REVENGE: Shelter Book 6 (The Shelter)

by Ira Tabankin

  “How about Russia?”

  “We’re working on it.”

  “Excellent, invite the other ambassadors to a signing ceremony, which is going to cause other problems. Such as where are we going to build an Embassy Row? They’re going to want to house their ambassadors in our capital.”

  Looking around the table, Fred asks,

  “Jay, should we keep the capital here?”

  “Whoa, what are you asking? Weren’t we discussing placing the office buildings underground so the North couldn’t strike us?”

  “Yes, but I think we should discuss if this is really the right place for the capital.”

  Jay gets up to walk around the conference table,

  “Fred, I think we should set aside the discussion of where the capital should be and get back to the question of how to stop the North from attacking us or how we can stop a full Civil War from breaking out. I want my revenge, but not at the risk of losing the Confederacy.”

  Fred nods his agreement.

  “Pulling our people out is a good first step, we’ll leave a large area of the North in the dark, without fresh water, they’ll quickly begin tearing themselves apart. It won’t win the war for us. General, is there anything you suggest?”

  “I’d take down the rest of their grid while sealing our borders, let them kill each other off, just die without impacting us.”

  Jay stares at General Arthur,

  “General, I don’t agree, if we bring the rest of their grid down, all we’re going to do is force them to attack us, maybe even with WMDs. We can’t afford such a war. We don’t have the resources to block our borders, their people will flood across our border. Once here, we’ll never get them to leave. I still believe our victory lies in frightening their people into pushing the President into leaving us alone.”

  Fred shakes his head, surprising the others in the room,

  “Sounds good, but what are you thinking? If you have a plan, then please tell us so we can get to the punch line. We have too much to do and not enough time to do the existing tasks.”

  Jay smiles like a shark tasting blood in the water.

  “I’m thinking we strike the politicians where they’re least prepared to fight us. We use the Bible against them.”

  Jay’s friends look at each other, everyone’s confused. Fred looks down at the table, embarrassed to ask, but knowing he has to,

  “We’re not God. How are we going to use the Bible against the North? Why would we use the Bible against the North?”

  “Why can’t we figure out how to run a faith-based attack, the Bible is filled with battles, I’m thinking we strike the North with the plagues like the Lord struck Egypt with.”

  Every face in the room is confused. General Arthur looks at Jay,

  “My friend, I say this with love, the love we all have for you. You’ve been under enormous stress. Lacy is wounded, we lost a number of people, your family was kidnapped. You haven’t had enough rest in many days. Why don’t we take a break, go lay down, take a three-hour nap? We’ll stay here and discuss your excellent proposal how to use existing systems in new ways. I should have thought of this. Frankly, it’s a great idea. We’ll reconvene in three hours after you’re rested.”

  “You think I’ve lost it don’t you, it’s alright, just come out and say it.”

  “I won’t say you’ve lost it. I and I think all of us think you just need some rest.”

  “I admit, I need some rest, that doesn’t mean my suggestion is a bad one.”

  Fred whispers, “All of us know you’ve had a few close brushes with death, you’ve returned a little changed from each one. Jay, I’ve known you the longest of our little group. I met you before you and Lacy bought your home. I consider you not just a close friend, but family. You’re all I have left. I’m going to say what the others won’t, Jay, go upstairs and get some rest. Lacy would agree with us. She’ll understand if you take a nap in your own bed. You’re showing the effects of your lack of sleep.”

  “I’m not crazy, hear me out, let’s discuss just one example, what would the impact be if one or more of their major rivers turned blood red?”

  “We can’t turn water into blood, only God can do that.” General Arthur shakes his head, “Jay, we need to discuss our defense and target list for conducting the war, not wasting time on trying to figure out how to turn their rivers into blood which is impossible. Jay, please get some rest.”

  “General, please bear with me just another minute, hear me out. We don’t have to change their rivers to blood which I agree is something we can’t do. We only have to change the color of some of their rivers and add something which kills the fish, don’t you think the people will be scared? Maybe we can help their preachers tell their people God isn’t happy with them because they’ve turned their backs on him. We should be able to scare the shit out of them. We can demoralize them before we strike, we’ll have them completely unbalanced, the President will be caught off guard, he won’t know how to respond.”

  General Arthur shakes his head, “I know how to fight battles with weapons; bullets, tanks, ships, planes, and bombs, but using the Bible as a weapon? I’m the wrong general for this type of war.”

  “My friend, no you’re not. Consider it psyops, it will completely unbalance the other side, it may give them pause, in war, the other’s side pause will give you the time you need to win. I’m sure we have a psyops group hiding somewhere in our military, find them and ask them to find new ways to attack the North. Task them to find ways to put the fear of God into them. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my bedroom to take a nap. Call me if something urgent happens.”

