“Yes, I am,” John answered.
The officer handed the paper to John. “You’ve been served.”
John took the paper. The police officer left and Tia closed the door. “I’ve been expecting this,” John said.
His cell phone rang. He looked at the display and answered. “Charles,” John said.
“Yep, simultaneous service,” John said. “Okay, we’ll comply. See you in court on Monday morning.” He closed his phone. “That was our lawyer.”
“Charles Edward Harrington the third?” I asked.
John smiled. “So he impressed you?”
“Got me out of purgatory,” I replied.
“And he’ll do the same for us on Monday morning in Federal Court,” John said.
“So what’s the paper?” I asked.
“Law suit alleging fraud, misrepresentation, libel, and a TRO, Temporary Restraining Order shutting down our website, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, effective immediately,” John replied.
“And we can’t do anything about it until Monday?” I asked.
John checked his watch. “Yep,” he said, “Federal Court closed twelve minutes ago. It’s how they play the game.”
“So we can’t do anything for the entire weekend?” I asked.
“Oh, no, no, no,” John replied. “You and Tia are going to spend the entire weekend gathering all of the evidence you can get your hands on proving that the meteor storm is real and that the government knows exactly what is coming. Truth is our defense. The weekend is a double edged sword. It shuts us down, but it gives us precious time to fully prepare for Monday morning.”
“What about the operation downstairs?” I asked.
“I’ve been housing the computer techs at a hotel about twenty minutes from here and busing them back and forth. Most of them live in Denver. It’s time to move the entire media center to Denver. That way they can live at home. Everything will be primed and ready to go as soon as court is adjourned Monday morning.”
I looked over at Tia. She appeared excited at the prospect of hacking into more government computer systems.
The computer techs had all cleared out. The communications room seemed strangely quiet. Only Alex, John’s communications officer, remained, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We settled into two terminals next to each other.
“When I was in custody at the FBI office they got a sample of my DNA,” I said. “When they ran it through the federal database there were no matches. I know my DNA is on file with the Department of Defense. How did you manage to hack into the DOD database?”
“I didn’t,” Tia said. “Just like the Department of Motor Vehicles, we use someone inside the organization. There are a lot of people within the system that don’t buy into the propaganda.”
“I just wondered, because the DOD takes intrusion into their systems extremely personal.”
“I am aware of that,” Tia replied. “Even if you have the skills to get past their firewall, they have reverse tracker systems in place. They know who you are and where you are before you can get very far into the system. Besides that, they actually have three firewalls, not just one. By the time you breach the first firewall, you’re toast, and you still have two to go.”
“Ever know anyone who breached all three firewalls?” I asked.
“Nope,” she said. “I knew two hackers who breached the first firewall. In twenty minutes Federal Agents were all over them. They were in court for months. It cost their families everything they owned just to pay the attorney fees and the fines the court imposed. Not a pretty picture.”
“So,” I said, changing the subject, “where do you want to start?”
“I think we should go back to the NASA site and see what else we can find. We already have a user name and password,” she said.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Then maybe you can show me how to build one of the programs you used on the NASA site,” she said.
“Sure, I’d be happy to do that,” I replied.
We began exploring the NASA site and discovered the space-based radar images and the calculations regarding the size and movement of the meteor cloud. I checked the dates on the reports. All of it was after I had appeared on the Cy Cobb Show. I guess they took me seriously after all. We saved all of the images and reports in PDF format and moved on.
“What about the Department of Homeland Security?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, “maybe we can get something on that underground city in the Ozarks, too.”
By Saturday afternoon we had over four hundred pages of documents from NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Army, including over thirty companies who were contracting with the federal government regarding the meteor storm and the preparations that were under way. We forwarded everything to Charles for him to sort out and pick exactly what he wanted for court on Monday morning.
CHAPTER 16
Monday morning Tia and I rode into Denver with John. The limo dropped us off on 19th Street in front of the U.S. District Court Building. We walked in and through security, showed our ID and explained which court we needed to be in. Charles met us in the main hall and ushered us into the court room. The room was large with dark wood paneling and extensive wood moldings around the walls and crown molding next to the ceiling. A short two and a half foot wood railing fence separated the gallery from the front of the court room. Tia and I sat in the gallery section while John and Charles went through the short wooden gate and sat at the defendant table.
After a few minutes, a short man in a dark gray suit and gold silk tie entered from the hall and proceeded to the plaintiff table. He strutted, rather than walked, like a bantam rooster in a barnyard of hens. He wore a three piece suit with wide lapels that smelled of cigar smoke, his dark hair slicked back. The court clerk came out and took her place next to the judge’s bench, and then a Colorado State Police Officer came out and stood next to the bench. This, I presumed, was the court bailiff.
“All rise,” the bailiff said. “Court is now in session, the Honorable Stanislav Saworski presiding.”
We stood as the judge entered. He was older than I might have thought, with gray hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He was on the pudgy side but moved quickly up the steps to the back of the raised bench and sat down.
“We are on the record in the matter of the United States versus the Survivalist Network, docket number 127836-C.”
The judge looked over at the bantam-sized attorney. “Joseph H. Kravitz, Assistant United States District Attorney for the United States as Plaintiff, your honor,” the attorney said.
The judge then looked at Charles. “Charles Edward Harrington the third for the Survivalist Network as Defendant, your honor.”
“Very well,” the judge replied. “I see we are hearing motions regarding a TRO and pending suit for fraud, misrepresentation, and libel. Mr. Kravitz, you are up first.”
“Thank you your honor,” Kravitz said. “The defendant has engaged in fraud and misrepresentation regarding its claims of a coming disaster, for which there is no credible scientific evidence. This fraud has been perpetrated for the sole purpose of creating a public panic in order to secure large sums of money from millions of unsuspecting victims. The government has already debunked this supposed disaster publically on a popular TV show. The defendant’s website claims that our expert from NASA has lied to the public, thereby besmirching his good name and reputation.
“The United States requests that the Temporary Restraining Order be made permanent and that this matter be continued in Federal District Court for assessment of damages, fines and possible incarceration of the CEO, who is present in court this morning.”