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Praetorium Honoris

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Peaceful End, Violent End ...

"Sir, there's a roadblock ahead. What do you want me to do?"

Matthew Burleson was half asleep in the backseat, his stomach was starting to bother him, a lot. He stirred and sat up, looking down the road. He noticed that his aide, Ted Anderson, was slowing down, looking around, perhaps seeking an alternate route.

"Pull over, I need to think." Burleson barked.

He hadn't meant to yell at Anderson, but he was tired. Lack of proper rest and lack of proper nutrition was wearing him out. He wondered how much longer he could keep running.

Anderson realized that he had just passed Exit 1, they were in Maryland now. The headlights lit up the "Welcome to Maryland" sign just ahead. He was traveling way too slow to stay on I-81 so he let the car roll onto the shoulder, where he turned the lights off.

His phone was plugged into the car, he checked the navigation display, there was an on ramp just ahead. Maybe go down that and hope no one was coming up that way. He too was suffering from lack of sleep and his cognitive abilities were starting to suffer.

"Sir, I can go the wrong way down the on ramp just ahead. We'd avoid this roadblock ..."

"How do you know it's a roadblock, Ted? Could be an accident, could be construction, why do you assume it's a roadblock?"

Burleson thought it was a roadblock as well, but he was hoping that it wasn't. In truth, Anderson thought, his boss was getting a bit querulous. Can't say he blamed him, but ...

"Sir, we're in an SUV, I can stay on the grass and get on to the off ramp from here. People do strange things like that all the time." Glancing at the GPS map on the console, he continued, "We can take Mason-Dixon Road further west, then drop down into Maryland on Williamsport Pike, avoids Hagerstown altogether."

Anderson heard Burleson moan, rather like a petulant child, "Alright. Do it."


"Lou, did ya see that?" Trooper Jack Alonso had seen a car pull over to the side of the interstate, then drive off on the grass.

Trooper Louis Macklin said, "Yeah, seems fishy. Dark colored SUV, might be our guy. Alert the local LEOs. We think our guy wants to get to DC, but there's more'n one way through Maryland."

Alonso got on the radio and had dispatch patch him through to the Greencastle, PA cops. While he did that, Macklin was on another radio talking to Barrack "O" in Hagerstown.

"Dispatch, this is Oscar Five at I-81 roadblock. We need to set up on Williamsport Pike as well, I think our suspect just deflected west when he saw us set up here on I-81."

"Dispatch copies. We've got people there already, Oscar Five."

"Oscar Five, copy. Out."


As they turned west, Burleson saw a sign for a motel. "Hhmm, truck stop, probably really sleazy, but damn I need to sleep. In a real bed."

"Sir?"

Burleson didn't realize that he was talking out loud. "Pull in here, Ted."

"I don't think that's a great idea, Sir. Why don't we ..."

"Right f**king now, Ted." Burleson's voice was low and dangerous.

"Alright, I'll get us a room, you stay in the car."

"Two rooms, Ted."

"I'll sleep in the car, Sir. You get the room. If I get two rooms and they see just me, that looks odd enough. If they're watching the news, or listening to the radio, two guys might make them suspicious."

Burleson thought for a moment, "Good point, but if they see you sleeping in the car, after renting a room? Even worse. Okay Ted, one room."


Burleson awoke to the smell of food, he checked his watch. Three in the morning, but he felt refreshed, his stomach was feeling better too, he felt ravenous.

"Where'd you get the food, Ted?"

"Hoffman's All American Grill, it's right across the parking lot. I got us a couple of burgers, hope that's okay?"

"Yeah, they smell great. We eat then get back on the road?" Burleson asked.

"Yup, maybe we can slide through and be in DC before lunch, Okay with you, Sir?"

Burleson had a mouthful of burger, he just nodded. The man looked happy for the first time since leaving Raven Rock.


Aspinall walked into the room where President Nakagawa was talking with his Joint Chiefs. Word out of China wasn't good, but it wasn't altogether bad. Most of the senior leadership in Beijing had fled the capital, or had tried to. Many had been caught by the mobs roaming the streets, howling for blood. Tiananmen Square was remembered by many.

Things were settling down, the PLA had taken control of the capital and were busy restoring order, with the help of the people.

Admiral Jack Whalen, the new Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) spoke up, "I talked to a General Wang Zhu twenty minutes ago, he's apparently in control of PLA forces in and around Beijing, he says that they have intel on what happened to Fujian, he knows that we weren't involved. They lost a number of ships in that typhoon. A few reconnaissance aircraft as well. I wouldn't want to be a Chicom meteorologist right about now."

