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Praetorium Honoris

Friday, August 2, 2024

Open Season

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Matthew Burleson left the EEOB shackled and with a bag over his head. It wasn't that the people moving him didn't want him to know where he was going, it was so he wouldn't be readily recognized. His escort had also draped him in an overcoat so that the orange jumpsuit wasn't as obvious from a distance.

Burleson was already disoriented from being sleep deprived, having a bag over his head just made things worse. He knew how close he was to the White House as he was being moved (the EEOB is just across the street) and the thought of almost having the opportunity to  be President and actually working out of the White House made him sick.

They had been so close. At least in his own mind he thought they had been close to overthrowing the existing government and replacing it with a group of men who saw things clearly and wanted to be part of a new world order. In his view, the world was becoming far too complex to let the average citizen decide who ran things.

It didn't faze him that there were also women involved in the plot, but Burleson discounted them. He was not a proponent of equal rights, not by a long shot. Which might have been a factor in his three divorces, not that he cared one way or the other. He was still under the impression that powerful forces were behind him and that his current predicament was temporary. His arrogance was palpable.


Ephraim Johansen was set up in his new cell at the JBAB brig. He was still hooked up to a monitor but his IV drip had been discontinued, he was able to eat solid food now. Though there was still some seepage from the stump where his leg used to be, the doctor had assured him that that took a while to go away.

He'd just had his first solid meal in a few weeks, though it was "jail food" it wasn't bad. When you haven't eaten for a while, damned near anything tasted good. He wondered what they were going to do with him.

He knew that his employer, the Central Intelligence Agency, was under some suspicion at the moment. His credentials at Homeland Security were perfectly valid, so far no one could find anything indicating that it was against the law to work at both places simultaneously. He was only paid for the hours he worked at either agency. At CIA that was mostly meetings, taking less than ten hours of his sixty hour week.

He was lucky he didn't have any association with the FBI, that agency was in total disarray at the moment. The old director had been gunned down in the street, though no one said anything out loud, Johansen would bet money that he knew the shooter, or shooters, personally. Did another agency in the Federal government murder William Sheppard? Johansen thought so, when parts of the government are trying to usurp control of the government, the holders of the offices trying to be taken over might fight back. Sheppard was arrogant enough to have assumed they'd just roll over.

He opened his eyes as his door opened, it was the Deputy Director of the CIA.

"Rest easy, Ephraim, I'm in the process of getting you cleared. I talked with Bill Aspinall this morning, the President's closest advisor, we have the documentation to prove that everything you did was in the interests of national security and had my blessing. If they want to hang you, they'll have to hang me as well."

"Really Sir, you think it's that simple?"

"It can be. I know you did some sketchy things out there. Ambushing those Park Service guys was nasty, but you weren't directly involved, that idiot Morgan was the driver behind that."

"Sir, I personally caused the deaths of the guys who opened fire with a machine gun at Federal agents."

"On my order."

"Do you think that saved the camp guards at Auschwitz?"

"No, it didn't. But you didn't kill innocents, you killed three men who had fired on, perhaps even hit, those Feds in that alleyway. They made war on the United States. You, as an agent of those United States, made war on them. They lost, we won. The President understands that, Aspinall assures me that above all else, Nakagawa is a pragmatist. Right now he's trying to put things back together, we need you at the Agency."

Johansen gestured at his missing leg, "I'm not much use in the field, am I?"

"No, you're not. But I think you'd make a damned useful Director of Operations. Feel up to it?"

"Well ..."

"Not immediately, of course. Your doc wants you to recover for another week, then physical therapy until you're ready to come back to work."

Johansen nodded, "Okay, on those terms, I'm in."


The electricity died somewhere around midnight. Senator Hawthorne assumed the government was behind that inconvenience. With the loss of power, the central air went down as well.

He sat up in his bed, wondering why the emergency generators hadn't come on automatically, then he heard it. They were running. He reached over to his bedside lamp and switched it on. Maybe the generators didn't have enough power to drive the air conditioning and keep the lights and refrigerators running.

There was a knock on the door, it was his personal aide, Jess Conwell.

"What is it, Jess?"

