Chapter 12

Posted: September 07, 2006 - 09:49:36 am

"I think we are going to have to take action. The US is still actively hunting us. They are not stopping. In fact, they have intensified the search," Tom said after receiving an update from his computer.

It had been three days since the American embassy in London had received instructions to abduct lord Avery-Smythe and his wife. Security was tight around both the house and the work place, for the Lord. He was escorted to and from work by security provided by the British government. Tom had sent his forces, all but the companion, back to that alternate world.

A stiff formal protest had been sent to the American government over the message that had been passed on. They denied it of course, but Dodger surfaced, and provided internal security tapes that showed things clearly. Not only had they received it, but it also had been read out loud in the computer room, by the ambassador himself. The evidence was damning.

The US was now hunting fervently for Tom, Scott, and the agent known only as 'Dodger'. They did not know, of course, that Tom was also 'Dodger'. It seemed that the request to cease and desist apprehension attempts, from Tom and Scott, had gone unheeded. They and Courtney were on a classified terrorist list. They were wanted for questioning, and were considered armed and dangerous. So far, they were wanted alive, but agents were warned to affect apprehension from long distance, using surprise.

"We need to wake these people up, and set them straight. The question is, how do we do that?" Tom asked me and the gang.

"Why don't we just meet with a senate committee or something, and explain our side? They seemed reasonable when I saw a few senate meetings on TV, last year," Brenda asked.

Bless her idyllic heart. She still trusted the government. How cute.

"Are you even living in the same world we are?" Courtney asked her curiously.

"Now, Courtney, you were raised with a better grasp of the political realities, than she has ever had the opportunity to gain. Most people do not understand the ins and outs of how things actually get accomplished within their government," Lord Avery-Smythe responded.

"I am thinking that whatever we do, has to be tantamount to an ultimatum that cannot ignore. It must be something impressive, yet simple, that they understand and have to respect. I just don't know how to get our lawmakers in accord with it. They definitely have the power and authority to tell HS, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, and the DOD to back off and make it stick. The problem will be, how to get them on our side," I said, stumped.

"Actually," Tom said thoughtfully, "It might not be as hard as you think," he finished with excitement in his voice!

"What's on your mind?" I asked curiously.

"Something to get everyone in congress... or rather, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch, and the executive branch... get the whole government on the same page of the menu. I think I have a great idea!" Tom breathed excitedly.

He wouldn't clarify. He just said that it was going to take 'shock treatment' to get it done, and he had an idea on how to provide the shock. He smiled a little smile (a smile I would NOT like directed at me!), and looked thoughtful. He nodded to himself, as if checking something from a mental list of some sort. The rest of us just stayed out of the way. We also tried to stay out of site of the security that was stationed outside, courtesy the British government.

Tom had disappeared for a brief time, and returned with a grin on his face. While we asked what was going on, he said he wanted to wait until Lord Avery-Smythe was back and then he would answer everything. It was not a long wait.

"So I was thinking what if I took the individual branches of government for a small visit to a place where they had no choice but to listen. I am talking each branch of the US government, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Not together, but separately," Tom tried to explain.

"Won't work, Tom. Taking them individually and threatening them is a non-starter," Lord A.S. Told him.

"I was not thinking individually as persons, but individual branches of governments. I can grab the entire senate first. Then the house. Next I would do the executive branch. Finally, I would take the entire Supreme Court, while they were all gathered in one place. They will be the easiest, as there branch of the government is smallest, and they all show up at one location for work," Tom replied with a grin.

"Hmm, might work. What do you plan on doing with them? What's your purpose?" Lord A.S. asked curiously.

"Ok, there is a lot of secrecy and back room dealing done on Capitol Hill. I plan on exposing quite a few peccadillos to the rest of their colleagues. I will expose certain aspects of what the senate is actually privy too, and what is being kept secret from their fellows. I will threaten to release the lot to the public at large, and let the chips fall where they may.

