From Within (21 page)

Marcus and Will unbuckled as the plane came to a stop on the ramp. Sweat lined Marcus’s forehead. He stood and put on his suit jacket. He wanted to cover any sweat stains that might be present on his shirt after the turbulent flight. Turbulence and flying didn’t normally bother him, but after having crashed in the same type airplane he was riding in again, his thoughts on flying were beginning to change.

Marcus looked to Will. He was yawning. He slept the entire flight. Marcus shook his head. He hoped he wasn’t getting this young guy into more than they could handle. Marcus stopped at the cockpit as they were about to exit.

“You’ve done good Jay,” Marcus said. “Now get this plane back to your camp. Remember, don’t say a peep about us. If anyone asks, you were doing a special level one security job for Mara. You know Mara, right?”

Jay nodded his head. “Fuel truck just started loading me up for the trip home.”

“Good,” Marcus said.

Marcus leaned forward to shake Jay’s hand and must have lost his balance and toppled down in between the two pilot seats. Will was right behind him and helped him up. Jay helped as best as he could from his confined seating area by allowing Marcus to hold on to his arm.

“Whoops,” Marcus said. “I’m alright, guys. Thanks for the help.”

He extended his hand again and Jay took it. Marcus and Will stepped onto the ramp. Jay closed the door up behind them. They walked around the plane and towards a small terminal building.

“You okay?” Will asked. “That had to have been killer on your ribs.”

“Not to worry, my young student,” Marcus said. “I’m getting quite a bit better at this spy game.” He pulled a phone from his pocket. He quickly glanced back to ensure that the King Air was taxiing back out. The fuel truck had just pulled away and the propellers were starting to rotate.

“Looks like a phone,” Will said. “It probably doesn’t work. We lost all service the day the CMA pulled the country into the gutter.”

“This is no ordinary phone,” Marcus said with a sly grin. “This is a CMA satellite phone. All of their phones still work.”

“If you’ve had that this whole time, why didn’t you use it?” Will asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“My fall in there was controlled,” Marcus said. “I saw Jay check the time on this thing about every twenty minutes for the entire flight. I could tell it was a CMA phone. They made me start carrying one like the day after they took over everything. I knew I had to snatch it from him. Luckily he had dropped it on the floor while landing. He’ll probably assume it slid back somewhere and will have to look for it once he gets back home.”

“Sneaky sneaky,” Will said as a smile grew on his face. “But, who are you going to call? Isn’t it just CMA phones that work?”

“Thomas from the ARF must have had a sat phone as well,” Marcus said. “Before we had to start using more clandestine methods of communicating, we still used phones. In fact, my personal phone had still worked. I wonder if they shut down communications by location rather than a blanket across the whole country. Anyway, I need to try to get a hold of Thomas and also one other person.”

“Who?” Will asked.

“My brother,” Marcus said.

*****

“General here,” the gravelly voice answered. He sounded annoyed.

“Now don’t go promoting yourself Private Ray,” Marcus said.

“Talking Head!? Is that you!?” Ray said.

“Yes, sir,” Marcus said.

Will had leaned in as close as he could to Marcus to try to hear the conversation over the phone.
Private? Talking Head? Were these code words
?

“How is that possible?” Ray said. “The news played a memorial for you.”

“Wow,” Marcus said. “That would’ve been interesting to see. Listen, Private, keep up the nicknames. I’m on a CMA phone.”

“You called me on a CMA phone? What the-”

Marcus cut him off. “Just keep to the nicknames. I’m pretty sure they won’t care about this number. Also, I think the CMA is way too busy right now. I think they are about to ramp up something terrible.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard,” Ray said grimly.

“I’m curious what you’ve heard from the military perspective,” Marcus said.

“What do you mean?” Ray said. “I’ve heard everything you told the dog unit.”

“The dog unit?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah,” Ray said. “You know, ‘arf?’” He sounded it out like a dog’s bark rather than saying the three letters Marcus always referred to it as, ARF.

“You’re working with Thomas?” Marcus was perplexed.

“Yeah,” Ray said, “didn’t he ever tell you? I was the one that suggested he contact you. Man, you are pretty dumb for a giant talking head.” He laughed.

“Ha ha,” Marcus said slowly in a sarcastic tone. “He never told me. Anyway, I’ve got a plan and I need your help. Do you have a way to move around the country?”

“Affirmative, Head,” Ray said.

“Good,” Marcus said. “Do you remember the place that Dad took us camping and hiking when we were teenagers?”

“Affirmative,” Ray said. “I’m already here.”

It turned out that another contact at Marcus’s home camp had passed on to the ARF where all the big-wigs of the CMA were headed. Marcus knew it had to be Blake. Marcus made arrangements with his brother to get picked up.

Once Will and Marcus stepped into the small terminal where the private planes would park, Marcus immediately went to the small shopping area. He grabbed a hat and sunglasses to help disguise himself. He noted in a mirror as he adjusted the hat that he was looking quite scruffy. This was probably the longest he had gone without shaving since he was a pubescent-thirteen-year old. His line of work was all about appearance.

