“Get ready, this might not be over,” shouted one of the resistance leaders. “Too many of the police have allowed this. Some helped with the checkpoints.”

  Men set up behind cars in the parking lot, aiming their guns at the main entrance, groups going to the other entrances, and then Boston PD arrived, stopping when they saw the citizens, men jumping out with Kevlar vests and assault rifles, an officer in the lead car getting on his loud speaker.

  “What happened here?”

  “The UN tried to execute everybody in the store, retribution for the checkpoint attacks,” yelled the man who fired the Stinger missile. “The even sent a chopper.” He nodded to the smoke a block away, where the Apache came down.

  Another officer of higher rank rushed over and took the mike. “You will surrender your weapons right now.”

  “Wanna bet,” the man yelled. “You guys allowed these animals to set up checkpoints all over the city. You allowed them to execute civilians. You’re done. Leave or be fired upon.”

  “The UN was asked to come in to restore order,” the officer said. “You will surrender your weapons at once.”

  “Screw this,” yelled somebody, firing, hitting the officer in the neck, the other police officers frozen in place, afraid to move a muscle.

  The first officer picked up the microphone, trembling. “I agree with the citizens here. The leadership of the Boston PD have committed treason. I, for one, will no longer go along with it.” He took off his badge and tossed it onto the street.

  “Me too,” shouted another officer, doing the same, and others joining in, cheers rising from the citizens.

  { 9 }

  Camry

  J aney sat in the residence section of the First Christian Church of Loch Broom, Carol and Ken there with her, Gerald coming in the door with a tray, holding four cups of coffee. He set it on the coffee table and sat next to Janey on the couch.

  “Thanks, Gerald,” Janey said, taking a cup, having a sip. “Do you think we got here without being noticed?”

  “Yes, I think so. I wish you’d stick around longer, but I understand.”

  “Our presence here is dangerous to you and your parish,” Carol said.

  “I don’t think you’ll be able to rent a car, but I’ve got an alternative,” Gerald said. “We take car donations. One of our members passed away recently, and left her car to us. I’ll give it to you. The title hasn’t been transferred to us yet, so it won’t come back to us. She doesn’t have a next-of-kin who can be punished, either. Perfect situation.”

  “I can pay you for it,” Carol said.

  “Nonsense, you are in need, and I agree that the Canadian Government must be made aware of the violence being staged from our country. That cannot stand.”

  “Does the car run well enough to get us to Quebec?” Ken asked.

  “It should, it’s only six years old. It’s a Toyota Camry.”

  Janey smiled. “Mom car. That’s good, thank you so much. We’ll repay you somehow.”

  “If you survive, give the car back to us when you no longer need it,” Gerald said.

  “Of course,” Carol said. “When can we leave?”

  “As soon as you’d like, the car is out in the back parking lot. Here’s the keys.” He pulled two key fobs out of his pocket. “I’d pay cash for gasoline if I were you.”

  “Yes, that’s a must,” Janey said. “Have you seen UN Peacekeepers around town?”

  “No, but Loch Broom is so tiny that we’re seldom bothered this late in the season.”

  “They might be here looking for us,” Ken said.

  “It’s possible, so be careful,” Gerald said. “What about the houseboat?”

  Janey looked at her mother. “Should we give him the keys?”

  “Fine by me,” Carol said. She fished them out of her purse and handed them to Gerald. “She’s in pretty good shape, but we don’t have clear title. It’s under the name of Janey’s father’s company. He might be dead now, we can’t raise him.” She broke down, crying for a moment, Gerald looking at Janey, helpless.

  “I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this,” he said. “I’ll pray for you.”

  “We should go,” Ken said, standing up.

  Carol got control of herself, and stood. “Thank you so much, Gerald. Good luck to you.”

  Janey got up, hugging Gerald tight for a moment. “Thank you, Gerald. We won’t tell them who helped us.”

  Gerald nodded. “If you get through this and the world goes back to normal, come see me again. I’ve missed you.”

  Janey nodded, then followed Ken and her mom out the door. They found the Camry, a silver sedan, looking a little dirty but otherwise good, Carol pushing the key fob button, the doors unlocking. They loaded their duffel bags into the trunk, Carol getting behind the wheel, Ken taking shotgun, Janey getting in the back, laying down to stay out of sight as they left the parking lot, getting onto the road.

  “How’s the gas?” Janey asked.

  “Full,” Carol said. “That was nice of them. You have feelings for Gerald, don’t you?”

  “Kinda,” Janey said. “It was really nice to see him. He comforts me. Always noticed that about him.”

  “He’s a cool dude,” Ken said. “I’ll start looking at routes while we’re still close to town. I suspect we won’t have cell coverage for long.”

  “Good idea,” Carol said.

  ***

  Sturm’s forearm ached after more than an hour of shooting, at the makeshift range in the basement of their new hideout. Claude came in with ear protectors on. Sturm set down his pistol. “I’m done for a while, we can go into the other room.”

  “Good,” Claude said, taking off the ear protectors, setting them by the door, Sturm doing the same. They sat on chairs in the main room, a TV screen showing the aftermath of the attempted executions at the Superstore in Boston.