"Disclosure, in this case, will be good. It will show everyone I manage to get to the camp where I am going to put them, the true depths they have stooped to. It will scare them that people out here KNOW," Tom finished with a devil's grin.

I was actually excited about the whole thing. Threatening one individual in the CIA had done nothing to relieve our problem. Apparently something more drastic needed to be done. I thought Tom had hit on it perfectly. Taking everyone --or as many of a branch at one time as was possible-- seemed extravagant, but logical. Plus, Tom said he could do it. He could move a lot of weight very easily, apparently.

So we discussed this, and talked of all the ins and outs. Was it morally acceptable to us to do this? Well, the government thought nothing of negating a citizen's rights when they said national security was at stake. Giving the government a taste, however brief, of what they had voted to put the average citizen through, seemed fair and a good idea. After all, you should never set something in place unless you yourself won't mind going through whatever that something was, that had been set up. It seemed fair to put them 'to the test'. A little inconvenience was in the works for the immediate future of all branches of the government!

For some reason, Tom had changed his mind about taking the Judicial branch first, and had started with the senate. Don't ask me why. He had several large tents set up, with cots and blankets for the people inside them, for when that area was opened to them. That would not happen for some time, as it was still early in the day, here.

I stared at the monitor. People were everywhere. They were milling about, confused at their sudden appearance from their comfortable chairs on the senate floor, to this dirt covered, double fenced in area. As they picked themselves up from their positions on the ground to which they had all fallen... well, those who had been sitting had fallen, anyway... their voices were raised in question. The yelling started, and it was turning ugly. They were scared, and it was getting out of hand.

"Ok, spray them with the tranquilizer," Tom told a guy at the control panel.

In moments, a light mist was everywhere in the compound. Our place was sealed off, of course, so we were not affected by it.

"What does that mist do, anyway?" Lord Avery-Smythe, or A.S., as I liked to call him, asked.

"It's a calming tranquilizer. It will dissipate quickly, but will calm them. No side effects or problems of any type have ever been recorded with this particular drug," Tom responded.

The drug did settle them down in a hurry, thats for sure. Soon, everyone was relatively quiet, and was looking at the giant jumbo style TV screen. It was set up at an elevated location, just outside the fenced in area.

"Good morning ladies and gentleman of the senate. I am your host for the next few days. Welcome to Camp One," the pre-recorded voice said. There was shown a studio shot of him sitting at a desk, with his features obscured by computer-generated squares of his facial colors.

Thus began 'Operation Knuckle Sandwich'. It was a scary time for these people. They didn't have the slightest idea where they were, who had them, or what was happening. Sort of like the Patriot Act, only in reverse. Questions were shouted.

"Quiet. Your questions will be answered. I noticed that some of you have been trying to phone out, with your cell phones. I have no problem to you keeping them. There are no transmission towers or satellites, for you to get a signal, though. Feel free to use the photo features and video features on your phones, if you have them. This will make an interesting record for yourselves," the recording went on.

"So far so good. They are listening. Excellent," Tom was saying.

I tuned him out and watched the monitors. The whole camp was monitored. Enough guards were on hand to handle anything a bunch of politicians might come up with. After all, these were the movers and shakers of the US government. They weren't used to putting up with everyday people having power over them, except on Election Day. I tuned back into the recorded speech.

"... long tradition. However, as guardians of the US, you are forgetting the most important segment of the US. The people. WE THE PEOPLE are now objecting, and taking this action to provide you a 'wake up call', so to speak.

"For years there has been an organization that has monitored the world as a whole. Long ago, the directors decided to let countries go their own way without direct intervention or influence. The actions of the US government in recent years, has negated this directive. We are stepping in, for the first time in our history, to try to correct these excesses," I tuned out again.

I had heard it all before. Hell, I was at the taping of this segment. He would touch upon the Constitution as it was written, the Bill of rights, and the Founding Fathers' thoughts at the time they were written. The big difference was, he had actually met a lot of the Founding Fathers, and had talked with them. I had thought Thomas Jefferson a bit of an elitist myself, and a snob. Still, he'd had good thoughts when he penned what he did. I tuned back in. He was finally getting to the point.