"So the Pacific is clear for now?" Nakagawa asked, looking at his senior military staff.

"Yes Sir, they've pulled out a lot of the assets they had in the Spratlys."

"Have we spoken with Japan and the Philippines about this situation?"

"The Philippine Navy is a little hot under the collar, they lost two ships, but the Japanese are willing to back off."

"Do you think ..."

"I spoke with my counterpart in Manila, he says he can calm things down. Knowing Admiral Abadiano, he's probably offered his political bosses the opportunity to go to sea and show the Navy how to fight."

Nakagawa chuckled at that, "Sounds like a tough old bastard."

Whalen nodded, "He is, Sir. Damn fine sailor as well."

Nakagawa noticed Aspinall standing just inside the door, waiting for an opportunity. "What do ya got, Bill?"

"Maryland State Police think they know the whereabouts of Matthew Burleson. They want to know if you want him brought in, or ...?"

"Jesus Bill, yes, arrest the man. There's been enough bloodshed already."


Anderson could see lights up ahead, another damned roadblock. He glanced in his rearview mirror, his boss was out again. After days of almost no sleep, the former SecDef seemed to be recovering. He, on the other hand was nearly asleep on his feet, so to speak.

He started to slow down, again he was looking for somewhere to go, there was nothing but farm fields and houses. He could chance the fields, full tank of gas, four-wheel drive, it was still dark, but that wouldn't last. At first light they'd put helicopters up.

They could run, but they had nowhere to hide.


"Car coming on, Corporal. Looks like he's slowing down."

The Maryland National Guard were manning this roadblock, the State Police were spread thin as it was. So a couple of Humvees and seven Guardsmen were here.

"Guy's not stopping, Corp."

Corporal Billy Johnson stepped into the roadway, waving his flashlight, trying to get the driver's attention. He wasn't going that fast, why wasn't he stopping? Then he noticed, the driver seemed to be asleep at the wheel.

Private Burt Evans opened fire with his M4, he was aiming at the engine but a number of his rounds went wide and into the passenger compartment. The late model SUV slowed and then tumbled into the ditch alongside the road.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Johnson kept repeating as he went to the SUV, his weapon at the ready.

The driver was all messed up, there was blood everywhere. Then he noticed another person in the backseat. That man was sitting up, his eyes wide open, his hands in the air. Johnson recognized him.

"Brockman, get on the horn, we need an ambulance, let the Staties know we've got the SecDef in custody. He looks okay, but the guy driving is f**ked."

Source
"Mr. President?"

"Bill, just tell me, I'm too tired to deal with ceremony."

"Maryland National Guard captured Matt Burleson, alive."

Nakagawa sat up.

"But his aide, Ted Anderson, didn't make it."

"Didn't ... What the hell happened out there?"

"Anderson was at the wheel, he was slowing down, but he wasn't stopping, so one of the Guardsmen opened fire. The kid in charge of the detachment said he saw the driver, apparenyly asleep. The guy who fired, he was aiming at the engine block, in his excitement ..."

"Some of the rounds went wild and hit Anderson ..."

"Yes Sir."

"Where's Burleson now?"

"They're bringing him here."

"Good, I'm going to hit the rack for an hour or so. Wake me then."

"Yes Sir."

"Damn shame about, Ted. I liked the kid."

"Yes Sir, a lot of people did."

"Shit."

"Yes, Mr. President."



34 comments:

  1. Last of the rats accounted for......hmmm.......CCP-land seems to be calming down. A fine series Sarge, buy your Muse a cold one.

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    1. Are you forgetting the "Silver Dozen"? Those wise old statesmen (heh) who know what's best for everyone, Constitution be damned? They're still at large.

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    2. Good. They can be rounded up and hung from the Tree of Liberty. That tree needs some good old traitor blood to feed it. Grrr.

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  2. A fine yarn indeed. much better than the mock Clancy I'm reading right now. Real people in real situations, not god like superhero commando teams.

    However as Smoky the Bear says "Stir the ashes, make sure it's cold", only YOU can prevent CW2.0

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    1. I like stories with real people, people who make mistakes but are doing their best in a difficult situation. The only god-like super heroes are in fiction.

      Stir the ashes, make sure the fire is out, sound advice.

