Ralph didn’t know if the HSF officers were there to help the victims in the house or if they were coming after his team, and he wasn’t going to take any chances. “Echo-Team, this is Echo-Leader. Scatter. Meet at the rendezvous in two hours.”
Ralph tapped Emily on the shoulder and they carefully crept back into the woods behind the house. Echo-Two joined them there, and they crouched down to continue watching the video viewer.
The HSF officers slowly climbed up the front steps of the house and entered the broken front door with their guns drawn. Emily saw them take down two of the gang members who were still in the front of the house. She watched the HSF officers appear in the room where the remaining three gang members were standing over the terrified family. The gang members were quickly overpowered and forced face-down on the floor.
The senior HSF officer knelt down to look at the bruising on the father’s face from where he had been hit. Emily heard the mother tell the officer that her daughter had been raped. The officer stood and helped each of the family members to their feet. He ordered one of the other officers to escort them to one of the waiting vehicles for transportation to the local hospital.
“Follow them and make sure the girl is okay,” Ralph whispered to Emily.
Emily nodded and handed Ralph the video viewer. She took off through the woods toward the house where she had left her car.
Ralph continued watching the video viewer and listening to the conversation. Once the family was taken out of the house, the senior HSF officer said, “All clear.” The HSF officers lowered their weapons and the gang members all stood up, laughing.
Ralph was shocked by what he had just seen on the video viewer. The gang members and the HSF officers were shaking hands like old friends.
“Are you all right, Agent Mims?” the senior officer asked the gang member who had raped the daughter.
“Feeling great, Sergeant. Thanks for holding back for a while. I’d have hated for you to walk in before I was finished.”
Everyone in the room laughed at this.
Another HSF officer entered the room and informed the senior officer that the family had been taken away.
“Thank you, Corporal,” the senior officer replied to his subordinate. Looking back to Agent Mims, he asked, “Did you find anything?”
“Yes we did Sergeant,” he answered, holding up several pamphlets. “Here’s some literature put out by the American Civil Liberties Union about defending the rights to free speech and freedom of assembly. Here’s a membership packet from the National Rifle Association. They also had a copy of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence that had notations where the Administration was violating the spirit of both documents.”
“The tip we received was right then. They’re in possession of seditious materials and are a threat to the greater good.” He picked up his radio and told the vehicle transporting the family to the hospital to reroute to “Sector 2” instead. “This time tomorrow they’ll all be in an internment facility,” he said to Agent Mims, who nodded in agreement.
“When will you give the reward to the person who called in the tip?” Agent Mims asked.
“Oh, sometime later this week. We need time to fix the front door and relocate a loyalist family into this house before we announce anything.”
The senior officer took the evidence from Agent Mims and looked through it. When he held up the NRA packet, he said, “We won’t have to worry about this group much longer. I’ve just been informed that the President is calling for all citizens to be disarmed for the greater good. The executive order is supposed to be signed sometime before the end of the year. We’ll then be authorized to enter every house and office, confiscate any guns we find, and search for any subversive or seditious materials that may be there. It’s the next step toward the final solution.”
“Outstanding,” Agent Mims said, looking very pleased at this news. “The last thing we need is for citizens to be able to participate in armed resistance against the government.”
The senior officer nodded in agreement.
“So, what happens now?” Agent Mims asked.
“We need to make this look real, so we’ll handcuff each of you and put you in the back of the truck. The neighbors will see that we’re keeping them safe and secure. Your next assignment is in Dallas, and we have transportation waiting for you at the station.”
Agent Mims nodded and motioned for his men to stand next to him with their hands behind their backs. The HSF officers put handcuffs on the gang members and led them out the front door into the waiting vehicle. A few minutes later, the rest of the HSF officers got into the vehicle and it drove off into the night. The neighborhood grew quiet again.
Ralph’s mind was numb from what he had just witnessed. The gang members that they had been following for weeks were government agents with the HSF. They were using the excuse of breaking into people’s homes to perform illegal searches to see if their victims had any subversive or seditious materials in their possession. If the victims did, they were arrested by the HSF, and if not they were left alone for the police to try to help.
Ralph and Echo-Two crept back to the house and recovered all of the surveillance equipment. Then, making sure that the video viewer had recorded the images from all of the cameras and microphones, he packed up all of the equipment and nodded for Echo-Two to follow him back to the rendezvous point.
Both men were deeply disturbed about what had happened that night. Once clear of the neighborhood, Ralph pulled out his cell phone and called Tom.
“Hello?” he heard Tom’s voice say when he answered.
“Tom, this is Ralph. We need to meet.”
“Is something wrong?” Tom asked with concern in his voice.
“Yes. Can you be at the office in two hours?”
“I’ll meet you there.”
Ralph hung up the phone and put it away. He was sure that Tom knew the problem must be serious if they needed to discuss it in person that night. They were both too experienced to say any more over the phone. Whatever questions Tom may have wanted to ask, they’d have to wait until later.
It took about thirty minutes of walking to reach the pre-arranged rendezvous point. All of the members of the team were there already except for Emily, who was following the family to wherever “Sector 2” was. Ralph quickly debriefed the team. They were all shocked and horrified at what had happened that night. Ralph told them to pack up their equipment and meet at Tom’s office in 90 minutes.
Emily was following the HSF vehicle carrying the three family members to Mercy General Hospital when it suddenly turned. Emily saw the hospital a few blocks ahead and was curious about why the vehicle had changed direction. After slowing down for a moment, she turned to follow the HSF vehicle toward its new destination.
Emily had made some modifications to her car. The front of the car had been refitted with a sliding panel that retracted to reveal a dozen different headlights. Every time she made a turn, she turned a dial installed on her dashboard that changed which of the headlights were lit. When following someone at night, the change in headlight configuration would prevent anyone in the vehicle being followed from thinking that the same car was following it. Some of the lights were bluish in tint, some were white or yellowish, some were square, and some were round. There was even a single light in the center, which could be used to make the driver of the vehicle being followed think that Emily’s car was actually a motorcycle.
Emily had to change the headlight configuration several times as the HSF vehicle sped towards its destination. After a while, she saw it turn into a large installation surrounded by chain link and razor wire fencing. The sign at the gate read “Homeland Security Force, Sector 2, Processing and Transfer.” She drove past the installation and parked the car