Fortress Farm Trilogy: Volumes 1, 2 & 3 (Fortress Farm Series)

by G. R. Carter

  The look of shock on the paper pusher’s face was priceless to Tony. Chief Thomas knew the law firms had cops on the payroll. He was one who accepted monthly gifts his entire career; graft became a part of doing business in the city over two hundred years before. But the Chief and all other “loyal” public servants thought in the end they would still be the ones to call the shots. Wrong. Tony pulled off his city-wide coup before a single bureaucrat realized what happened to the authority they held so dear.

  Gradually, the color came back to the Chief’s face, and he simply nodded, as though too dignified to accept the praise. He was a slob and a thief, but also smart enough to recognize a stacked deck. If he got up and stormed out, the Peacekeepers would make sure he never made it back to Police Headquarters.

  He just came to the realization that his Assistant Chief was already in on it and anxious to get a promotion. That will help calm him a little…no choice to be made but to go along. No choice, no problem.

  The smart but scared people in the group now had their excuse to follow Tony’s lead. The police department stood behind his plan, adding a level of authority to the seizure of the storehouses.

  Ok, let’s try to push the issue.

  “Now, that amount of food ARK secured for you can take care of millions of people for two weeks. What happens then?” Pause again. “I’ll tell you what happens…chaos. Even if the power comes on in two weeks, the snowball is already rolling. So as leaders we have a difficult choice. Either we try to keep everyone calm and pray for a miracle…

  “…or we make the tough choice right now to salvage what we can and preserve what we worked so hard to create.”

  “Ok, Tony, what’s your brilliant idea to save the world?” asked St. Louis’s illustrious mayor, Paula Romano. She was probably one of the smartest, and certainly most ruthless, of anyone in the room. She was from one of the old neighborhoods and tough as nails. But she also had four kids at home, and all her extended family lived in the city limits. Tony guessed that put her firmly in the “scared” camp.

  “I understand your skepticism, Mayor,” Tony replied. “I want you to know that I’m not implying this will be simple. But you understand the logistics of feeding an entire city better than anyone. The people in this room need to decide right now how we can save the maximum number of people. Gathered here are the best and brightest of our city. If we are to rebuild on what we all know will be a gruesome situation, who better to rebuild with? I know it sounds harsh, but it’s not us versus the people. It’s us versus starvation, and the stakes are the very survival of civilization.”

  Roars erupted from around the room. Bobby was back in the room now, and didn’t need to be told to make mental notes of who caused the ruckus. Cameras would remind them of anyone they overlooked. Mock outrage mixed with the real thing. These were people who had assumed power in a variety of different ways. Feigned offense was a sure-thing money maker in certain parts of the city.

  Tony waited for the voices to settle. The implication didn’t need to be stated out loud. Tony had pulled a coup just by emptying out a few warehouses and hiding the contents. The unimaginable horrors of riot and starvation were sure to follow a few days of no electricity or food in the city. He was offering everyone here a chance to save themselves and their families from that fate.

  The mayor stood to speak, “Let’s say we go with your plan. Even if we have enough food, what stops the looters from sacking your warehouses? Or just killing all of us and taking everything anyway?”

  Thank you, Mayor, now you’re thinking like the tactician I know you to be, Tony thought.

  “That’s the hard part, yes,” Tony replied. “As you all know, we have fortified this building against terrorist activities. I believe that with our highly trained Peacekeepers and the modifications made to the building, we can hold out against a sustained attack.” He nodded over to Bobby, reminding them not everyone in the ARK family were lawyers.

  “The problem is that you are all responsible for more Level A citizens than I have room for in this building. Therefore, I am proposing that we take the buildings in the City Center, those in the immediate vicinity of Renaissance Tower, and utilize them as Emergency Shelters and Temporary Disaster Command Centers. You will recall a provision included in the Pullback legislation that allowed our City Council to declare a State of Emergency and allow the temporary occupation of private property to use as Disaster Command Centers. Clearly, this qualification is met by the situation at hand. I imagine the Council will be happy to act quickly.

  “Once a State of Emergency is officially declared, we can legally begin moving personnel and their dependents into the buildings around this one. My engineering staff has drawn up plans to immediately fortify each building. If each Firm takes one building, the city and state take one building, and we keep another building for other essential citizens, we can keep the core of our city secure.

  “We have to move quickly. There is no time to lose. Chief Thomas, I’m sure that you’ll want to follow up with me regarding our cooperative efforts on security. Madame Mayor, you are welcome to use the Executive Conference room to convene the attending City Council members to discuss the State of Emergency. All others, please begin formulating how many people your organization will need to shelter. That will give us an idea of which building to assign you. I’m sorry if we can’t accommodate all your wishes. I hope you’ll understand that if we don’t finalize our plans within the next couple of hours, the situation will get away from us. Without Wristbands or instant messaging, getting in contact with you will be impossible. So you must have everything settled with my security staff before leaving to gather your people.”

  He stared out at the dozens of faces now hanging on his words. “Because some of the Firms decided to leave early, I’ll make their arrangements until I can make contact with them again,” Tony concluded.