“I think you’ll be able to pass,” Will said. “You kinda look like a homeless person.”

“Hey!” Marcus said. “Pretty harsh.”

Will laughed to indicate he was kidding with him. “Nice choice of a hat, by the way.”

Marcus looked in the mirror again. He had grabbed the items without caring what they said. He hadn’t realized that the small terminal also doubled as a school for beginning pilots. The face of the hat read, ‘MAY YOUR LANDINGS ALWAYS EQUAL YOUR TAKEOFFS.’

Marcus shook his head. “Just perfect.”

Marcus and Will exited the car and a cool mountain breeze hit their faces. They had been surprised by their surroundings as they arrived. It was a slightly upscale neighborhood. It was gorgeous. It was hilly and green and full of established trees. All the yards were beautifully landscaped with large decorative rock and well-trimmed bushes. Deep red mulches contrasted the gray river rock. And it was all surprisingly close to the entrance of Cheyenne Mountain. If it weren’t for the thicket of trees, they’d probably be able to see the entrance into the mountain. It was most likely that it could be seen from some of the second-floor rooms of the large homes in the neighborhood.

The car that picked them up hadn’t been what they expected either. There was nothing military about it at all. It looked like an average family sedan. The man that drove them had no signs of being in the military. His hair wasn’t short like the typical military standard. It was a bit overgrown and might be considered shaggy. He had a few days of growth on his face. His clothes were average; khaki pants and a sports t-shirt. He also didn’t speak. His head was like a bobble-head doll. He constantly checked mirrors and looked directly out the side windows. He made seemingly unnecessary lane changes which actually had a purpose. He was trying to detect any surveillance activity following them.

As they approached the massive custom home, Ray burst out of the front door. He and Marcus rushed up to each other and grabbed one another for a tight squeeze. They spoke a few words to each other that weren’t loud enough for any of the others that had gathered around. They pulled away and kept their right hands locked in a perpetual handshake. Tears were beginning to form in Ray’s eyes. They both had wide smiles stuck on their faces. Ray cleared his throat in an effort to prevent the tears from beginning to fall.

“You look like hell,” Ray said.

“Thanks,” Marcus replied. “You too.”

Everyone laughed.

Ray turned from Marcus. “This must be Will,” Ray said.

“I am,” Will said. “And you are...Private Ray?”

Ray’s face became grim. He shot a glance at Marcus that could have burned through a solid concrete wall. Marcus let out a mischievous laugh. Ray turned back to Will.

“It’s General. General Braden to pretty much everyone. Marcus is the only one that can call me Ray.”

“Oh...,” Will began, “I’m sorry, General Braden. My only reference was from Marcus.”

“Clearly,” General Braden said. He shot another glance at Marcus.

General Braden brought Marcus and Will into the house. The inside of the home was filled with extravagant woodwork. There were hardwood floors, wood trim, and what appeared to be hand-carved crown molding. It was an elegant western look. Will thought something like this must cost a small fortune.

“I see you admiring all the woodwork, young man,” a man with a southern accent said as he approached Will. “Once upon a time, the economy was much more...lucrative for everyone. It was during that time I had this home built.” The man looked up to the high vaulted ceiling in the room Will and the others had just entered. “I’m Matt Madison,” he said extending a hand to Will. “Originally from Savannah. I decided like the great adventurers of old to head west and try my hand at a fortune out here. I had a slight advantage being that my wife and I were already inheritors of her Stainbrook family fortune, but don’t tell anyone. Either way, I was a big construction name in Georgia and continued that success here. It’s not as easy in today’s world. I’m guessing pretty much impossible now that most industries are controlled by a government corporation. Also known as a militaristic, communist, tyrannical nightmare.”

General Braden approached, “Will, don’t mind him. He’s probably the most vocal and passionate person you’ll meet in our cause. Perhaps more than Thomas Allen, our leader. Mr. Madison has been most gracious to allow us to use his home. We are lucky that is about half a mile away from the enemy. He’s been a part of the cause for years, both in advertising the cause on his own and helping to support it financially. When he found out that Cheyenne Mountain was where all the enemy went into hiding he called immediately to get us out to his house.”

“Thomas!” Marcus called out, surprising everyone.

“Marcus,” Thomas said as he stood up from a couch in the large room, “good to see you are alive.”

The two shook hands. “This is quite the surprise,” Marcus said. “Will and I thought we were coming out here to fight them alone. I had hoped you all had a plan.”

“Well,” Thomas said, “once we got word from Blake that all the important people from the CMA were heading to Cheyenne Mountain, we started heading this way. We unfortunately only have about five to ten percent of our people here with hardly any of our military equipment here yet.”

“Oh,” Marcus said in a disappointed manner.

