Chapter 13



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It was more like a couple weeks, before any action happened with my 'show cause' complaint. But my shadows disappeared, then. Besides my initial 3000.00 dollars, there was court costs, and some billable hours, so altogether, I spent close to 4700.00 to get out from under the thumb of the government, and I was told I was getting off cheap!

It infuriated me, that the government would treat innocent people like this. They needed to be reigned in a bit. My attorney had told me horror stories of people caught up in the periphery, that had to spend thousands and thousands of dollars, just because they KNEW someone who was actually guilty of something.

After I was finally clear of the government snoops, I started looking into different past times. There were so many areas in the past that I wanted to look into. I had a lot of questions. For example, I had always wondered about the JFK assassination.

Here was a fascinating person indeed. While professing to be a Democrat, he was nothing like today's "mainstream" liberal radicals. He would be considered quite conservative by today's standards.

I noted with interest that he understood the economy a bit better than people seem to, today. For example, he reduced the capital gains taxes from the ruinous 90 percent it was, down to 70 percent. That got a lot of people to loosen up money for investment.

Even the democrats know the less the tax, the better the tax base becomes. More people are creating business to enjoy the resulting incomes. Capital gains were directed at investors and people collecting on money earned. After all, if you draw out profit, then it can't be used by whomever wants to use it. So, they made it a loosing proposition to withdraw your money or to withdraw your gains, anyway. Kennedy eased that burden, which gave the economy a boost at the same time.

It took time, but I managed to be in several places that Kennedy visited those last months of his presidency. I watched and listened with fascination as Kennedy visited a dying Douglas Macarthur, the famous general of WWII. I listened to him tell Kennedy not to get involved in the Vietnam war, as congress would not let him do what was necessary to win that war. He actually got Kennedy to promise to pull out the 'advisor's' that the US had there at that time.

I could not get into every place that the president had access too. However I heard and saw enough to know at least two people in his entourage were not pleased with his forthcoming announcement that he was going to end the US presence in Vietnam, as soon as he finished this tour he was on.

I overheard one particularly intriguing conversation from one of his aides. It was one sided as he was on the phone, but the gist was that he had been unable to convince Kennedy to change his mind. The guy listened for a short time, then said these words which still have me wondering who was on the other end.

"Yes, sir. I understand operation "Tea Cozy" is a go for Dallas," then the aide hung up.

One problem with my gift, is I had to be at a specific location to get any information. I could get anything and everything that was said in a spot, but I had to be there, to receive it! Damn, but sometimes that was annoying. I wanted to know more, and felt left out because of the vagaries of the gift.

On the other hand, I had an informational gift that governments, newspapers, heads of state, and industrial magnates would kill for! Not to mention the millions of other people that would love to have it, just to know what had gone on and was still going on.

I drove to Dallas, and found the site of the assassination. I was getting better at moving around, and not colliding with people, but I still had to do some fast dodging on occasion. I viewed and reviewed the assassination from several angles, and found out something. There was another shooter!

Yes, there was a shooter on the grassy knoll. Actually, he was just short of the grassy knoll, behind a fence. He had a rifle, and it had a silencer on it. He fired once, broke down the rifle, and put it in a bag. He was dressed in blue. His clothes were similar to, but were not a police uniform. He blended right in with other police, and left the area quickly.

It took me a while, but I managed to follow him to a place on the outskirts of the city. He pulled his car into a warehouse, and transferred to a new vehicle. This time I was able to follow him up the highway. We went to a private airfield, and he got into a small plane and disappeared into the sky.

I copied all the numbers down from the plane. It took me another three days to find who out the plane's owner had been, back in 1963. It had been a privately owned aircraft, and was rented by the transportation branch of a federal government department, for five days. The man who had gotten into the plane and had flown off, had died when it had suffered mysterious midair explosion while on its way to Virginia.

So, that is what I KNOW about the Kennedy assassination. I am convinced it was a conspiracy that went higher than the public knew, or guessed; more, even, than most of the government guessed, for that matter.

