“The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
Politically, the deaths of the governor and lieutenant governor had the same effect as a complete reshuffle of a deck of cards that had been tossed into the air, only to be spread out unceremoniously on the floor to be picked up in random order. The loss of two governors and two lieutenant governors in two years had the effect of reshaping the entire Texas body politic.
As Speaker Strasburg ascended to the office of governor, the leadership of the state legislature roiled with the changes in subcommittee chairmanships and memberships to important committees. Although Strasburg was hardly a conservative, many considered him a moderate.
What was most noticeable was that the pro-independence faction had gained substantial popularity among the electorate, but that wave of political feeling was not being represented in committee chairs and assignments coming out of Strasburg’s minions. Austin was becoming as highly polarized as Washington, D.C.
The opposing forces were not so much Democrat versus Republican or even conservative versus liberal as they were the pro-independence faction versus the status quo of politics as usual. Very few in the media realized it was taking shape much like the original American colonies when there were conflicts between Tories and rebels. Loyalties and alignment with leaders on both sides of the argument were becoming increasingly entrenched.
Beard and Will had been planning another inconspicuous rendezvous with Ottosson, but were about to find out it wasn’t necessary. It had been several months since they had accessed his devices and emails, and it was time to do it again. This mission was to try to uncover any more detail they could find on whatever Madison was, as well as clues for the whereabouts of Volkov.
Intelligence from Zach’s operatives had tracked Ottosson on a trip back to Sweden to CIS’ world headquarters with a stop in Amsterdam.
A message came into the Bunker, indicating operatives had mined some new and important intelligence from Ottosson. While in Amsterdam, Ottosson got coked up and spent two days with professional prostitutes in the red-light district. Apparently, Zach’s operatives in Europe had an even easier time accessing Ottosson’s devices while he was in a coke-laden tryst with multiple prostitutes.
Zach’s company had developed its own proprietary encoded communications systems that were reshaped every thirty days. This was especially important because of the Deep State’s intrusion into all things electronic of the average citizen under the guise of “national security.”
Beard was decoding several messages that burst through to the communications hub in the Bunker. Zach, Will and several others waited anxiously for him to decipher and translate the information.
Beard read off the first deciphered message:
CIS donor list lifted. Major donations funneled to Senator Simpson, Speaker Strasburg and others through PACs via dummy corporations and non-existent American citizens.
“Holy crap,” exclaimed Will.
“We shouldn’t be surprised. Illegal campaign contributions from a foreign source. Wonderful. I guess now we really know why Simpson and Strasburg opposed the referendum,” said Zach.
“Here comes the next one,” said Beard before they could fully digest the first.
Madison on track for September target date. Appears BIG. No other details except $150k distributed to the Bear for advance groundwork.
“Who the hell is the bear,” asked Will.
“Volkov is Russian…. the Russian bear?” offered Beard.
“That’s got to be it!” agreed Zach.
“The team is also saying here that Ottosson’s encryption methodology changed. These items are more than ten days old. They are working on breaking the encryption to get the rest,” claimed Beard. “Wait, one more coming through…” he said excitedly.
“Lone star eagle grounded successfully.”
“Damn!” Will was astounded.
“Well, there it is, confirmation.” Zach was talking about both his and Pops’ assertion that Ottosson and Volkov were behind the governor’s aircraft crash. “I’ve got to get this news to Pops.”
“Wait, there’s one more!” interrupted Beard. “What… What the hell does this mean?”
Source indicates rogue militia faction actions are imminent. No interception planned. Plays right into plans for Madison.
Suddenly Zach stood up. “Son of a bitch! Are you freakin’ kidding me? Get Lofton on the phone, NOW!” he shouted.
Within minutes, Beard had Hank Lofton on speakerphone.
“Hank, you’ve got a mole,” said Zach immediately, without saying hello.
“What the hell are you talking about, Zach?” asked Lofton.
“Hank, do you have some type of operation you are about to launch?” pressed Zach.
There was a pause and silence on the other end.
“Hank, you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Why are you asking me that?” queried Lofton.
“Because we intercepted intelligence on Ottosson. They know you have something planned.”
“What! No way!” objected Lofton.
“Well, do you? They think you do.”
“Did the intelligence specifically mention us or what the operation was?” asked Lofton, trying to discredit the intelligence.
“No, only that something from our rogue militia was imminent,” answered Zach.
