Douglas was smiling as her heard her cussing when the door finally closed. He walked around the room and finally sat down behind the desk. It’s good to be the King he thought. Now that Clemons was out of the way he would have to clean up this whatever they hell they called themselves. And Lamb. He would have to even the score with him as well. His cell phone rang and he answered. He listened for several minutes before finally placing it down on the desk.
***
The drones attacks in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Boston had gone off without a hitch. Every target had been destroyed leaving burning Abrams tanks in their wake. People had come out by the thousands, keeping troops from being able to move from one place to another. Riots sprang up in entire cities with the ISS and military troops being overcome and taken prisoners.
In Dallas and Huston they had used Javelin Missiles to knock out seven M1A2 Abrams tanks. Like in the other large cities, people came out in the thousands, many armed with nothing more than clubs and bats. Hundreds of ISS agents and military men and women were rounded up and held in domes and football stadiums.
All across the nation fighting broke out. It happened in large towns, small towns, and even villages. Thousands were hurt and hundreds were dead but at last the people were willing to fight for their freedom. It was becoming more than just a word, it was a rallying cry.
***
For the next four days, General Douglas tried to put out fires by rushing troops to the most desperate areas. It was becoming harder by the hour. Even air bases were being attacked by the ARM and air traffic towers either taken over or put out of commission. People clogged the highways with cars and when tanks were brought it, they were met with Hellfires or Javelin Missiles.
In desperation, Douglas ordered bombers to get ready to drop their deadly load on major cities. They would be followed by chopper gunships and Warthogs. If it meant killing a few million people to put the uprising down, then so be it. He had come too far to back down now.
***
“General we have a slight problem.”
“Slight problem. You listen to me. I don’t want to hear about any slight problems. Your job is to get those bombers and choppers in the air. Do you understand Colonel?”
“Sir I can’t do that because we have only enough men to fly two of the bombers. The rest have refused to fly the mission.”
“What,” he screamed, “They refused a direct order?”
“Yes sir, in a way. They just didn’t come to the base. They all called in sick.”
“You send the MP’s to get them. Bring them back to fly the mission or shoot them. I don’t care which.”
“I don’t think you understand the problem here General. I have maybe twenty percent of the personnel on base. The rest have either gone AWOL or have called in sick. No one wants to drop bombs on American cities. Sir, they are refusing, it is as simple as that.”
“If you don’t get those birds in the air within the next hour, you will be relieved.”
“No sir, I won’t. I resign effective this moment,” the Colonel said and hung up.
He could hear the general screaming that he had better not hang up on him. The Colonel smiled and tossed his government issued cell phone in the trashcan.
***
“How are we doing?” Thomas asked when he came back from checking on some wounded men and women.
“Overall, better than expected. We owe a heck of a lot to the civilians. They are keeping the military from getting the upper hand. They aren’t able to flank our strong points and by the time they find a way around, we have taken up another position. Like you said, we are controlling when and where we fight,” Ivan told him.
“One of the wounded said he saw a column of tanks cutting across some fields headed our way. Could they have figured out where we are?” Thomas asked.
“Probably by now they have. They have surely captured enough men and women to extract our location. We knew this would happen at some point.”
“We are going to stay and fight. Right here. I’m not about to tell everyone that we are going to pack up and run,” Thomas told him.
“I think we all understand that. We can set up a four ring perimeter. When one starts to collapse they can fall back to the next one and so on. By the time they get here they will be down on both spirit and ammunition. We will hold the 105mm until the last along with the drones and the rest of the Javelins. At that point it won’t much matter if we deplete our stock. They will have either been defeated or have overrun us,” Ivan said.
“How long do we have?” Tomas asked.
“Maybe two more hours, three tops,” Ivan replied.
“Then let’s get to it.”
***
Ivan had been right. The military had finally located their headquarters through three sources. The first was the most basic and low tech of all. The torture of captured ARM members. Apparently the Geneva Convention did not apply when you were capturing your own countrymen.
Once the basic information was obtained they could begin to triangulate the messages coming in and out of the area. It took an amazingly short amount of time once they had the general vicinity.
“Got it.”
“Where?”
“Near Osage City, Kansas.”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, pull up the satellite image,” the operations officer ordered.
A minute or so later the huge screen began to zero in on a small dot hundreds of miles down.
