Patriots Awakening

by R. M. Strauhs

  A large smile appeared on Stephan’s face, and then he chuckled. “Would you believe this place had been confiscated by D.E.A from a big time drug runner? Blake heard about the government auction and once there he gained the confidence of a D.E.A employee. Christ, the bastard who built this place had tried to take over a few drug cartels, and things were mighty hot for him. He needed this hidey hole for protection from the drug lords and the D.E.A. He was some kind of a screwball who loved to make videos. Evidently, he brought truckloads of people from Mexico to dig all this and build everything. The last video was of him and his two henchmen gunning down about two hundred people with automatic weapons. The greedy bastard simply murdered the people who built all this. We eventually found what was left of their bones back up the mountain a ways. For the most part, animals had gotten rid of the evidence. The story doesn’t end there. The dealer’s second in command saw a good deal and decided he wanted it all for himself. He blew his boss and the rest of the gang members away. He figured he could squirrel himself down here for a couple years . . . with the millions in cash . . . until the heat was off. The D.E.A. was smarter than he was. Blake had our investment money and immediately bought this place. He soon moved Alice and the kids out here to live full time. Alice had bugged him for some time about living in the city and how dangerous it was for the kids, so she welcomed the chance. It all worked out for our good.”

  “Damn sick people.” Parker then asked his nephew, “What about the doors with combinations? How did you ever get past them?”

  “Wes knew of a locksmith at Bragg.” Stephan explained, “The damned guy was an ex-safe cracker the government hired, because he was so good. We took pictures of the dials, and he told us exactly how to find the right combinations. Turns out all the doors use the same one. Guess our friendly drug runner had a bad memory and only wanted one set of numbers to remember. That’s the story of how we happened to have this first class bunker available. Now, I have to tell you about some crimes we committed.”

  Burt Logan refilled their cups and said, “You have to understand, Colonel, any crimes your nephew and the others might have committed are because they are good, patriotic Americans.”

  Parker leaned back and smiled. “I already know what you’re going to say. That you’ve been loading this place with assorted supplies and weapons, compliments of the Army.”

  Stephan grinned rather sheepishly and said, “Yes, and more. We’ve installed a highly sophisticated alarm and sentry system around the property and in the house. Let me show you our control room.”

  Parker followed Stephan across the large room but stopped at a thick safe door, which stood slightly ajar. When they entered the small room, Parker stared in disbelief and whistled. “Good Lord! This looks like a damned control center on a battleship.”

  “Probably as sophisticated and complete, Uncle.” Stephan swept his arm around the room. “Everything from satellite uplinks to a short wave radio. We can pick up television from about every country in the world and listen to short wave from around the globe. You name it and we likely have the stuff here to do it. This unit is a command set for this complex. All those screens are not only connected to television sentries, but infrared sensors and night vision cameras. We have thirty swiveling auto-machine guns around the perimeter that can be controlled from here or from the house or barn. We have ten portable controls that can operate this control console from a remote location.”

  The Colonel shook his head. “And, all of this compliments of the taxpayers?”

  Stephan acted like the boy caught with his hand in the wrong place by a protective father. “Well, mostly. Some of it we had to purchase.”

  “Bought what you couldn’t manage to steal, huh?” The Colonel smiled slightly. “How did you manage to take the military items?”

