Great developments here, but although I don't want to be too picky there are lots of typos, missing words and spelling mistakes in these last two instalments that suggest you've rushed things out. I would rather wait for you to do some proof-reading than have the action disrupted because I have to keep backtracking slightly after stumbling over a typo or a missing word.
Land of Flatwater: Protect and Survive Middle America
- Thread starter Chipperback
- Start date
Land Of Flatwater: Chip Meets World Part 7: Fear.
Pull out the stop plugs, drain all the waste
Who needs it anyway
Fill all the big holes, leave no trace
No sign of yesterday
I was all the dishes and I clean up my place
No sign of yesterday
I stare at the photographs of your dark face
No sign of yesterday
Out in the yard, was such a lovely place
It's where we used to play
Inside, outside you can feel and taste.
No sign of yesterday
Kearney Municipal Airport -- 1:20pm -- Tuesday March 27, 1984
Agent Clayton steps out of the Cessna and into the cloudy early spring air.
In the background one could hear the faint noise of a radio...
"By order of the Governor of Nebraska, the Highway 30 corridor is restricted to official and Combined Forces traffic until further notice. All non-official traffic is forbidden...."
Turner Gill stood next his patrol car, his eyes scanning a fit man in combat dress. "He could've played linebacker for us," he thought.
Clayton looked at the young man. Tall, strong and imposing in his own right.
"You must be my ride," Clayton said. "Toussaint Clayton, special assistant to the Emergency Government"
Gill extended his hand, "Captain Turner Gill, Civilian Defense Unit of Buffalo County."
Clayton recognize the younger man, even through a growing beard. "The quarterback?"
"I'm just a soldier in service to the people of this state, sir," Captain Gill said.
Clayton nodded and smile. "Well, I remember what you did to LSU a couple of years back."
Gill opened the door to the patrol car. "What brings you out here, sir."
"Direct orders from the Governor and CINC-NEBCOMFORCE..It seems we had a little problem here that comes from a bigger problem."
"I guess you heard about the attack on Kearney State," Gill said.
"I was about to ask," Clayton continued. "Were you there?"
"I was."
"What did you see?"
"2 dead CDUs, a dead perp, a Civil Air Patrol commander with two bullets in his stomach, and seven local yahoos trying to steal medicine."
"What do you know about them?"
"Not much," Gill said. "According to our county interrogator, most of these guys are just locals trying to help their kids...They have that Grand Island Flu thing going around.."
Clayton nodded, "Anything unusual..."
"There's one," the younger man continued as he drove back toward the town. "He's not a local...I can tell that."
"You don't exactly look local either," the agent said.
"I'm originally from Dallas, Texas, sir...But I've been here enough...My fiancé grew up here."
"Fiancé?"
"Yes," the captain smiled. "We were planning to get married this fall...before all of this happened."
Turner Gill looked along the distance of the flatlands and the town proper on the horizon. He thought of his Gayle.
Clayton's mind was churning. Looking at the rearview mirror he saw a small stuffed panda bear in the back seat.
"You have children, son?"
"Not yet," Turner Gill replied, "Hopefully if we get married we'll have some..."
"I noticed the little toy in the back seat.."
"That bear belongs to a brave little kid," the captain said. "I'll bet that little boy is still scared.."
"A little boy?"
"Yeah,"
"Explain...what were kids doing there? Refugees?" Clayton asked.
"No," Turner answered. "Civil Air Patrol youth cadets..from Colfax County somewhere. I guess somebody out there learned something about this sickness...and the people at Kearney State also knew something. They put their heads together, and flew some different medicines here. The bandits heard from somebody on the inside, and they came out of desperation."
"What did this kid do?"
"From what I heard, one of the gunmen held one of the other CAP Cadets at gunpoint. This little boy supposedly bit the mans leg like a doberman, fought him off, helped the other kid get away. Another one of the bad guys grabbed the kid, a little girl...and this little boy fired two bullets into the man's leg, helping the little girl escape."
"The other man shot the CAP commander, that little boy was so angry and scared, that we had to almost wrestle the gun out of his hand.. He was very angry. He kept mumbling the very bad names that man called him...Racial stuff...We've had some of that around here in the last month."
Clayton nodded, and remember his notes from Griswold.
WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE IN POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT WITH TYLES.
"Where is this little boy now?"
"Good Samaritan most likely. Checking on their leader. He's in surgery again..They say the gunshot wounds are infected."
Clayton nodded again.
"You know," Gill said. "I'm still haunted by the look on that little boy's face. It was blank. Dead. Too shocked to cry or scream. I've seen too much of that look."
"You best get used to it, captain," Clayton said.
BASE ALPHA -- Geneva, Nebraska -- same time
"Governor, we are going to send some additional troops up from Lincoln to Fremont. Not CDUs but the crack troops. Regulars.," Griswold said.
"The Sheriff up there could use the help," the Governor said as he pointed to a map...
"I'm closing off Highway 30 to everything but official traffic. I want a secure corridor of troops down the length from Fremont all the way to Central City. From Central City, I want your Grand Island detachment to form a second corridor. I also want to beef up security at every BLACK ANGUS and BLUE BUNNY site."
Griswold nodded. "I agree Governor, but we need to do more."
Griswold point at the red box near Albion. "Governor, I want more than just stationing troops there. I need action authorization."
Governor Kerrey replied. "Action authorization?"
"Yes sir," Griswold said firmly. "It is time for us to send a message now."
"General, what kind of message."
"Governor," Griswold said slowly. "Near Albion, there is a group of burnouts with heavy weapons picking off our supply convoys and they fried a bunch of kids, remember? I have a race war simmering in Fremont. And in Kearney I have six jackasses, and one really dangerous jackass who disrupted a badly needed piece of our recovery. It is high time that the people of Nebraska know that their emergency government will keep them safe, and people may not be sure of that."
"General, I agree with the frustration, but we also have a process and we cannot abandon that process. If we do that, we slide deeper and deeper in a hole we may not be able to climb out of."
Griswold tried to keep his calm, "Bob, we may already be there. We are in that hole now. And we have some serious plans we have to get in motion. This sickness has already pushed things back. The recycling plan? Corpse recovery? Relectrification? Planting? Its been damn near 2 months since the attacks. We are 5 months from where we have to get crops harvested. We need spare parts, fuel and food. We have restless refugee camps. We have terminal radiation sickness clogging up the camps. All this lawlessness is hurting us. "
"I understand that we are trying not to be a police state. I don't want to be a police state, but we have bad guys out here and some of those have armament equal to the NCF..and we have a man at large who seems to have toys, and connections and this mess has strengthened his hand."
"Now you sound like Clayton," Governor Kerrey said. "We have to be careful with him. He's CIA."
"CIA?"
