Here's what it looked like afterwards." Roger said, clicking the mouse. A video filled the large screen.

"The shield became a target," said Alex. "Surprised they weren't wearing body armor."

"They learned quickly." Roger said. "Relatively speaking. They soon stopped wearing those idiotic windbreakers. The stormtroopers aren't recruited for intelligence, even the leaders. In this case they probably thought it was just another naive religious cult or dissident group, amateurs and with a lot of women and children."

"Lacking basic intel?"

"That was generally the case back then. But in any case, it was a trap. The first of many, which gave us an early advantage."

"If it was a trap," Alex said, "then their intel showed what what the trappers wanted them to see."

"Precisely. They were accustomed to dealing with naive, idealistic amateurs. We used that to our advantage."

"Our?"

"I've been in since the beginning." Roger said. "Since Phoenix in '28."

"The Universal Light, whatever that was?"

"Temple of Undying Light. I went down there with Sam. We were just observing at that point, trying to get some ideas of how to proceed with our own operations. It was so bad our decision was made for us right then and there."

"All I had were the news reports," Alex said, "and the underground accounts of course. I already knew by that time any official word was false, but hadn't yet gotten deep enough to understand completely."

"It was probably as bad as anything you heard. If not worse. But it had been that way since Waco, Ruby Ridge, back in the '90s. What we learned, over time, was that not only was the constant government operation to eliminate dissent but to make examples that would discourage anyone thinking about it. And the bloodier the better. But the bureaucrats recruit people to do their work, and the kind of people who do that work are the worst kind. They enjoyed abusing people, hurting people, and as for women and children - some liked that even more."

"So you, what? Set them up? Create a 'dissident organization engaging in anti-government activities'? Only it isn't - or rather it doesn't exist.

"That's about it. It was almost too easy. The bureaucrats have no imagination and little intelligence. Most of their minions have no more. They can barely conceptualize dissent, much less resistance. An effective resistance such as they now face..."

"Yeah." Alex said. "Beyond their comprehension, outside their programming. So when did... who are you working with now anyway? If I may ask."

Roger grinned.

"You may always ask. Not a problem. I'm ostensibly in charge of Mantis section in Atlantis Corps. I own up to it only to humor the head shed. They like the idea of a command structure. So when we came on board as Mantis section we gave them a command structure. You know Frank and Thomas already. They're my lieutenants. We keep up on what the various divisions are doing, write up reports, do all the recruiting."

"You here to recruit me? You know I work alone."

Balance of Power (2022)

"That affair at Carver's Creek looked like a little more than a one-man job."

Alex grinned, took out a pack of cigarettes.

"Smoke?"

Roger took one and fished a lighter out of his pocket. He lit it while Alex lit one of his own.

"Guess you're doing all right," he said. "It's pretty hard on smokers in the controlled areas. Of course when you can't get food, I suppose tobacco doesn't seem so important."

"Most of us don't smoke," Alex said. "I do, occasionally. Usually more likely to chew on a cigar. But we don't have any problem getting smokes,

"We're beginning to have an immigration problem of our own," Roger said. "The people stuck in the controlled areas know how it is here. Especially in the Alliance territory - they don't have as many people for security."

"What are they doing with them? We have camps, and they're a little on the primitive side but probably better that what most of them left behind."

"Same over there. They have plenty of room for the camps, all right. Supplies are another matter."

"Yeah," Alex said. "I understand the Republic is shipping supplies, as much as they can. But airlifting across Kansas is risky, and the aircraft are small. I guess everything helps though."

"It does. They're getting a lot from Canada as well. The Canadians looked at what's happening here and don't interfere with anything their people are doing to help. Ottawa is pretty much ignoring anything that doesn't look like an imminent threat, so sympathizers flourish in the sparsely populated areas. Which is most of the border."

"The word we get is that the Canadian resistance is watching and waiting as well. The pressure is off of them for now, because of what's happening here. I expect that once we're successful they'll see a revolution of their own."

"Won't take much," Roger said. "May be fun to watch."

They finished thir cigarettes in silence, Alex waited. He had an idea of what was coming.

"So what did happen at Carver's Creek?" Roger asked. He dropped the butt of his cigarette and stepped on it.. "We got the usual official and unofficial versions, so which of the unofficial ones was right?"

"It was more than one man, obviously. But not a big deal. From what I'm hearing, it's like something you guys might do. A small group, about twenty guys. Had meetings and talked. Made noises about 'doing something'. Had a lot of guns. Waited for government agents to show up and infiltrate."

"And to try to get something started? To create an excuse for a raid. Show trials, all that?"

