Phoenix Smoldering:

Phoenix Project #2

By Bruce Pickelheimer

NOTICE

This book is offered as shareware. If you download it, like it, and decide to keep it, please send $5 to the author at:

Bruce Pickelheimer
P.O. Box 15866
Ft. Wayne, IN 46885-5866

If anyone wants to contact the author, you can e-mail me at:

Litz_Out@yahoo.com

This book is the second of a nine book series which I have planned. If there is sufficient demand for the remaining books in the series, I will complete them and get them posted as well. If the shareware fees allow me to concentrate on writing instead of getting things set up for my family, all of the books in the series will be completed and posted online by October 15, 1999.

This book has been copyrighted, and all sales, reproductions, and use without permission from the author is prohibited. The author gives permission for the book to be downloaded and read in exchange for the shareware fee. If you do not want to pay the shareware fee, do not keep a copy of the book. The author also gives those who send in their shareware fee the right to make one hard copy for their own use. All copies, electronic or printed, must include this notice.

Other books which I have written on this subject are also available. Those which more precisely classify as either nonfiction books or fictionalized narratives are "Y2K Conspiracy", which describes the reasons why there will be problems at the beginning of the year, "Descent Into Darkness", which describes the possible scenarios which will occur when Y2K finally arrives, and "End of the Millenium", which describes in detail the worst case scenario which is referred to in this book. I am currently working on a book detailing the special circumstances and problems which will be faced by women in the event of major problems, including some suggestions on how to minimize the problems and make preparations before the problems occur.

Chapter 1

The next meeting began on Monday, March 8, 1999. Dan began the meeting with the announcement that we still had not heard back from the government, except for a few personal replies from senior senators asking us to refrain from making this information public until they had a chance to verify the results independently and formulate a plan to disseminate the information in a controlled and responsible manner which would not cause public panic.

Several of the people in the group seemed willing to consider the request, while others seemed agitated by the response. I noticed that none of the team leaders seemed happy with the request. In fact, they seemed to be the most agitated people in the room. Naomi and I were sitting calmly, watching for the responses and trying to get a picture of who would oppose what was coming next.

The noise level had gradually increased as those present began to choose sides in the argument over whether or not to wait before making any further disclosures. In fact, it was so loud that it seemed like a debate on the floor of Congress that had gotten out of hand, when everybody was shouting for recognition from the chair. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small strip of metal. I showed it to Naomi and Rick, and they smiled and placed their hands over their ears.

It had been a strip of wall tie at one time. It was slightly over an inch long, bent double, and had holes in the top, bottom, and on the bend. I placed it inside my mouth, put my tongue against the back of the metal, and blew. A loud, high-pitched shrieking which sounded like a woman screaming at about 140 decibels filled the room. The room became totally silent except for the piercing shriek of the whistle as everyone covered their ears to escape the deafening highly pitched sound. I knew the effect it would have in an enclosed space, as I had used it to get the attention of a person who was over a quarter of a mile away when there was road construction equipment in use between us. There were going to be a lot of ringing ears and a few headaches.

Dan looked at me, his eyes wide, and slowly lowered his hands. I could tell that his ears were ringing as his voice wasn't quite steady as he attempted to talk and figure out how loud he was speaking at the same time. 'Lee, what the hell do you think you are doing? Was that little stunt really necessary?'

'I am restoring order to this meeting. You began the meeting, and everyone assumed that the project was completed and everything was back to normal. The project is not completed until we have completed the release of our findings and everyone is notified that they have finished their assignment. According to our contract, I make the final decisions regarding where, how, and when the details of our report are released, so the entire 'discussion' that was just occurring was superfluous. Also, I didn't like the noise level that the conversation was reaching, so I decided to allow some others present to get a little reminder of how nice it is to hear things at a normal volume.'

Dan said, 'OK, you have our attention, and you have made your point. The meeting will continue at a reasonable noise level. Now, do you have some further information to give us?'

'Yes, I do. The information has been released. Before I allowed the information to be sent to the government, I made sure that at least 50 popular web sites had condensed versions of our report. Many of those sites have been linked to thousands of other sites by now, and there are probably several hundred other sites which have mirrored the sites I chose initially. Unless they want to close down the entire web, the government has lost the option of controlling our report and using it for their own political and personal gain by spinning the results and leaking partial conclusions to the press.'

Kristin said, 'Do you really think that doing something like that was really necessary, Lee?'

'Yes, I do. If I hadn't done that, the government would have sent troops or federal agents into this complex, and shut us down as a matter of 'national security', or they would have detained certain people and interrogated them until they were either convinced that we posed no threat or were willing to play along with their plan to handle the situation.'

One of the assistants, Bob Rawlins, said, 'But you don't know that would have happened. You had no right to bypass us and release the information, especially before the government had a chance to respond and make some sort of suggestion on how to handle the situation properly.'

'You don't understand, Bob. I do have the right, because it is specifically spelled out in my contract. And the government has already had their chance to respond. They have known about the problem for more than a decade, as have the major utility companies and manufacturers of computer chips. The reason you are evaluating the problems that are going to occur is because the government and industry leaders have CAUSED the problems in the first place with their chosen method of handling the situation. And it wouldn't do any good to allow them to try to change their method of handling the situation in their own way, because Y2K will happen BEFORE they even get their revised plan out of committee.'

Dan said, 'Explain what you just said, Lee.'

'Dan, the government and industry have known about this problem for more than two decades, but they sat back and did nothing. Their only action was to suppress the information and deny that any problems would occur whenever anyone who knew what was going on notified anybody connected with the press. In fact, many of the stories put out by the press were probably initiated by a planned information leak so that the denial would receive more public attention and calm people down. Most of the major media has become nothing more than an extension of the government, and serves the same purpose as Hitler's propaganda machine. They do not rock the boat because they know that their power and influence is also connected to that of the government, and any major shifts can affect them as well.'

Bob said, 'But we have to let the government do its job. If we don't, we are practicing anarchy, and undermining their efforts to determine what is best for the nation as a whole and then implement the proper course of action.'

Rick smiled. Kristin shook her head like she was hearing the whining of a pathetic child who has no concept of what the discussion is about. Danielle and Naomi were head to head, talking quietly about something. Dan looked shocked to hear something like that last statement come from one of his employees.

I said, 'Bob, you don't seem to understand. There is nothing in our report which is classified, or which can legally be construed to affect national security. The government knows this, so they won't be able to try anything without making us appear even more correct, and causing even more concern about their previous lack of response to the problem. They don't want publicity, and interfering with our right of free speech would get a lot of publicity, even if the press remains loyal to the position taken by the government. Besides, when the government fails to do its job properly, as the people see it, they have the right to complain and even to take measures to force the government to correct the problem.'

Bob said, 'You can't force the government to change just because you don't agree with how they are doing things.'

'Yes, Bob, you can. If you can convince enough people that you are right, or convince the career politicians that you will be able to and they will risk losing their seat of power if they don't accede to your demands, the government will change. The government managed to repeal the sale of alcohol with the eighteenth amendment. The result was that organized crime flourished and became more powerful. The rich, and those with political influence were their biggest customers, because they considered themselves privileged and above the law. Their contact with the criminals gave the criminals more influence and power.'

'The people saw that they had made a mistake, and repealed the eighteenth amendment with the twenty first amendment, but the damage had been done. Organized crime now had a power base, wealth, influence, and had diversified into other areas of activity. Some of the families even 'went legitimate', if you could call it that. The Kennedy clan, for example, became the rich and influential group that they are today partly from the profits made from smuggling alcohol during prohibition and selling it to those who chose to ignore the law and drink. Many of their early political ties were also due in part to their contacts made during illegal activities of smuggling and selling alcohol.'

Bob said, 'What does that have to do with obeying the government and allowing them to tell us how best to handle the situation?'

'Simple, Bob. The government still conducts illegal activities all the time. Some they do knowingly, and others they do unwittingly and then conceal the truth from the public. The government knowingly conducted biological warfare tests on civilians in this country during the 1960's and 1970's, even spreading biological agents in the subway system of New York City and then tracking the incidence and rate of spread of disease. They did not notify the doctors or the health department, so many cases were misdiagnosed or mistreated initially. Some people died from whatever they caught, and it was just written off as the normal mortality from the flu.'

'The government orders mandatory vaccines to be given to people in the attempt to prevent the spread of disease and promote the general health of the public, right?'

Bob said, 'Yes, they do. And it works, too. They have made it so that many of the diseases that we get immunizations for are no longer a threat to us or our children, haven't they?'

'Yes, they have. But in many cases, the vaccines had nothing to do with the decrease in disease. Many of the common vaccinations are for diseases that were eliminated, to a great degree, by changing the standard of living and nutrition of the general population. You don't have cholera in this country because we have modern sanitation and water treatment facilities. You don't routinely get a vaccination to prevent cholera.'

'Babies don't really have a very good immune system, and in reality, they often do not respond properly to vaccinations. In fact, I had most of the common childhood diseases AFTER being vaccinated for them. All vaccines have some risk of disease, injury, or death associated with their use. I was forced to risk this danger in order to prevent the disease, yet I contracted the disease. I had measles, or rubeola, mumps, and German measles, or rubella, after being vaccinated.'

Bob said, 'But that was decades ago, and the vaccines weren't as good then. They've improved them considerably since then.'

'No, they haven't, Bob. You still have more cases of polio caused by the polio vaccine every year than you would have if many of the children received no vaccine or a vaccine with no live virus. And doctors are now insisting that every child born in a hospital be vaccinated against Hepatitis B to prevent transmission of the disease. There is no real evidence that the vaccine will work in infants because of their limited immune system. There is evidence that during a normal delivery, babies are born at home, rather than in a hospital, are healthier, but there is still a law requiring all babies to be delivered in a hospital. The reason is that the hospitals and AMA lobbied to get the laws passed so they could make more money. The state went along because of the money they got in political contributions and because it gave them more control over the lives of the individual citizens.'

'Every day of your life, you are subjected to unnecessary regulations, many of which are actually illegal. The reason the government gets away with it is because they don't obey the law. They have slowly switched from a government that is ruled by law to one that rules by legal precedent.'

Bob said, 'But that's the same thing. A legal precedent is a legal ruling made by a judge on how the law is to be interpreted and applied.'

'No, it is NOT the same thing. The law is the written contract that gives the government its powers. The law is passed by the elected officials, who represent the people. In some cases, the people themselves vote on the law. What they vote for, or against, is the law that is written and proposed. When a judge makes a legal precedent, he is giving his interpretation of the spirit and intent of the law, of how he believes it was meant to operate. Many of the legal precedents used by the government are given for agency rules and regulations, not laws. The lawmakers did not write the rules and regulations. They created the agency, and the leaders of the agency wrote the rules and regulations. In theory, their guidelines must be approved by the lawmakers, but they are too numerous to be examined in detail, especially since many agencies are constantly modifying and updating their guidelines. The net result is that, in many cases, we are being governed by bureaucrats who are enforcing agency rules on us which have never been reviewed or approved specifically by the lawmakers, whose job it is to approve them BEFORE they can become effective. Also, they are using court rulings as force of law to allow them to continue to enforce, and even expand their enforcement of rules and regulations which have never been approved as required by law. Since many of the agencies know that they are very loosely controlled, they constantly test the limits of their authority and push the bounds of their activities to increase their own powers. All of this activity is illegal according to the Constitution, and many of the activities actually constitute sedition since they challenge the legal authority of the government as defined by the Constitution.'

Bob said, 'But that's rediculous. The government can't commit sedition. Besides, times have changed, and they are simply working out new methods of handling the increasingly difficult problem of handling and running the government on a day to day basis.'

'No, Bob, you are wrong. They are consolidating their power by increasingly infringing upon the rights of the citizens. Government agencies, and their agents, can commit sedition. They can take actions and engage in activities which are inimical to the government according to law. If the government truly wanted to handle day to day problems in a legal manner, they would have made more of the decision making process the responsibility of the people.'

Dan said, 'Would that work, Lee? I mean, it sounds nice, but it isn't really possible to have all the people voting on things often enough to make it practical, is it?'

Bob interrupted, shouting, 'NO! It's not, and you know it! It can't be done!'

I said, 'Yes, it CAN! With the technology that we have available, and have had available for at least the last fifteen years, this country has had the ability to become a true democracy. We could allow the people to vote on every important issue and make their own decisions. We would eliminate the bullshit that is attached as riders to various legislation because we would tell them to put it in plain English and make it simpler or they won't have a budget because they can't run an agency without guidelines. We wouldn't have a lot of the political wheeling and dealing, and catering to special interest groups because they depend on small cabals of power in order to buy the influence they need to get their legislation passed. If all of the laws on the federal books had to be separately approved or rejected by the majority of the people in this country, almost all of them would be repealed or rejected.'

Bob said, 'But it would take too long to do anything.'

'No, Bob, it wouldn't. We could vote on a simple law within three days, and approve or reject new guidelines in the same amount of time. It takes Congress months or even years to get some things voted on because they sequester them in subcommittees and use their wheeling and dealing to bargain for what they really want. What suffers from this wholesale greed and corruption is America, and the citizens of this country. The government does not have that right, and that type of thinking must stop.'

Bob said, 'The government has the right to govern the citizens as they see fit for the benefit of the majority. You don't have the right to make them do whatever you want. They are in control, and you have to obey them.'

'No, Bob, you misunderstand the basic concept of our government. Ultimately, the people control the government, no matter what the politicians like to think. They have spent a lot of time, effort, and our taxpayer dollars trying to brainwash our kids into believing their liberal view of reality, but the reality is that THEY ARE WRONG!'

Rick smiled as my voice raised and there was pointed emphasis on each of the last three words I had spoken. Dan looked shocked, as he had never seen me do more than raise my voice slightly to be heard better. Bob recoiled from me as the force of the projection of my voice penetrated his smug self-assurance.

'You are espousing the liberal view that the government is here to control the people and keep us happy, healthy, and safe. And as long as they keep us healthy and safe, well, two out of three ain't bad. Besides, if we're not happy at being forced to live our lives in ways which are obviously for our own good, then something must be wrong with us, not with their actions. The truth is much more simple. The people retain the rights they did not choose to relinquish to the government.'

'Even the president tries to convince us that we do not have the rights that we do. If we don't use them, the government can continue to encroach upon them and we will eventually lose them altogether. When he addressed the young people of this country on MTV, William Jefferson Clinton spoke as if he was explaining the facts to someone who should, of course, agree with his opinion, once they knew all the facts. He was relying on the gullibility of the young and their automatic disdain for anything which is old, and by inference, outdated and no longer worthwhile.'

Bob said, 'What do you mean?'

I said, 'The president told the viewers, "When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans...", he implied several things. First, that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were radical documents. Second, that those documents gave a radical amount of freedom to individuals. Third, as his later comments made clear, that radical was not a good thing.'

Bob said, 'Those are radical documents.'

I said, 'No, they are the documents which form the foundation of our country, and which specify how the government is supposed to work.'

Bob said, 'I won't argue that right now, but what do you mean about radical not being a good thing according to his later statements?'

I said, 'The interview was concerning the freedom and rights of individuals, and the topic was the recent infringement of those rights by the housing sweeps being conducted by federal authorities. Slick Willy said, "And so a lot of people say there's too much personal freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it. That's what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on the public housing projects, about how we're going to have weapons sweeps and more things like that to try to make people safer in their communities." He was attempting to justify direct, intentional violations of the Constitution in the interests of public safety. He wanted to generate support for his dictatorial policies.'

Bob said, 'But if the people were abusing their rights, the government had to do something to protect the safety of the community.'

I smiled, and said, 'If the purpose was to protect the safety of the community, they would have been issuing weapons to the law abiding citizens and training them how to use them. Or they would have been arresting the criminals and removing them from the community. Or they would have simply allowed the citizens of the community to shoot the dope dealers and drive-by shooters. Dead criminals are no longer a threat to the community. The last thing that would have been done if the safety of the community was the real issue would have been to disarm the legally armed, law abiding citizens of the community. ALL of the studies done to date that have passed ANY valid tests for scientific accuracy have shown that disarming the citizens only makes it more dangerous for them because the crime rate is higher in areas with strict gun laws than it is in areas where citizens are allowed to defend themselves.'

Bob said, 'But the people don't have the training to defend themselves. They need to leave that to the police, because that's their job.'

'No, it isn't. The courts have repeatedly stated that it is not the job of the police to protect the individual, and that they can't do anything until after a law is broken. And they are not experts at their own job. Statistics prove that when you compare shootings done by police with those done by citizens, the citizens come out ahead in every category. Citizens shoot the wrong person by mistake about five times less often than police officers do. Mainly, this is because they know who the bad guy is, while the cop who shows up doesn't even know what is going on when he gets there. Citizens also account for shooting and killing thirteen times more criminals than police officers do. This is a good indicator of why crime flourishes when you ban guns. You have less crime when the criminals realize that they have a much greater chance of being killed by an armed citizen who can resist than they do by a cop who has to give them a chance to surrender first.'

Dan said, 'So, what is the main point of this discussion, Lee?'

I smiled, and said, 'There were three points. The first was to prove that the president had a history of lying, as he has so consistently proven in recent years. Every one of us knows that if the government agrees to do something as long as we don't release our report, they will be lying and will do nothing that will make any difference.'

'The second point was to remind everyone here of exactly how much the government is willing to lie. The basis for our government was that THE PEOPLE, in the Constitution, GAVE UP CERTAIN RIGHTS VOLUNTARILY, so that the government would have the necessary powers TO DO THE JOB THEY HAD CREATED IT TO DO. The government did not give the people any rights. The Bill of Rights is not a list of the rights that the government gave to the people. It is a list of the rights that the government recognized that the people, and the states, had reserved for themselves and had refused to give up to the federal government that they were forming. Any violation of those rights, other than by Constitutional amendment, is illegal, regardless of whether the violation is by a federal agent, the written guidelines of a federal agency, or even a law passed by Congress.'

Dan said, 'You can't mean that, Lee. If Congress passes the law, it can't be illegal unless the Supreme Court rules that it is Unconstitutional.'

I said, 'You are wrong, Dan. Whether or not the Supreme Court rules a law Unconstitutional, it still is if it violates the Constitution. It may be more difficult to get rid of, but that doesn't make it right. The Supreme Court has made a practice of ruling on the Constitutionality of laws not on the spirit of the Constitution, but on the letter of the law concerning the exact cause for legal challenge to the Constitutionality of the law. This means that if your reason for challenging the law is wrong, it will be upheld even if it is blatantly Unconstitutional on other grounds. They have also taken to refusing to hear certain types of cases, or just allowing other court rulings to stand instead of challenging the power play that has been going on in this country for decades.'

Dan said, 'What do you mean by power play?'

'The government has been infringing on more and more rights of the law-abiding citizens. Often in direct opposition to the rational approach which would be suggested by the reports and studies commissioned by the government themselves. When all the studies show that disarming the people only leads to more crime, and it has already been illegal for minors to own or carry handguns for over eighty years, only an idiot would believe that passing more restrictive handgun laws would have more effect on kids carrying guns to school than you would get by simply enforcing the laws you already have and giving harsher punishments for violations of those existing laws.'

'The other thing is that the Constitution states that it can only be changed by amendment, and that process is explicitly spelled out. No federal law passed by Congress can change or alter the Constitution, with specific exceptions stated in the Constitution which allow Congress to set up their own rules of order and operation. This means that he government can't simply get together and pass a law repealing the second amendment, or any of the rights which it protects.'

Dan said, 'That's correct. There would have to be an amendment before you could revoke that right. I believe we're all in agreement so far, Lee. What's the point?'

'The point is that the federal and the state governments have intentionally violated the Constitution on several issues in which the liberal politicians have disagreed with the more conservative majority of the population. The Supreme Court is a partner in this violation. They claim to represent a neutral viewpoint, but they do not. The Supreme Court can't logically justify their claims that the states must obey the Constitution and relinquish all rights to declare war, make treaties, etc., and yet not obey the Constitution when it comes to the Bill of Rights.'

Dan said, 'Exactly what are you referring to?'

I said, 'I'll give you a few examples. The state and local governments tell you what you can and can't do with your land through zoning laws. We all agree that some rules are required, but they have gotten out of hand. There is no reason for the state to be able to tell someone what height the fence surrounding their own, private property can be, what it must be made of, or how it must be made unless the fence poses some sort of threat to the safety of the public. Yet this invasion of your rights is upheld by the courts. There is also no reason for the state to be able to pass any law which restricts the right of the individual, as guaranteed by the second amendment, to keep and bear arms. The Constitution specifically states that any thing in the constitution or laws of any state which contradict the Constitution of the United States becomes invalid once the Constitution is ratified. It was ratified over 200 years ago. All state laws which violated it immediately became invalid, and no new laws can be passed legally which are contradictory to any part of the Constitution. This means that all of the federal laws regarding ownership of, and all state laws regarding bearing of arms are illegal until they have been approved by the people in the form of the ratification of an amendment to the Constitution.'

Dan said, 'That sounds correct logically, Lee, but I'll need some time to think over everything you just said before I can determine if there are any flaws in your reasoning.'

I smiled and said, 'Take all the time you need, Dan. There are no flaws in the logic. The only flaws are in the assumption that what you hear from the government may have more than a grain of truth in it.'

Rick said, 'What was the third point of this discussion, Lee?'

Dan said, 'What do you mean, Rick?'

Rick said, 'He said that there were three points to this discussion. The first was to show that the government has lied and uses lies as a normal function of doing business. The second was to show that the people had the rights all along, and that we did not retain our rights either as a gift from, or as a continued suffrance from the government. The government retained its rights only so long as we chose to allow them to continue to function as our representatives. But he didn't tell us what the third point was.'

Dan said, 'That's right, you didn't. What is the third point, Lee?'

I said, 'The third point was to find at least one of the government plants who was leaking part of our findings to the government, or at least some portion of the government, and who was reporting our activities to them. We have had some difficulties in certain things, and they have all been a result of certain activities conducted by federal agents and agencies, even though none of our activiities or preparations have been illegal. We have found at least one informant today, haven't we, Bob?'

The room erupted into pandemonium again, but this time I left the whistle in my pocket. Half the room was screaming about me being paranoid, while the other half was screaming about the indignity of being spied on and having their privacy invaded and their activities being reported to and monitored by the government. At least one fistfight erupted when Bob made some comment to John and the burly engineer took offense. Bob got into John's face and yelled, then pushed him with both hands. John took about half a step back and threw one punch. His fist did manage to wipe the smile off of Bob's face, along with two of his front teeth. He didn't bother to follow up the punch since Bob was out cold on the floor and no longer posed an immediate threat.

There were some other minor scuffles, but they resulted in nothing worse than bruised egos when one party of the other fell and landed on his dignity. Danielle smiled at me as the medics responded to her call and came to take Bob to the infirmary for treatment. She also insisted that John go along so his hand could be examined and cleaned. There was a cut on one knuckle, so she insisted that he get a tetanus shot. Fortunately, she knew that there was no sign of communicable diseases in anyone in the room because they had all just completed physicals as part of our medical readiness and preparation.

It took a while, but the room settled down again as Dan and Rick began to restore order. Dan left for a few minutes and returned with John. They went to the head of the room, and Dan made a brief statement. He said, 'OK, everyone, we've had our excitement for the morning. John is fine, and Bob will not be back. He has been fired, and is being escorted off of the premises by security as we speak. Since we are all still somewhat keyed up, I suggest that we break for lunch and then return in a few hours to continue the meeting. Is that a problem, Lee?'

I said, 'No, not for me. I was pretty much through with my portion, at least until we got rid of Bob. I will go over what we will require of everyone for the project, but that won't take too long. Rick was going to go over some security concerns, Naomi was going to update us on the homesteads, and Danielle was going to go over some medical concerns. All of this can wait until this afternoon.'

Dan said, 'Then the meeting is adjourned, and we will meet back here in two hours to continue.'

As the majority of the people in the room drifted out and went to get lunch or some coffee, Dan motioned for both Rick and me to come over to where he was standing.

When we were where we would not be overheard, he said, 'Lee, I understand why you did this presentation the way you did, so you won't get any complaints from me, and I won't play armchair quarterback. Do you really think that you have solved the problem, or have we created more?'

I said, 'The problem still exists, because I think that there are at least four or five more people in the group who will try to inform on us if given the chance. Their activities do provide a nuisance, since the government will try to shut us up, but since we aren't doing anything illegal, we can protect ourselves from much of the subtler forms of interference in our activities. I don't think that they will get enough support to try to use the more blatant 'warnings' or use us as an 'example' of what happens to those who open their mouths to oppose the government. We are too highly visible and too well connected. But you will soon lose friends and acquaintances due to the influence of government agents and the threat of lost contracts with the government. Many of you will probably be audited by the IRS this year, and others will have sudden cases of their security clearances being reviewed. If you aren't in this for the long haul, now is the time to get out, while you can still cut your losses and run.'

Dan said, 'I guess I'll stick. I couldn't live with myself if I did nothing and the worst did happen. I don't want 100 million deaths on my conscience. Besides, I don't like having to stake the safety of everyone in this country on the honor of the same assholes who believe that lying is a normal part of doing business, and that you can't get everything, so you should always look for the compromise that gives you something for everyone, but especially yourself.'

Rick said, 'It wouldn't be your fault, Dan. There isn't that much that one man could do to make a difference.'

Dan laughed, then looked straight at me. He said, 'You know, a few months ago, I would have believed that. Now, I'm not so sure that it's always true.'

We left the room to go to lunch. Naomi, Danielle, and Kristin were waiting for us outside the door. Dan left us, saying that he was going to eat lunch with his wife and relax before the meeting started again. The five of us went to the cafeteria so we could talk and eat at the same time. We had to plan out the rest of the meeting and discuss a few things among ourselves. It was going to be a long, busy day, and it was just beginning.

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We talked as we ate. Danielle and Kristin were both a little miffed that none of us had informed them of the purpose of the meeting this morning. I didn't get why they were so upset, but Naomi seemed to understand. During the meal, Kristin and Rick left for a few minutes and sat alone, talking very quietly with their heads together. I thought that they made a cute couple, but I wasn't sure if they wanted to be more than friends.

Danielle and Naomi also left and went somewhere to discuss things in private, so I was alone at the table for a while. The food was good enough, so I concentrated on eating. Some skills and lessons are never forgotten. Eat when you can. Sleep when you can. Etc.

Danielle came back and sat at the table with me. She said, 'You eat like a robot when you're alone and thinking like that. It's not healthy to keep everything bottled up inside you, Lee.'

I smiled, and said, 'It isn't bottled up, Danielle. It's merely being stored and harnessed for use at the appropriate time.'

Danielle said, 'Yeah, right. Whatever.' just as Kristin and Rick returned. They sat down together and began to eat their lunch as well.

Kristin said, 'Lee, you look like one of those soldiers on the training films, eating like a robot as long as the food is in front of you. You don't even look at your food when you're eating. It's like you're watching to make sure nothing sneaks up on you, or that you're afraid that something will happen while you're looking at your food and you'll miss it.'

Rick smiled, and said, 'Other times, other places, eh, buddy?'

I laughed. 'At least the food is better, and the environment is healthier.'

Danielle and Kristin looked interested, but didn't want to say anything for fear that they would break the spell and get us to stop talking.

Rick said, 'You know that we have to clear a FFZ around the compound here, but what about the homesteads, especially those near the forest?'

I said, 'Leave them alone. Some of the dead wood will be logged for firewood, but we don't need to advertise locations to anyone who can walk through the woods. Besides, I like the natural state. Plants are our friends, right?'

Rick smiled. 'Yeah, you always did do well with plants, didn't you? OK, we'll let the woods around the homesteads alone. You can live with Bambi, Thumper, and Flower all you want, just don't bring Flower over to my house, OK?'

'Sure thing. Besides, I seem to remember that you have a thing for snakes, not skunks, right?'

Rick laughed, and said, 'You can bring snakes, but only if you skin them and you eat them. I still haven't lowered my standards to the point where they are welcome visitors.'

Curiosity finally got the better of them, and Danielle and Kristin both blurted out in stereo, 'What are you two talking about?'

Rick said, 'Days long ago and far away. When we clear the land around the complex, we're going to have the equipment for a while. I was just wondering whether Lee wanted us to clear out the edges of the property where the homesteads were located while we were at it.'

Kristin said, 'Clear them out? You mean knock down all the trees?'

Rick said, 'Only for about 100 yards or so. And most of the brush would have to go as well. But since we aren't going to, we can just do the perimeter of the compound.'

Kristin said, 'What do you need to do that for?'

Rick said, 'We need a FFZ for security. It's a cleared area so we can shoot at anything that is hostile and they have nothing to hide behind. It's also a good firebreak in the event of a forest fire.'

Kristin said, 'And you'd just waste all those trees?'

Rick said, 'No way. We cut up the trees for lumber and firewood. We aren't into some slash and burn technique.'

Danielle said, 'That sounds like some kind of military terminology.'

Rick said, 'It is.'

Kristin said, 'Is that where you two met? In the army or something?'

Rick said, 'Kind of. Something like that.'

Danielle said, 'Well, did you meet in the army or not?'

Rick said, 'Well, I was in the army, but Lee wasn't. At least, not technically.'

Danielle said, 'What do you mean, "At least not technically."? Was he or wasn't he?'

Rick shook his head and looked at me. He said, 'Lee?'

I said, 'I was in the Marines, but I was assigned to special duties. I ended up spending a lot of time with an army LRRP unit that Rick was in. We spent a lot of time together.'

Kristin said, 'I know that Rick was some kind of sergeant in the army. What rank were you, Lee?'

'I was given a specialist's rating in the army during my tour with them. It's not really a rank in the normal sense. When a mission reaches a situation that comes under my special area of expertise, I am in command of the group and control what happens. Otherwise, I'm just the new grunt who has to tag along.'

Danielle said, 'What was your special area of expertise, Lee?'

I said, 'That's classified, and the information is available only on a need to know basis.'

Kristin said, 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Rick said, 'It means that you really don't want to know. It also means that he isn't going to tell you. At least not right now.'

Naomi returned to the table. She smiled, and said, 'What's everyone look so serious for? What are you guys talking about?'

I said, 'War stories, honey. Just bullshitting with the boys. You know how it goes.' Then I got up an left to spend some time alone.

Rick said, 'It's OK, Naomi. They just wanted to know where we met, and then someone asked what Lee did for a living. Give him a few minutes, and he'll be OK.'

Naomi said, 'Yeah, he'll be fine.'

Danielle and Kristin both tried to apologize for upsetting Lee, but Naomi and Rick both assured them that he hadn't been upset.

Rick said, 'He just doesn't think about that time very often. When he does, except for when he's just joking around with someone he knows real well, he likes to be alone. He had to spend a lot of time alone, and it helps him relax.'

Naomi said, 'Come on, guys, lets finish our lunch. The meeting may go long, and Lee won't stop for dinner if things are rolling. When the meeting starts, he'll have forgotten all about the past in his hurry to prepare for tomorrow.'

Chapter 2

When the meeting resumed, the entire group was present, with the notable exception of Bob. His chair had been left in place, and the empty space served as a constant reminder of what had happened at the morning session. Several people seemed nervous, but they all appeared to have dealt with the situation enough to allow them to continue to function and perform their duties.

Dan said, 'OK, people, we have a lot left to cover. Lee is going to bring us up to date on the report. Naomi will let us know how the homesteads are coming. Rick will cover the security concerns. Danielle will cover the medical concerns. Lee, the floor is all yours.'

I stood and said, 'The report has been placed on the net, as I described before Bob left. We are going to contact all of the people on the lists you have drawn up, but expect some resistance. Word has been leaked to the government, and they have begun to do their best to either discredit us or to put pressure on those in industry to play ball with them. Either way, your credibility will suffer. They may believe that you believe what you are telling them, but they will also doubt your conclusions because they want to doubt. If they doubt you, it makes it easier for them to remain in good standing with the government. Besides, believing in what you have to say is bad for their business, and they are in the business of making money.'

'Some of you will lose friends and acquaintances. Some of you will discover that you share a bond deeper than you ever believed with some of the people that you know. The only thing that matters, the only thing that can matter, is that you do your best to get them to at least look over the information. If they won't listen to you, move on. You don't have time to sell everyone on your list the first time through. If you get to some of them before the government does, they will be more likely to listen to you and read what you send them. If you are always working on convincing those that the government has already talked to, you will always be playing catch-up.'

'We already have the printing of hard copies in progress. We have posted the books on the net for sale, as well as the shareware versions of both the report and the fictionalized account. There are several other avenues which are under construction for dissemination, but they are only of interest to the necessary departments at this time. By this time next week, we will have several methods of dissemination in progress, including contingency plans in case we suffer any interference from the government's overzealous agents or agencies. While we all know that there will be no official action taken against us, we will, of course have to put up with some level of harassment for having the nerve to meddle in something which the government, or some tentacles of the behemoth it has become, has decided is its private domain and therefore of little or no concern for the citizens of this country.'

'I'll turn the floor over to Rick, since his concerns regarding security seem to be taken a little more seriously after the incident this morning.' I sat down, leaving Rick to continue.

Rick stood and faced the group. 'What I am about to say may shock some of you, but there are still those among us who do not take this project seriously, and some of them will still be leaking information to the government. While nobody in this room is still suspect, we can't take security lightly, especially if the worst case scenario comes to pass. So, in order to insure domestic tranquility, we have instituted a draft of all adults into the militia. If you wish to remain here and continue this project, you will train and prepare for survival. You will become a part of the militia and the community, or you will leave. There are no exceptions. Children and dependents will be exempt from service, but spouses will be expected to contribute and participate as well. Whether Y2K happens or not, this compound will be a self-sufficient community before the end of the year.'

Dan said, 'Please explain to them exactly what you are talking about, Rick.'

Rick said, 'You will receive the most thorough training we can accommodate if the amount of time remaining, keeping in mind that we will all also be working on the project and on getting our homesteads and community completed. We will cover growing food, harvesting food, preserving food, storing food, self defense, martial arts, tactics, strategy, evasion and escape, first aid, shooting classes, and drills for various situations. We will also cover some basic firefighting techniques and methods. There will be classes on how to cut down trees safely, and how to chop, split, and dry wood.'

Kristin said, 'What happens if we don't know much about handling guns?'

Rick said, 'We will teach you how to handle various types of guns safely, how to load them, how to shoot them, how to reload ammunition, how to clean the guns and maintain them, and how to use the weapons effectively. We will also go over different types of guns, since someone your size is obviously not going to be able to handle as large a handgun as someone the size of Lee or myself. If you have a small hand, you won't be as comfortable with a handgun with a large grip. But you will find out what you can and can't use comfortably and then you will practice with the weapons of your choice.'

'We are in this for the long haul, people. If the government can't, or won't defend us if things get really bad, we will have to do it ourselves. If the idea of being in a militia bothers you, then just consider us the police force for this community. Every adult is a member of the volunteer sheriff's department, and will be expected to preserve, defend, and protect our community from crime and the criminal element.'

'If that's all of the questions for now, I'll turn the floor over to Naomi.'

Naomi went to the lecturn at the head of the room, and said, 'We have completed the shells of almost all of the houses on the homesteads. Although some of them are finished on the interior, many are going to be finished by the owners, and that will be a somewhat drawn out process. The outbuildings are up, although one or two water wells and one gas well still need to be completed. They should be finished by the end of the month.'

Dan said, 'What about the livestock?'

'Except for a few homesteads, all livestock will be maintained in the common facility until more preparations are completed. Although some of the outbuildings and barns are completed, there are still a lot of fences to be built and installed before some of the homesteads are ready for animals. Also, we will start planting a crop of hardy wheat in the next week, and some other grains to follow soon after. We will also start preparing the ground for gardens and crops because we will begin planting the majority of the spring crops in just over a month, and some of the fields will take some preparation.'

'Classes on planting and farming will begin next week, and will continue throughout the year as we continue to grow and develop our community. We will cover all the major sections two to three weeks ahead of the season, so that everyone knows what is coming up as well as what we are currently doing. It will make things easier if we can all plan ahead and have some idea of what to expect.'

Dan said, 'Naomi, if we aren't going to start the major planting for a month, why do we need to start plowing the fields now?'

'Because we are going to plant some of the hardier winter wheats, which will grow in the climate we have right now, and will harvest before the summer heat kills them off. It doesn't get that hot here in the summer, especially at this elevation. Also, since we are fertilizing with manure, we want to mix it into the soil and give it time to rest before coming back to plow the land and plant crops. We have a warehouse full of fertilizer that we ordered to get us started for this year and the next few years, but we will use crop rotation and resting the fields to keep from wearing out the soil over the years. We are planning everything for the long term, regardless of the outcome at the end of the year.'

'We will be able to go over everything in more detail at the meetings, so you will all have some idea of the timeline we will be using for planting, harvesting, etc. We will be making sure that we grow enough crops to feed us for this year and at least through next year's harvest, along with enough seed to sustain the same levels for as long as necessary. If we can get extra crops in, we will have a buffer in case of crop failure, or we will be able to use our excess to aid others or to trade in case things go badly. We can also sell some of our excess fresh produce at roadside stands or a farmer's market to allow us to buy some of the things we would like to stock more of but don't have the money for at the present time.'

'I believe that is everything for now, except for Danielle's presentation.'

Danielle simply stood and said, 'We will have to learn first aid, but we will also have to learn how to cure many common complaints using traditional methods instead of using modern drug therapies. Although I can order and stockpile a lot of medicines, they will have a limited shelf life, and we will eventually run through our supply. Medical supplies such as sterile bandages and instruments should be no problem. We will train as many people as possible so that if an accident happens, someone who is nearby should be able to render some form of medical assistance.'

'I will need to go over all of your medical records. We intend for everyone who needs immunizations to get them, and to stock as much as we can of any drugs which are required on a regular basis by any of the personnel or their dependents. I will also need to know of any allergies or unusual medical conditions. We will do what we can to treat all problems and correct them, if possible, before the end of the year. We will also stock extra pairs of eyeglasses in the current prescription for anyone who needs them. Any other medical concerns should be discussed with myself or my staff during regular office hours at the infirmary. We will do everything that we can to make sure that all medical problems are handled to the best of our abilities, and that we prepare for every medical problem that we are able to.'

Dan asked for any questions concerning the presentation. Since there were none, he adjourned the meeting and let everyone go home for supper. It had been a long day for some of the group, and their stress level was still up from the discussion and problems that occurred during the morning meeting. We all still had a lot of work to do.

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The next few days went by in a blur. Waking hours were spent working with the distribution team working on ways to get the information out in the event of government interference. There was also a lot of time spent on the computers surfing the net. It was a lot of work to search for various survival sites and patriot sites and then try to determine whether or not they were legitimate. Many sites were eliminated because they openly espoused the Aryan Nations, The Order, or the Ku Klux Klan ideals. During the search, tentative contacts were made and e-mail communications were established to determine the beliefs and goals of those who ran the sites.

Many sites also had contact with local militias. Unfortunately, the militias also ranged between highly conservative to radical extremist in their own views. Fortunately, some of them could be eliminated by scanning the sites that they promoted or talking briefly with their leadership. It was still long, exhausting work to establish the initial contacts with those who could help disseminate the information.

By Friday, the beginnings of a communications network had been established. There were ten sites scattered throughout the U.S. which were relatively reliable and seemed very stable and levelheaded in their discussions. We had agreed to monitor the local news in each of our areas and distribute information between the sites, with particular emphasis on stories or events related to Y2K which occurred locally but which received little or no attention on the national news. We now had a method of acquiring national news independent of the major media.

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Saturday, Naomi insisted that we take the day off. We had been working sixteen and eighteen hour days for the entire week, and we needed a break. Naomi said that she was going to spend the day with the girls, meaning Kristin and Danielle, so I called Rick. He had nothing going on, so we decided to go out to a remote location on the back side of my property and do some shooting to sight in some rifles.

When Rick showed up, he had the rifle that Naomi had given him. We had checked the sight alignment with a laser, but hadn't had a chance to fire it and sight it in. I pulled out a bolt action 30.06 with a high powered scope on it. I hadn't had it out in a while, and I wanted to check the sights on it again. We went traipsing off into the woods, enjoying the day. The temperature wasn't bad, but wasn't unseasonably warm for this part of the country. You wouldn't overheat, but you didn't have to worry about snow or freezing, either. Of course, you wouldn't want to go wading through any of the streams, either.

After about an hour of hiking, we reached the place I had chosen to shoot at. It was remote, and there was a hilltop where we could set up. Down in the valley, a large stream ran through, and the hill opposite had a cliff face that was relatively flat and free of large rocks. It would make the perfect backstop to keep our rounds from going off through the woods and endangering unseen hikers. It was a reasonable precaution, even if we were still on my land and there should have been no trespassers.