"Yes,"
"GOOD!" Griswold said. "That makes me feel even better. Right man for the job out in Kearney."
"Kearney?"
"Yes, Bob," Griswold said. "Clayton's probably there now."
"You are sending that man out over six local yokels?"
"One of those men isn't so local. Those guys had weapons that follow the profile Clayton gave us. One of the people has been identified as possibly having direct links to Tyler Tyles in one way or another. If it involves Tyles, I want Clayton on it."
Governor Kerrey's thoughts turned suspicious. "Clayton may cause more problems than he solves."
"It what way?"
"Nothing in our emergency plan involves torture."
"Governor," Griswold answered with frustration. "This bastard shot a good man! From reports this bastard held a 12-year old girl with a gun to her head! All these assholes potentially could have wrecked a cure for the Grand Island Flu crap! These men jeopardized thousands more lives. We need to make a serious example of them, Governor...and the Attorney General agrees."
"What is your idea?"
"Governor. Phase one is these seven. We've left the punish phase up to local authorities. I propose in these hard cases, we set up punishment battalions. For smaller stuff, chain gangs. Hell, they can rebuild roads and help the recycling campaign for their dinner. But these seven? I say we put them on the Reconstruction Duty Program that Kay Orr suggested with a change."
Griswold grinned. "There are two places that need reconstruction the most.....The Panhandle Exclusion Zone and the Omaha Exclusion Zone."
Kerrey frowned, "Nobody can survive out there, not for hundreds of years."
"What better place to send people who directly threaten our recovery," Griswold retorted. "Starting with these seven...Then we go to phase two."
"And that is?"
"Mobilization and pacification. We start with where the hell these seven people are from. We find that town and we level it. Burn it to the ground! Send a serious message. If you harbor elements that are a danger to the recovery, every fucking body suffers! At the same time, these jokers in Albion? I want them all dead. Same with Fremont, we pacify all the opposing factions. I don't give a damn what color they are. We have too many problem children in Nebraska who need spankings right now."
"General...This is NOT the way to do it. Premptive action only makes us a police state. We're taking some hits from the populace already back from the snowstorm. We need to inspire the public trust, not their fear.
"Damn, Bob...Look around...We became a police state the second the first bomb hit! You know and I know this drill. Hell, you saw this in Vietnam."
Governor Kerrey's mind quickly drifted back to Vietnam, his eyes trying to shut out the things he didn't want to remember. "General," the Governor said calmly. "The last thing any of us should want to bring some of the things we did in Vietnam here. This is not Vietnam, General. THIS IS NEBRASKA!"
"EXACTLY, Governor! And that is what I am sworn to protect. I am not above napalming a bad village to save many more good ones. Right now, there is no damn Uncle Sam! There's just Nebraska. We have a whole bunch of people claiming to be a federal government. There's nothing else but us right now. Governor, I'm not saying I like this, but we have to take some serious punitive action NOW, so we can affect positive action for our people. Positive action like what Dr. Suhr was overseeing in Kearney. I have a good friend dying right now because of these people. Now is the time, Governor. We have to send a message loud and clear. No one will destroy our recovery. Not the Russians, not the Klan and not Tyler Tyles. We are the last fucking thread of civilization, Bob and its unraveling damn fast!"
Griswold turned heel and walked down the corridor. Governor Kerrey was left to ponder.
"I don't agree with Grizz at all," the Governor thought, "But damn if isn't right."
And I can't hear you calling
I can't hear you calling
I can't hear you anymore
Metal ships are falling
This old car keeps stalling
Always seems to be the way
Pick up the pieces, and go dig out the dead
Then you can go to bed
Night is the stealer and time is the test
No sign of yesterday
to be continued.
Pull out the stop plugs, drain all the waste
Who needs it anyway
Fill all the big holes, leave no trace
No sign of yesterday
I was all the dishes and I clean up my place
No sign of yesterday
I stare at the photographs of your dark face
No sign of yesterday
Out in the yard, was such a lovely place
It's where we used to play
Inside, outside you can feel and taste.
No sign of yesterday
Kearney Municipal Airport -- 1:20pm -- Tuesday March 27, 1984
Agent Clayton steps out of the Cessna and into the cloudy early spring air.
In the background one could hear the faint noise of a radio...
"By order of the Governor of Nebraska, the Highway 30 corridor is restricted to official and Combined Forces traffic until further notice. All non-official traffic is forbidden...."
Turner Gill stood next his patrol car, his eyes scanning a fit man in combat dress. "He could've played linebacker for us," he thought.
Clayton looked at the young man. Tall, strong and imposing in his own right.
"You must be my ride," Clayton said. "Toussaint Clayton, special assistant to the Emergency Government"
Gill extended his hand, "Captain Turner Gill, Civilian Defense Unit of Buffalo County."
Clayton recognize the younger man, even through a growing beard. "The quarterback?"
"I'm just a soldier in service to the people of this state, sir," Captain Gill said.
Clayton nodded and smile. "Well, I remember what you did to LSU a couple of years back."
Gill opened the door to the patrol car. "What brings you out here, sir."
"Direct orders from the Governor and CINC-NEBCOMFORCE..It seems we had a little problem here that comes from a bigger problem."
"I guess you heard about the attack on Kearney State," Gill said.
"I was about to ask," Clayton continued. "Were you there?"
"I was."
"What did you see?"
"2 dead CDUs, a dead perp, a Civil Air Patrol commander with two bullets in his stomach, and seven local yahoos trying to steal medicine."
"What do you know about them?"
"Not much," Gill said. "According to our county interrogator, most of these guys are just locals trying to help their kids...They have that Grand Island Flu thing going around.."
Clayton nodded, "Anything unusual..."
"There's one," the younger man continued as he drove back toward the town. "He's not a local...I can tell that."
"You don't exactly look local either," the agent said.
"I'm originally from Dallas, Texas, sir...But I've been here enough...My fiancé grew up here."
"Fiancé?"
"Yes," the captain smiled. "We were planning to get married this fall...before all of this happened."
Turner Gill looked along the distance of the flatlands and the town proper on the horizon. He thought of his Gayle.
Clayton's mind was churning. Looking at the rearview mirror he saw a small stuffed panda bear in the back seat.
"You have children, son?"
"Not yet," Turner Gill replied, "Hopefully if we get married we'll have some..."
"I noticed the little toy in the back seat.."
"That bear belongs to a brave little kid," the captain said. "I'll bet that little boy is still scared.."
"A little boy?"
"Yeah,"
"Explain...what were kids doing there? Refugees?" Clayton asked.
"No," Turner answered. "Civil Air Patrol youth cadets..from Colfax County somewhere. I guess somebody out there learned something about this sickness...and the people at Kearney State also knew something. They put their heads together, and flew some different medicines here. The bandits heard from somebody on the inside, and they came out of desperation."
"What did this kid do?"
