Glimmer of Hope (Land of Tomorrow Book 1) (27 page)

Reggie put the phone to his ear and after several rings, heard the ringing stop and the line go active. “Who is this?” asked Reggie.

Silence at the other end.

“This is President Reggie Phillips the duly elected leader of the Jackson Purchase. You need to know that your assassination attempt on my life failed, but it did cost my wife her leg. Walter Beale is also dead.”

Silence at the other end, not even breathing.

Reggie continued, “I suspect you wanted to time my death with your attack on the dam in order to catch us by surprise and cause as much chaos as possible. Both have failed miserably and caused great suffering and loss of life. I don’t know what your plans are for those forces to the south, but you had better rethink them. We’re on to you and we’re ready.”

More silence. Reggie looked at the phone display to ensure he was still connected.

“Cease your aggression and we can work to try to live with each other peacefully. The world has destroyed itself and here the ragged remnants are trying to do it again. It’s ridiculous and inconceivable.”

Reggie took a deep breath. “I’m willing to overlook your attack on my life and the hurt you have done my wife in the best interest of both our people. Cease the attacks, stand down the military, and let’s talk this out. There’s still time.”

There was silence on the line for perhaps ten seconds, before the other end disconnected the call.

Chapter 5 - Disappointment

Ethan’s source network and communications systems were so good that he generally knew what happened in the JP before the JP leadership did, especially now that they were without electricity and phones. Ethan had also used his considerable power to collect every satellite phone within the WTR, and after combining these with crank chargers, provided the perfect means of communicating instantly over long distances. The world may be dead he thought, but those satellites up in orbit just keep on trucking.

The satellite phones were provided to key sources within the JP. They used these phones to call and relay information to their respective source handlers, all of whom worked for Ethan and were personally trained by him…except for Walter Beale. That mission had been so sensitive that he could not entrust it to another. The assassination failure was disappointing, but not a great loss. The JP would be scared of further attempts and expend resources to protect against it. Ethan admitted that the one sided “conversation” he had with Reggie Phillips was somewhat surprising, but again of no real concern.

Overall, his spy network worked well and efficiently. Sometimes too efficiently Ethan told himself as he ended a meeting with his operations officer. This man had the daunting task of collecting all the intelligence reports and providing the information to Ethan. He in turn provided taskings for the numerous spy handlers operating throughout the extended area. They already knew of the embarrassing and frustrating raid along the border which resulted in the loss of three of their tanks. Sampson was beside himself with fury, promising dire punishments for those responsible. Ethan noticed that Sampson’s behavior over the past few weeks had become more irrational and unpredictable. He was concerned how this latest news would affect him.

Ethan looked at his watch and knew it was nearly time for his briefing to the General. He walked over to his office, mentally prepared himself, and then knocked.

“What?” yelled Sampson.

“Sir, it’s Ethan.”

“Get in here!” yelled the gruff voice. Ethan walked in as Sampson motioned him to sit and jumped right to business. “So, any news about the dam?”

“Actually yes, sir, and I’m afraid it isn’t good,” said Ethan.

Sampson’s face reddened, “It better be! I’ve had enough bad news. First, your moron fails to kill Phillips, then your lack of warning allows them to steal my tanks, and now something else? You better have good news for me.”

“Sir,” started Ethan hesitantly, “the entire force was lost, but the good news is that the dam itself may be damaged beyond repair. We also know that the lakes are gone due to the damage our forces inflicted on the dam.” Ethan saw that the news wasn’t being received well. “Sir, if you remember, we knew this was a gamble to begin with; but we thought it worth the risk if there was a chance to capture the dam. Barring that, we wanted to at least destroy it so the enemy couldn’t use it. In that regard it is a partial success, and we have certainly destroyed many of their troops. And we dealt the JP populace a crushing psychological blow.”

“I don’t want to hear about partial victories!” growled Sampson, jumping up and slamming his hand down on the table. “We should be rolling over those losers! We should be achieving victory on every front! Instead we’re taking solace in the silver linings!” Sampson stood there for a minute, fuming. “I’m starting to wonder if someone isn’t against me.”

