by A J Newman
“This is a slam dunk. Tell them to send their team here to work out the details. Have them out here when the president of the ISA is here. I think he might be interested in their services also. I’ll give Harris a heads up so that he can bring the right people.”
***
John got off the satellite phone with President Hayden and was very concerned since his own intelligence indicated the same potential for a major attack on the PSA. He told Hayden that he would get his team together and determine what resources were available. They would visit the PSA as soon as possible. He called the Admiral and filled him in on the situation and they agreed to meet in two days on the Ford as usual.
John walked over to Gus’ office at the underground bunker in Mobile. His aide and two Navy Seals always followed John wherever he went. He also had two personal guards that he selected from Gus’ group. Maria and Mary were currently assigned to him. Mary was George’s daughter, had been to Ranger school and was quite proficient at all manners of death and destruction. The two shadowed the president, but never got in the way.
“Gus, I just got off the phone with President Hayden and the PSA needs our help.”
“Well we expected this a while back. I wonder what took them so long.”
Gus looked in a file cabinet and retrieved the operational plan to assist the PSA that had been developed months ago.
“I’ll get my team to quickly update this and perhaps we can meet this afternoon.”
“Yes, that will be good. I have scheduled a meeting with the Admiral for our team on Friday. Gus, what do you think about using the 82nd to secure the border from California to Texas?”
“I like the idea, but you know that is a lot of ground to cover. We can add some airpower, a bunch of drones and some surveillance equipment and I think we can make it happen. I will also mine the whole damn border and I know it will work.”
“Do we have that many land mines?”
“These army supply warehouses are piled higher than you can imagine with all sorts of deadly stuff. I will mine the border from the Pacific to the Gulf with your okay.”
“Do it. I’m surprised that you don’t have a plan for doing this.”
Gus pulled another file out and said, “Here it is. With your okay, I plan to assign an engineering company to the 82nd get started yesterday.”
John laughed and left to go back to his office.
***
Admiral Jones welcomed them to the Ford and took them straight to the meeting room where Gus and Bob laid out their plans to assist the PSA in strengthening their military and securing their southwest border. They emphasized airpower and antiaircraft defenses. This was the bulk of the meeting and took several hours.
At the end of the meeting, John addressed the Admiral, “Steve and his wife will accompany Beth and me to the PSA. I have asked Steve to represent our manufacturing capability and needs. I have asked Major Mills and Karen Blake to join us. I have also asked Major Mills to be our military liaison and Karen Blake to be our ambassador to the PSA. I will be taking some of our manufacturing people to talk with the CP Company about opening up manufacturing and sales of civilian supplies, hardware and eventually food. Can you have your people check them out for me?”
“I’ll be glad to. The PSA needs our help, but have been too stubborn to ask for it. Be gentle with them. On another note, how soon can Gus have the border secure, land mines and all?”
“I’ll have him give you his target date. Just a heads up, he plans to use the 82nd to guard the border and to be a quick reaction force to assist the PSA if needed. They have done well in the fight for Corpus Christie, but several of our commanders want to keep them at arm’s length until they have a track record with us. A failure on the west coast is bad; a failure in the southeast could be disaster. That is a very large force and if they turned against us during an attack it could destroy the ISA.”
“John, you are spot on. I am glad they defected to join us, but it happened so quickly and without much fuss to be true. It just doesn’t feel right. Keep them in the west and test them.”
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Chapter 17
Scheming
Newton, Kentucky
January, 2022
Margret met with the mayor and police chief of Port Arthur to let them know about her relocation and she was taking about 100 of her employees to the Corpus Christie area.
“The liberation of Corpus Christie will be a chance for our company to expand its market by 25 percent. Before the TSHTF, no one knew us except for the small towns that we serviced. Most of our competition was eliminated by the looting and rioting. We are posed for major growth.”
June replied, “I hope your CEO is smart enough to know that profiteering would be highly frowned on in the ISA.”
“June, have we not always charged fair prices for our goods and services in Port Arthur?”
“Yes, but you were the only ones who could get many of the daily supplies that our people needed so they were glad to pay for what they got. I’m just warning you to stay reasonable. By the way, who will be taking over the local business?”
“I haven’t announced it yet, but it will be my VP of Operations. I believe that you both know Al.”
Joe laughed and said, “I hope he is a better businessman than he is a golfer. I know Al very well and I think that you made a great choice.”
***
Margret ordered over a hundred of her top people to move to Corpus Christie to be her seed team. She asked Bo if she could have 25 couples and their families from each of the other compounds to filter into the Corpus Christie area over the next few months. They wouldn’t be noticed, since many people displaced by the war were moving back to the area now that the Cabras had been pushed back into Mexico.
