Chapter 11

Greg listened to what was known about the Southern force. They seemed well armed. Controlled a large area to the south. Had access to at least one military vehicle of an armored type that they knew of. Had many vehicles of all types, cars, trucks, four wheel drive blazers. Patrolled an area about fifty miles south, calling it the 'Border' of their area.

The few times that Litchfield had tried to go in and look around, they had been rebuffed. With bullets. A couple weeks ago, a person claiming to be a soldier in the army of the, 'Free Zone Protectorate', approached one of the southern most points that Litchfield kept manned, and delivered a list, and some demands. Mat presented Greg with the original list.

To the authorities of Superior and environs. Greetings. I am Director Mason of the Free Zone protectorate. We are a group that has banded together for mutual protection and benefits. As of now we claim several hundred miles of what used to be the State of Montana. It has come to our attention that strife stills runs rampant in your area. We will be assuming the duties of police and offer the services of our doctors and other experts to try to get your power and other services restored to you.

However, as a gesture of good will on your part the following must be adhered to strictly All persons who are actively engaged in your current patrols must stop. All patrols will be executed by our offices. One hundred head of cattle must be shipped to us no later than 15 days after the receipt of this notice. Also required is as follows: Flour-10 tons, Table salt-10 tons, 20,000 gallons Diesel fuel. 20,000 gallons regular gas...

Greg read further, growing more disturbed. It was a long list of items that would beggar the ranch if he authorized it. It was basically a list that stripped a majority of items that Litchfield had gathered. Some were impossible to comply with.

"This guy has 10 tons on the brain. I also notice that while not taking everything Litchfield has, it takes a good chunk of it. It's almost as if they knew what was stock piled here." Greg mentioned.

"When Colonel Litchfield got this, he actually started a tirade. He sent a patrol down south to find out what this was all about. They never returned."

"How many men comprise your patrols?" Sgt. Ballerton asked interestedly.

"We always send out three man patrols. Unless we were doing a patrol in force, then we send out seven men." Mat replied.

Greg thought about it while Sgt. Ballerton and Lt. Preston talked over the tactics and who and how many were prior service or had military experience. Quite a few were either prior service or were National Guard as it turned out.

Greg got on the phone and asked Steve to pass along a request for satellite recon to the south. This was something that had to be done and done quickly. Steve said he would get right on it, and told Greg that a landing spot had been picked out and as soon as the road was clear, they would be coming home!

They talked a bit more, and Greg talked with Jessica for a while, told her he loved her, and told Lt. Preston to take charge of this ranch, and get it up to standard. He was heading back to the lodge to wait for the satellite info.

Several hours later, Greg had a better picture of what was going on to the south. It was worse than he thought. The satellite had found the main area of the protectorate quickly enough, since it knew where to look. What it showed was a very organized area about 120 miles to the south.

It centered around a small town which seemed to have escaped the destruction of Superior. What was even more interesting was the motor pool that they had. Greg counted 7 APCs and 2 Bradly fighting vehicles. There were 10 school buses as well as 5 Hum Vs.

Greg watched as the satellite scanned and stopped at different locations. There seemed to be a large warehouse with people lined up receiving food. Most of those in line were woman and children. The few men in line seemed to be quite elderly. Another site they stopped at was what was apparently a tent area enclosed with a large chain linked fence topped with razor wire.

Over 64 people were counted inside the tented area. The tents looked to be standard GP medium tents. It appeared to be an outdoor prison or detention camp of some sort. A house trailer was parked a shot distance from the fenced area. Everyone inside the tent camp was a male. (GP stands for general purpose)

Most disturbing was a gathering of vehicles that was parked on the side of the road about 20 miles to the north. Another Bradly fighting vehicle, two Hum Vs, two school buses apparently full of armed men, a motor home, and three empty cattle trucks. Additionally there was a tractor trailer to carry supplies, presumably.

Cheyenne Mountain was not to pleased with what was going on. More and more little conclaves of survivors were being discovered. As these small groups were discovered, Cheyenne Mountain would find some way to make contact. First and foremost the remains of the federal government would try to locate active state government officials. When that did not prove feasible, the federal government would try to locate and communicate with the local military leaders and appoint someone as district commander, such as happened with General Greg Baron.

It was decided to offer General Baron air support in the event of an attack. All the surveillance tapes and photos of the area directly south were disturbing. Also, the district the Federal Government assigned to General Baron also en-composed some of the self proclaimed Free Zone Protectorate.

Even while these decisions were being made, surveillance was still being carried out on the protectorate. More and more area was being identified as belonging to this group. More evidence was coming in of a systematic incarceration of men or boys from the age of 15 to 50. A total of 11 such camps had been located. More military vehicles were discovered, usually from the same units. It was possible a National Guard unit had gone rogue. Or it's top echelon.

Communications was tried but nothing was heard in response to queries. Cheyenne Mountain was able to see several standard military radios being used, and even managed to monitor several transmissions.

In other areas of the United States, communications was re-established with out of touch units and local governments. All in all it was a grim map of survivors that was emerging. Well over 200 million people in the United States were known dead. This represented the majority of it's population.

In space, Steve, Bob and Jessica were getting ready to depart the station. Steve checked his craft and slowly powered up certain systems in preparation. Also, one station crewman would be returning with them.

They watched closely the area they had chosen to land. The road was mostly clear. Still, the landing strip at Cheyenne Mountain was ready and they could even land and wait out the remaining days at the mountain until the road finally cleared the rest of the way. Steve had been given assurances that transportation would be provided if necessary.

Steve had been monitoring the situation closely, and was worried for his brother. He approached Bob about getting some explosive ordnance for his craft so he could fly support for his brother if it came to open battle. Bob told him he would work on it for him, and see what he could do.

Finally, it was time. Goodbyes were said, and everyone who was departing with Steve left and went into his craft. Still, Steve worried. The southern group was on the move north, and Greg was shifting people and supplies to try to stem the advance.

He would try diplomacy first. If that failed, it would be a battle. Steve had originally thought to stay on the station until the road totally cleared, but with the impending battle looming, he wanted to be on earth with his brother.

Departure went smoothly. Jessica chatted with their passenger, Elisabeth Kingsly, who had been the station meteorologist. It had been decided ground side to bring her back. She had some interesting data on what was happening in the atmosphere. Particularly the Ozone layer.

Soon, re-entry had been accomplished, and Steve was winging his way on a strict course that had to be followed exactly. Twenty minutes later he was touching down on runway 8. That was it's only title. He came in out of the west, and flew in jags as directed by ground control.