"I think the air isn't on because one of the breakers tripped."

"So turn it back on."

"Not that simple, Sir. The circuit panel is in the utility building. I told one of the maintenance guys to go out and reset it. He flat out refused."

"What?"

"Well, Wickford's corpse is still out there, the staff is freaking out. They're refusing to work."

Hawthorne sighed, "You go turn it on then."

"Sir?"

"Did I stutter, Jess?"

"Uh, Sir, there are guys out there, professionals with rifles and probably night vision gear as well. Do you think they're not watching the utility building?"

"Good lord man," Hawthorne dressed quickly in khaki slacks and a yellow polo shirt, slipping his feet into a pair of loafers, "I'll f**king do it myself."

Conwell followed the Senator downstairs where the door that led outside to the utility shed was wide open. Just inside the door, Congressman Otto Birmingham of California was sitting on the floor, his belt tightened around his leg just above the knee. Most of his calf muscle was missing.

"Otto, what happened?"

Birmingham grimaced, "I got shot you f**king idiot, what does it look like?

Senator Jackson Abrahams the Second chimed in, "As soon as he took one step out of the door, he was hit. Thank God they didn't kill him."

Jess Conwell looked at the door, moved over to it and slammed it shut. "I don't think they were trying to kill him, Senator. Have they missed anything they've shot at yet?"

"Whatever do you mean, Jess?" Hawthorne said angrily.

"They don't want you dead, Senator. They want you alive." Conwell gestured around the room, "They want all of you alive, to stand trial. For treason."

Hawthorne had an odd thought at that point, Conwell had said "you," not "us." It was if Conwell was distancing himself from the Dozen.


"Hell of a shot, Avi."

"It was tough, he was moving, slowly but he was moving. If he'd stepped the wrong way, I might have hit him higher up, severed the femoral, he'd bleed out before those people down there could stop the bleeding. As it is, he needs medical attention, soon. He's going to lose that leg, what's more, he knows it. He's probably already mentally separated himself from the group. He's in pain, they're not."

"They also know that we're not screwing around." Howard said as he came over.

"Next member of the Dozen that shows him or herself, blow their f**king head off."

Stein looked at his boss, "Uh, you want me to assassinate a member of Congress?"

"No, I want you to kill a traitor. Bill Aspinall just came on over the radio, the acting Attorney General has issued a warrant for the capture of every member of the Dozen. Dead or alive."

"Acting?" Hector Driscoll asked.

"Attorney General Proctor hanged himself in his garage. They found the body this morning."

"Damn."

"Aspinall wants Hawthorne and Chavez alive, the rest ...?" Howard shrugged.



32 comments:

  1. " In his view, the world was becoming far too complex to let the average citizen decide who ran things." An all too common mindset these days. "These days?" Hmmm...“My experience is that people who call themselves "The Intellectuals" understand theories, but they do not understand things. I have long been convinced that, if these men could have gone into the South and taken up and become interested in some practical work which would have brought them in touch with people and things, the whole world would have looked very different to them. Bad as conditions might have seemed at first, when they saw that actual progress was being made, they would have taken a more hopeful view of the situation.”
    ― Booker T. Washington
    Seems to have been going on for a while. Back about 2004 on one of my many calls to my CA Assemblyman, or maybe State Senator, one of the staff pukes told me that I should stop calling because that worthy knew what is best for us, and didn't want or need outside views, especially opposing views.

    "taking less than ten hours of his sicty hour week."
    I'm trying to figure out if that's intentional, a Freudian slip, or just a plain typo. I'll go, given what the guy does, with intentional commentary on his work.

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    1. " In his view, the world was becoming far too complex to let the average citizen decide who ran things."- Some years back (it was in the Clinton years I believe) I read a quote by someone from the Executive Branch, "It would be a lot easier to manage the population if it wasn't for that Bill of Rights".

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    2. Joe - Sixty hours total, fifty at DHS, ten at the CIA.

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    3. Rob - Sounds like something a Clintonista would say.

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  2. There's always someone or a bunch of someones who know how OTHER people should live and are determined to act on their beliefs. Just leave me alone, that's all I want. Don't leave me alone and..... well.....Otto learned the price of his beliefs and things aren't turning out the way he wanted. Maybe the Silver Dozen will number less by the end of the day......... :) Good reading Sarge.