Bo’s manufacturing and engineering teams were busy finding sites and moving equipment to the new compound. They had selected the city of Beeville to be their base of operations with the compound to be placed about five miles north of the city limits at an abandoned airport. The airport had more than adequate runways for their planes and over twenty large buildings and hangers that could be quickly used for their manufacturing operation.
The security group pushed for Beeville because the town was mainly intact with only about a hundred citizens still living there. They quietly set up headquarters and systematically eliminated the non-people outside of the town. They would take their time to eliminate the ones in the town since they would be missed if they suddenly disappeared.
***
“Joshua, the president of the PSA has just invited me to a meeting to discuss our proposal to build a manufacturing base on the west coast. His aide told me we have the approval and this will be more of a media show of his successes. The big news is that John Harris and his team will also be there and the PSA president has set up a meeting for me to pitch our company to him.”
“Damn, this is just the break that we needed. This could advance our plans by years. Great job son.”
“I'd like to fly in and talk to you face to face. Meeting Harris could prove even more rewarding.”
“Bo, I have some thoughts about slowing the ISA’s expansion down. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
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Chapter 18
The Pacific States of America
California
January, 2022
Beth was rushing around the night before the trip to the west coast like a chicken in a barnyard. It really pissed her off that John was calmly playing with the baby and talking military crap with Scott while she was rushing around getting her bags packed. John threw some socks, underwear, slacks and several shirts into a duffle bag and grabbed a suit just in case something formal came up. He added an extra 9mm, a short M4 and extra ammo to a second bag. He always had a .45 cal. Model 1911 in a shoulder holster and a concealed Keltek P11 on a waistband holster. It was not fair that women had to look great while representing t
heir country and the men could go casual now. TSHTF had done away with all black tie protocol.
She spent her time selecting her dresses and shoes and finally packed them before bedtime. She always carried a concealed Ruger .380 and added her SR9 and ammo to her luggage at John’s insistence. He reminded her of their experience fighting off the killers during her vacation two years ago when she first met John. The Cabras were armed to the teeth and they only had a few handguns. John vowed that he would always be prepared in the future.
Beth said, “John, you have a small army guarding you at all times. Why do you insist that we keep our side arms?”
“Dear, you remember our little excursion to Idaho and the Cabras trying to kill us for several days. I won’t ever be without the ability to protect myself again.”
“But darling, we have armed guards at all times.”
“Yes dear, but remember that movie where Air Force One was attacked and the president had to take guns away from the bad guys to save the day?”
“Yes I do, but you’re not that actor and that was a movie. I think that you are paranoid.”
The discussion reminded John to check on security for the flight.
“Gus, sorry it’s late, but are any of my personal guards going with me to California. If not, please get Jim and Imelda assigned to the flight and kick a couple of the others off. I’m getting a little paranoid and want some friendly faces.”
“John, I beat you to it. One of those numbskulls in flight operations had some new people assigned. I already had Joe scheduled and will add Imelda. Remember Janet is still listed as your personal guard, but I think she spends most of her time guarding Steve these days.”
“Thanks, old buddy. Two of our best Rangers. I feel safer already.”
“John, do you know something that I don’t know?”
“Gus, I am being paranoid. I was thinking about us getting shot down in that float plane in Idaho and felt the need for more protection.”
“Okay, you had me worried for a minute. Have a safe trip.”
John thought for a minute and called Janet, “Hey Janet, I hate to bring this up at this late time. Are you and Steve bringing your weapons along on our trip?”
“Besides being Steve’s wife, I am still listed as your personal guard. Of course, we both will be armed. Two short AR15s and side arms. Can’t let the president have to defend Air Force One, can we?”
John laughed and said goodbye.
John’s aide told him, “Sir I’ll have your bags taken to the Gulf Stream IV.”
“Private, I want those bags to go in the cabin with us and we will carry them. The rest can go in the cargo hold.”
“Yes sir!”
The security lady at the gate said, “Now if all of you would go through the security scanners, we will begin loading. Private place the bags on the x-ray conveyor and we will get you screened and on your way.”
John looked at her and said, “Ma'am, this is my plane and these are my trusted friends. I’m not going to hijack my own plane. Please get out of the way.”
They walked to the plane, stored their gear and settled down for the flight. The flight left Mobile at 6 a.m. and most of the passengers were asleep in a few minutes.
“John, I didn’t like how they wanted to search us at the gate and I only knew a couple of the people in charge.”
“Steve, our country is growing so quickly that it’s impossible for us to know everyone, but that is why I wanted you, Joe and Imelda along. You have a job to do, but we have each other’s backs covered. I will ask Gus to make sure that we fly out of the Naval Air Station in the future. I’d feel safer in a C-17 than this luxury crate.”
