“How could they?” she replied without hesitation. “Or, more to the point, why would they? If it’s their headquarters, it’s the last place they would expect a small group of American rebels to show up.”
He tapped the steering wheel for a moment. “We have to think several steps ahead of this invasion force, instead of vice-versa. Maybe we can throw them off the scent…”
“Like a diversion?”
“Yeah, but there’s only two of us now. It would have to be a pretty amazing act to truly divert anyone.”
Emily pulled at her seatbelt to let out some slack. He commiserated with her; they’d been riding almost the entire day. It was a simple matter to take off his seatbelt, but it would be his luck to get into a wreck even though there were no other moving cars on the highway. He didn’t want his gravestone to say, “He would have saved the country, except he flew out the window in a crash because he got uncomfortable wearing a seatbelt.”
When she was situated, she went on. “They undoubtedly know I’m alive. There’s no way they haven’t figured out our identities after going into their base and spiking their computers. Maybe there’s something we can do with that knowledge?”
Ted experienced a momentary pang of regret about Kyla. She’d been instrumental in ensuring they all escaped from the air base at Minot. If he hadn’t brought her, he and Emily might be permanently out of the game. At the same time, if things had gone differently, they might all be dead. “Let’s assume they’re on the lookout for us, and they don’t really know where we’re going next. Ramirez had a clue we’d have to go to NORAD to disable the entire system, but he never contacted anyone before Meechum took care of him.”
“Makes sense,” she agreed.
“Then they’d most likely jump into action if a sign popped up showing where you were. All we have to do is make sure you aren’t there by the time they arrive.”
“Sounds easy.”
He nodded, thinking to himself again. They could get on the radio somewhere, an airport perhaps, and taunt the enemy forces. It might serve what they need. But maybe it wouldn’t be enough…
“You have an idea how?” she said a short time later.
“No, not really. I was thinking about how we saw the girl on the television recording back when we were in Minneapolis. If we could get you into a TV station, maybe we could put you on the air.”
“I could declare war on those jack-wagons.”
He laughed. “Is that what you call them?”
She reached over and bopped him on the shoulder. “It’s what my dad used to call bad language. He wasn’t a cussing man, but when someone really steamed him, he’d break out the wagon. It seemed to fit the situation here.”
“Anyway, whoever they are, they’d have to come running if you got on the TV and announced a declaration of war. I mean, we all know the declaration is redundant since we’re fighting for our existence, but it would still be a legitimate use of the airwaves. We might even get some friendly troops to get off their asses and recapture some of this great land.” He motioned outside the windows.
“I’m happy to go on television and say whatever, but where are we going to find a working studio? And if we found such a place, what are the chances it’s being operated by the bad guys?”
The girl he’d watched on the TV monitor appeared to be in a normal, everyday studio, but she’d been there shortly after the attack on America. Things were still working back then. Now, everywhere they drove, power was off. That small detail might stop them from even trying to find their own microphone.
He wanted to toss an alternative out there for them to discuss, but only one thing came to mind, and it wasn’t an act he took lightly. “We could sabotage them.”
“Ooh, I like that even better.”
“Really?” Her enthusiasm surprised him.
“As long as we can do it without getting hurt. Like starting a fire or blowing up a bridge. You’re the expert. How do we inflict the maximum damage, so they’ll come running, while also not endangering ourselves?”
He almost said it was impossible. Working behind enemy lines, especially when the goal was to get yourself noticed, was the epitome of dangerous. There was a reason it was normally left to special forces.
“Look. Houses.” He pointed down the roadway. A larger town appeared in the distance. “I think we’re at Fort Collins. We must have crossed the Colorado state line while we were jaw-jacking.”
She rubbed her hands together. “Let’s find a way to strike back at them, Ted. I think you’ve got it correct. The only way we can make our assault on the NORAD base a little easier is if we make some of them come out to look for us. If I remember, Fort Collins isn’t too far from Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado.”
“The home of NORAD,” he agreed, knowing the main facility was actually a few miles away at Peterson Air Force Base. However, if there was one thing he was sure about, it was how an invading force would want to take over the bunker under Cheyenne Mountain. Nothing like an impenetrable vault inside Fortress America to give your team an edge. Still, there were always ways to maximize their chances of surviving another day.
Ted briefly thought of those boys fighting in Texas. The guard at Minot said the Americans had struck a blow against them down in the Lone Star State. He wished he could watch the news to see how they did it.
He snapped his fingers. “The news!”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. We can kill two jack-wagons with one stone. I’ll explain in a second.” He drove over some grass to leave the highway, then he steered onto a side street at the edge of town. “Let’s pick one