We settled in and began to go over our weapons carefully. After making sure that they were in perfect operating order, and that there were no obstructions in the barrel, we loaded up and began to relax as we got settled into prone positions. Rick decided to go through a few rounds to see how the scope was set, and then adjust until he was satisfied. We picked a dead tree about halfway up the slope to serve as the target. The range finder said that it was about 350 yards away.

Rick's first three shots were well placed, but low and to the right. After adjusting the scope, his next three rounds were right on target. He took his time shooting, and it took about two minutes for him to go through each three round set. I began by setting up and targeting a knothole on the trunk so I had a reference on where the sights were set. The first round took the knothole dead center. The next two rounds only enlarged the hole slightly.

Rick shook his head. He said, 'Man, you still got the touch. Do you ever miss?'

I said, 'Yep. Missed one in Laos. Took two rounds.'

Rick said, 'Yeah, but that was at 950 yards, there was a crosswind, and the bastard moved just as you squeezed the trigger because some courier came running up with a message.'

'Still missed. And it cost me big. I had a bet with the el-tee that I could do it with one round. He thought it was easy money because of the wind and the distance. I should have turned him down, but I did it anyway. Cost me $50, but it was worth it to see his face when the guy went down. Never did find out what was so special about that NVA officer.'

Rick said, 'Didn't really matter. He probably worked both sides, just like at least half of the officers that supposedly worked for our side. Not that I knew which side we were really on in that screwy war.'

'Yep, it was strange. What target do you want to shoot for first?'

Rick said, 'Upper right branch of the second fork. It has an old bird's nest about three feet below it, and has a break on the end.'

'Got it. You go first.'

Rick's shot missed taking the branch off by a small piece of bark. My shot clipped it, putting me one up. We leisurely alternated shots, picking targets at random, taking the opportunity to clean our barrels after every few rounds to make sure that the accuracy didn't deteriorate. We weren't using match ammo, although we both did our own handloading when we had the time to relax and enjoy it. At the end of an hour, I was up by two. Rick always was good, especially at the shorter ranges. He only ran into real problems when he shot long range or occasionally when he shot medium ranges under poor conditions.

We were so caught up in our relaxation that we didn't even hear Naomi and the girls come up. They sat down and watched us for another fifteen or twenty minutes before interrupting us to tell us that they had brought lunch. Kristin and Danielle were looking at us strangely, so I assumed that we had been talking loud enough for them to hear us between shots. Naomi just laughed and started handing out sandwiches and beer.

Kristin said, 'That's a pretty long distance for shooting, isn't it?'

Rick said, 'Not under these conditions. Besides, we don't have to worry about the tree shooting back.'

Danielle choked as she spewed her drink through her nose when Rick said this. Naomi and Kristin couldn't help themselves. They doubled over with laughter as I started patting Danielle on the back. Rick just shrugged his shoulders and looked at them as if to say, 'Hey, what did I do?', but the action only served to make Naomi and Kristin laugh even harder. After about a minute, Danielle managed to stop choking. Unfortunately, even she found the situation funny, and couldn't stop laughing once she started. It took the three of them another ten minutes to wind down completely because as soon as one or two would get themselves under control, the other one would get them giggling again.

After lunch, Naomi suggested that we teach the girls the basics of shooting a rifle, since both Danielle and Kristin had had very little prior exposure to firearms. Naomi had brought her own rifle in its case, and soon had it uncased, checked out, and loaded. As she began shooting, Rick shrugged and took Kristin about five yards off to the side and began to familiarize her with the rifle. I took Danielle about five yards off in the other direction and proceeded to do the same thing.

The first day of shooting went well for both of them. Nobody broke anything on the rifles, and nobody managed to burn themselves on a casing, injure themselves, or even bruise their shoulders. Danielle and Kristin both did well, although neither showed the type of promise that indicated they would ever become more than very moderately proficient. They did learn how to squeeze the trigger instead of jerking it, how to keep the stock snugged against their shoulder, how to breathe properly while shooting, and how to handle the rifle safely while swabbing out the barrel.

Naomi was almost as good as Rick, especially at ranges under 500 yards. Both of the girls were impressed with Naomi's shooting. Danielle even asked her if she would teach her how to shoot like that, since Naomi had more spare time than I did. Naomi told her that she should still take her lessons from me, since I had been the one who had taught her to shoot years ago. Kristin had already talked Rick into teaching her how to shoot properly, so I figured that the five of us would spend a lot of our spare time relaxing at this site, which Kristin had dubbed The Quarry.

It was convenient, because it was near the site where Rick and I had discovered a small cave system in the side of one of the hills. Naomi and I had already been to it a few times to inspect it, and had come up with some ideas on how to convert it into a shelter for emergency use or even for use as a fallback in case we needed to leave our house at the homestead site. With a little luck, and a fair amount of work, I thought that I could convert one of the small caves into a fireplace that would disperse the smoke through a series of chimneys that drew air through the place. This would even hide the smoke from a fire when we had one going, and the stone walls were thick enough to make even heat sensors unreliable. I had told Rick about the place, but hadn't shown him yet because we hadn't started making any changes yet.

On the hike back to the house, Rick and Kristin were walking arm in arm and enjoying the wonders of nature. Spring had not really begun, but there was still some green in the grass and in the evergreens. There were some animals out in the woods, but they stayed away from the noise of our travel through the area. Rick was intentionally making noise as he moved along. I knew that he could move almost silently enough to sneak up on a deer or rabbit in woods like this, especially with the lack of underbrush during the current season.

Danielle was talking excitedly with Naomi about how much she had enjoyed herself today, and about how relaxed she felt after spending the afternoon shooting. I let them get slightly ahead of me and then let myself enjoy the quiet of the woods. It wasn't long before I was moving through the woods parallel to the trail as silently as a ghost. As they came around a bend in the trail, I stepped out of the woods next to Rick and Kristin. I had forgotten to make noise as I came up on them, and I startled Kristin. Her scream made every bird for half a mile take to the air, and she jumped three feet into the air. She ended up in Rick's arms, which set Naomi and Danielle to giggling about her antics and his reaction to finding himself cradling her in his arms.

After things were sorted out, Kristin spent the rest of the trip back muttering under her breath about overgrown boys sneaking around in the woods and jumping out to scare the living daylights out of normal people who are walking along minding their own business. Her antics made Danielle and Naomi giggle every few minutes, but Rick and I decided to take the smart path and stay quiet and unobtrusive as possible. I guess the plan worked, because Kristin was also giggling at herself by the time we finally got back.

We spent the rest of the afternoon going over the rifles again with the ladies and then had dinner of steak, potatoes, and corn on the cob grilled on the barbecue. After we finished, we sat in front of the fireplace, popped popcorn, and watched a movie on the VCR. Kristin was initially surprised that we bothered to put electricity into the house after her conversations with Naomi, but then she realized that the system we had installed was powered by solar energy and wind generators. The backup generator was powered by the gas well, which also provided the gas to run our refrigerator. The only thing that wasn't totally self-sufficient was the dedicated phone line to the main complex. The phone was basically an intercom system, with a dedicated data line so that I could tie into the system or the net with my Macs and do research from my place or even send in reports. Most of the current use was for e-mail to communicate with the people I had recently contacted.

After the evening had wound down, everyone decided to crash out at our place since they didn't want to walk the mile or so through the woods to the area where their cars were parked and drive home. Naomi and I had made sure that our place was inaccessable except by four wheel drive, horseback, or walking. We also didn't make any attempt to light the path with artificial lighting. Once we got everybody settled into the guest rooms, we managed to get to bed around ten o'clock.

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Sunday morning, I woke Rick up around 4:30. We went outside and began working out, going through empty hand routines. After a while, we began sparring and going through the close quarters combat drills. We kept the noise down so that we wouldn't wake anybody up. We did manage to work up a good sweat, and by the time we finished, it was 6:30 and everyone else was up. We went inside, took a quick shower, changed, and went in to join the ladies for breakfast.

Naomi had hotcakes, sausage, eggs, grits, hash browns, and toast waiting when we got to the kitchen. We said grace and dug in, talking and relaxing while we were eating.

Danielle said, 'Lee, I was watching the two of you work out together. What was it that you were doing?'

'Mostly a blend of various styles of martial arts and close quarters combat drills. We used to work out together a long time ago. It helped to work off nervous energy.'

Kristin said, 'How long ago did you two start working out together?'

Rick said, 'It must be over twenty five years. Man, that sounds like a long time when you say it that way.'

Danielle said, 'Lee, I couldn't help but notice that you have a lot of scars. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get them?'

I said, 'I messed up once, a long time ago. After realizing that I had screwed up, I rectified the situation. I never made that mistake again.'

After noticing the look on Rick's face, they decided that it was time for other subjects. Soon the topic turned to the search for sites for reliable information. I explained how we had set up the beginnings of a communications network. Right now we were using the net for communications, but we would also use shortwave radios for communication if the net went down or became unreliable. All of the sites knew about the others, and had agreed to start looking for other suitable sites according to the common guidelines which we had all agreed upon.

We expected the network to be fully functional and organized within another month or two, and to keep growing right up to the deadline, and possibly beyond. We still had not agreed upon a consensus on how to handle the situation when the rest of the population realized that they were up the creek without a paddle and started trying to find the resources that they needed to stay alive.

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Naomi decided that we should make this into a training weekend, so she put Rick and myself to use as training dummies. We had nothing better to do, so we meekly agreed to her polite request. I believe her exact words were, 'OK, let's teach the girls some basics on self defense and dirty fighting so they have a chance of survival if they are attacked. Rick, you and Lee can be the attackers, and Kristin and Danielle will learn how to knock the stuffings out of you.'

As we were walking into the yard, Rick muttered, 'Your wife.'

I said, 'Yeah, but it was your idea to spend the weekend here instead of playing in the woods.'

'Yeah, but it's still cold at night. You could freeze something off. It's not like we couldn't survive there if we had to, but you don't have to do everything the hard way all the time just to keep in shape.'

'Yeah, Rick, some of us are older than others, and have sat at desks too long when they should have been working out instead.'

Naomi interrupted the banter by saying, 'Yes, the poor babies. Got to work and help mean old Naomi teach someone how to survive instead of going off into the woods to play and shoot all day. If you're good, maybe we'll give you a treat and let you eat lunch with the civilized ladies in this group.'

After that, things settled down and we started going over basic techniques for self defense. We avoided all of the fancy martial arts moves or anything that could not be learned and perfected with some practice by anyone with only average skills. Both Kristin and Danielle were small, so we eliminated any moves that relied on size and strength. We were able to use some moves that had more impact when applied from below.

After the first hour, we took a break to allow the ladies to catch their breath. We sat on the ground and talked about work and the weather, and how it would be good to get the crops started, since the end of winter looked fairly mild this year.

Danielle said, 'Rick, when exactly did you first meet Lee?'

Rick said, 'July, 1968.'

Kristin said, 'But that would make you almost 50.'

Rick said, 'Yep, that's me. Out of shape and over the hill.'

Danielle said, 'Wait a minute. I still haven't examined Lee, but I know that his medical file that I was sent lists his age as somewhere in the mid 40's, not 50.'

Naomi said, 'That's right. Lee is 45, and will turn 46 this year.'

Kristin said, 'Wait a minute. You two met in the military, but Lee would have only been 14 when you met. That's not possible.'

Rick turned to me, and said, 'Man, the financial analyst can do math. Can you believe it?' Then he began laughing.

Kristin's elbow to the ribs stopped his laughter, but didn't end his good mood.

I said, 'And all the girls in school always told me that math was hard.'

Danielle said, 'Lee, we're serious. How could he meet you in the military when you were only fourteen?'

Naomi said, 'Tell them Lee, or I'll fill their heads with lies about your past.'

I said, 'No fair, I'm the one supposed to be spreading lies about my past to impress the ladies. OK, OK, I'll tell them. I was big for my age, I lied to the recruiter, and I volunteered to go to Vietnam. I would have been shipped over as a regular grunt in the Marines, but I excelled in a few skills that they were looking for. I was trained for Recon and put through the sniper school. When I first arrived, I was put in one of the hill outposts and told to do countersniping. After they lost 20 or 30 of their best snipers, the troops around our hill decided to stick to digging trenches and to stop trying to pick us off.'

Kristin said, 'So, if you were a Marine, how did you meet and serve with Rick for so long? I know that he was in the Army, not the Marines.'

Rick broke out into a huge smile as I said, 'Yeah, it was a shame he didn't make the Marines, but I guess the Army has to get a few good men now and then.'

Danielle said, 'Lee, I believe that you are avoiding the question.'

I said, 'When we pulled out, I was tagged to report to a new posting with a group based in Saigon. It was a front for one of the special operations groups. They gave me a specialists rating in the army and assigned me to some LRRP group they had running missions into places where we didn't go. Rick was one of the non-coms in the group. He decided that I was nuts and needed a nanny to look after me, so he kind of kept an eye on me while I was with the group.'

Danielle said, 'How long were you with the group?'

Rick said, 'Just over three years. I was usually his spotter and back-up man when we had to do sniping. Of course, sometimes we had to do other things, and we all got some specialized training in other areas.'

Kristin said, 'What were your areas of specialized training, Rick?'

Rick said, 'The usual. Communications, demolitions, emergency first aid, sniping, and close quarters combat. We all had to learn evasion and escape just to survive and do our job. I didn't have to do any of the rough stuff.'

Danielle said, 'What do you mean when you say "rough stuff", Rick?'

Rick said, 'Sentry removal, though we all did that sometimes, perimeter penetration and scouting on large bases, taking care of guys who were too badly wounded to transport, interrogation of prisoners, and psychological warfare ops. I hated it when we had to spend time working out psy ops. I'd rather just set up some booby traps, rearrange a few of their booby traps, kill a few, and run.'

Danielle said, 'You said that you had emergency first aid training, but that you didn't have to take care of wounded who were wounded too badly to transport. What am I missing? Something doesn't sound right.'

I said, 'We were a LRRP unit. We sent back intel and remained hidden. Sometimes we were assigned to perform other duties. We were usually 50 to 100 miles behind enemy lines. We might get picked up by chopper at a predesignated LZ, but we didn't get medevacs for our wounded.'

Kristin said, 'So what happened if you got wounded?'

Rick said, 'You walked out, your buddies carried you out, you got captured, or you died. If we were moving fast, we couldn't carry anybody over a long distance, so they got left behind.'

Danielle said, 'That sounds like you had high attrition rates.'

Rick said, 'The two of us made it three years. Two other guys made one tour and rotated back home. One guy made it two years and went home. About fifty guys went home wounded, and we probably had another eighty guys killed in action.'

Kristin said, 'How big was your unit? That's a lot of wounded and dead.'

I said, 'At full strength, we had 12 men in our unit, but we ran a lot of recon ops with only eight or ten. After a while, you didn't even bother learning somebody's name until he had been there for two or three months.'

Danielle said, 'Your entire unit must have been almost wiped out several times.'

Rick said, 'Twice. Most of the time, we just lost a few men and had walking wounded when we got hit. Most of the wounded were just treated and returned to the unit as soon as they were fit for duty.'

Danielle said, 'Is that where you got the scars, Lee?'

Rick said, 'We got hit hard. Me and Shorty were the only ones left, and he was wounded. I thought that Lee was dead, so we lit out. The VC captured him and began to "interrogate" him before turning him over to the NVA.'

Kristin said, 'What happened?'

'When they were transporting me through the jungle to a new camp, I managed to escape. While they were looking for me, I went back to where I had been held, sneaked into the camp, and recovered my weapons and some extra munitions.'

Kristin said, 'And you left and went back to your own lines?'

I said, 'Yep. Right after I rigged the camp with explosives. I waited for them to have a big assembly in the center of camp when they got word that I had escaped, then set off the explosives and brought the entire camp down. It was only five or six shacks with about thirty men, so it wasn't a big camp. Then I went through the jungle and walked back to camp. Took another four days or so.'

Danielle said, 'So, you went back, and your wounds were so bad that they shipped you home?'

Rick said, 'No. He was already half healed by the time he got back to camp. He got about three days of R and R before he had to report back. This happened in the fall of 1969. We didn't come home until the end of 1971. Got back just in time to be spit on by a bunch of drugged out hippies and called baby killers. Those were the days.'

Kristin said, 'But Lee still doesn't look more than 35 at the most, and you look like you're about 40, Rick. And Naomi doesn't look more than 25 or 30. How do you guys do it?'

Rick smiled, and said, 'Naomi comes by it naturally, because she is just 30. As for me and Lee, it's just good, clean, healthy living.'

I nodded my head, and Naomi said, 'Yeah, right. Go ahead and agree with him, you cradle robber.'

Rick said, 'She's got you there, Lee. She was in her cradle when you got out. Of course, you spent a lot of time in school while she was in school, so you couldn't be all bad.'

Kristin said, 'So what did you guys do after you got back?'

Rick said, 'I spent a few more hitches in, training recruits and doing odd jobs now and then. Then I got out and started working for defense contractors and security firms as a consultant. Then I moved here and went to work for a living.'

I said, 'I did odd jobs and bummed around for a while. Then I started college and began to study. Mostly molecular biology and immunology. Did some research for a while, taught martial arts for a while, then decided to let the wife work for a living while I tried my hand at writing. I won't make a good living at it, but Naomi won't let me stop until I finish all the survival manuals so she has a permanent record for reference when I'm not around. In my free time, I worked out and did what I could to prepare for what I knew was coming.'

Danielle said, 'How long have the two of you been preparing for this, Lee?'

Naomi said, 'Over ten years. At first, it wasn't specific, just general preparations. Later, as the evidence accumulated and time remaining decreased, we took more specific actions.'

Kristin said, 'You're kidding? That long ago?'

Rick said, 'Nope. Lee always made sure that he was ready for almost anything ever since I met him. When he left, and we didn't see each other often, he still kept in touch from time to time and checked to see if I was still prepared in case of an emergency. Every time he visited, we'd talk about the newest guns, the best survival gear, the next generation of some new product that was supposed to be in testing. We'd work out, go camping, and go shooting to make sure that neither of us had lost his edge completely. Both of us could stand to get into better shape, but no need to overtrain this early in the game.'

Danielle said, 'But how could you have known about the technology problems so long ago? The government and their experts have only been working on the problem for a few years.'

I said, 'The engineers who built the power stations in the 70's and early 80's told the companies and the government when they built the places that there were going to be problems because the systems were only set up to operate on a two digit date system. They were told that it wouldn't be a problem because the entire system would be replaced long before then. Instead of replacing the mainframes, they were updated. And the updates did not include complete replacement of all software and the embedded chips in the systems. When new programs were added, they incorporated the same mistakes and propagated them. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the end result is going to be.'

Danielle said, 'What do you mean?'

'If the best systems produced, after careful testing and evaluation, ALWAYS have problems, then the systems don't do what they are supposed to do. Everyone accepts that the software is going to have bugs, and that the important bugs will be fixed by patches, while some less important bugs will be fixed with the next update. The problem is, some of the bugs are never fixed, and updates only keep them in the programming, even if they are generally invisible. Eventually, the bugs will become a problem, and your programming will fail. Then you will have real problems, because you are depending on the programming to allow you to control your equipment, and in many cases, even to control your emergency responses to problems.'

Kristin said, 'And that is a major problem, right?'

'Correct. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.'

Kristin said, 'But, Lee, you can't just refuse to use the technology when it does things so much better.'

'Yes, you can. Technology wasn't proven to do things better. It was proven to be cheaper than doing them properly with the skilled labor required to do the job before. They forgot that you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch.'

Danielle said, 'What do you mean by that remark?'

'If you have eggs in an incubator, you can't count on them hatching. In fact, you can't count on them being chickens until they hatch if you don't know exactly what kind of eggs are in there. If your software has problems, it does things that you didn't intend for it to do, and fails to do things that you wanted it to do. That means that you don't know exactly what you have, but you are still putting it to work and trusting it to do the job you designed it for. You have decided to take a chance and just make adjustments when the problems occur.'

Danielle said, 'What's so bad about that?'

'What happens if you discover that you have placed a rabid wolf in charge of guarding your sheep instead of a trained sheepdog?'

Kristin said, 'That's a silly comparison. Anybody can tell the difference just by looking at them. Right?'

Danielle said, 'No, he's right. Based on general appearance, performance, even the characteristic behavior around the sheep, there isn't much difference between a sheepdog and a wolf. It's the tiny things that make the difference, and we can see them because we know to look for them. With completely new programming, you don't have anything to compare it to. And if you are revising an already flawed program, do you know when you are comparing something good in the original to something bad in the update, and vise versa?'

Kristin said, 'Well, I see the point, but what options does that leave you?'

I said, 'You have to trust technology when there is no choice, but you don't have to throw away something that is perfectly good and performs its function just because something "new and improved" comes along. When you make a rifle, you don't quit making them bolt action just because they have come up with a new, stronger steel that will allow you to use more powerful ammunition. Same thing with all of your kitchen appliances. You didn't have to get a touch pad blender just because it was new. The old one with push buttons or a dial still worked and did the same job. In fact, it probably had a longer useful life expectancy and a better motor than the new one.'

Rick said, 'But you buy the new one because the guys who made it want you to spend your money on their products. The disposable society depends on a constant supply of money to buy the constant supply of goods. Since they don't want supply to outstrip demand and lower their profits, they create an artificial demand through the process of built-in obsolecence, products designed to wear out or break down after a certain amount of use, and a consumer society conditioned to throw away old things as junk so they have need of a new replacement.'

Naomi said, 'Yep, and we pay for it. Pollution, lost resources, wasted resources, and having to live in somebody else's garbage. The rich get richer, and the poor give them all of their money to survive until the next paycheck. Instead of living the good life and trying to live the American dream, we end up surviving day to day and wasting our time and resources on things that are not necessary, but end up draining our finances and keeping us so busy trying to earn enough to afford what we are told that we want that we don't have time to take care of ourselves, our families, and our basic needs.'

Kristin said, 'OK, name some things that are a total waste of money for most people.'

I said, 'Cable TV.'

Danielle said, 'But I watch cable TV all the time. It's the only place to see good movies before they have been out for five or six years already. And it really doesn't cost that much.'

I said, 'It costs one to two dollars per day, depending on where you live, how much service they provide, and how many movie channels you pay for. Most of the TV you watch is probably available with a small, inexpensive antenna. And you could watch the new movies on your VCR cheaper, and they would be more convenient for your schedule.'

Kristin said, 'But it costs about two or three dollars a night to rent a movie. That would be more expensive.'

I said, 'How many times do you watch the movie, whether you rent it or see it on cable? And how many different movies do you watch in a month?'

Kristin said, 'I usually only watch a movie once. And I watch about five or six movies a month. The TV is usually on for noise, but I don't watch it much.'

Rick said, 'The movies would cost you less to rent than the cable costs.'

I said, 'And you could turn your radio or stereo on for noise. They use less energy, and you are not charged for the airwaves by the radio like you are for cable.'

Kristin said, 'What do you mean about the cable charging me for the airwaves?'

I said, 'Basic cable usually has about half the channels as local programming and public broadcasting. They pick the signals up off of the public airwaves, rebroadcast them through their cable into your home, and charge you for it. When they were going to be charged for their rebroadcasts, the cable companies made mass mailings trying to get customers to write angry letters so that the network affiliates would not get paid for what they had been charging you for since the cable companies first started. They must have really paid some money for the letters, because they were carefully worded to arouse sympathy without letting you in on the fact that they were ripping you off and wanted you help to continue to rip you off without having to stop ripping off the networks as well.'

Danielle said, 'Are there any other things that we don't really need, but use all the time anyway?'

I said, 'Your TV. It's nice to watch for a few hours a week, but you could live without it. Your phone. It's nice to have in an emergency, but it costs about a dollar a day for basic service, and you just use it for convenience. Mostly, you don't use it. Your refrigerator. It's a convenience, but it's an energy hog, and you could get rid of most of the contents and never miss them. You could replace it with something much smaller and more energy efficient, but they don't want that to happen. Most of your major appliances are sold by the power company or the gas company in addition to the department stores. And they are all owned by a few multinational conglomerates, who don't want to cut into profits in other areas with revolutionary improvements in design.'

Naomi said, 'Sorry to cut the fun time short, but my derriere is getting cold from sitting on the ground for so long. What do you all say to finishing the self defense lessons and then going inside to get cleaned up and eat lunch?'

Chapter 3

The next meeting, on the 15th of March, went much smoother than the previous one. We held the meeting in the cafeteria so that all of the staff working on all sections of the project could get together and meet at the same time. The printing department was working two shifts printing catalogs and copies of the books. They were falling behind because the copiers they had couldn't meet the load that we were wanting during the initial start-up. Instead of buying extra copiers, since we didn't know how many, if any, that we would need, we decided to have the various offices use their laser printers to print out extra copies of the books whenever they were not in use for other business.

The computer department had set up web sites and posted sections of the books and had organized several sites to give pointers to the information available on our site. They had also spread the word over the net at survival and Y2K sites, and had given out information on various chat rooms. I had convinced them to transmit several copies of some of the books to various sites to be uploaded and posted as shareware novels. We had even made sure that all of the books were copyrighted so that we couldn't really be slowed down by some bogus charge of copyright infringement.

Dan and some of the others were curious about why we needed so many copies of the books before we had even received any orders, since we could conceivably handle more than 500 orders per day with no problems at all, and we didn't even know that we would have that many orders.

I said, 'We need the extra books to start because I have to have at least 1500 copies of each title ready for shipment in the next three days.'

Dan said, 'What? Why do you need so many books right now?'

I said, 'I have come up with a way to get our books more free publicity and more instant recognition than we could want. I have contacted the ten information sites and all have agreed to my plan. We are going to do some distribution ourselves, without relying on bookstores.'

Dan said, 'Why do it ourselves, and why aren't we using the bookstores?'

'Because the bookstores, many of them, won't cooperate. As soon as the owners of the major chains saw what the books were about, they were thrilled. As soon as they learned that we were not spouting some liberal drivel and echoing the official stand taken by the government, they got scared. When they found that we were actually encouraging people to prepare for the emergency themselves, and to take matters into their own hands since the government had intentionally fumbled the ball, they ran like scared rabbits.'

Rick said, 'What's your plan, Lee?'

'We are going to let the other groups in our communications network help us out. For a percentage of the sales, they have agreed to take copies of the books to their local gun shows and outdoor shows and sell them. Once the people on the gun show circuit see the books and start talking about them, the information that they are out there and available for sale will start circulating by word of mouth. The prices at the gun shows will more than cover the cost of printing and shipping, and we will make a profit on all copies sold even after the other groups take their share of the sales.'

'Many of the people at the gun shows are already distrustful of the government, so they often communicate by means other than in the major media. Once they start talking to the people who run the independent publications and the chat rooms related to survival and preparedness, we will have more free advertising than we could hope for. Even the guys who disagree with the books will spend hours arguing about them on the chat rooms, and those who read the arguments, even those who never speak while lurking on the chat rooms will become curious and many of them will order the books or check the shareware copies out on line.'

Dan said, 'But isn't it true that many of the people who read shareware never send in the fees?'

'Yes, but the idea was to get the information out there and to make as many people as possible aware of the problems which may occur. The shareware versions are highly condensed, and only offer basic information. However, they do list the full table of contents of the full versions, to show those who are interested how much more in depth and scope the full versions are if you purchase them.'

Dan said, 'So, the shareware is bait to get people interested and let them think about the possibility of problems occurring?'

'In a sense, but not completely. The shareware provides enough information, if used properly, to allow many people to do the things necessary for their own survival. The books make sure that they haven't overlooked anything, and that they have a real idea of exactly what we are talking about for possibilities. The complete report is much too in depth for most people to handle, and many people would simply shut down from the information overload and stress induced by thinking about the magnitude of the disaster that we are talking about.'

Dan said, 'So the money isn't the primary issue?'

'No. The money is an issue for the hard copies because we have to print them and ship them. The cost of maintaining the books online is low enough that I could pay for it out of pocket and never miss the money. Once you have the equipment and resources built up to run a high volume site, the operating expenses are very low. We are only talking about a few percent of the space available for the site.'

Dan said, 'Besides the gun shows, do we have any more major problems with keeping up with the current demand?'

'No, not at the present time. Rick and I were discussing a few other options, but we haven't worked out the details yet. We can let you know in a few days or so if anything pans out. John and I have discussed sending copies to each of the power plants and utilities that he and his friends know someone at, but we don't know how effective that will be. Steve has discussed a few ideas with some of us, but I should let him give you the full presentation so that we all know what we are talking about.'

Steve stood up to address the group. He was average height and weight, but usually went unnoticed because he blended in so well and refused to call attention to himself. Although he often gave presentations, he never felt comfortable about speaking in public. He tried not to let it show, but the signs were there if you knew what to look for and you paid attention.

Steve said, 'I have gone over this with several of the other group leaders and their assistants, and we have all agreed, in general principle, that we need to do something to get the information out in a form that many people will be able to access even in remote areas. Although many of those who live in remote locations are very self-sufficient, they need to know that they may have a flood of unexpected, and in many cases very unwelcome, company coming their way in just under a year. We have decided that we need to broadcast the information on our own radio show.'

Dan said, 'Won't that cost a lot of money?'

Steve said, 'It would if we went for national coverage, or if we used the AM or FM stations to broadcast. We intend to use shortwave, which will get us a lot of people for the least amount of money. If we can get a public base started, and we will have help with the advertising on the net sites and at the gun shows, then we can get an audience built up. Over time, as we cover more stuff and the people take us more seriously because of the way things are going, our audience will grow.'

Dan said, 'I never listen to shortwave. Do some of the shows really have that much of an audience?'

Steve said, 'Art Bell has a large audience, ranging between several hundred thousand and several million each week. If he likes our report, and he often has guest speakers on his program talking about this and similar subjects, we might be able to get him to mention our books, even if it is a paid advertisement. If he thinks there is real interest, he may have one or more of us on his show to present our case and let people know more about our books and what we think is going to happen.'

Danielle said, 'I know that this is all speculative at this time, but who are you thinking about sending if Art Bell wants to talk to us?'

Steve said, 'The obvious choice would be Lee, but he has already refused, and I must agree with his reasons. I would probably send you, Naomi, and Rick.'

Dan said, 'Why those three?'

'Well, Rick because he is very authoritative and handles difficult people well, so he will make a good impression and convince people that he is reliable. Danielle, because she can cover the medical situation, including disease, in a fashion that will convince the listeners that she is being rational and reasonable. If some redneck calls in and tries to give her crap because she is female, her credentials and experience will convince most of the listeners that she is not just some hormonal female. Naomi is great because she is very personable, and easy to talk to. She knows a lot about the things we are talking about doing to become self-sufficient, so she can tell others exactly what they need to be doing.'

I said, 'I agree with his choices. If he was not going to be too busy to go, I would suggest that Steve be included, but we have already worked out a heavy load for him to go over in the next few months. John will also be busy because he intends to take copies of the report with him to several large conventions and meetings of engineers and supervisors of utility plants. He is going to get some friends to help him spread the word and see what they can do to limit damage and prevent the spread of failures if and when they occur.'

Dan said, 'When do we have to have the copies done for the delivery to the other groups?'

I said, 'Rick and I leave in two days to make the deliveries.'

Danielle and Kristin both gave Naomi a dirty look, but she just gave them a silly grin and shrugged her shoulders. The unspoken message was that she was supposed to keep them informed of news like that, but that she had no choice in keeping them in the dark. The girls would get over it, but they would still be irritated that they had not been informed that the survival outing that had been planned for this week would have to be rescheduled. They were really getting into learning new skills, and they were really trying.

Dan said, 'Are you sure that the two of you should be doing the delivery yourselves?'

I said, 'Yes, I am. We know the route, and the two of us are the only ones who really know how to contact the leaders of the various groups in our communications network at a physical location. They have each set up a particular location which they will meet us at so we can talk in person, confirm our estimates of each other, and set up a method of maintaining deliveries in the future, when it is more than likely that both of us will be too busy to deliver routine shipments of the books to keep them supplied. They have all agreed to refrain from printing the books themselves unless we contact them and tell them to begin printing to meet their own requirements and send us the agreed upon royalties for self-printed sales.'

Dan said, 'You mean that the two of you are the only ones who can actually meet with them, and that the only way anyone else has to contact them is on the net, by e-mail, or on the shortwave. Is all of this really necessary, Lee?'

I said, 'Probably not at this point in time, but it will eventually become necessary. Even if the government only harasses us because they fear the repercussions from a more direct approach, that may change. However, they will have no such compunction against taking action to actively discourage or interfere with the activities of those who are in contact with us. They are less visible, less numerous, and less likely to be missed if they were detained or eliminated.'

Dan blanched when I said the word "eliminated", and I knew that my tone was partly responsible. He said, 'I'll take your word for it. You and Rick seem to have security matters well in hand, and I've learned over the years not to take the concerns of those who specialize in security lightly. When you get that hinky feeling, you listen to it or you pay the price. We'll do it your way. How long do you think that you'll be gone?'

Rick said, 'We could cover the distance in a week, but we want to make a few extra stops and take our time talking to a few people, so we will probably be gone for about two weeks.'

Dan said, 'Well, if there's nothing else, we'd better get busy or we won't get your full shipment printed, bound, and boxed before you have to leave. Steve will handle all of the problems with printing and distribution while you are gone.'

As the meeting broke up, I knew that we were going to hear a few complaints from the peanut gallery before the day was over. Rick wouldn't take that bet, even with long odds on the exact timing. When we reached the hall, his smile became even more smug as Kristin said, 'So, exactly when were the two of you planning to let us in on the fact that you were going to go tooling around the country on vacation while the rest of us had to stay here and work for a living?'

I couldn't do anything about Rick's smile, since I had got the timing to within five seconds, but I could do something about avoiding the problem, since Kristin hadn't exactly addressed me directly. I kept walking. Plan A lasted for the five seconds it took for Danielle and Naomi to step in front of me. Plan B, which consisted of letting Rick do the talking, died before it even got born. Kristin had already cornered him and they were talking in hushed tones.

Naomi said, 'You didn't even tell me, Lee. Why not?'

I said, 'Because I haven't had a chance to talk to you alone since we finalized the plan, honey. Besides, I know that you wouldn't tell, but your shadow here has become so close that she can practically read your mind, and I didn't want her nervousness to set Kristin off before we had to inform everyone.'

Danielle said, 'I think that I should leave, because this appears to be a private discussion.'

I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder before she could take a step. Naomi's hand was on her other shoulder. Danielle looked first at one shoulder, then the other, and said, 'On the other hand, this is a nice place to be right now. Why don't I stay?'

I said, 'Danielle, there is no need for you to leave. You are one of our closest friends, and I know that Naomi thinks of you as a sister. The two of you get along great, you have more in common than most people ever do, and you enjoy each other's company. Naomi is a little irritated that I kept something from her, but she understands why I did it because she has known me for so long. You don't understand, so I will explain. I don't know your ability to completely compartmentalize something, so I took no chances that we would have the news of our departure leak before we finished our security measures.'

'I know that you wouldn't tell anybody about our departure intentionally, but we still have those among us who would report our activities to those who would rather keep the public ignorant of their plight. If you made new plans for later this week, they would be able to guess that our survival outing had been canceled, and that we might be up to something big if we canceled one of our few personal activities.'

'The five of us have become very close, so it would have to be something important to interrupt one of our few activities that requires us to plan our time off just so we can do it. I didn't want to take any chances, so I kept all of you in the dark except for Rick, because he had to know to get prepared.'

Danielle said, 'You mean that it will take the two of you more than two days to prepare for your trip? If you already told him, that must be the case.'

Naomi said, 'Dani, they aren't going to be leaving in two days. That was what he said at the meeting to make sure that if anybody did make a report to the government, they wouldn't give out correct information. Nobody will be surprised if they don't see Lee and Rick for the next two days because they will assume that the guys are preparing for their long road trip and saying goodbye to us.'

Danielle said, 'So the two of you are leaving right now? But won't somebody see you loading the manuscripts into a truck before you go?'

I said, 'They won't see us loading the books because they are already loaded. Rick and I moved them over the last few days while nobody was around. But we won't be leaving until after lunch, which we intend to have at our place. I want all of us to be there, including you. OK?'

Danielle said, 'Yes. I'll be there.'

I said, 'Good. Because the three of you are going to be busy for the next few weeks, and you'll probably be spending a lot of time together.'

Rick said, 'As if the three of them weren't already as thick as thieves.' as he and Kristin walked up to join us.

Kristin smiled, and said, 'Guilty as charged.'

Naomi and Danielle relaxed and joined her in the smile, but I could see that all three of them were worried. It wasn't paranoia. They knew that there was a chance that we could have an accident on a trip that long. They also knew that there was also the slight chance that either the government or one of the groups was setting us up for their own reasons. Nothing like thinking like that to boost your confidence.

We left the building and crossed the parking lot to Naomi's Suburban to go to our house for lunch. There was no hurry. In fact, the more normal we acted, the better. When we got to the end of the road, Naomi parked the Suburban and we began the walk through the woods to the homestead. It took about fifteen minutes, and by the time we arrived, everyone was in a good mood again.

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Dan was starting to worry, because he was really beginning to believe that all of Lee's precautions were necessary. He had called up at least a dozen of the people on his list, and the results were not good. Officially, they thanked him for his efforts, but they had no intention of taking action at this time because their own experts agreed with those employed by the government. They believed that the change in attitude among certain senators on the Y2K committee was merely a political ploy. If they had agreed with the assessment in the report, they thought that the senators would have taken a much harder stance and urged everyone to do everything they could before it was too late.

Dan tried to explain to them that the senators were worried about a public panic, which could cause as much or more damage as a complete failure of technology would. He even pointed out that the press had reported several incidents in which some of the government agencies were conducting their own private preparations and even informing their higher ranking employees of what they needed to do to get ready for Y2K. Their suggestions matched those offered in the report, not those handed out to the public by the government. Several agencies had even met to discuss how to warn their employees WITHOUT making the information available to the public, since their official policy was that all information disseminated to the employees in general was always available to the public.

The idea that government agencies would consider this situation serious enough to change the official policy they had maintained throughout their existence had several serious and ominous ramifications. Dan understood the fear that was driving them, since he had also seen the report on the possible results of widespread public panic if the government suddenly reversed itself and ordered everyone to prepare as well as they could in the time remaining. The increased demand for storage food, generators, and other items, which were already being made as fast as they could by the manufacturers, would cause problems. People would begin to get angry when they learned that they would not be able to get the things they needed to survive because there was not enough supply to meet the demand.

Privately, several of the executives Dan had talked to had said that there was nothing that they could do. The industries that handled the goods were already operating at capacity, and they couldn't be expanded effectively in the time remaining. Besides, they had already taken care of themselves and laid in supplies, so they were certain that they would have no problems if the systems failed for a few weeks. They could use a good vacation.

Dan tried to get them to understand that if everything failed, especially when there were a lot of people who were not adequately prepared, there would be trouble. There would really be problems for those who had prepared and stocked up if everyone who wanted something knew that it was all sitting in one spot that just happened to belong to one of those rich, uppity SOBs who had not only allowed this to happen so he didn't lose any profits trying to fix the problem, but who had concealed the problem so long that they hadn't had time to prepare properly and now had to do without not only the normal comforts that was their 'right' as citizens in this high-tech society, but also the things they needed just to survive.

When several of his friends laughed and told him that they had the best security systems, and that there was nothing to worry about, Dan told them that if the people were starving and panicked, he might want to remember the French revolution had started in part because of the poor timing of the remark that the poor who had no bread to eat should then eat cake instead. Dan had a sudden flashback of sitting in a meeting and listening to Lee describe that very thing to him, as well as its results. He remembered that his initial response was very similar to that of the person he was talking to, and could only hope that his friend had the time and the sense to realize exactly what was at stake and take the necessary precautions to make sure that he didn't become the modern version of the French nobleman being led to the guillotine.

One of Dan's oldest buddies, who was a frat brother from their college days, was more honest with Dan. He said, 'Look, Dan, it's too late to do anything for most of the people anyway. The industries are already working at capacity, and the alternative plans to have the people stock up on their own just won't work. They just can't get enough done to make a real difference. And if it comes to problems, we have been assured by the government that we will be safe. They intend to declare martial law and restore order in any area that becomes disruptive. FEMA has everything worked out, and they are going to take care of everything and everybody.'

Dan was shocked, but managed to keep his face calm. Lee had told him that this would be the response, and had even gone over the list of executive orders which had been given over the years. He did not want to think about what would happen when FEMA, backed by whatever troops would follow their orders, tried to take the food and water from those who had prepared on their own and tell them that they would get their share just like everybody else. And the reaction to forced relocation and even breaking up families by sending them to different work camps was even less appealing. Of course, the violence and bloodshed he visualized was the lesser of the two evils. The other picture in his mind was that the camps and the mentality behind him reminded him of an even greater horror, which was best remembered by the names of the more famous places where it had occurred. Places like Buchenwald, Dachau, and Auschwitz.