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  3. A bit unexpected. China not blaming the US, Japan, or the Philippines, willing to let that part settle down. And the PLA and Red Guards working with each other. At least for now.

    Driving in the dark, especially on an unfamiliar road, if I see lights up ahead, I start slowing down and watching for FOD on the roadway. Never know how long a debris field is from a crash. Longest I ever saw was about a quarter mile. Pulling off the road and shutting off the lights? Might as well put a light bar on top and have loud speakers blaring "LOOK AT ME!" Shame about Anderson. I was starting to think that he was going to wait for Burleson to fall asleep and turn him in.

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    1. There are no Red Guards, just people who got tired of their government's crap.

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  4. For what its worth, any military, even Chinese one, usually has generally more common sense than their political leadership. Of course there are exceptions, political nominees, and sycophants, but core of the services must be professional, or the entire force crumbles.

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    1. Very true, and a good point.

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    2. So why are our senior military peoples so affected with sometimes less common sense than, well, The Rutabaga-in-Chief?

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    3. Look at when they made general, tells you a lot.

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    4. In a just and righteous world, those faux-generals and admirals would suck their guns for what they have done to this country. Of course, they're all such bad military people that they'd screw that up, too.

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    5. Probably best if they were assigned a second.

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  5. I feel for Anderson. Again, this is what happens when things go "hot". All kinds of bad things all over, not just contained to a particular group or segment.

    Agree with Pawel. The PLA, like many militaries, is likely well aware of their limitations and when one should and should not pick a fight. In this case, taking advantage of a situation which appeared exploitable (due to instability) but quickly was not is completely sensible. Also, given that particular country, exploitable against their own citizenry.

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    1. I liked Anderson, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A misplaced sense of loyalty perhaps.

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  6. OAFS, I have really enjoyed this story so far. It sometimes is a bit chilling in light of current events.

    By the Muse a cold one on me. Where do I forward the change?

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    1. Glad you're enjoying it. I certainly am enjoying writing it, though I hate it when real life seems to match.

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  7. Oh my. That took several unexpected turns. Modern medicine might save Anderson, but his life after that .... Definitely another round for your Muse, and thank you.

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    1. Anderson was DOA, not even modern medicine could have saved him.

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  8. How long did it take you to find that picture of the shot up car? That fit the story so well!

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    1. Not long, I searched for "car with bullet holes." Apparently there's a lot of that going around. If you go to the original source you can see where the police put their little number tabs for where they found a shell casing, I edited those out.

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    2. Eh, typical Chicago day drive...

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  9. Considering what almost happened this past weekend, this story is getting that much closer to reality.

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  10. The quest for clarity and sanity.

    I have noticed that you pretty much have left out the legacy eneMedia from your story. Which is nice. Can't stand those people. "Trump stumbled and fell at political rally" my left boiled butt-cheek!

    Though I am wondering what average Joe and Jane Smith are thinking? And what truths and untruths they've been told? As oftentimes in coups and mini-revolutions it is the people that throw logs under the train of progress.

    This is what seems to be what one historian said of the War of the Roses in England many moons ago. Forces would move into the area, one side would take a town for their command post and such, the other would take the next town or hamlet, they'd fight, move on, average Englishman would pick up the pieces and go on. Or like some of the skirmishes in the ACW, with the locals hunkering down while the Blue and Grey slugged it out and moved on, leaving corpses and flotsam and jetsam lying about (well, the land versions of flotsam and jetsam, that is.)

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    1. Yes, the media brings nothing but lies and half-truths to the table.

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  11. I think the fitting word would be debris. 😂 ACW was remarkably civil for a civil war, but still with artillery and sieges involved there was much "property damage".

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    1. It was pretty civil, unless you were black.

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    2. It was pretty civil, until the sieges, as Pawel said. Huge sieges during the ACW, something that isn't well known. Like, bombarded to where almost nothing was left standing level of siege warfare, often with civilians trapped inside the siege lines.

      The open field battles were, yes, pretty safe for civilians, well, except for those who showed up to watch.

      And then there's the Union naval blockade and destruction of practically any water craft, leading to very lean rations and starvation in lots of places. Not that civil after all.

      Then there were places like Missouri and Kansas, where grudges turned into nasty tit-for-tat civilian and partisan retaliations and raids.

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    3. All things being relative ...

      It was far more civil than say the American Revolution in the southern states. Out right vendettas being waged there.

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  12. Off topic, but thought you might enjoy this:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwNFOjAFGZw

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for that, Mark. A beautiful old girl.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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