The Independents (25 page)

The first folder had been
the Colonel’
s letter from the
president
. The second
, and thickest of the three,
was a journal of
the Colonel’s ten-
day adve
nture trying to accomplish the
president
’s wishes. The third was a report, intended to b
e delivered to the Commander-in-
Chief.

The Colonel
had been asked to perform an in-depth reconnaissance of the Beaumont
,
Texas area, specifically focusing on the refineries and processing capabilities available there. While Houston had a much larger capacity, Beaumont was considered the best option given its proximity to the Mississippi and the limited resources available to the government
to control the area
.

The second folder was where things got interesting.
The Colonel
had commandeered HBR’s corporate yacht and approached Beaumont from the sea. When martial law had been declared in Houston, it just so happened HBR was conducting a training class for some out of town security personnel.
The Colonel
, realizing the men might be stuck in town for a while, had gotten permission for them to stay on the 65
-
foot corporate sailing yacht, docked on Clear Lake
, just south of the hustle and bustle of Houston
.
The Colonel
had used what he thought was an excuse at the time of “securing a valuable corporate asset from potential looting.” His excuse quickly became legitimate.

Bishop would have liked to
see
the look on the first looter
’
s face when they attempted
to raid HBR’s
boat
. According to
the Colonel
’s report, there were six ex-Special F
orces operators staying onboard.
Needless to say, HBR’s
floating asset
was
well protected
. As a matter of fact, the entire pier was the only one
in the marina
that didn’t experience any vandalism.
Crime doesn’t pay.

What followed in the detai
led diary was, in Bishop’s opinion
, worthy of a Hollywood movie.
The Colonel
and his team had taken the
big sail
boat out into the deep water
of the gulf
and anchored offshore
from Beaumont
. Using the outboard powered launch
and jet skis, the group had split into two teams to find out what was going on
.

The primary assignment was
Intel
regarding the status of
the refineries in the port area. What
t
he Colonel
found was sh
ocking. In the dead of night, w
hen
his team
and he
had made their approach, 
there was a military unit
already waiting on them. Flood
li
ghts bathed their entourage
in light
,
and the small g
roup was met with four Stryker armored personal c
arriers
, each full of infantry. A loud
speaker asked
the Colonel
, by name, to approach
,
and a meeting ensued.

The report continued detailing the
conversation
,
during
which
the Colonel
was asked to enlist
and pledge his loyalty to
a group that called itself
t
he Independents
.
They claimed to be
a well-
formed organization that was
growing in strength
throughout America
. The man, whom
the Colonel
didn’t know,
alleg
ed that over 20% of the military
forces and more than a few
local governments had already joined the cause.
The Colonel
and his men could either join, or die right there.

According to the journal, the spokesman for
t
he Independents
was convincing and
logical
,
an
d the pitch was w
ell considered. This
was a political movement that had been organized before the
collapse. The representative explained to
the Colonel
that the group’s allegiance was dictated
by a strict belief in the Constitution of the United States, and that after they ha
d reorganized the country, they planned to
implement a full democratic government. Until that time, they were quietly recruiting various military commands all across the
land
. Would
the Colonel
join them?

The Colonel
’s journal indicated he seriously thought about
the offer
. What troubled him about the group, and the offer, was
the
“or die” part. That didn’t seem very democratic at all.
The journal c
ontained an entry in bold print.
“I have taken one oath
,
and that is all a man is allowed.”

A
n intense firefight,
followed by a narrow escape
,
ended the meeting.
The Colonel
and
only
one of his men managed to
make
it back offshore
to the anchored
yacht. The second team
fared better, and
returned to report that Beaumont was practically functioning at pre-collapse levels, including electrical power in some areas. They reported seeing
a very heavy military presence, but all of the vehicles
and personnel were from assorted
units and organizations.
It was
as
if someone had swept up remnants of several different units and was reconstituting a new army.
The
y estimated at least a division-
sized presence,
including armor and
airmobile
units. The
troo
ps seemed to be preparing for deployment.

When
the Colonel
returned to Houston, an attempt had been made on his life almost immediately. He had gathered his family and m
ade a hurried escape that included
stealing a private plane and barely getting out alive.