"From what I heard, one of the gunmen held one of the other CAP Cadets at gunpoint. This little boy supposedly bit the mans leg like a doberman, fought him off, helped the other kid get away. Another one of the bad guys grabbed the kid, a little girl...and this little boy fired two bullets into the man's leg, helping the little girl escape."
"The other man shot the CAP commander, that little boy was so angry and scared, that we had to almost wrestle the gun out of his hand.. He was very angry. He kept mumbling the very bad names that man called him...Racial stuff...We've had some of that around here in the last month."
Clayton nodded, and remember his notes from Griswold.
WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE IN POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT WITH TYLES.
"Where is this little boy now?"
"Good Samaritan most likely. Checking on their leader. He's in surgery again..They say the gunshot wounds are infected."
Clayton nodded again.
"You know," Gill said. "I'm still haunted by the look on that little boy's face. It was blank. Dead. Too shocked to cry or scream. I've seen too much of that look."
"You best get used to it, captain," Clayton said.
BASE ALPHA -- Geneva, Nebraska -- same time
"Governor, we are going to send some additional troops up from Lincoln to Fremont. Not CDUs but the crack troops. Regulars.," Griswold said.
"The Sheriff up there could use the help," the Governor said as he pointed to a map...
"I'm closing off Highway 30 to everything but official traffic. I want a secure corridor of troops down the length from Fremont all the way to Central City. From Central City, I want your Grand Island detachment to form a second corridor. I also want to beef up security at every BLACK ANGUS and BLUE BUNNY site."
Griswold nodded. "I agree Governor, but we need to do more."
Griswold point at the red box near Albion. "Governor, I want more than just stationing troops there. I need action authorization."
Governor Kerrey replied. "Action authorization?"
"Yes sir," Griswold said firmly. "It is time for us to send a message now."
"General, what kind of message."
"Governor," Griswold said slowly. "Near Albion, there is a group of burnouts with heavy weapons picking off our supply convoys and they fried a bunch of kids, remember? I have a race war simmering in Fremont. And in Kearney I have six jackasses, and one really dangerous jackass who disrupted a badly needed piece of our recovery. It is high time that the people of Nebraska know that their emergency government will keep them safe, and people may not be sure of that."
"General, I agree with the frustration, but we also have a process and we cannot abandon that process. If we do that, we slide deeper and deeper in a hole we may not be able to climb out of."
Griswold tried to keep his calm, "Bob, we may already be there. We are in that hole now. And we have some serious plans we have to get in motion. This sickness has already pushed things back. The recycling plan? Corpse recovery? Relectrification? Planting? Its been damn near 2 months since the attacks. We are 5 months from where we have to get crops harvested. We need spare parts, fuel and food. We have restless refugee camps. We have terminal radiation sickness clogging up the camps. All this lawlessness is hurting us. "
"I understand that we are trying not to be a police state. I don't want to be a police state, but we have bad guys out here and some of those have armament equal to the NCF..and we have a man at large who seems to have toys, and connections and this mess has strengthened his hand."
"Now you sound like Clayton," Governor Kerrey said. "We have to be careful with him. He's CIA."
"CIA?"
"Yes,"
"GOOD!" Griswold said. "That makes me feel even better. Right man for the job out in Kearney."
"Kearney?"
"Yes, Bob," Griswold said. "Clayton's probably there now."
"You are sending that man out over six local yokels?"
"One of those men isn't so local. Those guys had weapons that follow the profile Clayton gave us. One of the people has been identified as possibly having direct links to Tyler Tyles in one way or another. If it involves Tyles, I want Clayton on it."
Governor Kerrey's thoughts turned suspicious. "Clayton may cause more problems than he solves."
"It what way?"
"Nothing in our emergency plan involves torture."
"Governor," Griswold answered with frustration. "This bastard shot a good man! From reports this bastard held a 12-year old girl with a gun to her head! All these assholes potentially could have wrecked a cure for the Grand Island Flu crap! These men jeopardized thousands more lives. We need to make a serious example of them, Governor...and the Attorney General agrees."
"What is your idea?"
"Governor. Phase one is these seven. We've left the punish phase up to local authorities. I propose in these hard cases, we set up punishment battalions. For smaller stuff, chain gangs. Hell, they can rebuild roads and help the recycling campaign for their dinner. But these seven? I say we put them on the Reconstruction Duty Program that Kay Orr suggested with a change."
Griswold grinned. "There are two places that need reconstruction the most.....The Panhandle Exclusion Zone and the Omaha Exclusion Zone."
Kerrey frowned, "Nobody can survive out there, not for hundreds of years."
"What better place to send people who directly threaten our recovery," Griswold retorted. "Starting with these seven...Then we go to phase two."
"And that is?"
"Mobilization and pacification. We start with where the hell these seven people are from. We find that town and we level it. Burn it to the ground! Send a serious message. If you harbor elements that are a danger to the recovery, every fucking body suffers! At the same time, these jokers in Albion? I want them all dead. Same with Fremont, we pacify all the opposing factions. I don't give a damn what color they are. We have too many problem children in Nebraska who need spankings right now."
"General...This is NOT the way to do it. Premptive action only makes us a police state. We're taking some hits from the populace already back from the snowstorm. We need to inspire the public trust, not their fear.
"Damn, Bob...Look around...We became a police state the second the first bomb hit! You know and I know this drill. Hell, you saw this in Vietnam."
Governor Kerrey's mind quickly drifted back to Vietnam, his eyes trying to shut out the things he didn't want to remember. "General," the Governor said calmly. "The last thing any of us should want to bring some of the things we did in Vietnam here. This is not Vietnam, General. THIS IS NEBRASKA!"
"EXACTLY, Governor! And that is what I am sworn to protect. I am not above napalming a bad village to save many more good ones. Right now, there is no damn Uncle Sam! There's just Nebraska. We have a whole bunch of people claiming to be a federal government. There's nothing else but us right now. Governor, I'm not saying I like this, but we have to take some serious punitive action NOW, so we can affect positive action for our people. Positive action like what Dr. Suhr was overseeing in Kearney. I have a good friend dying right now because of these people. Now is the time, Governor. We have to send a message loud and clear. No one will destroy our recovery. Not the Russians, not the Klan and not Tyler Tyles. We are the last fucking thread of civilization, Bob and its unraveling damn fast!"
Griswold turned heel and walked down the corridor. Governor Kerrey was left to ponder.
"I don't agree with Grizz at all," the Governor thought, "But damn if isn't right."
And I can't hear you calling
I can't hear you calling
I can't hear you anymore
Metal ships are falling
This old car keeps stalling
Always seems to be the way
Pick up the pieces, and go dig out the dead
Then you can go to bed
Night is the stealer and time is the test
No sign of yesterday
to be continued.
