The men working this cabin spent most of their time roaming about the entire twenty-five thousand acres of the Mountain section observing and recording wildlife. There was no trophy hunting on Mountain and Meadow Ranch property, but there were plenty of culling hunts that kept the elk and mule deer herds healthy. This location was staffed in the same manner as the cabin in the northwest quadrant.
The larger Meadow portion of the ranch required more in the way of construction projects. After completing the airport a small administrative and security office was built near the entrance to the ranch. The administrative section contained offices for Pete and Bob Miller and space for an accounting and purchasing office. The security offices were manned continuously by three employees of Snyder Security Services. They monitored the camera feeds from over fifty locations throughout the property. Snyder also provided four full time security teams that manned the ranch entrance and patrols throughout the Meadow section of the property.
Six streams ran through the Meadow section and the property had been blessed with good water sources. Bob Miller had always wanted a backup to the surface water resources and Pete saw the logic of having ground water capability in the event of a drought. Twenty-two deep water wells were drilled in locations that would provide both water for the livestock and a source of irrigation for the farming operations should Mother Nature decide not to cooperate.
The previous owners had neglected a two hundred acre apple orchard and Pete gave his permission to upgrade the maintenance and harvesting operations. This paid big dividends by the third year and apples and apple cider became a profitable side business to the ranch. Bob also made the case for producing much more hay for internal consumption. By doing so, less open range was needed to sustain the cattle herd and the cattle could be managed in a smaller area. This would reduce both the costs and the amount of manpower needed in taking care of the far ranging cattle. Increasing the hay production from one thousand acres to six thousand acres decreased costs by thirty percent and added substantially to the annual profits of the Mountain and Meadow Ranch Company.
As a tribute to his late wife, Beth, Pete created the Beth Wallis Scholarship Fund. Any employee of the Mountain and Meadow Ranch Company would have their children’s college expenses paid in full by this fund. The good pay, full medical/dental insurance, a fully matching 401K plan, and the scholarship plan made employment at the Mountain and Meadow Ranch Company the most sought after in Lincoln County. In addition to the one hundred and thirty full time employees, the Mountain and Meadow Ranch Company hired over one hundred seasonal employees and many high school and college students benefitted from summer jobs at the ranch. The aircraft located at the ranch’s airport had been pressed into service for local emergencies on several occasions, resulting in lives being saved at no cost to the families and loved ones of the misfortunate. Pete Wallis was a good citizen and neighbor and very much appreciated by the folks of Lincoln County.
CHAPTER 3 - THE MOLE WORKS
In early 2005 Pete Wallis saw an opportunity that he had often longed for, that being a location for a dedicated research and development facility. It was brought to his attention that the US Air Force was selling former Titan II sites. These sites were a product of the cold war and represented at one time a good bit of the country’s nuclear deterrent. Now the Titan II nuclear missiles were obsolete and their silos were of no use to the Air Force so they were available for sale. The deep and hardened silos contained an infrastructure that would be almost cost prohibitive for an individual or private company to build on their own. Wallis Technologies could purchase a site just northwest of Russell, Kansas, for the sum of only five hundred thousand dollars. It was an easy financial decision for Pete Wallis and he began the process of developing the research and development facilities that he named the “Mole Works.”
The site had two thousand acres of flat land surrounding the missile silo and room for a seven thousand foot runway. This airport was built out within the first six months of occupation by Wallis Technologies. A geothermal well was drilled and the new facility had all the power that it needed. A research and administrative building was built over the access portal entrance to the silo complex and laboratories were established in the areas that previously served as the control center, long cable way, and the silo itself. The silo, now empty of its lethal nuclear missile, had nine levels that served as high security laboratories.
Most of the personnel that Wallis employed at the Mole Works lived in the area of Russell, Kansas, and had only a short drive to the complex. Wichita was approximately one hundred and twenty miles away via Interstate 70 to Interstate 135.
Wallis Technologies was constantly striving to improve the quality of its geothermal business. Technological innovations were sought and achieved for its down hole heat exchangers, enhanced geothermal systems, hydraulic stimulation, and steam turbine closed loop equipment lines.
The geothermal energy business enjoyed a steady growth that was driven by technological advances. This line of business was only marketed to private entities and government contracts were not solicited. Inquiries by the United States Department of Energy were politely declined.
While the geothermal business paid the bills, the real state of the art research was conducted on military systems. Pete insisted that this research continue without the benefit of a Department of Defense contract. His thinking was that since other parts of the company made sufficient profits to cover the costs of the military research, why not build a capability for the future defense needs. With no contract specifications to worry about, Wallis Technologies could research and develop what it pleased.
Pete took a personal interest in two defense research projects: the Total Automated Mission Execution System (TAMES) and the Modular Attack Independent Missile System (MAIMS). The TAMES program involved the creation on an onboard computer system that was programmed to accept all military mission protocols, threat assessments, target acquisition and execution, real time continuous command and control, and contingency protocols. A briefcase sized computer could be inserted into the flight control system of an aircraft and any and all commands that would normally be executed by a pilot would be done by the computer, including launch and recovery. Peter Wallis had written most of the code for this system, making it easily adaptable to a number of hardware platforms. This represented what Pete considered to be the high point of his personal technical achievements.
