A Day of Reckoning, page 12
part #14 of Final Dawn Series
“When he forced everyone outside to arrest them, he was surprised to find the Air Force chief of staff inside. General Mannix was none too pleased at being forced out into the cold and turned the tables on Wilcox and Medley. He had them arrested instead.”
“But nobody got killed. How can they be facing the death penalty?”
“The military takes treason very seriously. One treasonous act can encourage others unless it is dealt with quickly and harshly.
“The general wants to set an example of the colonels to discourage others from trying to take over the bunker again.
“After Saris 7 hit President Sanders declared martial law. He would have rescinded it when he emerged from his bunker after the first thaw, but since he was killed he couldn’t.
“It was never rescinded.
“That means General Mannix has the authority to declare a military tribunal to try the colonels for treason.
“And, since the Uniform Code of Military Justice and its Manual for Courts Martial authorize the death penalty for treason during times of war or national emergency, that makes this a capital case.”
“But… how can I help?”
“General Mannix, the Air Force Chief of Staff, is the convening authority. I think he took it personally when the colonels forced him and his family out into the cold. He’s convinced the colonels had ill intent and were planning to kill them all.
“If we can convince him the colonels were acting on good faith, based on what you told them, he might see things differently.”
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Hannah was troubled by something.
“But how is it the base commander wasn’t informed that the bunker containing the reconstitution team was right there on his base?”
“We can probably chalk that up to the fog of war. Or in this case, the war of the heavens with the planet earth.
“There’s always chaos in anything as big as this.
“In all likelihood Colonel Bettis, the old base commander, was informed of the DoD’s plans to build and stock the bunker. It would have been bad form not to inform the base commander they were placing it in his back yard.
“But that kind of information is always highly classified. A “Top Secret” security clearance isn’t enough. It’s compartmentalized information and nobody who doesn’t have a need to know is told.
“So Colonel Bettis likely told no one other than his deputy. They kept Colonel Montgomery’s secret close to the vest.
“Unfortunately, they both died in the early days of the first freeze.
“And they took the secret to their graves with them.
“Colonels Wilcox and Medley couldn’t have known because there was no one alive to tell them.
“Therefore they couldn’t have planned a mutiny or an overthrow of the government when they attacked the bunker. They thought they were righting a wrong and taking back something a rogue colonel had stolen to better his own lot.
“Therefore they had no ill intent.
“No ill intent, no death penalty. It’s an essential element of Article 94 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”
“The what?”
“The UCMJ. It’s the Bible, if you will, of the military justice system.
“Article 94 covers mutiny and sedition and is the relevant article in this case. It’s very specific in that the accused must have known his act was illegal and must have known he was acting against the good order and discipline of the United States.
“Your testimony will bolster the colonels’ claims they did not know the bunker was built with the knowledge and consent of the Secretary of Defense, nor did they know it contained the continuity team tasked with rebuilding the Department of Defense after the thaw.”
Hannah said, “Am I in trouble? Should I have just kept my big mouth shut?”
“Oh, no, no… let me assure you, you did nothing wrong. As a civilian you had no legal requirement to keep your mouth closed. All you did was come to the wrong conclusion, and when faced with the limited information you had available pretty much anyone else would have assessed the information and come to the very same conclusion.
“You weren’t guilty of anything except being a whistleblower to a perceived wrong. And as an American citizen there’s a good argument you had a patriotic duty to blow that whistle.
“So no, you’re not in legal jeopardy, and not subject to facing charges either through the military court or civilian statutes.”
“Then why are my doctors being charged?”
The military has certain things they consider crimes that the civilian legal system doesn’t.
Probably the best examples are AWOL, desertion, adultery and fraternization. People in the military are charged with those crimes all the time and cry foul, saying, ‘If I was a civilian I wouldn’t be charged.’
“The military’s standard answer is, ‘That’s true. But when you raised your right hand and took that oath you agreed to hold yourself to a higher standard and to obey all the laws of the military.
“In this case the prosecution will try to prove that Wilcox and Medley either knew the continuity team was in the bunker or should have known. They’ll say they had a duty, as the base commander and his deputy, to be proactive and to make sure they knew who was in the bunker before they assaulted it.
“Our defense will be, in essence, that’s bullshit. That the only people on the base who knew were Colonel Bettis and his deputy, and they were both dead before your doctors assumed command.
“Your testimony, if you agree to give it, will bolster that argument.
“If Medley and Wilcox had known they would have paid you lip service when you blew the whistle. They’d have told you thanks for the information, and that they’d take care of it.
“Then they’d have done absolutely nothing. Because they’d have recognized the importance of protecting the continuity team and would never have assaulted the bunker.”
