Rob said, “That’s a deal, sir. Your daughter is amazing, by the way.”
Whitman smiled and said, “I’m glad you think so too, because I have a feeling we may end up in-laws before long.”
Rob sat there stunned, and said, “Holy crap! How did I miss that?”
Jim, Whitman, and Ann all started laughing. Ann asked, “Really? You didn’t know? That’s priceless!”
“I, I just didn’t think about it.”
Jim asked, “Are you okay with that?”
“Oh, of course. Denise and I are crazy about Helen… Oh my God, Denise had it figured out and didn’t bother to tell me!”
Whitman grinned and said, “For a spook, you’re pretty damn dense sometimes. Now go home and see Denise before she hunts me down for delaying you.”
BACK TO FLAGSTAFF
AUGUST 1st
The trip back from Oregon was long and tedious. With the LAV leading the way and the tank on one of the trailers, no one would hassle them. They dropped off the trailer load of packaged food in Reno in exchange for an empty trailer. They drove for most of two days before arriving back in Flagstaff.
Everyone was thrilled to get real showers and a good sleep finally. They parked the trailers of precious metals back to back so they could not be easily opened and decided that they would figure out what to do with the loot later.
Luke was thrilled to be back home with Jamie. It feels so good to get a chance to chill out for a while at home, he thought. That was one hell of a job!
Rita was delighted to have Frank home, too. She recognized how tired he was and sent him straight to bed. She could tell that, whatever the mission was, it was a tough one.
She knew that most of them would sleep for the best part of a day so she didn’t bother to prep a large dinner. She would make sure that tomorrow’s breakfast in the Village Pub would be the meal they would remember.
AUGUST 15th
It had taken longer than he had expected, but Rob put a mission together to check out the Simmons' airstrip. They flew in with three Black Hawks and his entire crew. Julio and Stewart hoofed it in from five miles out and reported back that the place was completely empty. Rob flew one of the choppers over at 04:00 with infrared and also saw no signs of life. He landed and he started searching the area with Frank and Dave. At daylight Ann and Helen brought in the other two choppers.
They found the rotting corpses of six men in woodland camouflage. Julio said, “Rob, it looks like you nailed all of them quick. My guess is that no one else has been here since you shot the place up.”
When they opened the hangars, Rob was completely shocked. There were ten of the new hypersonic kinetic weapons in mobile launchers. The second hangar had a C130 and stacks of supplies, but the rest of the buildings were warehouses, filled with everything you would need for a small army for a year. It was downright creepy. Rob called Jim directly and filled him in on their find.
“Keep that site from falling into enemy hands no matter what, Rob. I’m sending you everything I can right now.”
They cleared the choppers off of the runway and waited for reinforcements to arrive. Within a half hour there were fighter jets overhead. Two hours later an F22 Raptor landed and taxied over to the hangars. General Whitman climbed out and walked over to the group.
“Rob, you have the best dumb luck I’ve ever seen. I wish you would have told us about this sooner.”
“Sorry, General, we weren’t expecting this.”
“These missiles don’t exist. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now get them out of the hangar and ready to launch.”
“Sir?”
“You heard me right. There are places these can do more good than sitting here.”
Rob gathered everyone together and put them to work on moving the missiles into position.
Julie quietly asked Helen, “Is this okay?”
“You can trust dad,” Helen said.
“I’m still queasy about this.”
“Me, too.”
Whitman worked quickly to program coordinates into the missiles and set them to launch every two minutes till all of them were airborne.
General Whitman called them all together. “There’s not much for us here now. We’ll figure out what to do with this place later. This missile launch is a national secret with the highest penalties for disclosure. Do you understand?”
Each person agreed.
“I’m not going to tell you where the targets were, but several problems are going to be going away in the next few minutes, including a couple of conspirator bases overseas that we only discovered thanks to Simmons’ computers. Thank you to all of you for your good work. Whatever arrangements Rob has made with you, I will support fully, though I would prefer to never know anything about them. I need all of you out of here in the next half hour. Now get moving!”
He took a second to hug Julie and Helen and said, “Dinner back in Vegas when you two get the chance, okay?” They watched him walk to the Raptor. A few minutes later he was airborne and out of sight.”
Rob said, “Everyone on the choppers now! We’ll meet up back at the rendezvous point, refuel, and move onto the next target from there.”
Once clear of the site, Rob called Jim on the satellite phone. “We’re clear.”
Jim said, “That’s good. I’ll see you back in Vegas one of these days. Good hunting!”
By the time Rob got to the rendezvous site, the hangars and missile launchers were crawling with troops.
They flew into Portland and refueled at Pearson Field Airport. After a quick break, they flew southeast for a half hour to a deserted area a few miles off the Central Oregon Highway, where Rob had stashed supplies and more fuel.
Rob briefed them on the site that they would be checking the next day. “This time, I expect that we will find treasure and supplies. So far we have not seen anything on the satellites to indicate people, but we’ll need to be careful.”