“I know, I know,” Thomas said. “You had become our greatest information asset. We were getting some information here and there from a few of our other insiders, but you were right there in the thick of it. Anything we found out from others was always minuscule to what you would pass on to us. It’s difficult to plan a war based off of some of that information. The CMA definitely had a well planned out course of action.”

“It seems so,” Marcus said. “What can we do? I’m beginning to worry that we can’t wait for the rest of your people.”

They all settled down onto the couches. Marcus filled them all in on his harrowing story of the plane crash and Will and his group finding him. They were all shocked after hearing the story that he was even alive to be here. Marcus clutched his chest and told them that he didn’t escape completely uninjured.

Thomas moved on and explained the ARF’s plans. Their plan was, unfortunately, to wait for at least seventy-five percent of their forces and assets to arrive before moving against the CMA. Even then, they worried that they could be easily surrounded. The bulk of the manpower of the CMA was still spread around the country in camps and could be called to the area much quicker than the ARF had abilities to do.

“You see,” General Braden said to Marcus and Will, “we are already risking a lot, from a military perspective, by bringing everyone here. We can only hope that most of their personnel aren’t in it because they believe in this cause of total control over everyone’s lives, It’s practically a system of slavery they have in the works. I think the men they have are in it for the money and security. The economy has been worthless for at least a decade. Everyone is desperate to make sure they can feed themselves and their families.”

“Well, why don’t you leave it up to Will and I then?” Marcus asked.

Will’s head snapped to Marcus. “Why would we do that now that we know they are here?”

“Because we have a fairly solid plan and we can’t afford to wait,” Marcus said.

“Fairly solid?” General Braden asked. “What plan do you have?”

Marcus took the next few minutes to explain his plan. The others slowly inched forward in their seats as they listened. They all finally sat back in their seats after he finished.

“You think you can pull all that off?” Thomas asked.

“We thought we could do it before,” Will said.

Everyone turned and looked at Will.

“Of course, there are the few things we need help with,” Marcus said. “I’d also like to get cleaned up and shave. I think he needs it too.” Marcus lifted his eyebrows and nodded his head towards Will.

“Hey!” Will said and then laughed.

Marcus turned back to the others, “You know, we were able to get onto a camp and manage to have them fly us out here,” Marcus paused for a moment, “all to fight them. In addition, it was all after I was supposed to have died in a fiery plane crash and the news had announced it nationwide.”

The General, Thomas, and Matt all looked at each other. Thomas took a deep breath.

“This seems quite risky,” Thomas said. “I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with this.”

“Can we afford to wait?” Marcus asked. “Do you know why all their top people went into hiding in one of the safest places to be in the U.S.? They are deep inside of a mountain now. A mountain that can keep them safe from a bomb hitting it. I can’t remember every place on that list, but I’d say Colorado Springs has a pretty good sized population. They also have a camp not too far from here. I’d bet it’s on the list otherwise they wouldn’t be hiding inside of a mountain.”

Thomas began to continually nod his head. “I see what you mean.” He sighed.

“This needs to be done and it needs to be done now,” Marcus said.

“There are all kinds of military bases in the area,” Matt said. “I bet we can find what you need fairly quickly. Some the people we already have in the area are military from these bases. General, do you think we can gather what they need quickly?”

“The CMA has taken over a lot of the assets in the area,” General Braden said. “If we can get in contact with our insiders right now, we might be able to move on what we need tonight. Marcus, there’s a chance that you and Will could get going on your plan tomorrow. No guarantee. It might take an extra day.”

“I hope it doesn’t,” Marcus said. “I really do believe that I am right. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already started bombing areas. One lady was ready to bomb L.A. a few days ago.”

“Get the word out then,” Thomas said. “This plan is better than waiting around for the country to be blown to bits.”

Their meeting concluded. General Braden left to start getting in contact with the military personnel in the area to start working on getting the items that Marcus and Will needed. Matt showed Will to a room he could stay in and get cleaned up. As Marcus was about to find where his room would be, Thomas stopped him. He held him by his arm.

“Marcus,” Thomas said, “you do understand that this will be very dangerous for you, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Marcus answered. “No different than what you had me doing before.”

“Yes, but now you have a young man with you who seems gung-ho,” Thomas said. “What did you tell him to come along with you like this?”

“I told him everything I’ve told you,” Marcus said. “Thomas, this guy has a passion for his country and his family. Even his friends. He knows that he is fighting to maintain freedom for his family, his girlfriend, for friends, and for millions around the country that he doesn’t know. They haven’t had it easy out in the woods. He’s dealt with danger. I think this young man knows what it takes to complete this and what risks he is taking.”

Thomas nodded his head. “Just so you are sure. I can understand sending trained soldiers to fight, but it’s just much more difficult to send someone without the training.”

“You do know I wasn’t some sort of trained spy before you tasked me with the job?” Marcus asked with a smile.

“Point taken,” Thomas said. He sniffed in Marcus’s direction. “I would suggest getting cleaned up before you do anything else...anything at all.” Thomas laughed at his own joke. “Whew!”