  The implication hung in the air. Few originally noticed when M&C or the others departed. They quickly understood what “leave early” probably meant and didn’t intend to meet the same fate. Just like that, more Firms were instantly added to Tony’s power base. That gave him control of the Police Department, the food supply, the best security force in the city, and now a Firm nearly the size of all the others put together. St. Louis had a new set of rules, and a new ruler.

  *****

  By the next day, streams of refugees were pouring into the downtown St. Louis area. With police escorts, there was little trouble with civilians trying to harass the columns. Every cooperative police officer was promised a place for their family in the central hub, so there was no lack of motivation in helping the VIPs get relocated to City Center.

  Construction workers, with their families already safely settled into the a secured tower, worked feverishly, reinforcing entrances to the City Center towers that would house the people deemed worthy of saving from the slowly unfolding crisis.

  With all the police occupied shepherding ARK’s relocation program, the rest of the city and surrounding area descended quickly into anarchy. Before GRAPEVINE went to sleep, everyone in the city had been assigned a specific day to pick up their weekly rations. Tony’s people left just enough food in the city owned distribution centers for the next couple of days to hold off some of the rioting sure to come. But many people showed up trying to get theirs a day early, just like they had in more compliant times. When that didn’t work, they simply waited for others to get their rations and then took it from them.

  The first real violence broke out on day three, when one of the Firms from further out in the suburbs finally got their herd of dependents near the City Center destination. A small mob noticed several groups of well–dressed folks flowing in that direction, and logically decided that there must be something good wherever they were going.

  As the mob continued to harass the Firm’s people, the cops finally became fed up and fired shots in the air. Although St. Louis kept laws on the books restricting personal ownership of firearms, common kno
wledge was the rougher neighborhoods of the city were armed to the teeth. People who lived and operated there also knew how to use the illegal weapons they possessed.

  At the sound of police gunshots, the mob began to fire back, causing panic in both crowds. In the running gunfight that ensued, one police officer and two members of the Firm’s entourage were killed. No one cared to make an accurate count of how many hungry civilians were hit. ARK Peacekeepers arrived just in time to prevent further violence, driving two old Jeeps commandeered after invitees drove to the secure zone with them. Antiquated technology like those vehicles remained unaffected by Solar Storms or the GRAPEVINE shutdown and allowed Peacekeepers to drive out into the city and retrieve the remaining Firm’s dependents.

  Other than that incident, the mayor and Tony both marveled at how smoothly the plan progressed. By the end of the week, the City Center towers had been secured and streets for a three-block radius were made impassable with old cars and collapsed rubble. Snipers were posted at every entrance to an area now referred to simply as The ARK. Just over 11,000 people safely sat back and waited to see what would befall their city of millions, millions they had once sworn to serve and protect.

  Chapter Seven – The Pullback

  Old Main College

  The Day after the Great Reset

  Retired Senator Julia Ruff pulled her old diesel pickup truck into the faculty parking lot of Old Main College. Noticing the clumps of people standing outside awaiting her arrival, she knew a long day lay ahead. The drive in this morning told her something was wrong – no stoplights, no street lights, and as near as she could tell, no lights coming from any houses she passed along the way. When she awoke and her power was out at home, she just assumed the electric cooperative her farm was hooked into was having another rolling outage. Making her way into town told her it wasn’t just the rural power lines down.

  Over the last few years, electrical service in the heartland became worse every month, along with every other service. Small towns were a thing of the past while the mega cities thrived. Even the large public universities weren’t safe if not located in a major urban center. There were no more individual “directional schools”; everything was combined into one public university system per state. Name changes followed multiple campus closures, and there were fewer students actually on campus every year. Virtual learning centers combined with a plummeting birth rate to reduce the need for large centers of learning in rural areas.

  Exceptions survived as small private colleges, although even Old Main once held a different name at its founding as a public university. Large endowments, along with the resources of an ex–Senator, allowed the small-town hub to hang on even through the hard times. Julia pulled every string she could for her alma mater. Through the last of her favors earned in DC, she positioned Old Main to become a research hub for both the condensed food being used to feed the masses via ration bars, and also a remote computing center for the Lunar Base. No foreign spies ever thought to look out here in the central Illinois cornfields for high technology. At least, that's how she sold it to the Department of the Interior.

  Few in the general public knew of the experimental space program, mostly for security reasons. With money supply no longer a limiting factor, America was aiming to reestablish its dominance in the world. The plan figured that having access to the rare earth minerals on the moon, as well as the ability to study the Solar Storms outside the Earth’s atmosphere, would give DC the clear irreversible edge in the quickly-consolidating world economy. The leaders in DC didn’t care so much about the American people living well; they just wanted to make sure that DC continued as the clear capital of world affairs. Subtle changes like dropping “Washington” from the Federal District of Columbia name suggested world integration was the ultimate goal.