  “What’s this?” Sturm asked.

  “Just happened. About fifty of our guys tried to execute employees and shoppers, retribution for the checkpoint attacks a couple nights ago. Citizens flooded in and stopped it.”

  “How many survived?”

  “Our side?” Claude asked. “None that I know of. A few might have run off un-noticed, I suppose. We need to rethink our strategy.”

  “How many citizens were killed?”

  “Last count I saw was just over a dozen.”

  Sturm leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. “They didn’t get control of the perimeter before they did this, did they?”

  “I don’t know what tactics they used,” Claude said, “but I doubt it mattered. Somebody posted about it on the resistance web site. They rallied several hundred armed citizens in about five minutes.”

  “Against fifty of our people?”

  “Yeah, and one of the US Army Apache helicopters, which they shot down. Somebody fired a Stinger missile, believe it or not.”

  “Dammit,” Sturm said. “The Apache could’ve stopped the resistance.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Claude said. “From the video I saw, most of our people were dead by the time the chopper showed up, and besides, you can’t control a large piece of ground with one chopper. Even an Apache.”

  Sturm got up, walking into the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee. Claude followed him in there.

  “How’s the shooting?”

  Sturm smiled. “Oh, I’ll be deadly after a couple weeks. Thank you for convincing me on this.”

  Claude nodded, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Heard from Sanchez since the re-supply?”

  “He sent me a text thanking us for it, but that’s it. No need to pay attention to him at this point. The Mayor won’t attack Headquarters, so we can trust Sanchez to hold things together.”

  “How about Mateo?”

  “His team was responsible for the execution attempt,” Sturm said.

  “You’re gonna land on him for it?”

  Sturm sighed. “No, I’m glad he tried, but he needs some help. I’ll provide some leadership on the ground. I know of some others who could be brought in to help too.”

  “So the hatchet is still buried,” Claude said. “I’m glad, for now. It’s the right play.”

  “No choice at this point,” Sturm said. “We’ll be lucky to win this.”

  “There are rumors that Saladin has flooded this area with his Islamist Fighters,” Claude said.

  Sturm laughed. “I don’t share the awe many hold for Saladin’s forces. Part of this is because Saladin is in command, of course.”

  “No offense, but I’d try to stay on his good side too,” Claude said. “For the same reason it’s good to cooperate with Mateo.”

  “Yes, that is wise, my friend,” Sturm said. “His men do add muscle. We just need to make sure he isn’t in command during the joint operations that are coming.”

  “We’ve already had some joint operations,” Claude said.

  Sturm nodded. “Yes, but they were barely coordinated. Our forces have different talents, which would complement each other if used correctly. We shouldn’t have the forces separate like we have so often in the past, and when we are together there needs to be clear leadership… one leader, not two or more.”

  “You going to practice more?” Claude asked, getting up.

  “No, my forearm is sore. I need to rest or I’ll overdo it. Tomorrow.”

  “Okay, fair enough,” Claude said. “Talk to you later.” He left the room. Sturm watched the door for a moment, then turned back to the TV, watching the coverage at the Superstore, paying careful attention to the citizen video which popped up between live chopper video and blathering commentators. He picked up his phone and hit Sanchez’s contact.

  “Captain Sturm, what can I do for you? Oh, and thanks so much for the supplies.”

  “No problem. I need access to the facial recognition engine. Could you send me connect info and user ID, please?”

  “Of course. I’ll bet you want to use it on that citizen video from the failed execution in Boston.”

  Sturm snickered. “How’d you guess? Thanks.” He ended the call, turning back towards the screen, then getting up, going to his computer, on a desk across the room, adjusting it so he could see the TV screen while he was working. His phone dinged with a text a moment later, the package from Sanchez there already. “Now, let’s see who we can visit.”

  ***

  Dannon and Dempsey were still at the main bunker, using one of the PCs in the intel room, taking a detailed look at the RFID hits in their area.

  “There are several good targets along this corridor,” Dannon said, moving his finger on the screen, “but they’re too close to this bunker. We should look closer to NYPD Headquarters.”

  “Where is that?”

  “It’s under Precinct 25,” Dannon said.

  “I have some bad memories from that place,” Dempsey quipped.

  Dannon laughed. “Well you’re a hero now, so just forget about that.”

  “Yeah, right. Okay, how about the northeast side of the park? I saw some hits there.”

  Dannon moved the mouse around, centering the app’s map on that area, a group of RFID hits along Madison Avenue between 109th and 112th Streets. “There we go. Talk about a target-rich environment.”

  Dempsey cracked up. “Yeah, Little Big Horn was a target-rich environment. Better keep that in mind.”

  They both laughed, as Cary and Hector came in the room with a box.

  “Perfect, you’re still here,” Cary said. “I’ve got a present for you.”

  Hector snickered as Cary slid the box in front of Dannon and Dempsey.

  “It’s not ticking, at least,” Dempsey quipped.

  “Open it, man,” Hector said. “Trust us.”

  Dempsey opened the box, and two roaches flew out. “Damn, man.”

  “Don’t smash them,” Hector said through his laughter.