John looked out, saw the two F-18s following at a safe distance and fell asleep thinking that it would be nice to have the anti-missile ordinance on this plane.
John and Major Mills were reviewing their presentation to President Hayden when the pilot told them that they would be landing in half an hour.
“Jack, I appreciate you and your family moving to California and taking on this assignment for us. How is Tad doing?”
The major’s son had been shot during the rescue of the Kentucky National Guard company’s families from the DHS.
“Tad is doing well and the doctors say that he will be back to a 100% in a few months. Thank you for asking.”
They were met on the tarmac by a squad of ISA Rangers with a convoy of Humvees to take them to the Capitol of the PSA.
“John, don’t you think that limos would be more appropriate for the president of the ISA to travel in?”
“Beth, I’m trying to make a point to the PSA and besides I like having those twin Ma Deuces in case TSHTF. You can never have enough guns or bombs.”
The trip to the Capitol was uneventful and they were met on the steps by the president of the PSA and many of his staff. A band played “Hail to the Chief.” They were greeted and ushered into the building. The ones not attending the meetings were taken to their rooms and made comfortable. The first lady and wife of the Speaker of the House had arranged a tour of the area for Beth and Janet. A squad of Rangers shadowed their every move all day long.
President Hayden welcomed the group, “Thanks for travelling to our Capitol. We are looking forward to a mutual and long lasting friendship.”
“Mr. President, we share the same thoughts and want to develop a tie between our two equal, but separate nations. While our views on some political issues vary, we both share the same values and unfortunately the same enemies. We hope to leave at the end of the week with an outline of a treaty that promotes a mutual strong defense, a sharing of technology and to help the PSA develop its armed forces to help all of us become safer. I plan to work out a process that enables us to lend your country some much needed military equipment in trade for assistance in sealing our southern border with Mexico.”
Hayden was pleased and replied, “Thanks and I am confident that we can be good neighbors and partners. Now let’s get down to business.”
Major Mills gave a two hour overview of the military plans and gave the PSA general a copy of the plan and list of assets to be transferred.
“General, we have ships just off your northern coast and we have bulked up our southern fleet at San Diego to counter the threat from the USA. Tanks, Humvees and Apaches are on several cargo ships just off the coast at San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. We will crew them until your men can be trained. We also have over 500 soldiers and their families originally from the west coast that want to join your new country. We will allow them to travel here if you approve the movement.”
President Hayden interrupted, “I am almost speechless. That’s bad for a career politician. I can’t thank you enough. What can we do to repay you for your generosity?”
John smiled and replied, “Mr. President, that’s easy to answer. Use the equipment to make the PSA strong enough to fight off and defeat the USA. We do not want to destroy the USA, but neither will we ever give in to them and let them enslave us. We will work to empty their slave camps, but don’t want to take their land. We do need to decide what the boundaries of their land are and what land the PSA intends to Annex. I don’t see a conflict between us, but let’s get it all out on the table now before there is a misunderstanding.’
“John, I agree. Let’s go to my office and work out those issues while these military types work on protecting our countries.”
John was concerned that the PSA might make a grab for the same land that the ISA wanted, but quickly found that not to be true.
“We only want to keep what we have plus Nevada. Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada will be the five States making up the PSA. The one condition that we place on this is that the ISA must take Idaho, Utah and Arizona into the ISA.”
John looked at the map and replied, “Land for security.”
“Yes, the ISA will be a buffer between the PSA and those fascist bastards in Harrisburg. You see, if we took more land we would get more people tha
t are more like the ISA and conservative in nature. The whole west coast only has about two million people left alive. The plagues and food shortages wiped us out. We shifted to the right politically in three months. While we don’t want to go back to the liberal dope smoking bullshit, we are more liberal than you are. If we take that land, we will be overrun and lose our way of life.”
“We expected you to want much more than Nevada. What happens if the next president decides that the PSA has a right to more land?”
“Well John, that’s why we are selling it to you and you will have a title to it that will stand.”
“What are you expecting in payment?”
“All of the equipment that’s on your list and more to be agreed on between us. We also want a treaty that guarantees the PSA the ability to purchase raw materials from the ISA at a fair market price. Last we want you to promise that when you capture the USA leaders that nuked our country, they be brought to the PSA for trial.”
John thought for a minute and said, “I am sure that we can deliver all but the last one without issue. I will have to do some fast talking to get the last one through. I want to shoot the bastards myself.”
“John, we also want to bring the rest of the Progressive Movement Leaders and media who covered up the illegal activities of his administration that led to this disaster. They will get a fair trial and be dealt with.”