by A J Newman
“What about Beth and the kids?”
“I’m taking them with me.”
“Well I can’t say that I’m not jealous, but actually I like this job. Damn John, we’re not getting any younger, and this killing thugs is a young man’s game.”
“Gus, I’m the right man at the right time. I promise that this will be conducted quickly, efficiently and bring to justice the people who betrayed our country. The villains will know me as the man called death. That holds a special truth for those who nuked Mobile. You just let me know who, and I’ll take it from there.”
***
USS GW BUSH
The Gulf of Mexico
“John, I expected this to happen. I know that you did not want the job and took it to help your country. George will do a great job, but who will become the Vice President? I want to avoid a general election until we get the country stabilized. Sally would have been great, after that, I’m just not sure. Scott will be a major leader one day, but he’s not ready yet. My son Bob is ready, but hates politics as much as you do,” said the Admiral.
“I have given this a lot of thought, and I strongly support Jack Mills. He has the military and organizational skills needed, and is very good at making friends and influencing the regular people in this country.”
“Damn John, I’m ashamed that I didn’t think of General Mills. I guess I was trying to think only of civilians. Great choice. Brad!”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Get General Mills in to see me ASAP. Send a plane and bring him here now.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“George, you’ve been danged quiet. If you have any reservations, I’d like to hear ‘em.”
“Only two; First, our people will be fearful of any change, so we need to craft a positive message and have a smooth transition of power. Second, will the USA use this in any way to undermine our country?”
“The USA will try to use it to spread fear. We’ll spread the good news and the truth.”
They all agreed to put an action plan together before the change was announced beyond the Admiral and the Joint Chiefs.
“Gus, set up a briefing for the General Staff report. I think it’s time to start a slow shift of actual power to civilian leadership.
I plan to transition all military power to civilian control over the next five years or so.
John, you will report to Bob. He is only a two star, so you only get to wear one star, but the good news is that you will have the Kentucky/Tennessee area as your first responsibility.
You will also have the ISA Army Rangers reporting to you. Groom Scott well. He will probably take George’s job sometime in the future.”
“Admiral, I agree, and I am prepared to serve as a humble Brigadier General of the Army.”
There were multiple “Bullshits,” heard all around the table.”
George spoke up, “Admiral, Gus and I will try to keep John under control, but the best way to control John is to turn him loose in the Nashville area to shore up our border defenses. Then he can begin hunting down the murderers that betrayed our country.”
“That should keep him out of trouble for a week or so. Chasing down the traitors will mean incursions into the USA. There will be blowback. So, be prepared for full-scale attacks if you kill or arrest a major leader from the USA. John, I’m going to move the 69th Armored Brigade to your control. That’ll give you a pretty big backup, along with the 2 Divisions already dispatched.”
Gus spoke up, “Admiral I agree with adding the protection but that’s the experimental rail gun group. Won’t that just invite attempts to capture our technology?”
“Yes, it will, and we will set the trap to catch the mice.”
Shaking his head, John said, “Admiral, with all due respect, give that task a 2 star. That’s the slot. It is not for a lowly Brigadier to command a division.
What I need is a Squadron of the 4th Cavalry, McKenzie’s Raiders. Please, sir, give me the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cav. and we’ll clean the border areas up.”
The Admiral smiled, and said, “Oh, all right. Take your danged 4th Cav. and git ‘er dun!”
“Admiral, I thank you, it is just what I need. Oh, I have your word I can have a Cavalry Squadron?”
“I said so, didn’t I, General?”
“Yes, sir, you surely did. I really appreciate the fact that you did not reduce me in grade to the slotted Colonel’s rank. I’ll be the only General commanding a Squadron,” snickered John.
Smiling, Admiral Jones said, “Oh, good grief. You still get the 69th.”
Changing the subject, he said, “George, I almost forgot, what do you intend to do with Mobile when you move the capitol.”
George spoke up, “Ann will continue to be the Mayor of the area that’s not radioactive. We will have the Compound to serve as the Territory Headquarters until Steve gets back from Wyoming and decides when he wants to move it further north.”
“Good, as you know our military factories were southwest of Mobile and weren’t harmed by the attack. I just wanted to make sure that you draw in more people to man them. We may decide to move them inland at a later date, but right now we need to keep them in full operation.”
“How the hell do we announce this to the country?”
***
President’s Quarters
The Compound
“I knew this was coming from the first week of our stay in Wyoming. You enjoy getting out on the field, kicking ass and taking names, no wait, you don’t take many names, do you? John, what will you do when the bad guys are all dead?”
“I think that even if I have a long life, I won’t live to see the last of the bad guys. So you’re okay with me resigning and heading up to Tennessee?”
“Hell no, I’m not okay with it, but I do understand, and I have given up trying to stop you. In fact, I wish I was going with you, but I won’t come up there until you have cleared the Smyrna area, have a large presence there, and it’s safe for the kids and me.”
