“Do you think we could have someone in the FBI building involved?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that I don’t want to take a chance.”
“Yes sir, I understand.”
“When will you be able to deliver them?”
“By five o’clock at the latest.”
“Good. Bring them to the back entrance. I will let you in. We will take them to the interview rooms in the basement. After that, I have another special assignment for you. Oh, excellent report and excellent work,” Lamb told him.
“Sir. Thank you sir. I am very grateful to hear that.”
“You did a great service to the administration,” Lamb told him.
***
Lamb met them at the back entrance to the FBI building and they were immediately taken to the basement to two separate interrogation rooms. The two agents were separated and handcuffed to a steel table. The hoods were still covering their heads as the doors were slammed shut.
“Excellent. Now I have another job I would like you to work on,” Lamb told Agent Rotan.
“Yes sir.”
“There is a pawn shop at the corner of 134th and E Street. I’ve seen a lot of activity in that area. It could be legitimate but I would like you to check it out. It just seems busier than the average store. If anyone can assess what is going on it would be you,” Lamb assured him.
“Sir, I’ll start on it immediately.”
“You have earned a nice night off. That can wait until tomorrow. Here,” Lamb said, handing him a prepaid credit card, “Take your lovely wife to dinner and enjoy the evening. Consider it a reward for a job well done. I took the liberty of making a reservation at Domiciles for two at 8:00 p.m.”
“Domiciles! My wife will freak out. Sir, that is very generous. Thank you so much.”
“Just go and enjoy. Nice work Agent Rotan.”
***
Lamb went into the first interrogation room and sat down across from the prisoner. He reached over and pulled the hood off his head. He watched as his eyes got wide when he realized who was sitting across from him.
“General Lamb. I…”
“Don’t. Agent Greer you are up to your eyeballs in trouble and the last thing I want from you is a bunch of lies. I could be at home with my wife but no, here I am with you and your friend in the other room. Do you have any idea how much that displeases me?” Lamb said.
“Sir, I know it looks bad but please, I can clear all this up.”
Lamb slammed his hand on the table, “All I want to know is the following. Who supplies you, who do you supply and are any other ISS agents involved?”
“It isn’t like it looks. We were just trying to infiltrate the organization,” Greer replied.
“Infiltrate? Agent Greer, the first thing we did was investigate your finances. Now I know exactly how much you make so perhaps you can explain the three hundred thousand you have in a Cayman Island bank account? Three hundred thousand.”
“We didn’t know what else to do with the money. We had to put it someplace,” Greer told him.
“Really? How about telling your superior or even coming to me?”
“I guess we didn’t think of that.”
“No, I guess you didn’t. One thing you can be sure of, where you are going you will have plenty of time to consider what you should have done. Here,” Lamb said sliding over a pad of paper and a pen, “I want the names of everyone you dealt with, both above and below you. I want everything you can remember about this little money making scheme of your. Places, dates, numbers and types of weapons. I’m giving the same task to your partner in crime. The information better match or…well, it had just better match.”
“I’ll do the best I can.”
“No, do better than that,” Lamb said as his departing words.
He hated to put them on the spot like this but he knew that everything was recorded and videotaped. If he was too soft it would look bad for him. He had already decided that he would have them transferred to the easiest camp they had in Texas.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lincoln and AJ had taken on the responsibility of locating a suitable facility where they could hide munitions and hopefully the Predators and Raptors if they could steal them.
“We need someplace fairly centrally located. That way it can be a supply depot for anyone that needs arms,” AJ said.
“I agree. We have to have cover from both drones and satellites as well and that isn’t going to be easy,” Lincoln answered.
“We may have to make it invisible from prying eyes.”
“Camouflage?”
“It’s got to be better than that. The new drones have IR capabilities. They can detect heat signatures, even underground. We are going to have to block out that ability.”
“It isn’t possible to block infrared imaging,” Lincoln replied.
“No, but we can limit it almost to nothing. I’ve done a lot of research on this subject. I knew drones were going to be spying on people at some point and I figured I had better find a way to protect my people. You know the overhead camouflage is more than just netting. We blanketed three layers of Mylar foil between the two camouflage sheets. We had to test this several times to get the right blend of material. Too much blockage and we created a ‘Black Hole’ effect. It made the area totally void of any IR and that in itself is suspicious. We wanted to blend in with the environment. That’s why as soon as a car or truck arrives we cover the hood with a thermal blanket. To detect the exhaust pipe or muffler they would have to practically be right on top of us.”
“So we need to find a place where we can do the same thing,” Lincoln said.
“Exactly. We need to get a background reading once we do find a suitable location and then try to blend in as much as possible.”
“Wow, and I already thought it was going to be hard.”
“Then we need to get to work,” AJ replied.
***
For the next three weeks they spent every waking moment scouring potential sites for heavy munitions. Finally they hit on one they agreed had great potential.