I knew that there had been collusion from at least one of Kennedy's aides, and I never was able to find out who was on the other end of that phone call. So I at least knew that Lee Harvey Oswald was not alone. He might not even have known that he had been set up as the fall guy. He was definitely killed so that an investigation would not explore other avenues, concerning him.

But this episode left me feeling cold. Someone in high authority in the government, with help from unknown sources, conspired to kill a seated president, succeeded; AND WAS NEVER CAUGHT.

I did track down the young aide, though. He was an old man, now. He was sitting in a park close to his house, feeding pigeons.

"Hello," I said to him.

He looked at me through glasses that were making his eyes huge. He was very thin and frail looking.

"Hello," he returned in a gravely voice.

We passed the time... him feeding pigeons, and me sitting close by on the park bench making inane conversation. I finally decided to ask him outright.

"So, what was the whole operation 'Tea Cozy' about?" I asked after he threw another handful of birdseed out.

He stiffened and slowly turned to look at me.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm the man investigating certain parts of the president's assassination that never made it into the books. I am the man that has access to things you would not believe. So, will you tell me about your part in 'Tea Cozy'?" I asked him.

He just stared at me. "Are you from The Council?"

Now it was my turn to be puzzled. Council? What council was he talking about? I was about to ask him when he spoke again.

"I have kept my promise, and my silence, all these years. I don't know why the council still tests me. I promised not to tell anyone anything. Your people took care of me, and I respect that," he finished almost panicky.

I was about to ask him what he was talking about when he gasped, and fell over. Damn! He was having a heart attack! I yelled for someone to call 911, and started doing CPR when I saw he wasn't breathing. I was still at it when an ambulance showed up, and relieved me.

Damn! My first witness to something having to do with the conspiracy who wasn't dead, and I give him a heart attack asking him questions! I had to give a statement to the police. I told them I was from out of town, just traveling after graduating school. I had just sat down there, and was enjoying the day, when the old guy just keeled over. They thanked me for my help, and that was that.

Now I had something else to think about. What was this 'Council' that he was talking about? Well, I had already spent several weeks following the president's old route, 'back timing' to listen to conversations, and now I was stuck again.

I could see how this could tend to annoy someone to distraction. The conspiracy theorists were now sounding more believable to me. Well, this was something I could put on the back burner. I had all the time I wanted, really.

---

A few days later, I pulled up at my home. It was dark, and I was still a little sad to be coming back to an empty house. It seemed that Mom should be opening the door to see who it was. I went in, and sat on the couch in the living room. I was not really awake enough to climb the stairs to my room, so I fell asleep right there.

It was odd, waking late, without the farm sounds. No rooster was crowing, nor hens cackling. There was no cow to be milked, anymore. All the animals were gone. They had been given away after Mom's funeral.

I was washing up when there was the sound of a vehicle on the dirt road. I dried my hands and went to the window to look out. It was the farmer we who was renting our land. I went out onto the porch, and waited for him.

I waved, and he waved back as he got out of his truck.

"Good morning, Tom. Didn't expect to see you. Everything ok?" He asked.

"Sure thing, Mr. Hoffly. Just stopping by to take a brief look around, pick up my mules and equipment. I think I'll go gold hunting a while," I said in reply.

He chuckled at me. "Now that's a thing I would have loved to do. I remember your mom telling me about your gold hunting, and coming back with a few things. She showed me that nugget you gave her. Now that was a kindly thing to do," he said smiling.

I nodded, and we shot the shit for a few minutes. The he went back to his truck, and took off for his fields. Nice to know he was keeping his word to look after the place while I was gone.

I got into my car and drove to town. I went to the restaurant, since there was nothing at my place to eat. Oh, I had a few cans of stuff in the pantry, but nothing I really wanted. I had a good breakfast, and said hello to several people I knew.

The talk was about a special election to replace a state representative who had died suddenly in office. Damn, I had not been paying attention to my own state assembly! I listened to several people talking, and decided I could postpone my trip until after elections.

