“Colonel, you know how this works. I need information from you, and I don’t want to waste time with all of that name rank and serial number nonsense. A year ago, we would have been working together in the same Army. Let’s just dispense with the formalities and get right to the point. What was the purpose of this jump?”
The colonel looked defiant for about thirty seconds, and then must have realized he was caught and did not have much of a chance for escape. “What assurances do I have from you that if I talk, I won’t be sent back to the Homeland troops to be killed?”
“I have no intentions of sending anyone back to Homeland, and I have no intentions of harming people who cooperate with me.”
The colonel pondered Carters words for a minute or two, then answered. “We were supposed to be backup for a small team of men who were going to kill your general. Once the general was dead, the rest of us were supposed to hold the base to use for Homeland troops.”
“Who were the men who were going to kill the general?” asked Carter, suspecting he already knew the answer.
“The six men that were shot in the field. They were a special death squad who carried out specific assassinations for Homeland command.”
“Why were there so many troops injured or killed in the drop?”
“Most of us were forced to go, and many of the men, especially the UN troops, had never jumped before. They got a two-minute class once we were on the planes, but that was really not enough. Most of them had to be pushed out of the plane. I’m surprised there were not more injuries.”
“Were the UN troops willing to engage with us?”
“No, just the opposite. Most of them were here because they were promised land and gold if they defeated you. They were forced onto the planes at gunpoint.”
“Who is calling the shots at Homeland command?”
“It is a cluster of people- and I use the word cluster intentionally. General Bates is the military officer in charge, but there are a couple of politicians who are also giving orders, even though they know nothing about military strategy and tactics. They spend a lot of time arguing about their next move, and then General Bates ignores them and does what he wants. It is almost a free-for-all at times.”
“How do you know so much about what is going on at Command?” asked Carter suspiciously.
“Look, I was a staff sergeant working as a radio operator at command headquarters. When this plot was hatched, one of the senators said I looked like a good commander and promoted me to colonel and put me in charge of all these men. I don’t know what in the world I am doing here. All I want is to go back to Montana to my wife and kids. I wish I never got involved in this mess.”
“Why did you stay with Homeland when so many other members of the military did not?”
“I was stuck. I was one of General Bates’ radiomen before and he liked me. I did try to get away, but my escape was foiled when one of the guys got caught. Thankfully, he did not give the rest of us away, but I knew if I tried to leave, Bates is crazy enough to come after me. So, I stayed.”
“Tell me about the politicians with Bates. I expect they are all Democrats, right?”
“Actually sir, that is not true. There are a couple of Republican senators who not only agreed with this whole fiasco, but they took part in carrying it out. They called themselves old guard republicans who did not like the current president and didn’t agree with the way he was doing things.” The ‘Colonel’ went on to share the names of the politicians who were involved, and Carter could feel himself getting angry.
“What else do these radicals have planned?” Carter asked.
“I don’t know. There was no backup plan if this failed – at least not that I know about. I know that they do not have access to the nuclear arsenal – it was a fluke that Bates had the one missile he used on Bragg. I also know they have been in cahoots with China. China set off the EMP in exchange for California. It makes my blood boil that those politicians would just hand over so many Americans to the Chinese.” Carter silently agreed with the staff sergeant.
“Okay, Colonel or Sergeant or whatever… I am going to return you to your men, but we will be talking again.”
Three hours later, Carter, Sammy and Mac were sitting in Mac’s office. Carter had finished reporting the results of his interrogations to the two generals. Mac had taken copious notes to report to the joint chiefs. The men were struggling with what to do with close to three hundred prisoners. The three men were silently thinking, when Sammy had an idea.
“Why don’t we decide which ones are UN and which ones are American. We can deport the UN ones back to wherever they came from. Then, maybe we can send the American troops to Leavenworth to stand trial.”
Carter nodded in agreement, but then asked, “What about those troops who wanted to leave but were forced?”
Mac answered, “I see where you are going with this, Carter, but let’s let the folks at Leavenworth decide that. Besides, it will be easier for your staff sergeant to get home to Montana from Leavenworth than from here.”
Carter shook his head and smiled. “You can always see through me, Mac.”
Mac grinned and responded, “Yes, that’s why I have four stars and you only have one. I’m going to go report all of this to the Joint Chiefs.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The night after the paratrooper invasion, Jer, Sue, Jeff, and Bill were on patrol on the north side of the farm. The night had been quiet so far, and the four were about to stop and eat dinner when they heard a faint rustling in the leaves somewhere ahead of them. They proceeded slowly with rifles up and ready. Up ahead was a clearing and soon they could hear a soft murmur of conversation. As they approached the clearing, they saw three men sitting on the ground. Two were eating, and one was writing in a small notebook. They were all in uniform, but it was not the familiar multicam they were used to seeing. In addition, two of the three men had light blue berets, while the third had a light blue helmet. The men looked tired and dirty, as though they had been traveling for a long time. One of the men had his arm in a makeshift sling. Bill quickly stepped through the leaves and shouted, “Put your hands up!” The men looked startled, and then quickly raised their hands. Jer, Sue, and Jeff came through the brush and formed a circle, pointing their rifles at the surprised men. The man who was writing in the notebook looked at Bill and said in heavily accented English,
“Please do not shoot us. We mean you no harm.”