He also couldn't help but remember one cryptic question that Lee had asked him when they had been discussing the topic. He had told Lee that the government had to survive so that they could govern and make sure that things were done for the common good. Lee's response was something he would never forget. The sadness in Lee's eyes was visible even from across the room. He had paused, as if considering whether or not to reply, and said, 'Dan, tell me something. If the government is doing everything for the good of the people, meaning the majority of the population, which is better: that a lot of people should suffer and die so that the rest can live in safety with the rich, powerful, and politicians, or that the few rich, powerful, and politicians should suffer through the problems they created so that the majority of the population will survive and avoid the worst of the suffering?'

Dan's answer to that response had changed over the last few weeks. That was when Dan realized that he had changed as a person, and he liked the new version much better. He could live with that realization.

Dan decided to change his list somewhat. Instead of calling all of his old buddies, he decided to try contacting some of the people he had worked with over the years who had held beliefs that he considered strange before. Now, he realized that they may have just been telling him many of the same things that he had just been telling himself. They might prove a lot more receptive to the idea of doing something before it was too late. They certainly couldn't be much less receptive than the last dozen people he had spoken to. He went to work on the new list and began to work on finding out how to contact some of the people on it.

When Dan's secretary came into the room with the information he had requested, she was amazed to find him smiling and whistling contentedly. She had observed the changes in him recently, and was pleased. It had been years since Dan had been this content and satisfied while working. She wondered what had gotten into him, and silently prayed that whatever it was, the change would not wear off anytime soon. Not only was Dan more pleasant to work with, but he really seemed less stressed and to have more energy when he approached his work with this attitude. Like most long time secretaries, she did truly worry about the health of her boss.

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After a leisurely lunch, Rick and I left the ladies at the homestead and walked through the woods to where we had parked the big 4X4 Suburban that we were taking. It had our gear and the manuscripts already inside. We drove through eastern Tennessee and crossed into North Carolina. We got off the main road and crossed the border into South Carolina. Just after crossing the border, we came to our destination. The small town of Tryon, South Carolina.

We found a place to camp outside of town, and got permission from the farmer who owned the land to use a small corner of his pasture for the night. We pitched our tent, unrolled our sleeping bags, and went to sleep. In the morning, we packed up, drove into town, and had breakfast at the local diner. We spent the morning wandering around and enjoying the daily life in a small southern town. We did get the obligatory visit from the sheriff, who wanted to make sure that we were not there to make trouble since we had no visible reason for loitering around town.

Around noon, we went to the town square and waited. Our contact was right on time. He introduced himself as Wilbur Marshall, but said that everyone just called him "Wil". We introduced ourselves, and then sat down to get acquainted for a few minutes. After about ten minutes of talking and sounding each other out, we agreed that it seemed like we should have no problems working together, and went to the diner for lunch while we continued our discussion.

Over lunch, we worked out the details of what we wanted Wil to do. In addition to taking the books to the gun shows and posting them on the net, he was to keep us informed of any news events that happened in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida, especially if the story suddenly vanished from the media without a trace or if the media seemed to be ignoring something important. He would keep 25% of the proceeds from the book sales, and would be shipped more books as needed.

After Wil gave us the P.O. box that he wanted the books to be shipped to, our business was finished. We sat, finished our meal, drank some coffee, and made small talk for another hour or two before we had to get on the road. Wil followed us to our truck and we gave him the boxes with the first shipment of books and got him to sign the receipt for the merchandise. As soon as he left, we were on our way to the next meeting.

We drove south to I-85, and then headed toward Atlanta. We stayed on the interstate until we came to I-185, and then took it into Columbus. We spent the night at a motel near Fort Benning.

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Naomi had convince Kristin and Danielle to move into our homestead so they could spend more time together while Rick and I were gone. The three of them would work out together and practice the techniques we had already taught them. Naomi would sometimes add techniques to keep them from getting bored, and the girls would also keep her and each other from worrying about what kind of trouble we were getting ourselves into at that moment.

They also had their work at the complex to attend to, and Naomi wanted them to work some manure into the plot she had laid out for a kitchen garden. It would give them some exercise, and it would help them learn the skills necessary for gardening for survival. At the end of the first day, Danielle knew that they would all be sore for days. It didn't take much for her to convince the others that our absence was part of some vast, insidious conspiracy to get them to work themselves to death while we were gone. That, or we had just planned the timing of this trip to get us out of doing the hard work that should naturally be done by a pair of overgrown boys who happened to be as strong as mules.

Fortunately for us, we didn't come home that night, so we survived the initial fury of them missing us. And they had work to do, so it didn't matter if they moaned and bitched at us or about us so long as it made the work go faster and kept them happy.

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After breakfast, we headed south again on U.S. 27 and then turned right when we came to state road 27. We were in Georgetown, Georgia, near the reservoir before we stopped.

We were approached by a petite, slim woman with long, sandy blonde hair, who introduced herself as Peggy Jackson. 'But everybody just calls me "Pogo", so you might just as well, too.'

Rick said, 'That's an unusual nickname. Were you some kind of pogo stick fanatic as a kid?'

She smiled, and said, 'Good guess, but no. I read a lot of Twain's works as a kid, and fantasized about going down the river and fighting pirates and other stuff. Only our river ends up in the Okefenokee swamp, and I also used to love the comic strip, so Pogo was the winner, hands down.'

I said, 'It's nice to finally meet you. If you are still interested in the agreement we reached on the net, I believe that we have a delivery for you, Pogo.'

Pogo said, 'Well, I do have a few questions first, if you don't mind.'

Rick said, 'Fire away, ma'am. We do our best to make sure that everyone is satisfied.'

'I have read the stuff that you sent me, and it is good, but isn't some of the material classified or something?'

Rick said, 'No, it is all available to the public upon request. The tricky part is knowing what to request, since they don't tell you what they have available. Most of it is in the public library system, but there again, it is often buried.'

She said, 'What do you mean, it's buried?'

I said, 'Small libraries don't have the budget and space to store much, so they rely on inter-library loan to get anything too specialized. But even the large libraries often have entire subjects that the librarians consider to be offensive that are stored so that the public has to fill out forms and request access to even view it and see if it is what they are looking for. Many people don't want to waste the time, so they ignore anything that is in storage. Of course, for some things, the library has a habit of taking days to find it just to discourage the patrons from reading the material. It's a form of censorship that works very well in many cases because the people often do not even realize that it is going on.'

'Then why bother to buy the books in the first place?'

Rick said, 'Because they have to have a balanced procurement plan in order to avoid lawsuits from citizens who don't like having their tax dollars spent with nothing of interest to them to show for it. They may have to buy some of these offensive materials, but they don't have to keep them out where they may tempt some innocent patron who doesn't know how bad the ideas they contain are. And they don't have to keep them forever. If they store them long enough, and they are hard to locate on the card catalog or computer index, they won't see much activity. Then they can be sold off to make room for more popular books, and the library has removed that copy from circulation where it could contaminate minds with evil thoughts that might not be politically correct.'

Pogo looked at me and said, 'I like him. Is he always so sarcastic? Do you think anyone would miss him if I took him home for a pet? He'd be much more entertaining than a parrot, but he would be harder to keep fed and cleaned properly. Probably cusses more than a parrot, too. Never mind. You keep him. I'll take the books. They're probably better for me anyway.'

Even Rick joined in the laughter as he conceded defeat. We went into a shop for coffee and discussed more details about what we wanted Pogo to let us know about, and the areas that we wanted her to cover. She agreed that she could keep up with the news from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and we would send her the condensed reports from the others in case she missed something when she was talking with them and sharing information.

After we loaded her car, Rick and I hit the road again. The next leg of our trip was a long one. We crossed into Alabama and took U.S. 80 clear across the state. We ate a late lunch at a restaurant in Selma, then continued on toward Mississippi. We caught I-20 just before the Mississippi border, and continued on until we reached I-55 at Jackson, where we headed north. We spent the night in Winona, Mississippi.

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Naomi woke Kristin and Danielle at 5:00 in the morning. They didn't want to get up, since they were still sore from digging, but they both perked up when they heard that Naomi had a surprise for them. After getting dressed, or at least somewhat cleaned up, and eating a quick breakfast, Naomi led them into our study. Kristin was amazed at what they found. One entire wall was dedicated to large maps of the U.S., arranged on boards so they could be flipped to show any state. Each state had several maps. One was topographical, one was a road map with most of the county roads listed, one was a detailed climatic map, and one showed all of the water sources and the rainfall available during the average year. The last one showed locations of dams, bridges, military installations, government land, power plants, and geographic fault lines.

On a long table at the adjacent wall were three computers with dedicated data lines connecting them to the mainframe at the complex and its internet access. Danielle said, 'I thought that everything here was self-sufficient. What in the world are you doing with a set-up like this?'

Kristin said, 'Yeah, what gives? You two don't like having to mess with all that high tech stuff all the time, so why dedicate so much space to something that won't work if you are correct?'

Naomi said, 'But they will work. We have our own power, and the machines and all of the programs on them have been thoroughly tested. They won't fail. We wouldn't have bothered with them, but we needed them to keep up with the work load. Lee can actually look at one map, memorize a section, and compare things on it with those on another map's display of the same section. The computer allows me to see what he can using his mind so that I know what he is talking about. He can overlay elevation and the roads and show me where there is going to be a problem if certain things happen. And he can show me how certain areas are more prone to damage because the geography and the weather are both a problem.'

Danielle said, 'Is this where he worked out so much of his projections to achieve the detail that he did?'

Naomi said, 'No, he did most of that on paper and in his head. This is where he spent the last few years working on scenarios to determine how much affect given conditions would have in various parts of the country.'

Kristin said, 'You mean that there are actually computer simulations of what he has been talking about?'

Naomi said, 'Yes. He finished them about six months before Rick called to get him to come here and work on the project.'

Danielle said, 'Then why didn't he just show us the simulations instead of making us work on so much of the data ourselves?'

'Because Lee was hoping that some of his simulations would be proven to be way off given more data, and more accurate data, than he had been able to compile. He was hoping that the results would disprove his predictions. He incorporated the data that the project compiled, and the analysis, into the parameters of his program. He wanted to tweak the system and see what the results were with the predicted guidelines from each of the scenarios given in the report.'

Danielle said, 'I didn't know that Lee could do that kind of programming to develop some kind of simulation like this. It must have taken him years of work to get the thing to work properly with all the different variables to be factored in.'

Naomi said, 'No, Lee didn't write or develop the basic program. It's basically one of the old wargame scenarios that the military used to use. Some programmer friends of his modified it to allow the parameters he wanted and then to calculate the results given the weighted values assigned to each parameter. Lee just had to determine what weight should be assigned to each one under conditions where he knew the outcome in order to determine how accurate the program could be.'

Kristin said, 'That's still a lot of work. Does it work? Does it give accurate results for the scenarios?'

Naomi said, 'Yes, but it is somewhat limited. It gives you a result, but it is based on statistical methods.'

Kristin said, 'So, it would show that the population density declines, but since it can't predict subsequent events, such as where all the people run to, it can't tell you how many will die because they exceeded the ability of a certain area to support life. But it can give you the general estimate of how many will die because of that factor in the big picture based on how much of the area is able to support life, how much life it will support, and how far most people will travel from the cities in their initial panic. Is that it?'

Naomi said, 'Pretty much. It can't predict the future, but it can predict the probability of certain things happening on a statistical basis.'

Danielle said, 'You mean like you can't predict exactly who will die when, but the insurance company knows that such and such a percentage of the people of a certain age are going to die this year, right?'

Kristin said, 'Yeah, that's a good example. So, Naomi, show us what the worst case scenario looks like.'

Danielle said, 'Yeah, I want to see something so I can visualize it better. I can rationalize the numbers, but I can't get the picture to focus. You know what I mean?'

Naomi said, 'I really don't think that this is a good idea, but Lee said to show you both the room today. I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for.' Then she began the scenario.

Kristin, Danielle, and Naomi stood transfixed as the screen became active and slowly scrolled the parameters used for the scenario. They saw that several things had been allowed to occur in limited situations, and that there was only a moderate amount of civil unrest. Naomi pointed out that the scenario included the possibility that the government would try to turn the nation into a police state and rule by force if a certain level of civil unrest was exceeded, and that the nation would resist if the amount of force exceeded certain parameters which varied to reflect the population diversity of each general area.

The screen then went to a map of the country showing population density. In the upper left hand corner, a small box showed the projected date. In the upper right hand corner, another showed the total population of the country or the highlighted state. As the program ran through December 1999, the population was steadily but slowly growing, showing almost 300 million people in the country. As it went through January, the map began to change colors as the people fled the cities to find food and water. Then the color changes were more gradual, and they were trying to keep track of the gradual shifts that none of them paid much attention to the boxes. There were some flares and recessions in color as certain areas experienced hard times, some disease became an epidemic, or there was a large scale conflict. There were even several flares representing biochemical or nuclear warfare on a limited scale.

Suddenly, Kristin hit the pause button, freezing the screen. Danielle said, 'What are you doing? It hasn't gotten almost anywhere yet. The colors haven't changed much since the program started running. Why did you stop it?'

Kristin's face was white. She said, 'What date do you see in the corner?'

Danielle said, 'The middle of July. A little over three years from now. Why?'

Kristin said, 'How many people did the program show living in America at the end of this year?'

Naomi said, 'Almost 300 million. Why?'

Kristin said, 'Look at the population counter in the upper right corner.'

Naomi said, 'Oh,...my God!' Then she and Kristin leaped to catch Danielle before she hit the floor. She had fainted.

The number in the corner was 132,596,938. The counter indicated that the population was at 44.2% of the initial value. Over half of the population was dead according to the statistical parameters. The box with the statistical breakdown gave the analysis that 12.7% had died of starvation or dehydration, 15.8% had died of disease, 4.9% had died of accidental injuries or natural disasters, 20.4% had died from violence and murder, and 46.2% had died from warfare and military intervention.

After Danielle recovered from her shock, they got her up to leave the room. But she would have none of it. She needed to know why the program said that so many people would die in the next two years. What parameter would make the death toll so high? After convincing the others, she went to the computer and highlighted the statistics box, ordering a printout of the results. She told the computer to give her the detailed breakdown.

The printer began, and ran for the next few minutes as it ran off a stack of statistical breakdowns. When it was finished, they looked at the section on warfare and military intervention, since it was accounting for almost half of the deaths. What they saw almost made them all faint. The breakdown showed that there were deaths attributed to a race war, a civil war, a foreign invasion by various nations in different parts of the country, limited terrorist attacks, limited biochemical warfare, limited nuclear warfare, and even by military executions or deaths of prisoners interred in concentration camps after the declaration of martial law by the government. The numbers were horrendous. The girls left the room after turning off the computer. None of them slept that night.

Chapter 4

After an early shower and breakfast, we hit the road again, taking U.S. 82 into Arkansas, where we took U.S. 65 north to Pine Bluff. After a quick stop to eat and stretch our legs, we took U.S. 270 west into the Ouachita National Forest and then took 27 into Norman, Arkansas. We arrived in the early afternoon, and went to the spot where we had arranged to meet.

We found the person we were looking for almost immediately. He was wearing an old camouflage jacket with the name "Beetle" on the pocket. He introduced himself as William Lewis, but said to call him "Beetle".

I said, 'Why on earth did anyone nickname you Beetle?'

He said, 'Don't rightly know. Got it when I was in the Army. Sarge give me the name. Platoon never could figger out whether it was because I reminded him of Beetle Bailey because I refused to ever volunteer for any details, or if it was just because I bugged him and he wanted to remind me that he considered me a pest.'

Rick said, 'Some choice. I'll bet you prefer the latter, just to know that you got to him.'

He said, 'Dang straight. Put her there, bud.'

And so another link was added to our communications network. After taking delivery of the books, Beetle told us that there was a message for us from our home.

I said, 'What was the message?'

Beetle said, 'It was some kind of code or something. I shore dint understand it a-tall. They said, "Find a way to keep the worst from happening. The results are unacceptable. The Peanut Gallery." That's exactly what they said, and how they said it. I have the printout raht here if'n you want to see it.'

I said, 'No thanks, I understand the message. We'll take care of it.'

Rick said, 'Does that mean what I think it does?'

I said, 'Yep. Naomi showed the girls the situation room, and they checked out the scenarios. I figured that they would run the worst case. They don't want to have to live through that, and I can't say that I blame them.'

Beetle said, 'What's the worst case scenario mean? You described it some in the info we got, but we haven't had time to go through all of it.'

I noticed that when he was excited or handling something important, Beetle had a tendency to let his hick drawl drop and talk like the intelligent person I knew he had to be to survive the training he had according to the patches on his jacket.

I said, 'The worst case scenario, with the parameters we've been able to work out, shows that by about three years from now, 48% of the population of this country could be killed by the events triggered when Y2K occurs. That is allowing for the fact that nothing else is done to prepare the people of this country, both mentally and physically, for what is coming at the end of the year.'

Beetle said, 'Damn! I gotta agree with the ladies. That is unacceptable. If you can find some way to keep that from happening, I'll do whatever it takes to give you all the help I can.'

I said, 'The books are a start. We can't get the people to do anything until they know that there really is a problem, and we can't get them to do the right things unless they understand what they need to do to solve the problem or at least limit its ability to affect them. We could also use your reports to keep us informed of any events that occur in Arkansas, Louisiana, or Mississippi that seem to have been ignored by the media.'

'We're working on other ways to change things so that the problem is at least cut down some in size, but you gotta take things one step at a time. You have to learn to walk before you can run or fly.'

Beetle chuckled, and said, 'That ain't what our jumpmaster told us in the Airborne. He didn't care how we got to where we were supposed to be as long as we got out of his airplane. And those of us who didn't know how to jump got a kick in the butt to get us started in the right direction.'

Rick said, 'I know what you mean. Here you are in a perfectly good airplane, and he wants you to jump out of it, risking your life, mind you, land in a hostile environment, which is also a risk to life and limb, and kill somebody while he lands back safe at the base and drinks your beer ration for you. Man, I would have killed for that job.'

Beetle got serious and said, 'Why didn't you?'

I said, 'Because he figured that if he drank all that beer, he'd need a cargo chute to jump out of the plane without killing himself.'

Beetle said, 'But why would he want to jump out of the plane?'

I said, 'Because he never could stand being left out of anything, especially a good fight. Before he finished a week at a desk job, he would have thrown himself out of a plane without a chute if you told him that doing that would get him a transfer out from behind a desk.'

Beetle said, 'But wouldn't he be worried about getting killed when he landed?'

I said, 'Yep. But he'd be so worked up about getting out from behind that desk that he wouldn't even think about that until he was about halfway down to the ground.'

Rick said, 'Yeah, you're probably right, Lee, but I figured out a way to survive the fall and get my transfer, anyway.'

Beetle said, 'How?'

Rick said, 'After drinking all that beer, I'd just start taking a leak and then land in the lake it made. I can't fly, but I sure can swim. I know that there is no way on earth that I would be the first guy on the planet to be found drowned in a lake of his own piss.'

We all broke into laughter at his joke, and it took us a few minutes to keep a straight face again. Of course, Rick did get a six pack of beer as a present from Beetle before we left. Just the thought of it made us both crack up, especially when Rick said, 'Thank you, Beetle. I was wondering how I would survive if this nut forced me to get onto an airplane before we got through with this trip. I didn't pack a parachute.'

Beetle did get his revenge, though. He e-mailed a description of the whole event to the Peanut Gallery, knowing that they would tease Rick about his bragging and "poor jokes" for years.

When we left, we took back roads down to I-30 outside of Arkadelphia, and then took the interstate down to Texarkana, Texas. We stopped for the night at a motel and got cleaned up and went to sleep in our beds, dreaming of the hot shower in the morning.

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Sometime during the night, all of the girls ended up sitting on the same bed talking about anything they could think of. It would have been funny to see them acting like a bunch of schoolgirls at a slumber party, except for the haggard looks on their faces and the fear in their eyes. They were all afraid to go to sleep until some time had passed so they could come to some sort of grips with the information they had seen that morning. They were afraid to go to sleep before they had rationalized things, even though they all knew that there was no guarantee that rationalizing and talking about the problem would prevent them from having nightmares.

By morning, they were all tired, but none of them was willing to be the first to fall asleep. They stayed up most of the day, trying to busy themselves with various tasks, but their fatigue began to interfere with even that escape. In the end, they went to bed around seven that night. Even with their exhaustion, they were only able to sleep fitfully that night. But they were able to sleep, even if the dreams they had did have a more sinister undercurrent than usual.

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After breakfast, Rick and I got back on I-30 and headed for Dallas. We drove through the maze of interchanges and eventually ended up on I-20. We had a late lunch before we got to Abilene, then continued down the road. We finally stopped for the night at Pecos. After eating and relaxing for a while, we decided to go to bed. We would make our fourth delivery around lunchtime the next day.

Before going to bed, we called home. The girls were all there, so we got to talk to them and get caught up. I noticed that Naomi needed some special attention from me, and Kristin needed some special attention from Rick. I knew then that they had had a harder time dealing with the information than they had let on. I wondered how Danielle was taking it, and who she would turn to for help.

Naomi settled that by handing the phone to Danielle while I was talking to her. Looks like I just got elected to play big brother. Rank hath its privileges, and all that crap. But since I was responsible for putting all of them into this mess in the first place, I did have a responsibility to do what I could to take care of them when they were hurting.

After spending some time talking to Danielle, reassuring her that we could change things enough to stop or decrease some of the problems, she seemed to calm down and become more like her old self. I felt like shit for making her so involved in the project, but she had been necessary, and she and Naomi and Kristin were almost symbiotic in their interactions. Especially her and Naomi. It almost seemed that they were joined at the hip at times. They were already able to finish each other's sentences on a regular basis.

But I don't claim to understand women. I just provide a shoulder to cry on, or a shoulder to pound on, depending on the situation and the current need. Danielle needed one to cry on. More because of her emotional attachment than because of anything else. She was a doctor, and she hated to see anyone die. She didn't get too emotionally attached to her patients, but she had to have a strong feeling for life in general to drive her to give so selflessly for her patients. She could turn the feelings off for an individual and function, but she couldn't turn off her feelings for humanity in general, and she couldn't do anything to try to prevent the dying. She felt helpless to do anything productive, and the scope of the suffering was overwhelming her.

All I could do was rely on Naomi and Kristin to provide the necessary support to pull her through and hope that everything was fine when our trip was over and we finally got back. If not, I wasn't sure what Rick or I could do to help, but I knew that we would do anything we could to help our friend in her time of need.

We both slept, because we knew that we had to in order to function and finish this job so that we could return home as soon as possible. But we didn't sleep well. I didn't dream, but I did sleep lighter than usual, and woke up several times for minor sounds like the heater coming on to maintain the temperature in the room.

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We decided to leave early, so we skipped breakfast. Neither one of us was very hungry. We took I-20 down to I-10, and went west to Van Horn. There we turned north on 54 and went straight up to U.S. 62/180 and followed it into Pine Springs.

We finally got something to eat while we were waiting for the person we were meeting to arrive. Manny "Big Al" Alvarez was a sight to behold. He stood almost seven feet tall, and must have weighed between 350 and 400 pounds. He was built like a body builder, only supersized.

After introducing ourselves and getting acquainted, we got down to business. The routine was becoming established. So far, all of our meetings had gone well, and the initial screening had worked.

Big Al said, 'So, what are we going to do to make a difference? I know you understand the problem, but I'm still not sure that you guys have the solution.'

I said, 'We probably don't have the solution. I'm not sure that there is one. But we feel that we have to try, to do our best to warn people so they can prepare before it is too late. It may not be much, and it probably won't be enough, but we can't force people to do something just because we want them to listen to us.'

Manny said, 'So why should I waste my time working with you guys?'

Rick started to respond, but I held him back with a gesture. I looked Manny straight in the eyes, and said, 'You shouldn't waste your time. We're not trying to stop something that is almost impossible to stop. It's too late for that. What we're trying to do is save as many lives as possible by getting people to prepare for themselves.'

Manny said, 'So, what do I get out of this? Why should I even care if all you can do is shave off a few percentage points from the loss column?'

I said, 'You don't really get anything. If the work isn't a reward in itself, then you aren't right for the job. One percent off of our loss column means that three million more people are alive. One of them might be you or someone you care about. Or it might be your worst enemy. But they will be alive. If that isn't enough incentive for you, quit wasting my time. I have work to do.'

Manny smiled, then began to laugh. 'You'll do,' he said. 'At least until someone better comes along.'

We shook hands, and we now had our source of information on Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Al looked at the boxes of books remaining in our truck, and shook his head.

'You two, running around the country, delivering less than 2000 copies of each book, actually believe that you can change things? Even when you get more shipments going, do you know how long it will take to reach everyone in the country?'

Rick said, 'We don't have to reach everyone. Some folks are already prepared. Some folks will never listen. We just have to reach everyone we can who will listen or think about what we tell them. If they decide to ignore us, that's their decision. Same thing if they decide to help us spread the word.'

'Man, you guys are truly nuts. I must be too, because I'm listening to you.'

I said, 'Miracles can happen. People can change. We can't get everyone to listen, but every one who does and prepares can decrease the number of people who will have to suffer and die. If enough people prepare, they can afford to support some of those who refused to listen. Or they could let them go hungry. It's their decision. They are the ones who have to live with themselves.'

Manny said, 'Would you use some of your supplies to help someone else, knowing that you could be decreasing your chances for survival?'

I said, 'That depends on the person, and the circumstances. If I had the supplies, and felt that I could help keep a few others alive, I would consider it. If I felt that they were worth the effort, I would probably help them.'

Manny said, 'And what about those you didn't consider worthwhile?'

I said, 'They could haul ass off of my property and leave me and mine alone.'

Manny said, 'And if they didn't want to go, and tried to force you to give them what they wanted?'

'I'd send them straight to hell. One way ticket.'

Manny said, 'You are one hard, cold, mean man. I think that you would actually do it.'

Rick said, 'You can bet your life on it. I have, and I've never even come close to losing that bet yet.'

Manny said, 'I believe you, man. You guys take care. I'll let you know when I start running low on any of the books. You can send them straight to the address that I gave you.'

As I was walking around to get into the Suburban, Manny leaned over to Rick and said, 'You know, man, if he ever ran for office or something, I'd vote for him. I might not like what he had to say, and I might not agree with everything he'd do, but I know one thing for sure. If he told me he was going to do something, he was going to do it or die trying. You may not agree with it, but you can't put down someone for doing exactly what he believes in. Ain't many people like that left. Too bad.'

We headed south out of town, staying on U.S. 62/180 until we hit El Paso, where we caught I-10 and followed it north until we got on I-25. We ate a late lunch at Las Cruces, and then continued on northward until we reached Albuquerque. We decided to spend the night, since we had no problems with maintaining our schedule so far.

Rick and I had talked about the trip, and the sequence and timing of the stops, and had set everything up by e-mail before we left. Each contact had a specific location chosen to meet us at, and we would arrive on a specific date. If we could not make the meeting on that date, they would wait and try again on the next day. We had met Wil on the 16th in South Carolina, and then met with Pogo on the 17th in Georgia. We had met with Beetle on the 18th in Arkansas, and with Big Al on the 20th in Texas. We would break early tomorrow, and rest up in Flagstaff before continuing our trek, so we weren't worried about wearing ourselves out.

We called the girls, and spent some time talking to them before getting ready for bed. After leaving a wake up call for 5:30 at the front desk, we called it a night.

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Naomi was glad that the guys had called tonight, because their absence was being felt. All of them were somewhat nervous and jumpy, and it wasn't entirely due to the reaction to the results of the worst case scenario. Now that they had been able to sit and rationalize the results, all of them had agreed to do some more work on the scenarios to determine which factors would have the most impact on the outcome.

Danielle had spent most of the day running simulations after carefully adjusting the parameters before each simulation. Although she had determined that the simulations did not always come out the same with the same parameters, she had deduced that the variations were due to variability and probability assigned to each of the factors considered. When a nuclear war did not occur, the survival rate rose, but only slightly. She soon discovered that the reason was that when the nuclear war was averted, it almost always meant that either biochemical warfare or mechanized warfare was used in its place. The probability of warfare was so high that it was almost unavoidable. The only precautions you could take were to minimize the effects of whatever weapons were used.

With Naomi and Kristin helping her analyze the results, they soon discovered that there were several factors which would result in far fewer casualties, at least in the short term. If people prepared by stocking up on food and water, their survival rate increased, and the number of dead from diseases decreased for at least as long as their supplies held out. Also, if the government left the people alone, and instead concentrated on fixing what was broken, the number of casualties decreased, as did the probability of civil war.

Kristin asked why that was, so they ran several scenarios to determine what the major contributing factor to a civil war was. The results stunned them. If the government tried to use martial law to force people to obey, many would resist. The problem only got worse if the government tried to force the people to give up their own supplies and rely on government distribution. Danielle was stunned to find that the probability of civil war was 100% if the government tried to forcibly disarm the people.

'That can't possibly be right. Why is there only an 80 to 85 percent chance of civil war if the government tries to confiscate all of the food and water and redistribute it, but there is a 100 percent chance of civil war if they try to take the guns away from the people?'

Naomi said, 'The people may not resist, or may only resist so far if they think that they will still be fed and given water. There is still a chance for survival. If the government disarms them, they can't possibly protect everyone all the time, so the people know that the criminals, who will still be armed, will be able to kill, rob, rape, loot, and burn with almost total impunity. They would be defenseless, and the government would not be able to be held legally accountable for making the people helpless in the face of criminal activity. They also know that there is one more thing that is even more important for their survival.'

Kristin said, 'What's that? What is even more important to their continued survival than food and water, or the ability to protect themselves against criminals?'

Naomi said, 'The ability to resist government oppression. If the government has all the guns, and the citizens can't keep them from doing whatever they want, why would they willingly give up all of that power and return to civil law and the Constitution? They would have to return all of the guns to their rightful owners, and compensate those who had supplies that were confiscated during the emergency. They couldn't afford to make restitution, because they would go broke. They wouldn't rearm the citizens. Hell, they've been gradually working for more than 60 years to disarm the American people, in direct violation of the Constitution, and using legal loopholes and judgments to evade the main issue, which is that the government has no right to alter or amend the Constitution, and that includes the second amendment, without the consent of the people. They have tried to evade this by passing laws that only make certain restrictions and only hearing certain court cases and ruling on only certain aspects of the legality and Constitutionality of the laws, but they have still infringed upon one of the rights which was guaranteed to be left to the people.'

Danielle said, 'But if they gave you the rights in the first place, don't they have the right to alter it for the common good?'

Naomi said, 'They never GAVE the people any rights. The people gave up certain rights in order to live together under a common government. The amendments are there to remind the federal government, in writing, exactly what rights the states chose to retain to themselves, and exactly what rights the people chose to retain for themselves. If the people did not choose to give up that right to the state, the federal government has no authority to make them give up that right to the state. If they did, you would have privileges instead of rights.'

Kristin said, 'So, if the people feel that the government is trying to make this country into some kind of dictatorship or police state, they would rather die fighting than die as slaves?'

Naomi said, 'Yes. But you are forgetting one thing, and it is very important in all of the scenarios that we are running.'

Kristin said, 'What's that?'

Danielle said, 'Who the winner is in the civil war scenario.'

Naomi smiled, and said, 'That's right. You are assuming that the people are simply throwing away their lives in order to bring the government to heel and put it back under their control completely, as it should have been all along. Are they?'

Kristin scanned the results they had amassed so far, and said, 'It looks like the people win in a civil war within two years 90% of the time. In fact, the longer the war lasts, the more likely it is that the people will win and the government, or at least those who represent it in power during the war, will be replaced. I don't understand why it would be that way.'

Naomi said, 'You are forgetting several important factors. The government can rule only through the consent of the people, or by force. With the loss of technology, the vast area of this country makes it too large to control by force from a central location. If they use their forces to control the people in the cities, they have to feed them. And they can't protect and grow crops while still fighting against the starving masses. Either way, they will eventually lose unless the people support them.'

Danielle said, 'But they have more weapons, and better weapons systems.'

Naomi said, 'No, there are more weapons in civilian hands in this country than there are in all the military arsenals. And many of their most sophisticated weapons systems either won't work if technology fails, or they will be unable to use them even if they wanted to.'

Danielle said, 'Why would they be unable to use some of their systems if they were still working?'

Naomi said, 'Because they can't use atomic weapons on American soil without losing the resources they are trying to control. There are other factors that limit their capabilities. Such as the fact that you can't use tanks effectively in the mountains. The Russians found that out in Afghanistan. Besides, in the event of a civil war, many troops would fight against the government, refuse to fight against American citizens, or would sell weapons on the black market which could be used against forces loyal to the government.'

Kristin said, 'But it would take time to train an army to effectively resist the forces that were loyal to the government.'

Naomi said, 'You are forgetting that there are more people who have been discharged or retired from the military than there are in the military. And many of those who are no longer in the military have more combat experience, especially in guerrilla warfare, than most of those who have any combat experience at all. And they know how to operate many of the weapons systems still in use by the military, especially those that are certain to still be functional in the event of a total failure of technological support systems.'

Leaving them to think about what she had just said, Naomi left the room to get some dinner before relaxing and then going to bed. The smell of dinner cooking soon brought the others into the kitchen. The conversation did not return to the previous topic, but Naomi knew that both of them would be thinking about it for the next few days.

They popped some popcorn later that evening, and sat in the living room and watched a movie before going to bed. While watching TV by the light of the fire in the fireplace, Kristin could not get over how easy it was to get used to doing things in the evening by the light of the fire, or a few candles or oil lamps. And it was hard to reconcile the easy, relaxed lifestyle she was seeing with the fact that it would not have to change at all even if the power systems failed at the beginning of the year. All of the electricity was generated by solar or wind power, and the batteries would last for years. The fuel for the lamps and the candles could both be made with available materials that could be grown and harvested locally. The wood for the fire in the fireplace and the wood stove was a renewable resource.

She thought of the billions of acres of land in the U.S. that were lying almost untouched, except for the plunder of the natural resources by companies that had paid paltry sums in lease fees and campaign contributions to corrupt politicians. They were stripping the resources from public land, and then selling them to the public after they processed them.

All of the overcrowding in the cities could be alleviated, pollution could be reduced, and energy consumption could be decreased simply by allowing the people to be moved onto lands that the government controlled and changing the methods used to build and do the normal daily activities. And it wouldn't even have much of an effect on the daily lives of the individuals, much less a large adverse effect.

She wondered why there was no effort to make these changes, and then realized what the reason was. The government controlled over 50% of the entire country by simply making the land unavailable to the public. They controlled the people by controlling what they could do with their own land, and by taxing them for allowing them to use the land they had already bought and paid for. The idea that all of the crowding problems, and all of the problems that were associated with overcrowding, could be directly related to those in power in the government bothered her. The idea that all of the problems could be tied together, with the common motive being that of controlling the people in order to retain power, made her ill. Kristin didn't sleep very well that night. Even talking to Rick on the phone didn't seem to help her improve her mood that much.

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We got up early, worked out for an hour or two, and then cleaned up and went out to breakfast. The food wasn't great, but both of us had eaten worse. The coffee was hot, so the meal wasn't all bad. We loaded up and headed out. We took I-40 west and drove, except for pit stops for fuel and nature calls, through to Flagstaff, Arizona.

We took our time, and got there in the early afternoon. After finding a place to stay and checking in, we went walking around and found a place that sold Mexican food. We had a great dinner, and then walked back to the motel. We caught up on the "news" with the cable in the motel room, deciding to watch CNN for about an hour.

We called the girls, and spend several hours talking to them. They were sounding sort of down, so we knew that they missed us. Rick and I both talked to Danielle, and she seemed to be in a better mood when we finished for the night. Rick took a while talking to Kristin, so I knew that he was somewhat concerned about her mood, but not worried enough to say anything. Naomi confirmed my suspicions when we talked, saying that everyone had been a little down, but that they were all working through it. She even told me that they had gone to The Quarry today and practiced. She didn't mention what since we were on the phone. Danielle and Kristin had both improved, and were starting to really enjoy going there just for the practice and relaxation.

After hanging up, I told Rick, and he seemed to be glad that Kristin and Danielle were beginning to enjoy shooting. I said, 'What, did you think that they would turn and run away screaming the first time they heard a gun go off?'

Rick said, 'Well, not exactly, but once when Kristin was over to my place for dinner, she saw one of my rifles. Let's just say that her appreciation for the decor cooled somewhat.'

I said, 'Well, that's what you get for putting your toys on public display. You know how it turns some people off to be in the presence of a showy little peacock like yourself. Makes them feel inadequate or something.'

Rick sputtered, and said, 'Showy little peacock? Inadequate? Why you...'

I wagged my finger at him, and said, 'Careful, don't raise your blood pressure or Danielle will have both our hides. Especially after I tell her about all the junk food and fast food you've been eating. Come to think of it, I'd better put you on a diet or Kristin won't speak to me for a week after she sees how much weight I put on you. I know how she's been so worried that you might put on weight with all the desk work you've been forced to do lately.'

Rick laughed, and said, 'You know that I haven't gained a pound in the last twenty years. Besides, if I do put on a few pounds during this trip, I'll just explain that you told me that it wouldn't hurt to consider adding a few pounds to help keep myself warm this winter. Then you led me into the wonderful world of McDonaldland and showed me how I could eat greasy french fries and other wonderful treats.'

I said, 'And don't forget about eating all that fat in every sandwich when you king sized your meals at Burger King, with onion rings instead of french fries.'

Rick said, 'Yeah, I'm starting to miss your wife's cooking. Do you think she could FedEx us something to eat?'

I said, 'Don't give her ideas. She might decide to ship herself, and then we'd never get any work done.'

Rick said, 'Well, it was worth a thought. What did you have in mind for lunch tomorrow, since we'll probably be eating while we drive?'

I said, 'How about beef teriyaki, or spaghetti with meatballs?'

Rick said, 'MREs again?'

I said, 'Hey, you're the one who wanted to go economy and try to save some money by not eating out every meal for the entire two weeks.'

'Yeah, I know. Just do me a favor the next time I have such a bright idea, will you?'

'Shoot you and put you out of your misery? Sure, no problem, my pleasure, partner.'

'No. Just remind me to bring more jerky and dried potatoes. At least the ones we dry aren't full of fat, and I can take vitamins to replace all those leafy green vegetables that the girls are always talking about.'

I said, 'Done, but you don't have to worry about it.'

'Why not? We might still have to take another trip before the end of the year, right?'

I said, 'Yep, but if we do, we will probably be living on MREs and our own dried food. And we may even bring our own water, just in case.'

Rick said, 'Well, in that case, I'm going to enjoy the bed and get some sleep while I can. Would you care to join me?'

I said, 'Rick, I'm not that kind of boy. Besides, you snore.'

Rick's laughter spoiled his response of, 'I do not snore!', and made his attempt to look wounded even more pathetic. Laughing, we turned off the lights and got some sleep. We had left a wake-up call for 4:30, so we knew that we would arrive at our destination in plenty of time to make our meeting.

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After breakfast, we headed west on I-40 until we caught route 66, and followed it until we reached Truxton, Arizona. We arrived well before lunchtime, and decided to wait and rest instead of walking around to see the place. It was small, and there wasn't much to see that we were interested in. Around noon, we went to the spot where we were supposed to meet with Ron Mostenkowicz. Rick had questioned the Jewish surname in an area that was obviously more densely populated by native Americans, but figured that it didn't make much difference to him one way or the other.

When he met us, Ron introduced himself, and told us to call him Ron or "Geronimo", whichever we preferred. At Rick's prompting, he explained how he got his nickname. When he was first in the Army, the guys in his platoon had tried to come up with some funny name for everyone. After the first guy to call him "Stinky" ended up in the infirmary, they decided that wasn't a good idea for a nickname. Since they were all trying to get into airborne, they decided that his name, Ron Mo something or other was close enough to Geronimo, and they stuck him with that. They thought it was a great joke for every man in the platoon to shout his nickname when they jumped just to bug him, even though they knew that most jumpers didn't like that image being perpetuated on the unknowing civilians.

Rick said, 'Yeah, I know what you mean. Any time I had to jump, my last words going out of the plane were usually more along the line of "Oh, shit, here we go again." instead of something like "Geronimo". Wish I had come up with something better.'

I laughed, and said, 'Rick, as I remember, most of the time you were usually yelling something like "Hot damn, party time again." just before you jumped.'

Ron laughed, and said, 'Another pair of gung ho nuts, eh?'

Rick said, 'Well, I wouldn't go that far. We were kind of wild in our youth. But we were crazy enough to go jumping out of perfectly good airplanes over real estate that technically didn't belong to our country or its allies a few times, so I guess we were nuts, at that.'

The discussion turned to the distribution problems as Ron led us over to a small restaurant for lunch. We ordered, and then talked while we ate. Ron did travel through the region a lot, and would be able to get the books distributed and sold to those who were interested. He didn't have much problem with getting the arrangements worked out for future deliveries, and would be able to handle the printing problems himself if distribution became a problem later in the year, or if his demand exceeded our ability to keep him supplied.

