The Ranch

by Sean Liscom

  “In self-defense! You made me murder that man!”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I murdered him. You simply expedited his demise.”

  “Jesus, Jack! What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Make no mistake, Nigel was evil incarnate. This world was done a huge favor today by removing him from it! What just happened out there, that was a good thing! And let me tell you something else; he’s not the only evil son-of-a-bitch who’s gonna die today!” Jack barked. He ceased his tirade when Wilcox walked through the front door. In his hand was a satellite radio. Jack glared at Melissa for a few more moments before he turned to Wilcox and took the offered radio. A grin started to play at the corners of his mouth as he turned the handheld unit on. He put it to his mouth and depressed the transmit button.

  “Hey, Blair.”

  “Yes, Jack,” the soft female voice came from the speaker.

  “You should have come out here with Nigel. We might have been able to avoid all of this unpleasant business.”

  “Oh please, Jack. You are well aware of my disdain for the summer heat and musty, dusty places. It is you who should have just come to us. If you had, I wouldn’t have had to send Nigel and his men to retrieve you. Speaking of Nigel, may I speak to him?”

  “That’s gonna be a problem.”

  “Oh Jack, you didn’t?”

  “Don’t fret, Blair. You two will have plenty of time to catch up. As a matter of fact, you’ll probably be his roomie in hell,” Jack chuckled.

  “Jack, Jack, Jack.... What am I ever to do with you? I must say, this displeases both Jerrod and me.”

  “Oh my, so sorry to have offended your delicate sensibilities,” Jack feigned apologetically. “You should know, Blair, I’m on my way to see the two of you. You can either issue the orders to move the ships into position or....”

  “Jack, I’m sure Nigel explained to you that we are not inclined to do as you’ve requested and making idle threats does nothing to further your cause. No, I think the ships will stay where they are for the time being. As of now, you’ve not made a good case for proceeding with phase two and until you can, nothing further shall be done, on that front at least.”

  “You just don’t know when to quit, do you?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Blair, I’m assuming that weasel, Jarrod, is there with you, listening to this light banter between us, right?”

  “Yes, he’s here.”

  “Make no mistake, this is no idle threat. I’m coming for you, both of you. By this time tomorrow, you will be burning in hell with Ashton, Nigel and Gary. Am I making my intention perfectly clear, Blair?”

  “There are very heavily armed men waiting to greet you Jack. I’m sure Captain Boone and his men will be more than willing to entertain you when you arrive. So, in the meantime, it would appear that I’ve got a little work to do of my own. You should know; I take no great pleasure in what I’m about to do, but it is necessary since you have felt the need to violate the code, yet again….” there was a short pause. “Remember, it was you who broke the code when you murdered Gary Wesson and your sweet wife, what was her name? Oh yes, Olivia, paid the price. Now you have killed Nigel, so once again, there is a price to be paid and seeing as how this is your second infraction, well, it will cost you more....”

  “Don’t you dare!” Jack growled.

  “Come now, Jack. You had to know that your actions would have consequences. You may have hindered our operations with the EMP stunt and Lord knows, that idiot, Ray Judge didn’t help matters by taking off across the desert. Know this though; we’ve made some new friends. Friends that are more than happy, eager even, to show their loyalty to us.”

  “BLAIR!”

  “Calm down, Jack. I wouldn’t want you driving while in one of your famous rages. It just wouldn’t do to have you end up in a wreck somewhere along the way,” she chided. “So, take a few deep breaths, drive safely and we’ll see you when you arrive. Tootles, Jack!” the radio went silent.

  “Get your asses in the Jeep! We’re leaving, NOW!”

  Monday, September 4th, 2017

  The Ranch.

  Jill and I spent two hours telling Jane what we knew about the other ranches, which wasn’t much. Since I was already blowing our operational security, I filled her in on the underground portion of the ranch and what Bill had been doing down there. She wanted to meet him and have a quick tour. It was safe to say; she now knew every secret that we had kept from her. I even went as far as telling her about the cave system up in the meadow. Overall, I was mildly shocked at her reaction to the whole thing. She had maintained her calm, cool demeanor the entire time. Even her primary security guy, Greg, seemed unfazed. By the end of the tour, we were standing in the medical bay, just outside the security office.

  “I don’t even want to know where most of this stuff came from, Jason. I don’t, because it doesn’t matter now. Before the EMP, you might have gotten some unwelcome attention, but now, I don’t care. In fact, I’m glad you’ve had this at your disposal. It’s probably the number one reason you’re still here when so many others have failed,” she reassured me.

  “We lost a lot when Ray Judge and his band took over the ranch, but we managed to hang on to a lot more because of this and the caves. Fortunately, they’ve found a lot of the stuff that was taken in a warehouse in Elko and we’re working on getting it back here,” Jill said.

  “Well, with the trains beginning to make their way this way, you’ll have a whole lot more to stash down here. Can’t have an active unit running out of beans, bullets or Band-Aid’s!” she chuckled.

  “C’mon, let’s go meet the reason I brought you down here in the first place,” I motioned toward the security office and she led the way through the door. After a quick introduction between her and Bill, he handed me a stack of photos.