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Bill asked.
“We were with the UN forces, but we left them. What we were being asked to do was wrong, and so the three of us decided to leave. The only reason we signed up with the UN was that we wanted to come to America.”
Bill nodded to Jeff. “Jeff, search them and remove any weapons. The rest of you stand fast.” Jeff quickly stripped the three men of rifles, knives and handguns. He also put their packs out of reach of the men. Bill spoke quietly into his radio, and then turned back to the three men. “You can put your hands down but keep them where I can see them. You move, and we shoot. Now tell us who you are and where you’re from and why you are sneaking around in our woods.”
The same man responded. “My name is Gunther Wendt. I was a sergeant in the German army. The man on my left is Jürgen Hambrecht. He was a corporal. The other man is Wilhelm Weber. He, too, was a corporal. Now we are deserters from the UN and we are …I don’t know the English word. Asylbewerber.”
Jeff answered, “You are looking for asylum, is that correct?”
“Yes,” answered Gunther. “Sie sprechen Deutsch?”
Bill quickly jumped in. “English, please. Yes, he does speak German, so be careful what you say to each other. I have called for assistance from our local military unit. They will be here shortly and will want to ask you questions.” The men suddenly looked panicked and terrified.
“No, please, just shoot us now. The military will torture us and kill us anyway when they run out of questions. Please, we just
want to live in peace. Please do not turn us over to the military authorities.” Gunther was shaking, and his face had become very pale. Bill had no doubt that all three men were scared out of their wits.
“I don’t know why you would say that. Our troops do not hurt peaceful people. If you give them any reason to think you are not peaceful, that is different, but the troops we work with are good men.” Bill shook his head, perplexed at why these men would expect torture and death from American troops.
“When we were with the UN forces, we watched as Americans picked up strangers. They did awful things to get them to talk, and after they gave up all their information, they were shot. Please, we do not want that to happen to us.”
“Are you sure they were American soldiers?”
“They were part of your Homeland Security force. They even threatened UN forces that if we did not do what we were told, the same would happen to us.”
“The soldiers who are on their way are not part of the Homeland force, and they will not harm you unless you act like the enemy.” Just then, Bill heard people approaching through the brush. He indicated to Jer to see who was coming and Jer reported it was Mark, Scooter, and Jimbo. As soon as the prisoners saw the oak leaf on Mark’s collar, they stood up at attention and saluted. Mark returned their salute and indicated for them to sit.
“I am Major Schmidt, and I am the commanding officer of this area. Who are you?” Gunther repeated the same story he told Bill, introducing the other two men. “How many others are with you?”
“We are by ourselves. We did not want to stay with those people. They were cruel, and we could not do some of the things they told us to do. They wanted us to take people’s food and shoot them if they did not give it to us. That was not a good thing to do.” Mark looked intensely at all three men. Each man looked as though he was about to faint under Mark’s scrutiny. Finally, Mark relaxed and called Jimbo. “Zip tie their hands and we will take them back to my office for more questioning.”
He then turned back to the men. “Your belongings will be returned to you if I find you are telling the truth. Are any of you sick or injured?” Gunther shook his head. “Wilhelm broke his arm when we landed, but other than that, sir, we are tired and hungry, but we are in good health.” Each of the men cooperated as their hands were secured, and then the entire group headed back to the RV Mark was using as an office. Jer and Jeff picked up the men’s packs and weapons and carried them back.
Mark called me on the radio and had me meet him at his office. He said I should bring my German dictionary if I needed one. That had me very curious. I assumed he needed me to translate something, but he was very cryptic on the radio. When I got to his office, I was very surprised to see three men with their hands zip tied. Mark introduced me to the men as Major Armstrong. I gave him a quick look and he nodded at me. He explained that the men were German soldiers serving with the UN forces, and only one spoke English. He wanted me to be sure the other men understood what was being said, and that they were not trying to communicate with each other in German. I was grateful for my time in Landstuhl and that I tried to keep up with my language skills over the years. Mark explained he would ask the question in English and I would translate if they did not understand.
“Where were you born?”
I repeated in German, “Wo bist Du geboren?”
Jürgen replied “Ich wurde in Bad Lauterberg geboren - in 1995.” Mark looked at Wilhelm and he answered “ich auch - 1996.” He then looked at Gunther. “Same question.” Gunther answered,
“I was born in Bad Sachsa in 1994. Bad Sachsa is only a few kilometers from Bad Lauterberg. We were all friends as children and joined the army together.”
“Next question. What were you doing in the forest?”
I repeated, “Was hast du im Wald gemacht?”
Gunther answered, “We explained to the other man. We left our assignments because we could not do the things the Americans were telling us to do. We came here to help, not to hurt people. They were monsters. We made plans to desert when they told us we were parachuting in. None of us every jumped before, but it made sense that we could control our direction by pulling on the strings, and so we intentionally veered away from the other troops. Unfortunately, Wilhelm hit a tree branch on the way down and hurt his arm.”