  Jay leaves the conference room. When the General is sure Jay can’t hear them, he looks around the table shaking his head, “Has he lost it? Did he fall and strike his head? Did I miss something? How the hell does he expect us to fight like God did?”

  Fred smiles, “Nope, he didn’t hit his head, and you didn’t miss anything. I think he may be on to something. Let’s take apart what he’s suggesting. If we can figure something out, we might be able to put the fear of God into them. We might be able to give them pause. Remember, in the North they’ve outlawed most outward signs of religion, the President has been fighting Christianity since his first term. However, most of the people who don’t live on the coasts still strongly believe in God, Jay may be onto something. There are still many people who are religious, if we can make them believe the Lord cursed them, they may put pressure on the President to let us go without a war. His other idea about finding a way to use existing and outdated weapons systems has a lot of merit, I’m surprised someone didn’t think of it before. We should get people working on both of his ideas.”

  General Arthur nods, “There is a small group in the Pentagon whose task is to look for new uses of existing technology. I’ll reach out to them and see if I can convince them to join us. I’ll get a few of my best weapons people on it right away, we could also use a couple of the weapons companies, we’ll ask them to send us a few of their technology experts to help us. Most of them will be happy to support us, they’re losing revenue every day. We should also look at the weapons programs they’re currently building to see which ones we may want to take over.”

  Fred smiles, “Let’s get this show on the road, if Jay thinks we’re running out of time, we most likely are. Fred shakes his head, remember what General Patton said, “When in doubt, attack.” We should prepare to strike them before they hit us.”

  Everyone leaves the conference room, leaving Fred sitting in the dark.

  “Fred, what are you thinking?”

  Fred jumps, he didn’t realize someone else was sitting in the dark corner.

  “Who’s there?”

  Todd moves away from the corner; he takes the seat across from Fred.

  I should have known you were either listening or hiding.

  “What do you think of what you heard?”

  “Fred, I’m glad you stayed behind, in fac
t, I knew you would, I have an idea I want to bounce off of you.”

  Chapter 7

  “Todd, you’re crazier than your father-in-law, and he’s way out there. There are times I think he’s certifiable.”

  “Fred, what have we got to lose? For all we know it may work, if it does, it may make a hell of a difference, if it fails, we’ll still learn something. We’ll only be placing a small number of people at risk.”

  “If they catch us, we’re risking everything, we’ll be facing a full-scale war, one that has the potential to destroy everything we’re working to build. A war, if we lose, we’ll most likely never recover from. Isn’t that enough cause to pause and think this through?”

  “The odds always favor the house. Do you think Jay’s going to forget about it? He’s going to check on the team’s progress, have you ever known him to forget an idea he thought had merit? You won't be able to just sweep it under the carpet hoping he forgets it. We both know he won’t. Plus, I heard the General say every day our military grows stronger while theirs grow weaker. I’m not sure the North will risk an attack against us as quickly as Dad does.”

  “Todd, this isn’t Vegas; we’re talking about people’s lives. You’re right in that Jay won’t forget it. Once he latches onto something he doesn’t let go, just like those poisonous Gila Monsters. Have you discussed your idea with Jay?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Yeah, I was afraid that would be the answer. Let me think on it, can I discuss it with Tony? He’s going to be responsible for suppling some of the people.”

  “For now, please limit it to only Tony.”

  “Todd get out of here, or should I begin calling you Jay junior? He’s rubbing off on you.”

  Todd laughs to himself walking to his room. After spending hours in the security room making sure there are no threats to the farm and helping to coordinate the connection of Jay’s systems with the military systems, he stands, stretching his aching muscles. Time flies when you’re having as much fun as I am. I didn’t notice I missed dinner with Shelly, damn it, she’s going to be pissed. He tries to slip into their bedroom as quietly as possible, so he doesn’t wake his wife who’s inherited her father’s famous temper.

  “Bout time you decided to come home, had enough fun playing with the boys?”

  “Honey, I’m sorry, you know your dad, once he gets started, there’s no telling how long his meetings will run.”

  “Can you answer one question for me, is everything okay?”

  Sliding under the covers, holding Shelly in his arms, he whispers to her,

  “Everything is fine and will be perfect. In fact, it’s going to be fun.”

  “That’s a word I haven’t heard in a long time. The problem is, your idea of fun is different from mine, let me show you my definition of fun. I promise you’ll have no trouble sleeping afterward.”

  “I’m sure, I love you.”

  @@@@@

  Ricky’s idea of fun definitely isn’t sitting naked on a metal chair being tortured. He begins to realize that his banishment to the trailer on Jay's property was a luxury compared to this hell. He understands that his haste to contact the governor about his situation actually damned him. He’s screamed himself hoarse, he’s passed out so many times he’s forgotten how long he’s been tortured, nor does he have any idea what they want, no one has asked him anything, just endless pain and suffering. He remembers at least three times that buckets of ice cold salt water have revived him; the salt makes him feel like his skin is on fire. Shaking, wishing he would just die already.