“I’ll quickly make that happen. Darlin’, I want a safer location for our capital. I’m looking at Smyrna for it. We can help those people formally join the ISA and get the area back into, at least the 19th Century.”
“Can my family transfer back there?”
“Yes, I’ll be giving Gus a list of the people that I want on my team and all of them will make a list along with some other strong individuals. Make sure that I don’t miss anyone.”
“I can’t persuade you to stay President? I like being the First Lady.”
“You’ll always be my first lady.”
✪
Chapter 5
Heading North
Meeteese, Colorado
2022
Colorado
They snuck in at dusk and were in position as the town folk lit their lamps. The small town appeared to have only about a hundred people, and there was a roadblock across the road. Three men were manning the roadblock, two appeared to be asleep, and the other was reading a book.
Joan led an advanced scouting party to check out the town while the main group made camp a few miles southeast on Highway 120. As darkness replaced the light, a spiral arm of the Milky Way looked down upon the tragedy. The starlight night held more stars than any American had seen for over a hundred years. Joan felt a chill, soon replaced by grim determination.
She sent Tony’s squad to scout the west side of the city along the Greybull River and Maria’s to scout the east side. Her team was observing from positions along Highway 120 south of the town.
They saw several armed guards on horseback patrolling inside the town and only one older truck that appeared to be hauling something from one end of town to the other.
Joan addressed her team, “Amit come with me. Jack, take Ziva to infiltrate the town, find some locals and get the scoop on any bad guys in the area. Don’t hurt them unless you are threatened.”
They all had night vision goggles, black uniforms and face paint, which made them nearly invisi
ble in the dark night.
It had been a clear, cool day and all of the houses had their windows open hoping to catch the breeze. Joan and Amit stopped and listened at several windows and heard everything from local gossip to pillow talk until the fifth house.
There were a large group of people meeting at the house, and they had a person watching the street from the bushes in front of the house. Joan and Amit crawled up to the dining room window and listened.
“That’s too dangerous. We have plenty of people, but only three guns for all of us. They have almost thirty fighting men and an equal number of women, scum, just like the men.”
“We can kill the guards at the roadblocks and take their weapons. Then we can kill as many as possible in their sleep.”
“You mean that you won’t give them a chance to surrender?”
“Hell, no! They are raping our women and girls; they kill anyone who gets out of line and take most of the food for themselves. Besides, we do not have any jails to keep them. We simply don’t have the manpower.”
“It doesn’t matter; we don’t have enough guns to put up a fight. We could make some pipe bombs. I’m sure that I can get what I need from the pharmacy.”
“Now you’re talking. Zeb, make as many as you can before next week’s meeting.”
Amit poked Joan in the side and pointed at three men sneaking up on the house from the back yard. One of them was a guard from the roadblock. It was obvious that they were trying to catch these people plotting against them.
Joan pointed at them and made a slashing motion across her throat. They circled back around and came up behind the men who had spread out along the back of the house.
Joan caught one trying to sneak around the back corner, grabbed him from behind, placed a hand over his mouth and sliced his jugular vein. He dropped to the ground just as Amit killed her second stalker. Joan saw her kill the two men swiftly without a more than a whispering gurgle. She was like a ghost with a knife.
“Joan, there have to be more attacking from the front.”
They moved to the front corner of the house and saw two more men hiding behind a car. They apparently were waiting for a signal from the others before rushing the house.
This time Amit made the slashing signal, and they went to work. Both men were dead a moment later.
Joan keyed the microphone and told the team, “This town is being held captive by some very bad people. Therefore, I am changing the mission.
There are only about thirty of the enemy, and we just killed five of them. There must be six to nine at the roadblocks, and the rest are asleep. Kill the ones at the roadblock and bring all of the guns to my location at the corner of Third and Elm.”
“Come on Amit, let’s crash this party. Cover the back door while I go in and talk with these folks.”
Joan walked up behind the man guarding the front of the house. She placed her hand over his mouth and held her blade just a couple of inches in front of his eyes.
She said, “Stay calm, I’m here to help you. My friend has a gun aimed at you so do not try anything as I remove my hand. The gang was about to bust up your little meeting, and we killed all of them. Are you going to make any noise?”
The hapless guard vigorously shook his head from side to side.
He relaxed and walked with Joan. He saw the dead men in the back yard and said, “Who are you?”
“We’re the good guys from the ISA. Let’s go in and talk with your friends.”
He walked through the door, and a man greeted him with, “Paul, you’re supposed to be…..…Hey, what the…..…”
“Whoa, hold it, this is a friend. She killed several of the gang. They were about to raid our meeting. They’re here to help us.”
“How did a woman kill several men?”
“Amit walked in from the back door and said, “She killed two, and I killed three.”