“It’s called Osage City in Kansas. It is located fairly close to Topeka. Well, not real close, but certainly a drivable distance. It has a grass air field attached as well.”
“Show me,” Thomas said.
“It was a Nike Missile site at one time. The military shut it down and it has been abandoned for years. The roads are still paved, maybe not in the best condition, but they will work. It’s encompasses twenty-five acres and has a security system in place. Water and electrical are on site and it has underground bunkers. The blast doors are still in place. The top is eighteen inches of concrete covered by three feet of soil.”
“And we can just take it over?”
“Well we could do it one of two ways. We could just go in and make ourselves at home. If anyone shows up, we bluff our way through it or do whatever we have to do. The second way is to buy it. It is actually for sale.”
“Two things wrong with that, actually, three off the top of my head. We buy it and then all kinds of environmental impact agencies get involved. We leave a paper trail and last but not least, we need our money for other things.”
“So we just take it over,” AJ said.
“Why don’t we take a trip there and see what we are really talking about,” Thomas suggested.
“I don’t think you or Lincoln should go. You have a price on your heads. No one knows who I am and I can pose as a potential investor. I can take pictures and send them back to your phone or the computer for you to study.”
“I think he is right Thomas,” Lincoln said, “As the ARM commander you can’t risk getting caught. I think AJ and maybe one other person should go and look the place over. Why don’t you take Kim with you? As a sniper she will have a good eye for the lay of the land. I trust her judgment.”
“I’ll see if she is willing to go,” AJ responded.
“I see you frowning, what’s bothering you?” Lincoln ask
ed Thomas.
“I guess the whole concept of moving all of us that far. We are pretty well hidden right here. We starting moving stuff to Kansas and someone is going to notice. It could bring unwanted attention,” he replied.
“Then we will have to do it slowly. We’ll take a few at a time by civilian transportation only. No Hummers or military trucks. We will have to use vans and rental trucks. We’ll rent them at different locations and pay with cash. We have to have someplace to stash all the munitions we are accumulating. We can’t keep storing it here. Besides, it is dangerous to have all our eggs in one basket,” Lincoln told him.
“I know you’re right. It’s just the actual move and avoiding detection that has me worried.”
“Then we will have to be extra careful. Not to change the subject, but changing it anyway, how is California coming along?”
“They are doing recon work. The inside guys are looking for all the weaknesses. Commander Lexar said they have twelve Raptor MQ-9s and six Predators in house plus six others in various stages of completion. They are due to be delivered in three weeks. That doesn’t give us much time. We need to plan an attack but that isn’t the real challenging part. We need to determine how to transport them without being stopped. The damn things are twenty-seven feet long and have a fifty-five foot wingspan. The wings can be taken off for transportation but the length is the real problem.”
“We can get four into a semi-truck so if we can nab all of them that would mean we would need five semis. We can lease them from different companies, load them up and head out in different directions. We’ll stay out of the major cities and off the major highways. We could transfer them to smaller trucks at some point so the semis can’t be traced to our final destination,” Lincoln said.
“We need to really check that out to see if they will fit in smaller trucks. Most rental trucks are only twenty-six feet long. That could be a problem.”
“You worry too much. The twenty-seven foot length is fully functional. We can remove the prop and nose cone if necessary. All you have to do is determine if Osage City is where we want to store them.”
“Okay. We need to move fast on this. As soon as AJ and Kim report, I’ll make the final okay,” Thomas told him.
“I’ll start on the plan to raid the Major Atomic Aeronautical Works facility. I’ll call Commander Lexar right away.”
***
“General Lamb, we have a problem.”
“A problem? And what exactly would that be?”
“People in Detroit, New Albany, and Green Bay are starting to protest against the internment camps. It seems the American reporter in Canada has caused a huge outcry. People have started taking to the streets and defying curfew. Several cities have had large groups march without applying for permits. Clashes between the ISS and dissidents are getting ugly.”
“I need a list of those cities immediately.”
“Sir, the list is growing every day.”
“Then update the list every day. Get to it immediately,” he replied.
As soon as the man was gone he called General Douglas and told him of the latest development.
“What do you intend to do about it?” Douglas asked.
“I was hoping for some guidance. If enough cities start to rise up, we may have to resort to Martial Law.”
“Only the President can do that.”
“I realize that but I don’t think the ISS has either the training or the manpower to go against large groups. We will need military support,” Lamb said.
“Ah. So you want to lay this on my door step?”
“Come on general, you know better than that. It is purely about having enough qualified people to deal with such a thing. We are basically a police force and not much more. Our leaders are few and far between. We have started a program to train them better but we simply aren’t there yet and won’t be for some time. Sure, I can throw them in but I’m not sure the results will be very well received.”
“Where are the cities?”
“Along the Canadian border.”
“That damned Mark Walker.”
“Absolutely.”
“I thought that would blow over,” Douglas said.
“Apparently not. In fact it seems to be building. I thought we had control over the media?”
