Chapter 17

The next morning we all struggled to stand and get cleaned up in time to meet with Jonathon and the rest in a formal setting. We had a quick breakfast and went over to the hall led by Jackson. At the last minute, Hazel took Katina's hand and said, "Come with me." They turned at the door and the rest of us walked inside. In the main room, there was a big table with four signs on it at empty places. The signs read, "Handor, Susan, Mandor, and Glenda." I looked around and saw Jackson going to one side to clasp arms with some other men. Hazel took Katina to chairs on the wall behind us and they sat down.

Jonathon was there with Janet and Calveen. I saw Robby talking with Jackson. At another area of the table were signs for Mickey, Roger, and Nan. I later learned that Mickey was the Elder of the Oaks with Roger and Nan having charge of the institute located there. At another part of the table were Edgar and Morris. I found out later they were from Chalk and Huey respectively. There were two more seats taken. In one was Minnie, leader of the Jacks, and in the other was Marvin her principle man. After everyone was seated and introduced, Jonathon stood to speak.

He said, "On behalf of Atlanta, I welcome you to our town and, specifically, to Moorehome. With the exception of four of you, everyone here represents a friend from the trips I have taken. Handor and Susan are the leaders in Virginia and Glenda and Mandor are the leaders of Luray. Each of you has been asked to come here to take counsel regarding a threat to The Oaks. The Oaks is our repository of knowledge. All of us have used that knowledge to improve our situations. Based upon the threat, we are asking for help in defending that repository by wiping out the source of the problem." He looked toward Calveen and continued. "Calveen, would you give us the details?"

Calveen stood and said, "When I left Sin Loos, sentiments were changing. My father left not long after and, with him, came the more progressive people. Handor left even later on his exploration trip and things became progressively worse after that. His father was executed and the new Charge group is even more reactionary. One of the sons was sent to follow Handor's path to takeover the peoples he had found and joined in an effort to enlarge their bastion of governing methods. That effort ultimately failed. They were defeated and humbled but at great cost to the peoples of Luray and Virginia.

"We have a few spies left in Sin Loos who give us information about what is happening in Sin Loos. They tell us two things. First, the situation is deteriorating with more killings of women and even men. Those killings are becoming more frequent and more, well, barbaric. The second thing is more alarming. The armed forces are being expanded and trained for conquest. This is no longer the Sin Loos that I knew. From the rumors we have heard, the direction of their march will be to The Oaks.

"We can't let The Oaks fall into evil hands. The treasures there can and have led to an amazing series of discoveries allowing us to improve our living standards and, unfortunately, our ability to wage war. Some of that information has gone to Sin Loos. We know they have rifles in some numbers. We must protect that treasure house and the people there who are part of our alliance. Jonathon and I propose a preemptive strike to stop them and bring the leadership down. So many people here, both in this meeting and in this city, were Sin Loos. There is value there and goodness is still. We have to try to save it and stop them from inflicting their painful ways upon us."

After allowing for the inevitable buzz, Jonathon said, "I have always feared this confrontation would occur. Free peoples represent a threat to the leaders of non-free people simply because they exist. That is a fact of history that hasn't changed. We must take this fight or it will be taken to us.

'I would like to break for lunch giving each of you time to think and determine what course of action is right for the people you represent. If there are no objections, we are adjourned after lunch until the mid hour."

It would be a long lunch break. I think he really did want some thought during this time. We returned to our quarters quietly to a simple but good lunch prepared for us. I asked everyone to gather for our lunch period and, as we ate, I explained what had been said and what I felt had been left unsaid.

Jackson voiced my concern. "Jonathon is worried. Even with the many people who have left, Sin Loos is still larger than Atlanta and Virginia combined. Without help, The Oaks would be beaten. Atlanta or Virginia would be next. Separately, we would all eventually fall. I believe he thinks we must band together for our survival."

"Jackson, I think you are right. However, we are spread out and Sin Loos has the advantage of interior lines. I am concerned about communications and coordination. If we can solve those issues, I believe we can bring a lot of pressure to bear and it may be enough to tip the scales with a little help."

We all returned to the meeting subdued. Jonathon opened the meeting by saying, "Thank you for returning. I can see by your faces that you have been giving the situation serious thought. Calveen and I have an advantage because we have been thinking on this for a while.

"We have looked at the situation and have reduced it to three basic concerns. The first is available manpower, second is communications, and the third is coordination.

"The first is why we are here. We, the people of The Oaks and Atlanta, need help. Once we get help, we need to coordinate our efforts. Everyone but Virginia and Luray are south and west. They would come close to us to provide help. Virginia and Luray are far to the east and north but are a populous people. Therefore, coordination and communication are critical. We believe we have solved that problem. Nan, would you speak?"

"Thank you, Jonathon. Roger and I are co-leaders of the institute at The Oaks. Roger has been working on weapons while I have concentrated upon communications. We have rediscovered radio. To a limited extent, our first attempts allowed us to communicate from The Oaks to Atlanta and to Virginia. However, every message had to be coded, transmitted, and uncoded unless you were trained in code and practiced regularly. I decided that a better radio system was needed and, with a team, began to look for solutions in the information we had found. We believe we have found it. We can now transmit voice communication through the air using new radios. It's still in the test phase but we have high hopes. We have also started a group that is learning code at a speaking rate to be operators attached to smaller groups. We have some radios for groups but have not been able to reproduce them in numbers that will help. Using radio operators is the best short-term solution. Within another month, we will have fifty plus radio operators with radios who can be dispersed into fighting units to provide quick, reliable communications over short and medium distances. These radios use a different band of frequencies from those in our long-range communications radios. Roger, please tell about weapons."

Roger stood. "Many of you have seen our muskets or rifles. We have improved upon them considerably making reloading easier and faster. We have also worked up larger weapons with more range and power. The Oaks has three trained brigades of men and women trained in the long-range weapons in addition to our communications teams. We need your help."

Mickey stood, "We have two advantages that everyone should keep in mind. First, we are free peoples and women can and do contribute to any effort of the groups to which they belong. The other advantage is that we have advantages in the implements of war. We know that Sin Loos has a few rifles of an old design. We will have two hundred or more new rifles with ample ammunition over and beyond what our brigades will carry."

He sat down and Jonathon stood. "We have been training and can field three trained brigades." He looked at me.