None of us believed that the last option would ever occur.

Ron said, 'You realize that many of the people don't really want to know. When you start talking to them about this, they act like they hear you, but it's like talking to your teenager. They smile, nod, listen because they think they have to, and let it go right in one ear and out the other. And just like your teenager, as soon as the problems really start and they find out that they are in over their head, they start screaming for help and accusing you of not telling them about the danger. Then they get mad and blame you for knowing about it and not letting them know about it so they could prepare properly before it was too late.'

I said, 'Yep. Things could get rough. That's why we are suggesting that you maintain some kind of front so that everyone doesn't know that you have prepared and have everything you need for survival.'

Ron said, 'You really believe that people will riot and loot when things go bad, and that those who know that you have supplies will turn on you and try to take them?'

I said, 'You read the books we sent, didn't you?'

Ron said, 'Yeah, but I hoped that you were just being overly dramatic for effect and to get people's attention.'

Rick said, 'If anything, we went light on the worst case scenario to prevent mass hysteria in case people read it and believed it completely. Whatever happens, we don't think that it is going to be pretty.'

Ron said, 'Maybe not, but do you really think that things will get so bad that nobody would want to read the description and remember so that things would never get that bad again?'

I said, 'Have you ever heard of the Holocaust?'

Ron said, 'Of course, I have. I'm Jewish. My grandparents barely escaped that horror, and some of their relatives weren't so lucky.'

I said, 'They didn't live through it, yet I'll bet they never told you what it was like for one of those in the camps on a daily basis, did they?'

Ron said, 'No, not in graphic detail, but I did hear enough to make me sure that it was pretty bad. Why?'

I said, 'You have a pretty bad impression of what happened during the Holocaust, and you don't want that to ever happen to your children, right?'

Ron said, 'Of course. I wouldn't be human if I didn't try to keep something like that from happening to my kids. Why?'

I said, 'Would you tell a kid everything you know about how it felt to go sneaking through a jungle, creeping up on some sentry, clamping your hand over his mouth, driving your knife through his kidneys or his neck, feeling his breath on your hand and his warm blood flowing across your knife and your other hand as the life left him and you lowered his cooling, lifeless body noiselessly to the ground so he wouldn't give an alert to the rest of the enemy?'

Ron said, 'Of course not. They couldn't handle it. It would traumatize them for life.'

I said, 'That's why you never read the real story about what it would have been like to have been interred in one of the death camps. To watch as your wife and children were stripped, shaved, and marched naked into the showers to be gassed because they weren't strong enough to be put into the work details. To bury bodies when there were mass graves because the ovens couldn't keep up.'

'To smell the burnt bodies with every breath you took, and to taste the ashes in every bite of food because you knew that there was nothing in camp that hadn't been contaminated. Knowing that every bite of food you took was an insult to your religious upbringing because it was unclean food, and was even more unclean with the touch of death upon it. To know that many in the camp stayed alive by supplementing their meager rations, when they got them, with whatever rats they were able to catch and kill.'

'To know that there was no hope, because nobody in the world really cared what happened to you, and nobody would come to rescue you. To know that if anybody did come, it would probably be too late. Because nobody lived long in the camps. They were worked to death, and death came from disease, hunger, loss of hope, and always from the Nazis. They were fellow Germans, but they thought of you as some sort of virulent disease, and had decided that you must be eradicated like rabid dogs. But still, in the back of your mind, you knew that they would show more compassion for a rabid dog than they showed to you and your family.'

Ron was crying freely, and Rick was also tearing up pretty well by now. The description was terrible to contemplate, and was only worse because they knew that it was true. It had happened.

I said, 'That doesn't even begin to describe the medical experiments, the degradation, the taunting, the torture, and the daily humiliation that many of the survivors endured. But it is never told like that, because they don't want to traumatize the children.'

Ron said, 'That is the worst thing I have ever heard. And I know that it had to be much worse than you just described. Yet, even as an adult, I never thought of things in that much detail. Why?'

I said, 'Because it is human to block out the worst of the pain and suffering, to refuse to think about those things that the mind simply can't deal with. But if we deny the pain and the suffering, if we fail to face the truth simply to save the children from the worst of the past, we are condemning them to relive it.'

Ron said, 'Why do you say that?'

I said, 'Because the clean, sanitized version of the Holocaust is more generic, and easier to believe that things really weren't all that bad. If they had been, then we would have been told all the horrible details so that we would never forget. And that is what the Nazis are telling their children and yours. There is a whole generation growing up in this world who actually believe that the Holocaust wasn't that bad, and many of them believe the Nazis when they are told that there really isn't any evidence to prove any of it happened. It was all part of some big lie concocted by the scheming Jews to keep themselves in power because the Nazis oppose their corruption. If you don't believe me, ask your kids what they have been taught about the Holocaust in school, and ask them to describe how bad things were for their ancestors during that time. If you don't know history, the true facts instead of what the officials would have you believe, then you can't learn the true lessons that it has to offer. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'

Ron said, 'I'll talk to my kids. Now that you've awakened my curiosity, I think I'll be a little more interested in exactly what they are learning in school. You guys drive safe. You're a long way from home, and it is still pretty far between houses, let alone towns in this part of the country. If you break down or run out of gas, it's a lot more serious than it is back east.'

Rick smiled, and said, 'We'll be careful. We like the boy scout motto, so we try to be prepared for as much as possible. You take care, and don't let the future rob you of the present. Life is for living and enjoying.'

Ron said, 'You got that right.'

After we transferred the books to Ron's van, he smiled, thanked us, and shook hands before we left. We took route 66 south to I-40, then caught U.S. 93 north toward Nevada. We stayed on U.S. 93, and didn't stop except for gas until we got to Ely, Nevada. After a late snack, we spent the night. We left a wake-up call for 6:30 at the desk because we knew that driving through the mountains would be even more tiring than the last leg of our trip.

We did talk to the girls for a few minutes, but didn't stay on long. We told them that we had already made five deliveries, and that we should be back within another week. In fact, after the next three deliveries, we would be close enough to return home within a day if there were any problems that we needed to take care of before making the last two or three deliveries, although we would probably make the next three deliveries except in the event of a dire emergency just to save the time involved in another trip out that far.

The girls assured us that everything was fine, and that they were all doing well and had been working on the project while we were gone. In fact, the weekly meeting had gone smoothly that morning. We were almost caught up on the printing of the books, and had managed to get them posted or to get pointers for them listed on several more sites during the last week. So far, everything was going great, except for the fact that they did miss us.

After hanging up, Rick and I went to bed and got some rest. Our trip was about half over, and we should be back home within a week.

Chapter 5

After breakfast, we again headed north on U.S. 93. We didn't push for speed, as we had been taking more time the last few days as we drove through the more mountainous western regions. Our vehicle was in peak condition mechanically, but we didn't want to have to worry about breaking down in the middle of nowhere. There was still snow at the higher elevations, so we didn't want to go hiking out if we did break down, since our cell phone would be less reliable in the mountains.

We broke for lunch at Rogerson, Idaho, just west of the Magic Mountain Ski Area. We had gone over the map again, and had decided to stay on the route we were on. Although it would take us out of our way, we wouldn't have to go through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. We stayed on U.S. 93, until we ran into the 75 junction just south of Challis. Since it was already late in the afternoon, we decided to spend the night in Challis and make our meeting on the next day. We arrived in Challis about ten minutes later.

We had a nice dinner, relaxed for a while, took some time to work out together, and then headed to bed. We didn't phone home, since we had agreed to economize after some of the lengthy conversations during the previous week. Besides, there really wasn't much to say except the scenery was wonderful, the mountains were colder than back home, wish you were with us, and that we missed each other.

We went to bed early, and left a wake-up call for 6:00 so we could go for a run and work out before breakfast.

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As soon as we were up, we dressed and went for a five mile run. The mountain air made it even better, and we really enjoyed the activity. After we finished, we worked out again for about an hour, then got cleaned up and went to breakfast. We arrived at the restaurant at 8:30, and had a huge breakfast. We had managed to work up an appetite, and the food smelled great.

We got our stuff and headed back down U.S. 93, taking 75 south into Clayton. We were about an hour early, but so was the person that we were there to meet. Jerry Johnson introduced himself to us almost as soon as we drove up. Clayton was small, and there weren't many outsiders or tourists in town at this time of year. We soon found out that his nickname was "Mountain Man" because he spent all of his free time climbing the mountains, hiking and camping even in the winter.

We spent some time talking, going over what we wanted from those who were in the network, and what we didn't want anybody doing. We wanted information, and for the books to be sold and distributed. We didn't want any illegal activities, and we didn't want to be connected with anybody who was going to allow the government an easy time to connect us to some extremist organization in order to try to discredit us and our findings in the eyes if the public. Although we knew that they would try that tactic, we planned on making it so obvious that it was fabricated that the ploy would backfire.

Jerry had no problems with what we had planned, and said that he could start selling the books at gun shows within two weeks, since he was already scheduled to go to a gun show in Montana the first part of April. He agreed to monitor the entire northwest, giving us some coverage for Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. It was a large area geographically, but the population was sparse except for the large cities on the coast of Washington and Oregon.

We gave him his shipment, and left around 1:00 in the afternoon. We drove back up to U.S. 93, turned south, and then took U.S. 26 across the southwest corner of the Idaho National Engineering Lab to I-15. We followed it south and stopped for the night in Ogden, Utah.

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In the morning, we caught I-84 over to I-80, heading east through southern Wyoming. We ate a late lunch in Laramie, then continued driving. When we reached Nebraska, we got on U.S. 30 and drove into Ogallalla, where we got a light late supper and spent the night.

In the morning, we took U.S. 26 northwest into Broadwater for our next meeting. Our meeting was for early morning, so we met Iris McAfee, whose nickname was "Scots Lass" at a coffee shop she had picked out. We found out that her mother ran the place, and she helped out when things got busy.

Iris was interested in what the books had to say, so we spent some time talking about them with her. She liked the gun shows, and also conducted classes in gun safety for the local hunters clubs, NRA chapters, and some of the local police departments. They used her to meet the requirements that all people who wanted to get certain types of permits pass a certified gun safety class.

She agreed to keep us informed of the events in her region, taking responsibility for news about Kansas, Nebraska, and both of the Dakotas. We unloaded her shipment into the storage room at the back of her mother's shop, and then headed back down the highway toward I-80. We had a quick lunch at Kearney, then continued on. We stopped for the night on the east side of Des Moines at the junction of I-80 and I-35.

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We ate a quick breakfast on the road the next morning. I had granola bars and homemade jerky. Rick got adventurous and ate the teriyaki chicken MRE. He bitched about the texture a lot, but he didn't die, so I figured he just wanted to complain about the food. He always was picky about his breakfast. Why I remember one time when he simply refused to eat some of the ball python I had killed just so we could have some fresh meat to go with our canned eggs. Some people just didn't appreciate it when you went to the trouble to make a meal more nutritious.

We drove east on I-80 until we crossed the Mississippi River and entered Illinois. We headed north on 84 to the town of Port Byron. We drove until we reached the address that Kristin had given us before we left.

The place was a house on the edge of town, with a lot of land around it. It was a farm that had been almost taken over by the town as it had grown over the years. Kristin had grown up here, and her brother and cousins still lived here and farmed the land and raised livestock. The farm was the one she had grown up on. Her parents still lived there, but her brother took care of most of the work with help from her parents.

After Rick and I introduced ourselves, we were introduced by Kristin's brother Robert, or "Bob" as he preferred to be called, to her parents, Karl and Ida. We were shown to the kitchen and sat around the table drinking coffee and talking while Ida prepared lunch. We talked about the project that we were working on with Kristin, and how things were going in Tennessee.

Karl said, 'How is Kristin doing there, Lee. We talk to her on the phone, and she writes letters, but it always helps to know that she isn't keeping something back. We know that she spends a lot of time with her friends, but we don't know what she's really up to.'

I said, 'Well, we've been traveling for twelve days straight, but she was doing great when we left. She spends a lot of time with my wife, Naomi, and with Danielle.'

Ida said, 'Yes, we know about Danielle. She's a sweet girl. Has she found a man, yet? She really needs to settle down some and spend some time doing more than just working.'

I said, 'Well, Kristin has gotten sort of close to Rick, here, and I think that they're both sweet on each other.'

Rick looked a little uncomforable, but he started blushing when Ida said, 'Oh, no. We know about Rick and Kristin, and we think that he's a really good influence on her. We were talking about Danielle. She never seems to have time for anything but work, even though we knew that Kristin had been spending some time with her when they weren't both busy.'

I said, 'Well, Danielle spends a lot of time with the four of us, but hasn't shown any interest in meeting available men, yet. I agree that it would probably be nice for her to spend some time with a good man, but she is pretty busy lately. They are all going over the methods we are going to use for homesteading, and she is also learning how to shoot and survive in the woods.'

Bob smiled, and said, 'Danielle shooting a gun and living in the woods. Now that would be something to see. Almost as good as seeing Kristin try to shoot.'

Rick said, 'Kristin has already begun learning how to shoot a rifle as well. In fact, she's pretty good for as much practice as she's had.'

Karl and Ida looked shocked. Karl said, 'You mean that you actually got Kristin to pick up a gun and fire it? I can't believe it.'

I said, 'It wasn't a problem. Rick has been coaching Kristin while I train Danielle. We all go shooting together. Is that a problem?'

Bob said, 'No, not a problem. It's just that it is something of a shock. Kristin understood that guns were necessary, but she never would use one after we had to shoot her pet pony when she was twelve. It had taken a fall and broken its leg pretty badly. Kristin felt responsible because she was riding it and hadn't seen the hole it stepped into. It wasn't her fault, but she wouldn't leave while the horse was still alive. She made us let her watch as we shot it before we could take her to the emergency room. She had a broken arm, a few cracked ribs, and a minor concussion from the fall. She healed up fine, but she would never use a gun.'

Ida said, 'If she is willing to learn now, she must have a reason. Do either of you know what it is?'

I said, 'Yes. The reason is the same one that brought us here today. We came to drop off copies of the books we developed during our current project. Bob has agreed to sell them at gun shows for us and to keep us informed of news in the surrounding states.'

Karl said, 'I thought that's what CNN and all them fancy news networks was for.'

I said, 'They don't always report all of the news. If you point this out, they simply say that they can only report so much, but we all know that there are some stories that they won't report, even if they are important to the entire country or the rest of the world. Let's just say that if they don't like certain stories, they don't tend to believe that the rest of us have any need to know about them.'

Ida said, 'So, it's really gotten that bad already?'

Karl said, 'Honey, we both know that it's been that bad for years. Hell, when we lost our oldest boy in Nam, you know that the letters he sent didn't match the news stories about what was going on over there. And that boy wouldn't have lied to us to save his own life. I told you then that this country was headed for hard times. Looks like they just took a while to get here.'

Turning back to Rick, he said, 'How bad are things going to get? Do you know, or are you just making the best guess you can with what you know?'

Rick said, 'We think that things may get pretty bad. We're certain enough that we are doing everything we can to prepare before it is too late. We're hoping that we can avoid the worst of it, but we can only do so much in the time remaining.'

Bob said, 'Kristin must believe that they are right, or at least that if there is a chance that they are right, that things must be going to get pretty bad. I don't see why she would bother learning how to shoot if she didn't think that knowing how would almost certainly be necessary in the future.'

Karl said, 'You're right, son. OK, we'll do what we can to help. I'll read your books, and tell all the guys I know about what you are trying to do. It won't be much, but it will be a step in the right direction.'

Ida interrupted by announcing that lunch was ready, and we all sat down for the meal. After Karl finished saying grace, we all dug in. Conversation during the meal was all focused on Kristin, family matters, and the farm. The food was great, and there was a lot of it, so Rick and I ate enough that Mrs. Rogers had no reason to doubt our sincerity when we told her that it was the best meal we had had since we started our trip. The compliment was gratefully accepted, and Rick volunteered to help her clean up while I talked to the men about the details.

After explaining to Karl what Bob and I had agreed to previously, he agreed that the plan we had was pretty good, and that there would be no problem getting to the gun shows and trying to sell the books. While Rick was still busy, Karl said that he had something to show me. As we left the room, he asked Rick to join us.

We went into the living room, and Karl pulled out a small shoe box from a cupboard. He opened it, removing a stack of letters that were tied together with twine. The letters were old, and I noticed that they bore military postmarks.

Karl said, 'These are the letters that our oldest boy sent back from Nam. He died there almost thirty years ago. He joined the military before Kristin was born, so she doesn't even remember him. All she knows is that he was in the military and got killed. He sent home some pictures, too. That's what clued me in to who you two are. It wasn't just your names, but neither of you has changed that much over the years, especially you, Lee.'

Rick said, 'What are you talking about?'

Karl pulled out a picture. It showed a young man in fatigues, holding a rifle. Around him were others in his unit. I could see that both Rick and I were there, although much younger.

Karl said, 'He knew that both of you didn't even know many of the names of the others in the unit, and he explained to us why it had to be that way. Even though you never learned their names in many cases, he said that you always looked out for the new guys and did your best to keep them all alive. It wasn't until he explained about the casualty rate that I really understood why someone would do something like that.'

Rick said, 'I thought they kept censoring stuff relating to casualty rates.'

Karl said, 'They did. But he kept writing us letters telling us all about the replacements who had come in. It didn't take long to do the math. They came in too fast to be completing their combat tours, and there were only so many men in your unit. It was a wonder that anyone survived in the conditions he described, but he said that both of you had already completed two tours and were on your third, and that you had been in the same unit the entire time. I found that to be almost unbelievable, but I knew that he wouldn't lie to us.'

Rick said, 'I think that his face is familiar, but I'm sorry, sir, I don't even remember your son's name.'

Karl said, 'That's OK, son. Like I said, I understand. It was a long time ago, and you had more important things on your mind than remembering the name of every soldier who served in your unit. I just thought that if you did remember him, you might tell us about how he actually did die.'

I said, 'I remember him. I don't remember his name, but he was around long enough that I do remember the face. He is a lot different looking than his brother, but I remember the picture. He made it through about nine months of his tour before he got killed.'

Karl said, 'Yes, he was there around nine months. You really do remember him?'

I said, 'Yes. We were on a mission into Cambodia, and we ran into a large force of enemy troops moving up the trail. We took cover before they spotted us, and they passed us by. After it was clear, we went through the jungle for about a mile and reached the objective. We radioed in the intelligence, then got out of the area. About five kliks out was a bridge that we were supposed to blow before leaving. We wired it and set the timer for fifteen minutes so we would be away from it before the noise brought every unit in the area.'

'The bridge blew when we were about three kliks out. It was about fifteen minutes later that we ran into the enemy. We were hit hard. We had three dead, and four more were wounded. We ran for three days before we could reach a safe spot for extraction. Your son was pretty badly hit, but was able to keep up with us, so we weren't forced to leave him behind. Once the chopper evaced him, we never saw him again. I'm sorry that he didn't make it.'

Karl said, 'Wasn't nothing that you could do, and wasn't your fault. Hell, we got his last letter here. Said he was hit, and that you two wouldn't leave him behind, even though you had to carry some of his load for him, especially on the second and third days. He never wrote anything after saying that you were supposed to find a safe spot for extraction. At least we know that he made it to the choppers alive. All we knew before was that he was wounded in action and died from his wounds after arriving at the hospital. I do want to thank both of you for doing what you could for my son. He always said that the two of you were good folks, and now that I've met you, I know that you haven't been changed that much over the years.'

Karl led us back into the kitchen and sat down with us to have some more coffee. He was still somewhat overcome by the emotions of the moment, but wanted some time before sharing the news we had given him with the rest of his family. We spent a little more time there, then had to leave so we could finish our trip.

As we were preparing to leave, Karl pulled me aside and said, 'Promise me that you will be the one to tell Kristin what we discussed here today. I don't want Rick to have to do that.'

I said, 'You have my word, sir.'

Turning to Rick, Karl said, 'Son, take care of my little girl. I know that she is sweet on you, and after meeting you, I approve of her choice. No matter what, there will always be a place for either of you here.'

Rick said, 'Thank you, sir. I'll take care of Kristin no matter what.'

Karl smiled, and said, 'I know you will, son. Make sure that you take care of yourself while you're at it. I want grandkids, and I don't want her raising them by herself.'

We shook hands and left to finish the last leg of our journey. Mrs. Rogers insisted that we take a large picnic basket filled with sandwiches, coffee, pickles, pickled eggs, and some homemade jerky. She said that Kristin had told her how much we both liked pickled eggs and jerky, so she knew that we wouldn't let them go to waste.

We got back on I-80 and drove east across Illinois, picking up I-94 near Gary, Indiana and heading north into Michigan. We stopped for the night at Kalamazoo.

After dinner, we phoned the girls and told them about the meeting with Kristin's family, and filled Kristin in on how everybody was doing and how they were looking. I had already discussed my promise to Mr. Rogers with Rick, and he agreed that it would wait until we got back and could tell her in person. He also agreed that I should be the one to tell her, especially since I was the one who had recognized her brother in the picture. Rick remembered the mission, but still didn't remember much about young Karl Rogers Jr.

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After an early breakfast, we continued on I-94 until we reached I-69, taking it north toward Lansing. We went around Lansing, and took U.S. 27 north until we finally reached I-75. We took I-75 north to the upper peninsula, then took 123 over to Trout Lake, Michigan. We arrived at lunchtime, and went to the small diner where we were supposed to meet Gabrielle Marion.

When she approached and introduced herself, both Rick and I must have looked shocked. Gabrielle was tiny. She stood about five feet nothing, and must have weighed all of 85 pounds dripping wet. She had a nice figure, but looked more like a tiny elf than a grown woman. She was also about as talkative as Naomi, especially when she was nervous, so we had no problem figuring out why her nickname was "Gabby".

We ate lunch while we talked, since most of the contents of the picnic basket had disappeard during supper on the road the previous day. Gabby had read all of the material that we had sent, and was enthusiastic about trying to do what she could to make the material as widely available as possible. Most of the folks in town were pretty self reliant, but she was sure that many of them would want to make extra preparations just to make sure that they had plenty of anything that they could not produce for themselves.

And she was certain that the local police were willing to cooperate in preparations to make sure that they didn't get overrun by hordes of people fleeing the cities if things got really rough. She explained that she was a deputy in the sheriff's department, and the sheriff had a thing for her. They had already discussed much of the information contained in the books, and he was interested in learning more so they could make sure that they were prepared for the worst, just in case. In fact, if we didn't mind, he would like to meet us and talk to us in person.

We agreed, and she went to call the sheriff. He arrived about ten minutes later, using his light, but not the siren to warn people that he was speeding to somewhere. As he pulled up, he shut off the lights and came into the restaurant. He was about 6'4" tall, and weighed about 200 pounds. Muscular, but somewhat wiry in build. He introduced himself as Tom Watkins, and said that he had been looking forward to meeting with us since Gabby had told him that we would be in the area.

He began to ask questions about how we had conducted our investigations, what type of variables we had used to reach our conclusions, and what type of weight we had assigned to particular variables in reaching the conclusions we had. After about half an hour, he was satisfied that our group was qualified to do the report, and that we had done the best we could to be rational and realistic in our assessments. In fact, he was somewhat surprised that we had been so conservative in our estimates and in assigning weights to certain variables.

I explained that we wanted to prepare people for the worst without creating a public panic, and had decided to remain fairly conservative in order to reduce the ability of those who disagreed with our findings to claim that we were simply overreacting and trying to create panic and chaos.

Tom said, 'Well, I can tell you that I have heard some rumors from some friends of mine who work for the FBI that there are some groups claiming to be "experts" trying to distribute a manufactured report predicting all kinds of chaos in order to do just what you said.'

Rick said, 'So they've started the propaganda against us already?'

I said, 'Probably not yet, but soon. Right now, he just has a leak from an informed friend. Once they figure out that is too slow, and many law enforcement agencies won't take it seriously, they'll start with the media and the propaganda. But they don't want to draw too much attention or they'll have to do a thorough investigation, and too many facts won't cover up very well. Too much attention means that too many people will find out what is happening and get upset, maybe soon enough to take action against the government before everything happens.'

Tom said, 'What kind of action are you talking about?'

I said, 'Recall campaigns, impeachment proceedings, and a general increase in the distrust of the government by the people. This would mean increased resistance to any measures that the government chooses to use to handle the "emergency situation" and more scrutiny over the actions and even the real motives behind the actions that are called for by government officials. They would like to avoid that.'

Tom said, 'Why would they be worried about the people paying more attention to what they are planning, and to why they are doing certain things?'

I said, 'Because some of the things they consider among themselves, behind closed doors, would not be very popular with the people.'

Tom said, 'Give me an example.'

I said, 'How about the executive orders that give the government agency they have put in charge in case of national emergency certain rights and powers? These include the right to use military force against civilians who are in their own homes and doing nothing against any law now on the books.'

Tom said, 'What are you talking about?'

'They can declare martial law, so that you have to work with them or the military or be arrested and detained in a military stockade. They can order the confiscation of all firearms just because some official decides that it is in the best interest of maintaining order during the crisis. They can confiscate all of the food and water that you have stored for your own use in keeping your family alive. They can force you and your family to relocate to government run facilities, separate you, and put you to work at forced labor, all for your own good and that of the nation, of course.'

Tom said, 'Can you prove any of this?'

I said, 'The presidential directives are all listed in several of the books, and Gabby has the details. Much of the information can be verified independently by searching for it on the internet at the government's own archives.'

Gabby said, 'It's true. I've already looked it up and downloaded it directly from the government archives.'

Tom said, 'So, you're saying that they are planning to do all of this?'

'No, I can't say that for sure. But I can say that the potential for disaster exists, especially since many bureaucrats will be given the opportunity to become kings with the powers that have been given to them with almost no oversight or restrictions built in. I can also say that it seems to be fairly odd that any politician would think that he needed to set up such oppressive powers and authority to be used against the citizens of this country. I mean, you would expect that if there were truly some emergency requiring immediate action, the citizens, or at least most of them, would willingly cooperate with any reasonable request that the government makes.'

Tom said, 'Meaning?'

'Meaning that at least some of those in power realize that they are going to be making some "requests" that many of the people might find unreasonable enough that they would be willing to use force to keep the government from doing what they wanted. Or it could mean that they know that there may be a large portion of the population which would dispute the necessity of any action by the government because they think that the entire "emergency situation" was simply cooked up by some of those in power in order to suspend the Constitution and place them under a military dictatorship in some form of police state.'

Tom said, 'That sounds paranoid. They couldn't just declare some emergency and make it stick. There would have to be real problems in order for the government to operate under emergency conditions.'

'Do you think that the nation has been in serious trouble, passing through dire straits for the entire duration of your lifetime to date, Tom?'

Tom said, 'No, I don't. Why do you ask?'

I said, 'Because Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared a farm emergency in the 1930's because of the effects of the depression and the dust storms on the nation's farming industry. He completely ignored the effects that his own government regulations and subsidies had on the problem, because they were part of the solution as he saw it. That farm emergency has never been lifted. It is not an oversight, because every single president since that time has been required to authorize the continuance of the state of emergency. Our country has been in a constant state of emergency for over 60 years. An emergency that affects our ability to produce enough food to feed the population. Yet in that time, not only have we continued to feed a population that has more than doubled, we have also managed to somehow feed about half of the population of the rest of the world. Doesn't sound like much of an emergency situation to me, but then again, I'm not some big corporation profiting from the increasing regulations which penalize the small farmer and allow the corporate farming conglomerate to prosper and expand their share of the market.'

Tom said, 'You have my attention, and I will guarantee that you have the attention of almost every sheriff that I know. There may be no conspiracy to make this country a police state, but after hearing all of this, I intend to make sure that the government doesn't have the built in ability to make it happen just on the word of a few people. I intend to make sure that the temptation is removed by making sure that it will be difficult as hell for a few people to seize control of this country in the rush to protect us all from some imagined disaster or emergency.'

Rick said, 'Well, we have to be going if we're going to make the rest of our trip and get back on time. Where do you want the books we brought?'

Gabby said, 'You can load them into my van. It's parked right outside.'

Tom said, 'I intend to make sure that I take some copies with me to the meeting of the sheriffs who represent the northern counties. I think that they will be interested in reading what you guys have to say.'

We shook hands, and got back on the road. We backtracked down to Lansing, then took I-69 south until we stopped for the night at Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Dan could not believe the difference in the response to his message. The people who were on his new list were willing to listen to what he had to say, and even asked questions which showed that they were interested in how the research had been conducted. Many of them were interested in how they could reduce their own risk, but none of them were interested in any actions which required them to deal with the federal government directly. After the problems he had encountered during the past few weeks, Dan was beginning to understand their point of view.

Dan began to work out details on how to not only share the information with the people that he was talking to, but also on how to get feedback from them. The feedback would allow the group not only to update their scenarios with more accurate information in various regions, but also to develop more specific suggestions which were tailored to meet the unique situation faced by some of the locations. For example, some form of maintaining clean water was much more critical in Las Vegas than it would be for some of the small towns located on major rivers and lakes. They could always purify the water they had on hand, whereas much of the desert southwest had to import water or pump it from deep underground before they could even begin to treat it to make it safe for human consumption.

Some of the people he contacted him surprised him with their prior knowledge of the situation and the amount of preparation that they had already accomplished. It was then that Dan realized that there really was some hope that the worst could be avoided. Not because the government would keep everything in hand, because they had done their usual and procrastinated to the point that it really was impossible for them to keep the problems from occurring. The reason that there was some hope was that there were still some people in this country who used their brains, who thought for themselves, and who did not rely on the government to take care of them no matter what. That spirit of independence, which was the basis for the start of our country in the first place, was not completely dead.

Dan began to get more active in his search for old contacts who had been "too radical" or "not politically correct" in their thinking and in their dealings with the government bureaucracy. He had a hunch that they would be much more capable than anyone he was able to convince that was still working at the pace of the federal government.

Thinking of all of the problems created and perpetuated by the bureaucracy, and how few of them had any real reason for their very existence, Dan was amazed that the country still existed. In fact, he was beginning to realize that the bureaucracy was the cancer that would eventually destroy this country if it continued its corruption of the very process of good government. The basic methods of running Congress had been corrupted to such a degree that many unnecessary and even ridiculous laws were passed simply because they were attached to some bill that addressed an issue that most agreed was either vital because it was necessary for the public good, or it was vital because there was enough public support and bribes from political action committees that it needed to be passed, regardless of the consequences. The idea of spin control had become so pervasive in politics that Dan doubted that there were more than a handful of politicians who would even know what the truth was if they were set before God and confronted with it.

As he thought that, Dan wondered whether or not it was too late to save this country from the path it seemed destined to go down even if the problems with technology did not cause a major disruption in its headlong plunge at the end of the year. Then Dan wondered whether the crash of technology would act as a braking factor, or simply cause the country to slide down that slippery slope into oblivion that much sooner.

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Rick and Lee left Indianapolis early. They were getting anxious to end their journey and return home, and the last legs of the trip were close to where they had begun. They took I-65 south from Indy and then picked up the Western Kentucky Parkway by Elizabethtown, Kentucky. They headed west until they reached U.S. 68, and headed into Aurora, Kentucky. Aurora was located on the western edge of Kentucky Lake, about midway in the Land Between the Lakes.

They met Sandy Lake and went to lunch. The waitress who took their orders called Sandy "Smurfette", giving them their first exposure to her nickname. Sandy smiled and explained that she had always had a thing for blueberries, and often had her entire face stained blue when she had gone picking them as a child. We laughed at the picture of her with her face stained blue, then got on with the business at hand.

Sandy was ready to help with the distribution, so everything went smoothly. She agreed to monitor the bulletin boards and to keep us posted on news, especially for Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. We finished lunch, gave her the shipment of books, and got back on the road.

We followed U.S. 68 east until we picked up I-65 just a few miles east of Bowling Green. We got off of I-65 and onto the Blue Grass Parkway at Elizabethtown, heading east. When we finally reached I-64, we continued on it until we reached Charleston, West Virginia. We had a late dinner, then called the girls to tell them that we had one more delivery to make before we would head home.

After getting a good night's sleep, we were on the road at 6:30, getting breakfast at a drive thru in one of the fast food restaurants. We were both anxious to get this last leg of the trip completed and return home. We took I-79 north, and then got onto U.S. 250 just south of Fairmont. We followed the highway all the way into the town of Hundred, West Virginia. We got to the location where we had agreed to meet at about 10:30 in the morning.

Zebediah Murphy, who was nicknamed "Digger" for his childhood obsession, and his adult occupation of digging, had begun his career as a coal miner. He got out of the mines and managed to get a good education before returning to the area he had grown up in. Now, he was trying to do what he could to help others be as safe as they could in the mines or get out of them if they could. He had seen too many of his own relatives, as well as those of his friends, who had suffered from black lung, and the modern protective devices, while very good, did not provide enough protection to make black lung disease disappear completely.

After discussing his concerns, he agreed to complete the basis of our information gathering and distribution network. We unloaded the last of the boxes of books, and then headed for home. We returned to Charleston, then headed south on I-64 until we reached Beckley. We went south on U.S. 19, taking it into Virginia until we reached the junction with I-81, and headed toward Knoxville. We reached Knoxville about 7:00 in the evening and then headed toward home. By 10:00 that night, we were home.

Naomi and the girls were enthusiastic in their response to our arrival, grabbing us, hugging us, and kissing us to show that we had indeed been missed. We went inside, ate and talked for a while, relaxed now that we were all back together again, and then went to bed. We had planned to take the next few days off to recover and spend some time with the ladies, so we all planned to sleep in the next morning.

Naomi and I had missed each other. We tried to make sure that we had to spend as few nights apart as possible, so the last two weeks had been hard. We cuddled, snuggled, kissed, touched, and made love until we both fell asleep in each others arms. Sometime during the night, Naomi became pregnant with our first child, but we would not become aware of this fact for some time to come.

Kristin was torn between spending the night with Rick and staying with Danielle. She knew that her friend would feel like a fifth wheel if she went to Rick, and that Rick was really tired after his trip. In the end, she stayed with Danielle, surmising that if Rick really wanted to be with her, he would have to wait until after the wedding.

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I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Naomi was still sleeping. I watched her sleep for a few minutes, since I always had thought that she was at her most beautiful when she was totally relaxed and asleep. Then I got up, heeding nature's call.

As I was returning from the bathroom, I noticed that someone else was up, so I went to investigate. I found Danielle and Kristin in the kitchen, drinking coffee and talking quietly. I went in to join them, and decided that I should keep the promise that I had made to Kristin's father. I told Danielle that I needed to speak to Kristin alone, but asked her to remain here in case Kristin needed her afterwards. Then I asked Kristin to join me outside for a minute.

Kristin said, 'Rick asked you to talk to me and tell me that we're friends, but nothing more, right?'

I said, 'No. As far as I know, Rick is totally in love with you. He has a pretty good case of the hots for your tender young body, too.'

I smiled, and Kristin laughed a little at my joke. Then she said, 'My father didn't like Rick. He thinks that Rick is too old for me, and he wanted you to convince me that things would never work out between us, right?'

I said, 'No. Your father thinks Rick would make a great son, and gives you his complete blessing. But he did ask me to talk to you.'

Kristin said, 'About what?'

I said, 'About your brother.'

Kristin said, 'Something is wrong with Bob?'

I said, 'No, he's fine. Now, will you let me finish before we end up spending the whole day out here talking about this?'

Kristin said, 'OK. Just get it over with, will you?'

I said, 'Your father made me promise to tell you about your brother Karl, who was killed in Vietnam before you were born.'

Kristin said, 'What about Karl?'

I said, 'Neither Rick nor I knew it until your father showed us a picture, but Karl was in the same outfit that we were. He served with us for almost nine months. We were on the mission in which he got wounded. We helped him keep moving for three days through the jungle, staying ahead of the enemy, and got him to the LZ so he could be medevaced back to the hospital. We didn't know him that well. By then, we had quit trying to learn the names of the other guys. We knew their nicknames, and we fought and bled with them, but we didn't get to know them.'

Kristin said, 'Tell me all of it, Lee. I want to know how he died. I don't even remember him except as a passing reference from Mom, Dad, and Bob. Bob remembers him while he was alive, but all I have is the stories.'

We sat on the bench in the back yard, and I told her all that I could remember of the missions that we had been on during that part of that year, but especially the last mission. I told her about almost being discovered by the large enemy force, hiding as they passed, and waiting for the signal to continue. Of watching and gathering the intelligence at the objective, and sending the information back to base. Of mining the bridge and then running like hell through the jungle, trying to remain quiet and hidden while still getting as far away as we could before the explosion.

I told her about running into the ambush, and the losses we suffered as well as those we inflicted. Of pulling back and finally losing the enemy, but of being on the run for the next three days while we tried to stay one step ahead of Charlie. Of the wounds that the men had, and how they remained quiet and did their best to keep up as we ran for our lives. There were nine of us left, and we had three wounded so badly that they could barely keep up with us. When we were moving, the one slightly wounded guy took care of one of the others, and two of us took the other two and made sure they kept up with us and didn't fall behind or get lost on the jungle trails. That left three of us to provide security for the detail. One of us would range on either side of the trail, one took point, and the last one took drag to make sure nobody came up behind us on the trail without us knowing about it.

I told her of setting up booby traps each night when we made camp so that we would have some warning if someone came upon us, and so that we would be able to kill more of the enemy before they got close enough to kill us. And I told her about how the wounded never gave up hope of getting back and getting out of this hellhole. They weren't dead yet, and they had a life to go back to.

When I finished, Kristin said, 'So Karl was wounded in Cambodia, and you guys had to walk out another sixty miles so you could be picked up in Vietnam? He made it to the chopper on his own, but died in the hospital?'

I said, 'Yes, as far as I know from what your father told me. We put him on the medical chopper, and it took off. We weren't told that it was shot down, so we assumed that it made it fine. We weren't told how any of the wounded were doing, so we figured they either made it and got reassigned, they were so badly wounded that they were shipped home, or they died. None of them looked bad enough that they couldn't have survived, so we just assumed that they all made it. Your father told me that they shipped Karl's body back for burial, and that it was Karl, so I can only assume that something happened and he died at the hospital.'

Kristin said, 'That's a hell of a way to run a war. Making wounded men hike back simply because you sent them where they weren't supposed to be and you don't want to send choppers there to pick them up so nobody will find out. How many men died because they didn't want anybody to know that the politicians and those in charge were cheating and fighting their own dirty little war in places that they weren't supposed to be fighting officially? Was my brother one of them?'

I said, 'I'm sorry, but I don't know how many died because of that. I can tell you that it was too many, and that in my opinion, your brother was one of them. If I could bring him back for you, I would have, but we did all that we could.'

Kristin said, 'I know, Lee. Thank you for trying.' Then she broke into tears and clung to my shoulder, her small body racked with spasms as her sobbing and grief overcame her. I sat there and let her cry in my arms for a long time. When she finally stopped crying and regained her composure, Kristin looked up at me and smiled. She leaned forward, kissed my cheek, and said, 'Thanks, Lee, for being there. For me and for my brother. I'm glad to have you as a friend.'

I said, 'No problem, kid. One thing you learn is that you can never have too many friends, especially if you only count the real ones. Are you sure that you're OK now?'

Kristin said, 'Yeah. It was something that I had to get out of my system. I don't think it was grief for my brother that overcame me, because I had time to get used to that and grieve when I was younger and found out about it. It was more like knowing allowed me to close the book, to not have to worry about what happened because now I know and there are no more unanswered questions about how and why it happened. I can deal with the fact that he didn't get to the hospital in time. But wondering if he had even been helped after he was wounded, what he went through before he died, stuff like that.'

I said, 'Yeah, stuff like that. It's always the unknown that gives you the worst nightmares because you supply all of your own worst fears.'

We walked back into the house. Danielle's concern was evident on her face, and Kristin said, 'It's OK, Dani. Lee just told me how my older brother died in Vietnam almost thirty years ago. The family never knew what had happened because it was all supposedly classified.'

Danielle said, 'Then Lee and Rick knew your brother? Why didn't they tell you before? We've both known Rick for several years.'

I said, 'We knew him, but not well. After a while, you don't bother to learn the names of the new guys because it hurts less when they die if you don't really know them. We knew her brother, but neither of us remembered him by his name, and his last name isn't that uncommon. We found out because her father showed us a picture and told us about the letters that his son had written home during the war. I remembered his face.'

Danielle said, 'How is it that you remember his face so well if you can't even remember his name?'

I said, 'You remember all the faces of the guys you've held in your arms while you patch them up as best you can. Especially when you help carry them through the jungle for three days while your hands are covered with blood. Their blood. Even when you don't dream any more, you sometimes remember the faces, and you wonder if there was anything else you could have done to save them, or to keep them from getting shot up, or to have eased their suffering while they were still alive. We had morphine, but we couldn't give it to him because then he couldn't have walked. If he couldn't walk, we would have had to have left him behind. He chose to walk, so I stayed with him. If I had taken point, maybe I could have gotten us out of there sooner, but I didn't take point.'