“Our media only, not the world’s. The President said she has had calls from several heads of state asking if the report was true.”
“What did she tell them?” Lamb asked.
“Basically to mind their own business. Something about cleaning their own house before looking at someone else’s. In some ways it is quite ironic. America has always wanted to boss other nations around and suddenly the shoe is on the other foot.”
“Yes, well I doubt that the President sees the humor in that,” Lamb said dryly.
“No, she most assuredly does not,” Douglas agreed.
“So what do you want me to do?”
“I’ll talk to the President. I appreciate you not just trying to bluff through this. It is a smart man who knows when to ask for help.”
“I’ll wait to hear from you and in the meantime I will start gathering our ISS forces from the smaller cities to move into Green Bay and the other major cities.”
“I’ll be back to you as soon as I can,” Douglas assured him.
It had gone better than Lamb had anticipated. He figured Douglas would blow his top and he was prepared for it but instead he seemed to take it in stride. It was strange. Maybe he wanted something like this to happen so Martial Law would be declared. It would give Douglas almost unlimited power.
CHAPTER NINE
“General Waggoner, there is a man outside who says you will want to listen to him.”
Thomas frowned.
“Did he say what about?”
“No sir. Just that it was something you need and he has it.”
“Strange. Alright send the guy in. Did he give you a name?”
“He said it was Gerhardt Burger.”
“Gerhardt. That’s a strange name. Okay, send him in,” Thomas said laying his .45 on his desk within easy reach.
Gerhardt Burger was just a little over six foot one and had a rugged complexion, weathered and worn. He looked like a man that had spent a great deal of time in the outdoors. He was dressed in military camo with heavy boots. His hair was so blond that it was almost white. Thomas guessed his age to be around thirty plus or minus a few years. His jaw was quite square and he had a slight beard growth on his face.
“I understand you’re the big dog?” were his first words.
“I understand I need to see you,” Thomas replied.
He looked at the general then smiled.
“I think I’ve come to the right place. Name’s Gerhardt Burger,” he said sitting down without being asked.
“Yes, so I’ve been told. That still doesn’t explain why I need to see you,” Thomas said, leaning back in his chair.
“Because of what I can do for you.”
“And that would be?”
“I can make your men a fighting machine to be reckoned with. You turn them over to me and I will give you a force that can defeat anyone, any time.”
Thomas just looked at him. He was trying to figure out just what this guy was all about. Either he was a blowhard, full of hot air, overrating his own importance or the real thing. At this point, Thomas wasn’t sure what to think.
“And I should believe this because?”
“Well for starters, I worked for the Ops One Division. I have completed thirty missions and never failed at one. I have been sent behind enemy lines in several wars and insurrections. I am the very best at what I do.”
“And you want to help us?”
“I do. And before you ask let me tell you why. First of all, I am a patriot. I believe in the United States of America. I believe our Constitution is sacred. I believe it is worth fighting for and if necessary, dying for. What is happening in this country goes against everything I stand for.
I’ve been looking for just the right people to join. I heard about you from the South Dakota operation. I said to myself, that’s a group that can fight. I can help them to be even better. I can bring them to a higher level than they can achieve on their own. I have certain skills that very few have. I can teach your men how to develop them,” he said.
Thomas rubbed his chin. What to make of this guy. He could be really useful or he could just be a bag of hot wind.
“Tell you what. I would like to see some of those skills you have put into practice,” Thomas said.
“Great. I figured you would have your doubts. I would too if I were in your place. This guy with the strange first name just drops in unannounced telling you he is a gift you can’t refuse. Hell, I’d make him prove it as well. Oh, the first question you might want to ask yourself is, how in the hell did I find you and how did I get in unnoticed. You have tripwires all over the place and some nasty little bouncing Betties but here I am. So what would you like me to show you?” Gerhardt asked.
“Let’s stroll outside and I’ll tell you what I have in mind.”
“Lead the way,” he said getting up as gracefully as a cat.
Thomas had no doubt about his physical abilities.
When they got outside Thomas pointed to an open area leading to a tree line. You have two minutes. After that I am sending our sniper team led by Kim Dare. She has six men that she has been training for our special ops group. You need to evade them and capture as many as you can. By capture I mean plasticuff them. I don’t want any of them harmed. Just let them know you got them. They are some of our best and if you can pull this off we will talk.”
“I see no problem. Just the seven?”
“That’s right.”
“And I can’t incapacitate them?”
“Just the cuffs.”
“Okay. I don’t need the two minutes but if you are willing to be that generous, I’ll take it. I’m ready.”
“Here are the plasticuffs. Remember, I don’t want them hurt.”
“Got it,” he said, running for the tree line.
***
Lincoln, Lance, and Ivan sat with Thomas looking out at the area where Kim’s team had gone. Thomas glanced at his watch. Only ten minutes had gone by but it seemed longer.
PROJECT BlueBolt - AMERICAN UPRISING: BOOK III - AMERICAN UPRISING Page 5