"Pretty much. As you say, they aren't very smart. Of course they got away with it for years, so why not keep a good thing going?"

"There was that incident up in the Ozarks. But that was about the only time in recent years they met any resistance. So they were pretty cocky. That settled them down a bit, but not for long."

"I guess you're referring to the Bridger Hill affair."

"Yeah. I don't suppose you could call that a setup. Some folks, back in the seventies, eighties, had a camp up there. Government shut them down, sent some of them to prison. Some of the others hung around, and some of their descendants. At Elohim City in Oklahoma."

"Crazy bunch," Alex said. "Of course, a lot of the free-lancers we come in contact with are at least a little off. In some way or another."

Balance of Power (2022)

"Kansas. And Tennessee."

"I should have known," Alex said. "It's about time. At least in the case of Kansas. Why Tennessee? Gratuitous overkill?

"We believe it's time. Once Kansas falls the corridor between east and west is broken. Easier to cut the head off. As for Tennessee, we have the capacity, and North Carolina won't be far behind. Before long only the northeast and the west coast will remain."

"Once Kansas falls it's effectively over anyway," Alex said. "They'll be desperate to keep it open, keep their supply lines open and prevent the Republic and the Alliance from joining. What's your assessment? They've got to be expecting it. The resistance will be..."

"They'll throw everything they have at us, you can be sure. The question is, how much do they have?"

"What do they have?" Alex asked. "They didn't have much when it started, and they've had heavy losses."

"Numbers have been made up, to some degree, through conscription. But they just replaced a marginal force with a worse one. The only reason they have recruits is that they eat regularly."

"So I've heard," Alex said. "Not better, just more often."

"Pretty much it. The elitists still take the best of what is available for themselves. We get enough intel from the inner circles to know they're pretty miserable, compared to what they had before. But they don't want to give it up."

"It'll get worse," Alex said. "Lot of food comes from the west coast."

"That it will. It's why this may be rough."

"It's hard to see them defending Tennessee much. They may let it go, it's no use to them anyway. If it distracts from holding Kansas..."

"You're most likely right," Roger said. "How vigorously they defend Tennessee may give us an idea of what they are still capable of. They may let it go altogether. We just don't know, but either way it works out for us."

"What's the plan for Kansas?"

"Break it in too many places to fix. I-70 is the only interstate running across, connecting east and west. We can break it in at least a dozen places - overpasses and bridges - and fan out on either side, taking out the roads they'll use for detours. Kansas is so sparsely populated there aren't many. We could conceivably prevent traffic across the state. The same goes for railroads. Once it's no longer to transport goods across the state, they'll move their defenses to other areas."

"Most of the population lives in a handful of cities," Alex said. "The countryside must be full of partisans."

Roger grinned.

"Exactly," he said. "They'll do most of the work. We'll coordinate and supply. There's a well organized force in place, targets selected, most of the supplies already in place. They're waiting for us to provide some essential supplies and, when it's all set, give the signal."

"What kind of supplies?"

"Thermite mostly, for the railroads. Some high-velocity stuff. And detonation control gear. And security augmentation."

"What's my contribution?"

"You and I will be busy, coordinating. It's got to go off perfectly. One night of fire..."

"One shot at glory."

Balance of Power (2022)

Here's what it looked like afterwards." Roger said, clicking the mouse. A video filled the large screen.

"The shield became a target," said Alex. "Surprised they weren't wearing body armor."

"They learned quickly." Roger said. "Relatively speaking. They soon stopped wearing those idiotic windbreakers. The stormtroopers aren't recruited for intelligence, even the leaders. In this case they probably thought it was just another naive religious cult or dissident group, amateurs and with a lot of women and children."

"Lacking basic intel?"

"That was generally the case back then. But in any case, it was a trap. The first of many, which gave us an early advantage."

"If it was a trap," Alex said, "then their intel showed what what the trappers wanted them to see."

"Precisely. They were accustomed to dealing with naive, idealistic amateurs. We used that to our advantage."

"Our?"

"I've been in since the beginning." Roger said. "Since Phoenix in '28."

"The Universal Light, whatever that was?"

"Temple of Undying Light. I went down there with Sam. We were just observing at that point, trying to get some ideas of how to proceed with our own operations. It was so bad our decision was made for us right then and there."

"All I had were the news reports," Alex said, "and the underground accounts of course. I already knew by that time any official word was false, but hadn't yet gotten deep enough to understand completely."

