"Wait a minute," Miles said. "All of the sudden this guy we don't know comes rolling in here with this audacious plan from General Bobby Jackson about this totally different situation in the Georgia Republic and we are going to go off half-cocked and take down four sites?"
"Actually, he only needs two," Henry replied. He plans to hit Chicago and Dover in ten days. We need to take out Bangor and Buffalo within three days of that."
"That sounds manageable," Rachel said, her arms folded over her chest.
"Let me get this straight," Aaron spoke for the first time in a while. "We are going to travel to the far north of the Monroe Republic with just the ten of us here at this moment?"
"You can stay at the camp," Charlie answered.
"This is not smart," Aaron answered. Every day General Monroe gets stronger. We have no idea what he has farther north."
"That is exactly why we have to do this," Henry said. "I can personally vouch for General Jackson. He wants to bring back the United States."
Miles simply frowned, always able to see every pitfall as he compared his former leadership style against not only Monroe's ways, but against the plan they were forming.
"I need to do this," Rachel said walking in front of him as she tried to make eye contact with him. "It is the best way to make Danny's death mean something. Otherwise we are just swatting at the gnats."
"How do you feel about horses?" Miles asked as he began to consider a strategy.
"Have we received any communication from Potter?" General Jackson asked Captain Dearing, who was fresh from the intelligence suite of the capital headquarters building.
"No sir, still nothing. I know he was going to have to search for Rachel Matheson."
"I am sure Miles has kept her safe," the bearded commander replied. He studied reports on his desk through the glasses on his nose. Dearing knew he was keenly aware of him even though he never raised his eyes from the copy on his desk. "Captain, I never got the opportunity to express to you how impressed I am with your remote intelligence program. You have given us the kind of intelligence supremacy the United States once enjoyed."
"Thank you sir. I am happy to serve the republic and offer any advantage I can to our success."
"I think it is time we swapped out that hardware on your uniform for something more fitting."
For the first time, Jackson leaned back in his chair and removed the glasses from his face. He studied Dearing's expression and smiled as he noticed no change as the man patiently awaited his explanation.
"When the blackout began it was only the well-trained units in the army, air force, Marines and navy that survived. When the normal constructs of society began to waver people started thinking with their heart instead of relying on the training drilled into them by their superior officers. The ones that relied on their instincts were the ones that kept us from being destroyed. This is something I see in you Steven. You are the type of officer I want backing me up when I take on that smug son of a bitch hiding behind his super charged batteries in Philadelphia."
Jackson stood from his chair and opened the top drawer on the left of his large desk. He removed a red velvet box from the drawer and stepped around the corner to approach Dearing.
Jackson bettered Dearing in height by two inches, but in weight by over fifty pounds. Standing at something a little less than attention, Dearing still showed no sign of anxiety or impatience.
"When we take the Monroe Republic I will need regional commanders to manage the situation. I would like to see you take part in that operation. For now we will work with this." Jackson handed the case to Dearing and smiled.
Dearing opened the case and stared down at what appeared to be a gold maple leaf, the insignia for a Lieutenant Colonel. In one moment he jumped from being the fiftieth man from the top to the sixth. Dearing blinked hard a moment as he thought about what this said. Jackson was not a man easily impressed or willing to advance others without real merit. He had to admit the advantage his intelligence devices added gave them a lot of latitude and made the need for massive amounts of troops unnecessary.
"Is there a problem?" Jackson asked.
"No sir, not at all."
"Then I will let you return to your job. Ask Colonel Forrest to rejoin me when you go out."
"Yes sir, thank you sir," Dearing said with a crisp salute.
Rachel and Henry walked together as the group led by Miles and Charlie made their way toward a place they could secure some horses. It gave Rachel the opportunity to pump Henry for more information.
"So you seem to know a lot about what Sebastian has going on. How is that possible?"
"Jackson has this whiz bang techno guy in his intelligence program. He designed a remote video/audio bug resistant to the Nanos that bounces transmissions off satellites."
"You're kidding!"
"No. I am one hundred percent serious. The last I heard they had put one in Monroe's inner office."
"What if it is found?"
"Apparently they can remotely fry the circuits," Potter replied.
"How in the world have they kept Monroe from finding out what they can do?"
"No one gets to Atlanta without going through the wringer. As good as things are down there no one wants to leave."
"You think it is possible, to bring back the U.S.?"
"Yes. Yes I do," Potter replied. "By the way, I am sorry about Danny."
"I suppose you already knew?"
"We heard rumors. I wondered how you would react to the idea of shutting down the Nanos."
"Yeah. Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it?" Rachel asked.