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    1. The elites, ruining things for everyone since Cain slew Abel.

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  3. The CIA reminds me of the frog and the scorpion story.

    Spooks are not trustworthy, just useful.

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  4. I did not see Johansen ever being back in the game. Good turns and surprises, (AG gets depressed? Or did he have help?)
    Only the muse knows...
    MSG Grumpy

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    1. Why am I thinking Karl Urban's character from RED?

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    2. Darned good movie. It's one of those we watch regularly because it's just so fun.

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    3. MSG Grumpy - The AG had the sort of personailty that could not face justice. He offed himself.

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    4. jimc5499 - I like the comparison.

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  5. You continue to capture Burleson and his view of the "common folk" perfectly.

    In terms of Johansen a lot can be overlooked based on definitions and usefulness (looking at you Werner von Braun).

    Once difficulties set in and the path to victory is no longer clear, people can abandon the group rather quickly.

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  6. Very... interesting.

    See, a good paranoid right-wing nutjob would have had an underground access tunnel to the utility shed, along with multiple backups. What arrogant fools these New World Order jackanapes are.

    And, well, shooting one of the dirty dozen might spur the unseen workers to rise up against their 'betters' and 'masters.' Knives out, bitches!!! If I was one of the Untermensch at the compound, I'd be looking to secure my safety by providing proof of my loyalty to the US of A. With a severed head or two.

    Are the silver stupids armed or is that too below their station to carry? An unarmed arrogant ass is soo much easier to turn into a giant wet knife-block than an armed one, not that I've ever, er, ah, um, thought of doing that type of thing...

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    1. "Jackanapes" 'zounds! A term I've not heard in donkey's years. I would have said "knaves, rogues, and poltroons."

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    2. Armed? That's what the minions are for.

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  7. Breaker tripped, or breaker flipped? Had to have been flipped. Come on out, coffee's hot. We'll wait.

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    1. Tripped when the power went down, no doubt a surge when the generators kicked on.

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  8. Thanks for this. Enjoying it immensely
    maxx

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  9. Once again praying that ALL of this remains in the realm of fiction.
    And if not...
    Praying for the good guys to win.
    We came millimeters from tragedy only weeks ago; not just tragic in the loss of the once and future President but in the righteous wrath that would have exploded. Our country is on a knife's edge; and will be for the next several months.
    Boat Guy

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    1. BG, Agree on the fiction part and the millimeters or 1/4 second in turning his head. I’m not sure about the several months comment though. I’m very afraid it’ll be longer and bloodier than the Civil War.
      juvat

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    2. BG - I'm exorcising some demons here. I hope.

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    3. juvat - It won't stay civil, or contained, for long. Too many wolves out there waiting for us to stumble.

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    4. BG, it's been on the edge since 2016 , what with the low level civil war waged since that election. Arguably since about June 2016. Continuous riots arson, looting, attacks on police stations, the Supreme Court besieged, Senate hearings stormed.

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    5. Thanks to all who've replied. Agree that hostilities commenced in 16; though one could make a case for eight years earlier as well. My thought is that we have been invaded and yes, the left has been waging a campaign of subversion and occasional and isolated violence, while the right has been exceptionally restrained - so far. Many of us can see what civil war or revolution would look like and will seek alternatives ... until there are none. The left has NO idea what will happen then; their surprise and dismay will likely be brief and their judgement eternal.
      And yes, there are external players who will take advantage.
      Again; pray like it's all up to God, and work like it's all up to you.
      BG

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  10. Ah, the gensets are running, burning fuel, but no electric power. With death waiting for the first one to try to make the generator building (if they even know what to do within). And water? No doubt the well water pumps have quit as well (it would be enjoyable to hear a pontified official scooping water out of a toilet tank to alleviate his thirst). They did not plan well.





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    1. Oh, the generators are running, they have electrical power, just that the AC unit didn't come up when the generators did. If you've ever experienced summer in that neck of the woods, living without AC is hard. Do you expect the elites to suffer?

      They don't.

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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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