Chapter 83

I was standing by the meadow when the Whisper came in for a landing. Damn that thing was quiet. If I hadn't known it was coming, I might have thought it was some kind of alien craft. As it was landing, I noticed the rotor wash was barely registering on the grass and weeds below it. I climbed in and got strapped in, then put the helmet on. The pilot immediately asked "Where to this time?" I told him north to Medford. I explained that we were to land behind the courthouse and to look for a circle of traffic cones to land in. He laughed and asked if we were going to a circus or a car wreck. I looked over at Stumpy and he was grinning at me. Damn, this is almost like old times, I thought as we lifted off. Stumpy and I discussed his role in the upcoming meeting. I told him he was not to speak unless he was directly addressed and then to act like anything said was an everyday occurrence in his job as a Green Beret.

"Stinger, what the hell kind of set up are you getting me into? This sounds like I am along as your muscle or something. Act tough? Hell I am tough! I don't have to act like it."

I just gave him that look I used to use when they had said something stupid. He must have recognized it or remembered it because he quit mouthing off and let me go on.

"You are the muscle, you idiot. I want to impress on them that it will be Green Berets they are up against. If we handle this right, maybe we can solve the whole issue without a shot being fired. I know all of you have talked, so play your part and let's see how it goes, huh?"

He just gave me a funny look and shut up. The pilot broke in and said he thought he had the courthouse in sight. I looked out and told him to fly around it and look for the circle of cones that was supposed to be there. When we cleared the side of the building, the cones were in plain sight sitting in what looked to be a small park. I noticed several people looking up at us with their mouths hanging open at our sudden appearance.

The pilot set us down in the exact center of the cones and started shutting it down while Stumpy and I climbed out. He put his Beret on at the cocky angle the way we always wore them. I had to smile when he did, because I remember how I used to be so proud of the unorthodox headgear when we went out around the base at Bragg. This was back when we weren't accepted as soldiers by the regular army, or straight legs as we called them. We went up the back steps to the Courthouse and were let in a security door by a young deputy.

"Man, a Green Beret in person and a helicopter you can't even hear. You guys must belong to a top secret organization, huh?"

Stumpy totally ignored him and I gave him a dirty look, trying to keep from laughing out loud at his enthusiasm. He led us directly to Avery's office and knocked, saying his guests were here from the helicopter. He motioned us in and that's when I got my first glimpse of the three men from the camp. They were dressed in jeans and flannel shirts, and all three had full beards.

"Harry Hanson, this is Mike, Zeke and Bull. Zeke does the talking since he is the leader and will be speaking for all of them."

"Gentlemen, as Avery said, I am Harry Hanson and the man with me is Captain Triplett of the Special Forces from Fort Bragg. Now, since you asked to speak to me, I will let you start, Zeke."

"We wanna know, why all those little model planes are flying over our homes? They are driving us crazy! That mad man who showed up was even worse. He said he was taking over all the camps in the state, and ours was first in line to be reorganized. We just wanna be left alone to live the way we want."

"Zeke, that mad man as you called him, is dead, as well as all his men. He made the mistake of firing on my men. Now, as to your camp, I don't see a problem with all of you living there just like your ancestors. We have one problem though Zeke. You have enough weapons to start a small war and that we can't allow. I know you have a cave full of arms of all kinds, and almost all of them are illegal. Since none of you have a Federal license to own them, we need to resolve this as soon as possible. Now Zeke, I know you have women and kids in your camp, and I would hate to see any of them hurt in any way. That's not what we want to do. Give up the illegal weapons, and then you and your people will be left completely alone. I know Hubba brought them up there for you to store until he sold them to his buyer. Since he and his daddy are dead, you have been left holding the bag for all his illegal deals. Zeke, we don't want your personal guns or all the food you have stored up there. We only want all the stolen weaponry that Hubba and his daddy stored in your cave. I have personally seen machine guns and anti-aircraft weapons, and that doesn't even scratch the surface of what Hubba has stored with you."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes, just stared at me with his mouth hanging open. He looked at the other two and they both nodded at him when he did. I knew he was going to try to bluff, and then try to act hard about it. I was already mentally prepared for it. I knew he wanted to settle this, but he had to do it in such a way that he wouldn't lose respect as a leader. I looked over at Avery, and he was sitting back sipping coffee, trying not to smile. He already had a hunch I would end up winning this little mental fight with these people.

Zeke went into his little spiel about how they could hold out against an army with all the stuff they had in their little cave. He then went into the little game about how the army wouldn't fire on women and kids, and then he started in on how his men were better trained than even the government's CIA. I let him go on until he ran out of breath, then I stood up and went to the coffee pot and poured a cup. My getting up broke his concentration like I planned. He sputtered to a stop with his bragging. I sat back down, taking a sip, and leaned forward, looking him directly in the eyes as I spoke.