Danielle said softly, 'Why didn't you take point, Lee?'

Rick said, 'Because he was ordered to stay with the other wounded. He got shot in the shoulder and in the leg covering the retreat. Both rounds went clean through without hitting bone, but he was in no shape to walk point.'

Kristin said, 'Then why wasn't he sent back to the hospital with my brother?'

Rick said, 'Because he made the medics patch him up and return him to active duty.'

Danielle said, 'But they can't do that.'

Rick said, 'They can, and they did. More than once. Shit, you don't think that we made it through three years in that hellhole and only got shot up the last time, do you? If we were fit enough to be ambulatory, they let us return to our unit. It was easier than trying to keep us down in the hospital. Hell, he was up and doing full duty on patrols in less than two weeks. The doctors would have had him down for two months, and he knew that he would recover a lot faster than that.'

Kristin said, 'Why would anyone be crazy enough to stay when they could have gone back for a break until they recovered completely?'

I said, 'I saw too many guys who lost their edge after being out of the combat zone for a while to recover from wounds. After they came back, they were less efficient, and they were more likely to get themselves and somebody else killed. But unless you were a short timer, you knew that you would have to come back to the combat zone after you recovered. If you could, you just stayed there and did what you could while you healed up and got back to full function. It improved your life expectancy.'

The girls were at a loss to understand what Lee was saying, but the questions were cut short as Naomi came in and announced that if everyone wasn't at the breakfast table in two minutes, she would throw the whole meal out to the hogs for slops. Of course, the hogs went hungry, but we didn't.

Chapter 6

We all spent the next few days resting. I noticed that Danielle was somewhat withdrawn, so on the second day after our return, I took her out shooting while the others were doing something else. She didn't speak much on the hike out to The Quarry, so I left her alone for most of the trip.

When we got there, she went through the motions, but I could tell that her heart wasn't in it today. She didn't seem to care whether she hit the target or not. After about ten minutes of her poor performance, I decided to push and see what happened.

I said, 'You know, Dani, if you keep shooting like that, you might as well save the ammo and give it to whoever you are shooting at. They might be able to use it to hit something.'

Danielle said, 'My name is Danielle, not "Dani". I'm a woman, not one of your buddies. If you can't see that, then you can handle the damn gun yourself! You're the expert with a rifle, anyway, aren't you?' She left her rifle lying on the ground, jumped up, and started to run back toward the cabin.

I jumped up, took two or three long strides, and managed to grab her by one arm and turn her around. As I pulled her toward me, she began to struggle, using her fists and feet to try to hit me. I noticed that she had been practicing, because she had improved a lot since her lessons in close quarters fighting had begun. I grabbed her in a bear hug, figuring that my height advantage would at least keep her from head butting me in the face. After a minute, she quit struggling and began to cry as I held her in my arms.

After a few minutes, her sobs had turned into sniffles, so I risked letting her go to put one hand under her chin and lift her face so I could look at her. Her eyes were red, her nose was running, and she had tear tracks down her cheeks where crying had washed away some of the grime that had covered her face.

I said, 'I'm sorry, I didn't know that calling you "Dani" instead of Danielle upset you. I only meant it as a pet name, just like the others call you that to let you know that they care. If there is anything else that is bothering you, and you want to talk about it, I'll do my best to do right by you. I thought that you considered me a friend, but if I pushed things too far, just let me know and I'll respect your boundaries.'

Danielle said, 'No, please. I really don't mind it when you call me "Dani". In fact, I kind of like it. It's just that I feel like the odd duck sometimes. You and Naomi have each other, and Kristin and Rick have each other, and I'm just hanging around like the guest at a party who doesn't know when to leave.'

I said, 'You shouldn't ever feel like that. You are our friend, and we all care about you. You are not an unwanted guest, and if we didn't want you hanging around, do you think that Naomi would have gone to all the trouble of designing our home so that it has enough room for all of you to live with us permanently? She treats you like you were her twin sister. The two of you hang around and do so much together that you can almost finish each others' sentences.'

'I'm not jealous of the fact that Naomi has found such a good friend, if that's what you think. I give thanks to the Lord for that fact every day. I have never met anyone that I would consider a better friend to Naomi than you. If you're feeling left out because everyone else is paired up, find a boyfriend and invite him to join us. We'll welcome him with open arms. Of course, if he hurts you, Rick and I will have to pound the stuffings out of him.'

Danielle smiled, and said, 'You two gorillas would do that, wouldn't you?'

I smiled innocently, and said, 'Of course. What better excuse to stomp the stuffings out of somebody than over the honor of a beautiful young lady who is unable to defend herself from such a despicable, barbaric ruffian.'

Danielle giggled, and said, 'I think I'd have trouble telling the barbaric ruffians apart.'

I said, 'My lady, I am shocked and deeply hurt that you would speak so of someone who would risk life and limb to champion your honor, with no thought of recompense for his services.'

Danielle said, 'Well, I'll have to think about begging for your forgiveness, but I'm not sure yet whether you are worth the effort.'

I said, 'Well, then, I will consider that a heartfelt apology and consider my ruffled feathers to have been smoothed once again.'

After she had stopped laughing at our silly little repartee, I looked at Danielle and lifted her chin so that she was looking right at me. I said, 'Seriously, Danielle, what is wrong? I know that something is bothering you.'

She smiled a little sheepishly, and said, 'I really would prefer it if you would call me "Dani". Somehow, it seems right when you guys call me that, because I know you are doing it as a sign of affection instead of just some macho thing to belittle me as a person.'

I said, 'OK, Dani, quit trying to change the subject and answer the question.'

She said, 'I guess it's the scenarios. We keep running them, but the numbers never seem to change much. It all seems so hopeless when you realize that there really isn't much you can do to make a difference.'

I said, 'You have to stop looking at the big picture and look at the trees.'

She said, 'What are you talking about?'

I said, 'You're looking at the forest and trying to see if you can count the trees. It doesn't work that way. If you want to count the trees, you have to focus on the trees and ignore the forest.'

Danielle said, 'You are totally crazy. You are not making any sense at all.'

I turned her around, and marched her over until she was standing six inches from a large tree. I said, 'You can see this tree, but you can't see any of the other trees in the forest, right?'

She said, 'Yes.'

I said, 'So, if you save this tree, can you tell what happens to the rest of the forest?'

Danielle said, 'No. I can't see them. I'm too close to the tree.'

I said, 'That's right. You can't see the forest for the tree. Now, if I was to take you a mile away, and show you the whole forest, would you be able to tell what happened to this one tree?'

Danielle said, 'No, the other trees would block my view.'

'So you wouldn't be able to see the tree for the forest, right?'

Danielle said, 'Yes. What's your point?'

I said, 'Simple. You can try to save the entire forest, which is impossible, because some trees are going to die no matter what. That's what you are looking at with the statistics. Some people will die, no matter what. If one thing doesn't kill them, then there are more to be killed statistically when something else happens.'

She said, 'OK, I understand that there is a point where you just can't save more people no matter what you do. So what is the point in trying?'

I said, 'Simple. If you can't improve the number of people who are going to survive, what is the next thing that you should concentrate on doing?'

Danielle said, 'I don't know. What?'

I said, 'Try to improve the number of people who survive that you WANT to survive. Try to save as many people as you can that you really CARE about having survive.'

Danielle said, 'So you're training me to kill people so that I can keep the people that I really care about alive? That is the most ridiculous thing that I've ever heard. If you can explain that one, I'll never give less than my best effort on any training that you have me do, no matter how ridiculous it seems at the time.'

I said, 'Deal. Do you care about Naomi and Kristin?'

Danielle said, 'Of course I do.'

I said, 'I know that you are a caring person, and that you don't like to see anyone shot or killed, even if they are bad or evil in their ways because you believe that there is still a chance that they can change, right?'

Danielle said, 'Yes. I think almost all violence and killing is senseless. Violence is not an answer to the problems we face.'

I said, 'You are wrong. Violence is always an answer to any problem. It may not be the right answer, and it usually isn't the best answer, but it is always an answer. If we have a dispute over property, and there is no one else to settle it, what happens if I just kill you and take the property?'

Danielle said, 'OK, I see your point. Violence always provides some sort of answer to a problem. I'll admit that part of your argument.'

'So, if there were some nasty people who wanted to rape Naomi and Kristin, and you could only save them by killing the bad guys, what would you do?'

Danielle said, 'I don't know. I'd have to think about it.'

I said, 'Dani, you don't have time to think. Your friends are being stripped naked by a bunch of creeps, and you can hear them screaming for help. You see that their pleas for mercy only make the assholes laugh and turn them on more. Are you going to watch them get gang raped or are you going to kill some punks and make the world a better place?'

Danielle said, 'I'd save Naomi and Kristin.'

I said, 'Congratulations. You just decided to see the trees instead of the forest.'

Danielle said, 'But it isn't always that simple, Lee.'

I said, 'Yes, honey, it is. If you don't kill the weeds, they will take over your garden and kill the ones you love. You may not see it at the time, but it will happen. The punk you let go today may rape your sister and your neice next year. If you had killed him, maybe some other punk would have taken his place. Then again, maybe if everyone did their part, there wouldn't be any punks to take his place, would there?'

Danielle said, 'OK, I see your point, but the law is there to do that job, isn't it?'

I said, 'It's supposed to be, but it's been subverted in many cases to protect the punks more than to serve the people who created the laws for their protection. And we are talking about learning how to survive in case there is no more government or law to come around, haul them in, slap them on the wrist, and tell them that they were bad boys for doing those nasty things to those poor, defenseless women. In order to survive, any society must put its own survival above the "rights" of those who refuse to obey the basic laws governing the society that they live in. If you choose to ignore all of the rights of everyone else in the society, and even those of the society itself to preserve some semblance of order, why should you be given all of the rights which you have chosen to deny to all of the other members of that society?'

Danielle said, 'But you can't just kill them all.'

I said, 'They can conform, they can leave, they can be punished so that they learn that it is better to modify their behavior and conform to the minimum social norms, or they can die. Those are the only choices that work if you want to retain some form of social order.'

Danielle said, 'You know, retaining some semblance of social order isn't everything, Lee. There are worse things than disorder in a society.'

I said, 'Yes, there are. Despotism and tyranny are forms of social order, but I wouldn't want to live under them. But by definition, you can't expect the majority of the population to follow the rules and still excuse those who choose to disobey the most basic rules of the society and commit crimes with impunity. This places them as a special class above the others, and is another form of tyranny where the law abiding are held in thrall by the lawless, who are protected by the laws which enslave those who are unwilling to break them.'

Danielle said, 'I see your point. But things aren't like that.'

I said, 'That is exactly how things are. Those who are career criminals are often given less punishment for murder than those who obey the laws are for breaking a state or local law that says that they can't carry a gun for self defense, even when they point out that the Constitution, the supreme law of this country, which supersedes all state and local laws which contradict it, specifically states that the people have the right to keep and bear arms. It says nothing to indicate that this right is only valid under certain conditions, or that they must carry them in plain sight so that any criminal is warned that they are armed.'

Danielle said, 'OK, I see your point. What is the bottom line?'

I said, 'How can you break a law when the law itself is illegal? If it is not valid, then it can't be enforced, so you can't break it. But if it is enforced, then the society is compounding one crime by forcing the citizens to submit to another crime. One day, perhaps soon, something will happen which will force the people to wake up and take action to restore sanity and control to their society and their government.'

Danielle said, 'And if that doesn't happen?'

I said, 'Then the assholes who refuse to take action deserve to live in the hell that they have created by refusing to take responsibility for their own lives and by refusing to take action.'

Danielle said, 'But what if the government is too strong? The people have a right to fear for their own lives and safety, don't they?'

'Yes, they do. But they already do that, and the only thing that the government does to "solve" the problem is to place more regulations and restrictions on the law abiding citizens and give more rights to the criminals. If the government won't do its job, the people of this country have the right to replace it.'

Danielle said, 'And if the government resists the will of the people?'

'If it is truly the will of the people, they have the right to replace the government by any means they choose, including force. And before you ask, no government in history that has infringed upon the rights of its citizens has stood for long in the face of armed opposition. The better armed the people were when the rebellion began, the sooner the government was replaced. Those in power in this country know this, as much as they know that the majority of those in this country oppose the plans they have for this country in their entirety. The majority do not want to be ordered to obey all the dictates of the government, to be told how to live their life from the time they are born to the time that they die. That is why the government has been trying to disarm the population for the last sixty years.'

Danielle said, 'Why would they do it so gradually?'

'They aren't totally insane. Until they reach a certain point in disarming and conditioning the people, they have no chance of surviving a rebellion. They saw what happened to Hitler when he tried to do too much too quickly.'

She said, 'You aren't saying that the government is a bunch of Nazis, are you?'

'In some ways, yes. Their tactics, their rhetoric, and their goals are exactly the same as Hitler's, even if they refuse to admit it. Hitler wanted to register all of the guns, but of course the lists would never be used to confiscate the weapons. Hitler wanted to remove all of certain types of guns from the citizens for their own protection, but of course they would still be armed and allowed to defend themselves. Hitler wanted to defend the society, but of course that meant that the people must make some sacrifices and give up some of their freedoms so that others could be controlled for the good of the whole.'

'All of these things are being touted in this country in one form or another by the Liberals. Of course, it's always in the interests of the people, or they wouldn't be doing this. They will tell you that they only act in your best interests. Those who disagree with them are simply misinformed or misguided, but they can be helped if you only allow the liberals to do what is in everybody's best interest. After all, they know what is in everybody's best interest, even if nobody else does.'

She said, 'But that's just an extreme view that you made up as an example, right?'

I said, 'The citizens of Nazi Germany, in 1938, had more rights to keep guns, to defend themselves and their property, and more ability to walk the streets safe from crime at night than the people of New York City and many other large cities in America do today. This, in spite of our Constitutional guarantees, is the state of the nation that claims to be the shining light of freedom for the entire world.'

Danielle said, 'Lee, will you give me another shooting lesson? I think that I want to make sure that I have the skills to do the best I can to preserve the trees that I care about.'

I put my arm around her shoulder and walked her back over to where her rifle was lying on the ground. I said, 'Dani, I will teach you as much as I can about how to survive, and about how to do the best you can to make sure that those you care about also survive.'

She said, 'Thanks. I've got the feeling that I'm going to need all the friends and all the survival skills I can get before everything is over.'

She laid down, put on her hearing protection, and began to sight in the target. She didn't hear my reply over the crack of the round she fired. I said, 'I hope you never have to find out, honey. I really do pray that you never have to use the skills that I am teaching you, but I'll do my best to make sure that you have them in case you ever do need them.'

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After we returned from The Quarry that day, Danielle and Naomi had a long talk. I don't know what they talked about, and I'm not sure that I ever want to ask. The result of the discussion was that I was informed, in front of the rest of the gang, that the decision had been made that Danielle was going to move in with us on a permanent basis. I had no objections, since she practically lived here anyway, everybody got along, and she had not made provisions to set up her own homestead during the initial construction phase. I had assumed that she intended to live on the compound since that was where the medical facility was, but if she was more comfortable living at our place, I had no problem with the idea.

The next announcement was that since Rick and I had missed our scheduled physicals while we were on our road trip, Danielle would take us to the infirmary the next day and go over us from top to bottom. We each resigned ourself to being subjected to the torture of explaining every little scar on our body, just like every other time some doctor got one of us in their examining room. OK, it wasn't torture, but it could become a real pain at times.

The one thing I have to say for Danielle is that she is very thorough in her work. We were each stripped, examined, X-rayed, poked, prodded, and questioned about every vaccine or injection that we had ever received. In our defense, some of the shots we received while we were in the military were never explained to us, and I'm sure that some of them never showed up on the official records. We filled in our medical history as accurately as we could, and then told Danielle where we had been forced to fudge on dates or reason for the injury.

She didn't yell at us, but she wasn't happy that we couldn't provide a complete medical history. I told her that she was welcome to try to get access to our military medical records, but some of them had never shown up in the official files before, and I didn' t think that her luck would be any better than anybody else's. She agreed, and decided not to even bother trying.

I felt kind of self-conscious about standing buck naked in front of Danielle as she examined and catalogued every scar on my body, but I figured that I didn' t have anything she hadn't seen before, either as a professional or as a woman. I couldn't tell her how many scars I had, or how many stitches I had had over the years, so she was forced to count them herself. It took her half an hour to finish.

Rick teased my later saying that she must have the hots for me because she finished his exam in under twenty minutes. I told him it was just that he was so ugly that she couldn't bear to look at him any longer, while I was a superb specimen of the male of the species. His sarcastic reply was to question which species I was referring to. Before I could put him in his place, Danielle returned, so we cut our exchange of wit and wisdom short so we could get dressed and go home. We were still off today, and had plans to go play in the woods.

Danielle said, 'Well, as much as both of you act like loons most of the time, I can't find anything physically wrong with you.'

Rick smiled, winked at me, and said, 'See, we told you we were perfect specimens.'

Danielle smirked, and replied, 'However, I am not a trained psychiatrist, so the true state of your mental health is still very much up for grabs.'

Rick said, 'What did she say?'

I said, 'That you are crazy as a june bug.'

Rick said, 'Am not. I had a june bug as a pet, and it was much crazier than I ever was.'

I said, 'I stand corrected. You had a crazy june bug, but you are only as crazy as a normal june bug.'

Rick said, 'Maybe you're right. But I watched many other june bugs, and they all seemed to act just like my little "Tater", so I'm sure that you must be mistaken.'

Danielle said, 'OK, you two clowns, get out of here before you drive me nuts.'

I said, 'I like nuts. What kind of nut do you think she'd like to become, Rick?'

Rick said, 'I don't know. I'll bet she'd make a cute nut. Don't you think?'

We began walking toward the door as I said, 'I don't know. We could stick around and see. That's always the logical thing to do when conducting some sort of scientific experiment.'

Rick opened the door, and said, 'I'm not sure that she would appreciate that. The change might be sort of embarassing or something. I've never seen anybody turn into a nut before. It might require privacy, in case some issue of modesty came up.'

I quickly stepped through the door and shut it behind us. There was a loud thud as a solid object bounced off of the door, followed by a loud clatter as it fell to the floor. I heard Danielle's nurse ask, 'How in the world do you ever put up with those two jokers?'

In a loud voice, I said, 'Yes, there is that to consider. The girls might become jealous that we spent our time watching her become a nut instead of taking them on the picnic we have planned today.'

We both laughed as we heard Danielle swearing, 'Damn! I forgot about the picnic. And Naomi told me to bring the sandwiches. It would serve those two right if I let them go hungry, but then they'd probably go into the woods and kill some poor, defenseless creature and eat it raw. I'd better find something to keep them fed.'

We waited by the door, and each of us grabbed an arm and lifted as Danielle flung the door open and came flying out into the hall at a dead run. I said, 'Don't worry, Dani, the gorillas have handled the food situation. We picked up a bunch of sandwiches before we came to the exam. They're in the truck in a cooler.'

We carried Danielle out to the truck while she kicked her legs, her feet about six inches off the floor, and called us all sorts of names that must have been very unflattering to the animals she compared us to. I must say that Danielle did not present a very dignified appearance, but we did make it to the picnic on time.

She even forgave us, sort of, when we gave her a small chocolate fudge cake with sour cream filling as a gesture of peace. She didn't say that she forgave us, but she did eat the cake. That is the same thing, right?

After the picnic, we knew that our break was over and we would be back to work as usual, so we all enjoyed it as much as we could. We knew that there would be a mountain of paperwork to catch up on when we got to the offices the next morning. There's nothing like the prospect of a ton of hard work to bring out the little boy in a guy, especially when he thinks he can get away with clowning around and has a buddy to egg him on. The girls endured our antics, so we couldn't have been too bad.

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Even with our break, we had a few days to prepare for the next scheduled meeting. We went over the notes that were waiting for us, then began the process of sorting through the material and analyzing it. The reports from the people we had met on our trip were positive. In fact, some of them had placed orders for additional shipments of some of the books already, indicating that their initial demands were so great that many people had placed orders and agreed to show up at the next scheduled event in order to pick up their merchandise. Several of the books showed much greater demand than the others, but we had expected that. In fact, we expected to find some regional differences over the long run.

Steve had things running smoothly in the printing department, but I did let him know about the extra orders from the distributors that we had already set up. He said that he had expected that response, and already had enough extra prints ready to ship to make sure that nobody ran out for very long. He had already set up a shipment schedule with FedEx to handle the load on a regular basis. Since he had everything under control, I let him get on with things without interfering with his management style.

Since there was nothing else to do at the moment, we decided to see how the preparations for the spring planting were coming along. Planting was scheduled to start in a little more than a week, so we knew that some of the plowing and discing had been started to work some of the manure we were using for fertilized into the soil. Also, we knew that many of the plants had already been started inside the greenhouses so they would be ready for transplanting when the weather was acceptable.

After going over the community plots, we visited some of the other homesteads to see how the construction and interior work had progressed during the last month. Many of the homesteads were taking shape as the individual steadholders continued to make improvements during their spare time and plan out the rest of the construction. Many of the people were busy working when we came by, but they stopped to chat for a few minutes. Work seemed to be progressing at a nice rate, and many of them already had started putting out the hardier plants in their kitchen gardens, willing to risk a late frost at the end of such a mild winter.

After we got home, Rick and I decided to turn the sod for the kitchen garden by hand. We got a pair of shovels, and began to turn sod. At the end of the afternoon, we had turned over a considerable amount of the area that had been designated for use as the kitchen garden in Naomi's plans. Her plans called for a plot that was 30 feet deep and 150 feet long. We had managed to turn over half of the plot while using the shovels to break up the sod and then double dig the sections as we went.

In a few days, we would repeat the process on the entire garden after spreading a layer of manure on top to be mixed in as fertilizer. Then we would thoroughly mix the soil with hoes and rakes and begin planting some of the seedlings that would take the cool nights. Naomi already had them outside for part of the day, hardening them to the weather. In a few weeks, we would be ready to plant some of the more fragile plants and the seeds for the rest of the first crop from the garden. Naomi already had planned the rotation of crops out with Danielle and Kristin so that as soon as one crop was harvested, another would be planted in its place. She had also worked out the schedule for rotating sections of the garden so that one fourth of the garden would only be used to grow a cover crop that would be turned into the soil to replenish it and help keep it fertile.

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The next meeting that was scheduled was on April 5th. Everyone was there. John had returned early from his trip to several different conventions, taking a break before flying out to the next few conventions in an attempt to spread the word to his fellow engineers.

Dan began the meeting by telling everyone about his difficulties in getting any of his initial contacts to pay any attention to the report or to do anything about it. Many of the others present expressed similar responses to those that they had contacted. I looked around the room and saw a lot of concerned faces. Most of those on the project, even though they had been told otherwise, had still believed that if they simply contacted the people who ran the country and showed them the report, with evidence to show that the report was valid, that everyone would show surprise and concern and then rush to do as much as they could to solve the problem and save the country.

Dan said, 'I have managed to get some positive responses, however. I began to contact people I have known over the years who were the real mavericks, the ones who didn't play ball every time the government wanted them to do something. Although many of them are not in positions that would allow them to do much, they are receptive, and are willing to examine the report and see what they can do if they agree with the findings. It isn't much, but it is a start.'

I said, 'Dan, what have you heard from the government, now that they have had several weeks to examine the report?'

Dan said, 'So far, I have been asked by three senators and eight representatives to kill the report and stop making waves. They agree that there is a problem, but insist that the government has plans in progress to deal with the situation without creating some sort of public panic and hysteria.'

Rick said, 'What details did they give you about how they planned to handle everything after ignoring the warnings from experts for years?'

Dan said, 'When I asked, they said that the plans were not approved for final implementation yet, so they didn't want to get too specific in case some changes were made. They could not or would not cite any specifics, not even on what specific problems had already been included in the plan. They would not even tell me if power, water, or other utilities had been taken care of. They smiled, said the information was classified, and said that they would like us to stop creating such a panic in the interest of national security.'

Rick looked at me, and whispered, 'I think it's time to start the guys working on cutting back the trees on the edge of the compound. It may take a long time for some of that wood to cure properly so it will make a nice fire.'

I said, 'Yeah. The place could use a firebreak, too. I heard it might be a hot, dry summer, and we don't want to contribute to any forest fires. You might want to set some guys to hauling in all the dead wood and cutting back some of the brush in the woods that are left outside the compound, too.'

Rick said, 'Good idea. That will give us all some exercise in our spare time. At least it would if any of us had any spare time.'

We turned our attention back to the discussion, which had degenerated into an argument about what, if any, parts of our report could possibly impinge on the area of national security.

Dan halted the debate. He said, 'Our report does NOT impinge on national security. Our experts have examined it completely, and all of the information used is well within the public domain. Their claims are simply a scare tactic to get us to cooperate and shut up so they can do whatever they want to deal with the problem. Judging from press reports so far, they want to do nothing while attempting to give the impression that they are working to solve the problem. They are either hoping that nothing happens, or that if something does, they will be better off than the rest of the population and will come out ahead in the long run.'

John stood up, and said, 'They won't. I have already been to one convention and one regional meeting, and there are already problems. Some of us told them almost thirty years ago that the systems wouldn't work next year, but they told us not to worry about it because they would have new systems in place by then. The systems were never designed to last that long, but they have been upgraded and maintained. The upgrades have kept them running, but they have never addressed the problems that we knew existed in the system software. In fact, some of the upgrades have only made the problem worse by increasing the number of embedded chips that are not compliant and increasing the number of systems and subsystems that are directly controlled by computers instead of being periodically monitored by a human with testing equipment.'

Dan said, 'Are things at the utilities really that bad, John? Are we going to be able to do anything to improve the situation even if we convince the plant managers to do what they can in the time remaining?'

John said, 'Things are that bad. There have been several independent tests that went fairly well, but others have been disasters. A sewage treatment plant running a test found out that their systems would have dumped raw sewage into the rivers instead of processing the waste first. Several power plants have had explosions this year. The explosions have been reported, but played down by the media. At least two of the explosions occurred during testing for Y2K compliance, and at least one of them was directly due to the technological problems we are talking about. One of the generators was run in reverse due to a power surge and it blew up. At least two people died in the explosion and fire that followed, and there was a fair amount of damage to the plant itself.'

Dan said, 'We knew there would be some problems with the equipment being damaged. How will this affect the situation? What kind of problems are we talking about having to deal with to keep power plants operational?'

John said, 'It depends on how many generators blow. They are expensive to fix, and take time to replace. Usually, you just start up a different generator and run it while you repair the other one. But that assumes that there is extra energy available to handle any peak demands that you can't cover yourself. The grid in this country is strained to handle the loads now. If a lot of generators fail, there will be power outages and brownouts all over the country. If there is a lot of damage in the explosion, the power will take longer to restore, and people will have to live in the dark for a while if there is no way to bring in power from outside the area. But all of these problems are secondary.'

Dan said, 'Then what's the problem that makes all this seem like the good news?'

John said, 'If the problems are caused by the systems software, and there is no way to fix the systems software to make it safe to run, starting up the other generators will only do more damage. It may happen immediately, or it may take some time, but sooner or later they will run into the same problem again, and they will explode as well. The engineers who work there know this, and those that don't will figure it out real quick. Who are you going to get to run the plants? I sure won't. I'm not going to stand next to a potential bomb and start it up, risking my life, just so some rich asshole who doesn't care about my safety doesn't have to go without electricity for a few days.'

Dan said, 'Are there any ways to bypass the computer controls and run the systems manually?'

John said, 'Yes. They used to run these systems long before there were any computers. But the switches are now controlled by computers. It would take time to replace them with manual switches and circuit breakers, but it could be done. You can fix the computer relay switches so that they can be shut off manually, but it is dangerous unless you keep someone monitoring the system, and it does void the manufacturer's warranty.'

Dan said, 'What about our own power supply system? Will we have problems?'

John said, 'No. We are using generators for power, but I have already started working over the system to make sure that there is not going to be a problem with running it manually. We'll need to hire or train a few people to beef up the crew we have to keep it running smoothly for extended periods, but we can handle the operations ourselves for a while without too much strain. Besides, our demand for energy will decrease after the beginning of the year.'

Dan said, 'Why is that?'

I said, 'Because I told him to conserve energy by moving certain things around in order to maximize energy efficiency. Private offices will still have a light on the desk for work, and will use the sunlight, but the overheads will be disconnected. Most of the computers will be moved into common areas with better common lighting, allowing us to eliminate the need for several different lights in private offices, and to shut off computers that are not running or in use. The same goes for machines like the copiers, the coffee makers, vending machines, and the rest of the office equipment.'

Dan said, 'You expect the computers to run? I thought you said that the computers would fail?'

'Not all computers will fail, Dan. The problem is with the software, not the computers. We will go over all of the computers and check them to make sure their chips will function properly. Then we will test all of the software to make sure that it runs properly. But if everything goes down everywhere else, we won't be worried with fancy accounting programs and things that are likely to fail. The computers will be used mostly for word processing. We'll need to keep track of the information that we are receiving about what is happening, where, and when, and we will need to keep track of our supplies and what we are doing as far as production and maintenance. Those types of programs don't need to use dates for calculations, and they will generally run fine even if you don't bother to try to fix them.'

Steve said, 'He's right. It's the calculations and date based events that are going to screw up the output. It's not that the PCs will just stop working at all, because most of them will work if they have power to run. It's just that when you screw up what the computer sees as data to start with, it screws up the answers that you get in the output.'

Rick said, 'Garbage in, garbage out.'

Steve said, 'Exactly.'

Dan said, 'So, this means that in the areas with power, the PCs will run. But many of the businesses who have not been warned about what to expect, will be getting screwed up results on all of their calculations?'

Steve said, 'No, not on all of them. That's the problem.'

Dan said, 'Why is it more of a problem if only some of the calculations are wrong?'

Steve said, 'If everything you got out was wrong, you wouldn't bother using the computer because you knew that it wasn't worth the hassle. But if only 5% of the output is wrong, you either might miss it or you wouldn't care because you figured that the loss of the remaining 95% of your business would be more costly that dealing with the 5% that was messed up. It's fine when you are talking statistics, but it doesn't work that way when you have to deal with real life and real, live people.'

Dan said, 'What do you mean?'

Steve said, 'The accountant at Visa knows that there are always some billing errors, but they are accepted. He doesn't worry about a few errors, because most of them are accidental or due to human error at some point in the process. But if he doesn't know that the program has a bug, and he sends out the bills, he could put the company out of business in a hurry.'

Kristin said, 'Are you talking about what I think you are, Steve?'

Steve said, 'Yes, I believe we discussed this last month. If the program does all of the billing wrong, you see it very quickly and stop the mailing. But if it doesn't, and you don't catch it, the mailing goes out anyway.'

Dan said, 'OK, so there is an error rate. What's the big deal?'

Steve said, 'Since we're getting into the accounting end of this discussion, would you mind filling him in Kristin? I get all the basics, but some of the details can get tricky at times.'

Kristin said, 'There are over 20 million Visa customers in this country, and almost all of the banks use the same programs to compute their billing. At an error rate of 5%, that means that one million people will get the wrong bills. Even if you have no balance, if there is a yearly fee, you could be billed for more than your entire house and all your other assets are worth.'

Dan said, 'That's ridiculous. How could something like that happen?'

Kristin said, 'If you have a yearly fee of $29, and the computer reads your last billing as 1900, that means that there are 100 years between billing cycles. Since they don't work in negative numbers, you could be billed for $2900 for all of the unpaid yearly fees.'

Dan said, 'That's not astronomical, and it's easy to show how they got that amount by mistake.'

Kristin said, 'It would be, but that's not your bill. Your bill is for $29 per year, with interest compounded for 100 years and another $29 added to the principal each year. Plus any penalties they may add for late payments are added to the principal at specific times and then the interest on them is compounded as well.'

Dan said, 'Surely it wouldn't be that much, would it?'

Kristin took out her calculator, worked for a few seconds, and said, 'If you take $29 at 2% interest and leave it for 100 years, compounded annually, you would have $210.09 in your account. Even without any extra additions to the principal, at a 19% interest rate, which is not unheard of for a credit card, your $29 would end up being over one billion dollars at the end of 100 years. Unfortunately, with credit card companies, we are talking how much you owe them instead of how much they owe you. The results would be catastrophic to the industry.'

Dan said, 'Why? They could just sit down, go over the records, and work out the problem, right?'

I said, 'If you knew that your bank was billing customers and then making them go through the hassle of proving everything that they said, even though the billing was obviously an error, what would you do? You'd find another bank. But if they were all the same, you'd get your money out, thinking that if they couldn't even keep what other people owed them straight, then they would also be unable to keep what they owed you straight. And you would be correct. People would sue for harassment, and banks would go out of business because nobody trusted them to keep their money safe. It would take trillions of man hours to sort out the errors, and the errors would only compound over time as more errors were made. Nothing would get done for years until all of the mess was sorted out. How long would you be willing to wait for your money when you really needed it today?'

Dan said, 'But the money is insured.'

I said, 'Only a certain amount of it. Only if you have a record proving the amount you have in the bank that is insured, unless you want to accept whatever their records say you have left in your account. Only if you believe that there is enough money in the insurance fund to cover the amount in all of the affected banks in the country.'

Dan said, 'What do you mean?'

Kristin said, 'Even allowing for uninsured deposits, the fund only has enough to cover the total accounts in about one bank in two hundred in the country. If 5% of the banks failed, the fund would be bankrupt. If all of the banks in the country failed, or just most of them, it would take years to sort out the records and figure out who was owed what even if all of our technology was working perfectly. Under the situation we are talking about, it would take years to decades for you to receive anything at all for the money you lost. When you did, you would be lucky if you received $1 for every $200 that was originally in your account.'

I said, 'Of course, if you are elderly, the money would go to your estate, to be divided among your heirs. After the government takes their 40% out for death taxes. If you had $200,000 in your account, you would finally receive $1,000 when the fund paid out. If you were dead by then, your heirs would receive about $600 after the taxes were taken out on the money. So much for the insurance you were counting on. And if you think that the government is going to allow itemized tax returns for the common people to claim their losses as a tax credit, don't hold your breath. The government needs taxes to run.'

Dan said, 'But if nobody has any money, how can they get taxes?'

I said, 'The money didn't just magically disappear. It's still in the bank, under the control of the bankers. And the IRS has a reputation for seizing property and holding tax sales to raise funds against the debt. They also have a reputation for allowing $200,000 properties to be sold for less than $20,000 and then holding you liable for the remaining debt.'

Dan said, 'But if the banks have all the money, who will attend the auctions?'

Rick smiled, and said, 'Banks buy property all the time. It's only good business. Everybody has to live somewhere, and they make money by lending money or credit for mortgage loans, don't they?'

Dan said, 'That's a sick view of reality.'

Rick said, 'That IS reality. If you don't like it, do what you can to change it.'

Chapter 7

The next meeting was on April 12th. The previous week had been hectic, as we had expanded the number of sites that carried the report on the web, and had been converting the report to various formats for them to be posted in. The report had even been mirrored or links leading to it had been established in England and in many European countries. It was popular among those who hated America and wanted to read about the coming bad times and gloat about the fall of mighty America. It was also popular among those who realized that if the American economy went down the tubes, their own would go right along with it. And it America was going to have problems with their technology, their own technology would surely follow suit.

Even the governments, or at least those who had the sense to pull the strings from the shadows, in many third world countries were concerned. Their technology wasn't as sensitive, and they could function without their computers. But they depended upon America for money, medicines, and food. Although they despised America for the aid that they were forced to accept in order to live the way they did, they realized that without the constant supply from American sources, things would become very bad indeed. With no America to trade with, and nobody else with money to buy their exports, their own economies would crumble like a house of cards.

Japan knew that if the American economy collapsed, they were doomed. Their own economy was already in trouble, and they had more interest in American stocks and property than any other foreign country, so they stood to lose more in outstanding debts if the American economy failed than anyone else outside of America. By now, they were also finding out that their own systems were going to fail, and that failure would probably be enough to collapse the American economy and create another great stock market crash.

Dan went over the progress that had been made during the past week, and covered the details on how many copies of the books were being sold and how much activity was occurring on the web sites. Some of the books were doing much better than others. He was happy about this until someone pointed out that the versions that were doing the best were the ones that were obvious fiction, and that most of those who were reading them were just looking for a good book to read. He did recover his mood somewhat when someone else pointed out that the fiction had been placed there to get people interested in the subject and in the possible problems because many people would refuse to read anything nonfiction on the topic in the first place.

The meeting was going fairly quickly, and was winding down when Danielle dropped the bombshell. She said, 'There is one item of news that we received that has me somewhat concerned. It doesn't make sense, especially since it received no media attention.'

Dan said, 'What is the problem?'

Danielle said, 'There is a report that the military held a martial law exercise last week.'

Steve said, 'They hold disaster drills and exercises all the time. What's the problem?'

Danielle said, 'This was not a disaster drill. This was a martial law exercise. They planned it out, marched into the place, relieved the civil authorities, and announced to everyone present that they were conducting a martial law exercise, and that the entire place was now under martial law for the duration of the exercise.'

Dan said, 'That could be a nuisance, but why are you so upset by the exercise?'

Danielle said, 'Because they held the exercise in Florida. In a grade school full of kids. Armed troops marched in, relieved the teachers, took control of the classes, and proceeded to teach the kids about martial law, obedience to the military commands during an emergency in which they are under martial law, the necessity of obeying all the laws even if they don't understand them, and similar topics.'

The room became rather noisy as those present saw the implications of what they had just been told. There were several rather heated arguments and a few people who were just outraged at the idea in general. I decided not to mention a few choice tidbits that were floating through my own mind at the moment.

Such as the fact that the children had effectively been held hostage by armed gunmen in their own school, in direct violation of every new law that the president had pushed through regarding guns in or on school grounds or the school gun-free zones. After all, we were talking about our military, not the mere civilians who make up the population of this country and fill the ranks of the military, right? And we were talking about a military exercise, right? So what if it did involve the use of civilian minors without the consent or knowledge of their parents?

There was also the fact that the children were being brainwashed by being subjected to classes being conducted by people who had no credentials to teach, and were covering subjects and classes whose content and curriculum had not been reviewed or approved by the state board of education. Of course, those rules were only put there for the good of the children, to make sure that they received a proper and well balanced education. The state doesn't want too many children to be taught by their own parents. Who knows what they might be learning? Never mind the fact that with all of the state's vast experience and expertise, they are only capable of teaching 60% of the high school GRADUATES to read and write. For those of you who are interested, this figure is much lower than the literacy rate in colonial times, when the majority of the children were taught at home by their own parents, or by whoever they had been apprenticed to in order to learn a trade, and only went to school when they went to college.

I also didn't want to dwell on the hostage issue, since the exercise had been planned by the military. The only reason to place an armed person in each classroom, other than to appear to be maintaining a semblance or normalcy to keep the children calm, was to keep the children under military control. It is a lot easier to handle distraught or uncooperative parents when they know that you have their children, and that they will be returned unharmed when certain conditions are met. The Nazis used this tactic a lot during World War II.

If the intention was to protect the children, they would have been taken to one or a few secure locations, and the teachers would have been ordered to watch the children while the troops guarded them. The exercise had been designed to see how much resistance and opposition could be expected, how easy it would be to brainwash the children, and how easy it would be to get the children to follow orders from uniformed soldiers. None of these objectives were acceptable, let alone desirable, from a Constitutional point of view.

Not that this was a major story or anything. I mean, the ACLU and several other organizations should have been all over the news filing lawsuits, and the government should have been the target of several class action suits for violation of rights, but that can't compare to what the media considers news. It doesn't have the appeal of something like the story of a six year old beauty pageant winner who was murdered in her own home without anybody hearing or knowing anything about it. The story of one child's murder is obviously so important, compared to the safety of the entire nation, that it must take precedence and be a main focus of news stories for the next few years.

And the trial of a black athlete, charged with murdering his white ex-wife and her Jewish boyfriend was obviously so important that nobody could live their life without knowing all of the details of the trial on a daily basis. The media provided the people with several very important things during this trial, but unfortunately, most of them were lost in the mass hype of the media's sales pitch. If the medial had known that they were going to be educating the people to certain things, or if the focus of the public had shifted to those specific details, I am sure that the entire trial would have become old news before the next show, and would have been quickly buried.

The media hype generated by the case and the lengthy trial only served to heighten racial tensions in this country. In fact, even those who support the liberals were openly making excuses in advance for the riots they were certain would occur when they thought that there was a chance that the verdict would be "guilty". Nobody ever considered the possibility that the white community would rise up and burn down their neighborhoods if the jury had found him innocent. Just the basic assumption here is a form of socially instituted racism.