“Can’t they just leave? Mark won’t let me tell you where we are, exactly, but if they could just leave we could meet them somewhere. We could bring them here with us. They’d be safe here and the military would never find them.
“There’s even room for their families too. I mean, our government here requires a vote of all of our people before any big decision is made, but I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Not to save the lives of two good men who face death for doing absolutely nothing wrong.”
“I’m afraid that’s impossible, Hannah.
“First of all because they’d refuse to leave.
“These are good military men. If they left they’d be charged with desertion as well as everything else.
“That would be an aggravating factor at their sentencing and would make any chance of leniency or a dismissal of charges impossible.
“Second, if they were to try to break out someone might be hurt. They wouldn’t want that on their hands.
“Lastly, neither would want the stigma of knowing they’d run from a problem instead of facing it. No matter how unjust that problem might be.
“Military men don’t run from a problem. They fight it. It’s what they do.”
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Hannah should have told Captain Wright she needed time to think about it.
She should have spoken to Mark about it. And perhaps even Markie Junior, for if she were to leave Salt Mountain and travel over a hundred miles to San Antonio it would require an element of danger.
All travel did these days.
It could be argued, therefore, that it wasn’t her decision to make.
It was a family decision.
But Hannah was a headstrong woman. Sometimes too headstrong, in Mark’s view.
She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t think to consult Mark. Instead she made the decision on her own and blurted out, “Of course I’ll testify on their behalf. Those men saved my life.
“I owe them.”
“I’ll tell them. They’ll be very appreciative.”
“Wait,” Mark said. “How will she get to you? The snow pack is over two feet here.”
“It almost that bad here. But I’m not talking about anytime soon. We’re going to use Hannah’s witness status and the travel conditions to request a delay until the thaw comes.
“And hopefully General Mannix backs off long before then and saves us all the trouble.
“Is this frequency one you monitor all the time?”
“Yes, it is.”
“So this is the best way to get back in touch with you?”
“Yes. The only way, really.”
“Then I’ll get back in touch with you later on. I’ll give you plenty of time to make travel plans. In fact, I’ll send a car for you as soon as the roads are safe to travel on.”
Mark said, “And her husband too?”
“Of course. Thank you both.”
Hannah was stunned and just a little bit confused.
She couldn’t understand the Air Force’s logic in prosecuting two of its high ranking officers for what amounted, in her view anyway, to a misunderstanding.
The military world was not her own.
She didn’t understand things like the need to maintain order and discipline, or why the military required its own judicial system.
But she was convinced she’d have died that day she was flown into Wilford Hall Medical Center, were it not for Medley and Wilcox and their talents.
They gave her a second chance to live.
She was happy to be able to return the favor.
Captain Wright said goodbye to his prepper friend Randy and zipped up his overcoat.
“You sure you don’t want to stay for supper?” his friend asked. I’m making gourmet food tonight. Roast beef and potatoes.”
The words gave Wright pause and made his mouth water just a bit.
He turned and asked, “How in the world did you get fresh roast beef and potatoes?”
“Oh, I never said it was fresh.
“I baked the roast beef in my oven twelve years ago. Long before the world ever knew about Saris 7.
“After it was done I continued to bake it on very low heat until all the juices were baked out of it.
“When I took it out of the oven it was dry as a bone. It looked like a brick. In fact, if I’d have dropped it on the floor it would have bounced several times.”
Wright turned his nose up just a bit.
“Then how do you eat it?”
“I reconstitute it by soaking it in beef broth for two days.”
“Where in heck do you get beef broth?”
“Water and bouillon cubes, my friend. Bouillon cubes were on the shelves of every supermarket in American back before Saris 7 struck. And they sold them to anybody and everybody.
“Even someone like you, who turns up his nose at gourmet food.”
“And soaking it brings it back to life?”
“Ninety percent good as new. The process toughens it up just a tad. But not much. It’s certainly edible once I reconstitute it and put it in a crock pot to heat it up.”
“And the potatoes?”
“Powdered. Not as good as fresh, I’ll grant you. But still much better than a cold MRE.”
Wright took off his overcoat and threw it across his friend’s couch.
He’d been looking forward to sharing the good news about Hannah with his clients, but that could certainly wait an hour.
If he didn’t accept Randy’s invitation and at least try the reconstituted roast beef he’d wonder about it for days.
It would rest in the back of his mind and bug the heck out of him, like an ear worm.
“So you’ll stay?” Randy said. “Good. You’re about the only one who comes to visit me anymore.”
“Try mouthwash and deodorant. They work wonders.”
“Very funny. Actually, the sad fact is I’ve got few friends left. Most of them are either dead or they left during the thaw to try to find their families and reunite with them.
“Well, I have no family to go look for, Randy. And I don’t plan to die, so I’ll be around to haunt you for awhile.”