Last edited:
But as Walter/Griswold said, "This is bowling. There are rules."
"Shomer f___ing shabbas."
But yeah, I think punishing communities is definitely very very very um bad.
But the hang-out where the let's-shoot-at-conveys enthusiasts are... Consequences sounds like a charming idea.
edit: great update, thanks!!!!!
Excellent stuff. Collective punishment is nasty, but it may just work in these extreme circumstances.
I have zero problem if they declare Tyler and his affiliates an entity which has declared war on Nebraska, and work to respond in kind.
Collective punishment gives me the heeby-jeebies.
Orville_third
Banned
This is frightening... Desperate times often call for desperate measures...but people may have trouble sleeping for long after...
Land Of Flatwater: Chip Meets World Part 8: The Clayton Experience.
BASE HOTEL -- CDU/CAP Air Auxiliary Headquarters -- Seward, Nebraska -- 3:15pm Central Standard Time -- Tuesday March 27, 1984
Nebraska Civil Air Patrol Commander Colonel Merton Groathouse, United States Air Force, retired. Beatrice, Nebraska.
Merton Groathouse saw flying as a way to get off the farm, and that's what led him to join the Air Force right after he graduated from Beatrice High..Along the way through flight training, he met his best friend, also a Nebraskan.
Groathouse was dashing fighter pilot who wanted to be an astronaut. His friend ended up flying something slower, but more mysterious.
No matter where they were in the world, they kept in touch. They were the best man at each other's wedding. They were there for many award ceremonies and rank ceremonies as possible.
Merton Groathouse became the state's CAP Commander, because his best friend said he would be perfect for it.
It was because of his best friend, that a leather-tough old fighter pilot was near tears..
STATE COMMANDER....CAP AIRMAN DR. STEIN REPORTING FROM KEARNEY.....ATTACK ON KEARNEY STATE.....AIR COMMANDER BOYE CRITICALLY WOUNDED! PROGNOSIS UNSURE. INFECTION FROM WOUND CRITICAL...PRAY FOR BEECHCRAFT BOB.....--STEIN "HEALER"
"Son," Groathouse turned to an aide, "Check with Maitland and see if we can have a Ceesna ready within the hour. Get a flight plan and a fuel requisition for Kearney..."
"Sir, why the hurry?"
"We have one of our own in dire straits," Groathouse said. "He needs to be surrounded by family right now. Send a signal to all CAP stations. PRAY FOR BEECHCRAFT BOB."
Good Samaritan Hospital -- Kearney, Nebraska -- same time.
"Where's Lil' Man?" Turner Gill said to the clerk at the desk.
Cyndi saw him as well, "You mean Cadet Chip Rochelle? I noticed you with the little panda...I think that's Chip's"
"Yeah,...He left it in my patrol car last night," Turner said.
Cyndi noticed the imposing man in fatigues behind him.
"Ma'am, this is Agent Clayton, special assistant to the Governor. We need to talk to Chip."
"Chip hasn't talked all day,"
Captain Tina walked into the hall, overhearing. "And he's not going to talk right now, unless you talk to me first. Captain Tina Wecker, Acting Commander Colfax County Civil Air Patrol."
Clayton calmly showed his badge. "Toussaint Clayton, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Omaha field office. On special assignment by orders of the Nebraska Continous Emergency Government, Captain. I'm here to help."
"I'm trying to protect my cadet," Captain said. "He's a little kid, he's only 12."
"Young lady, that little 12-year old boy put two bullets into an armed terrorist and fought off another. I'm trying to protect a state. I need to know what I'm up against..I just need to ask him some questions."
"As his commanding officer I will be in the room with him."
"You can be wherever you want to be," Clayton said. "But it is very important that I speak to that boy."
Clayton, Gill, Captain Wecker and Nurse Trofholz entered the room. Chip was sitting up curled into a ball. Still numb. Mind still racing. Just rocking back and forth. Back and forth.
He could still see in the darkness. The classroom. The moonlight shining off the dark barrel of military spec 9mm sidearm. He could hear Jill wail..."LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"
He could still sense himself crawling on the floor. Eyes fixed on a slither of skin.
Chip looked up and saw the foursome enter...he instantly scooted back on the bed. Eyes scanning for a weapon. He then looked and saw his panda...his little bear..
He lept for it..."ALGERNON!!!!" He screamed...He snatched the bear and cuddled it as if his life depended on it..
"Cadet Rochelle!" Tina said sternly, "Calm down and stop acting like a child...You are needed by this men to..."
"Why are you being mean to me?" Chip shot back.
"Excuse me," Clayton said calmly. "Captain Wecker, how old are you?"
"I'll be sixteen in two weeks."
"Well until you turn sixteen, I'm going to ORDER you to leave this room. Nurse , please accompany her and maybe teach her that there's a certain way in which you talk to someone going through post traumatic stress...and her way isn't it."
"Excuse me, I am under the jurisdiction of Civil Air Patrol."
Turner then spoke up, "Which is also under the jurisdiction of the Nebraska Continuous Emergency Government, and since you are in my territory Captain Wecker...I order you to leave this room. You an impeding an official investigation of Buffalo County's Emergency Government and the NCEG."
Tina sputtered, "You are a CDU..."
"Do not make me cite you for interference with official business. That is punishable under the Emergency Operations Act of 1984.."
Nurse Trofholz quickly grabbed Captain Wecker. "Kid, you heard the man.."
"Thank you," Chip said softly. "She's so stuck up and mean."
"She's just trying to lead the best way she can," Clayton said gently. "Don't pay it much mind. She's probably as worried about your commander as you are."
"Commander Bob?," Chip said. "How is he?"
Clayton frowned. "Still pretty bad, son."
Chip looked up at Captain Gill. Trying to place him. "Thanks for bringing my panda back."
"It's okay," Captain Gill. "My name is Turner...Chip right?"
"Yeah,"
"Kid, you grew up here?"
"Yes sir....Omaha."
"Like the Huskers..."
"Yes Sir!" Chip brightened up a little.
"Then you know who he is," Clayton smiled..
Chip smiled a little too. It came to him. "Wow.....Turner Gill...here? You mean that was you?"
"That was him what, son?" Clayton asked.
"He told me not to shoot the peckerwood." Chip said coldly.
"That's not a nice thing to say," Captain Gill said.
"That's what that man is," Chip spat back. "Redneck peckerwood...Him and his friends shooting their guns! He was one calling me all those names...Pickaninny. black bastard, spearchucker, coon."
Chip's pubescent voice cracked with his agitation. "I know what all those words mean. My dad told me. Back he was a boy in Arkansas, he told me about how the Klan would burn houses and pick on black people. And they are doing it here."
"What about your other cadets..Are they peckerwoods?" Clayton asked.
"No," Chip said. "I like them, even Captain Tina....And....I love Jill."