“Okay. What are we looking at? I don’t see anything particularly interesting. That looks like an old military structure.”
“It is sir. An abandoned Nike Missile site. They had missiles stored there ready to fire during the Cold War.”
“And that is where the signals are coming from?”
“That’s what it says.”
“Could it be a relay station?” the officer asked.
“It could be but look at these tracks. Something has been in and out of there fairly recently. They go right up to the doors. Sir, I honestly believe that’s where they are operating from.”
“Alright. I’ll take it to the General and see what he wants us to do, if anything. Keep the image up in case he wants to see for himself,” the operations officer said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
General Douglas was fuming. No one hung up on him and no one refused to follow his orders. He called Edwards Air Force base. He was taken aback by how long it took for someone to finally answer the phone.
“Edwards Air Base.”
“Who is this? Is that the way you are told to answer the phone?” the general demanded.
“We are shorthanded. You’re lucky I heard it at all. We have a battle going on so what do you want?”
“Son, this is General Douglas. I want to speak to your commanding officer this minute.”
“Well general, he is dead along with about a hundred others. Seems someone fired a couple of Hellfire missiles into headquarters. Pretty much all we have left are a few Lieutenants and some NCO’s. Sorry general but you are going to have to look someplace else for leadership. I’m just an airman first class and I have to go,” he said and without another word hung up.
General Douglas stood there with his mouth open then threw his phone across the room. It shattered into a hundred pieces. Here he was, the highest ranking person in America and a simple airman first class just tells him to go elsewhere and hangs up? The second hang up in less than three minutes. Unbelievable. Alright, he decided. He would have the Navy launch their planes from the aircraft carriers and fire their missiles. He would have them use cruise missiles for now. He decided that was not only his best plan but one he should have thought of earlier. Sailors can’t very well just walk away from their base at sea. Pilots can’t call in sick or he would have them shot on the spot.
He picked up the phone on the desk and started to look up Admiral Bix. He laughed as he hung up and r
ealized that Bix had been one who had resigned. He dialed Admiral Jenkins instead.
“United States Fleet Forces Command. How can I help you?”
“This is Chief of Combined Forces General Douglas. I need to speak to Admiral Jenkins.”
“Just a minute General Douglas. He is in the head.”
“I don’t give a damn, go get him and bring him to the phone.”
“Yes sir, General.”
He could hear the phone ‘thunk’ as it hit the desk.
It was a few minutes before the admiral came on the line.
“General Douglas, Admiral Jenkins. How can I help you sir?”
“I have a mission for you.”
“Yes sir.”
“I want to have cruise missiles launched against the following cities. Boston, Buffalo, and Raleigh.”
“Sir?”
“You heard me. I want cruise missiles launched against those cities. I want it done just as soon as possible. On the west coast I want them launched against San Jose, Fresno, and San Diego.”
“You are talking about our own American cities?”
“Admiral, I am giving you a direct order. I want at least two cruise missiles launched at each of those cities. I will follow this up with additional military operations.”
“Is this a joke? Are you really General Douglas? If this is a hoax I will have you taken out and shot,” the admiral said.
“Damn you, I am going to go down to the situation room and have a face to face with you. You get your butt over to your communications command and wait for my call.”
“Alright. I’m afraid that is going to be necessary. I am not about to bomb American cities without having it in writing and seeing you in person,” the admiral said.
“Just get over there and be ready to carry out your mission,” the general ordered.
General Douglas was irritated but he could understand the admiral’s concern. If it was an imposter and he initiated the attack it would be curtains for him.
He sat down at the desk and wrote out the orders as he had specified. He read them over wishing he had brought his reading glasses. He decided to go to the window and read it over in the light.
***
“Target acquired, nine hundred yards, wind out of the west at two mph. Flat trajectory, no obstructions.”
“Copy.”
“Cut it,” Kim said.
Gerhardt squeezed the trigger and the Barrett bucked. Instead of just packing it up he waited.
“Target down.”
“We can go home,” was all he said as he packed the rifle away. There was no real hurry. It would be total chaos.
“You want to drive or do you want me to?” Kim asked when they reached the Hummer.
“What the heck, you drive,” Gerhardt replied.