  “I was just getting ready to come see you with these. These are from the Fortuna compound,” he reported. I shuffled through the dozen, high resolution, photographs and they all showed the same thing. Death and destruction……

  “What the hell....”

  “The attack is in progress, as we speak. These photos were taken less than 15 minutes ago

  “Oh my God….” Jill whispered. She was standing next to me looking at the photos. Without warning, the HAM radio on the desk roared to life with static and the high-pitched squeal of feedback. The volume had been left nearly all the way up and it startled all of us.

  “.... Calling Elko ran… ...ak Sterling, you copy?” the male voice was garbled. “Fortuna calling.... .... you copy?” I reached over Bills shoulder and picked up the mic while he tried to dial in the frequency a little more,

  “Fortuna, Elko, we copy you, barely,” I responded. There was a several second delay before the voice came from the speaker again.

  “.... Breaching the door to the underground.... Not much time.... Thought they were frien....”

  “You’re breaking up, Fortuna. What’s happening?”

  “.... Hold much longer. We were only trying to help....” the sound of an explosion disrupted him, but the mic was still open. Sounds of automatic weapons fire could be heard in the background now.

  “You still there, Fortuna?” I asked.

  “You were right, Jack! I’m sorry!” the voice shouted as the gunfire drew nearer. “If it’s any consolation, there won’t be anything left....” we could hear the sharp report of a handgun and yelling, then the radio went silent again.

  “Fortuna!” I called into the mic but got no response. Bill and I just stared at each other.

  “What the hell just happened?” Jane asked.

  “It would appear that we snapped photos of Fortuna’s last few moments,” Bill broke his gaze with me to look at the President. I looked at the glossy, 8x10 photos in my hand again.

  “Who did this, Bill? I mean, look at this. Multiple breaches in the walls. This building here, it looks like in was blown into matchsticks!” I asked.

  “Didn’t
Jack say the new government was run by a dictator? Could his troops have done this?” Jill asked from beside me.

  “Sure, it’s possible, but why? If Fortuna was in line with him, why would he attack them?” Bill replied.

  “Is there any way to find out?”

  “Jill, I just got these photos. I haven’t had any time to look them over. Give me a couple of hours and maybe I can pick out some details. Until then, you know just as much as I do.”

  “How long before you can get a snapshot of the compound again?” Jane asked.

  “At best? This time tomorrow.”

  “Why?” she persisted.

  “I’m relying on one bird up there,” he pointed toward the ceiling. “It was pure luck I got these photos because I can’t re-task the satellite or any of the others up there. I’ve got to wait for it to be in position again.”

  “Is your laptop encrypted?”

  “Of course,” Bill replied.

  “Did I even need to ask? All you spooks are the same,” she motioned for him to move. Once he had stepped aside, she sat at the desk and opened the laptop. “Have you been using Trinity?” she pointed to an icon.

  “No, I don’t have a current password,” he admitted sheepishly.

  “You can hack a satellite, but you can’t break a password?” she asked over her shoulder with a grin and began to type furiously on the keyboard.

  “If you know about Trinity, then you know it’s better to not even try to hack in.”

  “What’s Trinity?” I asked.

  “It’s an instant messaging system the government and military use,” Jane answered. “Mind giving me the room?”

  “Sure,” Bill said and the three of us walked out into the medical bay where the ever-present Greg was standing guard.

  “What’s she doing?” Jill asked.

  “Probably ordering up some images of everything we can’t get or don’t have access to. If that’s the case, we should have more intel before too long,” he replied.

  “What do you think we should do, Bill? We just witnessed Fortuna being wiped out and I gotta admit, I’m a little nervous now.”

  “It’s simple, Jason. You’ve got five teams here, right now. There are over a hundred men and women up there, not to mention their equipment that you can use to protect this ranch. We’ve already put in place just about every security measure you can think of. I’m not going to say with 100% certainty that we are safe here but now we have the advantage of knowing what can happen and we need to stand ready.”

  “Stand ready for what though?”

  “If this was something more than a dictator throwing a temper tantrum, if this was a targeted attack, we need to be ready.”

  “You think this has something to do with the ARK?”

  “I don’t know but you know what I think about coincidences,” he said as Jane stepped from the security office.

  “Bill, you’ll have all of the reconnaissance images we can get, which should be plenty,” she turned her attention to me. “The train from Salt Lake should be here in about two hours. On that train are 100 soldiers from the 10th Special Forces Group. Once they are unloaded, 50 will remain in Elko and the lead element from the second 50 will be headed here. Give them all the help they need and get them headed to the ARK in Los Angeles.”

  “I’m not going to leave the ranch defenseless,” I started to protest but was silenced when she held her hand in the air.

  “They need Intel, Jason, and I wouldn’t expect you to leave this place defenseless. The alert C-130 arrived yesterday with all of their hardware. After you have briefed the lead element, they will return to Elko and head out aboard the planes that are staged there, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Now, I know you still have a few fuel tankers in Elko, right?” I nodded. “Good because that train is bringing in almost 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Shuttle enough fuel out here to fill your storage tanks. When that’s done, fill those trucks again and keep them out here. Understand?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. May I ask what we’re doing about the fuel situation in Elko?”