They slept under the stars that night, but no one slept well after the missile launches.
OREGON SITE
AUGUST 16th
Rob flew over the site a couple of hours before daylight and used infrared to look for people. Seeing no such signs, he landed on the unpaved airstrip. Julio, Stewart, and Matt jumped out and ran to the buildings while Rob shut down the helicopter. A few minutes later, the other two Black Hawks set down to either side of him.
Over the radio Julio said, “We have bodies here. If I had to guess, I’d say it looks like the flu victims we’ve seen. They were armed for bear. No one moved any of the bodies.”
Rob said, “Keep looking.”
The facility looked like it had been an abandoned ranch and Simmons had added several buildings here and there. There were entire buildings of food and everything you could ask for to rebuild. Another building was filled with vehicles, including four tractor trailer rigs, construction equipment, and fuel trucks.
Manny examined the satellite photos, looked around the property and found the buried vault in minutes. They were able to start a bulldozer and used it to uncover the cement ramp to the vault. Dave placed charges and blew the vault door off its frame. This time the vault was filled with gold coins.
Will said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! Rob, I am so loving that brother in law of yours!”
"I second that motion," said Ann.
Rob smiled. "You know how much he values your adoration. Now get me some working trucks."
After a couple hours working on the trucks, Frank and Ann were able to start three of the four. They moved them near the vault for easy loading and sent everyone looking for a forklift. Jamie found it in one of the smaller buildings and called everyone over.
Dave looked at it and said, “It’s designed for rough terrain, so we should be in good shape.”
Will looked around and said, “This Simmons character was really a dipshit.”
Ann laughed. “I couldn’t agree with you more!” They loaded tw
o of the trucks with crates of coins and loaded the other two with food and whatever looked useful.
Matt used the bulldozer to rebury the vault. Soon they were ready to leave.
Rob pulled everyone together. “The plan is to take the gold back to Flagstaff and divide it up there. As per the agreement with Jim, we're keeping all of it. It may be a while before we can spend any of it, so I want you thinking of places to stash it. Once we’re back there, you will have trucks to use and time to burn."
Ann said, "I'm definitely in love with your brother in law."
Rob pulled a handful of British Sovereign coins out of a crate and slowly dropped them back into it. "I know the feeling!"
Will let out a booming laugh and said, "Yeah, baby!"
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
AUGUST 17th
Jim started the meeting off by asking, “So where are we in terms of the big picture?”
Al jumped in with a rapid staccato briefing on progress with the interstate system and railroads, and then moved on to cover food production and distribution.
Whitman said, “We are now in complete control of all of our cities and we have Governors in all fifty states. The Senate and House are filled with appointments and will start meeting at Caesar’s next week.”
Jim asked, “Caesar’s Palace? Who the hell made that decision?”
“I guess they liked the statues, sir,” said Al. Jim groaned.
Whitman continued, “We are completely in control of Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, and Central America. There has been no further opposition since the destruction of Mexico City. Essentially, we own them from now on.”
Jim asked, “What about our conspirators?”
Al answered, “At this point we believe that they are extinct or buried so deep in bunker they may never find their way out.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Whitman said, “The other eight missiles were effective in taking out what is little was left of Pakistan, the elements of the Chinese army that were reforming, and what was left of the Saudi regime. The rest of the world is justifiably nervous about what you will do next.”
Jim said, “Good. That’s where I want them.”
Al said, “Everyone is asking for the vaccine.”
“The EU and India can have it as soon as they agree to classify Islam as a terrorist ideology and to eliminate the open practice of Islam. From the Russians I want an alliance to prevent any future arms races anywhere on the planet. From the South American countries I want them to agree not to fight our control of Central America in any way. I intend to make that area prosperous for a change.
“Hammer out the agreements quickly because we have already given the vaccine to Canada and Australia, and they’ll pass it along sooner or later anyway.
“I want European, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealander immigrants. We’re going to need more English speakers that can fit into our culture. I’ll take non-Muslim Africans, Indians, and Filipinos who speak English as well. We need to repopulate quickly.”
Al said, “That's easy enough, but we do have a problem to deal with, sir. The governor of California appointed a Muslim as one of his Senators.”
Jim thought for a moment. “He did what?! Give the Senator the chance to denounce his religion and step down. Get rid of him if he doesn’t. Pick up the Governor, give him a parachute, tell him his citizenship is revoked, and drop him off somewhere over the Middle East. I don’t care where. Make it happen yesterday.
“Next, have we figured out how to start using money again?”
Rob said, “We don’t have much of a choice but to use the bills that have already been printed. We’re looking into the federal government confiscating all of the land and assets that no longer have legitimate owners. We can sell the land at inflated prices to narrow the amount of dollars floating around. We’ll have to outlaw foreign purchases of land for some time, of course, but after an initial grab where everyone who empties an abandoned bank buys as much land as they can, we’ll be back to something that feels a little more normal.
