The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken

by S. M. Armstrong

  "So it's coup d'état, light," said Rob. "It all fits."

  Matt asked, "What about Senator Ellis?"

  Dave said, "I think we can safely call that an assassination at this point. Either he knew something or was in the way. Maybe we need to look at his replacement, Senator Bernard."

  Rob said, "We need to have evidence. Start thinking about what problems the enemy is going to have."

  "Off the top of my head, I would say communications, logistics, counterintelligence, controlling their own people, security, and equipment failures," said Julio. "So far, except for launching missiles, everything they've done could have been accomplished by a small special ops team. I don't think we're dealing with more than fifty people."

  Green said, "I'd agree with that, which makes their communications even more difficult in some ways. I'd look for encrypted satellite communications that look military but can't be explained fully."

  Matt said, "A smaller group minimizes the logistics issues."

  Green argued, "Some of it, but it actually makes some things a lot harder because there's more use of outside vendors."

  Rob said, "I like the equipment failure approach. What do we look for?"

  Green rubbed his chin. "Anything to do with satellites or military electronics, sir. Encryption equipment."

  Rob thought for a moment. "It's a good start. Where would they base their headquarters?"

  "The more useful approach would be to look at where they wouldn't base HQ," said Will. "You’re up PK."

  Green said, "They need to avoid as many weather related problems as possible. With all the electronics, they can't afford to be flooded out. They can't afford to be snowed in for long periods of time, though with access to major roads, they could still be okay in colder areas. They can't be too far away from everything to influence events, so Alaska and Hawaii are out. They wouldn't put themselves through the aftermath of the nuke on D.C., though they could still be a few hundred miles from there."

  Rob asked, "Best guess?"

  Green took a marker to the large map of the US on the table and drew a rectangle from Washington to North Dakota on the top and Northern California to Kansas on the bottom. "I think they are operating out of this extended area, with the most likely area for Mr. X's headquarters being here." He circled Wyoming and the surrounding area."

  Julio asked, "So you think it's Larson?"

  "Too soon to say. I'm basing this on the pattern of their bases that we do know about," said Green.

  "That's a small enough area to look for electronic emissions," said Julio. Any kind of base is going to have a fair output of heat, too."

  Rob asked, "So if you're putting your next paycheck on it, where would you bet?"

  Green didn't hesitate, "Right here, sir," drawing a circle around the area surrounding Cheyenne.

  Rob said, "Then that's where we start. We keep the press looking for Kemp, though to throw off the scent."

  SAN DIEGO

  Jamie and Luke had met with his mother earlier in the day and were still digesting some of the conversation.

  "It sounds like it's all hands on deck to track down the conspiracy," said Jamie.

  Luke frowned and said, "I just don't see that we have a lot to offer with the investigation. We can be bait, but that's about all we're good for right now. I'd rather keep working on classes and sit this one out for now."

  She hugged him and said, "I'm so happy to hear you say that!"

  "Mom isn't looking for us to be in the middle of it. I think that video freaked her out."

  "Me too, and I was there."

  "We can take some short runs next week if you want. We'll just keep it quiet and blend in."

  "Sounds good."

  They returned to their studying, knowing that there would never be enough time to learn everything they needed to know.

  BRAZIL

  FEBRUARY 15th

  The island was rapidly transformed into a facility that had everything they could possibly want on a small island. Jim purchased three matching sea planes that would allow for evacuation during hurricane alerts and built hidden cement shelters at high points on the island that should stand up to anything short of a huge ocean surge. For that possibility he had the shelters made water proof and with automatic hatches to close off the airflow. He also stocked them with rebreathers that would provide hours worth of air if necessary. The shelters would also provide protection from small arms fire.

  They built a hidden vault into one of the shelters and stashed much of the cash and gold that they had purchased into it.

  Kemp also insisted on hurricane proof safe-rooms for staff housing. The staff were pleased with their accommodations, but the truth of the matter was that he didn't want the on duty security personnel running to their families instead of taking care of his.

  Lisa had recruited workers from the expat community on the theory that they would fit better and wouldn't be as likely to pass information along to local criminal rings. She had even brought in teachers for the children of the staff. They even had satellite television, radio, and internet.

  Pam called him over. "There's some news you should see."

  Kemp sat on the sofa with her to see a TV news report on the nuclear assassination attempt on the president and vice president of the United States. Again, Kemp was shown as the primary suspect.

  The next shot was a sound bite of the Speaker of the House, Nicholas Larson, speaking of how Kemp would be caught and punished."

  Kemp stood and said, "That son of a bitch!"

  Pam asked, "What do you mean?"

  "He was in charge of the coup attempt and now he's number three in line for the presidency. He'll be sending assassins when he figures out where I am."

  "You're safe here."

  "None of us are safe while he's alive. I have to go back to the states."

  "We'll come, too."

  "No, this I have to do on my own. I need to know you're safe."

  "We need you here, too."

