“Damn it, I know what we witnessed. It’s a concentration camp no matter how they try to paint the picture. All you have to do is take one look at the place. Razor wire, dogs, patrols with automatic weapons. Does that sound like a medical facility to you?” she challenged.
“Listen and listen well because I am only going to say this once. Your word is not enough. Period. You want to put a story in my paper young lady; you are going to have to have a hell of a lot more than that. Now get the hell out of my office before you find yourself unemployed,” he said pounding his hand on his desk.
“Alright I’ll do just that,” she said as she stormed out of the office.
“Is he here yet?” Mark asked.
“Oh God. You sound like my kids. Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” Randal replied.
“That’s really funny. Remind me to laugh later,” Mark replied.
“They said around ten o’clock. It’s three minutes till,” Randal told him.
“Well heavens, you wouldn’t want the military to be actuate would you. What time do you want to start the invasion? Oh, I don’t know, around ten or so. Yeah, that would work really well,” Mark shot back.
“Point taken.”
Twenty minutes later a dark blue car pulled into the compound and a smallish man got out. He had on jeans and a T-shirt.
“I believe our man has arrived,” Randal said.
“Well, being overweight shouldn’t be a problem,” Mark said.
“Shall we go meet him?”
They walked out and introduced themselves.
“Welcome, I’m Randal Peel and this is Mark Riser,” Randal said.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Bill Jones,” the Kid said, shaking their hands.
‘Bill Jones?’ Roundhouse had said when they gave him his cover name. Are you serious he had asked but they assured him that was the name he was to go by.
“Well Bill, Mark here will be the one going down with you. We have a lot of information to go over with you. Our plan is to go down tomorrow if that works for you,” Randal informed him.
“Hey, whenever you say go, I’ll be ready. I have my bio-suit and other gear with me. Where should I store it?”
“You brought your own suit? Well, I suppose that will work fine. We just thought you would use one of ours.”
“Mine is kind of special. It was made just for me because of my size. I’m not exactly tall in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. Why don’t we go inside and Mark and I can fill you in on the technical side. Then we will call Buck Martin, our engineer, and he can walk you through the mechanical aspects of the job.”
“The sooner the better,” Jones said.
“You make damn sure you get good clear pictures. I want both video and still shots,” Jane said.
“I know my job. You just keep on the lookout for patrols. I sure as hell don’t want to get caught spying on the facility.”
“Hey, we have a right to be here. Nothing says it is a restricted area. We have ever…”
She stopped suddenly and raised the binoculars to her eyes.
“What is it?”
“A truck. One of those military ones like I saw last time. Get ready.”
“Relax Jane, I’m ready to roll.”
They lay on the knoll watching as the truck went through the same procedures as before. Once it was inside the gate armed guards surrounded the truck. The back was opened and the people, men, women and children were ordered out. Within a few minutes the women were separated from the men. The children were placed with the mothers. The men were taken to one building and the women to another.
“Geez. It looks like some of the pictures I saw when Germany was arresting all the Jews,” the camera man said.
“The last time I was here they killed a man.”
“No way.”
“I’m telling you. I saw it lying right here were we are right now,” she assured him.
“Man. I sure wouldn’t want to be in that place,” he said, “ How much longer are we going to stay here?”
“Just a couple of more hours. I want to see how many trucks come in during the day.”
“Man, I should have brought something to snack on. I didn’t know it was going to take all day,” he groaned.
“Here,” Jane said, tossing him a candy bar, “I know how you are. Always got to be eating something. I came prepared so I wouldn’t have to listen to your whining.”
“I was not whining.”
“Whatever.”
“Got anything to drink?” he asked.
Jane rolled her eyes and reached into her back pack and brought out a bottle of water. She handed it to him without saying a word.
“Excellent. I like a woman who is prepared.”
“Watch your mouth or you won’t be able to eat your candy bar,” she said glaring at him.
“Easy, I was just saying.”
“Don’t.”
“Got it,” he replied, unwrapping the candy bar before she could take it back.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Is everything in place?”
“Yes sir. The asset reported at a little after ten, just as we had planned.”
“Good. I take it he is prepared to do the job under any circumstances?” he asked.
“General, all we can tell you is that he certainly seemed committed to the project. Once he starts down it will be out of our hands and totally up to him,” the agent replied.
“I definitely hope this goes well. I do not want to have to resort to plan B. That is more risk than I want to take. I will only use it as a last resort.”
“Yes sir. We understand.”
“Alright, keep me informed. They are still on for tomorrow?” the General asked.
“They appear to be right on schedule,” the Agent told him.
“Excellent. Hopefully in a day or so we can breathe a sigh of relief.”
“I certainly hope so,” the agent replied.
CTV NEWS — In a shocking announcement we have just learned that Vice President, Andria Toll, is stepping into the actual role of President in just a few minutes. This is the first we have heard that it was even being considered.
An anonymous spokesperson said that it was part of the reason the Senate held a closed door session. From what we have gathered so far, it appears to be due to the President's health but that has not been clarified yet.
Sources tell us that she will be sworn in and will fulfill the remainder of the term. The new President will hold a press conference immediately following the swearing in ceremony. CTV News will carry both the swearing in ceremony and the news conference that follows.
Jane sat in the outer office waiting while the receptionist was texting on her phone. Pretty tacky, she thought. She had been sitting there for over thirty minutes and the woman hadn’t done a lick of work.
A door opened down the hall and an attractive woman came down the hall.
“Ms. Meeks. The Governor will see you now,” she said all smiles.
“Thank you,” Jane said, making sure the woman noticed that she had checked her watch.
The young woman stopped at the door she had exited earlier and knocked lightly.
“Yes, come in.”
“Please,” the woman said, opening the door and stepping aside so Jane could enter.
“Governor McClain, I’m Jane Meeks from the Herald Times.”
“Yes, yes. Your editor called. He is an old acquaintance of mine. We actually went to school together,” he said with the polished smile all politicians seem to be able to call up at a moment’s notice.
“How nice.”