Dark Grid (Book 3): Dark Coup
Page 29
“Fifteen seconds,” he thought. “I didn’t make it fifteen seconds before I blew it.” He was surprised by Tuttle’s response.
“Thank you,” she said. “You haven’t let yourself go, either.”
…
“I am so bad at this,” Tuttle thought. “He probably thinks I’m the biggest dork now.”
“She’s just being nice,” Sparky thought. “Nothing else to do while They Who Must Be Obeyed are busy.”
…
“I can’t believe the Colonel, or his handlers, thought their whole deception would work,” Sanford said. “Obviously ARCLiTE wasn’t the miserable failure they claimed it was just to advance their agenda.”
Mallory nodded. “For us,” she said, “the orders were validation for what we’d literally been doing since the second day.” She looked at Ben for confirmation.
“Things didn’t go quite as smoothly up at Campbell right away,” Ben said, “but it wasn’t ever an utter failure there, either. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, though. Now that we know what they were up to, it’s easy to see how it was all about disinformation and, ultimately, pulling the strings in secret.”
“Not everyone is happy about Denver,” Sanford said. “They’re definitely the minority, and in the long run I don’t think they’ll be a problem, but, well the Northeast is a good example. It isn’t just the military that bought the story hook, line, and sinker. The civilians are being willingly subjugated.”
“You can’t free someone who doesn’t see their own chains,” Ben said.
“As long as they keep to themselves,” Mallory said, “and don’t try to break the security around Denver, I really think they’ll burn themselves out in a couple of years; especially without any direction or reinforcements.”
“We’ve certainly got enough on our plates for the time being as it is,” Sanford said.
…
“As long as you’re still sure,” Dan said.
“Why wouldn’t I be,” Ty asked. “This isn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision for either of us.”
“What isn’t,” Joel asked as he walked by, “a spur-of-the-moment decision, that is?”
“Go ahead,” Ty said to Dan.
“Ty and I are going into practice together,” Dan said. “Ty’s going to stay with the military for the time being, and he’s going to have his hands full trying to turn me into a doctor but, we’re going to give it a shot.”
Joel was grinning from ear to ear. This is what he’d originally hoped for when Dan had first showed up.
“That is great news,” Joel said, shaking both men’s hands. “How’s Marissa taking the decision?”
“Well,” Dan said, “it was our decision, Marissa’s and mine. She’s good with it and thinks Ty and I can make a difference, setting up a regular practice and having both of us available…once I get up to speed.”
…
“So I’ve opened the satellite back up to everyone,” Sanford said, “except for Denver. They’re permanently locked out. I didn’t even know we had the ability to segregate communications like they’d been doing, although it makes sense that we could.”
“With the handlers locked out,” Mallory asked, “how is everyone taking the truth?”
Sanford shrugged. “About like we figured,” he said. “There’ve been some midnight disappearances of senior officers once things started getting out and communication was restored for everybody. The change in command at a couple of large units was…violent to say the least.”
“Everyone that was in a position of ultimate authority was in on it,” Mallory said, “in one way or another. How do we trust any of them now?”
“With only a few notable exceptions,” Hodges said, “they aren’t in charge anymore. They’re the ones making themselves scarce in the middle of the night before someone else takes care of them permanently.”
“It’s left a bit of a leadership vacuum in a few places,” Sanford said, “but for the most part people are dealing with it. They’re picking themselves up by the bootstraps and moving on.”
…
“Dan helped with Aurora’s delivery,” Rachael said to Ty and Dan. “How about you, Ty? How many babies have you delivered?”
“I’ve delivered a few,” Ty said. “No Caesarian’s, though.”
“And to be fair,” Dan said, “I was there for Aurora’s birth more for moral support. The midwife did most of the work.”
“We aren’t trying to run you off,” Ty said, “just trying to paint an honest picture. Either way, I think you’d be in good hands, but I’m not going to dismiss the midwives either.”
