Intel

(Source)

Ida Kasparian looked up from her knitting as she heard the familiar sound of her husband's Jeep come up the track to Jack Bishop's cabin. She watched Billy climb down and stretch, she could tell that his back was bothering him again. He's getting old, she thought, then corrected herself, we're all getting old.

She had arrived at the cabin some two hours ago, she'd unloaded the gear she'd brought up in her own Jeep and stored the food they'd had at home. Which was quite a lot. Though the Kasparians didn't consider themselves to be "preppers" per se, many city folk would consider them just that. However, they had learned over the years that the weather in this part of the world was nasty enough that it paid to have an ample store of food and other supplies at hand. Just in case.

Though they had thought "snowstorms" and "flash floods" when they had started stocking up on essential supplies, "Red Chinese Invasion" and "UN Intervention" fit the bill just as well. The last time Ida had been in town she'd noticed that there were a lot of empty shelves in the local market. There were a couple of things she wanted to get a hold of still, but for now they could make it through the winter with no problem.

She put her knitting aside and looked out the window as she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders, a smile crossed her face as she saw their dog Sadie exploring the premises. She had news for Jack and Billy, might as well tell them while she helped offload the supplies they'd brought up.

Billy looked up as Sadie went streaking towards the cabin, her entire body wiggling she was so happy. After Sadie felt she'd received adequate attention from Ida, she was off exploring again. Billy smiled at his wife of thirty-two years and asked, "All settled in? Find what you need in town?"

Ida embraced her husband and said, "All the stuff I brought up from our place has been put away. I got what I could in town, but there were a lot of little luxuries I would like more of that just aren't available anymore. But I did pick up some news from a reliable source."

"Jackie over at the beauty shop?" Billy asked with a grin.

"No, but I did stop by to say hello. Actually it was Selma Wilkins, she's married to one of Frank's deputies. Her husband had heard a few things we might be interested in. Selma and I talked for quite a while, that woman has an incredible memory I tell you."

"Let's get the rest of these things stowed, then we can go in, have some coffee and you can tell us all about it." Billy suggested.

"Sure hon."

"The goddamned Feds invited the UN to come in?" Jack was steamed, he'd heard that from one source but didn't quite believe it. He knew Burt Wilkins pretty well, what's more, he trusted the man.

"Yup, but there's precedent for that. Remember back in '21 when the Secretary of State invited the UN in to investigate the United States' record on racism and minority issues?" Ida pointed out.

Billy said, "Yes, I remember thinking what a stupid idea that was, what did they invite the UN in to investigate this time."

Ida continued, "Well you remember the big hubbub last year over charges of election fraud..."

"Yeah, by the same bastards who stole the election back in..."

Ida cut Jack off in midstream, "I know Jack, I know. But this time it was the other party, the 'in name only' types who thought it would look good if they 'crossed the aisle' on this issue."

Billy and Jack sat there, looking stunned. Then Billy spoke up, "You mean the dumbass RINOs invited the UN in? But foreign troops? How the Hell did UN peacekeepers get involved?"

"Just before they shut down most of the media outlets, claiming bias in their reporting, there were reports of rioting in at least four major cities, two on each coast, surprise, surprise. Seems like the local police walked off the job, citing the defunding that had occurred in those cities. One cop was heard to say, 'They cut our funding, let them figure it out.' What's worse, when the governors called out the Guard, less than 20% reported for duty. And that is how we got the UN peacekeepers involved. Turns out that this has been in the planning stages for some time. Those peacekeepers had been kept offshore in cargo ships for some months. The media reported them all as being there because of labor shortages at the docks and no room to land more cargo as the truckers were on strike."

"Yeah, truckers were on strike because the damned Feds raised the road use taxes. Not to mention the exorbitant cost of fuel these days." Jack just shook his head at the thought that they'd been screwed by their own government. Again.

"Wow, this is a lot to digest..." Billy began but Ida interrupted him.

"There's more. The damned Chinese were waiting in Canada for the word to move in, they had been there for some months allegedly training with the Canadian Forces. Turns out that was nothing but a lie. Burt has a friend in the Canadian Army, says that the Chinese stuck to their compounds and didn't train with them at all. The damned Canadian premier was in on the whole thing."

"But there's good news in all this, apparently a number of Guard units have revolted and have taken to the hills. There was a fight not far from here yesterday, an Army Guard unit out of Albany destroyed a Red Chinese armored patrol. The Commies are pissed but they've taken no action so far. In fact, the head Commie out at the compound was taken away early this morning, apparently his second in command is in charge now."

Jack asked, "Taken away?"

"Yup, an observer saw him led out at gunpoint just after sunrise, they tossed him into the back of a car and they drove off."

"Well I'll be damned." was all either man could manage.