I was hearing some good things about Byron Adams, a new man trying to get elected. He was having trouble raising money. I went to a couple of rallies for him, and I liked what he had to say. I also 'back timed' to several points in his past, and liked what I heard and saw there, too.

I went to the local 'Office for the Election of Bryon Adams for State Representative, District 16'. I had never really paid all that much attention to how government worked, from the ground up. Oh, I new about our town and such, but anything above town government was a mystery to me.

I approached their headquarters, and asked for a meeting with Bryon Adams. I was asked what I wanted to see him about. I replied that I didn't know much about the state government, and would like to speak with him about certain aspects of it. I was told he was a busy man, and if I would leave my name and number, he would get back to me when he had time.

"I see," I said after I was told all this. I recognized the bum's rush when I received it.

"If I want to leave a campaign donation, whom do I leave it with?" I asked them.

They thanked me, and said I could put it in the box in front of me, and to please take a pamphlet and bumper sticker. I wrote a check for 25,000.00. I gave it to the guy who was giving me the bum's rush.

"That would have been more, but you're an asshole," I said.

Several people were looking at him and me. The guy never even looked at the check. He smiled and said he was sorry I felt that way, but the candidate's time was very valuable, and he could not talk to everyone who walked in off the street.

As I was leaving, the door opened and a friend of mine walked in. We stopped and talked for a few seconds, and I left. I was still a bit put off, but confident I was going to be hearing from the candidate himself, sometime soon.

I went and did a little grocery shopping, and got a TV guide. It had been years since I had been home long enough to learn what was on the local channels with the exception of what I used to watch as a kid, and those shows were long gone.

I drove into Clayton, which was the next best thing to a 'big city' we had. It was where I had gone to high school. It had grown a little since I had last driven these streets, I noted. I pulled into the local satellite company's parking lot, and ordered the deluxe satellite package. I got all the bells and whistles, and I paid for a year's service in advance. Needless to say, I got moved to the head of the installation cue, and was told someone would be out tomorrow to do the installation.

I thanked him, and went to my next stop, which was the library. I got several back issues of the Bugler, and read up on the people running for office from my district. District 16 was kind of big, as it took in not only my little town, but Clayton, and all the surrounding farming community as well.

It was a large rambling spread out district, and I was impressed with what past representatives had accomplished for the people. I read for several hours, until my eyes were tired. I decided that a trip to the state capital was in order. Where better to learn how everything was done, than in the capital itself?

---

I was about to head for the state capital, when I remembered that the satellite man was coming. I decided I could wait another day. While I was waiting, I went to the barn, and found a good spot for them to install the satellite. I didn't want it on the house, itself.

I was just pouring a cup of coffee when I heard the sound of a vehicle coming up the road to the house. I took my cup to the door and looked out. It was the satellite man. I explained where I wanted it put, and he said he would have to run a lot of cable from the barn to the house. I said yes, I knew that. He asked if I was sure. I said yes, and he went to work.

It was a bigger job than he or I had guessed, but three hours later I had satellite TV! I also was told that while the guy was up on the roof of the barn, that he had seen some bad places on the roof that I should look into fixing soon. I thanked him, and made a note to have someone come out to look at all the roofs.

Bright and early the next morning, I got into my car and headed to Clayton to catch the commuter plane to the state capital. I was not going to spend hours driving the whole distance. Two hours later, I was in a cab headed to the assembly hall for our state representatives. I went inside.

They offered tours, and certain areas were open to the public. Others were restricted, due to the assembly being in session right now. Still, there was a gallery where one could observe your representative in action.

I learned a lot that day. For example, a lot of wheeling and dealing WAS done in the hallways. I 'back timed', and learned that first hand. I was also shocked at some of the pressures and threats that were brought to bear to get reluctant reps to vote a specific way. It made me angry enough to seriously consider having "The Psychic" make a sudden 'come back'.

Edited by TeNderLoin

Volentrin

Chapter 14