“Well, that ain’t rocket science. The mole could be yours, Zach. I told you in our meeting we aren’t standing pat and letting the IRS steal our hard-earned money and ruining our lives,” countered Lofton.
“Hank, whatever you have planned plays into Madison somehow.”
“Zach, how could that be? Do we even know what Madison is?”
“Not yet, but the messages specifically credited your operation with aiding in their objective, whatever it is. So, Hank, I’ll ask you again. What do you have planned?” Zach demanded.
“I can’t…”
“Cut the crap, Hank!” Zach yelled, frantic. “Whatever it is likely puts us all in jeopardy. Now, exactly what is it?”
“Listen, Zach, you had your chance at the Bunker with us all there to unite us to take action on this IRS scandal. If you had, we’d all be planning this response together. All I can tell you is we are going to respond. Now that it appears you have a mole, I’m not at liberty to discuss it unless you’re offering your team’s help in meeting our objectives.”
“Hank, I’m asking you as a friend to stand down, at least until we figure out what Madison is. Will you do that, Hank?” pleaded Zach in the most civil way he knew how.
“Zach, I appreciate your concern, but our operation is already in motion. My team is suffering undue hardship. Unless you are willing to bring your team on board with this response, we don’t have a lot to discuss. Now, if you figure out what this Madison operation is, call me; otherwise you’ll be hearing about ours soon enough,” said Lofton flatly.
“Hank, my team also has these damned levies, audits and harassment. But we are mindful of the bigger picture.”
“Not to the extent ours is. I’ve got team members who are borrowing money to feed their families. A couple have had assets seized. The damned tax attorneys can’t seem to get anything rectified. Hell, even personal bankruptcy is too late as some of them are coming under criminal indictment,” Lofton exclaimed. “It’s all a bunch of lies, a hit job, and you know it, Zach!”
“If your people had followed protocol months ago, they couldn’t touch your money. My team has gotten hit the same, but they followed our established protocols to protect cash and assets. Yours didn’t.”
“Circumstances, Zach. Some of them have circumstances why protocol wasn’t followed to the letter. What am I going to do, abandon them?”
“No, of course not,” Zach said sympathetically. “Are you going to tell me what your plans are so we can at least try to minimize any exposure we have? Surely you could use our intelligence apparatus.”
“I have my own intelligence apparatus, Zach, you know that.”
“Hank, I’m going to let you think about this for twenty-four hours. These turds are saying that your operation will enable or help Madison. Doesn’t that concern you?” Zach was frustrated.
“Sure it does, Zach, but I have no idea how reliable that intelligence is. And what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Hell, you might not figure out what Madison is until after it has happened.”
“Hank, I’m begging you to stand down for now,” Zach said.
“I appreciate your concern. Call me when you have new information.”
Click.
“The son of a bitch hung up on me!” shouted Zach.
“Damn. He doesn’t believe us?” asked Beard.
“No, that ain’t it. He’s determined to run his own show. He’s hell bent on leading his own operation to pay back the IRS. What do y’all think he’s going to do?” asked Will.
“He doesn’t have the technology experience on that team to do anything covert in their systems, although he may have some common contacts with us that could,” said Beard.
“No, I don’t think so,” Zach stated. “Our contacts aren’t going to initiate any kind of large-scale effort against a governmental agency without a lot more behind them than Lofton’s team. When you decide to act on the IRS, NSA, FBI, ATF or the military complex, you are playing with fire.”
“Zach, what type of response is he talking about?” asked Will. “What could make the IRS stand down?”
“He would have to use covert technology in my opinion, but I don’t think he has the means or desire. He wants his pound of flesh,” Zach lamented.
“If he goes that route, he’s going to bring them down on all our heads!” yelled Beard.
“Yep, and he can’t see it because his hatred is getting in the way of his judgment. There’s other ways to respond. Let’s hope he has something more tactical in mind,” Zach said hopefully.
“He doesn’t care or doesn’t believe our intel on Madison?” asked Beard.
“Deep down, he cares. But he knows we really don’t have much to go on. We really need to uncover something, anything that could sway him to stop. But I have a feeling we don’t have much time,” Zach said ominously. “Let’s get on the phone and break the latest news to Pops.”
Meanwhile, Lofton got on his cell phone with his chief lieutenants. “This is Lofton. Circumstances indicate that we might be compromised. Operation Payback is officially moved up seventy-two hours.”