  He’s torturers laugh every time he screams,

  “I think he likes it, I think we should fry his balls again, he doesn’t want to have any more kids. Since there’s a good chance he won’t ever leave here, he’ll never have need of them again.”

  The assistant laughs,

  “I’ll increase the voltage. Let’s see if we can get his screams above his current record of four on the scream Db scale. We are now going to shoot for a best of reading at five Db.”

  “He’ll need some water so he can scream again.”

  “Give him some Gatorade, it’ll give him the strength to take more torture.”

  “You shove the plug up his but.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because I’m the senior tech.”

  “Damn it, I get all the shit jobs.” Laughing at the pun.

  “Ricky, this time, you’re going to really enjoy this, we’re going to send an electrical current through your genitals and your ass at the same time, we’re shooting for a new record.”

  “Please, no more. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  “Like how you got most of our squad killed at your father-in-law’s farm? Why should we believe anything you tell us?”

  “Then why are you torturing me?”

  “Because we’ve been ordered to break you. You’ve pissed off someone in a very high position, we’ve been told to take our time. We’re going to break your spirit, your body, and your mind. When we’re finished, you’ll most likely be tossed down a hole where you’ll die without even knowing where you are.”

  “Please don’t do this to me……STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!! I can’t take it. You’re burning my dick off.”

  “Maybe not off, but it will be useless. That last shock was number four on the scale; we can go all the way to ten.”

  Crying and shaking, Ricky begs,

  “Please, anything, I’ll do what you want, I’ll tell you anything. Why don’t you water board me? I thought that’s what you guys did.”

  “Congress told us waterboarding was torture so we stopped it, we never reported electrical current, so it’s not listed as torture. I’ll tell you what, since you asked to be water boarded it can’t be considered torture, I’m going to leave the generator on while I check with our manager to see if we can waterboard you.”

  “No………….” Ricky is screaming with his last ounce of strength, “Please, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

  The torturer leaves Ricky screaming with smoke coming from his ass and genitals.

  The senior tech smiles telling his assistant,

  “When he passes out, revive him by pouring the salt water over him, keep the generator on until I return.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m happy we’ve got ear plugs.”

  @@@@@

  Jay appears in the conference room after sleeping for twelve hours, he woke feeling much better. Grabbing his famous mug of coffee, he smiles seeing the conference room is filled with papers and charts taped to the walls.

  “Haven’t figured it out yet have you?”

  A very tired General Arthur shakes his head,

  “We’ve spent most of yesterday and last night going through the Bible trying to figure out which battle we can copy, we spent half the night working on how to use sound to bring down walls, the only problem being, D.C. doesn’t have a wall around it and the sound generator would be too large to transport to the city. The charts on the walls depict the major battles in the Bible, I’m not ashamed to say we haven’t figured it out, my staff is stumped. Did you have a specific battle in mind?”

  “Remember I said we’ll conduct psyops, sit, let’s clean up the conference room and have some fresh coffee brought in, then I’ll tell you what I’m thinking.”

  Thirty minutes later, General Abram’s staff is sitting around the conference table with Jay, Tony and Fred. Tony whispers to Fred,

  “Do you have any idea what he’s going to suggest?”

  “Nope, I’m as confused as everyone else. I hope to hear he’s not going to tell us to turn rivers to blood again.”

  Jay stands smiling at his friends and the officers at the table.

  “You took my suggestion too literally; I was thinking we turn the Potomac River and maybe others red while spreading rumors that God is upset with America for removing him from every part of our lives. The progressive mantra lately refuses any mention of God, only the Islamic god Allah. We can use Bible ve
rses to scare the people.”

  General Arthur shakes his head,

  “Jay, did anyone ever tell you, you’re certifiable?”

  “General, many have told me that before, believe me, you’re not the first, and I doubt you’ll be the last. Think about it. We dye the Potomac red while flooding social media with lines from the Bible. While their people are trying to figure out what to do, we’ll be turning the Potomac and other rivers red. I think we can really shake them up. Remember, when we pulled our people out from repairing their grid, they left devices and code behind which will allow us to control their grid, we’ll be able to take it down at our pleasure. We can remotely turn it on and off at our pleasure. Once we’ve got them really scared we spread rumors of other attacks. They won’t know who to trust. Hopefully, the people will pressure the White House to stop any attacks against us. While we’re screwing with the North, I’m going to hold town hall meetings where I’ll reference the rivers turning red as proof of God’s anger, I’m sure the North’s media will pick up whatever I say at the town hall meetings.”