American Reset: Book Three

by Mark Goodwin

  “Could the Federal States listen in if they wanted?” Randall asked.

  Jefferson explained, “It is a hardline connection between each base. The cables run side by side, but are entirely independent of each other. It is a ridiculously simple system. It operates almost like an old telephone switchboard with each base having their own switchboard. You connect only to the bases you want to communicate with.”

  Paul inquired, “Could the system be tapped?”

  Jefferson shrugged his shoulders. “The system is supposed to alert you if the line is tampered with, but nothing is completely out of the question. It’s the best alternative we have, so we’ll have to take our chances. We could run encrypted signals, but we would need someone to physically install the software for each node.”

  Paul asked, “Should I come with you? Do we need to have a conference call right away?”

  Jefferson answered, “The governors aren’t at the bases yet. Some won’t arrive for several hours because of the distance. Several Coalition States don’t have a base that’s linked to the fiber optic network. We have no secure method to communicate until the governors are at the military bases.”

  Paul asked, “Have there been any reports of Federal troop movement in the Coalition?”

  “None,” the general replied. “I’ve got pretty good information from the major bases and surrounding areas, but we are completely in the dark on the eastern borders of Kentucky and Tennessee. Unfortunately, if the Coalition were being invaded, that would be the most likely place to be hit first. I’ve got several comms analysts scanning the channels for anyone who may have had a ham radio that was protected from the EMP. Until we find someone, we have no source of information on what’s happening in the area.”

  A voice came over Jefferson’s radio. “General Jefferson, this is Governor Jacob’s driver. We’ll be at the gate in ten minutes.”

  “Roger,” the general called back. “I’ve gotta go get Larry settled in. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “See you then,” Paul said.

  Paul walked into the kitchen where Kimberly was taking a mental inventory of the pots and pans and things she had to work with.

  Paul put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you finding everything you need?”

  She turned to embrace him. “This is much better than what I had in my mind. I was expecting something like the Armory, when we had mattresses on the floor.”

  Paul held her tight. “We’ll, it ain’t home, but we do have electricity.”

  “Plus, I’ll have Alison and Candice. We can make each other laugh in any circumstance. This won’t be so bad.” Kimberly kissed Paul and turned to take her things upstairs to the bedroom. Paul grabbed his bags and followed her.

  Paul was still putting his things away when he heard a knock at the door. He walked down the stairs and opened the door.

  Jefferson was there. “Do you need a little more time?”

  “No, I’m ready.” Paul replied. He called to his wife, “Kimberly, I’ll be back later.”

  Larry was waiting in the vehicle when Paul got in. Paul joked, “Did the lights go out at your house, too?”

  Not to be outdone, Larry replied, “Yep, I think Alison blew a fuse with the Cuisinart.”

  Sonny entered the Humvee and they drove away. The men arrived at a low-level administrative building. Larry joked, “Did you get kicked out of your office, General?”

  “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Jefferson replied.

  The men followed the general to a small conference room. The general slid a keycard into what appeared to be an air-conditioning thermostat. This triggered a panel that receded back and exposed a false wall. Inside was an elevator door. The men went in the elevator and took it to a subterranean level.

  “You never told me about this!” Paul exclaimed.

  Jefferson winked, “You never asked.”

  The door opened and revealed a massive cave-like area.

  Jacobs said, “Wow, this reminds me of Cheyenne Mountain. You’ve done a good job of keeping this place secret.”

  Jefferson replied, “We’ve tried. There are a couple of places like this.”

  Larry asked, “Is one of them at the Denver Airport?”

  Jefferson laughed. “No, that was a red herring. The conspiracy theorist who put out that story worked for the Pentagon. All of the signs and clues that there’s a mega-bunker under Denver were put there on purpose. We actually have storage space under Denver International. It’s mostly bottled water, MREs and outdated computer hard drives. All the reports from contractors that say they worked on an underground facility in Denver are true. It was all part of an elaborate cover-up to keep people looking at the right hand when we were working with our left.”

  The men walked several yards down a dimly lit corridor to a conference room. Jefferson flipped several switches on a panel and engaged the speaker phone. The men selected chairs around a pristine table and the general called, “Malmstrom, this is Fort Hood. Are you online?”

  A voice called back, “This is Governor Shea. Go ahead, Fort Hood.”

  Jefferson asked, “Have Governor Goldwater and Governor Schmidt arrived, yet?”

  Mark Shea replied, “We sent two twin engine planes to pick them up. Goldwater is in Boise which is over 500 miles away. Schmidt is in Cheyenne, nearly 700 miles away, so it may be a while before they arrive.”

  The situation was the same for Minot Air Force Base. North Dakota Governor Abrams was there, but South Dakota Governor Donald Barlow would be arriving much later.

  The governors of Kentucky and Tennessee were in a smaller subterranean bunker located at Fort Knox. Both governors of the Carolinas had arrived at the underground command post in Fort Bragg.