“What do you want, and why are you pointing those guns at us if you’re here to help us?”
Joan answered, “My team is killing all the guards at the roadblocks. We need you to help us get rid of the others. Do you know where we can find them?”
“Yes, we were planning to try to get rid of them. Can we help finish the job?”
“Yes, my team is bringing the guns from the roadblock guards. Someone needs to get the guns from the guards that we just killed. They each had a pistol and a rifle.”
The raids were successful, and 15 more men and 13 women gang members died in the shootout at the leader’s house. Nine more, including the leader, were captured.
They were hung from street lights.
The town woke up to a new world. They were free for the first time in two years. It turned out that there really was no gang.
Paul told Joan, “This wasn’t a gang that rode into town and took over. One of the town’s long-term police officers decided that he knew better about what the town needed, killed the Sheriff and took control.
Some of his friends joined him, and they became more and more ruthless and tightened their grip on the citizens. It was not long before they were terrorizing the people, taking food, alcohol, and drugs for themselves. The town hit rock bottom when they made slaves out of some of the young girls and others.”
Joan replied, “Elect a leader or town council and be prepared to meet with Major Harris this afternoon. He will explain to you that Wyoming is now in the ISA and Meeteese falls under our protection.
We’ll give you supplies, arms and any medical care that you may need. We need intelligence on the cities around the area, especially, info on Cody.”
The meeting leader said, “We’ve heard that Cody is doing better than anywhere around this area. Deputy Allen was afraid that they might come down here and run him and his so-called deputies off.
The rumor is that some military types came to town and helped them kill or run off all of the criminals and thugs. They have cleared out the area north and east of Cody for 50 miles. They even have a couple of planes flying around the area.”
“Sounds like John has been a busy boy.
“Are those your men?”
“Yes, men and women, one of our planes crashed around this area, six of our people survived and helped Cody.”
“Only six?”
“One would have been enough. We are all highly trained, and we provide training for our citizens to protect themselves.”
“Women also?”
“Yes, everyone above 14 years old gets trained and armed. We don’t have crime in our cities, and the gangs tend to when they learn the ISA doesn’t tolerate their crap.”
***
Scott’s Conference Room
Wyoming
“So, you and Amit captured a city by yourselves?”
“No, my whole team contributed to the effort. We just got the ball rolling. Sorry that I expanded the mission, but we couldn’t let those people be slaughtered by those gorillas.”
“I agree. Y’all went the extra mile, and I know these people will be thanking you for a long time.
Now, on a more personal note, girl you are one sexy killing machine. Three years ago, I’d never thought my wife would be in this line of work.”
“Damn Scott, three years ago I just hoped that you’d finally ask me to marry you, and the most strenuous thing to happen would be a round of tennis on the weekend.”
“And I thought that I’d eventually manage one of Dad’s body shops. Oh by the way, and this is top secret. Dad is resigning at the end of the month. George will become President. Dad intends to get back in the field. This visit to Wyoming made him long for more action, and, according to him, less paperwork.”
“Oh crap. Does Beth Know?”
“Yes.”
“And…”
And, I don’t know. I hope Dad or Gus fills me in. Dad called me this morning but gave no detail other than he wants to focus on hunting down traitors and killing those snakes that prey on the weak, or unprepared. Darling, I want to join him. What do you think?”
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“Where ever you go I go. I assume my command will go also?”
***
Cody, Wyoming
Steve was meeting with the City Council of Cody, Wyoming discussing their monthly results on security, crops, town improvements and the pacification of the surrounding area.
They had over 30 older cars and trucks running along with two dozen tractors. There were over 400 acres of crops in the field, and they continued to add to their livestock daily through round ups.
They had over 50 head of Buffalo along with the normal, cattle, hogs and chickens. They had cleared the areas west, north and east of Cody of all gangs and criminals for over fifty miles, and were now going to focus on the areas south of Cody.
Steve listened to the men struggling with the idea of sending their people out to hunt down dangerous killers. Several just wanted to hold on to what they had and to stop moving their boundary out.
Steve had enough and said, “I’ve listened to this long enough, “If you give in to this cautious approach, you will only live long enough to regret it.
You have to keep widening your area of protection until there are no gangs out there. If not, they will come in and attack you. Kill them first.”
Steve was just getting torqued up when they all heard a sound that was getting louder and louder. Steve recognized the wop, wop, wop sound of a helicopter approaching from the south. They all ran outside and saw it hover over the airport.
One of the security team had been watching it arrive and yelled, “It’s marked with a big ISA on both sides.”
Steve told Joe, Imelda and Janet to take cover closer to the chopper with their rifles and to make sure that it wasn’t the Chosen People or a USA force trying to fool them.
Steve, the Mayor, and the Police Chief traveled closer to the airport as they watched two more helicopters advance towards the airport. Two were Apaches, and the other was a Blackhawk.