"It was probably as bad as anything you heard. If not worse. But it had been that way since Waco, Ruby Ridge, back in the '90s. What we learned, over time, was that not only was the constant government operation to eliminate dissent but to make examples that would discourage anyone thinking about it. And the bloodier the better. But the bureaucrats recruit people to do their work, and the kind of people who do that work are the worst kind. They enjoyed abusing people, hurting people, and as for women and children - some liked that even more."

"So you, what? Set them up? Create a 'dissident organization engaging in anti-government activities'? Only it isn't - or rather it doesn't exist.

"That's about it. It was almost too easy. The bureaucrats have no imagination and little intelligence. Most of their minions have no more. They can barely conceptualize dissent, much less resistance. An effective resistance such as they now face..."

"Yeah." Alex said. "Beyond their comprehension, outside their programming. So when did... who are you working with now anyway? If I may ask."

Roger grinned.

"You may always ask. Not a problem. I'm ostensibly in charge of Mantis section in Atlantis Corps. I own up to it only to humor the head shed. They like the idea of a command structure. So when we came on board as Mantis section we gave them a command structure. You know Frank and Thomas already. They're my lieutenants. We keep up on what the various divisions are doing, write up reports, do all the recruiting."

"You here to recruit me? You know I work alone."

Balance of Power (2022)

"That little operation at Carver's Creek looked like a little more than a one-man job."

Alex grinned, took out a pack of cigarettes.

"Smoke?"

Roger took one and fished a lighter out of his pocket. He lit it while Alex lit one of his own.

"Guess you're doing all right," he said. "It's pretty hard on smokers in the controlled areas. Of course when you can't get food, I suppose tobacco doesn't seem so important."

"Most of us don't smoke," Alex said. "I do, occasionally. Usually more likely to chew on a cigar. But we don't have any problem getting smokes,

"We're beginning to have an immigration problem of our own," Roger said. "The people stuck in the controlled areas know how it is here. Especially in the Alliance territory - they don't have as many people for security."

"What are they doing with them? We have camps, and they're a little on the primitive side but probably better that what most of them left behind."

"Same over there. They have plenty of room for the camps, all right. Supplies are another matter."

"Yeah," Alex said. "I understand the Republic is shipping supplies, as much as they can. But airlifting across Kansas is risky, and the aircraft are small. I guess everything helps though."

"It does. They're getting a lot from Canada as well. The Canadians looked at what's happening here and don't interfere with anything their people are doing to help. Ottawa is pretty much ignoring anything that doesn't look like an imminent threat, so sympathizers flourish in the sparsely populated areas. Which is most of the border."

"The word we get is that the Canadian resistance is watching and waiting as well. The pressure is off of them for now, because of what's happening here. I expect that once we're successful they'll see a revolution of their own."

"Won't take much," Roger said. "May be fun to watch."

They finished their cigarettes in silence, Alex waited. He had an idea of what was coming.

"So what did happen at Carver's Creek?" Roger asked. He dropped the butt of his cigarette and stepped on it.. "We got the usual official and unofficial versions, so which of the unofficial ones was right?"

"It was more than one man, obviously. But not a big deal. From what I'm hearing, it's like something you guys might do. A small group, about twenty guys. Had meetings and talked. Made noises about 'doing something'. Had a lot of guns. Waited for government agents to show up and infiltrate."

"And to try to get something started? To create an excuse for a raid. Show trials, all that?"

"Pretty much. As you say, they aren't very smart. Of course they got away with it for years, so why not keep a good thing going?"

"There was that incident up in the Ozarks. But that was about the only time in recent years they met any resistance. So they were pretty cocky. That settled them down a bit, but not for long."

"I guess you're referring to the Bridger Hill affair."

"Yeah. I don't suppose you could call that a setup. Some folks, back in the seventies, eighties, had a camp up there. Government shut them down, sent some of them to prison. Some of the others hung around, and some of their descendants. At Elohim City in Oklahoma."

"Crazy bunch," Alex said. "Of course, a lot of the free-lancers we come in contact with are at least a little off. In some way or another."

Balance of Power (2022)

"Yeah. Well, this bunch had gone up to the old CSA camp at Elijah, Missouri. There were rumors that a lot of gold was hidden there somewhere. We know that when the feds raided it they recovered a few hundred Krugerrands, and some said there was a lot more they didn't find. Whatever the case, about a couple dozen guys went in there, built a small compound, as the government like to call them. It was a pretty decent installation, well built and provisioned. They got some prefab buildings, lot of professional equipment and supplies. Had a clearing a short distance away, choppered people and stuff in and out.

"Must have been a lot of gold. Or something."

