Computer Capers

By Dan Kelly

Computer Capers is a riveting story about a league of seven exceptionally intelligent, successful and wealthy businessmen who have decided that America is headed down the path to ruin, to bottom rung status in the global community, with an urgent need to save itself from itself and they are the people to do it. These men have exceptionally high IQs and egos to match and would be a shoe-in for Mensa membership if they were so inclined, but their aspirations lie elsewhere and they are willing to assassinate, to murder, to kill innocent people to get what they want. They call themselves The Last Resort.

They devise a plan to wreak unprecedented and horrendous havoc on the infra- structure of the good old Red, White and Blue with the aim of generating such civil unrest that the populace will rise up and force the remaining powers that be of the Federal Government to meet their demands in an atmosphere of complete collapse and desperate capitulation.

As their plan unfolds, it quickly begins to get the results they seek. The public outcry over the calamities befalling the nation starts to get louder and louder, the fear of what is going to happen next begins to mount, the lack of confidence in the Federal Government to deal with the attacks on its people and the rioting in the streets begin to rise at an alarming rate, everything is developing as anticipated.

However, there’s a retired army general, Henry, Hank to his friends, Aldridge, who’s determined to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Nobody has a clue as to what is going on, but the general plans to find out. Hank’s got a gut that is uncanny when it comes to sensing trouble, so he decides to get involved when the first attack on America’s way of life takes place. He immediately declares his own personal war on the unknown enemy and commits the considerable resources of his company, Sentry, to the perilous mission of search, capture or destroy.

Hank and his staff at Sentry provide analytical and strategical services to governments and large corporations all over the world and are very good at what they do. The nature of their services requires that they keep a low profile, so they stay behind the scenes and avoid the spotlight. The general public has never heard of them. It’s the general’s intention, however, to introduce himself personally to the enemy when he knocks him flat on his ass.

Sentry and The Last Resort are fascinating adversaries and their interaction and the fate of America will keep the reader in suspense until the very end.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dan Kelly
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311447739

Dan Kelly

A Little Bit About Dan Kelly the Author"May you always find a good book to read and the time to enjoy it!"After spending forty years in the real world of domestic and international banking, my writing activities being largely restricted to business plans, internal memos, advertising copy, news releases and speeches, I decided I had had enough of the real world and made up my mind to pursue something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while, immerse myself in the world of make believe just for the sheer joy of letting my imagination and creative juices run wild.Except for the occasional humorous ode for the enjoyment of family, friends and colleagues, I never had the time to indulge the more fanciful side of my nature, but since July 2007 I’ve made great progress in atoning for that neglect. My Irish sense of humor coupled with my experience in dealing with a broad spectrum of people from all walks of life and social status are proving to be a wonderful reservoir of inspiration for me in character and story development.Celestial Capers, Casino Capers, Computer Capers, Caribbean Capers, Carat Capers, Calling Card Capers, Cabernet Capers, Calumny Capers, Canyon Capers, Capital Capers, Counterfeiting Capers, Cryptography Capers and Chopper Capers are the products of my first thirteen mental voyages into the realm of make believe and I hope you will be as delighted as I was to make these trips. I am currently embarked on my fourteenth safari into the relatively unexplored dimensions of my imagination, Campaign Capers, and I am finding the expedition as thoroughly enjoyable as my first thirteen tours. I’m hoping you will too.If you'd like to contact me, feel free to send me an e-mail at [e-mail].

Book preview

Chapter 1

-Somewhere Along the Coast of New Hampshire-

It’s late, the wind has kicked up making it even more difficult to see through the soupy fog that has settled in and it is starting to rain. A perfect ending to what has been a perfectly miserable evening. Ed and Pam Appercelli are driving home on a two lane country road in one of the quaint colonial villages on the coast of New Hampshire. They have just left a party held by Ed’s boss to celebrate a record quarter in sales and they are exhausted from having to endure all of the insincere glad handing and butt kissing that is always prevalent at these shindigs. The food and music were great, but not good enough to offset the phoniness that pervaded every conversation, every nuance, every attitude and this was augmented by the subtle back stabbing by some of the higher ups who have raised it to an art form.

Ed, the next time Brad has one of these parties of his I’m going to be sick. I don’t want to deal with them anymore.

I know how you feel and they’re getting worse. Unfortunately, since I’m the East Coast Regional Manager I have to show up.

Well I don’t and won’t. That Gail Gilchrist is a first class….. What the …..

At that moment, everything went pitch black. The only light was coming from their headlights which was bouncing back off the wall of fog and blinding them. Ed slowed the car to a crawl, straining to see where he was going. Damn! This is not good. I can’t see well enough to find a safe place to pull over and park until this fog lifts and if I stop here someone could rear end us. All of the street lights, house lights and even the traffic light up ahead at Washington Avenue are out.

Maybe one of the houses along the road has those solar lights around their lawn that we could use to guide us to a safe place to park, like in a driveway.