"Who is Jill?"
"She's my friend," Chip said.
His voice turned cold. "That peckerwood put a gun to her head...and he shot Commander Bob...He shot at me...Said those nasty things."
"Where did you get the gun?" Captain Gill asked.
"My dad gave it to me," Chip said. "He taught me how to shoot it. I'd rather not have it. I don't like violence. I don't like to fight.."
Chip was sobbing softly. "I didn't want to hurt anybody...But I didn't want my...."
Chip broke down crying.
Clayton bit his lip. His own mind racing back to a night back home in Louisiana. The very night when some local Klan firebombed his house. The desperate yelling of his father. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!! TOUSSAINT...WE GOTTA GO GARCON!!!"
The face of Chip Rochelle morphed into the face of a young Toussaint Clayton. Bitter tears running down his face. Seeing a home burn. Seeing a kindly old man on a stretcher.
Agent Clayton brought himself back to reality, not realize that both he and Captain Gill were sitting next to kid trying to console him.
"I'm sorry I'm crying," Chip said. "I didn't wanna cry in front of the best quarterback ever...I'm...scared..."
"I haven't stopped being scared since the war started," Turner said.
"Neither have I," Clayton answered.
Clayton stood in front of the young boy. "Cadet Rochelle...you wipe those tears, son.."
Chip looked up. Tears still running down his cheeks.
"I promise that the man who tried to hurt you and your friends will be punished," Clayton's tone of voice and the look on his face could burn through lead at that moment.
Clayton and Captain Gill turned to leave..
"Hey Turner!" Chip smiled through the tears.
"Yeah, kid?"
"You were awesome in the Orange Bowl. I was there!"
Captain Gill smiled. "Thanks, Lil' Man."
Chip's mood darkened again as Captain Tina and Nurse Trofholz came in the room.
TO: Governor J. Robert Kerrey, Colonel Milton Orr, Commander Nebraska Air National Guard. Commander James Sutfin, Nebraska State Patrol. Civilian Defense Commander Wally Barnett, Commander Merton Groathouse, Nebraska Civil Air Patrol.
FR: Brigadier General Allan Griswold, CINC-NEBCOMFORCE
RE: OPERATION TORNADO
SIRS,
THE RECENT INCIDENTS IN FREMONT, ALBION AND KEARNEY LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THAT IT IS TIME FOR AN OFFENSIVE OPERATION AGAINST THE NUMBER OF ANTISOCIAL ELEMENTS WITHIN OUR STATE. I REQUEST AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET AND STRATEGIZE WITH ALL OF YOU TO PUT TOGETHER A PLAN. A MILITARY OPERATION THAT IS ACCEPTIBLE TO THE CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP, BUT ALSO ACHIEVES THE REQUIRED GOAL.
ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR, NEO-NAZI BEHAVIOR, AND GENERAL LAWLESSNESS CANNOT BE TOLERATED. IT IS INCONGRUENT TO THE GOALS OF NEBRASKA'S RECOVERY. WE CANNOT MOVE FORWARD TO THE EXCELLENT PLANS THAT OUR STATE HAS TO REVITALIZE OUR AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY AND ECONOMY WITHOUT THE COMPLETE ELIMINATION OF THOSE WHO SEEK TO DISRUPT OUR STATE AND HINDER LIFE-SAVING RECOVERY EFFORTS.
THE PLAN WILL INVOLVE ALL SECTORS OF OUR STATE'S MILITARY AND PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL.
THE IDEA BEHIND THIS PROPOSAL IS TO SEND A MESSAGE TO ANYONE WITHIN OUR BORDERS WHO WILL NOT RESPECT LAW AND ORDER. SUBMIT OR DIE.
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM -- GRISWOLD.
A holding cell at Kearney Town Hall -- 6:00pm
The man rests on a cot. A little bruised, but still confident and defiant. "Just a matter of time until I break out of here," he thought. "But then what? These damn fools don't understand anything about the bigger movement. The blacks and the reds can have this damn place. So worried about their goddamn kids now. They weren't worried about them when they was integrating the schools and such. A goddamn black quarterback means more to these people than their damn survival. Maybe we'd be better off of the damn Russians won.."
BOOM!
A loud crash awoke the man. He looked into a bright light.
The light shut off. The man eyes adjusted. He was staring up at a grimace in fatigues.
"At least one thing is right in this hellhole," the man said. "Boy, fetch my damn dinner. A white man has some rights.""
The voice said coldly. "No suh. I's not gonna get yo' dinner."
The grimace stood there.
"Boy are you deaf?"
"Mr. Duffin. Donald R....Born Savannah, Georgia... April 12, 1951..Figures...."
"Headed a Klavern in Georgia.......Oh, I know about you..."
"So what," the man said. "Are you here to ask me questions? I noticed that fairie who's been talking to the others ain't been here."
"Arrested 1977 and 1980, petty crime robberies and shit....Then you met a man in 1981...Help broker a big ass deal."
"Listen darkie, are you writing my life story? Hell, a nigra who can write...what will they think of next.."
--snick--
Clayton loaded his sidearm.
"Oh, you are tough ass ain't ya," the man said defiantly. "You CDU wannabes ain't shit without guns."
Clayton opened the safety, took out the magazine and emptied the gun.
"No arms," Clayton said. "If you can whip my ass, cracker..I'll let you walk out of here."
The man smiled as he rose up. "You sound like a smart boy," the man said. "But that was dumb."
Clayton assumed a martial arts fighting stance.
"None of that fancy oriental bullshit will help you against me, boy."
Donald Duffin was wiry..country strong with cropped blonde hair and a scar on his cheek.
He was sure of himself. Even with an imposing stance and fatigues, Clayton looked soft and bookish.
Duffin rear back and threw a sharp right hand. Clayton slipped the punch and followed up with a sharp left elbow that impacted the man's cheek perfectly.
The man reared back in pain. A searing intense pain.
"OH SHIT...WHA HAFFIN?"
"That's a temporomandibular joint," Clayton said calmly. "Oh, I know that's too big a word for your dumb country ass.. I just broke your jaw."
Clayton hit him a three quick jabs to the face.
"THISIS AGAINSH MY RIGHTSHS, BOY!"
Clayton rammed his opponent against a wall in his cell. Hand tightly around his throat.
"Listen closely," Clayton said. "I don't give a damn about you or anybody in these holding cells. As far as I am concerned, you should all be dropped in the middle of Omaha butt naked....But first, you will tell me where I can find where your weapons came from...You will tell me where Tyler Tyles is."
Clayton kneed the man in the stomach. The tough country boy fell in a heap.
The agent walked out of the room. Two CDUs and the NCF county commander were waiting.
"Agent Clayton," the county commander said. "I do not endorse torture."
"I didn't torture anybody," Clayton said. "If I did, that man wouldn't be alive now..."
