Dominatus (31 page)

Mac kept opening his mouth as if was trying to pop his ears.

“That flash grenade really messed my head up.  Ears are still ringing like a mother.”

Mac glanced up at Bear.

“You’re ok?  No ear problems?”

Bear shrugged.

“I’m fine, Mac.  I was behind you a few feet so you probably took the brunt of the blast.”

Mac shook his head and snorted.

“Yeah, or you’re a big bastard used to getting his head bashed around and I’m too damn old to be doing this kind of shit.”

Keith clapped Mac on the shoulder.

“Tell that to the guy you sunk that blade into - old timer.”

Mac continued to open and close his mouth like he was yawning.

“I’m gonna lie down for a little bit folks, get my head to clear up.  Reese, when is your program coming on?”

“About an hour, Mac.”

Mac began to make his way to the hallway door and his room, his limp less noticeable than when he first returned from the mine shaft.

“Ok, someone wake me up in an hour.  See you then, Reese.”

Keith turned to Bear.

“Why didn’t you two just keep firing away at them?”

Bear glowered back at Keith.

“We would have, but that…what did Mac call it?  That flash grenade knocked us on our ass.  We could hardly see and both our weapons were on the ground but it was too dark, couldn’t see well enough to find them fast.  They were making their way toward us so I went at them to give Mac a little more time to recover.  I knew if I didn’t slow them down he wouldn’t be able to defend himself.  So I want at them, and then Mac followed.”

Dublin congratulated Bear.

“You both did good, protected all of us inside here. You…you did what you had to, Bear.”

Bear’s expression softened over Dublin’s gratitude as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Gonna go clean up, see my kids.  I’ll let everyone know your program is coming on in about an hour, Reese.”

“Thank you, Bear…for everything.  Thank you.”

Bear shrugged again.

“You would have done the same.”

“I would like to think so, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been nearly as effective as you were.”

Bear’s reply did justice to his gruff demeanor.

“No – you wouldn’t have.”

Bear followed Mac’s steps into the hallway as Keith returned to the defense room, leaving Dublin and I alone in the large expanse of the cavern.

“Do you need anything before your program?  Something to drink, or eat?”

“No…no thank you.  I’m just going to sit down in the communications room and finish up my notes, gather my thoughts.  Where will you be?”

“I’ll be right next door with grandfather.  I know he wants to be awake for your program so I’ll get him ready for that.  Ready to go then?  To the communications room?”

I nodded.

“Sure.”

Together we exited the cavern and stood outside the door to the communications room.  Dublin leaned in and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

“Good luck, Reese.  Just do what you already do so well – speak from your heart.”

I placed my right arm around Dublin’s lower back and pulled her toward me, kissing her lips.  As I began to pull away Dublin’s hands wrapped around my neck and she returned my kiss with her own.  After some seconds, our lips parted and Dublin smiled up at me.

Neither of us spoke as Dublin turned to her right to enter the medical room and I opened the door to the communications room.  Inside sat the Drake TR transceiver Mac had shown me earlier, its microphone welcoming me to take a seat in front of it and tell the story of Dominatus to others.

The room was devoid of all sound as I removed my notes and began from where I had left off, my pen frantically outlining the thoughts that were now pouring forth in a rush of past experience and hopeful future – a future I very much wanted to ensure included Dublin Meyer.

Nearly an hour after I had sat down inside the communications room Mac opened the door.

“Thought I’d check to see if you were still ready to go.”

I looked up from my notes and nodded.

“Ready as I can be, Mac. Should be starting to transmit in about five minutes.  How are you feeling?”

“Head’s still ringing a bit but Doc gave me a handful of aspirin and that’s helped a lot.”

Mac pointed to a small blue button attached to the wall to the right side of the Drake TR.  A single line ran up the wall and into the ceiling where it disappeared.

“Right before you start if you could hit that button there.  It’s like an all-call that goes throughout the cave.  That way we can all listen in during your program…be the first time any of us get to hear it in real time.  The Old Man is awake and pretty alert right now.  Most of us are in the main room ready to hear what you have to say.  Is that still ok – you mind if we listen in?”

“That’s fine, Mac, tell everyone just a few more minutes.  Thank you.”

“Thank you, Reese…you’re doing your father proud.”

I contemplated that remark for a moment.

“You think so, Mac?”

“Yeah…you are.  If I had a son, I would have been honored to call you that, Reese.  Now, let’s get to stopping all this touchy feely crap and I’ll leave you to it.”

Mac closed the door as I powered up the transceiver, adjusting the frequency and then initiating the code that would update those in the network of my intent to begin communications.  This code was repeated three times in between a 90-second delay.  I then altered the frequency again which, if my codes were in fact received, others would also adjust their own frequency in order to receive the message.  It was a system put in place by my father from the very beginning of my programs and so far, had kept me safe from being cited for violations of the mandates which for years, banned anyone from communicating criticism of the government with others.

Taking a deep breath I then pushed the small blue button against the back wall, allowing the others in the cave to hear the program as I spoke it.

“Ladies and Gentleman, welcome back to the Resistance Network…”

XXIII.

“For some five years I have spoken with all of you about the challenges of attempting to live, let’s simply call it a reasonable life…under this yoke of oppression.  This oppression comes primarily in the form of the New United Nations, that organization initiated almost twenty years ago that replaced both in sense and spirit what once was the United States of America.  The United States of America – what President Ronald Reagan called the Shining City upon a Hill, the beacon of light and hope for all the pilgrims of the world trying to make their way home.