“That’s what most of my dead friends thought, David… they had no plans to die, that is. Unfortunately in this harsh world we live in we sometimes don’t have much choice.”
David and Randy had known each other for several years before Saris 7 delivered her fury upon the earth. Back then David’s next door neighbor was a recluse who seldom showed his face outside his house during the daytime.
He came and went only at night unless he had a doctor’s appointment.
On those days he got in his car inside his garage before opening his garage door, then opened the door by remote control.
He came back the same way so he didn’t have to say hello to his neighbors.
Randy was his step-son, and came by every other Saturday to mow his lawn and do upkeep on the house.
David and Randy nodded and said hello to one another but never really got close, never really spoke much.
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One day David came home to find the county coroner’s van in the driveway next door.
Randy was distraught to find his step-father dead in his bed that morning.
David went over to find out if there was something he could do, and the pair wound up becoming friends.
“It wasn’t that he was anti-social,” Randy explained. “He was taken advantage of several times by traveling salesmen who accepted down payments for things which were never delivered, shyster roof repair and termite specialists, and neighbors who borrowed things and never brought them back.
“Add that to early Alzheimer’s and a bit of paranoia and he just decided he no longer trusted people.”
Randy moved into his step-father’s house and found a treasure trove of stored food and supplies crammed into the full basement and two of the three bedrooms.
It turned out he’d been a prepper for years and never bothered to tell anyone.
Not even his step-son.
“I was shocked. Shocked that he’d spent pretty much his entire life’s savings on dried food and water and a thousand things only preppers think to store.
“Things like liquor that never goes bad and that can be traded for darned near anything.
“Ammunition. Gold and silver ingots and coins. Over thirty handguns and just as many rifles.
“He had all this stuff packed anywhere and everywhere.
“It just boggled my mind.”
Randy learned to trust David over time. Enough, anyway, to invite him into the house.
David recommended he keep it on the down-low, though, by pointing out that if the old man was right, and there was ever a real need for such a food stash, that the fewer the people who knew about it the better.
Randy fell into the prepper lifestyle not because he wanted to necessarily, but because his step-dad was the smartest man he ever knew.
If he thought prepping was a good idea that was good enough for Randy.
Randy was divorced in his early twenties when he found his wife was cheating on him. The marriage produced no children and the divorce was amicable.
He had no brothers or sisters.
Once the divorce was final it was just him.
And a house full of dried beans, boxed spaghetti and Ramen noodles.
A prepper’s paradise, sure.
But Randy got lonely sometimes and needed someone to talk to.
He was right about one thing… the roast beef was excellent.
“I’ll have to remember this little trick,” David smiled and commented.
“What trick?”
“Cooking a roast on low heat until it’s a brick and then bringing it back to life later on.
“Assuming I ever see a piece of fresh beef after this freeze is over. If it lasts too long it may wipe out all the cattle.”
Randy started to say something but stopped.
David got the sense something was bothering him, but didn’t push him.
They carried on the conversation with small talk about a dozen different things before Randy finally opened up with the real reason he’d invited his friend to stay for dinner.
“David… how do you find enough to eat now that the world’s frozen over again?”
It was an unexpected question, out of the blue with nothing to indicate it was coming.
“Oh, I get by… I mean, I eat two meals a day at the chow hall… scratch that… the Air Force takes offense when people call it the chow hall. They prefer ‘dining facility.’”
“Well, where does the dining facility get its food?”
“Mostly from U.S. Army food stores. Apparently the Army had a lot of food stored underground in east Texas and Louisiana and hooked them up during the thaw.
“It’s nothing fancy, but they can take dried vegetables and dried meat and flour and make a hundred different dishes with it.
“I just hope they have enough to last until the thaw comes again. I spoke to one of the cooks not long ago. He said if the freeze lasts three years they’ll be okay. If it lasts longer than that they’ll have to ration it. Cut everybody down to one meal a day.”
“It won’t last that long.”
“How do you know?”
“I monitored the high temperature every day of the first freeze.
“I kept logs of the temps, measured four times a day, and charted them.
“The temps this time are averaging eight degrees higher than the average for the same dates and times during the first freeze.
“Also, you’ve probably noticed the sky isn’t as dark as it was during the first freeze. When you go outside in the daytime it’s much easier to find your way around.
“In the first year of the first freeze it was so dark you couldn’t go outside without a flashlight. You couldn’t drive a vehicle without using your headlights, even at high noon.
“Now it’s dark at noon, but nowhere near as dark as it was the first time.”
“And what do you attribute that to?”
“I think whatever hit the earth this time was smaller. Or that maybe it hit in a rocky terrain, where there was less dirt driven up into the atmosphere.