  “Simple. When a shipment of guns was being sent to some Anti-Government group in countries such as Iran or Zimbabwe; one box didn’t make it to the delivery. Let me show you the rest of it, then we’ll go back and sit down so Burt can lay out for you the reasons we’ve done all this.”

  ~~~

  In the next hour, Parker learned the true extent of the complex, and was amazed at its size and the amount of supplies and arms his nephew and his partners in crime had laid in. When they returned to the main room, Burt had a stack of papers laying on the coffee table and a new pot of coffee.

  “Colonel Parker, these are files on about five percent of the information we’ve gathered on people in our government that seem to be dead set on destroying our country. I know that’s a huge accusation to make, but read these. The reason I picked these files is because in your position, they are the ones you can easily check out yourself. Each action these people have taken is, by itself, not real suspicious. That’s what they intend. But when you connect the dots between their actions on different bills they vote for or against, or amendments they tacked onto other bills, they begin to look suspicious. Add to that their actual travel itineraries, you’ll see exactly what I mean. But, Colonel, you can go even further. Check the public records on their campaign funds and notice the companies the contributors work for. Then follow who that company is a subsidiary of. Finally check to see who owns that company. You put all that together, and look at their legislative actions, tied to their contributors, tied to their travels, tied to their acquaintances; you’ll see the pattern that has us worried.” Burt lit a cigarette before continuing.

  “The list of Senators and Representatives Stephan told you about is there. When you look at each of them separately, you will soon see the ties between them; the same friends, the same contributors, the same travel destinations. Worst of all, there is a list of high-ranking military officers in that information. You’ll find each and every one of the Senators and Representatives just happen to know all of those officers quite well. Let’s say for the sake of argument, that being friends with the same military people is coincidence. But, look at the area of duty for these officers in relation to the contributors and the travels of the Senators and Representatives.”

  Parker asked, “So, what have you and your organization concluded from all this?”

  Burt sat back on the sofa, like the wind had left his sails. He slowly said, “Its bad news. That all the wild eyed theories about people within our government being bought by big money people from all over the world to do their bidding are true. That the wild theories about these wealthy individuals wanting a One World Government - - that they control for their own enrichment - - are true. That the way they will achieve that is by creating a massive scare of nuclear war or something to give them total martial law type power so they can do whatever it takes to gain control. Think about this, Colonel. When a hurricane hits an area, who takes control of everything? Who comes in and directs the military, the local police and the citizens on where to go and what to do etc? Federal Emergency Management. FEMA can tell everyone what to do, and they have to do it. It isn’t even martial law, but they have the power vested in them by an executive order, completely trouncing on the Constitution. Now, perhaps that is the only way when a natural disaster strikes. But what better instrument to use to control the population nationwide, lock them up, if you choose, whatever you want to do. You control the military, you control everything.”

  Burt Logan got a dead serious, yet seemingly painful look on his face. “You know who sits as chairman of that agency? Only Senator Brian Callini, of New York. You’ll find him among those files. He’s one of the twelve Senators. And you will see he knows all the folks the others know.”

  The Colonel turned to Stephan and asked, “Suppose there is a real danger in all this, why are you telling me? I could be part of it.”

  Stephan gave Parker a serious look. “The truth is, Colonel, nothing personal, but we’ve thoroughly checked you out. We’ve kept track of everything you’ve done and everyone you have spoken to in the last six months. You have to understand anyone who learns of what we’ve been doing and informs the wrong person, we’
re all dead. And believe me, that’s not idle speculation.”

  “Why are you telling me all this now?”

  Stephan stood and paced back and forth as he spoke. “Two reasons. First, you’re family, and we want you to have the option of bringing Aunt Evelyn and the girls here if need be. Second, we need your help.” He chuckled slightly and said, “As good a thieves as we are, there is certain equipment we could use . . . but don’t have access to.”

  Now, it was Parker’s turn to stand and walk around the room as he spoke. “What is it you want me to steal?”

  “Not steal, Uncle Russell, deploy.”

  “Deploy?”

  “Yes. We’d like for you to deploy an installation of the QWIX radar on the next mountaintop to the south.”

  Parker whirled around and asked, “What the hell do you know about QWIX?”

  “We know it picks up anything that flies, including stealth planes. We know it immediately shuts itself down if aircraft radar locks on it. We know it then sends out a particle beam at the said craft to destroy its electronics. We know it can be used either manned or unmanned in a remote location.”

  “Just exactly what reason would I give for deploying it, Stephan? Someone would want to know, since it’s so damned top secret. It hasn’t been deployed anywhere yet.”

  Stephan sat back down and poured them a fresh cup of coffee as he answered. “Exactly, Uncle Russell, it needs to be tested in the field. Colorado Springs has an air force base, right? Why not install the unit and have some test flights to try to find its exact location? That would make all the sense in the world.”

  Parker sat down beside him and absent mindedly drank half the cup of coffee in silence. Finally after deep thought, he said, “Tell you what, Stephan; I’ll go over all this information. Then I’ll do what checking I can to verify it. If I see the same conspiracy you and Mister Logan see, I’ll get back to you. Fair enough? I can start reading it on our way back to the ranch. If we’re supposed to be deep sea fishing in the gulf, we’d probably better head back that way in the morning.”

  As they returned to the kitchen, Stephan said one last thing that convinced his uncle they were probably at least partially right about all this. Stephan spoke quietly as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “Uncle Russell, why do you suppose they had your house bugged? Why do you think they are listening to your phone conversations and checking every single piece of paper you send anywhere? And, you can bet the farm they are doing just that. I can tell you why. They know you are a totally dedicated soldier and American. You would never get involved in their schemes as so many other officers have. If you aren’t one of them, you’re the enemy and have to be watched. It’s that simple.”

  ~~~

  On the return trip to Texas, Parker thought about that very thing and had to admit Stephan was right. Why else would they be keeping such close tabs on him? An all but forgotten conference he attended several years earlier made more sense, now. Most of the top military leaders were in attendance when the Secretary of Defense gave a talk about our military forces becoming more closely allied with those from other UN countries. One line kept repeating itself in the Colonel’s mind as they winged across South Texas in the Cessna toward San Angelo.

  “We must accept the fact that our world is becoming much smaller, much more integrated and, thus, we must be prepared to one day fully integrate the world’s militaries to keep the peace.”

  That statement had never really meant a lot to him, nor had he considered it seriously at the time or even thought of it since. Not until now. If all of what Stephan and Burt Logan were telling him was true, then those words were of extreme importance to every soldier’s future.

  ~ 4 ~

  Clark High School, Washington, D.C.