  Paul began right away, “Gentlemen, I’d love to wait for Governors Barlow and Schmidt, but we’ve got to get started. This is certainly the worst crisis we’ve had to face, yet. Sonny will be taking notes and he’ll brief the others when they arrive.

  “Let’s start with Tennessee and Kentucky. Have either of you heard any reports of invading forces other than the ones we know of?”

  Harvey Simmons of Kentucky replied, “We’ve not received any news either way. I dispatched eight recon teams consisting of four men each to check out the eastern borders. They’re instructed not to break radio silence unless they observe enemy troops that we were not previously aware of.”

  Paul replied, “So you do have radios that are still operational?”

  “Very few,” Simmons replied. “We had a few mobile command posts that were hardened against EMP and a few hand-held radios that were either in storage cages or metal hangars that survived the attack. The mobile command units are going to be acting as relays for the hand-helds which the recon teams are carrying. We’ll let you know if we hear anything at all.”

  The North Carolina Governor stated, “We had a fair amount of redundant communications systems, backup power and vehicles in underground storage here at Fort Bragg. I’ll be sending out troops with comms equipment to set up a network throughout North Carolina and South Carolina first thing in the morning. They are staging that operation as we speak. By tomorrow night, we’ll be able to send and receive information to communication outposts in all of our cities and larger towns. As of right now, we have no information coming in.”

  Paul complimented, “That’s a great plan, Governor.”

  Mark Shea spoke next. “We have a network of ham operators that are in the AmRRON network that have been practicing for this sort of thing for several years. They’re spread out all over Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and the eastern halves of Washington and Oregon. I expect many of them have redundant systems to set up after an EMP. It may be a while before they get online with their backup radios, but when they do, it should be an effective way to get information and send out updates.”

  Paul Randall said, “That’s fantastic. I wish we had more citizens who thought like that.”

  General Jefferson said, “Paul, I recom
mend that we begin to discuss a response to this attack. I think we all know that the purpose of the EMP was to disable our ability to effectively defend the Coalition. I don’t think it would be prudent to sit around and wait for the next shoe to drop. We need to take action immediately.”

  “What would you recommend?” Paul asked.

  “A nuclear strike,” Jefferson proclaimed.

  “No!” Paul came back definitively. “No way. That is not an option.”

  Mark Shea jumped in. “I agree with Paul. We can’t justify a nuclear strike and it may incite a direct nuclear retaliation. I would be willing to support a like-kind response. What would you say to an EMP attack against the Federal States, general?”

  Paul interrupted, “I think we all need a little cooling-off period before we start talking about retaliatory strikes. We should at least wait until the other governors are present. This is not the type of thing any of us have the authority to do without approval from our other elected representatives.”

  Jefferson said, “An invasion may have already been launched. I pray we have enough time for your diplomatic process, Senator. We don’t need to take a vote on whether or not the people of the Coalition want us to do our duty and defend them against Federal troops.”

  Randall said, “General, you will not be making that decision unilaterally.”

  Deafening silence fell over the boardroom.

  Tennessee Governor Richards was the first to speak. “Why don’t we all take a breather? We’ll take an hour break. When we come back we can discuss the possibility of an EMP strike against the Federal States. That would serve to level the playing field. During the break, let’s all try to remember that we’re on the same side.”

  Paul collected his notes and left the room without speaking. He knew Jefferson had never intended to make a nuclear strike. The whole thing was a military-political tactic. He had overpriced the attack by suggesting the nuclear option. Then he could bargain for an EMP strike and appear to be settling for less. The EMP assault was the plan all along. He respected the general, but he did not like the fact that he was playing politics and manipulating the rest of the governors.

  Larry Jacobs followed close behind Paul Randall. He left him a little space then gradually caught up with him. “You’re right about the nuclear strike, Paul,” Jacobs said. “But Jefferson is right about not waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

  Paul didn’t look at Larry, “It sounds like he’s already won his consensus.”

  CHAPTER 32

  “But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

  -Psalm 5:11-12

  Matt and Karen were still trying to work out the arrangements when Adam arrived with provisions and his family packed tightly into the bed of the truck.

  “Thanks for being so patient about all of this,” Matt said to his wife.

  “We have to make the best of it,” Karen replied. “No one asked for a civil war.”

  “Let’s go try to make everyone feel welcomed,” Matt said.

  Karen nodded, “We all know each other pretty well and get along with one another. If you’re going to be stuck in close quarters with a bunch of people, this is the bunch you’d want.”

  Shelly and Janice helped Adam bring some supplies up to the porch. Mandy and Carissa ran in the house to find the cat.

  Adam asked, “I guess it’s going to be pretty tight. Where should I put the dry goods?”

  Matt said, “Let’s drive them on down to the work shed. I’ve got plenty of room down there.”

  Matt jumped in the truck and the two men drove down to the work shed. Justin walked down behind them and helped them unload.

  Adam gave them a lift back to the house. “I’m going to pick up Eli and run by Gary’s. He won’t be able to fit much stuff in the Camaro, so I’ll throw his big items in the truck.”