“I tell you now listeners, though that light has grown dim, it has not gone out!  That spirit, that American spirit, established and then honored in the blood of ultimate sacrifice, remains within each of us who know that the world we live in now, is a world gone wrong.  Who among you is satisfied with this tyranny?  Who among you feels it right that government dictates every waking moment of your life?  Who among you welcomes your own children into a world where opportunity is limited to what some New United Nations bureaucrat is willing to dispense to them?  A world where the past, present, and future of what was once America must now bend to the will of people who for so long wished to do it – and you, harm?

“And so what then are we to do?

“Ask that question of yourselves…listen to the answer.  It speaks to you…it whispers in the voice of generations past.  Citizens of a nation who lived not under the boot of this New United Nations, but rather under the freedoms and opportunities of a United States of America!  Their legacy, their sacrifice, answers that question for you.  Listen to them.  Listen to their answer.

“Thomas Paine once said, ‘If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.’

“Ladies and gentlemen, that day is NOW.  There must be trouble, so that our children may have peace.

“This oppression cannot be allowed.  I ask you, rise up.  I ask you to again walk the road of freedom and opportunity and liberty.  A road paved in the sacrifice of those who fought and died to protect it.

“I have made a trip recently, one that brought me to a place known as Dominatus.  It is an ironic name, given the people of this place are living in direct opposition to that term.  A bit of an inside joke, if you will.  Perhaps some of you have heard of it, this place in the wilderness of Alaska.  Over the years people have chosen to come here in order to live their own lives.  To be able to experience what America once was.  They built their homes, their own businesses.  They eat and drink what they want.  Some choose to smoke.  They laugh and cry, dance and sing.  If they choose to arm themselves for protection they do so…all without thought to whether or not they are obeying the tyranny of the New United Nations’ mandates.

“This little community of people simply wanted freedom.  Liberty.  To be left alone.  And for that…for simply wanting those things that are no more and no less than the foundation of which the United States of America was built upon – they are deemed dangerous to the government of the New United Nations.  These people now face termination.  Dominatus has been visited by the compliance officers.  Then by the special operations officers.  And finally, repeated visits by the drones and their bombs.

“How is it so many people now allow drone bombings to be carried out upon themselves by a government that promises its existence is based upon the premise of protecting them?  The history of such bombings is well known, though of course the official history does not mention them.  Waco, Texas.  Grant County, Washington, and so many others.  And now…Dominatus, Alaska.

“President John Kennedy said that every nation must know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.  His words are now directed at this New United Nations, listeners.  The mandates have robbed every one of you of your liberty.  So knowing that, please ask if you are now willing to pay any price, to bear any burden, to meet any hardship, to support any friend, and to oppose any foe to assure that liberty is returned to you – its rightful owner.

“I’m asking all of you, I am told there are millions of you, to now at this moment, stand as one to resist this false government of the New United Nations.  This has never been a government of the people, by the people, or for the people, but rather a government of government, by government, for the government.  Its only purpose is to feed its ever growing powers – powers that always come at the expense of your own personal liberties and freedoms.

“There was a time, listener, when people were not only granted the blessings of opportunity and personal responsibility in America – they were expected to fully embrace them to the best of their abilities!  Those blessings were what attracted millions to journey to America’s shores, to often times risk life and limb for even a mere sliver of hope.  Then…somewhere we rebuked those blessings…we turned our backs on opportunity and personal responsibility.  Our schools dedicated themselves to teaching compliance at all times…to having no opinion that might make another among them feel uncomfortable.  That government was always the source of good in the world, while the desire for success was the root of all evil.  This was not education of children, but rather the programming of children.  And so it went, one generation into the next until finally, the system of checks and balances, the ideals of the free market, the limited government spirit of the Constitution, were viewed with contempt.  Such things were deemed unsafe.  There could be no winners in order that everyone could feel comfortable in the knowledge all were losers – dependent upon government for our own happiness.  It was never happiness though, now was it?  No, it was misery.  The misery that always comes when a people accept tyranny in the hope of obtaining some small measure of safety.   And as the saying goes, misery loves company…does it not?

“I asked you when it became acceptable for a people to accept its own government dropping drones on them.  Let us walk that scenario back a bit further.  I would also ask when a people found it acceptable for a government to tell them what foods they can eat, or how much soda they are allowed to drink?  When a government tells them how they are able to protect themselves from harm – often resulting in making them far more susceptible to potential harm?  When did a people deem it acceptable to allow a government to take more than fifty percent of what they earned by their own labor, allowed government to regulate every aspect of their business until it was impossible to comply, resulting in that business having to close its doors?  When did it become acceptable to allow government officials to demand citizens give more and more and more, while those same officials wined and dined and vacationed on tens of millions of dollars taken from the same taxpayers the government demanded yet more from?

“You see listeners, the use of drones by government to kill its own citizens did not happen in a vacuum.  It is a result of too many years where people simply ignored the theft of freedom and liberty that was occurring all around them.  Years of politicians demanding obedience to laws created without understanding of a nation’s past, but rather, to further the goals of Big Government’s intended future – a future that is now present in the here and now and demands every one of us to kneel before the mandates of the New United Nations.”