  12:55 PM May 29, 2009

  General Parker had been so engrossed in thinking about how he had gotten involved with Burt Logan years ago he was almost late to the assembly hall to give his talk on military career opportunities. Somehow he made it through the talk, all the while knowing something truly serious was up for Logan to have called his office with an urgent need to meet him face to face. He knew damned well others were listening in to his home and office phone conversations and more than likely, he had been followed to the school and would be followed when he left.

  As he returned to the school cafeteria, he thought back to the flack he’d received for wanting the QWIX radar unit tested at Colorado Springs. His very convincing argument was that it was his men’s lives the radar would be protecting, and the civilian company doing the manufacturing and testing were moving far too slow to prove it would do what they claimed. For all the government knew, the damned thing might not even work. At least, that’s the story he gave them, and it didn’t fly at Command. Of course, the General knew they would watch him even closer now than they had before. He had made the rank of Brigadier General in spite of the QWIX fiasco.

  Burt Logan sat at a table in the corner of the cafeteria but got up and strode out into the hall as Parker walked in, right on time at two o’clock. Logan walked down the hall and entered the boy’s restroom. Walking nonchalantly along the hall, Parker entered the restroom and looked for Logan’s feet in a stall in the otherwise empty bathroom. When he sat down in the next stall, he asked in a whisper, “What’s up?”

  “Some kind of shit is about to hit the fan, General. Look, will you do exactly as I say? Please don’t think I’m being paranoid. You know me too well. I’m going to slip this envelope under the partition. It contains a map, fake credit cards, and driver’s license. Pull your daughter out of class and take her with you and pickup your other daughter from her school. Go home and get your wife and leave the house immediately. Don’t take anything that you wouldn’t normally take with you when you go out to eat dinner. No packed bags or anything. Don’t mention anything to the family in your car or your house. Write them a note. Just get out of the city and go to that place I marked on the map. I’ll be waiting there. You still have the detector to check your car for bugs, don’t you?”

  “It's in the trunk.” Parker whispered.

  “Damn. Look, someone could have screwed with it. Don’t trust it. Somehow get yourself a good rental car. They might have put a locater on yours”

  “What the hell’s happening?” the General asked. His family was now involved and that bothered him.

  “Just get to that place in West Virginia, ASAP.” Logan stood, and without another word hurried out of the stall and out of the restroom.

  ~~~

  A couple minutes later, General Parker left the restroom and went straight to the school office to learn where his daughter would be.

  A few minutes later, he walked out the door of her fifth period math class with his much astonished offspring in tow.

  Her blue eyes widened. “What in the world is going on, Daddy? Why am I leaving school? Is something wrong with Mom?”

  “Your Mom’s fine. I’ll tell you more later. Now, just listen to me and do as I tell you without asking any questions. Absolutely do not say anything about this in the car. Talk to me about anything except me pulling you out of class.” Russell looked around the parking lot and was glad the car was parked at the end so he could talk to his daughter in private. “Soon as we get into the car, take a notebook and a pen from your backpack, and I’ll write a note to excuse Shelly from school.”

  The puzzled girl stopped in her tracks and looked at her father. “We have to go get her too? Dad talk to me.”

  He simply took her hand and led her toward the car. “Yes, we’re going to go by and pick up Shelly. I want you to go in and get her excused with my note. Melissa, it’s very, very important neither of you say anything in the car. Tell Shelly not to be asking any questions. I’ll explain later, but there is a listening device in the car. I don’t want the people who are listening to that device to hear our conversations and to know anything unusual is happening. After we pick up Shelly, I want you to write a note for your mother. In huge let
ters, just write, ‘Don’t say anything. Get your purse and go to the car. Play along with me’. Melissa, do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  The girls were thrilled with playing cloak and dagger. They talked more on that trip home than they normally would, each trying to outdo the other in sounding “normal.”

  Finally, they arrived at their house, and he told them to wait in the car. “I’ll get your mother and we’ll go have a greasy burger, with fries and a large banana split.” With the girls echoing the expected yippee, General Parker left the car and went inside.

  “Where are you, Evelyn?” he called.

  “Back here in the kitchen. What are you doing home early?” She sat a hot apple pie on the counter and turned the oven off. Tucking a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear, she turned, a questioning look in her hazel eyes.

  As he walked toward her, he answered, “Well, I had to give a talk to Melissa’s class about military careers, so thought I’d take the rest of the afternoon off. I also brought the girls home with me. They’re in the car, waiting for us to go get a burger and fries. Told them we’d have a large banana split, too. How does that sound?”

  “I don’t know. It sounds unhealthy to me.”

  He held the note up so that she could read the large print.

  URGENT . . . PLAY ALONG . . . SAY NOTHING THAT MIGHT SOUND SUSPICIOUS . . . GET PURSE . . . LET’S GO.

  Her mouth opened a little from the shock of the note, and there was a scared expression in her eyes. “Well, what the heck. I guess I can afford the calories in a banana split. It isn’t like I’m out looking for a new guy or anything, right? Let me comb my hair and grab my purse from the bedroom.”

  Laughing, he called after her. “Sweetheart, you might want to change your clothes. There’s flour all over your butt.”