“We need to get off this highway. That is an easy way to get unwanted attention.” Nolan told the group.
“Well let’s move then,” Anthony said.
The group walked into the field next to the highway. Nolan instructed them to follow behind him. They were only a half mile from the house. They walked through the cornfield. It was early in the year so the corn wasn’t high but they had the cover of night on their side. They walked for fifteen minutes before they reached the target house. They waited in the brush at the edge of the property. Nolan wanted to make absolutely sure that it wasn’t a trap. If it was then they would abort the mission at once.
“We got movement in the house,” Ian said.
“Let’s move in,” Nolan said.
The team stood and slowly moved towards the house.
Chapter 6
The Missing Secretary
Sarah followed Captain Underwood to the front door of the townhome. It took them a minute to get to the door because Captain Underwood stood behind the garage trying to see into the home. The blinds were closed. The situation felt off to Sarah. They knew there were at least three people inside the house. For all the team knew there could be more in there just waiting to grab them. Sarah’s heart was racing as Captain Underwood stood to approach the door.
“I will go and knock on it. Hang back. If anything happens light the place up.” Captain Underwood instructed.
“But sir, we aren’t supposed to start a fight up here.”
“I know but I am not being taken, prisoner.” Captain Underwood looked at Sarah with a look to say not to disobey him.
“Yes, sir,” Sarah replied.
Captain Underwood left the cover of the garage and marched to the front door. Sarah could tell he seemed nervous. He had his hand on his pistol that was tucked in the small of his back. Sarah had her gun out and pointed at the window. She figured if the attack was going to come it would probably happen there. If not it would happen in front of him. Captain Underwood raised his hand and knocked. Nothing happened. Captain Underwood looked back at Sarah. He knocked again. The door opened and a woman was standing there. Captain Underwood held his gun tighter. Sarah was trying to hear what he was saying. They were talking in low whispers. Sarah was worried. He wasn’t letting go of his gun which meant whatever was being said didn’t make the Captain relax. He started to lessen his grip on his weapon. He looked at Sarah and signaled her. This signal meant it was safe to approach. Sarah kept her gun out but left the cover of the garage to follow behind Captain Underwood.
“Sarah, put your weapon away,” Captain Underwood started. “Get everyone else. We need to get inside.”
Sarah went to the garage and signaled for the team to fall on her position. Steven and Mary left their spots. It was a moment before Sarah could see Orson heading towards her.
“What is going on?” Steven asked as he came next to Sarah.
“Not sure some woman answered the door. Captain talked to her and told me to get everyone.” Sarah explained.
“Who was she?” Mary asked.
“Not sure.”
Orson arrived and they walked around the garage to the entrance. Mary, Steven, and Orson stopped when they saw the woman standing in the door next to Captain Underwood.
“Come on. I don’t want to be seen after all this time,” The woman said to them.
“Secretary Hill?” Mary asked.
“Yes, now come inside.”
The team entered the townhome. Sarah got a good look at Secretary Hill. She looked to Sarah to be in her late thirties. She was pretty and had a firm face. Her hair was blonde but looked like it had hints of grey coming. She was dressed in a disheveled suit. It seemed to Sarah this might be the only suit she had access too.
“I know, you must have some questions,” Secretary Hill said.
“Where have you been, Secretary?” Mary asked.
“I am no longer the Secretary of the Senate,” Secretary Hill interrupted. “You can call me Claudia. Or Ms. Hill if you feel I need some sort of title but please Claudia is just fine.”
“Ms. Hill where have you been?” Steven asked Mary’s question again.
“Well we are getting to the point now aren’t we?” She sat down. “As you may all know I was Secretary of the Senate? Which means I was one of the first to get wind of the take-over. Many in the Senate including Senator…” She corrected herself. “President Powell I mean. He was the first I went to with the information, it would have only been a matter of time before they were instructed to vote. I am sure you all know that Congress had been gone before President Marshal ever gave his speech. Congressmen and Senators were told how President Marshal felt about laws, then Congressmen and Senators had to vote accordingly. Judging by the records we had the most unanimous votes record in the history of the United States.”
This caught Sarah off guard. She had no idea that is how it had worked. Sarah had figured that the people of congress were at least doing something to stop these laws. She couldn’t help but question why President Powell didn’t vote against these laws that trampled on people or why he would allow President Marshal to destroy the government.
“Why didn’t people vote against it?” Sarah asked.
“There was no way they could. “ Secretary Hill said. “You see if you voted against his laws terrible things would happen. We never proved it but around the time President Marshal first gained power, a Senator called for him to resign. Not two days after was the Senator killed in his home.”
Sarah was shocked. President Marshal killed political enemies and no one knew about it? How could he get away with such things? Sarah thought.
“Anyway, He most likely told the other leaders. Congressman Lucas and Senator Collins believed it but weren't sure what it meant. President Powell urged us to be ready to flee, to go underground. The Congressman and Senator didn’t listen. They must have figured there would be time to escape Congress. Who would think that they would be arrested there in the room, moments after the speech was given?”