"... and this is why we have taken this course of action. For the foreseeable future, you are my guests at Camp One, while we discuss your actions. I will show you proofs, proofs that I could just as easily show the citizens, of your ultimate betrayal of them. I am opening the gate to your tents. You will find that a meal has been laid out for you, behind the tents. Please clean up after yourselves, as we won't, and the rats here are very vicious indeed. Your call..." and the giant screen went blank.

The 'guests' were in the center portion of the somewhat large compound. It was sectioned off, with gates that opened and closed remotely to allow them to move from place to place within the compound made especially for this purpose.

A huge gate had opened to the tent compound while the speech had been going on. A crew had been busy placing paper plates full of food for the 'guests' on a table that had been placed behind the tent. It was a huge table. It was firmly anchored in cement. No one, not even the entire group, would be able to move it. They could not so much as turn it or lift it, let alone use it as a weapon or a ladder to climb the fence.

"So! I thought that went well. I gave them lots to think about and talk about for an hour and a half. The next phase starts at that time. What say we grab a bite, and watch the feedback roll in?" Tom asked us all.

As the 'guests' went and found their meal, and read the conspicuously posted camp rules, we were in the canteen eating our own meal. The people who ran this camp were in very comfortable buildings, even to the guards.

"I have a question. How is it you have an area in this world for your personal use anyway?" Lord A.S. Asked curiously.

"It's not just this place. I am the commander of the base here. It is mine, in it's entirety. The people here work for me. The base, equipment, buildings... all belong to me," Tom said and took a bite of his steak.

The next phase went off with hardly a glitch. There were some reluctant participants who elected to stay in the tents. Everyone learned of the choking gas system that was set up there. They came stumbling out, puking and coughing, rubbing their eyes and trying to clear the gas from their lungs.

The effect was short lived though, and it was a good learning experience for the rest of the 'guests'. Now the effort to get the government back on track, started. I liked America on the whole. It was just this 'emergency' situation that was scaring the shit out of us. It seemed the government was going overboard over the littlest things. They didn't even clamp down this hard during either of the world wars, nor the subsequent fifties era of the McCarthy witch-hunts. When the country was poised on the brink of a nuclear war, did they give themselves these powers? No. Terrorism, while bad, could be handled. There was no need to destroy and change our way of life to such a disturbing degree.

And so it went. First, there was one day of revelations. Video, shot in color, of back room deals (taken by Tom, of course). Supposedly secret phone calls, also captured in color for all to see and hear. A senate confirmation hearing, where a judge was up for consideration as a Supreme Court judge. The vote locked right down party lines.

It was not until a senator approached the candidate and the candidate agreed to a break in his principles in order to get the position, that he was confirmed. It was thusly demonstrated that his confirmation was in fact, tainted. All these tapes and videos would be released to the public, if an agreement could not be reached here. It was damning, and these people knew it.

These were not stupid people. They knew that if all the information they had seen, was to be released all at once, that the government of the 'great United States' could very well collapse. "The people" would tolerate a great deal, but this was far and away beyond tolerable.

By the end of the third day, they were a somber and silent group. Gone was their blustery self-importance. Gone were the threats of retribution. They knew they had a job to do, if they were going to redeem themselves. Both parties were in agreement over this. It was actually nice to see.

Thus it was, that on the morning of day four, Tom sent the Senate back to the floor from which he had 'borrowed' them. He had already sent me back, a bit earlier, to watch the senate floor. One second they had been there, the next it was deserted. Everyone there was gone.

The crowd in the galleries muttered, and started asking questions. But just that quickly, a few seconds later, the men and woman of the senate were back. They were a little worse for wear, but they had a new determination.

Pandemonium reigned. The galleries were cleared, and the Senate adjourned. Thus ended the first part of phase one. Part two was about ready to begin, in the "House".

This should be good.