Good thinking, Pam. I’ll creep along using the center line in our headlights as a guide to keep us on the road and you keep your eyes peeled for any solar lights.

A couple of minutes later, Ed loses sight of the center line. Since he’s become disoriented and scared to death, he doesn’t realize that they are in the middle of the Washington Avenue intersection and he stops to try to get his bearings.

Another vehicle, a big SUV, is approaching the intersection on Ed’s side of their car, windows open, stereo blasting and moving way too fast for the weather conditions. The driver is also using the center line as a guide to keep him on the road. The Appercellis can’t see the other car, but they can see a glimmer from its headlights and they can hear the music. The next thing they hear, the last thing they hear, is the screeching of brakes and the crunching of metal as the SUV hits them broadside. Ed and Pam no longer have to worry about dealing with any more of Brad’s parties.

Chapter 2

-Bethesda-

The National Navy Medical Center, Bethesda, MD is a first class hospital that is known for its state of the art medical facilities and its capable staff. They are accustomed to handling all kinds of emergencies and aren’t rattled easily. At 11:45 p.m. on a Monday evening, they are once again put to the test. President Ira Weinstein’s 13 years old son, Jacob, is being wheeled into the emergency room with what the paramedics believe is a swollen appendix.

One of the ER doctors examines the boy and concurs. Judging from the amount of swelling and amount of pain the lad is in, his appendix could burst at any moment. Nurse, prep him for surgery stat.

As the doctor is in the process of making his incision, the appendix bursts and the lights go out. There is a chorus of "Oh shits and other curses, but otherwise the operating room staff is not too concerned because the emergency generator should kick in right away. It doesn’t. It remains pitch black, the medical monitoring equipment has shut down and the doctor is considering continuing the operation by feel because if he does nothing the patient could die.

The silence that has settled over the room is suddenly broken by one of the male nurses shouting out, Damn! My Maglite! Doc, I’ve got a small flashlight on my key ring in my pocket. It throws a fairly strong beam. It might give you enough light to do your thing.

I’m glad you remembered. Let’s give it a try. Any light is better than none.

It was enough for the operation to be completed successfully and for massive amounts of antibiotics to be administered, but only time would tell if any serious damage had been done to any internal organs by the bacteria released by the ruptured appendix.

Another patient in the operating room next door wasn’t as fortunate. He died from massive internal hemorrhaging that occurred during what should have been a routine benign tumor removal from the patient’s upper bowel.

Chapter 3

-Hartford-

It is 11:55 p. m. in downtown Hartford, CT and officers Tom McGregor and Pat Paglisse have

just finished the last of the doughnuts they’d picked up at Tanya’s Tasty Treats when they came

on duty. They’ve been sitting in their patrol car which they’ve backed into an alley talking about sports and how expensive it’s gotten to attend any professional sports event when they hear the sound of glass breaking.

When they pull out to investigate, they see two men breaking into a BMW X5 parked a half block away in front of an apartment building. They start the gumball flashing and the siren blaring and Tom puts the pedal to the metal to head them off before they can hotwire the car, but these guys are pros and get the car started and are laying rubber before Tom can get into position to stop them. Now they’re barreling down Main Street in hot pursuit of two crazy carjackers with the speed of the chase sometimes approaching 85 miles per hour and these nuts are blazing through red lights without even a tap on the brakes. This ain’t good Tom. I’ll radio in for assistance and you back off a little, but keep them in sight.

The next instant there’s a major power outage and bedlam breaks out everywhere. The entire city is in a shroud of darkness and all of the police communication channels are jammed with officers requesting assistance for one calamity or another. Shit! It looks like we’re on our own Tom. I can’t get through.

The chase continues for another 15 minutes throughout the city until luck intervenes, all bad. Taking a sharp curve in the road too fast, the BMW crashes into a concrete abutment, bounces off, flips several times, winding up on its roof and blocking the roadway. To avoid ramming into the BMW, Tom swerves into the oncoming lane and runs head on into a semi moving at a fairly good clip. All four are pronounce dead at the scene.

Chapter 4

-Washington D. C.-

What the hell is going on? It’s the second day of the power outage and President Weinstein has called an emergency cabinet meeting and he’s not a happy camper. You people are the crème de la crème in the areas of your expertise and not one of you has a reasonable explanation for what is happening. How can that be? The communications disruptions out West and the current power outages along the Eastern seaboard reek of malevolence on somebody’s part and nobody here has the remotest idea who the culprit or culprits might be. It is incomprehensible to me that not one of the organizations that have been created to defend our nation from this kind of perilous turmoil has had any advance warning, not even a whisper, of something like this being in the works. That scares me to death. Last night my son almost bought the farm on an operating table at the hospital from a burst appendix because the lights went out at a critical moment.

From the reaction of everyone in the room, it is evident that what had happened to Jacob was news to them. Vice President Cromwell asked, "How is Jacob now? How did they finish the