Ms. Hill paused for a moment as if she was reliving that night. She had a look in her eyes. A look that Sarah had seen before. She had seen it in the eyes of the people who came back from battle. Ms. Hill continued with her story. “My guards here were with me the entire time. Before the President’s Speech, I did what President Powell did. I stepped out for a moment and my guards picked me up and we were off. We almost didn’t make it the United States Security Bureau were everywhere. One of my guards fought one and was killed. His death allowed me to get away. I have yet to contact his family. The only thing we did was remove his family so they don’t get imprisoned it had been too risky to contact them but when I get back to the States I plan on it.” Ms. Hill paused for a moment to think about where she was going. Evidently, she had lost her place. “Where was I? Right,” She remembered. “After the speech, we knew we had to get back to the D.I base. That is where things became complicated. We attempted to make our escape via boat. We were on the Potomac River heading towards the sea. We were intercepted by Coast Guard boats. We quickly landed on shore. I don’t remember much from that battle. Most of my guards were killed or captured. The four of us managed to escape. We got onto a freight train and let it take us where ever. We were gone for several days.”
“Why didn’t you contact the Insurgents?” Captain Underwood asked.
“I had no way too that wouldn’t be tracked. We were still going to do our best to make it back to the headquarters. The train stopped in Northern New York. We had no way of getting to the base. The only way would have been to buy a car. So that was our plan. We drove for some time. We dodged USSB stops. Their presence had increased. We heard rumors that they took over for several branches of the government. This meant their resources had increased. After several days of travel, we knew there wasn’t any way back. My guards suggested we go into hiding until things calmed a bit. When that happened we would try and send a message. We needed to be sure we were somewhere that we
couldn’t get picked up by the USSB.”
“Which is why you came to Canada?” Sarah asked.
“Precisely. If we were in a foreign country it would be harder for the US to get us. They would need to coordinate with the Canadian government. That would take time. In that case, it would mean it could give us a chance to escape. While we were here the leader of my guard got in contact with a businessman. Jonah Schweppes was the vice president of a military contracting company based here in Canada. I made contact with him and he was going to try and convince the CEO that they should join our cause. I spent several months attempting to meet. I don’t think the CEO believed we could win the fight. That was until The Fortress was attacked. We had won a battle against US soldiers. The Democratic Insurgence stood up to the government. This impressed the CEO on some level but he still was resisting to join. Mr. Schweppes found a way to send a message that would be intercepted by the Insurgents. I didn’t reveal who I was because I knew there was a good chance it would be picked up by the US. If it didn’t seem like someone important was here, they may just dismiss it. With you all here we might be able to talk the CEO into joining. If not then I can head back.”
“Where do we find this CEO?” Mary asked.
“He is in the center of Willowfield in the Corporate Towers,” Ms. Hill answered.
“Of course he is,” Steven said sarcastically. “Busiest city in Canada and that is where we gotta go.”
“We can handle it,” Captain Underwood said confidently.
Sarah didn’t doubt they could handle it but it wasn’t ideal conditions. She told herself that they didn’t join for ideal conditions. This was part of their job.
“How do we meet with these people?” Steven asked. “Are we supposed to ring the doorbell?”
“I can’t imagine we just stroll into their office. For all they know we are criminals of The United States,” Orson added. “I bet there is a good bounty on us. Five Democratic Insurgents along with a leader and her guards. I am willing to bet they would love to cash in on that.”
“I have been in contact with the vice president for some months now. He had plenty of opportunities to capture me.” Ms. Hill looked at each one of them in the eyes. “I don’t mean to sound cocky but I am more valuable than all of you. If they haven’t given me up then they can at least be trusted to talk to us.”
“Not a bad point,” Mary added with a chuckle.
“I can set up a meeting with Mr. Schweppes. He can hear what you all have to say and if things go well he can set up a meeting with his boss.” Ms. Hill said.
“When can you do this?” Captain Underwood asked.
“I can make a call now.” Ms. Hill responded.
“Do it,” Captain Underwood paused. “Where do we stay while we wait?”
“You can wait here. This complex was just built and it is owned by Mr. Schweppes He allowed us to use this as a base. He wants to join our cause.” Ms. Hill smiled and looked around the room.
“It does seem like he does,” Captain Underwood whispered more to himself than Ms. Hill. “If we are going to stay we need to secure the area.”
Ms. Hill nodded in agreement. She introduced her guards to the team. The leader of her security team was Sergeant Scott Miller. He was in his late twenties. He had a chiseled stern face, brown hair that was once a crewcut, now grown out. The other two members were Joshua Young. He was the youngest must have been twenty-one at most. He had red hair that was now shaggy and unkempt. Joshua had a thin beard and light features. Sarah thought he looked sixteen. The last man was older than Sarah but not by much. His name was Peter Mason. Peter had dark black hair and piercing blue eyes. He was clean shaven and his hair was long and disheveled. Sarah figured they hadn’t had time to get haircuts while on their mission. It seemed the whole team was a bit disheveled. Sergeant Miller was the leader but the others were agents. It seemed that these men weren’t military men. Sarah figured they were good at their job considering how long they had been on the run.
