MacArthur's Freehold

Chapter 24

Chapter 24 -- ZVCPTXJUSIVQRHCAKKK

"So" Jessica said "now that we've put a stick in the enemy's eye, how do we go about rubbing it in? Any ideas?"

They we in Donald's office, a week after extracting James. The news had largely subsided, it was still an active subject in the Little Rock area, but nowhere else.

"Essentially, we want to let it be known that it was a professional operation," Donald said, "and that their prisoner is free and they will never find him. And that we did it to provoke them, that is important. We want to stir things up."

"Do we need to involve the Council at this point?" asked Jessica.

"We do" said Donald. "We can set up a committee, three or four members, to approve all communications. We need it to be some of us who can meet in person, so they have to be close together."

He spread a map of the country on the table, black and white with no more than the outlines of the lower 48 states. There was a stack of them, used for such planning sessions as these. He drew an X at the top of Missouri, indicating their location. Then he placed four more at locations around the mark.

"These should work" he said. "We've got four members within a two hour drive of here. We can get together once a week or so, draw up communiques. Then deliver them somewhere in the Little Rock area, probably television and radio stations, the Little Rock newspaper."

"We need to be sure the printer used can't be traced" said Jessica. "As far as we know, only color laser printers and copiers use them, but we want to be extra careful - maybe use a cheap inkjet and dispose of it afterward, like a burner phone. And buy it somewhere, like KC, pay cash, the usual. So how soon can we get that started? We might not want to wait too long, keep it in the news."

"I can contact our guys, get them to a meeting in a few days" said Donald. "The entire council is aware of the operation, but only those of us who carried it out know the details. Of course everyone is now aware it happened, so let me get in touch with them."

The first message was delivered a few days later, and was on the evening news. They watched as a feed from a station was relayed to the nationwide news channels. It had to be taken seriously, it seemed, as Kucinick had indeed vanished without a trace and there was no clue to his whereabouts. The FBI had been on the case within twenty-four hours, even though it was not a federal case.

"They use the excuse that after twenty-four hours it is assumed that state lines have been crossed." Carter said. "It's how the FBI got in business - they treated kidnapping as a federal crime if the victim wasn't located in twenty-four hours. Not that it mattes, they make anything they like a federal case now."

An image of the message filled the screen, while the contents were delivered by an unseen person.

 "Officer Michael Kucknick was freed Friday evening by a team of our personnel. He is now in a safe place and will remain there as long as necessary. We took this action because, as in numerous past cases,a police officer innocent of any wrongdoing was charged with a crime to pacify the criminal element of our society and to preserve and advance political careers. We will no longer tolerate such activities. Your hired mobs can burn, loot, and kill as much as you wish, but if you attempt to prosecute police officers who have done nothing wrong, we will prevent it, by any means necessary. If you are so foolish as to imprison them, the cost of freeing them will be much higher, for you."

The unseen news person reappeared.

"The message gave no indication of who sent it." she said. "The police department has no comment at this time, other than that they are investigating. We have, from our affiliate in Chicago, Dr. Robert Blakely, a criminologist with experience in domestic terrorism cases."