Freedom Earned. Ronald Price

      Chapter 12

      Roundup

      Central Intelligence Agency

      Langley, Virginia

      0024 Hours

      Bill Loadman, director of Internal Security, was sleeping soundly when the telephone started to ring. It had only rung several times, and he had it in his hand. “Hello, Loadman here.”

      “Sorry to wake you, sir. This is Mark Osborne. We have something strange going on that doesn’t make sense. We need your help.”

      “What is it, Mark?”

      “Sorry, sir. It’s so big we can’t trust even a secured line. You will need to come in here. I’ll send a car for you, sir.”

      Bill hung up the phone and dressed rapidly and told his wife there was an emergency and would call her later. Bill knew it would only take fifteen minutes for the car to arrive for him, but it seemed like only minutes had gone by when there was a knock on the door. He opened it and two agents stood before him.

      “The car’s here, sir. Are you about ready to go?”

      “Yes, let’s go.” Walking to the car, Bill started asking questions about the emergency.

      “Sorry, sir. We don’t know all the details. You’ll need to get them from Mark. All we know is it’s big.”

      The car pulled away from the curb and was headed toward CIA headquarters. The two agents were busy talking about the office, the new president’s latest proclamation, and the cutbacks the agency was getting and how it was going to affect them and national security. Then the car made a detour and was headed south of the agency.

      Bill looked up and realized they were heading in the wrong direction. A cold tingling sensation went down his spine, and the hair stood up on the back of his neck. Yes, something was wrong but not at Langley. It was in the car he was riding in. He slipped his hand inside his coat and onto the butt of his gun. Suddenly he felt the hard nose of an automatic sticking into his side.

      “Sorry, sir. I’ll have to have that. Please take it out slowly with two fingers and give it to me.”

      Bill pulled the gun out and gently dropped it into the agent’s hand. “You want to tell me what’s going on here?”

      “Sorry, sir. You’ll find out soon enough.”

      The car slowed and turned off the main road onto a winding dirt road, stopping at the end of it. There standing silently was a navy helicopter. When the men boarded the aircraft, the pilot started the engines, and within minutes, they were airborne.

      *****

      Diana was sitting on the edge of her bed, worried about her mother and Tork, what had happened to him, where he was, or if she would ever see him again. Who were these people and what were they up to? Question after question went through her mind. She had asked for her mother to be notified that she was all right, but not knowing what was really going on, she didn’t know if they would call her. Anything to calm her mother’s fears.

      *****

      Colonel Duncan looked at both men. “What am I going to do with you two?”

      Cal looked over to Tork, smiled, and said, “Send us home!”

      Tork chuckled and said, “Yeah, you know, give us the keys to the car and we’ll be on our way.”

      “Ah, gentlemen, I wish it were that easy, but unbeknownst to you, you have stumbled on a project that will change the face of this country and return it to the people, to Americans.”

      Tork sat silently for a few moments. Then he stood up, faced the colonel, and said, “There is no place in this country we cannot go or anything at all we cannot do. How can you claim you are giving America back to the people? We already have it.”

      “Tork—May I call you Tork?” The colonel went on not waiting for Tork to reply. “This country has undergone extensive change over the past several years in all parts of it. You can travel, yes. You are, however, restricted in many ways. Your constitutional rights have been taken away. European forces have entered your country and taken by force your personal weapons. No, I don’t think you already have it, Mr. Albertson. Not at all!

      “In addition, the country’s revenue system has forced all the most productive corporations out of the country. We have lost an immense number of jobs to this exodus, and there are millions of Americans that were once the envy of the world now living in substandard conditions. A third of our country is on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. Once the greatest country in the world, we are now on the verge of becoming a third-world economic country. I say becoming when I should say we are now a third-world country. We are only steps behind Russia and others.

      “As foreign countries see us growing weaker, they prepare to move in and take over. The war on terrorism and the influx of the Arab warring nations have caused the world to see us a paper tiger with no fangs. Europe wants to control not only all of Europe but also the world, with both the EU and Islam bidding for the chance to do just that.”

      Colonel Duncan gazed at both Tork and Cal evaluating them carefully. Satisfied at what he observed, he continued, “We have no desire to control any nation. These factors have proven to us that we are losing ground. The president’s latest concession to the United Nations has given control over this country to the United Nations with absolute power. Our total law enforcement in this country is in the United Nations’ hands.

      “If there is a riot in Los Angles, they will have the right to send in UN troops, and under the conditions of the law, we cannot intervene. They have integrated the US Department of Education with the United Nations to act as an example to the world of how they too can be rewarded by adhering to the United Nations’ authority. The new world order has not lived up to the standards expected by the framers of the constitution. Did you know that as we talk, there is a treaty being drawn up by the president to ship American technicians and craftsman to nations such as Africa, India, and others that lack the trade and crafts to build up their nation’s industries? Sounds good, doesn’t it? But there’s a hitch—those that go will be forced to go as a condition for their families to receive their welfare. No work, no eat. Yes, Tork, you can go where you want to now, but how about tomorrow? In-country passports are being readied for internal travel control as we speak.”

      Tork looked at the colonel, thinking about his statement and what had been happening over the past few years. The Congress was lopsided, and the party in power had caused most of the industrial base to move to Canada, Mexico, and China. Hell, half the Mexicans in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah had started moving back to Mexico for the jobs that moved south. Maybe this man had a point. Those that were staying were getting full amnesty and could stay with citizenship on the way.

      “Maybe you’re right and maybe not,” Tork said. “I would have to see more than just trust in what you have said to join in a treasonous plot that is obviously going on here. What have you got, Colonel, a couple of hundred men here, planning and plotting? Come on, Colonel. Once the army gets wind of this, you’re gone.”

      The colonel smiled and pushed a button on his desk.

      An orderly entered the room. “Yes, sir,” he said to the colonel.

      “Take this young man over to the holding area and make him comfortable.