Author notes:
Posse Comitatus Act: This act was put in place after Reconstruction and largely forbids the direct participation of the Military in law enforcement. This is why modern day America has state and local counter terrorism units instead of using military units as many other nations do. The Act was repealed after 2010.
CENTCOM:
Central Command is a United States military commend set up after Kim went to prison, handling internal defense and counter terrorism. As such, it has airmobile assets, heavily oriented towards urban and counter terrorism combat. It has a number of sub commands, one for every state, plus several for territories, and no major city is more than 20 minutes from at least company level ready reaction forces. CENTCOM is heavily oriented towards elite soldiers and many SWAT teams include CENTCOM members, both to insure continuity in training and tactics, and to give CENTCOM soldiers experience with handling civilian style emergencies in addition to their counter terrorism duties.
Shadows and Illumination
"This is an FAA warning to all aircraft. The Los Angeles Radiological Quarantine Zone is off limits to all civilian overflights. Zone violators may be shot down without warning. Intrusion is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and confiscation of assets." Yori turned off the automatic beacon.
"Presuming you survive the fall, that is." She said.
"True." Ron commented, "But better than idiots sightseeing and kicking the dust up." Yori had her head bent down, looking at the readouts.
"Radiation is very low, Ron." She said, "Some hotspots in and around the larger buildings…" Where the dust had a chance to settle… Yori didn't other to add. The amalgamate of radioactive material and mercury had quite effectively rendered nearly a quarter of downtown LA off limits, and even with the best nanotech, decontamination was a slow process. Ron expected that by the time they were completely finished, probably a decade would have gone by. Ron looked out at the setting sun. It would be dark out soon…
"Yori, lets start looking for any power taps… I'll bet our friends haven't bothered to set up their own power generator."
"Very well, Ron." Yori said, all business.
"OK" Wade said, He'd actually turned off some gadgets in his lab. Kim noticed that he'd outgrown his room… vaguely, she wondered if he'd conquered his acrophobia.
"OK." Wade repeated, "You know about 2010, of course." Kim nodded. There might be someone, somewhere who didn't remember the July attacks…but she didn't know where you would find them.
"We weren't that cut off, Wade." Kim said.
"But you were in some ways—you heard about the attacks…" Wade paused, "But you didn't see." Abruptly the twenty-two year old looked haunted. Kim realized that he had seen…more than he wanted to. "Fifty thousand dead in England… one hundred thousand dead here. Four major cities off limits… radiation in LA and London, Philadelphia…genetically augmented anthrax in Chicago." Wade shook his head again. "We didn't think it could happen again, not after everything we put up…but I guess if you want to kill badly enough, you'll find a way."
"I know…" Kim said, and Wade cut her off.
"I know you do, Kim, but like I said, you didn't see. The news was full time about it, nobody had a clue if there were other bombs ready to go off….and radiation and plague don't kill fast, or clean. Even in cities that hadn't been hit, the hospitals were clogged, because Anthrax looks a lot like the flu in the early stages." Kim suddenly felt a little guilt. If she hadn't been in jail…
Could I have helped?
"But that wasn't the worst." Kim blinked. She hadn't heard this part…had there been another attack? Wade caught her expression, and shook his head.
"Not another attack Kim…what we were thinking of doing. Remember, I…snoop and since I work for GJ I have a high clearance."
"And what was it?" Kim said. Wade paused and continued.
"Kim, people were so infuriated, so scared…it wasn't just the editorials talking about 'problems' and "final solutions', it was the government as well. They were retargeting missiles, getting ready to exterminate them, down to the smallest child… we… we stepped back, but I don't ever want to see us come that close again." Kim didn't say anything.
Final solution? She thought. That was an old nightmare…one she'd never think the U.S. would consider, but here was Wade, on the screen in her nice apartment talking about it.
"But you didn't." Wade nodded.