  "I'll be back. I promise."

  HILL AIRFORCE BASE

  FEBRUARY 25th

  Rob had stopped in to check on the progress of the search.

  "We're drawing a blank, sir," said Green. "We've expanded the search, but I'm thinking their facility may be powered down. They may have fewer people than we thought, or my premise may be wrong."

  "Or they got wind of the search," answered Rob. Keep at it."

  NEW YORK CITY

  FEBRUARY 26th

  Julie and Helen had slipped into the Kunoichi building in the early morning hours and had taken over the office and conference room Richards had appropriated. Later in the morning, they walked into a television interview Richards was giving to a Costa Rican reporter. The young woman saw them and stood, mouth agape.

  Helen said, "Hola, Alicia!"

  Starting to tear up, the reporter said in Spanish, "You're alive! They said you were killed."

  "We are not easy to kill," said Julie in Spanish. "The assassination attempt failed, but we grieve for San Francisco. We lost many of our friends."

  "I can't believe you're alive! What now?"

  "The work continues," said Julie. "We will do the best we can to improve as many lives wherever we can. Understand that our helping the people angers much of the traditional power base. This wasn't the first and won't be the last assassination attempt, but we hope that there will never again be an attack of this magnitude."

  Helen said, "For the people of San Francisco, Julie and I will do all that we can to repair the damage and to help the victims and their families. And we will find those who killed our friends and we will bring justice to them at the earliest opportunity."

  "What about the plebiscites?"

  Helen answered, "The people have to be able to decide for themselves. Bombings will not prevent this. I hope that they will decide to join with us in creating a new tomorrow, but their freedom to choose must be honored."

  Julie said, "We believe that the increased d
iversity in the US political system will help the entire planet. It's incredibly important. We are moving into a world in which individual freedom will have to be matched by our responsibility to each other.

  "We ask that the people of Mexico, Cuba, and Central America take responsibility to help guide the United States on the right course for all of us."

  Helen said, "The plebiscites are scheduled for this week. These are incredibly important. Please participate in them."

  The reporter asked, "Where are you going next?"

  Julie said, "We are returning to San Francisco to do what we can there, then we will be going back to Mexico and Central America."

  The reporter said, "Thank you, and we are grateful that you are alive."

  With the interview over, she hugged Julie and started sobbing.

  Julie said, "It's okay, Alicia. We're going to make things right. I promise you that we will make things right." Helen hugged her too.

  Richards just stood there, dumbfounded, wondering if he was the only one who realized the cameraman was still filming.

  ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

  FEBRUARY 27th

  Jim watched the video of Julie and Helen's interview in New York with amusement. "No one falls apart like that after my interviews."

  Susan said, "I don't know, that speech you gave on energy conservation was a humdinger! Barely a dry eye in the house."

  He laughed. "Those two worry the hell out of me. The only thing worse is Luke and Jamie driving who knows where every time we turn around."

  "Still waiting for the axe to fall?"

  "You know we can't stay this prominent and not pay a price for it."

  "They're not going to run and hide. The family just doesn't work that way," she said.

  "Tell me about it."

  He had moved the temporary government location to St. Louis after the missile strike on Las Vegas. So far the decision had panned out well.

  Immigrants were flocking to St Louis and many other cities and manufacturing capability was increasing rapidly. He was determined to make St Louis into a center for technological advancement and was pouring in resources to help. It was exciting to see.

  They were using a hotel convention center as a temporary White House. There was no way of fully protecting it, but anti missile defenses were in place around the facility. They enemy wouldn't get another easy shot like in Las Vegas.

  All of the new territories were voting this week. Today's plebiscites were in Costa Rica and Panama. The rest of the plebiscites would be held throughout the week.

  Jim was following the voting very closely. So far, polls of voters were leaning heavily toward statehood.

  He met briefly with Speaker Larson and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Rollins. "The vote looks good so far," said Jim.

  Rollins said, "I'm delighted to hear it, though I have to admit that I still have reservations."

  "It's a gamble, but it makes us completely self reliant," said Larson. "It will be worth it."

  "I'm counting on you two to deliver the votes to make this happen. So far it looks like most of Central America, Mexico and Cuba will all go. The only holdouts are too small to matter. This is going to work."

  Larson said, "We'll make it work, Mr. President."

  Jim said, "On other matters, we don't have Kemp yet, but we're going to get the son of a bitch. Until we do, watch yourselves, okay?"

  The men agreed and left for their offices, leaving Jim to ponder which of them was trying to kill him.

  SAN FRANCISCO

  FEBRUARY 28th

  Julie and Helen had changed tactics for security reasons and would not stay in any one business location for more than a few hours. Their security had insisted that their schedules now be tightly guarded secrets. If anything, it seemed to heighten the public's fascination with them.

  Kunoichi Import/Export had purchased all of the damaged buildings in San Francisco at a reasonable pre-damage price and Julie and Helen had authorized the removal of the buildings once the FBI cleared it. Construction crews were flooding into San Francisco for the work that would come between removing the buildings and rebuilding them.

