MacArthur's Freehold

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 -- BSBVSEDSOEBQSPIFTVL

Carter was awake early the next morning, dressed and ready when Jessica knocked on his door.

"We're ready to go" she said. "Glad you're up early, we can get out ahead of the traffic."

He took his bags to the car and tossed them into the back seat, while Jessica and Tommy loaded theirs in the trunk. After a stop for fuel at a gas station across the road they were on their way, with Tommy again in the lead.

After a few minutes on the freeway, Jessica said "We've got a long quiet drive ahead, so we can talk some.

"To get some of your questions out of the way up front, I'll tell you who we are and where we're going. You already know Tommy, but I doubt he told you much. So let me get a few essentials out of the way. My last name, by the way, is Campbell. Nice old Scottish name. My grandmother had an ancestry trace that shows our family origins in the eighteenth century. I'm twenty-seven years old, five seven, and I'm not going to tell you my weight."

She looked over and smiled for what he suddenly realized must have been the first time since they had met. The previous day had been all business.

"We're on our way to my grandfather's farm. He owns a section and a half of land up there, and several other small properties in the area. He's the reason Tommy wanted you to come."

"Is Tommy related to you?" asked Carter.

"No. He's become something like family, though. He and my brother were friends, they were in the army together."

Jessica paused, looking straight ahead. After a few moments that seemed much longer, she continued.

"Jerry, my brother, and Tommy were pretty close. He's the only one I ever met. He came to visit with Jerry once when they were on leave. Shortly after that they were deployed again, to Afghanistan, and Jerry was killed by one of those damned bombs, IEDs, they were using. Tommy was wounded too, but he survived. He even recovered, for the most part. But he wasn't the same.

"He came to visit again a few months later, after he was discharged. He was bitter, not just because of Jerry's death but because the whole affair was a waste of men's lives for no good purpose. That was when he began to have problems. Drinking, drugs, hanging out with some rough characters."

"Bikers?" Carter asked.

"Some" replied Jessica. "Not biker gangs, exactly. They guys I saw him with didn't wear the patches, and he wasn't part of any group as far as I know. He just liked that lifestyle.

"Anyway, Dad liked him and tried to get him to do something constructive with his live, but it wasn't easy. He got mixed with something that got him sent to prison. Luckily it was a short term, and when he got out Dad got him to have a serious talk."

"Do you have any other family?" Carter asked.

"No. My mother died whey I was a junior in high school. Dad never married again, and with Jerry gone it's just him and me. He looks at Tommy something like a son now. Tommy has done pretty well at reforming. He still rides a bike a lot because it's part of his work."

"What sort of work?"

"I was coming to that. Now that we're away from walls with ears, and I know this car is clean. I'll tell you what's going on.

"Dad always had strong political opinions, like his father. On the conservative side. But the last few presidents, of either party, disappointed and eventually angered and frightened him. From stupid wars we went to a society that is not only ruled by corrupt political operators and their financial backers, but the decent people, the law-abiding ones who work for a living and pay the taxes that keep those people in power, are too afraid to do anything and not sufficiently organized to have any effect.

"So, and he was already on this course before Jerry died, he decided to start looking at ways to actually accomplish something. When Dad introduced him to his activities, Tommy approved and became part of it."

"What sort of activities?" Carter asked.

Jessica looked silently out at the road for a while, then glanced over at him. She seemed to be about to take a very serious action.

"Dad and some associates around the country, just a few at this point, are working on ways to make the changes we need, outside of the political process, or even the law. We're now at a point at which those avenues are no longer likely to be effective."

"Are you talking about insurrection? That would seem to require considerable resources."

"Not an all-out war." Jessica replied. "That would, as you said, require more resources than we have, or are likely to have any time soon. What we are working on is a way to push back against the bad actors while there is still, maybe, some times. And since the government is on their side, we have to be able to resist, forcefully, without allowing them to retaliate."

"That would be the outside the law part."

"Eventually it will come to that." Jessica replied. "At this point we are putting together the resources, the communications setup, everything we need to operate strike forces that can operate with impunity, even when the enemy knows of our existence.

"We have already carried out a few small strikes, not significant enough for our presence to be suspected, but eventually we want to be able to challenge the enemy openly. Our success will almost certainly inspire others to act similarly, even if they can't be as effective as us."

"I suppose you must maintain complete secrecy, for your bases, personnel. Can you continue to do that once you have a larger operation?"

"So far it hasn't been a problem, but obviously if we got really big it would be eventually. At this point there are only a handful of operators like us, each with a few trusted people, but we have a lot of money behind us.

"Many of our freeholds, as we call them, are based at fairly large estates owned by men of considerable wealth, and our operatives are based there. Ours is a large farm owned by my grandfather, it's a big place with space to hide a lot of stuff. But our main defense, at this point, is stealth and invisibility."

"I take it this car is part of being invisible."

"Right" said Jessica. "We build, or rebuild, older cars, to use in our operations. Old cars, neutral colors, but reconditioned to new condition. We have other types as well - trucks, off-road vehicles. They're all properly registered and licensed, inconspicuous as possible. As long as we don't do anything to arouse suspicion, there isn't much to worry about."

Carter looked out at the countryside passing by. There wasn't much to see from the highway - the plains up here were dotted with small towns, with most of the population concentrated in St. Louis and Kansas City, with the rest scattered around the state in small cities and towns, which were fewer in number as they went further north. Most of the land was covered with fields of corn and soybeans, which often seemed to extend endlessly on either side of the highway.

The drive was only about four hours at the speed limit, which Jessica scrupulously obeyed. "Unless there is some kind of search going on, the cops pretty much just watch traffic" she said. "Write tickets, work accidents. Off the main roads, you may see the local police, and sheriff department working out of town. But if we happen to run afoul of them, they're easily handled."

Carter looked over at her, silently, but she sensed the question her comment had evoked. "We have had a couple of run-ins with local law enforcement, unfortunate accidents, but we have been able to convince them it's not a good idea to annoy us. Or to appeal to a higher authority like the state police."

Carter didn't pursue the matter. He suspected he was going to be learning a lot of new things, and he was intrigued by what he had heard. Besides, he had nothing else to do at the moment.