  “There are two working fuel stations in Elko and both of them will be topped off. They use less diesel than you do, not to mention, you’ll be the fueling station for any military assets that come through here. I’ve already talked to the engineers and they can install another tank to dedicate to that. As long as it’s okay with you that is.”

  “I’m sure we could accommodate that.”

  “Great. What else do you need to keep this place running?”

  “I…. Um, I’d have to get with my staff on that one,” I replied sheepishly.

  “Alright, you do that. In the meantime, I’ll tell you this; not only will you be a refueling station, you are going to be the re-supply warehouse. That means that your warehouse is going to be busting at the seams by the time I’m done filling it. If you want my engineers to look at building another warehouse, say so. The strategic importance of your ranch will be moving you to the top of the list,” she turned back to Bill.

  “You and about another two-dozen people will be analyzing the photos you got. I’ve gotten you a new password for Trinity and I want you to share your intelligence with my guys. Take the lead on this and paint me a picture of what happened down in Costa Rica. It may be 4000 miles away but if some tin pot dictator is throwing his weight around and killing American citizens, I want to know about it. Got it?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ve got a question about the use of Trinity though,” Bill replied. “You said that the states east of the Mississippi still have a functioning government…. Aren’t you worried about them listening in on our communications?”

  “Good question and the answer is, no. We changed the encryption on our side of the line as soon as we got it up and running. It took them a couple of weeks to figure out WE were eavesdropping on them! They’ve since changed their encryption. We did agree to keep one line open between our governments, but it’s been silent for months now.”

  “So, it’s secure?”

  “Very much so,” she turned back to me. “Get with your staff, Colonel. Get me a list of what you need. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to,” she turned and walked back into the security office. The door closed behind her.

  “Babe,” Jill said quietly from beside me.

  “Yeah?”

  “Somebody’s going to have to tell Kari and Isabella about Fortuna....” her voice trailed off.

  “Crap.... You’re right. Bill, could you handle briefing the Special Forces guys when they get here?” he replied with a nod. I reached my hand out to my wife and she took it. “Come on, let’s go find my sisters.”

  Monday, September 4th, 2017

  Indian Wells, California

  “Lesson learned, Jack,” Blair’s voice erupted from the satellite radio.

  “How’s that?” Jack asked after he pulled the radio from its place on the dash.

  “Fortuna. Our mission was a success; however, our losses were unacceptable,” Jack took his eyes from the road and looked at the radio as if it would answer the question in his eyes.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I told you, Jack. Nigel’s death couldn’t go unpunished and I also told you it would cost you more,” there was a long pause. “You still there, Jack?” Blair asked.

  “I’m here,” he replied.

  “Good. You should know, it wasn’t our intention to kill everyone at the Fortuna compound. We wanted some survivors to tell you exactly what happened. I guess that since your people felt the need to blow up the whole damn place, it puts a little blood on your hands too.”

  “If you’re telling me the truth....”

  “When have I ever lied to you?” she questioned. Jack stared at the radio for a few seconds. Melissa could see the rage building in his facial features. “Jack?” came Blair’s voice again. He didn’t answer the call.

  “Come now, Jack. You cannot hide behind your s
ilence. I know you are still listening. Let me be absolutely clear when I tell you this; if you continue to press the issue, your other ranches will suffer the same fate as Fortuna. You, of all people, should know that we still have enough assets in place to crush any resistance here in the states. We learned our lesson with Fortuna and will offer no quarter or mercy when it comes to the ranches in Elko or Ambrose. We will simply wipe them out from a distance. You should also know; the dictator Vasquez is none too happy about losing so many men. In fact, He was quite irate. Offering him your head as a trophy did seem to calm him a little though.”

  “Good luck with that,” Jack muttered to himself.

  “You, on the other hand, have the power to put an end to all of this nonsense. I know you are headed in this direction, keep coming and turn yourself in when you get here. Let’s stop with all of this needless killing, Jack. It’s a waste of time and energy on both our parts. This would be so much easier if you just fell back in line with the plan.”

  “Blair, I’m only going to say this once, so you better listen closely. I am changing the plan and there is nothing you can do to stop me. NOTHING!” he barked loudly. “When I get to the dead ARK in LA, I’m going to waltz in and within 24 hours, those missiles will be airborne! You cannot stop me…… There is no force on this planet that can stop me now.”

  “But, Jack....”

  “Shut the hell up and listen, Blair! This is what you wanted! You and Ashton and all the others! I’m sick of you toying with the planet! It’s time to end it, once and for all! You wanted to flip the switch, you wanted the reset so you could be the kings and queens! You wanted to be the rulers of everything, well, you’re gonna get it!”

  “Your people will die too, Jack. How many more innocents must pay the price for your lack of vision? How many more dead will it take to quench your need for vengeance?”

  “There is no more innocence in the world, Blair. Everyone is guilty of something! The people that endorsed what you were doing, guilty. The people who knew but did nothing, guilty. Even the people who had no idea what you were up to are guilty. All guilty because they did nothing to rise against you! Innocence is dead and has been for a very long time!”