As the conversation went on, it was easy to see the men relaxing under Mark’s calm and firm but friendly questioning. Soon Mark had each man’s life story, right up until they volunteered for the UN assignment. Their stories were very similar to what was experienced in the United States. When our economy collapsed, the economies all over the world also collapsed. In Germany, there were riots, food shortages, and other violent events just like here. Jürgen’s parents had been killed in an accident about a year before the collapse. Wilhelm’s father died of a heart attack right after he was born, and his mother and older sister were killed in a home invasion right after the collapse started. Gunther was an orphan who was raised by elderly grandparents. He was told his grandparents were killed when their house was burned down during the winter.
“Why did you volunteer?” he asked.
“We were told that if we volunteered to come here and help America get their traitors under control, when the war was over, they would give us each a piece of land and let us stay here, plus they would pay us in gold. Since we really did not have anything to hold us to Germany, it sounded like a good way to get a fresh start in life.”
“If we were to let you settle here, what could we expect from you?”
“We would be loyal to you and to this country. We just want to be able to live in peace, to have an opportunity to maybe someday raise families, to have a place to call home. Germany is not home any more. We have some skills we would be happy to share, and we would do our part to help your recovery efforts.”
“And what would you expect from us?”
“We would hope to be allowed to live as free men, but we would not expect anything except a chance to earn our place.”
“What can you tell us about what the UN is planning?”
Gunther paused and thought. “I am not sure what they are planning. We were told we were coming here to help protect America from a renegade president and his radical supporters. We were all promised if we wanted to stay we could, and we would be given the land and gold as I already said. But when we got here, we found out the renegades were actually the people who are trying to take over this country. They told us they wanted us to help the citizens, but everything they told us to do was harmful. There are some leaders in the UN forces who agree with the American Homeland troops. Most of the UN soldiers, though, are like us and do not agree.”
Mark asked a few more tactical questions about locations of various headquarters and troops. Finally, when he had the information he was looking for, he told the men they would be held under guard until he was able to validate their information.
“I’m not going to keep you as prisoners if what you told me is true. Until then, you will stay in this RV and I will post guards outside. You can relax, clean up, and I will send some dinner over for you. I will also send a doctor over to look at your arm.” The three men looked very surprised. Mark continued, “I regret your experience with the thugs in the Homeland forces. They do not represent the American military. We do not shoot people for not giving up food. We don’t take people’s food. In fact, we work hard to try to take care of the citizens of this country. I’m going to go check out your information, and I will be back.”
Mark and I left the men sitting in the living room of the RV. As we stepped out, I noticed four guards outside the RV, two by the main door and two around back by the rear door. Mark saw me looking at the guards.
“I believe these guys, and I think they could possibly be good members of our community if their story checks out. Of course, I’m not about to let them loose until I check out the information they gave us. I’m pretty sure the General will want to talk to them, too. Thanks for your translati
on services, by the way.”
“You are most welcome,” I answered. “I was wondering about that. As much time as you spent in Germany, I would think you spoke enough German to interrogate them.”
Mark laughed. “I don’t want them to know I understand them. I have a microphone in the trailer recording their conversation. That will help me decide what to do with them.”
I grinned at his deviousness. “Would you consider letting them live at Whispering Willows?”
Mark grinned back. “That’s exactly what I was considering, but it all depends on if their story checks out and if the folks at Whispering Willows agree.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Two days after the landing, General McPherson called all of his command officers to the big conference room. Mark, Tom, and I were also invited to the meeting. I was pretty nervous, as I knew whatever it was the general was going to tell us must be pretty serious to include Tom and me. General McPherson entered the room, followed by Sammy and Carter. Once everyone had taken their seats, General McPherson stood up in front of the room.
“Thank you all for being here this morning. Things have been pretty crazy here for the last couple of days, but I have news to share with all of you. It seems a lot has been going on while we’ve just been sitting around here.” There were a few nervous chuckles, and the general continued. “First of all, the UN is withdrawing all troops. It seems they got wind of their troops being forced onto the planes at gunpoint without proper jump training, and they are angry. Our navy is overseeing the complete evacuation of the UN from the east coast. That includes all of the staff of the UN in New York that did not comply with the President’s demands last year that they leave. When the Homeland planes landed back in Washington, most of them still full of troops, General Bates met the planes at the airport. He was screaming at the men and calling them cowards. One of the UN troops shot him and was then shot by the military policemen with Bates. With Bates dead, the troops in Virginia were in limbo. The politicians kept issuing orders to the troops that just did not make any sense. Half the Homeland troops holding the line in Virginia just walked away. Some joined the Patriot lines, and some just walked off. Our Rangers and the militias in that area were able to take advantage of the confusion among the Homeland troops and attacked. They basically wiped them out. We now have Rangers in Washington and moving up the coast cleaning up the mess. The traitors holding the President were overcome, and our President is now free. There is still sporadic fighting going on in pockets around the east coast, but the command and control elements of Homeland have been captured or eliminated.”
Premonitions: Book 2: War Page 16