Clayton saw one of the CDUs carrying a tray. He took the tray of food and started walking away.
"Oh, and commander?..Don't feed the animals in this zoo. These fuckers don't deserve food...Besides I want them good and hungry. Hungry people tend to want to talk."
Clayton smiled as he strolled away with the tray. "And call Mr. Cavett. I would like his assistance for my next session."
Good Samaritan Hospital -- 11:56pm
Beechcraft Bob is monitored closely by two nurses and a doctor just outside. He is rested, but it is still very tenuous. They plan on going in one last time in the morning to clean out the remaining fragments.
In the waiting room, was CAP's state commander, Merton Groathouse, and he was far from alone. A group of commanders and other filled the waiting room. The word good out and planes started trickling into Kearney. Fuel rations be damned. That's how special a man called "Beechcraft Bob" is.
The cadets were placed into one room. Each in their sleeping bags. The decision was made. They would head on forward with their mission, starting with delivering some sample batches to the FEMA base at North Platte, so they can get to work on manufacturing more. Earlier in the evening, a helicopter took templates to a factory in Columbus.
Tina tried to sleep but couldn't. The words of Bob's letter percolating in her head.
The other cadets were still very scared trying to sleep. Worried about leaving Bob.
Chip set up his sleeping bag in a corner. He tuck himself in...holding his panda. "Algernon," he thought. "I wanna go home."
He didn't notice who set up next to him. "Chip," the voice whispered.
He rolled over and saw Jill..eyes red and swollen...
"Yes?" he said.
"I'm scared.."
"I was more scared last night."
"Chip, I wanna go home," Jill squawked.
"So do I," Chip said. "we'll get home when we're done."
Jill reached her hand out. Chip reached his out and met it.
He could see her eyes through the darkness tinted with slight moonlight..
Jill smiled back..."Chip, promise me! We're going to be friends forever."
"I promise." Chip said happily.
Finally, earlier this evening Radio Nebraska received a radio signal coming from the State of Washington on an emergency frequency. We have reason to believe that there is a greater national continuity that has been established...here is a sample of that broadcast from earlier..
"Listen," Chip said to Jill.
Jill heard the faint radio signal in the next room, too.
"This is Voice of America and I am your host, Ira Glass. Today, is the first time a radio program has been broadcast simultaneously across the country since before the Attack. We will be broadcasted at different stations throughout the country so contact your local FEMA team to get the correct frequency for your area. And now is time for the news:”
“Hello I’m Carl Castle with today’s Evening News from Voice of America.”
This morning Colorado officials have confirmed that Ronald Reagan has been located outside of Columbine, Colorado and is alive. The acting Colorado Governor has reported that the President has not been moved since the crash as he is in ‘uncertain health.’
A government plane has been shot down over Northern California today. Onboard were the Acting President of the United States, and many members of his staff. The Provisional National Government has seen this as an act of war. It is uncertain as to what scope the military response will be.....(1)
Kearney Town Hall -- same time
Clayton was up from a nap. He looked into his case and took out a group of vials...and some tools. Think of them as tools of persuasion.
It was time for the next session. It would be a long night in Kearney, Nebraska.
I got no means to show identification
I got no papers show you what I am
You'll have to take me just the way that you find me
What's gone is gone and I do not give a damn
to be continued.
(1) From "Duck and Cover: There Will Come Soft Rains"
BASE HOTEL -- CDU/CAP Air Auxiliary Headquarters -- Seward, Nebraska -- 3:15pm Central Standard Time -- Tuesday March 27, 1984
Nebraska Civil Air Patrol Commander Colonel Merton Groathouse, United States Air Force, retired. Beatrice, Nebraska.
Merton Groathouse saw flying as a way to get off the farm, and that's what led him to join the Air Force right after he graduated from Beatrice High..Along the way through flight training, he met his best friend, also a Nebraskan.
Groathouse was dashing fighter pilot who wanted to be an astronaut. His friend ended up flying something slower, but more mysterious.
No matter where they were in the world, they kept in touch. They were the best man at each other's wedding. They were there for many award ceremonies and rank ceremonies as possible.
Merton Groathouse became the state's CAP Commander, because his best friend said he would be perfect for it.
It was because of his best friend, that a leather-tough old fighter pilot was near tears..
STATE COMMANDER....CAP AIRMAN DR. STEIN REPORTING FROM KEARNEY.....ATTACK ON KEARNEY STATE.....AIR COMMANDER BOYE CRITICALLY WOUNDED! PROGNOSIS UNSURE. INFECTION FROM WOUND CRITICAL...PRAY FOR BEECHCRAFT BOB.....--STEIN "HEALER"
"Son," Groathouse turned to an aide, "Check with Maitland and see if we can have a Ceesna ready within the hour. Get a flight plan and a fuel requisition for Kearney..."
"Sir, why the hurry?"
"We have one of our own in dire straits," Groathouse said. "He needs to be surrounded by family right now. Send a signal to all CAP stations. PRAY FOR BEECHCRAFT BOB."
Good Samaritan Hospital -- Kearney, Nebraska -- same time.
"Where's Lil' Man?" Turner Gill said to the clerk at the desk.
Cyndi saw him as well, "You mean Cadet Chip Rochelle? I noticed you with the little panda...I think that's Chip's"
"Yeah,...He left it in my patrol car last night," Turner said.
Cyndi noticed the imposing man in fatigues behind him.
"Ma'am, this is Agent Clayton, special assistant to the Governor. We need to talk to Chip."
"Chip hasn't talked all day,"
Captain Tina walked into the hall, overhearing. "And he's not going to talk right now, unless you talk to me first. Captain Tina Wecker, Acting Commander Colfax County Civil Air Patrol."
Clayton calmly showed his badge. "Toussaint Clayton, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Omaha field office. On special assignment by orders of the Nebraska Continous Emergency Government, Captain. I'm here to help."
"I'm trying to protect my cadet," Captain said. "He's a little kid, he's only 12."
"Young lady, that little 12-year old boy put two bullets into an armed terrorist and fought off another. I'm trying to protect a state. I need to know what I'm up against..I just need to ask him some questions."
"As his commanding officer I will be in the room with him."
"You can be wherever you want to be," Clayton said. "But it is very important that I speak to that boy."
Clayton, Gill, Captain Wecker and Nurse Trofholz entered the room. Chip was sitting up curled into a ball. Still numb. Mind still racing. Just rocking back and forth. Back and forth.
He could still see in the darkness. The classroom. The moonlight shining off the dark barrel of military spec 9mm sidearm. He could hear Jill wail..."LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"
He could still sense himself crawling on the floor. Eyes fixed on a slither of skin.
Chip looked up and saw the foursome enter...he instantly scooted back on the bed. Eyes scanning for a weapon. He then looked and saw his panda...his little bear..