“Sir?” asked Ethan.

“You know what I mean,” said Sampson impatiently. “Someone on our side is sabotaging our efforts. Sabotaging me. Someone maybe even close to me.”

Ethan felt like he was on dangerous ground with someone over whom he might no longer have control. He decided to change the subject. “Are we still going forward with our other surprise attack given our recent setbacks?”

Sampson thought for a moment. “Yes. Yes, we must. Victory is all that is acceptable. We must keep moving forward.”

Ethan recommended in, what he hoped was, a neutral tone, “Sir, might I recommend that we either postpone the attack or coordinate it with another attack to spread the enemy defenses.”

Sampson rubbed his chin and looked at Ethan with what Ethan thought might be a suspicious look. “No postponement. But a coordinated attack might not be a bad idea. We could use the force up near the border and push north when the other force hits on the Mississippi. Catch ‘em by surprise. Might even get my tanks back.”

Ethan started to tell him the other bit of news. News that might cause Sampson to rethink using the force near the border. He had heard sketchy reports that the LBL forces were preparing for something big, possibly an offensive. Ethan agonized over this and felt it was possible that the JP had uncovered the ruse and knew the southern border was paper thin. The JP also knew the WTR northern force was near Fulton and that its eastern flank was exposed. Ethan thought it was a stretch, but he had to assume that the JP forces were going to attack the northern force in a combined operation from the north and southwest. He started to tell Sampson this when Sampson started talking again.

“You know a lot of this would have been avoided if I had the right information,” Sampson muttered. He wasn’t looking at Ethan anymore, but was staring out the window. “Information that I should have gotten, plans I could have made, victory that would have been mine if not for the disloyalty of others.” Sampson’s voice became louder and surer, “The people always want someone to blame, hell they’ve lost family members, they deserve someone to blame. Ethan, if things don’t start going right soon, I won’t have to look far to find someone to blame. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“All too well,” said Ethan truthfully.

“Good, then we should proceed with the combined offensive. I believe I will lead the northern force personally. I’m sick of sitting in the rear and watching cowardly subordinates piss away my victories.”

Normally Ethan would have tried to dissuade Sampson from such a course, but he held his tongue.

“There comes a time Ethan, when every man has to accept the consequences of his actions and cannot hide behind others. I hope you understand and don’t take personally any potential…complications, that might happen.” Sampson stopped awkwardly at the window and looked as if he had more to say, but finally blurted out, “That is all. You are dismissed.”

Ethan walked out of Sampson’s office, closing the door softly behind him. “I do understand, and much better than you, old fool,” said Ethan to himself as he walked back outside.

Chapter 6 – Recommendations

CONFIDENTIAL REPORT

EYES ONLY FOR: Jackson Purchase President Reginald Philips

SUBJECT: Establishment of a Centralized State Security Service

FROM: Brigadier General Nathan Taylor

Mr. President,

The purpose of this report is to provide basic recommendations, and to give an update on the status, of establishing a Centralized State Security Service for the Jackson Purchase (JP) as per your earlier directive.

Although I have received all the support I require, the task is still a daunting one and will take time, maybe even years. With that said, I understand the importance of bringing all our resources to bear during this time of crisis. A professional security organization must be one of those resources.

I recommend this organization initially build on the capability it already possesses - tactical reconnaissance. This also makes the most practical sense given the current war with the West Tennessee Republic (WTR). The existing tactical reconnaissance patrols have proven the value of such information and of the specialized units which conduct them. It will likely be necessary to disband many of the existing reconnaissance units in order to provide men to serve as leaders for other such elements. New recruits can more readily fill vacancies in these unit's ranks if they possess solid leaders.

Responsive and reliable reporting is still a problem without electricity, but I have recommended unit commanders conduct missions of shorter duration which allow for face-to-face reporting if necessary. We will also need an analytical capability to sift through the intelligence gathered in order to produce finished intelligence products. I plan to detail my recommendations for this problem in a separate report.