Another thing that the trial provided was living proof that the courts are not concerned with the guilt or innocence of the accused. Public opinion and the ability of the jury to comprehend the evidence were constantly being questioned. Nobody cared that a black lawyer questioned the ability of a predominantly black jury to understand the technical nature of the evidence and render a competent decision based on the facts presented in evidence. Another blind eye turned to blatant racism due to its context.

But the most important thing to come out of the trial was missed by almost everyone in this country. They saw, on live TV, how a judge can manage the evidence in a case in such a way as to prevent the jury from hearing certain things, with the result that they are judging the guilt or innocence of the defendant without knowing all of the available facts. I know that this is a bold thought, but the conclusion is backed up by the fact that at least half of the jury, after hearing about the evidence they were not allowed to hear in court, stated that they would have convicted the defendant if they had known these facts. The facts in question were not suppressed from the jury for lack of evidence that they were relevant, but because they were judged to be too technical for the jury to comprehend and understand.

Most of the commotion had died down again, and the meeting had resumed. Most of the discussion concerned the need to watch for more evidence of media collusion with the government to keep certain types of stories from becoming public knowledge. There were some pretty pissed taxpayers and potential voters in the room at that moment, and I had no doubt that an accurate portrayal of the news that the media withheld from the public could produce similar results at millions of other meetings across the country. But I wasn't worried about long term goals like changing the world. I wasn't a politician. I was more interested in things like getting enough people to prepare to make sure that the country survived in a more or less intact state. What they did to fix the country after the immediate crisis was over would be their problem.

I heard Rick humming softly beside me, and smiled as I recognized the tune. The words to the tune he was humming were, "The times, they are a changing.", and I thought that he just might be right. Now all we had to do was figure out just what direction those changes were headed.

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A few days later, we got our first official visit from the first of many agencies to take an official interest in our activities. Two guys in suits and dark glasses showed up and demanded to be let onto the complex. The guard at the gate called in, and after seeing their ID again, held them there until an escort arrived to take them to their meeting. The agents were incensed, but could do nothing because the facility was still technically a secure site, with contracts for the government which were classified, and there was a need to keep visitors without security clearances out of restricted areas.

The guard reminded them that unless they were here on official business, they had no business being on the property in the first place. And unless they had a search warrant, they had no authorization to enter the property without probable cause. At their smile, he reminded them that the work done here was important enough that trying to "manufacture" probable cause or fake the affadavit necessary to get a search warrant would be enough to get both of them fired and sent to prison because even their agency's director didn't have enough clout to stand up to that kind of crap.

Needless to say, the two weren't really happy campers when their security escort brought them into Dan's office. He greeted them, offered them coffee and a seat, and asked what he could do for them. In passing, he mentioned that, for security purposes, all conversations were recorded.

The younger agent almost blew a gasket. He said, 'This conversation is top secret. You can't record it. I order you to turn off your recording device.'

Dan said, 'Well, if you'll just show me your security clearance, and your written authorization to bypass the normal security for this facility, I'm sure we can turn off the recorders. Otherwise, we must assume that what you just said was not totally correct.'

Rick showed up at the office door and entered without knocking. The agents looked up at his entrance, and the older one said, 'This conversation is private. Please leave.'

Rick said, 'I'm afraid I can't. You see, I'm in charge of security here, and the guidelines state that if there are any top secret or classified discussions, they must affect the security of the facility, so I must be present. Dan pressed the button for such a conference, so here I am. Now, if the two of you would be so kind as to identify yourselves, state the nature and purpose of your visit, and get to the point, we would appreciate it because we are very busy.'

The younger agent started to object but his partner shut him up. He said, 'We were sent to request that you refrain from spreading sensitive data which is contained in your report to the public.'

Dan said, 'Which report are you referring to?'

'The one you have been sending to every member of Congress.'

Rick said, 'That report contains no classified or sensitive data. Your fears are unfounded. We have verified that all sources of information were available to the public and posed no security risk whatsoever.'

The younger agent said, 'Yes, they do. We are telling you that they do pose a security risk.'

The older agent said, 'We would be very appreciative if you did choose to cooperate voluntarily. I'd hate to think how much hassle it would be if we had to conduct renewed security screenings on all of your personnel. Those background checks can be so invasive, and they can take so long to complete.'

Dan said, 'Thank you, I'll be glad to give your regrets to your superiors when they ask me what fool came here and threatened my facility. They will come to me when someone comes to them and asks why two dozen highly classified projects, many of which are critical to certain other agencies and departments of the government, will not be completed. Because I will shelve all of our projects as soon as one unscheduled security screen is conducted without sufficient evidence, presented to me in person, to convince me that we have a security concern which warrants such drastic action. Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?'

The agents both stood and said, 'Yes, sir. Perfectly. Thank you for your time, sir. Sorry to have bothered you, sir.'

Rick let them out of the office, and the security escort took them back to the main gate and their car.

Dan started to speak, but Rick silenced him. Taking a small device from his pocket, he swept the room with it, paying considerable attention to the area in which the two agents had been sitting. After about a minute, he stopped and picked up something. After a few more minutes he finally stopped.

Dan said, 'Very melodramatic. Now I suppose you'll tell me that such practices are required every time we have a visit like this?'

Rick smiled, and said, 'Not required, but I would recommend it highly.' He held up his hand. Lying in the palm was a tiny wire with a small diode on it. It was a bug.

Dan said, 'Is that what I think it is?'

Rick said, 'Yep. But it won't do them any good. The range is only about 100 yards or so.'

Dan said, 'Why did they bother planting it, then?'

Rick said, 'Psychological warfare. You spend your time looking for bugs that aren't there, or you start doubting your own employees because only one of them could be receiving the signal and sending the information out. You waste your time looking for spooks that aren't there and ignore the activities they don't want you to notice.'

Dan said, 'Then why bother planting it when they wouldn't even be sure that we would find it?'

Rick said, 'They were sure that someone would have found it. It's like a stick pin, and they placed it where someone would be sure to sit on it and get stuck.'

Dan said, 'So that's the whole reason they came here today?'

'No, it's not. If they had been alone, and fairly certain that they weren't really being recorded, they would have tried to bully you into cooperating by threatening you or the company. It usually works, but they forgot that this company is a special case. It will take them months to verify the security procedures and classifications of each project without doing an open check, and even then they won't be sure that they have uncovered all of the work that we are doing here for the government.'

Dan said, 'Why do you think they won't run an open check of the facility when they could complete that in two weeks or less?'

'Because, none of them wants to admit, especially in documentation that is freely available to the press and the public, that they believe that we are working on a project that is a danger to the security of the nation.'

Dan said, 'Why not? That would shut us down faster than anything.'

Rick smiled. 'Not before the press had to ask what we were working on. The general purpose of each of our projects, even if not the specific details, would have to be made public. And that would give a lot of attention to the one project that they don't want us to make public. The court rulings wouldn't take long, since our lawyers would be able to get injunctions because the government can't provide any evidence to support its claims. Either way, they make more noise in a week than we could in the time we have left.'

Dan said, 'So what should we do if they, or others come back?'

Rick said, 'Just keep playing hard ball. Maybe one of them will screw up and give us all the media attention that we can use. It would sure save us a lot of work.

Evidently the analysts for the feds reached the same conclusions. They would try other tactics, but that was Dan's last visit from the suits with veiled threats.

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The next few weeks were busy. We were planting, putting in fencing to let the animals graze on the pastures, and training the girls. We were teaching them woodscraft now, and they were getting good at moving through the woods without being easy to see or hear. Rick and I also took the time to hone up our old, rusty skills.

The rest of the complex was just as busy as we were. The dairy was going in full production by the end of April, so we now had fresh milk in the cafeteria on a daily basis. Rick didn't care much for the milk, but he didn't complain about the influx of cheese and ice cream in his diet.

Some of the guys on the compound began to join us when we worked out. At first it was just a few of the security officers who had been in the military, but after a few weeks, all of the security team and about half of the rest of the men were working out with us and taking runs through the woods surrounding the property. Some of the women were joining us, while others were working out on their own with Naomi and the rest of the peanut gallery.

We were getting together as a group and getting fit, and the employees were some of the happiest, healthiest, and most content of any company in the country. Many of the employees were meeting in small groups on their own to work out, get together for other projects, or just to relax together. We were becoming a small community, and we were working together both at work and at home for a common goal.

The locals, those who lived near the complex but had nothing to do with the work there, had always given the place a wide berth, and we now owned most of the land surrounding it, especially on the side and back that were almost inaccessable from the road. Although many of the people near us liked to hike and hunt, they used public lands or their own land, and didn't trespass on land that was posted by their neighbors. If you weren't bothering them, they certainly didn't want to start any trouble by bothering you, and they considered ignoring a no trespassing sign a clear intention to start trouble.

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By the end of April, several of the people who had agreed to distribute the books for us were branching out and hiring people to go to various gun shows for them. They would sell the books, talk about them with anyone who was interested, and bring back information about what people thought, what people claimed they saw, or just about how things were for the people they had talked to.

Several of them had been hassled at the shows, but they had stood their ground. Most of the harassment occurred while loading or unloading their vehicle, since starting problems in front of a crowd at a gun show isn't the brightest thing in the world to do if you don't want a lot of attention. Besides, although the public perception of the type of people who attend gun shows is wrong, there is a small minority who are willing to do whatever they can get away with, especially if it involves catching some federal agent in the commission of illegal activities. Unjustly harassing a law abiding citizen, with no plausible excuse for just cause or reasonable doubt, is a good way to get beat up or shot up. The feds who engage in these tactics may be arrogant, but few are that stupid. The ones who are, either learn fast or get reassigned if they survive.

Unfortunately, sometimes the tactics work. Several of the people who were going to the gun shows quit. They would do other things, but they weren't going to get pushed around by some two-bit fed who hid behind his badge and a bunch of lies when he was confronted by the local authorities.

Several of the groups we had initially contacted had branched out, and some of them had ten or more other groups that they maintained regular communication with. The network was expanding, and information was flowing. All of our information was tagged with the original source so we could keep track of who was reliable and who was just sending any information that they heard without doing anything to verify it.

Of our original eleven stops, all were consistently highly reliable or very reliable. Sometimes something got through, but it was usually indicated that it was from another source and couldn't be confirmed at this time. Several of them were as stringent in their selections as we had been, and their secondary and tertiary sources were highly reliable. Sometimes you didn't get much, but you knew that what you had was accurate. There were a few other groups who just talked to anybody who was willing to contact them. Some of those groups proved to be unreliable, especially on certain topics. A few of them had been cut from our initial lists for that very reason.

We decided to keep in contact with those groups that were unreliable. Even though we couldn't use all of the information that they sent us, we didn't know how many people they were able to contact who could use the information that we sent them.

Steve told me that he had divided the groups into two sections. Those that were reliable were being contacted on a regular basis on both the internet and the shortwave. They were being kept up to date on as much of the information that we were receiving as we could sort and verify. They were also told about the stuff we got that was questionable, since they knew how to differentiate between the two.

The other groups, those that were less reliable, were contacted over the internet, with some provisions made to contact them on the shortwave if the net went down. They were only given the news stories that we had been able to confirm. We had already divided our contacts into those that were reliable and those that were not. I knew that once real troubles started, those that were reliable thinkers would not always be reliable when it came to action. But I also knew that many of those that were in the unreliable category, while they would take action, could also not be trusted to restrain themselves in their activities any better than they could with their rhetoric.

There was nothing like knowing that you were dealing with a loose cannon to keep you on your toes. Especially when you already felt like you were transporting nitroglycerine through a minefield.

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Rick and I were working out, getting ready to go for a run. It was a nice day in the end of April, perfect running weather. John approached us as we were getting ready to leave, asking if we would like some company. Rick and I run to keep in shape, so we can do a five mile run with no problem, even with full kit, but John is not a runner. Don't get me wrong. He can run, and he could probably keep up with the two of us with a little conditioning, but he absolutely abhors running because of the pounding that his knees take when he does it regularly.

I said, 'Sure, John, you're always welcome to join us.' I started us off at a slow pace, knowing that John had something on his mind and probably wanted to talk to us.

After we were in the woods and running down the trail, John said, 'I wanted to talk to you guys because I'm not quite sure whether what I have to say is going to be good news or bad news, and I wanted to find out your comments before I told everyone at the next meeting.'

Rick said, 'No problem. Always glad to help if we can. What's up?'

John said, 'I have met with some of the guys I know, and they are receptive to the idea of doing something to make sure that we limit damage at the utilities and power plants. The problem is, even though they run the plants, they work for the city, the county, or the utility companies. They can only do so much without getting into trouble and losing their jobs. They will do all they can to make sure that they have everything set up to do what they can to achieve an emergency shutdown or take their plants off the grid before we get a cascade failure, but they can't guarantee anything.'

I said, 'We understand. We never expected anything more than that. What is the problem?'

John said, 'Well, it seems that they are worried about the things we covered about what the people are going to do. Even if they wanted to, there aren't enough workers at any of the plants to keep someone from causing damage, and they are really worried about the prospect of someone coming in and doing sabotage to the equipment or contaminating the water supply. Things like that. They keep asking me what they should do to keep something like that from happening, and I'm not sure how I should answer some of the questions.'

I said, 'They should use normal security measures. If the systems go down, and they can't fix the control systems, there is no reason for them to leave their families unprotected just to fix the mechanical problems. Even if they fixed any damage that might occur, it wouldn't be safe for them to run the stuff if they still had to use the computers with faulty software and embedded chips. We aren't asking them to be heroes. Just do what they can, and then get somewhere safe if there is nothing else they can do.'

John said, 'Thanks. That's what I thought you'd say, but it feels better knowing that even though I didn't want to have to say it, it was the right choice.'

Rick said, 'Well, unless you want to finish a five mile run, this is your exit coming up on the right, man. Of course, if you still want to run and talk, we'd be glad to have you.'

John smiled, and said, 'No thanks. The exercise isn't bad for me, but it certainly doesn't do my knees any good. See you guys later.'

John took the trail back to the compound while Rick and I continued our run.

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After noticing a few too many incidents involving trespassers, we decided that it was time to do something about the problem. Rick sent the security teams around the perimeter to make sure that all of the fences were intact. After confirmation that all of the fences were intact, and all of the warnings and no trespassing signs were posted, we went into the woods.

It took a few days before we made our first contact. There was one man, in full camouflage, with several thousand dollars worth of surveillance equipment, cameras, boom mikes, and telephoto lenses in a well concealed blind that overlooked the compound. We found the trail that he had been using, and set a snare. Then we hid in the woods and waited.

A few hours later, the guy came sneaking down the trail and stepped into the snare. As soon as he tripped it, a sapling snapped upright and he was jerked off his feet and left dangling upside down with his head about three feet off the ground. He struggled and moved around a lot, but didn't make a lot of sound. When he figured out that he wasn't going to get loose by himself any time soon, he began to call for help. It was about 7 in the evening, and we figured that spending a night like that might have some effect on his morale.

Rick moved off quietly through the woods for about a quarter mile and made sure that the security teams would bypass this particular area on their sweeps tonight, but would show up at 7 in the morning just like clockwork. They said they would handle that exactly as instructed, so he came back to near where I was and we watched to see if any of his buddies would show themselves.

It was a long night, but not particularly cold. Rick decided to get playful and got up several times during the night to stomp through the woods making sounds like a black bear foraging for food. It had the desired effect. Our pigeon stayed awake and scared stiff the entire night. By morning he was totally disoriented and exhausted.

The security patrol showed up exactly on time. The guy started screaming for help when he saw them. They came up to him, but didn't touch him. Instead, they put in a call on the radio for the security booth to send the sheriff to their location. The guy tried to get them to let him down with every excuse he could think of, but they held him there until the sheriff arrived.

When the sheriff got there, he was not alone. A phone call had tipped them off to the fact that there was a big story, and they had arrived at the gate three minutes before the sheriff. Our pigeon was petrified. He might have lied, bluffed, or even ordered his way out of the sheriff's custody, but he knew his goose was cooked when his superiors found out about all of the negative publicity.

Before cutting him down, the sheriff handcuffed the man and placed him under arrest. Then he began to frisk him and remove all weapons and ID. There was a 9 mm pistol on the ground that had come loose when he was jerked off of his feet and a .38 snub nose revolver in a holster on his ankle under the rope. There was also a wallet with several different IDs in it. The sheriff read all of them off out loud as he examined them, allowing the news crews to tape everything.

One of the IDs said that the man was an FBI agent, and another said that he was with the BATF. Since there was no way the man worked for both agencies, the sheriff told him that he would be charged on two counts of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer, and that the charges would be dropped only if the agencies involved claimed him. Also, since he was on posted property, he would be charged with trespassing. Some of the equipment he had was restricted to law enforcement use, so he would be charged with that crime until he was cleared or convicted in court.

In short, the sheriff charged him with so many violations of the law that he would have to provide a full account of exactly how he had gotten where he was, what he was doing there, and who he worked for just to get down to charges that would only put him in jail for a few months and fines for destruction of property.

A pair of guys claiming to be feds showed up at the sheriff's office to see about trying to force the sheriff to let their buddy go, and ended up in jail in the next cell. Seems the sheriff still had one or two news crews around, and they made the mistake of threatening him on tape. They didn't know that it was a felony to threaten a police officer during the official discharge of his duties in that county. Their mistake.

The three of them may have been federal agents, either following orders or acting on their own. Since they had no search warrant, no probable cause, and no agency official would claim them and back up their claims to be federal agents, the judge ordered them held over for trial, and set bail at one million dollars each. A fancy lawyer showed up with a cashier's check for $300,000 to get them out the very next day.

As he was releasing them, the sheriff said, 'You know, boys, you are some pretty lucky guys. My uncle was a vet, and he always used to tell me about traps like that. He lost some buddies when they didn't see them before they stepped into them. Seems that those who set the traps also used to put up a wall of sharpened stakes so the guy would swing into it. Said it was quick, quiet, and quite effective. Made a pretty big mess for the guy's buddies to clean up, too.'

The lawyer said, 'Are you threatening my clients?'

The sheriff said, 'Nope. Just telling them a story that my uncle told me a long time ago. Figured that it wouldn't hurt none to be sociable. Now you boys be sure to make your court date for trial. I wouldn't want to see your faces on America's Most Wanted, now, would I?'

The three of them left with their lawyer. We all knew that this was only the beginning. From now on, they would be more careful, and they would send better agents to spy on us.

The sheriff came out to the homestead and let us know that they were out of jail. He said, 'Tell me something, boys, man to man. Is this over, or is it only getting started?'

I said, 'I'm not sure, sheriff. We didn't want to get you involved in this, but it was the only way to find out for sure who they were. You got fingerprints as well as good pictures from about every angle there was with all of the video you have on them. If we had to, we could probably get voice matches on all three of them as well.'

The sheriff said, 'Don't worry about getting me into anything. Even if they were feds, they had no legal right to be here, and I don't let anybody get away with illegal activities in my county, even if they are cops. Besides, the three of them were almost as slimy as the fancy lawyer that brought their bail. I figure that they won't ever show up for trial, but their bail will be forfeited and the county will be ahead about $300,000 for its trouble. Not to mention all the weapons and fancy equipment that I confiscated from the three of them.'

Rick said, 'They didn't get their toys back?'

The sheriff said, 'Are you crazy? That's evidence. I still have their badges and IDs as well. Why do you ask?'

I said, 'You might want to put all of that stuff someplace safe, along with copies of the videos that the news crews took. I wouldn't put it past them to break into your office and steal the evidence. They might even get desperate enough to torch your place to destroy the evidence. In fact, if you want, I can even give you the name of another sheriff that you could trust to keep copies of all of your paperwork on them, just in case.'

After thinking about it for a few seconds, he said, 'I think that might not be a bad idea.'

I gave him the name and address, along with a way to contact the person directly, and the sheriff wrote everything down.

He said, 'How bad do you think this thing is going to get before they stop trying to mess with you here?'

I said, 'I hope the worst is over, but I wouldn't count on it, sheriff.'

He paused for a minute, then said, 'Well, if things get much worse, I intend to deputize you two so that anything you do in self defense on your own land will be completely legal, no matter who is on the other end of the stick. I don't intend to stand by and watch the law be used to beat down the citizens and make them do something just because the government says so.'

Rick said, 'You take care, sheriff.'

The sheriff said, 'You keep me informed. I want to know if there is any more trouble before the news crews show up. Next time, let me come out before they get here. That boy was in terrible shape. I would have liked to have watched him sweat it out during the night.'

Rick smiled, and said, 'Why sheriff, whatever do you mean?'

The sheriff smiled back, and said, 'If you don't know, I certainly won't incriminate myself by telling you. You boys keep safe, and watch your six.'

I said, 'We will, sheriff. Thanks for the help, and for the warning. We will keep in touch. You watch yourself, too. Some people don't like to fight fair, and some people have fought dirty for so long that they wouldn't be able to fight fair if their life depended on it. Of course, my drill instructor always said that the winner always fought fair because he was around to tell everyone else what the rules had been.'

The sheriff said, 'He sounds like a smart man. I'd like to meet him some day. By the way, why don't you two call me "Ralph", because it's so much more relaxing than being called "sheriff" all the time.'

I said, 'It's a deal, Ralph, and you may get to meet my old DI sooner than you think. I was going to call him and a few other old buddies to see how they were doing. They might decide to take some vacation time soon. One of them old class reunions where everybody gets together to go fishing, drink beer, and stretch the truth about how good the good old days were. I'll give you a call if they show up so you can come over and join us if you got any spare time.'

Ralph said, 'I'll keep a few vacation days back. That is one party that I don't want to miss. See you boys later.'

The sheriff left, and went out to his four wheel drive, which was parked about 150 yards from the house. He knew that we didn't usually drive up to the house, and he had no intention of irritating the women by driving over some plantings or some flowers or herbs that they had growing. He waved, got into his vehicle, and left to go back to duty.

It was a small, rural county, and the sheriff's department was almost always understaffed. The officers pulled long hours, and were always on call in an emergency. The only good thing was that the people were law abiding folks, and had no qualms about backing up the sheriff or a deputy in a dangerous situation. Almost every man in the county could shoot well, and almost every one of them owned at least one shotgun, and many owned one or more rifles as well.

As we watched Ralph drive off, Rick said, 'Were you serious about calling up some of your old buddies?'

I said, 'Serious as a heart attack, son.'

Rick said, 'You know that things could get hairy if we get some of the guys you're talking about together, especially if they decide to bring some friends or let them know what is going on.'

I said, 'Rick, mellow out. We're talking about an innocent little gathering of guys who haven't seen each other in about thirty years. Hell, we're the young bucks who never stayed in long enough to earn any rank or learn anything. They'll all be old men who probably need a walker to get to the bathroom after a beer or two.'

Rick said, 'Right. Old men. Feeble. Remind me to stand about ten yards away when you tell them that. And as I remember, you managed to make some rank before you got your butt out of the military.'

I said, 'That was all show for the ARVN Rangers, and you know it. I didn't have any command experience, and I wasn't much of a leader, either.'

Rick said, 'As I remember it, you weren't much of a follower. You took orders, but your butt was on point so often that I forgot what your face looked like most of the time. Come to think of it, seeing your backside might have been an improvement.'

I laughed, and said, 'See, I always told you that you didn't need good looks as long as the girls thought that you had a cute butt.'

Rick said, 'Behold, I see the truth of it standing before me.'

We both laughed and went back into the house. We had some e-mails and phone calls to make, and some rocks to turn over if we wanted to get in touch with some of the people that I had in mind.

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We started by calling some of the guys on Rick's list, since some of them would still be in the service. They would be able to put us in touch with someone who could get a message to those who had retired but not quite faded away.

After a few calls to Fort Bragg, Rick got in touch with someone who would relay a message and left a number for them to call. When he had finished, I started making a few calls of my own. It took a little longer, because I had left the military almost ten years before Rick had, and there were fewer people who were still around or who remembered the ones I wanted to talk to. Of course, a few of my calls had to go to the other side of the country, so the difference in time zones helped.

After we finished the calls, we knew that now we had to just wait for the response. Until then, the best thing for us to do was to concentrate on getting as much done as we could. We had crops to grow and work to do, and time was running.

We went into the kitchen and joined the ladies. After a quiet dinner, we decided that we should take the ladies out for a movie and an evening of relaxation. We went out to the drive and climbed into one of the 4 X 4s and drove into town. We watched some movie that the girls wanted to see and then went somewhere to get some coffee and talk. Then we drove home to get some sleep.

Chapter 8

May arrived, and we were still busy with the details of our lives and the project. There was no news from either Japan or Canada concerning their readiness for Y2K, even though both of them had started their fiscal year a month ago. Dan hoped that this was good news, but Kristin pointed out that if they were going to do great, the media in the U.S. would have been covering the story night and day to alleviate fears that our own systems would fail. Since they had studiously ignored the obvious early indicator of the health of our own technology systems, we could only assum the worst until we were proven wrong.

A few of the people that Rick and I had tried to contact had called or written, and we had talked to them and sent them copies of our report. We also enclosed a small report that focused on the possibility of internal strife, and on the use of the military under FEMA command during martial law.

One of the guys I had contacted got in touch with some of the top kicks who were still active, and gave them the short and dirty version. They were interested in what he had to say because it made sense of some of the things that they had witnessed lately. They talked among themselves, and then elected two representatives to come pay us a visit and evaluate the situation. Since they didn't want anyone to know what they were doing, they took a camping trip into the Smoky Mountains and simply disappeared from there.

After about two days of hiking, they had crossed a few mountains and come to the back side of our compound. They did a thorough recon, then crossed the fence and came through the woods onto our property. When the two of them stepped out of the woods closest to our house, coming out of nowhere as silent as ghosts, they scared the socks off of Danielle. She was so startled that she grabbed for her pistol, but I was faster and stopped her from drawing and firing.

One of them stepped forward, smiled, and extended his hand. He said, 'You must be Lee. Old Mac said that you were always about as fast as a rattlesnake when you had to be, and he wasn't shitting. From the way he described you, I thought you'd be older. You don't look any older than us, and we only got a little over 20 in ourselves. I'm Peterson, and this is Rodriguez. We came to talk.'

I said, 'Why don't we go inside. Sometimes the trees have eyes and ears.'

We all stepped inside. Danielle was startled as they relaxed when they saw Rick standing there holding a rifle instead of being startled. Peterson said, 'As I live and breathe. I thought you died of boredom a long time ago. Is that really you, Jonesy?'

Rick put the gun into the gun rack on the wall, then grabbed Peterson in a bear hug. As he let him go, Rick punched him on the shoulder, and said, 'You still owe me $20 from our last liberty. It was your turn to buy.'

Peterson said, 'It was not. Besides, you drank all my beer while I was chasing the waitress. And I still didn't catch her. Talk about striking out all around.'

They laughed, and Rick said, 'Lee, this is Pete. Pete, you met Lee, and these fine ladies are Kristin, Danielle, and Naomi, Lee's better half. If you get on her bad side, she'll give you KP duty for a month.'

Pete said, 'Glad to meet you all. This is my buddy Roberto, but we call him "Rowdy Roddy" or just "Roddy" for short. He's some sort of wrestling nut.'

Roddy smiled, and said, 'I only wrestle with the ladies, but my wife put a stop to that long ago. It's a pleasure to meet you folks.'

Naomi suggested that we all go into the living room and relax while she made some coffee and got some snacks. Since nobody seemed to object, we followed her advice.

After we were seated, Pete said, 'Mac told us that you guys had the dope on what might be going on. A bunch of the old timers got together and elected us to come see what was up. So give it to us straight and don't pull no punches.'

As they started to drink the coffee that Naomi had just brought, I said, 'OK, guys, here's the short version. In a little over six months there is the distinct possibility that the economy in this country will be completely shot to hell. The computers and all of the technology that they control will come crashing down, disrupting what little remains of a normal semblance of life, and eliminating power, water, and other utilities for most of the population of this country.'

'FEMA will be put in charge, and martial law will be declared. You will be ordered, by some bureaucrat who was not elected by anybody in this country, to sieze the private property of American civilians so they can redistribute the food and water as they see fit. You will be ordered to arrest or fire on any civilian who resists you. You may even be ordered to forcibly relocate civilians to centers where they will be forced to work for the government at whatever job they are assigned in order to receive whatever food and water rations they are allotted.'

'In short, gentlemen, you may soon be asked, or ordered, to perform the same duties as the guards in the concentration camps in Nazi Germany, all in the interest of preserving the American way, at least for the privileged few and their most loyal and trusted servants.'

Roddy had quit drinking and was staring at me like I had swallowed a bunch of loco weed and started speaking Swahili. He still wasn't quite sure whether I was totally serious or not.

Pete could tell that I had been totally serious. He had dropped his cup of coffee and leaped to his feet. He said, 'It'll be a cold day in Hell before I do anything like that, mister! And I'll personally cut the throat of the first sorry bastard in my company who would even consider following those orders.'

Roddy was still incredulous. He said, 'You guys are really serious? Man, I got to see the stuff you have to back this up.'

I said, 'Well, guys, come with me. I'll give you the grand tour and let you go over the information for yourself. We even have internet access so you can each do your own homework independently and verify everything that we have for you to look at. When you finish and are ready to talk, we'll be ready and waiting to answer any questions.'

Rick and I took them into the computer room and gave them each a computer and copies of the reports, including those that focused on military applications. Naomi brought in more coffee and some sandwiches, and Pete apologized profusely for spilling his first cup on her floor. After reassuring him that it was perfectly fine, Naomi left, and then Rick and I went back to the living room to talk, relax, and wait. It was going to be a while.

The two of them worked in the computer room for about fourteen hours straight, and didn't come out until 10 the next morning. Rick and I had dozed, but stayed on the couch and chair in the living room. Naomi, when she saw that we were all up and ready to talk, fixed a huge breakfast and a large pot of strong coffee.

While we were eating, Pete said, 'You sure did your homework. I didn't know that there had been that many executive directives, especially in the last five or ten years. I don't like the picture they paint when you fill in all the numbers. I also follow your scenario, and I don't like where it leads, either. What have you guys been doing to make sure that this shit doesn't catch everybody completely by surprise, because Uncle Sam has sure been shoveling it deep lately.'

Rick filled them in on our progress to date, and on the fun we had with the feds who were sneaking around the property. He also told them about the suits and their visit to Dan's office, and how they had been trying to pressure the other groups in the network.

Pete said, 'So, you already have communications covered, right?'

I said, 'Yes. Even if we lose all power, we will still be able to communicate, although our time may be somewhat limited due to the availability of fuel for generators or enough sun and wind to recharge the batteries.'

Roddy said, 'And you have food and water, and other survival supplies laid in. How about the other groups?'

I said, 'They are all prepared. They are isolated, are fairly self-sufficient, and have laid in as much as they could afford to.'

Pete said, 'What about training?'

I said, 'Mostly survival, but a lot of them have military or law enforcement experience. We aren't trying to start a militia to fight a war. We want to get them ready to survive, and give them enough skills to have a chance at defending what they have from the punks who would steal it from them and leave them to die. It's the best we can do with the time and resources that we have.'

Pete said, 'OK, I get your point. Have most of the groups formed their own militias or defense forces?'

I said, 'Yes. I was able to convince all ot them that it was necessary, though it took some doing in a few cases. The presence of kids in every group helped, since even the pacifists agreed they would rather kill a punk than watch their families be tortured, raped, and killed. That was one of the criteria we used when selecting the main groups that we would maintain direct communication with. If they were wobbly about that, we didn't think they had much chance of survival if the wrong people found them.'

Roddy said, 'So, what are you planning to do when FEMA comes knocking on your door with a tank?'

Rick said, 'If FEMA is driving the tank, the response will be a whole lot different than if the regular crew is.'

Roddy said, 'I hear you, man, but the question still stands.'

I said, 'I will not live under a dictatorship established illegally by taking advantage of an emergency that some group of power hungry bureaucrats generated in order to make themselves kings. I refuse to be more specific than that at this time.'

Pete said, 'Agreed.'

I said, 'Before that ever comes to pass, you better consider one little fact that might influence all of your calculations and planning.'

Roddy said, 'What's that. Hit me with your best shot, because after reading all this stuff and hearing what you had to say last night, I don't think that you can make it any worse than it already is in my mind.'

Rick cringed. Seeing Rick's response, Pete did his best to brace himself for the worst.

I said, 'Do you know where the international date line is, Roddy?'

He said, 'Yeah. It's right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Why?'

I said, 'Because it will be midnight on December 31st in Peking about 12 hours before it is in Washington, D.C., and it will be midnight in Moscow about 8 hours before it is in Washington. What do you think the Russians and Chinese will be thinking as their clocks tick down to midnight. Do you think that they trust us enough to believe that once their systems crash, and their countries are in chaos, that the U.S. won't use its nuclear trump card in an attempt to make sure that they don't use the chaos to invade us? And what about the wild card countries with nukes, like India, Pakistan, and Iraq? Will they hold their fire, or decide to take their last chance to blow their wad and hope they survive?'

The color drained from Roddy's face, turning his complexion from a ruddy brown to whiter than Kristin's pale face. He was stunned, speechless, and looked like he was going into shock. Danielle was looking at him like a potential patient.

Pete looked at me, and said, 'Man, I don't ever want to get on your bad side. I ain't so sure that being around you is safe, at least not for my sanity. You sure know how to bring a guy down, don't you?'

Roddy found his voice, though it was a bit shaky, and said, 'Pete, do me a favor. Next time I get that cocky and do something that stupid, would you please just shoot me and put me out of my misery?'

Pete said, 'You got it bud.'

Listening to them, Danielle wasn't quite sure that they weren't totally serious. But she shook the thought off, thinking that not even Lee and Rick were that crazy. Were they?

I said, 'There is a real possibility that there will be at least a limited exchange of nuclear and biochemical weapons. There is a stronger possibility that one or more foreign powers will use the loss of our technology, combined with the recent downsizing of our military and the expected chaos within our borders, to launch an invasion. If that happens, we could be fighting in the halls of PS 81 and on the shores of the Mississippi.'

Pete said, 'OK, Lee, drop the other boot. Get it over with. Kick us while we're still down. Maybe it won't hurt so much.'

I said, 'Even if all of this happens, it is possible that the country will be so fragmented and directionless, so confused, that we will also be fighting a race war, a civil war, and a war against the punks and lawless slime who will rise up to prey on those who are least able to defend themselves. Of course, the civil war would be a guerrilla war.'

Roddy looked sick, but said, 'Of course, is there any other kind? When it rains, it pours, doesn't it?'

Pete said, 'Mac told us that you were the nastiest little bastard he ever trained or served with, and it wasn't because you were the meanest, the biggest, the baddest, or the fastest. It was because you never gave up, and you didn't care what it took to get the job done. So now that you've told us about all this, what do you want us to do?'

Rick said, 'Spread the word to everyone you can. You will have to be careful, because active duty personnel are more restricted in what they can do and say without getting thrown in the brig or shot, but the people need to know what could happen, and that includes the troops. We are not inciting anybody to mutiny or insurrection or any other illegal activity. We are telling you that you need to know what may be going on, so that you understand the ramifications of any illegal or questionable orders which you may be given. If you request clarification, which is your right, and the orders you are given are illegal, then you are required to refuse to follow them under the uniform code. How you choose to respond if you are put in that situation is up to you, because only you are aware of all the facts at the time, and only you have to live with your conscience.'

Pete and Roddy stood up to leave. We shook hands. Pete said, 'I'm looking forward to meeting you again, when we have more time to talk. I think that we could have some interesting discussions.'

I said, 'Maybe, but what makes you so sure that you'll get the chance to come back?'

Pete and Roddy both grinned at that. Roddy said, 'Lee, if we don't ever make it back here, drink a tall one to our memories, 'cause we will be back if it is humanly possible.'

Kristin and Danielle watched as they walked across the yard and moved into the woods. One second they were visible and moving, and the next they had both blended into the background. The girls were both impressed with the sudden transition, especially Danielle, who remembered how they had suddenly seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

Rick said, 'Not bad, especially for no ghillie suit.'

I said, 'Yep.'

Rick said, 'You can still make one of them out, can't you?'

I said, 'Yep.'

Rick said, 'How far out are they now?'

I said, 'About 250 meters. If they went a little slower, they'd blend in with the breeze better. But they are good. Damn good.'

We went back to the table to finish our coffee. Kristin and Danielle were looking at each other, and then back at the woods. They couldn't quite figure out if we had been messing with their minds or if I had actually been able to see their movement through the forest 250 meters away. Neither of them wanted to be the one to ask, so we let them wonder.

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The next day, Danielle cornered me and asked me what a ghillie suit was. I explained it to her, and described its function. She didn't seem to understand how it could work so well, so I asked her if she would like a demonstration. She liked that idea, so we got the other girls and Rick, and I explained the rules of the game to them. Rick would put on a ghillie suit, leave the house, and hide somewhere between our house and The Quarry. He had to remain within six feet of the path at all times. If they passed him without spotting him, he could try to sneak up on them and tag them. Once he tagged one of them, we would wait, and he would get a five minute head start before we began again. If he tagged all three of them before they reached The Quarry, he won. If they could spot him before he tagged them, they would win. I would wear my ghillie suit and walk with them so that they had a constant reminder of what they were looking for.

The girls agreed, thinking that this would be fun, and not too difficult. How hard could it be to spot someone Rick's size who looked like he was wearing a pile of old rags? After five minutes, we started down the trail. It was a half hour hike before we would reach our destination, and there were several spots that would make perfect ambushes, so I knew they would be safe. About 300 yards down the trail, a small bush suddenly moved and grabbed Kristin right after she passed it. It startled her so badly that I was sure that her blood-curdling scream could be heard for at least two miles. For someone so small, that girl had lungs that didn't stop.

By the time the five minutes were up and we began again, Kristin's heart rate was somewhere near normal again. She walked beside me, but was so jumpy that you would have thought that she didn't trust Rick not to grab her again just for the fun of it. Come to think of it, she did know Rick pretty well, and I wouldn't have put it past him myself.

This time, we made it over 500 yards before I spotted Rick. He was lying almost prone in a small depression he had dug, and had tossed a lot of loose dirt and leaves over him. They covered him and made him look like ground cover, but the marks where he had dug up fresh dirt gave him away. The girls didn't see him, and I smiled as we passed because I had noticed that they didn't check behind them very often.

Rick crept out on the trail and silently slipped up behind Danielle, suddenly engulfing her in a huge bear hug. To her credit, she didn't scream. She did try to fight, but she was already engulfed, so it didn't do her any good. All she managed to do was to make herself pass out by using her oxygen faster than she could replace it in such a tight embrace.

As soon as he realized that she had gone limp, Rick gently lowered Danielle to the ground. I checked her out immediately, and found that her breathing was shallow and irregular, so I started giving her mouth to mouth. After a few good, deep breaths, her breathing had improved, and the color was returning to her cheeks. The color got real good when she realized that not only had she passed out, but that it was me giving her mouth to mouth.

The blush started to go over her whole body when Kristin giggled and said, 'OK, Dani, you've kissed him, so now tell. How good a kisser is he?' Naomi's response of, 'Well, he's usually not good enough to get that kind of response from me.' didn't help Dani recover her composure. And Naomi's follow-up of, 'Dani, if he has that much of an effect on you, you need to get more practice in somewhere, because it's been too long between kisses, honey.' only made things worse because it got Kristin to giggling hysterically. Fortunately, Dani didn't get mad a Kristin because she realized that she couldn't help herself. Within a minute the pair of them were giggling like crazy, with no sign of them regaining control.

I sat down and waited patiently. It only took another five minutes before we were ready to proceed. Just as we started, Dani looked at me and said, 'You know, Krissy, he may not look like much, but that's the best kiss I ever got from a bush in my life.' I just dropped, crosslegged, to the ground, knowing what the response would be. All three of them were doubled over, laughing so hard that they were crying and holding their sides in pain, but they couldn't stop.

I heard Rick snicker, so I knew that he had been lying in ambush close enough to have heard the remark and their response. He would be moving now so that he was somewhere else when we finally got going, just in case I was not the only one to have heard him.

After we got going again, finally, I saw a suspicious looking mound lying just around a curve in the trail. Naomi saw it too, and her actions alerted the others. They stopped and watched as she cautiously approached the suspect pile of leaves, moving wide of it toward the outside edge of the trail. Just as she was at the extreme edge of the bend, Rick came up from behind the bushes and grabbed her from behind. He was dressed in his cammies. He had removed the ghillie suit and used it to decoy Naomi into position.

Danielle and Kristin said that Rick had cheated, but I pointed out that nothing in the rules said that Rick had to keep the ghillie suit on. That was their assumption, and it wasn't my fault that they had operated under rules that they had assumed on their own. Naomi agreed that I was right, and that they had lost.

They wanted a rematch, so I said, 'OK. Rick and I will split up, but we may get together again later. We will both keep our ghillie suits on at all times. You may track us either as a group or as individuals. You win if you get either of us before we get all of you. Agreed?'

Naomi said, 'What are the boundaries?'