"No, we didn't…maybe we wouldn't have, maybe what happened after had something to do with it." They both paused at that. Even without direct link TV or internet links, Kim had heard about that in prison. The triumph of the terrorists had not been long in duration—and their end hadn't come from the U.S.—it had come from their fellows, who turned on those who had so long desecrated their religion. They'd been hunted down, savagely, and the U.S. had merely watched, knowing that there could be no greater punishment than letting them know that all their works would be cast down by their fellows.
"But why now?" Kim asked, "If they're gone…why all of this?" Wade sighed.
"The big organizations are gone, Kim." Wade said, "But not what they taught everyone…"
"You're right, Ron." Yori said, "There's a tap on the central trunk line." She sighed, "Not even well shielded." A holographic indicator bloomed showing a ghostly image of one of the skyscrapers. "They're here—inside the skyscraper core… little radiation of any type."
"Very good." Ron said, in an emotionless voice. "We'll go from the top."
"Ah…yes." Yori said. Ron was acting the same way he'd… she shook her head. Maybe not.
Looking down, she saw the flashes of emergency vehicles. Fewer than she'd seen last time. Not surprising. Some of the systems had probably burned out. Nobody stood in those dusty vehicles, the environmentally friendly, solar powered emergency lights (trust California to be in the forefront, she thought), flashing their lonely warning to empty streets, paper and debrie swirling around in the dry wind. They'd been hopelessly contaminated in the attack, and in a nation struggling to handle the human casualties, it was decided to just leave them. One day, they'd be scrapped when the last of the region was decontaminated, or else possibly placed in memorials. There were no bodies in them… even lethal doses of radiation took time to kill, and the many firefighters and police who had perished had still had time to get out and be taken to hospitals, for all the good it did.
I wonder if you realized how likely it was that you were signing your own death warrants when you refused the orders to pull back out of the contaminated zone. Could I have done as you did? It was a question Yori often asked herself. One thing to fight and stop people when you had your skill and equipment…but when you knew death was sleeting through your body? Yes, Yori often asked it, and said prayers for the men and women who had answered that question for themselves at the Buddhist shrine she always set up wherever she lived.
Often asked…and never quite certain what her answer would be, if the moment ever came.
Inside, the three students were crouched over the DNA sequencer, waiting until a new batch was cloned up and ready to go. Shelly was bouncing on her heels, the 18 year old college student barely able to contain her glee. This would teach those who would interfere with the natural order of things to keep their hands to the- There was a subdued click, and she turned and saw a silver ball roll into the room.
That's a- There was a bright flash and BOOM and all three screamed and dodged back, before two figures appeared in the room. Shelly's hands were effortlessly slapped aside, and she felt a hiss and cold sensation at her neck, before she passed out.
"What they taught?" Kim said. Wade nodded.
"Yeah… the United States and England were pretty much brought to their knees…by less than a hundred people, Kim…" Wade paused, "And it kinda set the bar higher—if you wanted to be a big time bad guy…well blowing up a few planes just didn't do it anymore." He shook his head.
"But there haven't been many-" Kim bit off the sentence. How many was "not many" more, when you were talking about bombs and sarin agents? Wade nodded reading her mind.
"That's the problem, Kim…technology—I mean in the old days, a guy with a pistol could hurt a few people, but not a city—but now, you can whip up a hell plague with some know how and equipment you can find in any hospital—equipment that's needed to help people." Wade sighed. "So we have to get proactive—I don't' think there's ever been so many special forces soldiers, compared to regular army, and the Posse Comitatus Act is dead, dead, dead."
"And we have cameras everywhere." Kim said, some bitterness in her voice.
"Yeah, well that was starting even before you went to prison, Kim." Wade said, "But yeah, today I doubt there's a single street in Middleton that doesn't feed into the police or CENTCOM." He shrugged, "It's helped—there's been a few would be bombers who were caught, and-"
"What about everyone's privacy?" Kim said. "What about-"
"What privacy?" Wade asked her. "You never had a right to privacy in a public place…this just makes it easier to watch." He sighed and shook his head. "I know Kim… but even in the old days, you could get a wire tap on someone, and we have laws now to try and keep people from playing spy. " He got a sudden grin on his face, "Like my contribution—the 'glass house' law." Kim blinked.