The MAIMS program created a small missile that could be modified to accept different payloads and ranges. The fuselages were modular and interchangeable. The key element, designed by Peter Wallis, was a navigation and control system that was preprogrammed to a specific target, but could be aborted with only a click of a mouse. The navigation system was the size of a golf ball and fit into the cone shaped compartment at the tip of the missile. The missiles were about the diameter of a soda can and the outer covering was made of the latest stealth material. Each fuselage was a meter in length and could be filled with explosives or solid propellant, depending upon the mission parameters.
A solid fuel rocket engine attached to the last section of fuselage. A conduit the size of a soda straw ran from the navigation/control system down the inside of the fuselage(s) to the engine. Through this conduit passed the control cable that activated the engine for launch and in-flight adjustments. Fuselages were simply screwed together and pressure locked. One man could assemble, arm, and launch a MAIMS within forty-five seconds. The weight of a fully fueled and armed two meter (two fuselages) missile was approximately thirty pounds. One man could serve as the flight monitor and controller of sixty-four missiles simultaneously from one small laptop. The stealth technology, small size, and speed made the MAIMS virtually undetectable and unstoppable. Solid propellant and explosives were also modular and were housed in their own special containers that could be inserted directly into the fuselage sections. Each fuselage section contained enough solid propellant to give the MAIMS, or its nickname, “Broomstick,
” a range of seven hundred and fifty nautical miles. One fuselage contained six hundred and twenty-four cubic inches of high explosive. The Broomstick would hit its target at a speed in excess of Mach 6.
The Mole Works and the technology being developed there were not part of the sale that Pete had Jake Wasserman close in late 2007. All of the research and patents developed at the Mole Works by Peter Wallis and his staff remained the property of Wallis Technologies, Inc.
Security was very tight at the Mole Works. Snyder Security Services provided both the physical security of the facility and background checks on all employees. Only Peter Wallis had access to levels eight and nine in the silo laboratories as they functioned as his personal labs.
So far the Department of Defense was lukewarm to the TAMES program. Wallis had flown in several middle ranking people from the DOD’s Office of Technology Assessment to give them a demonstration of what the TAMES was capable of performing. The demonstration was spectacular and filmed in order for the technology guys to brief their military bosses.
The Army and Marine Corps loved it, but not the pilot led Air Force and Navy. The Air Force Generals and Navy Admirals shuddered to think that sergeants and petty officers could replace officer pilots. Hence, the TAMES was under “further review and assessment.” Pete was not surprised or disappointed with the reaction of the Air Force and Navy brass. He had planned all along that he would probably sell the system to the Israelis anyway.
The MAIMS system did get the attention of all of the military branches. The problem was that funding for new weapon systems was no longer a big priority of the Government. What funding that was available would most certainly go to defense contractors with the largest number of workers and the most influential politicians on their payroll.
None of this gave Peter Wallis any angst since the geothermal energy business produced enough profits to more than cover the costs of maintaining the Mole Works and its research. One has a great deal of flexibility when one is a multi-billionaire, also patience.
CHAPTER 4 - CALLING IN THE CAVALRY
Monday, October 21, 2013
Pete awoke at 5:00 am and went downstairs to the kitchen. He was thankful for the technology that set an automatic start to the coffee pot at 4:45 am each day. Josie would arrive about 6:30 and make a great breakfast for him and feed Sara, Niko, and Mordecai. Pouring a strong cup of coffee Pete gradually returned to the land of the cognizant. Several cups later he was shaved, showered, dressed, and went down to the kitchen to say good morning to Josie. She was in the process of feeding the three amigos, Sara, Niko, and Mordecai when Pete entered.
“Good morning boss, what’ll you have?” asked the perpetually cheerful cook and housecleaner.
“It’s going to be a busy day so make it a big one,” replied Pete. Several minutes later he was wolfing down a healthy portion of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and biscuits and gravy.
“Any plans for lunch today,” asked the cook.
“With any luck I’ll be lunching in Chicago this afternoon,” was the reply.
Josie was used to her boss’s frequent and unscheduled travel plans and said, “if you see that dear Mr. Wasserman, please tell him I said hello.”
Pete smiled and promised to do so.
Since it was now 7:30 am in Wyoming, it would be 8:30 in Chicago and Jake Wasserman typically arrived at his office every morning before eight. Pete picked up the phone and dialed Jake’s direct number.
“Peter, good morning” was the reply after the first ring.
“Jake, how is your schedule? I would like to see you as soon as I can on a matter of great importance to me,” was the answer.
“For you I can always find the time, as you know. This afternoon?”
“That would be great and if the old man isn’t taking a nap, I could use his input too.”
Wasserman chuckled and told Pete that he would relay the message to Nelson Pike, the seventy-seven year old founder and senior partner of the firm.
“I appreciate you meeting me on such short notice Jake and I’ll phone you my ETA when we are wheels up.”
Both men said their goodbyes and clicked off. Jake Wasserman frowned and wondered why Pete was in such a hurry. Soon he and Nelson Pike would find out. Jake then buzzed his secretary Lucy and told her to clear his schedule for the afternoon.