I described the boundaries, which gave us a rough rectangle of about 500 yards by 1000 yards to work within. The girls agreed, and said that we had a three minute head start. Rick and I had both disappeared before they could even say, 'Go!'.

We split up, then came together in a spot where the terrain narrowed down into a natural funnel. Rick took one side, and I took the other. We hoped to catch one of the girls if they had split up. Unfortunately, Naomi and Kristin were traveling together, and they were wary. Fortunately for us, they split up some when they came to such a likely place for an ambush. I flicked a pebble into the bushes several yards away. The noise served to distract the girls and signal Rick to act. He grabbed Naomi at the same time that I grabbed Kristin.

The girls agreed to wait at The Quarry for the rest of us to show up. Rick and I split up again to go hunting. I heard movement after I had gone a couple of hundred yards. I slid beneath some hanging vines that were growing on the side of a shale cliff.

Danielle walked slowly right past me, then stopped. She appeared to be looking right at me. I was watching her through slitted eyes. Suddenly I opened my eyes wide, moved, and said, 'Dani.' Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted. I managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

I heard Rick laughing, and said, 'OK, come give me a hand. If we carry her, we don't have to wait here until she finally decides to rejoin the land of the living.'

Rick said, 'Oh, no. You bagged her. You carry her.'

As Rick walked off, laughing and muttering to himself something about having to remember that method of picking up women, I picked Dani up and cradled her in my arms. Her color and breathing were both fine, but I didn't carry any smelling salts in my cammies. Oh, well, it was only half a mile to The Quarry. At least she didn't weigh much. At least not as much as some of the rucks I had packed.

After about five minutes, Dani was starting to come around, but she was still woozy, so I carried her the rest of the way. When they realized that there was nothing seriously wrong with Dani, the girls started teasing her about being lazy and not wanting to help them win the game. Dani smiled and reminded them that the two of them had let us gang up on her. Besides, she said, 'Lee cheated. He hid inside the cliff somehow. I was looking right at the rocks, and suddenly there were eyes in the rocks, looking right at me, and I heard Lee say my name. The next thing I know, I'm being carried through the woods like a sack of potatoes by this big walking bush and it won't put me down.'

Naomi said, 'I always did say that he would win an argument with a wall. Now I know how he does it. He becomes the wall.'

Kristin said, 'You guys should be ashamed of yourselves for taking advantage of poor, helpless, defenseless women.'

Dani said, 'Yeah, and for molesting them, too. First he kisses me when I'm helpless to resist his lecherous advances, then he goes dragging me off through the woods after scaring the living daylights out of me. What a beast.'

Rick and I just looked at each other, shrugged, and started walking toward the woods as the girls kept laughing and making fun of us. I said, 'Women. If I ever tell you that I understand them completely, shoot me, because I've gone totally nuts.'

Rick said, 'You and me both, buddy. You and me both.'

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The next meeting was on May 17th. Dan opened the meeting by asking if there were any updates that were of interest to the entire group. John said that he had some information that we needed to take into consideration, so Dan turned things over to him.

John stood up, and said, 'I had a talk with Lee and Rick a little over a week ago, and gave them some preliminary information relating to my contacts. Since then, I've been working things out, and my group has managed to work out some details. Enough to make the preliminary findings usable for our purposes. Unlike Dan, my contacts have not been with people who thought that we were nuts. My initial contacts were with people who not only have known that there could be problems, but have had to make some efforts to deal with some of them already.'

Lucy, one of the assistants in Steve's group, said, 'That's wonderful. Since they know about the problems, and they believe us, we can make some progress with the utilities and eliminate some of the problems before they occur.'

John said, 'Unfortunately, no. Although they know about their own problems, they were not aware of the scope and diversity of the problems in their entirety. Also, although they believe us, they are not the ones in charge of making policy decisions. If they were, we wouldn't even have contacted them because they would have already solved the problems relating to their operations years ago.'

Dan said, 'Maybe you should give us some more details, because some of what you just said doesn't make much sense, John.'

John said, 'The engineers are responsible for running and maintaining the power plants and other utilities. They give the orders for day to day operations, and they solve problems as they occur. Unfortunately, they do not make the decisions that affect things at the policy level, and have to work within the budget and purchase guidelines they are given. The people who make those decisions have, for their own reasons, blocked all attempts to refit the facilities and phase out or replace equipment and programs with those which would eliminate susceptibility to Y2K problems.'

Dan said, 'What reasons have they given?'

John said, 'Usually it was some story about disrupting service or cutting into the profits. Whenever it was pointed out that the repairs could be made with the existing budget, and could be sceduled to minimize service disruptions, the response was that they would consider the suggestion and get back to them after a decision was made.'

'Although the public stance is that all critical systems are being checked and tested to make sure that they will be ready and there will be no problems, many of the engineers have told me privately that they don't think that management has a clue as to the extent of the problems that they are facing. There have been several explosions and accidents at power plants this year. What the public has not been told, and what has not been mentioned in the press, is that several of these have not been the result of spontaneously occurring accidents. They were either caused by problems related to Y2K failures occurring early due to the inability to reset date clocks on some chips after pushing them forward for testing, or occurred as a result of some failure that occurred either during Y2K testing of equipment or soon afterwards as a result of some problem that had been inadvertantly caused during the testing and wasn't triggered until the next time the systems were switched because of faulty sensor readings.'

Dan said, 'So, they are deliberately making sure that some of the systems are still going to be vulnerable. Why would anyone want to do something like that?'

As soon as he realized what he had just said, Dan turned to look directly at me, and said, 'I'm sure that you have a rational explanation that, while not certain to be correct, will fit the actions and give us some insight into possible motives, don't you, Lee?'

Rick chuckled at Dan's obviously patronizing tone of voice.

I said, 'I'll ignore the sarcasm, since it was probably intended to show your own disgust with the situation instead of to imply that I was somehow responsible for the situation and should share the blame. To be succint, yes, I can explain why some of the managers are refusing to do everything that they can to avert problems.'

Dan said, 'I know I'm going to regret this, because I'll probably lose more sleep by knowing than by remaining blissfully ignorant of the facts, but would you mind explaining exactly what those reasons are?'

I said, 'There are several things which are tied together. First, the managers don't make the decision, the board of directors does. The boards are high ranking business people, and they control corporate conglomerates, so they have a lot of other interests due to diversification. If the power goes out, it will buy them some time before people find out how bad things really are because the other computers can't fail if they can't operate, and they can't operate without power. By disrupting the lives of the people with power failures, they divert attention from their other systems. If they are able to restore power, they build credibility and buy themselves more time when the other systems start crashing and they tell everyone not to panic because it's only a temporary problem and they will soon have everything back to normal.'

Dan said, 'I may seem obtuse, but could you make the explanation of how they would gain credibility, and why they would want to, a little more detailed?'

I said, 'They would gain credibility by allowing the engineers to bypass many of the systems that are most corrupted and sensitive to computer failures and open the plants manually. They can get everything set up so it will run, but limit the amount of control under computer influence. This makes everyone believe that they have corrected the computer control problems, when in actuality, they simply disconnected the computers and set things up to run manually like they did before they even had the computers available. In other words, they set the plant up exactly as they would have if they wanted to provide uninterrupted service in the first place. Only now, you believe that they have found a way to correct the problems.'

Steve said, 'Why would they want to do something like that? What's in it for them?'

'They are trying to buy time. If they show some progress, and they restore power in limited amounts within a week or so, and have most of the power operating in two weeks, people won't notice the full extent of the other failures because many systems failures will be attributed to power surges and other problems with the power. The people who run these boards are the same people who own the banks. The longer the financial institutions are shut down, the longer they have to prepare for the public backlash when people find out how messed up their financial dealings are.'

'Second, if you believe that they can solve the problems, but that it may take a little time to adapt the solutions to the other industries, you won't be as apt to take action and they buy themselves some more time. You will assume that they are having some problems working on the different types of programs and getting them to work as well, and you will rationalize that they have to do the same thing to a lot more computers. Especially after facts to that effect are leaked to the media. That is an outright lie designed to buy them more time.'

Dan said, 'Wait a minute, Lee. That's a pretty harsh statement.'

I said, 'It's the truth. You don't need 500 different banking programs to calculate interest. You need one. The banks can enter their own interest rates as variables and calculate from there. That's exactly what they do right now, anyway. And it doesn't matter how many computers a particular bank has, because you don't need to change the entire programming and code on every individual copy of each program on each computer anyway. As soon as you have one workable copy, you simply replace all of the old, corrupt copies with the new, workable one.'

Dan said, 'But that means that you would have to rewrite the entire program. Wouldn't that take more time than fixing the old ones?'

I said, 'It would actually take less time to write the programs from scratch and make smaller, more efficient, more generalized programs than it would to correct the current programs. In fact, that solution would also eliminate the need to correct programs that were written in obscure or extinct computer languages. It would also eliminate the need to test so many different programs to determine if all of them worked properly.'

Dan said, 'If it was that easy, why didn't they do it?'

I said, 'Probably because they didn't even think of anything so simple. They approached the problem from the angle of needing to solve the problem in a way that would keep the customer happy. They should have just concentrated on solving the problem. Then the customers would have the choice of using the working software and putting up with the minor inconvenience of their employees learning how to use something that wasn't custom made for their particular bank, or of going out of business because their customers went to someone who was functioning while they tried to figure out how to rewrite all of their programs after they crashed.'

Dan said, 'That's a hard way of doing business, isn't it? You do have to keep your customers satisfied if you want to keep their business.'

I said, 'In the real world, you compete or you go out of business. If you go out of business, you are no longer a customer, so keeping you happy in the past wouldn't count for much, especially if all of your customers were happy with your services but were no longer in business. MicroSoft isn't in the business of keeping all of its customers happy. I can think of many examples of software produced by small companies that are much better than anything produced by MicroSoft, but they are not able to compete with the corporate giant because MicroSoft has made all of its software compatible with its other software, and in some cases even dependent upon other software to perform certain functions in the most effictient manner.'

Dan said, 'OK, what's your point, Lee?'

I said, 'Microsoft has 'solved' its software problem. They have taken a year to work out and test a patch that makes their programs automatically convert the year 1900 to the year 2000 so that the data their programs produce is correct.'

Dan said, 'That's great. They worked out a simple solution to the problem, and it works. What's wrong with that?'

I said, 'Well, there are a few problems with the approach. For one thing, it is the same type of approach to programming that produced this problem in the first place. In one year, if you don't get the new patch to fix your programs, you will be in exactly the same position that you would have been in this year if the patch had never been created. In fact, over time, you may be in a worse position because the effect of multiple patches on old programs could produce unexpected problems with the running and efficiency of the program that have nothing to do with the results of calculations involving dates. Decreases in processing speed, more unexpected errors, more systems crashes, and other things of that nature.'

Dan said, 'OK, those are problems, but with the additional time to solve them, we could really eliminate much of our problems, right?'

'Not really. The patch only works on MicroSoft's programs, so all other programs would be unaffected by the 'cure'. Also, MS-DOS, the MicroSoft Dirty Operating System was put out as a temporary fix to allow them to compete and remain in the market many years ago. Although the system has been upgraded periodically, it has never been completely overhauled and fixed so that it would perform as it was originally intended. If there are enough complaints about a certain bug or glitch, they will fix it in an update or patch the problem.'

'The attitude is that you take what they give you and work around its limitations, hoping they will eventually fix whatever is wrong with it that is critical for your business. They can afford this because they have spent more time, money, and energy on driving their competitors out of business, buying the rights to software that performs better than their own, or influencing the market to promote their own sales share than they have in developing new and original software. Much of their newer software is not new in concept, but has been worked to integrate with their other software and systems. And since their software designers know how their new systems upgrades are going to work about two years before their competitors do, they do have an advantage in being able to design their software to be more compatible with the newest systems upgrades.'

'The same attitude seems to prevail throughout the industry. MicroSoft stands out because it is the largest software company, and because it has enough of the market share to be able to change that attitude if they thought it was wrong. Obviously, they have no problem with that approach to programming, since they have never made any real attempts to change their corporate policies. As long as they are making money, they don't have to change their policy, and as long as they can retain the majority of the market, they don't have to work to make their programs either more efficient than those of their competitors or more compatible with those written by their competitors.'

Dan said, 'OK, you've given us two reasons, with explanations and examples of why either the changes are not being made or they are not being made in the most efficient manner. Is there anything else?'

I said, 'Yes. The third reason is that some of those who have wealth and power right now may think that they have figured out a way to allow themselves to profit, financially or in terms of influence or power, from the problems that would occur if Y2K failures occurred. Whether they are correct or not, they may feel that it is worth the risk, especially since there is no way for them to stop the problems from occurring even if they had already rewritten every program that would have failed anyway.'

Dan said, 'I don't follow you. You said that the machines would work and didn't need fixed. The programs needed to be fixed, because all of Y2K was a software problem.'

I said, 'That's not exactly correct. The problems associated with Y2K are primarily a software problem. The machines will work, even if the software is not fixed, true. But the computers themselves are not the only hardware involved. There are also computer chips, which are hardware, which would need to be replaced because they contain two digit date codes. Even if the software was fixed so it read four digit date codes, it could only get two from the chips that had only two digit date code capacity.'

Dan said, 'So, we just replace all of the chips.'

John said, 'We can't. You are talking about millions or even billions of chips. Even if we had compatible chips for all of them, we would have to find them all in order to replace them. It would take years to do everything, and some of them are embedded chips. Chips like that operate sensors, and many of the sensors are in very inaccessable locations and are hard to replace. Plus there is the cost involved in replacing some of them, since they are an integral part of whatever instrumentation they are in. Not all of them would need to be replaced, but you would have to locate, identify, and replace all of them that were essential before things would operate properly.'

Dan said, 'Great. Any more good news for today?'

I said, 'Nope.'

Nobody else had much to say, so the meeting ended. We had a lot more work to do, and much of it was immensely more physically demanding than punching in two additional keystrokes for the year whenever we dated something. The stupid thing in my mind was that instead of assuming that all dates would begin with 19 and then leaving two digits open to be filled in, it would have been just as simple to leave all four digits open for the date and then sell macros that would make the first two digits 19 on all dates for those businesses that needed to use dates but didn't want to make their own macros to do the conversion for them and didn't want to waste time punching in all the digits themselves. This would have meant that the problem could have been solved by eliminating the macro or replacing it with a new one. Or that it would have been easier to write the program so that the date was a default for the year, allowing the user to set all four digits. This would have meant that there would not have even been a problem until the year 10,000. Even the plastic on our current computers would have been broken down by the environment by then.

Chapter 9

The rest of May went by rather quickly. The weather was fairly warm, but we did have enough rain to keep our crops growing well. Indications were that it might be a long, hot summer. We just had to hope that it would not be so dry that it would affect our crops to the point that we lost the entire harvest.

We noted with growing interest the machinations going on in order to focus the attention of the country on the war in Kosovo. I thought it was absurd to think that someone who commanded 40,000 troops, and who was supposedly behind so much other trouble in the region would have been able to remain in power for so long if the leaders of the NATO nations really wanted to get him out. All they would have had to do was arm his opposition. Rick agreed with my assessment that 40,000 Serb troops, no matter how well trained, wouldn't stand a chance against 1,000,000 armed Albanians, even if they weren't given any training except in how to load, aim, and fire their weapons. I concluded that the air war was simply another round in the continuing saga of 'wag the dog', and would represent the first stage for one of several possibilities. Either we would be sending in huge amounts of money and material as aid to help rebuild the country, ground troops as peacekeepers in an ongoing low grade war, or both.

We decided to hold our normal weekly meeting a day late, on the 1st of June, so that everyone could spend the holiday at the company picnic. There was a huge barbecue, with roast hog, a whole steer, and barbecued chicken. There was also a huge amount of the normal side dishes, including corn on the cob roasted on the coals. There were games and events, and some other activities had been arranged to keep the kids busy and happy. There was even a fireworks display set up to end the evening.

Everyone was enjoying the break, and we all participated in some of the events. We even entered the three-legged race and the wheelbarrow race. I abstained from the sack race, preferring to watch as the ladies tried to outdo each other. I noticed that Naomi seemed almost driven to compete in all of the events that she could, but figured that she was just trying to have some fun and blow off some steam. She had been working hard lately, since even most of our free time was spent in training her and the other girls survival skills and honing their marksmanship.

When it was time to eat, Naomi didn't eat much lunch. The others chowed down, and we sat and talked with everyone who was near us, enjoying the company. After lunch, we spent a while walking and talking with people who lived near us or those we worked with. I met a lot of people for the first time, though they all seemed to know who I was. I took that as a given, since most of them had worked here for years, and they knew that Naomi and I had just arrived recently, we must be the ones they don't recognize.

After finishing off the afternoon getting hot and sweaty with more competitions, things settled down some as dinner began. This time, Naomi ate like a pig. After her fourth ear of parched corn drenched with butter, I made the comment that if she didn't stop eating like that, she would have a lot more to worry about than just her figure. Naomi burst into tears, saying that I thought she was fat. Kristin and Danielle led her off to comfort her, but not before thoroughly telling me off in no uncertain terms. Their descriptions of my behavior, although highly colorful and detailed, tended to have the common themes of being unflattering and of comparing me to species of animals they implied were held in low esteem.

Rick waited until they were out of earshot before laughing. He wasn't taking any chances that whatever I had might make him guilty by association.

I said, 'What did I do? You know that if she eats corn like that she's going to have the runs because it will go right through her.'

Rick said, 'Yep. But I'd still advise you not to open your mouth if she decides to enter the watermelon eating contest after supper.'

I said, 'You got that right, brother.'

A few minutes later, the ladies returned, acting as if nothing had happened. Naomi was all sweetness and light, and the others were laughing and giggling with her. They were back to acting like teenage girls at a sleepover, spending their time laughing, telling secrets, and talking about boys. I decided that I had a much better chance of picking winning lottery numbers regularly than I did of understanding women. Since I never wasted much money on the lotteries, I decided to ignore everything and hope for the best since I no longer seemed to be in the doghouse.

The fireworks display just after dark wasn't bad, and seemed to leave everybody satisfied with the day's outcome. After we went home, Naomi had a late snack. She got up around one a.m. for another, so I wasn't surprised when she was sick in the morning. I didn't say anything, figuring that if I didn't open my mouth, it would be harder to insert my own foot into it.

The first meeting of June went well. The only thing to report was that with the good weather, there were a lot more hikers and tourists in the region. There had been several times where the security patrols had found people on our property, and several other occasions where they had seen evidence of trespassing but were unable to locate anyone.

We knew that we were under periodic surveillance, but we didn't know for sure who was responsible. The evidence indicated that there were several teams, operating independently, so we assumed that there was more than one agency involved, and that they might be largely unaware of the activities of the other groups. Since this was not anything more than a security concern for the moment, we didn't inform the rest of the staff at the meeting because we didn't want them to worry unnecessarily.

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By the meeting on the 14th of June, we all knew that Clinton had managed to get his foot in the door. Peacekeepers would be in Kosovo, and we had no illusion that they would be able to return home soon. It had been a long time past all of the initial claims for the deadlines of those troops still stationed in Bosnia as peacekeepers to be brought home, and they were still there. The numbers had dwindled from over 20,000 to about 7,000 troops still in Bosnia, but that was still 7,000 too many as far as I was concerned. Even Danielle admitted that unless they rotated out, all of the troops sent to Kosovo might be trapped there without supply or support when the problems occurred at the end of the year. If even she could see that, I wondered how the troops felt about it, especially those who realized that Y2K was real and not some story made up to scare bad little children into obeying their parents.

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Rick and I had decided to speed up the training schedule, and had been working out with the security forces on moving through the woods on our property and apprehending intruders. Even the watchers would be unable to make much of this training, since it was to provide effective security to a sensitive installation and to apprehend trespassers. But it did give us a chance to make them practice moving through the woods without being seen or heard by their quarry.

We also began paintball competitions. The competitions allowed the guards to go into the woods in camouflage, practice their stalking, and hone their woodscraft while still maintaining their alertness to keep from getting tagged by the enemy force. While all of the activities did have military applications, even the feds would look paranoid for claiming that us staging paintball competitions posed some sort of threat to national security. However, it did allow some of the guards to regularly discover and harass the feds who were illegally trespassing and snooping on our land. They got to shoot them with paintballs before 'discovering' that the victim wasn't one of the guys on the enemy force about twice a week.

Surveillance dropped off after one of them tried to shoot a guard and was dropped in his tracks by another guard. He took a rock the size of a baseball to the side of his head from about thirty feet. He lived, but he would never work as a federal agent again because of the damage to his brain, resulting in partial paralysis that might be permanent and some memory problems. There was no lawsuit, since the government made a quiet settlement to his family so the fact that he was illegally on our land while on duty, and had tried to cold-bloodedly gun down a person he knew was only armed with a paintball gun, would not draw media attention and a public investigation into just what it was that the government was so interested in.

Although the national media made no real mention of the case, simply referring to a camping or hunting accident involving a federal agent who was on vacation, the local media reported the story pretty much just as it had occurred. They, and the sheriff, had documented everything, and the sheriff made sure that any feds who showed up claiming to have jurisdiction in a case involving the injury of a federal agent soon learned that their face and name would join his on the news if they didn't let local law enforcement handle the case. Of course, if they were willing to admit to the media that he had been on duty and was in the performance of his duties while he had been illegally on private land and had tried to kill an unarmed security guard, he would be willing to concede that the feds did indeed have jurisdiction on this matter.

Seeing the live TV cameras on him as he heard this, the special agent in charge of the group blanched, rounded up his men, told the sheriff that they had obviously been misinformed as to the details of the case, and got out of town in under fifteen minutes.

Figuring that they had narrowly avoided a lot of unwanted publicity, the surveillance remained mostly long distance after that point, although they still made occasional forays onto our property. We had figured that they wanted to maintain a low profile not only to avoid publicity, but because some of the activities were being conducted through channels that were not legal, and may not have even been known by some of the higher officials in the agency involved.

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Ralph visited us at the homestead that night. He arrived as we were sitting down to a late supper, and accepted our invitation to join us. After setting another place and getting him situated, we said grace and began the meal.

Ralph related the events of the day to us, then said, 'You know, Lee, I thought that you guys might be just a little paranoid because of the surveillance. But when I saw that fed's reaction to me telling him to speak to the press about why they had jurisdiction, I knew that you were dead on. These guys are up to something, and they don't want anybody to know about it. In fact, I don't even think that their own agency knows about their activities, at least not officially.'

Rick said, 'If they are even from the agency that they claim to represent.'

Ralph said, 'Yeah, there is that, too. I think they're real feds, but I don't know for sure who they actually work for. They had FBI credentials, but they could have been with the BATF or the CIA for all I know.'

I said, 'Well, if they are from the CIA, they couldn't very well use their own credentials if they were operating inside this country, could they?'

Ralph said, 'I hadn't thought of that. That would be highly illegal, and it would really screw the pooch if their faces were shown on national television, wouldn't it?'

Kristin said, 'What would be so illegal about a bunch of federal agents operating inside this country?'

Ralph said, 'Congress made it illegal for the CIA to operate within the borders of this country because they were committing illegal activities in the interest of gathering information that had nothing to do with matters of national security, and they were actually helping set up networks to distribute illegal drugs in this country to finance their own independently planned operations inside other countries.'

I said, 'They were financing their own revolutions in countries that were supposed to be our allies. They were also conducting black bag operations and doing wet work inside the U.S., often targeting law-abiding American citizens.'

Danielle said, 'I've heard something about those things you just mentioned, but exactly what are they?'

I said, 'Black bag operations are activities that are illegal, and which will be officially denied by the government, even if the agents are caught in the act. Sort of like on "Mission: Impossible", but they really happen. Wet work is when the agents commit an assassination or kill someone who happens to stumble into their operation and might cause them to blow their cover. Although many of their targets were law-abiding American citizens, or at least those who had never been convicted of any major criminal activities, the most famous assassination attempts involved Fidel Castro.'

Dani and Kristin both looked like they were going to be sick. Naomi already knew this, but she didn't look much better at the moment.

Rick redirected the conversation so that supper would resume by asking the sheriff a few more questions about mundane things of interest, including the best hiking trails near our property that went into the national forest. This got the girls interested in hiking and camping, and took their minds off of the previous topic. It also gave us more information about where the observers might be now that they would be keeping us under surveillance from longer distances, and allowed us to find out how close some of the trails were to our own property without alarming the ladies.

Ralph enjoyed the rest of the meal with us, and spent some time watching a movie and eating popcorn before he had to leave. He got a call on his portable radio about some teenagers racing on one of the roads near the complex and had to answer it since there was actually a chance of getting there before they disappeared. After he left, we all decided that it had been a long day and headed for some much needed sleep.

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It was a little over a week later, on June 25th, when the "accident" happened. One of the women from the complex was coming back from town when her truck had a blowout, sending her off the embankment and down the hill into the trees. She wasn't killed, but her injuries were fairly severe, and she was rushed to the county hospital for treatment. Ralph called the complex and left a message for Rick and myself to join him at the scene of the accident as soon as possible, because it was important.

When we arrived at the scene, the tow truck had just finished winching the truck up the hill and back onto the road. It was a mess, but it didn't appear as if the frame had been bent in the crash.

I said, 'We got your message, and came as soon as we could. What's up, Ralph?'

Ralph said, 'It could be nothing, but I thought that you two should see this for yourself. Then you can decide if it's important or not.'

He led us over to the truck, and showed us the cause of the wreck. The tire had blown completely out, and was so shredded that it was impossible to determine the cause.

Rick said, 'That's some mess of a tire. Was anybody injured?'

Ralph said, 'Yeah, the driver was injured, but she's alive, and the paramedics said that she should recover. I think that you know her, Rick. Her name is Sara Parker. She works at the complex with you.'

Rick thought for a few seconds, and said, 'Yes, I remember her. I think she works over in accounting or payroll. Why, is it important?'

Ralph said, 'Normally, I wouldn't think so, but what do you make of this wreck? Look closely, and tell me what you can see.'

Rick said, 'There is a black truck, pretty banged up. The tire is blown out, and the blow-out caused it to go off of the road and end up down the hill in a bunch of trees. There are marks on the road, showing that the tire didn't blow out right here, so she kept it on the road for a little bit before losing control totally. Where did the blowout occur?'

Ralph led us to a spot about 250 yards down the road. I noticed as we walked down the road that the hill alongside the road became steeper, finally ending almost as a vertical drop of almost 100 feet from the side of the road to the bottom of the ravine. I also noticed that the spot where the first impact of the rim had started to leave a groove had a large hole in the blacktop gouged out. The hole looked freshly made.

Rick said, 'It's a good thing that she managed to keep it on the road, or Sara might have been killed going off of a drop like that.'

Ralph said, 'That's what I thought at first, too, especially when I saw where the blowout occurred. Then I got to wondering what had caused her tire to blow out. The logical assumption would be that she hit this pothole and the tire blew, but I happen to know that this pothole wasn't here yesterday, or even this morning, because I drive this road every day on patrols. That's what got me started to thinking. Then I started thinking harder after the paramedics gave me her ID.'

Rick said, 'Why?'

Ralph showed us the ID in his hand, and the whole picture clicked into place. The woman on the ID looked a lot like Naomi, and her truck was the same color and style of 4 X 4 that Naomi drove. Until the last few weeks, Naomi had also driven this road into town on a regular basis to do some shopping and check our mail until we had changed our address to the postal unit run by the complex and had our mail forwarded there to save her time and trouble.

Rick put the facts together at the same time that I did, and said, 'I didn't expect them to go to this extreme. At least, not this early in the game.'

I said, 'Maybe they haven't, but I wouldn't want to bet too much against it. It could be just an accident and a coincidence, but I don't believe in taking chances. Ralph's hunch may be right on target. Thanks for the tip, Ralph.'

Ralph said, 'Any time. Before you two leave, there is one thing I've got to do.'

When he saw us looking at him strangely, he smiled, and said, 'Relax, boys, I'm on your side. Now, would you both please raise your right hands, and repeat after me...'

When he had finished, Ralph smiled, and said, 'You two are now officially sheriff's deputies for this county. Here are your badges. Now, I suspect that you might want to go inform the ladies that you are real, live lawmen. When you do check on them, tell them that I send my best regards, will you?'

I smiled, and said, 'Sure thing, Ralph, or should we call you boss, now? We'll make sure that Naomi doesn't get too nervous when you drop by for dinner because she had to fix dinner for the husband's boss and was worried about making a good impression. We aren't wanting any promotions.'

Ralph laughed, and said, 'It's always Ralph between us, boys. And I'm glad to hear that you're not hot for my job. I'd miss coming over and getting some of Naomi's home cooking, and I sure don't want to make her nervous because nervous cooks always spoil the cooking. My granny taught me that years ago. Now, you guys hustle and check up on the ladies, just in case.'

We took Ralph at his word, and did manage to break a few speed laws getting back to the complex. Evidently, Ralph had already informed the other deputies of his intentions and what our truck looked like, because when we saw one headed in the opposite direction, he simply smiled and waved at us as we sped by.

We barely stopped at the main gate. As I skidded to a halt, Rick leaned out the window and shouted, 'Emergency! Open the gate, now!' at the startled guard. As soon as he recognized Rick, he opened the gate and we were on our way. We felt silly, but relieved to find all three of the girls sitting at home. They were more concerned than alarmed after we told them what had happened, but agreed to increase their watch and keep their eyes open for any strange activities.

We went to bed early that night, but I didn't sleep much.

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About a week later, the girls decided to go on the field exercise that they had already planned for the last two weeks. I wasn't real thrilled with the idea, since Sara had just been released from the hospital and was back on the compound. If her "accident" had been intentional, those responsible had realized by now that their message had been sent to the wrong person, or might not have even been received at all. They had no way of knowing that we had received the message loud and clear, but that the response was not what they desired or intended. In fact, their little exercise would have to be considered highly counterproductive, if that's what had happened.

After assuring us that they would be armed and alert, the girls left for the woods. They did give us the areas that they had planned on hiking and camping in for the weekend. We knew that the woods would be crawling with people in some regions of the forest because it was the Fourth of July holiday weekend, but we also knew that there would be some areas, especially in the remote regions bordering our land, that would be almost uninhabited for the entire weekend. That was the reason that the girls had decided to go camping. They wanted some time alone.

We made sure that they took a walkie talkie with them, and that Danielle had her cell phone with her. About an hour after they left, Rick and I were ready. We hadn't talked about it, but we both knew that the ladies would have a shadow for the duration of their trip, just in case. We both had a rifle, a pistol, ammunition, our knives, our packs with MREs and extra canteens inside, as well as extra ammunition. I also had a short sword that I used when I needed a good workout. I had been working with that particular sword for more than twenty years. It was sturdy and dependable. We carried no extra clothing, but did have a poncho for use as a shelter and in case of rain. We planned to travel light and live in our ghillie suits with full camo on the entire time we were out. We had already called Ralph and informed him of our intentions, and he said that he had no intention of interrupting the weekend activities that we had planned. He would not call us unless there was literally an invasion, and he would only call then to warn us that it was headed our way.

We blended into the brush, staying near the trail and following the girls. We tracked them, not relying on them to stick to the plans they had given us. They knew us well enough to know that we might try something like this, so they might try to give us the slip.

We tracked them all through the afternoon, and watched them make camp early in the evening. There were one or two times when we saw other hikers, but we made sure that they didn't see us, and neither did the girls. When one of them went to the stream for water, one of us shadowed her. They made supper, ate, and talked a while before going to bed. We didn't bother getting close enough to listen, since we wanted them to have their privacy. We were only interested in their safety.

The smell of the food cooking was good, but it didn't make up for the fact that we were eating cold MREs while they were eating freshly cooked fish they had caught in the stream. After a short time of talking in hand signals in the gathering dark, Rick took the first watch and I caught a nap. I would take over in two hours, then he would rest. We would repeat this schedule once more during the night before dawn. Long practice, long ago, had taught us that this rotation worked best for the two of us. The shift was long enough for the sleeper to get some rest, but not long enough for the watcher to start becoming inattentive. Besides, neither of us had ever needed much sleep.

As soon as it was light, activity started in the camp. The girls were up, answering nature's call and preparing for a wonderful day in the woods. Rick shadowed Kristin as she went down to the stream to catch fish for their breakfast. I watched the camp. When Danielle went into the woods, I had to make a choice. I followed her, figuring that if they were in danger, those in the woods by themselves were in more danger than the ones in camp.

Danielle went behind some bushes to relieve herself, so I stayed where I could make out where she was without disturbing either her privacy or her modesty. Just as she was finishing, there was a commotion behind the bushes. I was already moving before I heard the sound of Danielle's attempt to scream cut off by a sharp cracking sound, followed by a dull thud.

When I came around, I saw a man in cammies standing over Danielle. She was stirring on the ground, and had a shiner already forming where she had been sucker punched by him. I returned the favor by coming up behind him and cold cocking him. After making sure he was down, I removed his weapons and the throat mike I found on him. I checked on Dani. She was breathing fine, and was starting to come around. When she saw me, her first response was fear. Then she relaxed as she recognized me. She said, 'Lee...' and then I saw her eyes go wide with fear again.

Realizing that the guy I had hit must be awake, or have a partner, I spun around in a foot sweep, drawing my pistol at the same time. The guy I had hit had a hideout gun. It looked like a .357 magnum derringer. My sweep took him by surprise, knocking him off his feet. When he hit, the derringer discharged, while his hand went up in an attempt to maintain his balance. As he was trying to bring the gun to bear to fire at me, I shot him between the eyes.

I heard a scream from down by the stream where Kristin had gone, but decided that Rick could take care of her. Kristin was still armed with her knife, but had left her gun at the camp. I gave her the pistol I had taken from the man I had just killed, and told her to stay here while I went to check on Naomi. We heard a scream from the camp.

Danielle said, 'Lee, that's Naomi.'

I said, 'Yes. Stay here, Dani. I'll take care of it.'

Danielle said, 'OK. Lee, she's pregnant.'

I was expecting her to tell me to be careful, so Dani's comment took me by surprise. I had suspected, but was waiting for Naomi to tell me before I was certain.

I went through the woods toward the camp. I covered the distance in seconds, since Danielle hadn't gone more than 40 yards from camp to answer nature's call. As I came to the edge of the brush, I halted, making sure that my movement and outline were still concealed.

Naomi was lying unconscious on the ground. There were two men standing over her. One was talking into a mike like the one I had taken off of Dani's attacker. I listened, and heard him trying to contact someone, but being unsuccessful. I didn't know if it was the guy I had killed or if it was the one who was supposed to get Kristin and had probably run into Rick by now.

While I was waiting for an opportunity to present itself, I heard a single, short click on the mike. I figured that it was Rick, signalling me that he was in position and waiting for instructions. I had to hope, since if I shot one of the men with the rifle, his partner could shoot Naomi before I could get the second shot off.

I knew that as soon as I signalled Rick, they would also hear and take action, so we had one chance to get it right. They were both dressed in cammies, and about the same height. I didn't know where Rick was, and he probably didn't know where I was, so telling him 'left' or 'right' wouldn't do much good. As they got nervous, one left the spot they were at, moving across the clearing toward the stream. Both had their pistols out, and appeared worried about their inability to contact the others since they hadn't returned here with their captives.

I said, 'Moving.' just as I squeezed the trigger. Rick followed my call, firing at the same time. Both men dropped like rocks. I broke radio silence long enough to say, 'Stay.' and then began to work my way around the clearing. While I was moving, I knew that Rick would watch the two targets just in case one was still alive. When I was almost all the way around the clearing, I came to where Rick was. Naomi still hadn't moved.

After we had taken off our mikes and temporarily disabled them, I told him about Dani, and he said that he had left Kristin with her. Both were well armed, and scared enough to be on their toes for the rest of the week. I told him that mine was dead. His was too, but he had used a knife so nobody would hear anything when the guy had went for his gun.

Rick said, 'How long do you want to wait?'

I said, 'As long as it takes, or as long as we can. If she starts to come to, we'll have to do something.'

Rick said, 'If it comes to that, I'll make the run and you can cover.'

I said, 'She's my wife.'

Rick said, 'Yes, but if there is a sniper for long cover, he isn't in the woods close. The only shot of the clearing where she is is over 750 yards, unless he's really good at hiding in the grass. We'll only get one shot, and you're the better shooter.'

I said, 'OK, but wait a minute. I want to try something. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Ralph's number. When he answered, I explained where we were and that there was an attempted kidnapping. He said that he would be there in less than an hour with all the security he could get from the complex, and that they would come by way of the fire road.'

Rick said, 'He can't get here that fast.'

I said, 'No, but he knows the situation, and he is on his way with reinforcements. And if there is another one, they may not know that. Assuming that they are listening in on our phone calls.'

Rick said, 'Why assume that?'

I said, 'Because, that is the only way they could have known that the girls were coming on this trip and that we would be coming after them to shadow them. I know that Ralph didn't tip them off.'

Rick said, 'I agree, but how do you know he, or someone in his office, didn't tip them off?'

I said, 'Because they didn't know exactly where the girls planned to go, and didn't have enough warning to get here in the time allotted. But they could have had a team nearby and followed them when the opportunity presented itself.'

Rick said, 'What about Dani and Kris? If there is another shooter, they're pretty exposed.'

I said, 'You got ten minutes to get them here. Make sure they are both careful, and make sure they don't shoot you before they realize that it's you.'

Rick left, and I waited as I scanned the area where a sniper could be concealed. Once I was alone, the old memories came back. Slowly scanning, looking for anything out of place, knowing that thermals were no good during the day because of the temperature. Finding the minor discrepancy. Squeezing the trigger, and waiting for the signal from the spotter that the hit was clean as I changed positions to avoid countersniper fire from the enemy.

It was just over eight minutes later that Rick returned with the girls. They were shaken and scared, but holding up well. Both were dealing with their first time in combat. A few minutes later, I said, 'Bingo one!'

Rick said, 'Position.'

I said, '450 meters at 225.'

Rick looked through his scope at the distance and direction I had given him, and said, 'Roger. Target confirmed.'

I kept looking for another fifteen minutes before I spotted the next one. I said, 'Bingo two!'

Rick said, 'Position.'

I said, '950 meters at 150.'

Rick scanned again, and said, 'Roger. Target confirmed. Reassuming first target lock.'

After a few more minutes of scanning, I could find no more signs of snipers. I said, 'Assuming target lock on bogey two. Fire on my mark.'

The girls were watching us as we went through the motions like a pair of machines. They kept watch of the woods around us, but didn't make a sound. They realized that if we were shooting at hidden snipers, there was a real good reason.

I said, 'Ready, steady, three, two, one, mark.'

As I said "mark" each of us squeezed the trigger. There was no movement from either of the places which we had shot at, but we kept watching. It took a minute, but I saw some flies buzzing in a cloud where Rick's target had been, drawn by the smell of blood and the feces from a sphincter released by the impact of the bullet that had killed the target.

Rick saw them too. He said, 'Time for bait. Somebody needs to check her out.'

He ran across the clearing, making sure to keep low and move in an evasive pattern, dropping and blending with the grass before he reached Naomi. There was no movement or fire from either site.

Rick said, 'Alive. Drugged. Evac.'

I said, 'Copy. Covered.'

Rick began to move to the edge of the clearing closest to the woods, taking Naomi with him. After about five minutes, he reached the edge of the woods. I sent the girls around the clearing through the woods to join him. I still had a bad feeling in my guts, and I had learned long ago that those who ignore those types of feelings don't live to see many more birthdays.

After five minutes, I was almost ready to move again when I heard a rustling behind me in the woods. I knew that all the friendlies were across the clearing. Without moving my head, I glanced toward the sound. I watched as first one, then two, then three men in full camouflage came stalking up the trail, moving right past me. As the last one passed, I stood up and leveled my rifle at his back.

I said, 'Deputy sheriff. You're under arrest.'

All three men spun around, bringing their weapons to bear. I fired, and heard another shot. My shot went clear through the chest of the first man and into the second. Rick's shot dropped the third. As soon as I fired, I dropped to my knee and spun around, leveling my Glock as I covered what had been my rear. Nobody was there.

After disarming and checking the bodies, I moved around to rejoin the others. When I arrived, I found Danielle working on Naomi, checking her thoroughly for any injuries as she began to come around. When I arrived, Dani said, 'She's going to be OK, Lee, and the baby is fine, too. They used some chloroform on her. It knocked her out, but shouldn't have any effect on the baby at all.'

The girls were somewhat shocked as Rick and I both sat back to back near them, cradling our rifles, calmly eating jerky while we kept watch and waited for the sheriff to arrive.

An hour later, Ralph arrived with the cavalry. We gave him a mission debrief and led him to the bodies. We also told him where the two snipers should be found. At first, Ralph thought we were a little paranoid after our encounter, or that we were having flashbacks mixed with the real situation. He changed his mind when I walked him out to the first body. It was almost perfectly concealed, and was in the prone position with the rifle still tucked into shooting position. I noted that his target had been Naomi.