He lept for it..."ALGERNON!!!!" He screamed...He snatched the bear and cuddled it as if his life depended on it..
"Cadet Rochelle!" Tina said sternly, "Calm down and stop acting like a child...You are needed by this men to..."
"Why are you being mean to me?" Chip shot back.
"Excuse me," Clayton said calmly. "Captain Wecker, how old are you?"
"I'll be sixteen in two weeks."
"Well until you turn sixteen, I'm going to ORDER you to leave this room. Nurse , please accompany her and maybe teach her that there's a certain way in which you talk to someone going through post traumatic stress...and her way isn't it."
"Excuse me, I am under the jurisdiction of Civil Air Patrol."
Turner then spoke up, "Which is also under the jurisdiction of the Nebraska Continuous Emergency Government, and since you are in my territory Captain Wecker...I order you to leave this room. You an impeding an official investigation of Buffalo County's Emergency Government and the NCEG."
Tina sputtered, "You are a CDU..."
"Do not make me cite you for interference with official business. That is punishable under the Emergency Operations Act of 1984.."
Nurse Trofholz quickly grabbed Captain Wecker. "Kid, you heard the man.."
"Thank you," Chip said softly. "She's so stuck up and mean."
"She's just trying to lead the best way she can," Clayton said gently. "Don't pay it much mind. She's probably as worried about your commander as you are."
"Commander Bob?," Chip said. "How is he?"
Clayton frowned. "Still pretty bad, son."
Chip looked up at Captain Gill. Trying to place him. "Thanks for bringing my panda back."
"It's okay," Captain Gill. "My name is Turner...Chip right?"
"Yeah,"
"Kid, you grew up here?"
"Yes sir....Omaha."
"Like the Huskers..."
"Yes Sir!" Chip brightened up a little.
"Then you know who he is," Clayton smiled..
Chip smiled a little too. It came to him. "Wow.....Turner Gill...here? You mean that was you?"
"That was him what, son?" Clayton asked.
"He told me not to shoot the peckerwood." Chip said coldly.
"That's not a nice thing to say," Captain Gill said.
"That's what that man is," Chip spat back. "Redneck peckerwood...Him and his friends shooting their guns! He was one calling me all those names...Pickaninny. black bastard, spearchucker, coon."
Chip's pubescent voice cracked with his agitation. "I know what all those words mean. My dad told me. Back he was a boy in Arkansas, he told me about how the Klan would burn houses and pick on black people. And they are doing it here."
"What about your other cadets..Are they peckerwoods?" Clayton asked.
"No," Chip said. "I like them, even Captain Tina....And....I love Jill."
"Who is Jill?"
"She's my friend," Chip said.
His voice turned cold. "That peckerwood put a gun to her head...and he shot Commander Bob...He shot at me...Said those nasty things."
"Where did you get the gun?" Captain Gill asked.
"My dad gave it to me," Chip said. "He taught me how to shoot it. I'd rather not have it. I don't like violence. I don't like to fight.."
Chip was sobbing softly. "I didn't want to hurt anybody...But I didn't want my...."
Chip broke down crying.
Clayton bit his lip. His own mind racing back to a night back home in Louisiana. The very night when some local Klan firebombed his house. The desperate yelling of his father. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!! TOUSSAINT...WE GOTTA GO GARCON!!!"
The face of Chip Rochelle morphed into the face of a young Toussaint Clayton. Bitter tears running down his face. Seeing a home burn. Seeing a kindly old man on a stretcher.
Agent Clayton brought himself back to reality, not realize that both he and Captain Gill were sitting next to kid trying to console him.
"I'm sorry I'm crying," Chip said. "I didn't wanna cry in front of the best quarterback ever...I'm...scared..."
"I haven't stopped being scared since the war started," Turner said.
"Neither have I," Clayton answered.
Clayton stood in front of the young boy. "Cadet Rochelle...you wipe those tears, son.."
Chip looked up. Tears still running down his cheeks.
"I promise that the man who tried to hurt you and your friends will be punished," Clayton's tone of voice and the look on his face could burn through lead at that moment.
Clayton and Captain Gill turned to leave..
"Hey Turner!" Chip smiled through the tears.
"Yeah, kid?"
"You were awesome in the Orange Bowl. I was there!"
Captain Gill smiled. "Thanks, Lil' Man."
Chip's mood darkened again as Captain Tina and Nurse Trofholz came in the room.
TO: Governor J. Robert Kerrey, Colonel Milton Orr, Commander Nebraska Air National Guard. Commander James Sutfin, Nebraska State Patrol. Civilian Defense Commander Wally Barnett, Commander Merton Groathouse, Nebraska Civil Air Patrol.
FR: Brigadier General Allan Griswold, CINC-NEBCOMFORCE
RE: OPERATION TORNADO
SIRS,
THE RECENT INCIDENTS IN FREMONT, ALBION AND KEARNEY LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THAT IT IS TIME FOR AN OFFENSIVE OPERATION AGAINST THE NUMBER OF ANTISOCIAL ELEMENTS WITHIN OUR STATE. I REQUEST AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET AND STRATEGIZE WITH ALL OF YOU TO PUT TOGETHER A PLAN. A MILITARY OPERATION THAT IS ACCEPTIBLE TO THE CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP, BUT ALSO ACHIEVES THE REQUIRED GOAL.
ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR, NEO-NAZI BEHAVIOR, AND GENERAL LAWLESSNESS CANNOT BE TOLERATED. IT IS INCONGRUENT TO THE GOALS OF NEBRASKA'S RECOVERY. WE CANNOT MOVE FORWARD TO THE EXCELLENT PLANS THAT OUR STATE HAS TO REVITALIZE OUR AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY AND ECONOMY WITHOUT THE COMPLETE ELIMINATION OF THOSE WHO SEEK TO DISRUPT OUR STATE AND HINDER LIFE-SAVING RECOVERY EFFORTS.
THE PLAN WILL INVOLVE ALL SECTORS OF OUR STATE'S MILITARY AND PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL.
THE IDEA BEHIND THIS PROPOSAL IS TO SEND A MESSAGE TO ANYONE WITHIN OUR BORDERS WHO WILL NOT RESPECT LAW AND ORDER. SUBMIT OR DIE.
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM -- GRISWOLD.
A holding cell at Kearney Town Hall -- 6:00pm
The man rests on a cot. A little bruised, but still confident and defiant. "Just a matter of time until I break out of here," he thought. "But then what? These damn fools don't understand anything about the bigger movement. The blacks and the reds can have this damn place. So worried about their goddamn kids now. They weren't worried about them when they was integrating the schools and such. A goddamn black quarterback means more to these people than their damn survival. Maybe we'd be better off of the damn Russians won.."
BOOM!