"Zeke, I will use all the force at my disposal to get those weapons. I can have a plane that you won't hear or see drop a bomb or two through the top of that cave. What kind of damage would that do to your homes since they are all underground? Think about it Zeke, what would a big explosion like that do to your camp? Zeke, if that's what it takes, I will do it. I don't want to get in a shooting match because regardless of how good your men are, they would lose. I can spend days bombing the area before we even move in. Zeke, I want you to understand me. I don't want to kill your people. I am giving you a way out of this and still have your way of life you seem to love so much. You know if it comes to shooting, you will lose the property and everything in or on it. It will be impounded because you and all of your people will be classified as terrorists. It will be out of your hands at that point, and too late to save your people."

I sat and watched as he thought about what I was telling him. We were so close to settling this peacefully, I could taste it. I knew he didn't want to lose his land or have his people killed over guns that didn't belong to them. Hubba was dead, so they didn't owe him anything. I noticed he kept looking at the other two, and every time they nodded their heads yes. He looked at me and his next question threw me. I was the one who had to regroup my thoughts before I could answer him.

"Are you the same Harry Hanson who took Hubba on and beat him in a fair fight?"

"Zeke, that wasn't a fair fight at all. I knew when I went up against him; he would kill me if he could, so I decided to kill him first. I almost didn't make it, and spent several months in the hospital."

He smiled at me for the first time, and I was surprised that his teeth were perfectly white and he had a very friendly smile.

"Harry, if we give you all the illegal guns, I want your personal word we will be allowed to keep our hunting guns and pistols. We also want to keep all the jeeps and trucks that are in the cave that Hubba stored there."

"Zeke, if your guns are only semi-auto and not stolen, then I don't want them. As for the trucks and stuff, if they aren't stolen, then you are welcome to them. I told you, I just want the illegal stuff. Zeke, my wife and I own the mountain we live on, and if I lost it I would be very upset. I know all of you feel the same way. I will give you my personal word that if it isn't stolen, then you can keep it. How many men has this already cost you to keep those guns? I know of at least ten that were burned to death at the old lumber camp. Zeke, those guns are not worth one person's life, especially since they are dying for someone who is already dead."

"Harry, will you give me two days to talk to the others? I am the main leader but any decisions that affect the camp are made by a committee. I will tell them everything you have said, and we will probably give you everything you want so we can get on with our lives. We will only deal with you and Avery, though. When it's time, you can bring your soldier boys in and load up the weapons. But, don't think for one minute we will allow anyone to take our personal weapons. They are all legal and on the books as being legally bought. We will keep the food and medical items, and if the vehicles aren't stolen, we will keep those too. Give me a number where we can call you with our decision. Before you ask, no, we won't try to hide any for later use. That I will give you my word on."

I wrote down my cell number and we shook hands as they got up and left. I let out a sigh of relief and looked over at Stumpy. He stuck one big thumb up in the air with a big smile on his face. Avery was a different matter though.

"Dammit Harry, you just pulled off the coup of the year. I can't believe you just sat in my office and averted a shooting war with those people. When they came in this morning and asked me to call you I almost shit. That's the first time I have ever seen any of them act like they had any smarts at all. This has got to be the greatest day of my whole career in law enforcement. Let's get a drink on me and talk about this some more."

"Avery, calm down will you? This isn't over yet, and they may still change their minds. I hope they don't, but it can happen. I have to get back and call the President to tell him what went on at this meeting. But, I will take a rain check on the drink. I do want you to keep an eye on the camp for any traffic moving in and out 'till we get this resolved."

"I will be glad to, Harry, and I do expect you to come up and have a drink with me when this is over. Also, I have heard about your music concerts, and would love to be invited to one of them. They have been the talk of the state, since those soldiers had their little party at the gulch. That's all they talked about the whole time they were there. Hell, I heard about it the next day."

"Tell you what, Avery; my granddaughter has been bugging me to play again. I will make sure you and whoever you want to bring get an invitation. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to get back."

We got up and Avery walked us out to the door saying he had better see me again soon. We climbed back into the bird and flew around the courthouse the same way we came in. We were headed back to the camp and I asked the pilot to let me off in the meadow like before. He reached back and gave me my personal cell, saying he had forgotten about it in all the rush to get here, I took it and put it in my pocket, thanking him. Stumpy was still grinning and I told him to tell Preacher what went on, and that I would call it in when I got home. I sat back and thought about all that was said in the meeting. I was remembering the loss of life that had already become too much, all over some damn weapons that were no good unless you were going to war. They, or at least most of them, were surplus and supposed to have been destroyed. The others were foreign made and were stolen. I hadn't mentioned the illegals and would wait before I did. That was one box I didn't want to open at this stage of the negotiations. At this point, all I could do was keep my fingers crossed that we could just go in and get them without firing any shots. From this point on, it became what I hated most, a waiting game.