"Mom talked about that…you did it?"
"Yep—what better way to keep people from snooping than the risk that all their dirty laundry will be on TV?" Wade said, and then sobered. "Kim, I know that some people believe we shouldn't have…but we've never had to deal with threats like this before…and better to pass some laws, make some changes now…instead of waiting until we get some hideous attack and everyone rushes to pass worse laws in the heat of the moment." Kim frowned, unconvinced.
"Has it helped?" Wade nodded.
"A bit…here, I'll show you the records…not the classified stuff, but the news doesn't carry a lot of it anymore."
"Oh?" Kim blinked.
"Not since people found some terrorists with files on how to best make certain you would get in the news." Wade paused, "So they report on it…but not like they used to. No news agency wants to see their name on some captured paperwork saying who will be easiest to have carry their message." He hit a switch. "Here you go."
Shelly woke up, her head pounding, and felt her arms pulled tight behind her, her two companions equally tied up. Tom was struggling, but her boyfriend was helpless in the bonds, like she was. The two figures, completely covered in nanomorph suits, were bent over their computer. Shelly let a smile hit her face. The computer had both biomorphic and codeword interlocks…they'd never find out it's secrets. Evidently, the intruders agreed, as they rose and turned around. Their eyes were exposed, nothing more, the shorter female's eyes Asian in cast and the taller one with…
Shelly shivered. They were brown eyes, but no mercy…or any other emotion was in them. They didn't even have the empathy of anger… more like a mechanic considering a piece of malfunctioning equipment.
"We cannot access the computer." The male said, and the voice if anything was even colder than the eyes. "You will give us the code."
"Oh really?" Tom said. "What makes you think we're going to-AIIIGGGHHHH!" His bonds were evidently capable of delivering a shock, as his body arched, muscles helplessly locked against the energy.
"Stop it!" Shelly screamed. The figure simply looked over at her and made no motion to comply. "You're killing him!" A moment later, Tom sagged, unconscious. The other student, Dave, looked on, horrified.
"No." The figure said. "If I choose to kill him, you will know it then." No emotion, no anger. No….nothing. The figure walked towards her, and she found herself trying to scoot the chair back, to no avail. If anything, his companion looked…concerned, eyes shooting between Shelly and him.
"I do not have time to waste. What is your name?"
"Shelly Peters…" She said, for some reason not saying the first thing that came to her mind. Somehow, this was a lot scarier than it had been when she'd read about it, or thought about standing up to authority.
"Very good. Understand this. I have a requirement for information. You will provide it. Since there are three of you, I can kill two and still obtain the information I need…which means in two of the three cases… the question of whether you live or die is up to you."
Shelly tried to speak, but suddenly her voice was catching in her throat.
Yes. Much scarier.
Wade had gone off to handle a mission for GJ, leaving Kim with the files, and an hour later, she sat back, looking outside her apartment. Wade had, if anything, understated the situation—the United States had a new military command, CENTCOM, which handled domestic counter terrorism and defense. Kim shook her head. When she'd been in high school….
The idea that Middleton's cops can whistle up an entire company of troops in 30 minutes, more in an hour would be a fantasy.
But it wasn't, and the information Wade had given her…dozens of little, half secret operations against groups and individuals who wanted to strike at society, with bombs and gas, tailored plague and radiation. There wasn't a single major city in the U.S. that hadn't been the site of some nipped-in-the-bud plot. In all to many cases, apparently nipped by the use of public surveillance. Not that that was entirely clear—evidently nobody was eager to broadcast exactly how they'd learned of many of the plots publicly. Kim shook her head.
Hell, maybe it would have been safer in jail.
There was a subdued beep, and Kim looked up at Wades IM.
Kim—sorry, something came up…but why don't you go visit Lipsky? You all could talk... in fact, I think you should. Don't worry, it'll be safe. After that, there was an address.
Visit Drakken? Kim thought. Well, I'm out of the hero business, and I haven't heard anything about him getting in trouble… She smiled, Maybe he'd tell me where Shego got off to…
TBC.