  Shelly waved them down before Adam drove away. “Hey, I had an idea. When I was in college, some of the girls built lofts in their dorm rooms. It was basically a few studs that elevated a plywood platform four feet high. One girl would have her bed on the bottom, and the other girl would have her bed on the top. It was sort of like bunk beds, but half the room had the platform. It provided more storage and personal space when sharing those little-bitty dorm rooms. You still have all of that thick plywood from your roofing business, Adam. We could build the platforms in the two bedrooms. It would make more space since we are all going to be crammed in there like sardines.”

  Matt nodded. “What do you think, Adam?”

  Adam shrugged, “I can build them, but it’s your house. Whatever you say.”

  “Let’s do it,” Matt said. “We can put mattresses on top and bottom. It’ll stretch the space and essentially make four bedrooms instead of two.”

  Adam drove away and Matt, Justin and Shelly went in the house with the others. Matt explained the concept that Shelly had come up with. It was decided that Karen and Janice would share the top level of the master bedroom and Carissa and Mandy took the lower level. Shelly and Rene would share the lower level of the second bedroom and Debbie, Gary’s wife, would take the top level.

  They began by clearing the areas so the platforms could be built. Additionally, Matt, Doc and Justin stowed the bed frames in the work shed. With only four feet of overhead clearance on each level, the mattresses would have to go directly on the floor.

  On the way back from the work shed, Matt said, “We need to start dedicating someone to a lookout position right away. If we’re being invaded, we could get hit at any time. The most likely direction an attack is going to come from would be the road. I think we should start taking shifts up by the road. I’ve got two walkies, we’ll keep one at the house and the lookout will have the other one. Everyone should carry at least a pistol at all times.”

  Justin said, “I agree. The girls can take shifts on lookout as well. That will allow us to work shorter shifts. Everyone will be fresher and more alert.”

  Matt said, “Let’s put up a lean-to shelter over by the road. We’ll camouflage it so it won’t be visible to anyone driving up to the property.”

  Doc said, “Why don’t you take first shift on lookout. Justin and I will bring some materials to construct a blind. That’ll give you a chance to get off that leg. You’ve been overdoing it today. If we’re going to fight any more battles, you’ll need that leg.”

  Matt argued, “I’ve been keeping my weight on the crutches…mostly.”

  “Mostly,” Doc said sarcastically.

  Matt retrieved the walkies. He took one and handed the other to Justin. He slung his rifle over his back and headed to the tree line near the road. As he sat down his leg began to throb. Doc was right. He had overdone it. This was a bad time to have an injury.

  Justin called over the walkie, “What about a tent for a lookout shelter?”

  Matt replied, “We’ll probably need those for the men to sleep in. Let’s stick with a lean-to. We can build them out of forest debris and they’ll be naturally camouflaged.”

  Justin called back, “Roger.”

  Matt added, “Bring some zip ties and paracord. We’ll use that to attach the basic structure. Bring a tarp also. We’ll use it for a roof to keep the rain off.”

  Matt sat still and waited. It wasn’t even noon yet, but he was already tired. Justin called back over the walkie. “Lt. Joe found someone on the ham. It’s some guy from Idaho. He says he is part of a network of ham operators called AmRRON. He said he’ll be gathering and relaying information as he gets it.”

  Matt sat up. “Did they get hit by an EMP?”

  Justin called back, “Yes, they’re completely in the dark also. He says other people in his network will be online by tonight.”

  Matt asked, “How do we know he’s legit?”

  Justin said, “Joe’s hear
d of them before. He even remembers the guy’s call sign, Foxtrot five one niner.”

  Matt said, “Then I guess we have to trust him.”

  Matt signed off and waited for Justin and Doc to arrive with the supplies. When they made it to the observation post, Justin filled Matt in on the rest of the details about the radio communication. “The guy says he’ll relay all the information he receives every hour on the hour. He spoke with someone from Texas and they’re dark also. There are no reports of an invasion yet, but everyone seems to expect one.”

  Matt spotted Adam coming up the road from a good distance away. Doc stepped out into the open to wave Adam down as he drove by.

  “Hey,” Adam yelled out the window as he stopped the truck near the observation post.

  “Where is Eli?” Matt yelled back from the edge of the tree line.

  Adam shook his head. “He said if he leaves his property that the Feds will have already won. He won’t leave his animals. He told me that he’s old and ready to die if it comes down to it, but he ain’t leavin’ his animals. I told him we’d bring him back every day to feed them and check on them, but he’s digging in. He gave us some beeswax to make candles.”

  Matt yelled, “That was nice.”

  “Yep,” Adam replied. “I’m going to get Gary and Debbie settled in. I’ll come up when we’re done.”

  Matt waved as Adam drove on to the house. Gary and Debbie followed Adam in the old Camaro.

  Justin and Doc continued piecing together a shelter for the observation post while Matt kept watch. It was hard for him to sit back while the other two men worked, but Doc wouldn’t have it any other way.