Richard Stephenson - Resistance

***

General Richard Dupree’s stealth craft slowly descended from an altitude of one thousand feet down to a barren stretch of land in front of the entrance to Beck Castle. Every inch of the highly sophisticated craft had been coated with billions of tiny nanobots that rendered the craft invisible to both radar and the naked eye. The nanobots also served as an effective shield in combat.

Richard had observed radio silence for the last fifty miles of the journey. Howard insisted that the measure was unnecessary since all forms of communication with the Castle were encrypted and impossible to detect. As commander of the PSA’s military forces, Richard insisted on it, reminding Howard that the day might come when the UAE would break the encryption, and it was best to err on the side of caution.

The pilotless craft slowly taxied onto the landing pad. Seconds later, the landing pad descended into a small hangar bay beneath the surface. Richard exited the craft and stepped into the elevator to make the forty-five-story descent below the surface to Beck Castle.

“General Dupree, sir, I trust your journey was uneventful?”

“It was, Hal, thank you. When will I be meeting with the president?”

“President Beck is ready to receive you at your earliest convenience.”

Richard didn’t need to ask Howard’s whereabouts; the president spent every morning in the command center tending to the issues facing the Pacific States of America. The young general had spent the past three weeks visiting the military bases scattered around the territory. When the nation collapsed in 2027, the Unified National Guard was absorbed into the UAE under the direction of Supreme Commander Carl Moody, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Powers Administration. Moody scrambled to consolidate the Unified National Guard and the bulk of the military into one fighting force to protect and defend the Unified American Empire under the rule of President Simon Sterling. When Howard Beck deployed his tech army of automated craft and robot soldiers to capture the territory he now governed, his primary objective was to secure all the military bases inside his borders. The task was much simpler than anyone had anticipated. The military force inside the territory had sworn an oath to protect the former democratic government. Only a small percentage of the soldiers had to be exiled to the Unified American Empire.

Richard’s most challenging task was exerting his authority over the senior officers on the liberated military bases. It was obvious to these veteran officers that the presence of Howard Beck’s tech army meant he was calling the shots. If they wanted to enjoy the freedom and protection afforded those within the Pacific States of America, they had to accept the fact that Richard Dupree, a man at least twenty years their junior, was in charge.

Richard had been gone on the three-week tour to ascertain the battle readiness of the PSA’s army. The UAE had left them alone for the past few months. They had their hands full with The Silent Warriors, a stealth regiment of Muslim warriors the Great Empire of Iran had sent to infiltrate America prior to the Collapse of 2027. The Silent Warriors were comprised of small terrorist cells that had no communication with each other. Their mission was simple: to wreak as much havoc on the American people as possible. The Great Empire of Iran had unleashed the final, crippling blow that guaranteed the Collapse of 2027. Iran called the event “The Star of Allah.” A nuclear warhead was detonated high in the atmosphere over the Eastern Seaboard. The resulting electromagnetic pulse destroyed every electronic circuit from the East Coast all the way to the Mississippi Valley. The UAE, along with the American people, refused to adopt the name given by Iran and instead referred to the event as “The Pulse.” It was the perfect cover for the Silent Warriors as they came out of hiding and attacked the nation with unrelenting force. Reconstruction efforts, under the supervision of Regional Governor Jackson Butler, had a difficult time restoring the infrastructure of The Pulse Zone. Governor Butler was able to make gradual progress, taking two steps forward and one step back to deal with The Silent Warriors. Richard was thankful for the diversion; it gave the Pacific Army time to prepare a critical blow against the UAE. The final hurdle was convincing Howard that the idea was a sound one.

The elevator came to a stop on the command level, and Richard made his way down the corridor to his quarters.

“Hal, inform the president that I’m going to take a moment to settle into my quarters and I will be with him shortly.”

“Very good, sir. General, I have some news to share with you. Would you like to hear it now or wait until after your meeting with the president?”

“Depends. Good news or bad?”

“Very good news, sir.”

“By all means, go right ahead. I just need to change clothes and freshen up.”

“Yes, sir. Per your request, I have been monitoring all channels of communication within my grasp for any reports on the slave trade.”

“Haven’t heard anything in months. What’ve you got?”

“Well, sir, the UAE has turned a blind eye to the slave trade in the past, as you know.”

“Of course, they have much more important things to do than stop human trafficking.” Richard gritted his teeth in anger.

“This morning, the UAE released a directive to all eight regional governors to investigate and apprehend any group or individuals believed to be involved in the sale or transfer of slaves.”

“Why the sudden interest?”

“Sir, it seems that Regional Governor Weygandt lost two grandchildren to slave traders. The children wandered off from a local park, and a nearby resident witnessed their kidnapping. Governor Weygandt deployed his forces and rescued the children a few hours later. The slave traders were brutally tortured, and their corpses were hung from a bridge to serve as a warning.”

“Well, at least now we’ll be getting decent intelligence on the slave trade. Hal, I want every single detail sent to my tablet for review. If you come across any credible information about Chrissy, I want you to notify me immediately.”

“Of course, sir.”

Richard had spent much of his children’s lives behind bars. Eight years prior, the ex-Navy SEAL had walked into the church nursery to pick up his children, only to find the caregiver masturbating as a group of innocent children, sans clothing, played in front of him. Richard brutally murdered the old man in front of his own son. While he was in county lockup awaiting trial, Richard discovered that his ex-wife had become a drug addict and was putting his children’s lives at risk. He escaped from prison in an attempt to rescue them. During his time as a fugitive, Richard was responsible for the accidental death of a hiker. He was sentenced to twenty-five years at a supermax prison for his crimes.

During the Collapse of 2027, Richard was able to escape yet again and make his way to Denver to collect his children. He located his son, but the joyful reunion was short-lived when he discovered that his daughter, Christina, had been sold to a man for the cost of a tank of gas. Richard had no leads as to her whereabouts. With nearly half the country plunged into darkness thanks to The Pulse, finding her became next to impossible. The Unified American Empire restricted travel with various roadblocks and checkpoints, so Richard wouldn’t make it far unless he knew the right people and what they would find valuable as a bribe. His best course of action was to use the resources at Beck Castle to find credible information that might lead him to his missing daughter.

Richard had spent most of his life harboring distrust and disdain for his fellow man. During his time with the Navy SEALs, he traveled the world and saw firsthand the level of depravity to which mankind could sink. Richard was not naïve enough to think America could avoid the descent to third-world-country status after the collapse; he was, however, shocked by the rapidity of its decline. In eighteen months’ time, the slave trade was a booming industry. Men, women, and children of all races were captured by slave traders and forced into manual labor to rebuild the broken areas of The Pulse Zone. The UAE gladly turned a blind eye to the slave trade; by employing slaves, the brutal crime lords were actually accomplishing the reconstruction they had difficulty doing themselves. It was rumored that the regional governors were secretly hiring the slave traders. Richard wholeheartedly believed the buzz because the UAE made no attempt to squash it. Now that the grandchildren of one of the regional governors had been captured by the slave traders, the matter suddenly had monumental importance. It was just the break Richard had been waiting for.