"Something," Roger agreed. "The government didn't manage to penetrate. They tried for a while to get someone inside, even used acquaintances of some of the members they knew. Nothing. So no agent provocateur for a pretext."

"So they assaulted this... compound?"

"Yeah. Sounds stupid, doesn't it. Went in with warrants, just made stuff up. Drugs, child trafficking, the usual. When they wouldn't let them in they laid siege, as they say. Big mistake."

"Someone attacked the besiegers from behind. Yeah, I remember that. No details though, they seemed a secretive bunch."

"They are that," Roger said.

"They still around?"

"They seem to be survivors. They essentially massacred the fed force. Something like eighty-five, depending on reports. Dozen or so survivors, not enough to keep the occupants from coming out and joining their rescuers when it was over. Vanished into the hills."

"Did they get the gold?"

"Seems so. We've been in contact with them regularly, last few years. They're a professional bunch, somewhat mercenary, but not enough to serve the other side at any price. Well financed. We've done some deals together."

"So what's with that?" Alex asked, nodding towards the screen.

"At Carver's Creek you... they did something similar to the guys at Bridger Hill."

"Pretty much. Failing to find a pretext they just made one up. Like the deal you were talking about. Just showed up with warrants. Which was just what they were waiting for. Their confederates outside - apparently they never knew they were there - surrounded them and hosed them down, it was over in a few minutes."

"You said they."

"Yeah, well, I helped with planning and logistics."

"We could use some help with planning and logistics."

"On a contract basis?"

"I have considerable flexibility. We already deal with a lot of independents. You're more reliable than just about any of them."

"Speaking of being mercenary, but how's the pay? I can't afford to go in the hole, no matter how worthy the cause."

Roger grinned and said nothing.

"All right," Alex said. "So I can. But wasting resources..."

"You won't be wasting anything. Anyway, we'll make sure you at least break even. And probably come out ahead. In any war there are always things getting separated from their owners."

"They certainly do that."

"There should be some opportunities in this. We'll make sure it's profitable."

"So what's the deal?"

Balance of Power (2022)

"Kansas. And Tennessee."

"I should have known," Alex said. "It's about time. At least in the case of Kansas. Why Tennessee? Gratuitous overkill?

"We believe it's time. Once Kansas falls the state is cut in two. Easier to cut the head off. As for Tennessee, we have the capacity, and North Carolina won't be far behind. Before long only the northeast and the west coast will remain."

"Once Kansas falls it's effectively over anyway," Alex said. "They'll be desperate to keep it open, keep their supply lines open and prevent the Republic and the Alliance from joining. What's your assessment? They've got to be expecting it. The resistance will be..."

"They'll throw everything they have at us, you can be sure. The question is, how much do they have?"

"What do they have?" Alex asked. "They didn't have much when it started, and they've had heavy losses."

"Numbers have been made up, to some degree, through conscription. But they just replaced a marginal force with a worse one. The only reason they have recruits is that they eat regularly."

"So I've heard," Alex said. "Not better, just more often."

"Pretty much it. The elitists still take the best of what is available for themselves. We get enough intel from the inner circles to know they're pretty miserable, compared to what they had before. But they don't want to give it up."

"It'll get worse," Alex said. "Lot of food comes from the west coast."

"That it will. It's why this may be rough."

"It's hard to see them defending Tennessee much. They may let it go, it's no use to them anyway. If it distracts from holding Kansas..."

"You're most likely right," Roger said. "How vigorously they defend Tennessee may give us an idea of what they are still capable of. They may let it go altogether. We just don't know, but either way it works out for us."

"What's the plan for Kansas?"

"Break it in too many places to fix. I-70 is the only interstate running across, connecting east and west. We can break it in at least a dozen places - overpasses and bridges - and fan out on either side, taking out the roads they'll use for detours. Kansas is so sparsely populated there aren't many. We could conceivably prevent traffic across the state. The same goes for railroads. Once it's no longer to transport goods across the state, they'll move their defenses to other areas."

"Most of the population lives in a handful of cities," Alex said. "The countryside must be full of partisans."

Roger grinned.

"Exactly," he said. "They'll do most of the work. We'll coordinate and supply. There's a well organized force in place, targets selected, most of the supplies already in place. They're waiting for us to provide some essential supplies and, when it's all set, give the signal."

"What kind of supplies?"

"Thermite mostly, for the railroads. Some high-velocity stuff. And detonation control gear. And security augmentation."

"What's my contribution?"

"You and I will be busy, coordinating. It's got to go off perfectly. One night of fire..."

"One shot at glory."

Balance of Power (2022)