Ms. Hill left the room to call Mr. Schweppes. Captain Underwood introduced his team to Ms. Hill’s security team. They asked questions about what had been happening while they were gone. Sarah was surprised at how little information they had. She figured they would miss out on information that only the D.I knew about, but they had no information. It seemed the U.S. was doing everything they could to keep information from getting out about what had been happening. The information about their attack on The Fortress was brought by Mr. Schweppes who heard about it because more contracts had been up for grabs from the US government. It seems that private contractors were doing much more for the government. This seemed odd to Sarah and judging by Captain Underwood’s face it was odd to him too. Captain Underwood speculated aloud that the government was trying to avoid a draft. If there is a large number of people who oppose what they are doing then drafting those people into the military could cause more problems than it would solve.
“You think the US is gearing up for a war?” Sergeant Miller asked.
“I think to some extent they are,” Captain Underwood explained. “In the time since our battle not much has changed in their procedures. They might still assume we are a small group. That was our only major attack. There is a good chance the government is trying to make it seem like we aren’t a threat.”
“That will be their mistake.” Agent Young chimed in.
“Let’s hope so. If we take too long there is a chance the government will be more prepared for an all-out war. What needs to happen is for us to make a move on the government in order to seize control.” Captain Underwood explained.
“We still need the people’s support or else we will be in their position when we win the war,” Agent Mason added.
“At the rate, President Marshal is moving that won’t take long at all,” Sarah said.
The group agreed. They discussed ideas for a where the D.I needs to go but it seemed to Sarah that none were plausible. Captain Underwood said that when he makes contact with Insurgent command he can make sure their families are informed of their safety. The three men were very thankful and appreciative of that. Captain Underwood marched to Sarah and Steven.
“I need you two to check the perimeter,” Captain Underwood started in a whisper as if he didn’t want the guards to hear. “I need this place secure if we are going to stay here.”
“What about the others?” Steven asked.
“The guards?” Captain Underwood asked. “I am still skeptical. I want to make sure we are safe. I am going to have Orson sneak back to our room and keep watch.”
“Don’t you think that they have proved they are on our side?” Sarah asked.
“They spent all this time up here,” Captain Underwood started. “Months up here. They never tried to make contact with us. It seems odd. Countless people made their way back but Ms. Hill couldn’t? It doesn’t seem right.”
“I don’t think she betrayed us. I think their plan went south just like my fathers. Things changed and she couldn’t make it back. Her story makes sense.” Sarah said. Sarah was confident she was right.
“I don’t want to debate this now. I will consider your opinion, but until I am sure that what she said was the truth, we will clear the area and act as though we are in hostel ground.” Captain Underwood gave his orders.
Sarah and Steven stood for a moment before they understood that they were dismissed. Steven led the way and Sarah followed. Sarah wondered if the guards would suspect something was going on when she and Steven left. Steven and Sarah both went through the back door. Steven tried to act like he was going to smoke. Sarah knew that cigarettes were normally a good excuse for getting outside.
They walked outside and Steven pulled the cigarettes out from his pocket. He looked around and walked out of sight from the windows. Sarah followed. They walked on the side of the townhome towards the one next to it.
“We need to make sure that the other houses are clear,” Steven instructed.
“How do
you want to do that?” Sarah asked.
“Look through the windows. If the doors are open then we clear the building,” Steven informed.
Sarah laughed softly. “That easy?”
“Let’s hope,” Steven said.
They went to the first townhome and Steven jiggled the doorknob. The door was open. Sarah had heard stories of doors being unlocked in Canada but she was surprised by the first door they try to open is unlocked. Steven went into the house first and Sarah followed. They moved to search the house. Sarah’s heart stopped before every room they entered. She expected someone waiting to ambush them. Relief filled her when she realized the first house was clear. After clearing the first house they moved to the second. She told herself to stay alert. She didn’t want to have a false sense of security. Once again the door was unlocked and once again the house was empty. Sarah started to feel as though they weren’t going to find anything. Despite this feeling, Sarah stayed on edge as they cleared the homes. When they reached the last house Sarah figured this would be where they find USSB agents or Canadian officials waiting to arrest them. Sarah was relieved when the house was empty. The two of them casually walked back to their townhome.
“Doesn’t this prove that they are on our side?” Sarah asked Steven.
“It only proves that this wasn’t an immediate trap,” Steven said and he looked around the parking area as if expecting cars full of soldiers to show up.
“You still doubt them?” Sarah asked.
She figured they must be telling the truth. Did they need more of a reason to trust them? She wondered what they could do to prove that they were on the same side. Was she being deceived?
“I am being cautious. So is Captain Underwood. As soon as we put our guard down we could be captured,” Steven looked at her. “I don’t want you captured.”
Steven turned and walked away. Sarah knew he hadn’t misspoken when he said he didn’t want her to be captured. She couldn’t help but smile as Steven walked away from her. They made it back to the townhome and walked around the side. They hoped the others hadn’t noticed their absence. When they entered the back door Captain Underwood was sitting at the kitchen table talking to Mary.
Resistance Rising Page 7