Beyond the tactical military side, the mission of a central security service becomes more complicated. Even a framework is in question. I have examined many agencies such as the CIA, FBI, and DHS to determine if these are proper organizations to model our state service after. I have even studied the OSS, or Office of Strategic Services of World War II fame, but we need an organization that is primarily able to operate during peacetime.

The key functions of this organization should include intelligence collection in all forms, counterintelligence, and security at the state or higher level. The only area with an established framework is counterintelligence. The state troopers have been conducting this mission for several months, but it must be asked if this will remain a law enforcement, security/intelligence, or joint responsibility. I would like to recommend that the state troopers maintain this mission along with their law enforcement duties and that the state police fall under my new security service. I envision them having law enforcement authority, but also counterintelligence capabilities, similar to the FBI.

We will also need to establish a framework for intelligence collection. Since there is still no electricity, we should rely on what is traditionally referred to as "low tech". Even when electrical services are restored, I believe it is best to found our capabilities on what has worked for thousands of years. The most reliable and low tech of all intelligence collection methods is human source operations. This requires extremely well-trained and experienced handlers to run such operations. We will need to establish a robust training program for these source handlers and my recommendations on how to accomplish this training will be discussed in a separate report.

In order to conduct source operations, it is necessary to lay the groundwork for spotting potential intelligence sources in areas surrounding the JP, but most specifically in the WTR. Many JP residents have friends or relatives in the WTR. Some of these individuals would likely travel into the WTR given the opportunity. These two groups alone would make a good initial candidate pool to screen for sources. Also, individuals inside the WTR could provide information on what was happening there in addition to early warning of troop movements. We will also need a means to learn about these potential sources.

A travel pass program seems like the best option. The JP can put out notices that personnel from outside the JP could travel into the JP for short periods of time, as long as they were sponsored by a JP citizen and underwent an interview. The interview will give my organization an opportunity to evaluate these individuals’ suitability and willingness to work for us, possibly in exchange for something they want. We will also eventually need JP residents who were willing to go out beyond the borders to live for long periods of time among the local populaces and then report back useful information. The task of establishing this network will be significant and time consuming and the details of my plan will be included in a separate report.

Counterintelligence and security are another huge endeavor. Although the state troopers have the lead for investigations, and might eventually be able to take on all the other duties, they are not ready to handle everything else needed to protect the JP’s secrets and critical resources. The first line of defense should be the average citizen’s diligent and natural suspicion. The JP governing bodies need to convince the people not to talk idly about things they hear and see. The state also needs to convince them to report anything out of the ordinary since they are much more likely to notice something odd before an official would.

In summary I envision a comprehensive intelligence, security, and law enforcement agency capable of gathering needed information on its enemies, protecting the JP’s most prized resources, and investigating and arresting those who would harm the JP. Although the idea of such an organization with broad powers makes sense, it also raises concerns. A significant amount of power will reside with one organization and by default with this organization's leader. There will need to be checks on such power.

An official could be elected to head this organization, but that would mean a critical position could go to someone with no experience and who may have political agendas to boot. It could be a political appointee like myself, but that appointee could at some point hold whomever had appointed him as a political hostage over threats of blackmail much as Hoover was rumored to have done with the FBI. The leader could be determined by seniority in the organization, but that had its own pitfalls. The best idea that I can envision at this point is to use a political appointee elected by the Executive Council who serves for a defined time period, say five years, with absolutely no ability to stay longer under any circumstances. This person could continue to advise and assist the organization and the state after their term has ended, but could no longer hold such power. I understand that these thoughts are premature, but the last thing we want to do is create an apparatus that could be used to subdue a democratic populace. The state needs a comprehensive organization with extensive powers; but does accept risk by investing too much power in any one person, or group of persons’, hands.

With your approval sir, I would like to begin the work of establishing the Strategic Security Agency with the above basic guidelines. As always I am available for further discussion and would welcome any feedback or guidance you may have on this issue.

Sincerely,

ORIGINAL SIGNED

Brigadier General Nathan Taylor

Recommendations Approved/
Disapproved
/
Provide Further Information

ORIGINAL SIGNED

President Reginald Philips