  They insisted on giving stock in Kunoichi Corporation to surviving dependents of those killed in the bombing. The reaction was generally positive, if not universally so.

  Jordan Cook, the manager Richards had put in charge of the San Francisco operation was a powerhouse of hyperactive energy. He had established the new temporary head quarters in South San Francisco in an industrial area where they met there in a grungy back office.

  "The buildings need to be worthy of The City, and respectful of the price that the locals have paid," said Helen. "But it's important that the commercial space be viable so that we can actually pay off the loan for it."

  Cook said, "I'll announce that we're accepting proposals for the buildings and we'll get the opinion of the locals as well. We'll come up with a broad consensus and then do something else entirely that everyone will like a lot better anyway."

  Helen laughed and Julie said, "I'd be open to an entire community being built on the property and maybe even a theater if we could pull it off."

  Helen said, "Just so we don't go into bankruptcy doing it."

  Cook laughed and said, "I understand completely. We'll get it done as quickly and safely as possible. I'll have some basic ideas for you in a few weeks."

  "Thank you, Jordan," said Helen.

  They later met with Will in another office. They both hugged him and Julie poured coffee for them.

  "Okay, so I'm sure you're ready for the news," said Will. "At this point we're ninety percent positive that Speaker Larson was behind the attacks."

  "What?!" Both Julie and Helen had spoken at the same time.

  "We're sure enough that we now have teams on him at all times. When he slips up, we will nail him. Unfortunately, we don't have enough direct evidence to pull him in now."

  "This is crazy," said Julie. "He was at our wedding!"

  "Which is probably why you weren't hit with several missiles."

  Helen said, "Jesus, Will! This is like having a family member trying to kill you. He's one of ours."

  "It looks like he's been at it for some time," said Will. "You've only seen what he chose to show you." He pulled out a couple of folders. "Here's the core of what we have on him. Read it over now and give it back to me when you're done.

  "All of this is extremely secret and is being left outside of government reports, so be careful about lose lips, even between yourselves, because you never know when someone has bugged the place." He pulled out a small mike and threw it on the desk. "I found this in here earlier."

  "Oh, shit," said Helen.

  "Exactly."

  By the time they finished reading, both of them were convinced.

  Helen asked, "So when do we take him out?"

  "We're waiting on the completion of accepting the new states into the US," Will said. "Once that's done, it will just be a matter of snatching him when the opportunity presents itself."

  Julie asked, "You're not just going to take him out and blame it on that Kemp guy?"

  "Only as a last resort. We would like to ask him a few questions first. We need to know who else is out there."

  Helen asked, "But will he talk?"

  With a big smile, Will said, "Not too soon, I hope."

  Helen gave the folders back to him. He said, "I'm off to try to catch up to Luke and Jamie."

  "Good luck with that," said Julie. "Those two never stop."

  "Don't you worry, I'll find them," he said as he left quietly out a side door.

  That night they had dinner with the mayor and apologized for the mess that had followed them to his city. His comment was, "Don't give up on us. We still want you here."

  They spent the rest of the dinner going over ideas for the new buildings downtown.

  MIAMI, FLORIDA

  MARCH 2nd

  Kemp bought a small plane and worked his way to Ha
vana where he traded it for a Florida titled fast boat that he took into Miami. Customs looked at his US passport in the name of Matt Flint and gave it back to him. They looked over the boat but didn't find anything because he wasn't so much as carrying a pistol. The hundred thousand he had in cash he had hidden inside of a pressurized scuba tank was easily missed. In Miami he collected his things and quickly gave away the boat just to get rid of it.

  He recovered his cash from the tank, purchased a small motor home, and was soon on his way across the country.

  BRAZIL ISLAND

  MARCH 4th

  Sandy had asked the rest of the women to meet with her for dinner. "Now that the Skipper is gone, we have some unfinished business to talk about. I've been thinking about Officer Chapman."

  The faces around the table hardened. Pam said, "Whatever you're thinking I'm in."

  All of the women around the table agreed just as fast, without even knowing yet what the Sandy's suggestion was.

  "To get him taken out will cost two hundred thousand dollars. To have him brutally tortured with whatever methods we would like and then killed will be one million dollars. I'm told we can be as creative as we want."

  Maria said, "I want him fucked with a jack hammer until he dies."

  "Can we have his fingers cut off?" asked Sonya.

  "What about his family?" said Lisa.

  Sandy held up her hands and said, "Let's keep it to just him. I don't want innocent blood on our hands. How does extreme torture then death by jackhammer?" All of the women agreed.

  Sandy opened the door and called in Jack and Hendrick, two of the single South African mercenaries. "We want him tortured and then killed by a jackhammer in the ass. We'll pay two million US dollars. Do you want the job?"

  Jack said, "For you, we would do it for free, but two million plus expenses is good, too."