  Dannon picked one up. “These are incredible. They’ve got video and sound transmission capability?”

  “They do,” Cary said, “and they can designate targets for these small rocket launchers, too.”

  “That’s right, this is what the Boston team has been using.”

  “Yep, Dan,” Cary said.

  “Well look at this,” Dempsey said, turning the PC monitor towards them. “See these RFID hits? Think we can test these suckers there?”

  “Just a second,” Cary said, getting onto one of the unused PCs, logging on, then going to the location and using street view. He studied it for a moment. Penko and Albena came in, going to their terminals with cups of coffee.

  “What’s going on?” Penko asked, freezing when he saw the roaches on the table. “Oh, those are what you were talking about.”

  “Keep them away from me,” Albena quipped, sitting at her PC. “Seen enough of those to last me a lifetime.”

  Dannon chuckled. “They look real, that’s for sure. How do I access the camera?”

  “Your thin phone,” Hector said. “Open the Roach app and put in code 223887. We pushed the apps out an hour ago.”

  Dannon pulled out his thin phone, looking at it. “Too bad the RFID apps don’t work on these phones.”

  “Give me a little time, I’m working that,” Cary said.

  Dannon smiled. “Of course you are.” He tapped the new app, and input the code after it opened. The video feed from three drones showed up, in a segmented screen. “Oh, that code is for a group of drones?”

  “Yeah,” Cary said. “We’ll give you a crash training course. Tap the feed you’re most interested in.”

  Dannon did that, and the feed expanded. “This is good quality.”

  Dempsey looked at it. “You’re not kidding, man.”

  Penko came over and looked. “Wow. Imagine what a peeping tom could do with this.”

  Hector burst out laughing.

  Albena rolled her eyes. “You always have to go in that direction, Penko.”

  Cary looked over from his PC. “That’s going to be a tough location to place the drones.”

  “How do you place them, anyway?” Dempsey asked.

  “There’s a special gun, looks like a flare gun. It shoots a pod up to about a hundred yards. The pod opens up and lets the little rascals out.”

  Dannon looked at the street view. “Go into 3D mode so we can see the roof.”

  Cary did that, showing the roof of the building. “Nice flat roof on that building. It’ll be hard to land a capsule on there with the guns, though, unless we got a place on one of the roofs across the street.”

  Dannon shook his head. “There are RFID hits in the buildings across the street… in fact there are hits in all the buildings close by.”

  “Put the pod on a Falcon Drone,” Dempsey said.

  Cary and Hector looked at each other.

  “Shit, that’s a genius idea, man,” Hector said. “We can do that, Cary. Piece of cake. Then fly it up there and unload.”

  “Then they’ve got to go down all the stairs, though, right?” Albena asked.

  “They can fly or crawl,” Cary said. “We can do this, but it’ll take a little modification.”

  “Not much, man, I already know how we can do it,” Hector said. “Let’s go back to the lab.”

  “Want these back in the box?” Dannon asked.

  “Nah, we’ve got a few hundred thousand of them in the lab,” Hector said.

  “Good, maybe we can fly one under Albena’s skirt,” Penko quipped.

  “Shut up, keep those away from me,” Albena said, Dannon and Dempsey laughing.

  “You guys,” Cary said, as he and Hector left the room.

  “Really, Penko? I’m your cousin.”

  “I’m just joking around,” Penko said.

  “Let’s catalog this area, then look for several others,” Dannon said. “This location would be biting off a lot. There’s twelve thousand Islamists up and down this street. If we start something there we’d never get out alive.”

  “Yeah,” Dempsey said. “Wonder how accurate those missiles are? Maybe we could fly them right through windows.”

  “We could,” Penko said. “I saw video from the attack near South Station in Boston. They were doing that.”

  “That opens up some new possibilities, then,” Dannon said.

  ***

  Jaak, Henry, and Ross watched as the team filed out of the conference room, having just gotten the RFID apps and training from Jared.

  “I don’t know if we should celebrate or give up,” Henry said. “A million and a half Islamists in our state?”

  “We should celebrate,” Ross said. “This gives us a fighting chance.”

  Jaak shrugged. “I agree to a point, but we’ll have to be very careful, because the UN presence here is a real problem, and we can’t see them.”

  “We’ve still got those roach drones,” Henry said. “That’s something.”

  “My greatest hope is the recruitment,” Jaak said. “Look at what happened at that Superstore. We had enough armed citizens there within minutes.”

  “True, but there were only about fifty UN Peacekeepers there.”

  “Plus one attack chopper,” Ross quipped.

  Henry smiled. “Yeah, that was impressive. Wonder where he got that Stinger? He’s not part of any group we know of.”

  “Jared made sure there was a firewall between us, but he might not be in one of Jared’s groups,” Jaak said. “I’ll ask him.”

  “What’s our next move?” Ross asked.

  “I think we should pick one of the sites that the team found from the chopper video,” Henry said. “Place roach drones, use the missiles again, augment with these new apps.”

  “Yes, but when we start the operation, we put a post out on the website,” Jaak said. “That way the citizens will be on the way, just in case.”

 

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