AFTERWORD
America floundered for nearly a year before life started to return to normal. With no one in control several people rushed forward to assume the lead but eventually Thomas Waggoner was thrust into the position until elections could be held. He did restore parts of Congress, but only with the agreement that there would be fundamental changes made. They would pass no laws that they were exempt from. This would be a requirement to hold any federal office. Gone were many of the free rides. It would be a vastly different Congressional makeup. A limit of four terms and out became the new standard. There would be no ‘career’ Senators or Representatives.
The Bill of Rights was restored with provisions to strengthen it. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th amendments received the most attention. Listening in on citizens in any form without a court order was strictly prohibited.
The Supreme Court was restored but no one could serve for more than twelve years. It was no longer a cushy ride for life. Many other changes developed. The ISS and IIB were immediately disbanded and the police were reinstated.
Former President Helen Clemons was tried for treason and found guilty. She was sent to prison for life. A great many thought she should be executed. Obviously the ‘internment camps’ were immediately closed but it would be a long time before those people were able to have normal lives again.
Trials for internment guards took place for many years. Over three hundred guards were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death or life in prison with no parole. Few lasted very long in prison.
America was a Republic again but just by the skin of its teeth. The failure of the people to stand up was almost the undoing of the nation. The willingness to give up freedom for short term safety almost destroyed America.
***
Obviously this is just a fictional story. It could never happen here in America, could it? The truth is, it depends on how many people are willing to stand up and fight for this country and the Bill of Rights and how many are just as willing to stick their heads in the sand.
OTHER BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MW HUFFMAN
THE END – BOOK I of THE EVENT
THE BEGINNING – BOOK II of THE EVENT
THE REVELATION – BOOK III of THE EVENT
A NATION DIVIDED – BOOK I of THE 2nd Civil War
A NATION at WAR – BOOK II of THE 2nd Civil War
A Nation HEALING – BOOK III of THE 2nd Civil War
OPERATION BLUEBOLT – BOOK I The America’s Gulags
OPERATION BLUEBOLT – BOOK II The Gulag Journal
OPERATION BLUEBOLT – BOOK III American Uprising
BlackStar
CHIMERA
CLOSE PROXIMITY
WORLD’S END
THE BRINK – Operation Deep Flight
Angie Bartoni Case File # 1 – The Alphabet Murders
Angie Bartoni Case File # 2 – Frostbite
Angie Bartoni Case File # 3 – Dead Aim
Angie Bartoni Case File # 4 – What Goes Around
Angie Bartoni Case File # 5 – Nothing to Lose
Angie Bartoni Case File # 6 – Shadow Man
Angie Bartoni Case File # 7 – The Club
Angie Bartoni Case File # 8 – Murder by Shakespeare
Angie Bartoni Case File # 9 – One Too Many
Angie Bartoni Case File #10 – The Weak Link
The Logan Files – Blond Deception
The Logan Files – Innocence and Avarice
The Logan Files – The Deal Breaker
The Norris Files – Insurrection
The Norris Files – Silver2
Unfinished
Marshall W. Huffman did not begin writing until after he retired from teaching. He decided to start with a trilogy based on a cataclysmic event. Marshall’s first trilogy is THE EVENT and consists of THE END, THE BEGINNING, and THE REVELATION. With THE EVENTS success he decided to write a second trilogy that is a frightening look at the events that could lead to THE SECOND CIVIL WAR. It is made up of: Book I – A NATION DIVIDED; BOOK II – A NATION AT WAR; BOOK III – A NATION HEALING.
Marshall was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and grew up in Indiana. After spending eight years in the Navy, he attended Ball State University, earning a B.S. degree in Business.
During and after college, he was involved in the restaurant business and spent the next twenty-five years in all types of venues, eventually owing his own fine dining restaurant. After years of long hours, he decided on a career change. He attended Eastern Illinois University earning a MBA. Because of his business background, Eastern Illinois University asked him to teach in the hospitality management program. He was recruited from Eastern to Parkland College and soon took over as the Program Director for the Hospitality Program. During his tenure there, he became a chef and had a television show called Cooking around the World with Chef Marshall and taught a series of Gourmet cooking classes for Continuing Education as well.
Professor Huffman retired from teaching along with his wife, Dr. Susan Huffman, to the Tampa Bay Florida area.
You can find his books under: MARSHALL HUFFMAN at Amazon.com.
K III - AMERICAN UPRISING
PROJECT BlueBolt - AMERICAN UPRISING: BOOK III - AMERICAN UPRISING Page 17