The
f
older containing the summary report was short and to the point.
It warned t
he
president
that he
had one o
r more spies for
t
he Independents
on h
is staff. Having a mole in the
president
’s inner circle was the only explanation for the Independent’s anticipation of the Colonel’s arrival and the rendezvous they arranged for him.
Additionally, the clandestine insurgents also
knew the details of Operation
Heartland. Not only did the group have assets embedded with
in
the
president
’s staff, they clearly had infiltrated the military at the highest
levels. This was evidenced by the attempt to kill
the Colonel
upon his return
, since only the senior army staff in Houston knew he had made it back
.

Furthermore
,
t
he Independents
appeared to be
one step a
head of the government. If the
president
attempted to execute Operation Heartland, he was walking into a trap
, or worse yet, a civil
war with a large, well-equipped
foe. If the status reports
the Colonel
h
ad heard were accurate, that adversary was gaining strength
every day.

The Colonel
had gone on to theorize that the
recent “
failures
”
of various military commands to reorganize the country had, perhaps, been sabotaged by this group. While he had had a
mere,
30-minute
exposure, it only made sense given all that they had discovered.

Bishop wasn’t shocked by
the Colonel
’s report at all. Military personne
l weren’t any different than
other American
s
. Any man who experienced a daily life of lawlessness, animalistic
behavior
,
and desperation by his peers was bound to question his loyalty to the
leadership
that
put him in that
situation. Since America was divided politically before the collapse, why should anyone be surprised those differences had
become
deeper?
A desperate populatio
n would be drawn to
t
he Independents
. The
ir organization was
demonstrating progress, order
,
and security with the promise of
eventually reorganizing
something new and better. The federal government on the other hand was asking for suffering and sacrifice so as to return to
the
system that had led to the problems to begin with.
Bishop knew
the Colonel
wasn’t anyone’s fool
,
and neither were the vast majority of military officers
.
If they were joining this movement in droves, th
e message must be pretty compelling
.
The Colonel
had noted in his journal that
the
representative of
t
he Independents
had almost sold him
, and Bishop could understand why
.

After finishing the journal, Bishop headed
to
the Colonel
’s room and quietly cracked
the door
open
. Seeing the man’s eyes were open and alert, he went on in and took a seat without saying a word.

The injured
man did his best to sound gruff.
“I assume you finished reading everything and have a lot of questions.”

Bishop was unimpressed by the attem
pt.
“Not really
,
Colonel. I can only think of one – what is it you want me to do?”

The answer came quickly.
“I need you to get those reports to the
president
,
Bishop. He needs to know what is going on.”

Bishop couldn’t help himself and snorted
.
“Colonel, I have no idea where the
president
is. Even if I did, he is probably surrounded by rings of security in some remote underground bunker. It’s not like I can just pick up the phone and call the White House.”

The Colonel
dropped another surprise.
“He’s coming here
,
Bishop.”

The pitch of Bishop’s voice jumped
about three octaves.
“He’s what? He’s coming to
Meraton
?”

The Colonel
chuckled and shook his head no.
“He’s coming to Fort Bliss
,
son. Look at the last line
of his letter to me. It says, ‘I look forward to hearing your report. We can meet again in six weeks at the same place where we first met so many years ago.
’
That’s Fort Bliss
,
Bishop. I met him
there
when he was a s
enator almost
15
years ago. He was on a tour of the base
,
and I was
assigned to be his tour guide.”

Bishop’s voice was questioning,
“Fort Bliss? Why the hell would he go there? Are you sure?”

The Colonel
had
obviously thought this through.
“It would make sense for him to tour the various military posts and show his face. Rally the troops, show someone was in control – you know the drill. I’m sure the Secret Service is only going to let him visit major installations
in remote locations.
Bliss received several billion dollars’ worth of improvements under his administration
,
and he probably knows the
base commander. He was a senator from New Mexico after all, it’s perfectly logical for him to want to rally his support close to home. That’s how I ended up here
,
Bishop. I was on my way to Bliss when we ran out of fuel
and crashed
.
”