showed for the most important meeting of their careers. John led off with the best-case scenario, asking Bill to give its opposite.

“We will pray daily for His guidance and know He is steering us in the direction that is His will,” said John. “The best-case scenario could take many forms, including but not limited to the group having a change of heart. Maybe they will decide they like where they are at now, at the ponds. It’s not easy to move a large group over and over. Maybe something or someone steers them in a different direction, heading to the East Coast or back to the Midwest, where they started. Without direct involvement of the Colonel and his team before they reach us, I can’t think of any other scenario that is at least reasonable to consider. Over to you, Bill.”

“Thank you, John. As the Colonel said, Lance and his group will be here in a few days, God willing. I think he and that Vlad fellow the Colonel mentioned will have a better idea, having come up against Baker’s group just a week or two ago. With that being said, I stayed up late last night thinking about this very question. We have a man going by the name of Baker, apparently posing as a Colonel to his people. We have had thousands of guests here over the years. He may have been one of them or just heard about it from someone who has been here. Either way, we should assume 100% that they will be at our door in three—I should say two—but between two and six weeks. With the Ralph situation hopefully at an end, we have the resources and personnel to start preparing as soon as tomorrow. Mac, I think you and Cory should take the lead, if that’s okay with everyone?”

Most agreed, with no one disagreeing out loud, at least.

Bill continued: “We need likely entry points, preparedness for firepower we can’t be sure of yet, and a safe place for anyone not on the front lines. As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing more important, starting tomorrow, than preparing for this assault on everything we have worked so hard to build for more than seventy-five years. In the off chance that they are dissuaded or make other plans, we will be that much more prepared moving forward, and that’s never a bad thing.”

“That sounds like a plan,” said Samuel, with John agreeing.

“I have some ideas I’ll jot down.” Bill continued. “Mac, do you think you, Cory and your team could give us some defense options by breakfast tomorrow?”

“Absolutely,” he replied. “We will have three plans, and the Council can choose.”

“That sounds perfect,” said Bill, getting an approving nod from all in the room.

* * * * * * *

Chapter Twenty-four

Saddle Ranch

Loveland, Colorado

Mac and Cory spent the afternoon brainstorming—from the most likely scenario to the most far-out ones they could come up with. The word from the MacDonalds’ place was no new sightings of anybody, and the upstairs window was replaced.

“Let’s start with likely weapons to unlikely,” said Mac. “Deer rifles, maybe a few ARs or AKs. Hopefully nothing automatic, unless their contact in the Military supplies them.”

“They are a large group, we hear—hundreds strong, at least, with some type of Military backing,” said Cory. “We can’t completely rule out the possibility of Military vehicles, tanks, and some type of air support. We just don’t know, so we need to plan for everything.”

“Agreed,” said Mac, always feeling better overanalyzing a situation and grateful to have someone like Cory to remind him of that. “I love it when a plan comes together!” he said, borrowing a line from one of his favorite TV shows growing up.

“I pity the fool who messes with this Valley!” replied Cory, getting a laugh out of Mac.

* * * *

Mac wasn’t sure which plan the Council would be most comfortable with. He met with Cory again at the end of the afternoon.

“Okay,” said Mac. “Here’s what we do. We have been asked to submit three plans.

“Our bottom option, let’s say Plan 1, should be what we really want and nothing less.

“The next tier, Plan 2, should be Plan 1 plus something more, but not over the top.

“Plan 3 includes Plan 2, plus something crazy enough to make them feel comfortable with Plan 2 or 1. Make sense?”

“Sure,” said Cory. “If the lowest plan has what we want, we can’t lose.”

“Exactly. That’s what I love about the three-plan deal, especially when there are no rules ahead of time.

“Okay, Plan 1,” said Mac. “We beef up our guard presence from both groups on the north and south borders. The only likely way besides that is over the Rimrock, somewhere in the middle. They have a large group, making it easy to spot with a couple of forward observers, but that also means more people trying to take what we have fought for, more than once already. Right now, we have time—at least two weeks or more—and manpower. We don’t have to officially add to the security team, but we do need to pull some people off of other less-essential projects to help fortify the property.”

“What are you thinking?” asked Cory.

“For starters, we see who here can run the backhoes and tractors. We have some barriers to move and trenches to be dug. I want one all the way across the north end, just the other side of our current barrier, ten-feet deep and twenty wide. It doesn’t need to be pretty, just effective. I think one or two full-time operators can get it done in a week. The south end is quite a bit wider, and it can’t be done, at least not in the timeframe we have. On that end, we need enough old cars from the North Forty, and anything else we have, to funnel them into the middle. It’s a big project, but our current barrier isn’t good enough for a group like that. And last,

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