A loud crash awoke the man. He looked into a bright light.
The light shut off. The man eyes adjusted. He was staring up at a grimace in fatigues.
"At least one thing is right in this hellhole," the man said. "Boy, fetch my damn dinner. A white man has some rights.""
The voice said coldly. "No suh. I's not gonna get yo' dinner."
The grimace stood there.
"Boy are you deaf?"
"Mr. Duffin. Donald R....Born Savannah, Georgia... April 12, 1951..Figures...."
"Headed a Klavern in Georgia.......Oh, I know about you..."
"So what," the man said. "Are you here to ask me questions? I noticed that fairie who's been talking to the others ain't been here."
"Arrested 1977 and 1980, petty crime robberies and shit....Then you met a man in 1981...Help broker a big ass deal."
"Listen darkie, are you writing my life story? Hell, a nigra who can write...what will they think of next.."
--snick--
Clayton loaded his sidearm.
"Oh, you are tough ass ain't ya," the man said defiantly. "You CDU wannabes ain't shit without guns."
Clayton opened the safety, took out the magazine and emptied the gun.
"No arms," Clayton said. "If you can whip my ass, cracker..I'll let you walk out of here."
The man smiled as he rose up. "You sound like a smart boy," the man said. "But that was dumb."
Clayton assumed a martial arts fighting stance.
"None of that fancy oriental bullshit will help you against me, boy."
Donald Duffin was wiry..country strong with cropped blonde hair and a scar on his cheek.
He was sure of himself. Even with an imposing stance and fatigues, Clayton looked soft and bookish.
Duffin rear back and threw a sharp right hand. Clayton slipped the punch and followed up with a sharp left elbow that impacted the man's cheek perfectly.
The man reared back in pain. A searing intense pain.
"OH SHIT...WHA HAFFIN?"
"That's a temporomandibular joint," Clayton said calmly. "Oh, I know that's too big a word for your dumb country ass.. I just broke your jaw."
Clayton hit him a three quick jabs to the face.
"THISIS AGAINSH MY RIGHTSHS, BOY!"
Clayton rammed his opponent against a wall in his cell. Hand tightly around his throat.
"Listen closely," Clayton said. "I don't give a damn about you or anybody in these holding cells. As far as I am concerned, you should all be dropped in the middle of Omaha butt naked....But first, you will tell me where I can find where your weapons came from...You will tell me where Tyler Tyles is."
Clayton kneed the man in the stomach. The tough country boy fell in a heap.
The agent walked out of the room. Two CDUs and the NCF county commander were waiting.
"Agent Clayton," the county commander said. "I do not endorse torture."
"I didn't torture anybody," Clayton said. "If I did, that man wouldn't be alive now..."
Clayton saw one of the CDUs carrying a tray. He took the tray of food and started walking away.
"Oh, and commander?..Don't feed the animals in this zoo. These fuckers don't deserve food...Besides I want them good and hungry. Hungry people tend to want to talk."
Clayton smiled as he strolled away with the tray. "And call Mr. Cavett. I would like his assistance for my next session."
Good Samaritan Hospital -- 11:56pm
Beechcraft Bob is monitored closely by two nurses and a doctor just outside. He is rested, but it is still very tenuous. They plan on going in one last time in the morning to clean out the remaining fragments.
In the waiting room, was CAP's state commander, Merton Groathouse, and he was far from alone. A group of commanders and other filled the waiting room. The word good out and planes started trickling into Kearney. Fuel rations be damned. That's how special a man called "Beechcraft Bob" is.
The cadets were placed into one room. Each in their sleeping bags. The decision was made. They would head on forward with their mission, starting with delivering some sample batches to the FEMA base at North Platte, so they can get to work on manufacturing more. Earlier in the evening, a helicopter took templates to a factory in Columbus.
Tina tried to sleep but couldn't. The words of Bob's letter percolating in her head.
The other cadets were still very scared trying to sleep. Worried about leaving Bob.
Chip set up his sleeping bag in a corner. He tuck himself in...holding his panda. "Algernon," he thought. "I wanna go home."
He didn't notice who set up next to him. "Chip," the voice whispered.
He rolled over and saw Jill..eyes red and swollen...
"Yes?" he said.
"I'm scared.."
"I was more scared last night."
"Chip, I wanna go home," Jill squawked.
"So do I," Chip said. "we'll get home when we're done."
Jill reached her hand out. Chip reached his out and met it.
He could see her eyes through the darkness tinted with slight moonlight..
Jill smiled back..."Chip, promise me! We're going to be friends forever."
"I promise." Chip said happily.
Finally, earlier this evening Radio Nebraska received a radio signal coming from the State of Washington on an emergency frequency. We have reason to believe that there is a greater national continuity that has been established...here is a sample of that broadcast from earlier..
"Listen," Chip said to Jill.
Jill heard the faint radio signal in the next room, too.
"This is Voice of America and I am your host, Ira Glass. Today, is the first time a radio program has been broadcast simultaneously across the country since before the Attack. We will be broadcasted at different stations throughout the country so contact your local FEMA team to get the correct frequency for your area. And now is time for the news:”
“Hello I’m Carl Castle with today’s Evening News from Voice of America.”
This morning Colorado officials have confirmed that Ronald Reagan has been located outside of Columbine, Colorado and is alive. The acting Colorado Governor has reported that the President has not been moved since the crash as he is in ‘uncertain health.’
A government plane has been shot down over Northern California today. Onboard were the Acting President of the United States, and many members of his staff. The Provisional National Government has seen this as an act of war. It is uncertain as to what scope the military response will be.....(1)
Kearney Town Hall -- same time
Clayton was up from a nap. He looked into his case and took out a group of vials...and some tools. Think of them as tools of persuasion.
It was time for the next session. It would be a long night in Kearney, Nebraska.
I got no means to show identification
I got no papers show you what I am
You'll have to take me just the way that you find me
What's gone is gone and I do not give a damn
to be continued.
(1) From "Duck and Cover: There Will Come Soft Rains"
Last edited:
Great updates!
I can't wait to see Tyler Tyles et al. get what is coming for them...
I can't wait to see Tyler Tyles et al. get what is coming for them...
Halfway through this TL, but still a lot of work to do with the chapter guide. Wish me luck !
In the meantime :
http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/doku.php/timelines/the_land_of_flatwater
In the meantime :
http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/doku.php/timelines/the_land_of_flatwater
Falkenburg
Monthly Donor
Good Luck, Petike.
I'll reiterate my thought that there should be a Turtledove Category for the kind of work you have done on behalf of all the P&S Threads for all of us, the Readers.
For myself, thank you.
Falkenburg
I'll reiterate my thought that there should be a Turtledove Category for the kind of work you have done on behalf of all the P&S Threads for all of us, the Readers.
For myself, thank you.
Falkenburg