While we were walking out to the next position, Ralph seemed to get more doubtful as the distance from the clearing increased. When we reached the spot, Ralph said, 'Lee, this has to be at least 900 yards from the clearing. Are you sure it was this far out?'

I said automatically, 'The distance is 950 meters, or roughly 1050 yards from the clearing. There is a slight cross wind from right to left, and the elevation is slightly uphill. The day is hot and dry, so humidity is not a problem.'

Ralph stared at me for a minute, then realized that I was simply cataloging information and relaying it back to him.

I said, 'He should be just beneath this tree.' As we came around the bushes, we found the second body. It was just like the first. Cammies, no ID, expensive gun, throat mike, and dead in the prone firing position.'

Ralph looked at the body, then at the clearing over half a mile away. He said, 'Lee, tell me something. Exactly what were you trained to do during the war?'

I said, 'Sniper. Trained in countersniper fire. I was also given other training.'

Ralph said, 'Uh-huh. I don't even want to know what the other training was for. I'll sleep better for not knowing. Just remind me to save my money if you enter any of the local shooting contests. We got some damned good shots in this county, but they'd all take a back seat to you.'

I said, 'If you take his weapons, I'll carry the body back so we can get it out of here.' I handed him the dead man's weapons and picked up the body in a fireman's carry. We began to walk back to the clearing where the others were. By the time we arrived, they had already recovered the other body and had it stowed on one of the vehicles for transport. There were a lot of tarp covered bodies on the back of the one vehicle.

Ralph said, 'I expected some bodies, but this is ridiculous. The two of you went through these guys like they weren't even there. Do you realize that the two of you have racked up more bodies than the department usually handles in a year, and that figure includes deaths from the traffic accidents?'

I said, 'We didn't start a war.'

Ralph said, 'Nope. But you sure finished this one for them. Mind you, I'm not complaining. They started it, and you even tried to take some of them alive when you could. And they not only tried to kidnap and kill the women, they even tried to kill two of my deputies.'

Rick said, 'We do well at self defense, but we do better at self preservation.'

The deputy and security personnel that had accompanied Ralph were still standing back from us, giving us some room.

I said, 'There was no ID on any of them. That rules out the innocent hunters who decided to take advantage of the female hikers who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time theory. Do you have any alternatives besides the one I've reached?'

Rick said, 'Dead on target. Call it.'

Ralph said, 'I ain't quite sure what he just said, but the safe money's on you two, so that's where I'm sticking.'

I said, 'Things will probably cool down for a while. They don't have unlimited resources, and even if they could afford to lose more professionals, they can't risk any more large scale activity in this area for a while or they'll have more media attention than they could possibly deal with. They won't go for any grand plays again, at least not for a while, but they will probably keep up the surveillance and harassment.'

Ralph said, 'What is so important about what you are doing? All you are doing is trying to get people to prepare and take care of themselves.'

I smiled sadly, and said, 'The problem, Ralph, is that the truth shall set you free. Those in charge want to remain in charge. They know that once you are free, and you learn that not only can you take care of yourself, but that it makes you feel good about yourself, you won't want to sit back and let them dictate the rest of your life for you. As long as you believe the lies that they know what is best for you, that they can protect you and keep you safe, that you can't do things for yourself, you will follow them.'

Ralph said, 'And the worst thing is that we don't even know who these guys work for. It may be the government, or some rogue unit operating illegally but still using their credentials for cover when they can, or it may simply be somebody else.'

I said, 'Well, we know one thing for sure.'

Rick said, 'What's that?'

I said, 'We know that they have good funding and that they don't mind committing illegal activities. No matter who they are, they are not above the law.'

Ralph smirked, and said, 'At least not when they come up against the wrong folks. I just wonder how many other folks weren't so lucky, or so skilled.'

I said, 'In a country like ours, one is too many. Let's get the women back and get moving before the stench of these bodies gets any worse. The heat isn't doing them any good.'

Ralph said, 'Yeah. We can talk on the way back. I don't think that I'm going to like what I hear, but you can't hide from the truth and still call yourself a man. You gotta stand for something.'

Rick said, 'I think the trouble is that they changed the meaning of that phrase on you as far as most people are concerned. They'll stand for a lot, as long as they aren't forced to stand up for something and stand up for themselves.'

Ralph said, 'You know, Rick, you're right. And that's a shame. Every man who thinks like that should be ashamed.'

I said, 'They should be, but they won't. Not when they've been taught that as long as they feel good about themselves, nothing else matters. It's always easier to believe that and take the easy way out than it is to actually show some backbone and accept responsibility for your own life.'

Ralph said, 'What do you mean about responsibility?'

I said, 'For each right you claim, you have certain responsibilities attached. What people don't realize is that if you give up your responsibilities, you have to lose some portion of the rights that they went with. If you allow the government to accept responsibility for your entire life, what rights can you legitimately retain? The only people who believe that you can retain rights without retaining responsibility are irresponsible juvenile delinquents or those who have failed to mature.'

Ralph said, 'I never thought of it that way, but you sure described every adult troublemaker that I have had to deal with in the last five years. A bunch of spoiled, overgrown brats who expect something for nothing. No wonder our society seems to be going down the tubes.'

Rick said, 'It'll only get worse unless somebody takes a stand and manages to stop it. I only hope that it's not too late. Our society may not be worth saving before too long.'

Chapter 10

When we got back to our place, Danielle insisted on going into town and helping perform the autopsies. We tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted. I finally agreed, not only because of her experience in the field during epidemics in other parts of the world, but because she insisted that doing this would make sure that she knew all of these guys were really dead. I figured that she should work things out in her own way.

Danielle checked Naomi out, and said that there was no sign of injury and that she wasn't suffering from too much stress or shock to her system. Kristin and Rick agreed to stay at our place to look after Naomi, so I went into town with Danielle and Ralph. The three of us drove in my Suburban so we could talk. Ralph's deputy drove the sheriff's 4X4 truck back to town, following the truck that we had loaded the bodies into.

I had stripped off my ghillie suit at the house, and was not wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans, and a black denim jacket. All were well worn and soft black, almost a dark gray in color. Naomi always joked that it was my attempt to do a cheap imitation of Marlon Brando in leathers as the outlaw biker. It was functional, blended in well in the streets, worked in the woods, especially at night, and the jacket concealed my shoulder holster. Although as a deputy I could have carried my gun openly, I preferred to carry it concealed so that those who were less observant would receive a nasty surprise if I was forced to use it.

Ralph said, 'Lee, I notice you don't seem too upset by all the killing.'

I looked at him. Evidently, something about the way I looked at him made him somewhat nervous.

Ralph said, 'Don't get me wrong. I don't think that you're one of them nuts who enjoys it, or someone who doesn't feel anything at all when he kills someone. It's just that there isn't much visible reaction to it, so I assume, especially with your service history, that this isn't the first time. That's all. I was wondering how you handle it. So far, I've had to shoot a few people, but they all lived. I've never had to deal with knowing that I've killed somebody, so I was curious.'

I said, 'Some people don't handle it well. Others deal with it. In war, it wasn't usually a problem because they were armed, and they were trying to kill me. This was pretty much the same thing.'

Dani said, 'You mean that this was just like war to you, Lee?' There was a note of concern in her voice.

I said, 'In some ways, yes. They were operating like it was a military strike. Take certain targets prisoner for use as bait or trade. Take certain targets out because they were a threat to the success of the mission. The snipers were there to kill us if we gave them a clear shot after the snatch went bad. Both of them were targeted on Naomi's unconscious body when I checked them out. Even if they missed whoever ran out to help her, they would have killed her.'

Dani shuddered. Ralph looked at me with a shocked look on his face. He said, 'You mean that they would have shot her in cold blood while she was lying there unconscious?'

I said, 'Yes. And whoever was trying to rescue her would probably have been gut shot so that they would draw someone else out.'

Dani said, 'Lee, what made it so easy for you to kill them?'

I said, 'It wasn't easy. It was necessary. They were going to kill Naomi, and probably Kristin and you as well. They had to be stopped, so we did.'

Dani said, 'So, in order to protect us, you had the right to kill them? Why?'

I said, 'Legally, the fact that Rick and I were both deputies meant that we had the right to stop any felonies that we saw. Even if we weren't deputies, we would still have that right. Being deputies, it was also our duty. Now, you three girls had rights, but those guys disregarded that and decided to break the law and endanger your lives with their actions. When they made that decision, they gave up some of their rights. One in particular.'

Ralph said, 'Which right did they give up in particular, Lee?'

I said, 'The right to determine for themselves whether they lived or died. When you choose an action, like kidnapping and attempted murder, it has consequences. One of those consequences is that you may die during the commission of your crimes, or may be put to death by society either while being apprehended for, or after being convicted of committing those same crimes.'

Ralph said, 'It almost sounds like you believe that if you choose to commit some crime, you automatically lose some of your rights in this society.'

I said, 'You do. You have the same rights as everyone else to protection from crime, to be safe in your own home, and to be treated as an equal member in this society. Equal doesn't always work out to be the same, but you can't make apples equal to oranges in real life. When you choose to commit a crime, you choose to violate the rights of others. They have not chosen to give up their rights to freedom, safety, and protection, so their rights have to take precedence over yours.'

Ralph said, 'How do you figure that, Lee?'

'Simple. If two people, each claiming certain rights, are in conflict, you have to weigh their claims to those rights. One is a law-abiding member of society. He has done nothing to break the contract with society which guarantees him protection as a member of that society. The other is committing criminal activities and violating the rights of others. Not only the rights of his victim, but the rights of all the other members of the society not to have to be threatened by the activities of those who refuse to live by the rules they established to keep everyone as safe and happy as possible. Justice demands that the rights of the society, and especially those of the intended victim, must take precedence over those of the criminal. If that means that he dies, it was the result of his own actions. Nobody forced him to make the choice he did. When he assumed the right to make that choice, he assumed the responsibility for his actions and the consequences of those actions. That's what happened out there today. They made a choice, and were forced to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions.'

Dani said, 'So are you saying that everything in life is a choice?'

I said, 'Yes. Right now I choose to obey the traffic laws and drive on the side of the road that is accepted as the correct one. In England, it would be the wrong side of the road. If I chose to drive in the other lane, that would be a bad choice, especially if a big truck was coming the other way.'

Ralph smiled, and said, 'Choose wisely, grasshopper.'

I said, 'Exactly.' Then we both began to laugh. Dani still looked somewhat confused, but more at our joke than the conversation.

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When we arrived at the county hospital, there was a big commotion. They had never had to handle that many corpses at one time before. Ralph took the doctor in charge off to one side and spoke to him for a minute, then came back over to where Dani and I were standing.

The doctor took charge, getting the orderlies and nurses to help us load the bodies onto gurneys and wheel them down to the morgue. They took them down three at a time, placing the bodies into the morgue coolers before returning for the next load. It took almost half an hour, but the place wasn't busy, so we didn't have to worry about a crowd. Ralph had called one of the local TV stations, and was using the crew to film the bodies before we removed them. He also took a 35 mm camera into the hospital to get photos of the bodies before the autopsies began so we could try to identify them.

After the transfer was completed, the camera crew left, telling Ralph that they would have his copies made and send them over to the office. Ralph told the deputy to call his relief in and go home for the day and rest, because tomorrow would still be busy since it was the fourth of July. There would be drunks, fights, injuries from fireworks, accidents, and possibly an accidental drowning or two. The deputy left without complaint. He was visibly wiped out from the excitement and the shock of the day's events.

When we arrived in the morgue, Dani and the other doctor, who was introduced to me as Dr. Lister, had already set up the first two corpses for autopsy. They each had an attendant, and had removed the clothing, saving it for evidence. Dr. Lister started in on the sheriff as soon as he entered the room.

'Ralph, you said that there was a bad traffic accident. This man died of a gunshot wound. From the powder burns on his clothing, I would say that he was shot at about six feet with a high powered rifle.'

I said, 'It was four and a half feet, but you won't find the bullet. It ended up in one of the others after it passed completely through him. It might have deflected off of his spinal cord because I had to rush the shot and he was moving at the time.'

Dr. Lister was practically screaming, 'That's murder! Sheriff, aren't you going to do something?'

Ralph smiled, and said, 'Harry, the deputy had to defend himself. There were nine heavily armed men who were caught in the commission of multiple felonies against the persons of three women. One of those women was the lovely young doctor standing behind you at the other table. There were two deputies on the scene, and the nearest help was over an hour away. The deputies acted in self defense. The criminals underestimated the abilities of my deputies. I don't think that they'll ever do that again, do you?'

Harry deflated immediately. He said, 'You should have told me. I'm sorry if I offended you, deputy, or you, doctor.'

I said, 'No problem. Call me Lee.'

Danielle smiled sweetly, and said, 'No offense taken, doctor. Please, call me Danielle. I hate all of that doctor, doctor nonsense. It's so confusing.'

Harry said, 'Thank you. Please, call me Harry. It beats the hell out of the nickname the staff calls me behind my back.'

I saw one of the attendants flush slightly, and the other took several seconds clearing his throat. Obviously, Harry didn't let on around the staff that he knew about his nickname very often.

They began the autopsies after Ralph finished shooting a roll of film on each of the corpses so he had all angles and could get pictures of any tattoos or scars. Danielle looked at me as she began to make the Y incision to open the chest on her first autopsy. She said, 'This could get pretty bad, Lee. Are you sure that you want to stay?'

I said, 'I've seen worse. Don't worry about me.'

Danielle gave me a funny look for a second. She seemed about to say something, then decided not to. Some things really were left better to the imagination. I always did say that she learned fast.

It took about two hours for each autopsy, since we already knew the cause of death, and we didn't have the money or facilities to do large numbers of tox screens anyway. After the first four were done, they took a break to get something to eat and rest for a while.

We went to the cafeteria and had supper. The food was pretty good. At a hospital this small, it had to be. Most of the food went to feed the staff. Harry let the first two attendants go home and said that their relief would help them finish the work. They were happy to go. They had seen autopsies before, but the effects that the shock wave of a bullet has as it passes through tissues are drastically different from those seen with a traffic accident. Some of the internal organs had been really torn up.

Danielle commented on that. She said, 'I've seen the films of the autopsies from the hemorrhagic fever patients, and of course from the monkeys. Their organs are mush, except for the kidneys, which turn into rocks. But I've never seen that much damage from something so minor. I mean, the bullets you use aren't THAT big, Lee. How do you explain how they do so much damage?'

I said, 'Shock wave. The velocity of the bullet transfers the energy into what is essentially a big container of jello. And I use hollow points, so they don't penetrate as readily and expand more on impact. The exit wounds can be pretty large.'

Harry said, 'You can say that again. What were you using? I've seen footage of wounds from a 30.06 and a .30-30 in the course of training, but they don't make wounds like that.'

I said, 'I used a .45-70 rifle.'

Ralph said, 'A buffalo rifle?'

I said, 'Yeah, they used to call the old Sharps model that.'

Harry said, 'That has a lot of range, doesn't it?'

I said, 'It depends on how you load your bullets, and how much pressure your barrel can take on a regular basis. Of course, breech pressure is also a concern.'

Harry said, 'So what was the farthest you've had it shoot accurately?'

Ralph said, 'One of those in the morgue was taken out at 950 meters.'

Harry did the conversion in his head quickly. Rounding up to a kilometer, that meant that the shot had hit the target while it was 5/8 of a mile away. He did not look like a happy camper at that thought.

Harry thought it over for a minute, and said, 'Lee, I have to ask this. If someone was over half a mile away, why did you have to shoot them?'

I said, 'He had a sniper rifle and was targeted on my wife. It was him or her. I chose her.'

Harry smiled, looked at Danielle, and said, 'Wise choice.'

Danielle blushed, at the compliment or at the doctor mistaking her for my wife. Ralph bailed us out by explaining that my wife was at home with the other lady and the other deputy. Dani was my wife's best friend, and the two of us had come along with Dani to make sure she was safe, and to complete official business.

Harry lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing. We all resumed eating. When the two attendants showed up, we went back to the morgue. It was late before the last autopsy was completed. Ralph had all the official preliminary reports, the photos, and the fingerprints from the corpses. Harry had promised to send him dental records and any X-rays which might prove helpful in identifying the bodies. Ralph's deputy picked him up at the hospital to drive him back to the office to pick up his vehicle. Dani and I climbed into the Suburban and drove back to the homestead. We were both tired, so we didn't talk much. When we got home, we all went straight to bed.

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I slept in the next morning, getting up around 6:30. By the time I was dressed and in the kitchen, everyone else was already up and Naomi had breakfast ready. She insisted on doing as much of the cooking as possible because she loved cooking. She did occasionally allow me to fix a stir fry or make myself some spicy food. She also enjoyed spicy food, but didn't like it quite as hot as I did.

As I sat down at the table, Naomi placed a huge omelet in front of me. She said, 'Here is a special treat that I fixed especially for you, Lee. I hope you enjoy it.'

Just as I was starting to eat, Dani walked in, demanding to know what smelled so good. Seeing my plate, she said, 'Lee, I'm starving. Share some of that with me, please.'

I said, 'Dani, I don't know...'

She said, 'Oh, come on, Lee. Don't be so stingy. Don't you know that it's nice to share?'

I smiled, and let her carve off a section of my omelet and slide it onto her own plate. I had tried to warn her. I began to dig in, enjoying the wonderful taste of the omelet. Dani took a bite off of the edge, and said, 'This is the best omelet that I've ever eaten. What's in it that makes it taste so good?'

Hearing her comment, Kristin spun around, her eyes wide with shock. She started to say something, but Rick covered her mouth with his hand and shushed her. Naomi turned around to see what was going on, then stopped the cooking by moving the pan over onto the warmer. She got out some milk, cheese, and crackers from the refrigerator, knowing that she would need them in a minute.

After the second bite, Dani went for the interior of the omelet. At first, the flavor was even more exquisite, but then her mouth began to burn. As the fire intensified, Dani stopped eating, and began to reach for her water.

I grabbed her hand to stop her, saying, 'Water will only make the burn intensify. Naomi has something for you.'

Naomi sat the glass of milk and the cheese and crackers in front of Dani. Dani tore into them in a very unladylike manner. After about five minutes of drinking milk and eating cheese and crackers, she was OK.

Dani glared at me, and said, 'You might have warned me, Lee. What are you trying to do, kill me?'

I said, 'I tried to warn you, Dani, but you didn't let me finish. Naomi made me a special surprise because it is one of my favorites. It is an omelet with extra sharp cheddar cheese, feta cheese, portabello mushrooms, onions, some chopped nuts, hot Italian sausage, and, of course, peppers.'

Dani said, 'The hot sausage makes it that hot?'

I said, 'No. The peppers do. They also combine with the nuts to give it that rich, nutty flavor that goes so well with the mushrooms, onions, and cheese.'

Dani said, 'What kind of peppers do you use?'

Naomi said, 'Habanero peppers. They're Lee's favorite. He always said it was because of the flavor. It took me years to get used to them enough to taste them through the fire and find out that he was right. They're great in cooking, as long as you cook them in something with enough cheese to keep the oils from cooking off into the air. Otherwise, it's like being in a room filled with pepper spray.'

Dani said, 'I can imagine. Where have Rick and Kristin gone off to? Weren't they just here?'

I laughed, and said, 'Yes, they were. Right about now, Rick is running for his life. He stopped Kristin from warning you about the omelet. He would have been alright if he hadn't started snickering at the way you went through the stuff to cut the fire in your mouth. When he started laughing, she stopped watching you and started after him. Something about being an insensitive brute who didn't know how to treat a lady properly. He tore out of here, but he was still laughing, so she stayed right on his tail. Enjoy your breakfast. They won't be back for a while, especially if he lets her catch him.'

Danielle and Naomi both laughed at the thought of Rick letting Kristin catch him so she could pound on him until they ended up wrestling around on the grass. I resumed eating, and Naomi told Danielle that she would make her another omelet. Dani was stubborn, though, saying that this one was so great that she wanted to finish some more of it. Naomi looked hesitant until I suggested that I give Dani all of the edge of my part in exchange for the center of hers. That way, she could eat the milder portions without getting all of the peppers. She agreed, so we split the omelet up equitably and resumed eating while Naomi fixed another for us to split as well.

We were just getting started on the second omelet when Rick and Kristin returned. Rick saw Danielle eating the omelet, and said, 'I win. I told you that she would go ahead and try to eat the thing anyway.'

Danielle smiled, and said, 'This is our second. We already finished the first.'

Kristin jumped up and down, thumping Rick on the back. She said, 'HA! I win! I told you that she would eat it.'

Rick grimaced. I knew that he had made a big wager. Something major. Like doing the dishes for a week. He said, 'Lee, how could you do this to me?'

I said, 'Don't blame me. It's Naomi's cooking. Besides, you know how good this thing tastes. You've eaten it often enough over the years. I never heard you complaining about the taste before. Sometimes you'd complain about the heat, but you never said anything about it tasting bad.'

Naomi said, 'If he's going to start complaining about my cooking, he can fix his own.'

Rick said, 'Naomi, honey, you know that I would never say a mean word about your cooking. I adore your cooking. It's the best cooking on the planet. It's so wonderful that...'

Kristin punched him in the ribs. 'You said that my cooking was the best you had ever eaten. Why you big oaf. I'll bet you'd lie to your own grandmother just to get someone to cook something to fill your big belly.'

Rick said, 'Well, it would depend. Grandma wasn't a really good cook on most things, but.... Wait a minute, I don't have a big belly. I am fit and trim.'

Danielle said, 'Yes, he is. He may be a little thick headed, but as his doctor I can certify that he is not overweight.'

Rick bowed to her, and said, 'Thank you, doctor, for confirming my fitness.'

Kristin and Naomi started giggling at him. After a few seconds, the rest of Dani's comment registered on Rick. He said, 'Wait a minute. What do you mean by calling me thick headed? I 'll have you know that...'

The whole room was erupting into laughter by this time. I said, 'Hang it up, buddy. They got you surrounded and outgunned.'

Rick sat down beside me, saying, 'It's not a fair fight.'

I said, 'I agree. Do you know why?'

Rick smiled, and said, 'Because none of the ladies are thick headed.'

While we were all laughing, I noticed that Rick managed to abscond with about half of my omelet, which was probably his plan all along.

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We spent the rest of the day relaxing and having fun on the holiday. We went down to the park area and joined the other families in the festivities. The celebration was even bigger than the Memorial Day party, and the fireworks display at the end of the evening was much better as well.

The ladies received a lot of attention from people who were concerned that they had not been injured the previous day. Rick and I received some glances, but were generally left alone except by those who knew us. After a few hours, some of the others started to relax around us as well. We were all tired, so we didn't compete in many events. We did take some time to play darts. We were all fairly evenly matched, so the games were fun and exciting.

At the end of the day, we watched the fireworks. I noticed that all of the girls seemed somewhat misty eyed as they watched them. I said, 'Penny for your thoughts.'

Naomi said, 'I was just thinking about how much our freedom means, and why we still celebrate this holiday. Even those who don't understand it any more still realize that this is a special day.'

Kristin said, 'Yeah. I was just thinking about how much they went through to keep themselves free, and to make sure that their descendants would inherit the gift that they had paid so much for.'

Dani said, 'I was just thinking about all the costs that we still have to pay to keep it. Sometimes the price seems so high.'

Rick said, 'Do you think that the price is too high for what you get?'

Dani said, 'No, I don't. I don't think that any price would be too high, as long as we can keep the freedom that we've won. I just wonder how long we can keep it.'

I said, 'Just as long as there are enough people who are willing to fight for it, no matter what the cost. When there aren't that many, the rest don't deserve any better than what they have allowed themselves to live with.'

Naomi said, 'I hope it never comes to that.'

I said, 'Dreams die hard, but they can die.'

Kristin said, 'Do you ever think this dream will die, Lee?'

I said, 'It could, someday, but that would be a long way off. It would take every person who held that dream, and every person who had ever seen the promise of that dream to lose it completely or die before it would happen.'

Dani said, 'What then?'

I said, 'Some dreams won't stay dead. They may die down, but they stay there like land infected with anthrax. Sooner or later somthing is going to come across that land and bring it back to life. Then it blazes forth again, drawing others like moths to a flame.'

Naomi said, 'I like that image. Freedom is a shining light that may fade, but never dies completely. And when it is needed most, it will grow again and surge forth, spreading the dream until it becomes reality once again.'

Dani said, 'That's a beautiful image.'

Kristin said, 'Yeah, that's really something to live for.'

The mood was so wonderful that I kept my thoughts to myself. I didn't have the heart to tell them that the image they had described was what so many had given their lives for. Something is of real value only if it has meaning. The reason that our freedom was so precious was because of the value that others had given it. They paid the cost by giving their lives so that their loved ones could enjoy the prize. And there were people who not only knew this, and appreciated it, but who would do whatever they could to make sure that their sacrifice had not been in vain, as it would not be forgotten.

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We had the next day off, so we relaxed again, resting up for the busy week ahead. The meeting for this week had been canceled, so the next meeting wasn't until July 12th. Just after lunch, Naomi, Danielle, and Kristin all came to me while I was sitting on the back patio enjoying the sun. The way they marched up, I knew that they had something on their mind.

Danielle said, 'We have been talking between ourselves, and we think that you've been holding out on us. We want you to train us, and we want you to do it right. You and Rick are much better than we will probably ever be, but Kristin and I should have done better against those guys the other day. They shouldn't have been able to take us totally by surprise, or to take us out that easily. You said that we were getting good at self defense. What gives, Lee?'

I said, 'You are getting good, but getting better will take months or even years of hard, dedicated practice. Those guys were professionals. They weren't the best, but they were real good at what they do. You may not ever be able to become that good, even if you have the potential, simply because you won't have the time to train that long and that hard. We can make you better, and we can train you in close quarters combat, if that is what you want.'

Dani said, 'Yes, we want that. We also want you to teach us how to use a pistol and a knife effectively in combat. Not target shooting. Combat shooting. And we want you to work us like you would if you were going into combat and your life depended on us covering your back. OK?'

I said, 'OK, if that's what you want, but Naomi does not participate in the hand to hand combat training with you.'

Naomi said, 'Lee! What do you mean. I'm better than either of them. Why won't you train me? Is it because I'm your wife?'

I said, 'Nope. It's because you're pregnant, and the training is too rough at this level.'

Naomi said, 'Why don't we let Dani decide that, since she's our medical expert?'

I said, 'This once, I'll agree. But let's get this straight right now. Once training starts, what I say goes until the training session is over. Sometimes I will explain why I tell you to do something, but other times I expect immediate compliance with all of my orders unless you don't understand them and wish clarification. Is that understood?'

All three of them snapped to attention, saluted, and said, 'Yes, sir!'

I said, 'And another thing. You are not going to be parade ground soldiers. I don't ever want to see any of you come to attention or salute anyone, especially in the field, without a direct order from me. It's a good way to get a superior officer killed by marking him for enemy snipers. Do you understand?'

All three of the girls relaxed some, and said, 'Yes, honey. Whatever you say, dear.'

I motioned Dani and Kristin out onto the dirt area we had been using as a mat for self defense training. It was a square of soft grass about 10 meters on a side. When they were there, I said, 'This is to show you why we didn't start on close quarters combat. I will stand here, and I want both of you to attack me in any way you choose. I will warn you that this will be rough, and there will be times when you will regret your decision, just as there will be times when you want to kill me. Join the club.'

Kristin came at me from the side, trying to do a punch-kick combination. I moved my head, grabbed her arm, and began dropping as I executed a sweep. I let her hit the ground hard as I knocked both of her legs out from under her and held onto her arm to prevent her from catching herself. As soon as she hit, I released her and went forward, springing up and into Dani as she was trying to come up behind me. I hit her in the solar plexus with a light punch, then grabbed her arm and wrist and used my hip to throw her over and into the ground. She landed on her butt hard enough to drive what little air she had left right out of her.

I immediately began to come toward them, and both girls gave me the signal we had set up to stop during our previous training. Kristin shouted hers, but Dani had to use the hand signal because she still wasn't breathing. I walked over, picked Dani up, and made sure that she was starting to breathe OK. Then I went over and helped Kristin stand up. She was limping slightly because she had landed wrong and banged her hip. Dani had hit hard too, but she had landed on her butt, so the muscle and fat absobed the shock of the impact.

I said, 'You let yourselves be surprised, and failed to remember the techniques you had been taught.'

Kristin said, 'You just moved too fast for me. There was no way to hit you.'

I said, 'I was referring to your landing. You have been trained on how to fall and take the impact without injuring yourself. You didn't do it. Now you have a reminder so you won't forget again any time soon.'

Kristin grimaced, and said, 'Don't I know it.'

I turned to Dani. She was starting to breathe normally again. I said, 'Well, doctor, what is your professional opinion regarding Naomi doing this kind of training in her condition?'

Dani wheezed, 'No way. This is way too rough. Lee definitely does not play nice with others when he means business.'

I said, 'This is practice, which is more controlled. Lethal punches are pulled, and you don't follow up once you have your opponent down. When this kind of fighting gets serious, people die. This is the kind of fighting that does so much damage that it is possible to kill someone by causing so much damage that even a trauma unit is unable to do anything to save them.'

Dani said, 'You mean that they can't save them if they don't get there soon enough?'

'No. I mean that they would die even if the injury occurred inside the operating room with the trauma team standing by to take over as soon as they hit the floor. This is a killing art. You kill so that you or your loved ones may survive. You will learn the techniques as long as you continue to study. If you choose to stop, we won't hold it against you. It is one thing to shoot someone and know that you are responsible for his death. It is much more personal when you use a knife and feel him dying on your hand. And it is even more personal when you rip the life out of another person with your bare hands. Some people can't handle that. There is no disgrace in being unable to bring yourself to do this. Better that than finding out later that you can't deal with the results when you have to use it.'

'Naomi may watch, but she may not practice with another person while she is pregnant. I don't intend for her to miscarry. She will learn the knife and pistol fighting, and she will continue to practice her skills on the rifle. After the baby is born and she has recovered, she may start this training if she wishes.'

Dani said, 'Lee, where did you learn how to do this? I've seen a lot of guys who served in the military, and a lot of them saw combat. But I've never seen any of them fight like that. It's almost like a killing machine looking for the most efficient and economical method of completing its assigned task.'

I said, 'If you must know, Rick and I were in the Phoenix Project during the war. You don't know what that means, so I will explain it. We went behind enemy lines and killed people. Some we fought, some we kidnapped and interrogated, and some we assassinated. We did not work directly under military supervision. Our supervisor gave us missions and mission parameters. We worked for the CIA, and sometimes we had to take along experts that they assigned to us.'

'We broke mission parameters once. That was the mission that Kristin's brother died on. We were supposed to leave any badly wounded and head for the extraction site. If the wounded knew too much, we had orders to kill them before letting them get captured. We didn't make the extraction on time because we moved too slow with the wounded. We should have left two of them behind, but we didn't. We had to hike out for three days before we could reach a safe extraction site. If they had responded to our calls, we could have been picked up two days sooner. They thought we were dead until the survivors marched into his office. He went to the hospital, and we got a new supervisor. This one didn't ever ignore a call for extraction. He had a wife, kids, and a mistress, and he wanted to enjoy them after the war.'

Dani said, 'Is that the reason you picked the name "Phoenix" for this project?'

I said, 'Partly. I was young and stupid. I believed that this country was worth fighting for. Worth preserving. Maybe it will be again. Anyway, I chose Phoenix because no matter how many times that bird seems to be dead, it always rises again. Just like the dream of freedom. At least as long as there are still some of us around who believe it's worth fighting for. And dying for, if necessary.'

The girls didn't know what to say. Naomi took them inside while I went for a short run. I didn't have time to run off all of the emotion before I had to get back to work, but I could take off the edge before I had to return and get cleaned up.

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Training intensified beginning the next day. Once some of the security personnel found out what was going on, we had to start giving some of them classes as well. Most of those who were interested were those who had had more time in the military.

We spent part of the week harvesting and processing some of the stuff from our garden. Naomi had started a lot of plants indoors, and had transplanted the seedlings. We not only had lettuce and green onions, but we also had tomatoes, peppers, and some other produce. I dried a lot of the tomatoes and peppers, while the others worked on making and canning salsa, tomatoes, and tomato juice, and pickling some peppers and some eggs.

Next, Rick and I killed some chickens and then helped prepare them so they could be canned as well. Since we didn't know what we wanted to use the meat in, we decided to debone them as we prepared them so we wouldn't have to worry about pressure canned chicken bones in anything we made with the meat.

Rick and I had also volunteered to help slaughter some of the hogs at the end of the summer. We went over the plans we had for a smokehouse and decided on what we wanted it to be able to hold. We knew that we would have chickens, sheep, and goats of our own to process, so we wanted to get it built and checked out before we needed to put it to use. Harvest time would start to creep up on us before too long, and we needed to make the preparations well in advance so we didn't get caught short.

The summer had been going fairly well so far. It was hot, but not dry enough where we were to make growing our crops a problem. We had no problems with drought, although there were other regions that could not make the same claim. We had small fields planted in various grains, which would produce more than enough for the five of us and seed for next year. The orchards were doing well, and the spots that Naomi had chosen for the various berry patches were perfect. We should have a fairly large crop of berries coming in as well.

Kristin and Danielle had questioned our use of so much land as a melon patch when we had been putting it in, but after tasting dehydrated canteloupe, honeydew, and watermelon, they had been eager to enlarge the patch. I had calmed them down some with the reminder that dehydrated melon still retained all the calories and fiber, and would have the same effect if they ate too much of it at one time. But the thought of having fresh tasting, delicious melons and berries all year round had kept them happy.

They also agreed to help Naomi put up preserves, jams, and jellies from the fruits and watermelon rinds so that they wouldn't run out of spread. They found that they didn't miss maple syrup when they could use corn syrup or spreads on their pancakes and waffles. I had also shown them how we could mix corn syrup with fruit juices to get the various syrups in flavors they loved, and how they could even mix fruit with yogurt to use on their pancakes. For a while, all they seemed to want to eat was pancakes and waffles in as many different ways as possible. If it hadn't been for the side dishes of meat, Rick and I would have had to supplement our diet with jerky or MREs just to get some variety. But things settled down after a while, and our diet returned to normal. We ate mostly what was fresh and in season, with supplements from our stores of things that were preserved or canned.

We were settling into our new lifestyle, working on the crops and tending to the animals while still training and going to work to make sure that things went along with distribution and direct sales. Rick and I were mostly grunt labor as far as the report went, though we did do our share in maintaining the contacts with the groups we had met on our trip and some of the more reliable groups they had located as well.

Naomi's pregnancy was starting to show, and all the ladies were starting to talk about baby showers. There were a few others who were pregnant, so they had lots to talk about and plan for. The sense of community was growing steadily, and there had already been talk of building at least one church so that everyone who wanted could attend together. They had even worked out a schedule to allow the church to be used by different groups who wanted their own services.

Dan soon found himself in the position of not only being the boss while at work, but of being the equivalent of a small town mayor when he wasn't in his office. At first, the job seemed daunting, but then he realized that most of the people just wanted to feel like they were important enough to be heard, and that most of the problems they wanted him to address were simple enough to delegate to the proper person or let work out on their own. His wife was more perceptive, and did her best to keep any cliques from forming that would divide the people more than necessary. The fact that all able-bodied adults were required to drill in the defense force, and that they had to function as units helped keep the people working together.

Most of the homesteads were running pretty smoothly by now. The dairy had also been put into production now, since the calves and kids were old enough to start eating grass. The orchards, vineyard, and berry patches that the community had were also showing good promise for the harvest this year.

The community gardens were doing well, especially with the irrigation system that John and his crew had designed and installed. The grain was also doing well, and surplus crops from the gardens were already being canned, preserved, or sold for cash.

There had been some more problems with harassment of some of the groups involved in distributing information, but it was still mostly confined to those who were actually making sales in the community or going to the gun shows. Demand for the books had gone up so much in several areas that the groups were already printing some of their own orders to supplement the orders that we shipped to them. We had made it past the fourth of July, and there had been no major problems. Of course, we expected that to change when the various state governments started to leak information that they would be unable to meet the deadline for Y2K compliance, and that they would have some disruptions of essential services.

By watching the news closely, more and more senators seemed to be following the lead and covering their own butts. Their statements to the press were becoming more and more at odds with the official statements made by them in the name of the government, and we didn't think that it would be too long before the press would start questioning this discrepancy. We knew that we would be unable to avoid some problems and some panic by the public when they finally realized just how badly they had been lied to by the government. All we could do was hope that the reaction wasn't too bad, especially if they realized exactly how bad things could get.

Present indications were that the press had no idea, and wouldn' t be able to get the truth past their editors and owners if they did and decided to inform the public. They had spent so long shouting "Freedom of the press!" and "The public has a right to know!" that they had forgotten what the phrases even meant. Freedom of the press means the right of free speech, and that includes the right of those who hold dissenting views to be heard as well. The public has the right to know what is going on because they are the voters, and it is the right and the duty of the voters to make sure that their government represents their wishes. The press, by denying access to dissenting views, and by slanting their stories and articles to present things in the way they wanted them to be seen, had gone from the impartial observer relaying news of events to the public to the partial coconspirator, shaping public events and opinions to achieve the desired results.

Once you are in collusion with those you are supposed to keep watch over, you are no longer operating in the public interest, but in your own. As long as governmental regulations allowed them to prosper, and limited competition, the press said nothing of the restrictions placed on those who spread news which did not conform to the views espoused by the government propaganda machine. If anything, they came out in open attacks upon the credibility, the character, or even the personal life of those who would compete with them by telling the public the truth.

The lessons provided by the Nazis had not been totally in vain. Their propaganda machine survived, and was serving the U.S. government as faithfully today as many of the Nazi scientists had after being brought to America and given new identities, homes, and jobs after the war ended. The Liberal wing of the Democratic party was still espousing the same views and proposing the same laws that had ended up making Hitler into a household name.

No, there was no need to fear in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, as the clock counted down. There was no need to worry about the nation hurtling down the tracks like a train out of control, headed for the derailer. After all, our own government had told us that there was not a problem. Then they told us that there might be a problem, but they had everything under control. Then they told us that there was a problem, but that it wouldn't be too bad if we all just relaxed and enjoyed the ride. Then they said that the problem was bigger than they thought, but that we would all survive the crash if we just stuck together.

I was waiting for the rats, after having deserted the Titanic and making sure that they were safe, to inform the passengers that it was time to man the lifeboats because it was every man for himself. Of course, the fact that all the lifeboats were already gone could be explained. After all, in time of any crisis, the most important rule of survival is politicians and large corporate contributors first. Why should it be any different from any other time, when the hard working, law abiding, taxpaying citizen gets lied to and screwed over at every chance by the people whose very salary is paid by his taxes? After all, isn't the American dream to pay over half of what you earn to those who use your money to make you do things you don't want to with people you don't know? It's not like you're competent enough to decide how your own money should be spent. And it's not like you're intelligent enough to decide for yourself how your children should be educated. And it's not like you could run your own life if they didn't come in and tell you how to do it, is it? I mean, if you could do all of that, what would you need them for? Isn't that why you elected them, so they could use their superior abilities and superior intellects to determine what was best for you and then force you to do what was best for you whether you wanted to or not?

Yes, I had a feeling that things would start happening soon. The trouble in Bosnia or Kosovo would start up, and things would escalate. Things were already getting worse here in America, and I knew that Japan had to be doing everything they could to keep their faltering economy going for as long as possible, knowing that when their technology failed, their country would suffer devastation greater than it had ever known before. And whether they wanted to or not, they would probably drag the American economy down with them.

At some level, the street punks and lawless in our own society must have sensed this. There was an increase in violence and random destruction and vandalism. They had picked up on the fact that hard times were coming, no matter what the government said. They had also revised the motto, "Eat, drink, and be merry. For tomorrow we may die." and were living that motto out. The liberals had brought them up telling them that the most important thing was that they feel good about themselves, so they all concentrated on making sure that they felt good. After all, it wasn't their fault that they had only gotten half of the Liberal message. After all, the liberals were educated, and they had only gotten half of the message themselves.

For a society to succeed and endure, the message is that the most important thing is not what others think about you, as long as you feel good about yourself. Self esteem is the basic foundation upon which your character is built. If you value yourself, and do your best, and show the qualities of a person with good character, anyone who does not approve of you is not worth having as a friend, and their opinion is of no importance, so you should feel no need to impress them.

My own belief was that their opinion wouldn't mean much in a few months anyway. After all, if half the population was going to survive, that meant that those who lacked the skills and the common sense to survive would make up a large portion of the group that failed to survive. Of course, there was always the chance that they would totally overwhelm those who were independent enough to prepare. If that happened, the most likely conclusions were that our society would plummet into despotism or the depths of barbarism. I didn't consider either of these to be viable choices. Neither did a good many others, which was why we were working to try to prevent that from happening.

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