“We can gradually move toward acceptance of all US currency, even from overseas. Also, we do have the data on bank accounts, at least for the banks that followed the federal disaster recovery requirements. I'd like to combine all of the banks into one and transfer all accounts there for now. All loans owned by the banks will be forgiven. Mortgages will be wiped out and the homeowners will own their homes outright, if they're still alive and interested.”
General Whitman asked, “You’re going to kill off the banks.”
Jim said, “We’re starting over. For now everything will be cash or barter. We’ll adjust that later. It’s past time for new banks and new regulations. Besides, I think you’ll find that we own all the banks and most other companies, too, as we confiscate the stocks without owners."
A few hours after the meeting, all of the governments agreed to his terms regarding the vaccine, so Jim ordered shipments to be sent by transport jet.
By then, Governor Jones of California was already on a plane headed overseas with his US citizenship revoked. Jim hoped that he enjoyed his flight.
LATER THAT EVENING
In a conference room at Caesars’, Senator Malek took one look at the pistol in the Al’s hand and said, “I thought you would give in on this.”
“So far we’ve lost eighty-five percent of the worlds’ population because of your religion, including my entire family. Are you choosing to remain a Muslim, Senator?”
“I always hated going to the Mosque, anyway.”
“I’ll need you to make a statement on camera, sir. It’s filming now.”
“My fellow Americans, I was raised Muslim and participated in Islam for all of my life. After the genocide committed by that religion, I feel that I must denounce Islam as a false religion that can no longer be tolerated anywhere in the world.” Al slid an open Koran that had been soaked in lighter fluid onto the metal table in front of Malek and lit it. The cameraman panned down to the burning Koran and kept the focus there.
Al signaled for the cameraman to stop the recording and quickly put out the fire with an extinguisher.
Malek glared at him and asked, “Was that really necessary, you asshole?!"
Al said, “I think so,” drew his weapon and shot Malek in the face.
The Marine corporal putting away the Camera said, “That was beautiful, sir.”
“He was going to turn on us first chance he had. Help me with this, would you?”
They lifted the body into an oversized plastic trashcan on wheels. Al took the recording and wheeled the trashcan outside and into a waiting truck. The corporal went to work cleaning up the mess. The one thing Al was sure of, the body would never be found in his lifetime.
Al made a mental note to get that Corporal McNeel assigned to him from here on out.
A few hours later, the video had been edited and uploaded on the internet. From the video, it looked as though Malek was the one burning the Koran. Perfect, thought Al, as he destroyed the unedited original.
The next day, the former Lt. Governor of California was only too happy to appoint a non Muslim to the Senatorial seat when told that Malek had been killed in traffic accident after making the video. The new governor didn’t ask any questions about the body.
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
AUGUST 18th
It had been a long trip and Julie was delighted to get back to the village. They were more than happy to be home. It felt good to take a long hot shower and lounge for a while.
They all met in the Village Pub after getting cleaned up and settled in. Ann was passing out cold beer as they walked into the room. “Now we’re talking,” said Julie.
Rob and Ann had been home long enough to look well rested. Julie was a little jealous, but mostly just happy to be home. She was surprised to see the wives there, but she knew it didn’t make sense to leave them out as they would find out about the money anyway.
Rob was smiling like a Cheshire cat. “Welcome e
veryone. Congratulations on a successful mission!” There were loud cheers throughout the room. “I would like all of you to know that you are now multimillionaires.” The cheers were louder this time.
“I have very good news for all of you. President Jim has decided to continue to use the US dollar as currency. This means that it is now possible to purchase things again. Did I remember to tell you that we’re rich?!” Everyone was laughing and hugging now.
“The government is closing down all banks, transferring the accounts to the new American Bank, and wiping out all mortgages, so the houses you had mortgages on before the virus now belong to you outright. So to start out, Ann and I traded in some of the gold with some folks who don’t realize yet that the dollar will come back to life tomorrow. We gave them a good enough deal, but they’ll be crying tomorrow!” There was more laughter.
“So, here is the bonus for this job!” Julie looked where Rob was pointing and saw a box for each of them with their names written in big letters across the front. “There is five hundred thousand dollars in each of them with which you can do whatever the hell you would like. Personally, I would recommend buying a place to stash your gold, but you can do whatever flips your trigger.”
“Last thing, we have one more possible stash to check out when we’re ready, so plan on a road trip in the next couple of weeks.”
It was a great party. Helen and Julie were feeling the alcohol after an hour or so and decided to take their boxes home early. They were cozily wrapped in the covers a couple of hours later when the first gunshots rang out. Both jumped up, grabbed their M4 rifles, slipped on shoes and were flat on the ground shooting at the intruders before it even registered that the boots were all they were wearing. Helen nailed one of the shooters through the pelvis to drop him, and then put a round through the top of his head to shut down the central nervous system, just like Uncle Jim had taught them.
A few minutes later, the four intruders were down.
The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken Page 20