. If we could dispose of the senior officers, the rest may side with us, or at least not attack us. If they only stand down, we’ll win.”
“I’ll ask him. It’s a thought. It could be a hell of a task trying to break into the Pentagon. I’m sure they have it well defended.”
“I’m not so sure. I think the president doesn’t take us seriously, he thinks we’re no more than the South of the Civil War. He thinks we’re nothing but a bunch of Bible thumping, gun loving morons. He’s going to be sorry he never took us seriously. Someone wearing the right uniform with the correct ID should be able to just walk right in the front door.”
“Sir, everyone going into the building has to go through a metal detector. We won’t be able to bring a weapon into the building.”
“I’m sure they have armories in the Pentagon. They’d need them in case of a terrorist attack. Maybe we should very seriously look into an attack on the Pentagon.”
They rode in silence until they reached Jay’s gate. They are surprised when the gate opened as they approached it. They see a large sign posted on the lawn,
“KEEP OFF, LIVE MINE FIELD.”
“I guess you weren’t kidding about the mines or they’re good at making signs.”
“I don’t think they’re joking. Sir, look, there’s a group of people in front of us. That must be our reception committee.”
“Do you see the General there?”
“Yes, he’s standing next to an Army officer and two men and a woman, one who must be the Jay and his wife, Lacy.”
“Let’s go and meet them, make sure our embedded reporter gets some good pictures.”
The SUV doors open, the CoS exits first, he opens the Governor’s door. The Governor stands up; he waves to the reporters who are recording the visit. He thinks this will make good images for my campaign. We’ll Photoshop crops in the fields to make it look like I’m visiting a productive farm; the people will love it. I’m personally working to get them food.
General Arthur steps forwards,
“Mr. Governor, may I present Mr. and Mrs. Jay Tolson?”
“Jay, Lacy, I’m very pleased to meet you. You have a very impressive looking castle. I’ll have to say, it’s the first one in the state I’ve visited. In fact, it may be the only one in the state.”
Jay and Lacy smile, Jay says,
“Mr. Governor, welcome to our little farm. We’re honored to have you. Would you like to come inside or take the fifty cent tour?”
“I think I’d like to take the tour first. I’ve been sitting long enough.”
“Good, if you don’t mind, I asked General Arthur and Captain Black to join us.”
“General, Captain, thank you.”
The group begins their tour of the area led by Jay, Lacy and Fred. The Governor looks at his feet as they kick up the dried dust.
“I see you’re suffering from a lack of rain.”
Jay frowns, “Mr. Governor, yes, none of us understand why. It hasn’t rained here for a couple of months. It’s rained around us, just not over us. Do you happen to know how to make it rain?”
“What about irrigation?”
“We don’t have enough pumps and pipes to handle the entire farm. We’ve got a few hundred acres irrigated, we can’t get all of the fields watered. We’ll show you what we have irrigated and the land next a small lake.”
“Are you going to show me your famous shelter?”
Jay pauses mid-step.
“Mr. Governor, I thought we’d hold that for later.”
The Governor nods his head, not liking what he just heard. “Lead on.”
Jay leans over, he taps Lacy on her shoulder, he bends down to whisper in her ear, “Robin.” She nods in agreement at the code word which means be on high alert, Jay doesn’t trust the Governor’s motives. Jay leads the Governor and his advisors to a line of SUVs lined up behind the castle. Jay holds the passenger door open for the Governor.
“Mr. Governor, after you.”
“Thank you. Where are we going?”
“You asked for the full fifty cent tour, the only way to accomplish your wish is by vehicle. The lake is a little over three miles away, plus, there’s the land across the street. The Governor nods climbing in the SUV. He notices the thick glass and heavy door. Jay smiles, “Armored. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