“Well, I need to know for sure if I’m even pregnant,” Sheri said.
“Oh honey,” Rachael said and shook her head a little. “What you need to do is come to grips with the fact that you are, although I think either Ty or Dan could confirm it for you fairly quickly.”
…
“Thank you again for coming,” Mallory said to Eric as the festival was winding down and people were starting to head home.
“We’re all still in this together,” Eric said. “Have you talked to Kyle?”
Mallory nodded. “I think we’ve buried the hatchet,” she said.
“I’m glad,” Eric said. “And I know he’d never ask for it, but when the time comes, I know he’d appreciate your blessing.”
“For,” Mallory asked.
“He and Amanda are engaged,” Eric said.
…
After dinner, Joel got on the PA system and made a few announcements.
“The festival is almost over,” Joel said after a couple of minutes recapping some of the decisions made during the day, “and we still don’t have a name for it. The plan is to do this every year, but we can’t just call it ‘the festival’.”
Someone from the crowd shouted something that Joel couldn’t hear, so he asked them to repeat themselves.
“The Phoenix Festival,” they shouted again.
Joel’s immediate thought was of the city in Arizona, although he was sure that wasn’t what they had meant. It only took a second for him to make the right connection and look at the members of the committee that had set up the festival in the first place.
“Phoenix,” Joel said with the beginnings of a smile. “Rebirth, rising from the ashes, renewal, recommitment, triumph …”
Joel paused to let the crowd consider the idea before continuing.
“Unless we have any other suggestions,” Joel started, but was interrupted.
Chants of “Phoenix, Phoenix, Phoenix” from the crowd made it obvious that at least for now, people liked the suggestion.
“Then I declare today,” Joel said, “September 28, 2013, to be the first annual Phoenix Festival.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd again and Joel stepped down from the small stage that had been constructed at the end of the town center.
“Why didn’t we think of that,” Marissa asked to nobody in particular when Joel was back on the ground.
“Personally,” Joel said, “I used up all my imagination on ‘festival’. It fits, though. The longer you think about it the more…right it sounds.”
Joel looked at their one resident pastor, Sergeant Stanton. “You don’t suppose we’ve just started a new pagan religion, do you Marci,” he asked.
Marci laughed. “Joel,” she said. “Look around. I think it’s okay for you stop worrying quite so much now.”
Acknowledgements
Once again, I owe my family a huge debt. To my wife, not the least of which for editing, but while I was “plodding”, she was plotting and helped me even more on this book than the previous one.
Then there are my kids. I know I can be grumpy when I’m trying to write and things are either coming along too slowly for my taste or, worse, not coming along at all. They have been real troopers. I’ve finally paid the ice-cream debt for the last two books, but I owe them…again.
Next, I feel the need to thank all of our men and women in uniform, past a
nd present. I can’t express my gratitude sufficiently for all you have done and continue to do. While I’ve never served, I have a long (and current) family history of military service in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Our country doesn’t celebrate you nearly enough but I thank you.
The author of this quote is unknown, but this sums up the honor of our Veterans and active-duty armed forces:
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to and including THEIR LIFE."
I have nothing but the deepest respect for all members of our armed forces. You are all Heroes. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
And finally, to you, the reader, thank you. This book seemed like it was a long time in the making, even though I only started working on it in January of this year (2013 for future generations…ha!). Nevertheless, I’m sure that some were wondering if I would ever be done.
While the books don’t come nearly as quick as I’m sure everyone would like (myself included), you need to know that I want to give you all a good read. My goal is to create a story that’s thought-provoking, well-thought-out, and worth your time and hard-earned money.
It takes time, though; with a day job that pays the bills, a family that needs me and that I love very much, and all of the other distractions of daily life. So, to everyone who stuck with me, nudged me on Facebook, or posted on one of the several Author pages out there, this one’s for you.
--David
http://www.davidcwaldron.com
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorDavidCWaldron
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Acknowledgements