  Julia didn’t like any of it, but she learned during her time in DC that even good people fought dirty sometimes. For that reason, she made deals with some very shady groups, allowing snakes like Timothy Maxwell to join her staff. Maxwell’s endowment brought millions of dollars into Old Main College funds and allowed her to feed misinformation to Maxwell's handlers. Julia knew hidden forces meant to follow her every move for the rest of her life, and she was sure that Maxwell was at Old Main largely as an informant. She said too much and made too many enemies during her time near the circles of absolute power.

  Wheels within wheels to be pondered, but that all would have to be on the back burner today. Challenges of leading a group of 3000 young students, plus nearly 300 faculty and staff, took precedent. Something happened to the electricity again, and apparently the thousands spent on backup generators weren’t helping today. Even the radio stations were silent on her way to school this morning.

  Yep, this is going to be a bad day.

  Julia sat in her truck for a few moments, feeling the stares of anticipation from the faculty and students she saw wandering through the parking lot. They needed answers to questions she didn’t even know existed moments before. Many of the tenured faculty didn’t exactly like her because of her politics. But they did appreciate her honesty, and no one questioned her devotion to Old Main. Since she arrived to lead the institution, they came to believe she would figure out a solution every time.

  That daily paradox was what faced Julia and her executive every day. Students and faculty both screamed for freedom of expression, freedom to live whatever lifestyle they chose, and freedom to choose whatever path of study they felt their heart desired. But that was matched by an almost childlike insistence on being told what to do in times of crises. Once Julia understood people just wanted someone to make a decision that they could complain about after the fact, she felt much more at ease. Finally she could just turn to her instinct and her faith to guide her, and sleep better for it. She repeated the mantra she told her advisors when they were in crisis mode: It’s never the end of the world until it’s the end of the world, and then it doesn’t really matter anyway.

  The simple wicker cross hanging from her rear view mirror reminded her of that faith. The cross was lovingly crafted by her eldest daughter years ago at vacation Bible school; now that fully grown daughter stood in the quad with a group of students surrounding her, watching as her mom walked towards the front entrance of the administration building. A slight smile exchanged between the two brought a warm glow of pride and affection even amid the atmosphere of fear.

  Rebekah Ruff was a senior Resident Assistant, finishing her undergrad degree here at Old Main College. She committed as a junior in high school, even before Julia took the job as President of the College. Most knew that Rebekah, or Bek as she was known, already received a full-ride academic scholarship to her hometown school by the time her mother committed to lead it. Bek was a kid who wanted to make her own way so she took the job of Resident Assistant to earn free room and board in addition to her scholarships.

  The students surrounding Bek were floor captains from the residence building she led. Each floor captain lived with their assigned students they all reported directly to Bek. They were shivering in the chill of the morning air, stomping back and forth and blowing into uncovered hands. Julia’s immediate “mom” reaction to urge them to put on gloves and a hat would have fallen on deaf ears, but someday they’d learn.

  The next eyes she caught were Gary Clark, her director of building maintenance. The concern on his face warned Julia to brace for information overload.

  “Okay, Gary, let me have it. What are we facing here?” Julia began.

  “Total failure, Madame President,” Gary said solemnly. He took his job very seriously, and his tone and no-nonsense speech forced others to do the same. His insistence on formality made Julia’s pickup truck and blue jeans attitude a little uncomfortable, but without a doubt she was glad for his competence.

  “What are our options, and what do you suggest?” Julia asked sincerely.

  Gary looked around, as though something might come to him at the last moment before he had to answer. The hesi
tation delayed a response that normally came quick for him. When their eyes met again, she could tell he still possessed no answer to offer.

  “That’s just it, President Ruff,” Gary replied, “There’s nothing I can do. I can’t even call Central Power to get an idea of what’s wrong, or get a timeline for service to be restored. Phones don’t work, lights don’t work. None of the backup generators we installed are working either, because the computers that run them won’t boot up. We had the batteries charged 100% just like the plan calls for, but it’s as if something is overriding the ON switch.

  “The only thing that is working is the boiler in our Physical Plant, but the heat is distributed to the buildings via underground tunnels by fans, and guess what’s not working?” Gary asked.

  “The fans are driven by electric motors.” Julia added.

  “Precisely. No fans, no air circulation. Thus, no heat.” Gary looked like he might break into tears any minute, “For the first time in my professional life, I can honestly say I don’t know what to do next.”

  Sometimes ultra–serious people got lost in a crisis. Perhaps some questions could get his mind working again. But oh my goodness, if he doesn’t have any solutions, what kind of problem could we possibly be facing here?

  “Well, Gary, sounds like we’ve got a big challenge on our hands. You’ve got the entire executive team’s attention, and commitment to do whatever we can to help. Let’s see if we can get some simple things accomplished first. Is there anywhere we can get some heat going for folks? A common area that might be simpler to heat instead of the whole campus?”

  Gary thought for a moment, and then an idea hit him. “The Student Union would be the best choice. It’s still got a separate heating system in the conference area, so that we could have meetings there even when classes were out of session. We didn’t want to fire up the entire campus heat exchange just for one building, so that’s a separate system that is tied into the city natural gas lines. I’m assuming there’s still some pressure in the gas lines, even without the power being on. I’m sure I can light it manually.”