State of Rebellion

“Should be here any time. He called me on my cell while I was driving here and said he’d be about fifteen minutes. I’ve not mentioned it, but Pug also has family in New Zealand. You have more in common than it appears. He’s not out to trap you, Dan.”

“What’s he want, Nicole?”

“I need to let him make that pitch. Actually, I’m not certain of the extent of his intentions. He’ll tell you what’s on his mind, although he’s pretty careful about distribution on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.”

“Intelligence training, I suppose. Maybe he’s run into a few ‘Turners’ over the years.”

“Could be.” Nicole smiled. “Eggs are ready.”

Stacking the dishes in the dishwasher, Dan heard the doorbell ring and Nicole go to answer it. He wiped his hands on the dishtowel and entered the living room. Connor was dressed in slacks, a golf shirt, and a pullover sweater. Dan hadn’t paid much attention to Connor’s physical appearance when they had met at the armory with General Del Valle, but now Dan could see he kept fit. In his early forties, Connor was just over six feet, trim at about one hundred and ninety pounds, and still had a full head of dark brown hair.

“Morning, Colonel Connor.”

“Good morning, Dan. I’d appreciate it if you’d call me Pug. No need for protocol.”

“Yes, sir,” Dan said, eliciting another smile from Connor. “Have a seat, Pug. Can I get you something to drink? I just made some fresh coffee.”

“That’d be fine, just black please. How are you doing, Dan? It’s been a tough couple of days. And your mom- how’s she holding up?”

Dan poured coffee for Connor and returned, placing the cup and saucer on the table next to Pug’s chair, then sitting next to Nicole on the couch. “Mom’s fine. We’ll all miss Jack a great deal. He was the spark plug in the family.”

“Seems to me you’ve picked up some of that spark,” Connor suggested.

Dan grinned. “Don’t feel like I’m running on all cylinders this morning.”

“That’s understandable. Let’s get to the heart of the matter. California’s in flames and has been for the past seventy-two hours. It’s coming back under control, but there are those who keep adding fuel and fanning the fires, and I’m not talking about the politicians, although they certainly do their part-in their own self-interest, of course.”

Dan looked at Nicole and then smiled directly at Connor. Pug took the cue.

“Present company excepted, of course,” he said, apparently remembering Dan’s newly acquired legislative role. Nicole and Dan starting laughing.

“Oops,” Pug replied, easing the sub-surface tension present since his arrival. “Dan, in all seriousness, we need to be candid with each other this morning. I want to talk to you about recent events, California’s future, your future-in short, I’ve come to ask for your help.”

“Colonel, we’re rapidly moving down opposite tracks.”

“I know-that’s the problem. We should be on the same track, don’t you think?”

“I did, Colonel, but look what happened on Friday-the insertion of that level of federal troops and the needless bloodshed. Was that necessary?”

“Most of the blood came from the 82^nd Airborne.”

“Colonel, it doesn’t matter who was killed, they were all Americans,” Dan said, quickly realizing the unintended corollary of his reference.

“Exactly,” Connor said softly. “They were all Americans. Isn’t that the best explanation for why we need to work together? I’m here to ask you to help us all remain Americans.”

“Colonel Connor, perhaps you should tell me exactly what it is you’re suggesting.”

Pug glanced at Nicole, took a sip of his coffee, and settled back into his chair. “Several months ago, the president formed a small investigative task force to look into the origins of the California secession movement. A diverse group of intelligence and law enforcement professionals were assigned to that task force, including a couple of special agents from the FBI.”

Connor hesitated briefly as Dan looked at Nicole, shaking his head slowly, side to side.

“Nicole,” Dan asked, “when will you stop amazing me?”

“Never, I hope,” she replied. “Truly, Dan, I’ve had a real hard time with this, and I’ve explained it all to Colonel Connor on several occasions, but, well, I just was required to keep quiet. Dan,” she said, apprehensively, “it doesn’t mean that-”

Dan reached for her hand and kissed the back of it before looking to Connor.

“You were saying, Pug.”

“Nicole’s right, Dan. I thought at one point I’d lose her, because she felt she was betraying the confidence the two of you were developing, but we’ve got to move beyond that. I’m asking you to be a part of our team, unofficially.”

“And how does one become part of a president’s task force ‘unofficially,’ Colonel? Isn’t that a bit like being sort of pregnant?”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Connor replied, nodding his head in agreement. “You’re in or you’re out, right?”

Dan stood and moved to the window of his apartment, standing quietly for a moment, staring out over the campus of the University of California at Davis. He turned back toward Pug and Nicole. “Colonel, like it or not, California is on the path to separation. You’re appealing to my loyalty to America, which, if events continue, will make me a traitor to California. That’s not much of a choice-condemned if I do and condemned if I don’t.”

“You’re right, except for one issue about which you, and most others, are unaware.”

Dan raised his eyebrows and stared at Nicole.

She raised her hands in mock surrender. “Not guilty. Well, maybe a little guilty,” she said sheepishly. “It’s really serious business, Dan, and I don’t mean to make light of it.” Nicole looked toward Connor, who nodded.

“Nicole, I think it’s time for you to bare your soul,” Connor said.

“Since early on, my FBI assignment has been to investigate the California militia units. That was part of the reason I was assigned to Colonel Connor’s task force. Last year, I was called in on an apparent drug overdose by the Director of Elections for the state of California. You may remember the news story-it was the Phelps case. In the course of the investigation, it became apparent that it was a murder, but the Sacramento police accepted it as a straight overdose. Then a few months ago, I was called by the acting director-a woman I had questioned back in the Phelps case. She wanted to talk to me, but I was out of the office for a few days, and she was told to call back on Monday. She was murdered less than forty-eight hours after calling my office, but before she had a chance to talk to me. Another lower-level employee of the elections office was found dead in the trunk of her car. The point is, Dan, that we have sufficient reason to believe that the California elections have been tampered with, and if so, well, you can jump to the obvious conclusion yourself. We think that what the public sees as overwhelming support for secession is nothing but the result of an engineered election.”

Dan faced back toward the window and continued to look out at the campus grounds, now beginning to fill with students enroute to their early morning classes.

“Let’s assume for a moment that what you say is true.” He swiveled around, smiling at Nicole, not wanting to damage their relationship by refuting her analysis. “Then we have to recognize that even if the origins were fallacious, public support has been garnered, and the momentum is growing. In fact, if the legislative pollsters are right, it’s downright strong. Friday’s bloodbath did nothing to stem the growth of that support.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Connor interjected, “and if we don’t do something to curtail that growth, it will just grow stronger. Dan, more than one political movement had its origins in deception and its end result in success for the originators. How do you think the Tories felt when the radicals-Sam Adams, Revere, and the others-began their diatribe against the Crown? That’s what they were then, radicals and traitors to their country. They became heroes later, didn’t they?”

“And you’re asking me to assume the same role?”

“Even though it might seem farfetched to you, I believe devious people are at work right now, and we need to step in.”

“What people are we talking about, Colonel?”