Willis called his waiting aircrew and found out that the bird would be ready by 10 am, destination Chicago Midway. He didn’t need to pack since it was going to be just a day trip. That left Pete plenty of time to call Harry Snyder in St. Louis. Harry Snyder’s secure satellite phone rang and the caller ID indicated that it was Pete Wallis calling from the Mountain and Meadow ranch in Wyoming. Only three people in the world had the number of Snyder’s personal satellite phone and Wallis was one of them.
“Good morning Pete,” replied the owner and CEO of Snyder Security Services, Inc. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” queried the CEO to one of his biggest customers and longtime friend.
“Harry, I have some free time and I thought that if your schedule permits we could meet and go over next year’s contract extension. And if time permits we could also do a little fishing,” Pete explained.
Snyder instantly went on alert. “If your schedule permits” was an agreed upon code for we need to meet as soon as possible. “Do a little fishing” was a more serious code phrase for advising that Mr. Hawkins’ special talents would likely be required, as was the case in the Lundquist kidnapping several years prior.
“Pete, we’re in luck since my schedule is pretty open for the next several days if that’s not too soon for you.”
“Harry, that’s great. How about tomorrow at the ranch?”
Both men hung up and Harry ordered up the corporate jet for a flight to Wyoming early the next morning. He then called Mr. Hawkins and advised him that his presence would be needed.
Wallis Technologies’ Gulfstream 450 touched down at 12:48 pm local time at Chicago Midway. Pete climbed out of the plane and into the waiting car and thirty minutes later walked into the building on West Wacker Drive that housed the law offices of Pike and Wasserman LLC. Exiting the elevator on the thirty-eighth floor he introduced himself to the receptionist and was immediately ushered into Jake Wasserman’s spacious private office.
“Peter, so good to see you,” said the smiling and diminutive Jake Wasserman.
“You look well young man and I never mind having my naps interrupted to see you,” grinned Nelson Pike. Obviously, Pete’s wisecrack earlier that day had been conveyed to Nelson, as he knew it would be. Handshakes and warm greetings, along with the barbs that only good friends reserve for each other were bantered about for several minutes.
A nice lunch buffet had been laid out on the conference table and some more small talk passed as Pete and the two lawyers munched away on the goodies. Finally Jake broke the ice, “Pete I’ve known you a long time and you wouldn’t be here so soon if something really important wasn’t bothering you. Spill it.”
Pete smiled. It was so much like Jake to come right to the point, something Pete had always admired in the man. Pete told them the story of the Ross family’s problems, his longtime friendship with John Ross, his anger at the government and its contempt of the law. Both lawyers listened attentively and began formulating solutions in their own minds when Pete stunned them by handing them a retainer check for three million dollars.
Nelson was the first to speak. “Pete you can make the problem go away by paying the Government only a quarter of a million instead of paying us three million. As an attorney I have to disclose that, but something tells me that money is not the issue with you.”
“You’re right as usual Nelson, but money won’t bring back John Ross or make these pricks stop what they are doing. Somebody needs to stand up to these bullies and I can’t think of anybody better suited than Pike and Wasserman.”
There was a long silence then Jake asked, “Do you want us to execute a scorched earth policy?”
> “You are fucking right I do! And when the three million runs out just let me know and I’ll send you more. I want these bastards bleeding from every orifice in their bodies.”
For the next hour specific plans were formulated. It was decided that Jake would gather a legal team from among the two hundred and fifty lawyers employed at Pike and Wasserman. They would arrive at the Ross farm within two days, gather facts, and file motion after motion until OSHA screamed for a “reasonable solution” to the matter.
Nelson Pike would begin to make phone calls and call in favors. Pike was one of the best connected lawyers in the country and his calls were taken and returned by very powerful people. These included congressmen, senators, governors, and cabinet level officials. Nelson told Pete that he would personally cause such a stink at the Labor and Agriculture Departments that anyone working there would have to take a gas mask to work. Coming from the great Nelson Pike this was no idle boast.
Jake and Nelson invited Pete to dine with them that evening at Charley Trotter’s, but he graciously and regrettably declined because he had to get back to Wyoming. Having engaged two of the most dangerous lawyers in the country, Pete now was going to meet with and engage two of the most dangerous men in the country. If Pike and Wasserman were the forces of heaven, then Snyder and Hawkins were the forces of hell.
During the flight from Chicago back to Wyoming Pete Wallis reflected upon the two lawyers that he had just spent the afternoon consulting. To most people the two men appeared to be polar opposites. Nelson Pike was an imposing figure with his silver hair, blue eyes, stentorian voice, and a height of six foot five inches. Still ramrod straight at the age of seventy-seven Nelson Franklin Pike was a man that commanded attention and respect. Nelson grew up on a small farm in the Texas Panhandle and still retained somewhat of a west Texas drawl. His legal career included time spent as a county prosecutor, law school professor, author of a law textbook on criminal procedure, and the founder of the formidable Pike and Wasserman law firm.
Patriots Versus Bureaucrats Page 3