The Terrorist Within

By CE Stewart

Colonel John Anderson, returning from a tour of duty and a follow-up extended vacation, finds more adventure than he bargained for when he hits the road to Texas. An unexpected call from the President of the United States triggers a chain reaction for John and his friends.

The President’s call informs him of a worldwide terrorist organization with plenty of backing from enemy nations that’s attempting to destroy freedom with a synchronized worldwide attack.

John finds sex, adventures, thrills and even love throughout this explosive tale.

The message of the story is that if we continue to take our freedom for granted, someone will take it from us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CE Stewart
• Release date: Feb 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310107146

CE Stewart

CE Stewart was born in 1925. Upon retirement, he and his wife traveled in a fifth wheel trailer for five years. It was here that he began to write.His first novel was “Terrorist Within.” He followed with two science fiction titles: “Chronicles of Navigator-The Homecoming” and, “Chronicles of Navigator- Earth Again.” He has just completed “The Clock.” He loves science fiction and life.

Book preview

Terrorist Within

CE Stewart

Smashwords ebook published by Fideli Publishing Inc.

Copyright 2011, C E Stewart

No part of this eBook may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Fideli Publishing.

Smashwords License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you’d like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN: 978-1-60414-504-5

Chapter 1

As the giant 747 swung into the traffic pattern over Staten Island, John Anderson gazed out the window and an ironic smile crossed his lips when the Statue of Liberty passed below. He was returning from several months overseas, having visited countries. It’d not been a pleasure trip.

When he’d tried to resign his commission, his commanding officer talked him into becoming a special contact with several foreign air forces. It’d been interesting work, but he was bored with the politics of it. So, after much discussion, his commander accepted his resignation. However, he didn’t send it in to headquarters. Instead, he sent it to the President of the United States with a letter of considerable interest.

After a few minutes, the aircraft sat down and taxied up to the Kennedy International Airport terminal. The air traffic had been light, so there was no long delay in landing. It’d been a smooth flight from England. Some of his other travel connections hadn’t been so smooth. He was about to embark on the most dangerous mission of his life.

John Anderson was born, July 4th, 1961, on a farm near Worthington, Minnesota. His parents were second generation Swedes. He’d an older brother, Thomas, and a younger sister, Ellen. Thomas and Ellen had both married, but John had never felt settled enough to consider it.

After high school, he went on to college, with a teaching career in mind. After college graduation, he came back home to teach history at the local high school. After a time, he became tired of the lack of interest that his pupils were showing in history. He’d always believed that history repeated itself and would continue to do so.

So, with this state of mind, John enlisted in the Air Force and became a fighter pilot. He was good in his new occupation and rose rapidly in the ranks. He was a Lt. Colonel when he took command of an Air Wing during the Gulf War.

He was sent on several missions, including Samarra and An Nasiriyah. His wing also bombed ammunition dumps. Later, he discovered that some of the dumps contained nerve gas and other toxins. At that point, he was concerned about the safety of the troops downwind of these sites.

He voiced his concern to his commander and submitted documents. His commander passed the information on to his superiors, but nothing else was heard. The reports seemed to be lost, as so often happens to civilian and military records. With this on his mind, John elected to become a civilian at the end of his tour of duty. He’d become a frustrated American citizen.

As he entered the terminal building to secure his luggage, the thoughts of the past six months flashed through his mind. He pushed them aside for the time being and attended to his luggage. He decided to rent a car and drive back to Minnesota. He needed to clear his mind, so he rented a Chrysler Concorde and loaded his baggage.

Upon entering the traffic of New York City, he reflected that he felt safer flying combat. The drivers all seemed to have death wishes. He felt that a person had a right to endanger himself, but not to force that decision on another person. After a while, he got out of the rat race traffic in New York City and moved into the Hudson River Valley.

It was so peaceful, driving along the slow moving river, that he got out of the car for a time to watch it wend its way. He was going to take his time getting to Minnesota. He had no schedule and no one knew he was coming, so he would take his time. This was the way to travel.

He stopped early at a small motel along the river. After refreshing himself, he went to the restaurant attached to the motel. Upon entering, he noted there were a few tables filled with mostly local folks. As he sat down, they smiled and said a greeting, then they resumed their conversations.

As he sat enjoying a fine meal, he could hear the conversation at the nearest table. They were discussing the political scene at the local level as well as in Washington. They weren’t blaming the President as much as Congress. They felt the people they chose had failed them. They were critical of the efforts to rob the Social Security system by Congress, for pork barrel projects. They didn’t understand why the Congress had better Medicare than they did. They could use eye care and dental coverage too.

John listened with great interest and had to agree with them in his own mind. He couldn’t understand how a nation as great as the United States, could have such poor representation in Congress and other branches of the government.

As soon as he finished eating and enjoying an after dinner drink, he purchased a paper and returned to the motel room to watch TV and read. It’d been a long day and he got about half of the paper read, before he fell asleep. The river lulled him into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, John went to the restaurant and a great breakfast. He was enjoying this home-cooked fare that he was on. Soon he was on the road and headed to the great industrial belt of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. He was taking about a week to get back home.

Each time he stopped to rest or eat, he noted the conversations that went on around him. He came to the conclusion that the natives were restless. Nobody seemed happy with the quality of their lives or their jobs. It was disturbing to everyone. The time to correct this run-away problem was running short.

On the seventh day, at mid morning, John arrived at his parent’s home in Minnesota. They had moved to town and Thomas was farming the huge farm. Sister Ellen had married a bank president and had moved to town too. This was the first time in several years that the entire family had been together for any length of time.

That evening, they all went to the farm for dinner. Susan, Tom’s wife had prepared a regular country meal for the family. They were all curious about John’s service travels. He gave them a report, leaving out the classified details. He also didn’t mention the various side trips that he’d made as an inspector for the Air Force. That too was classified. He’d been in more danger than he realized.

At this time Nels rose to speak, "I have an announcement to make, since you’re all here. Your mother and I are getting along in years or long in the tooth, as they say. We don’t know how long we’ll be around. So, we’ve talked it over and arrived at this decision. The value of our estate is a little over 4 million dollars. We’ll give each of you one million dollars to do with as you please.

I know Thomas is the only one who wants to farm. John and Ellen have chosen other fields, so Thomas can buy out the John and Ellen’s interests after a proper appraisal by our attorney. He is preparing a will to reflect our wishes.

We’ll live off our interest and other income. The home in town is free and clear, so we’ll have no payments to make. If anyone would like to discuss this further, now is the time. The attorney has researched the land value and the terms for disposition. If there are no other questions, then we’ll consider it a done deal." Kate nodded her head in agreement. Nels sat down, relieved — that had been the longest speech of his life.

After the surprise wore off, the people began talking. There were no questions or family arguments. Kate and Nels had always been fair with their children.

Everyone was curious about what John would be doing though. He answered that he would be writing and traveling. He knew that his parents wanted him to be a farmer too, but he didn’t like the routine of farm life. He was more adventurous than his siblings. He would spend a month at home with his family and friends, then he would travel and seek adventure.

He purchased a forty-foot motor home and a Volkswagen to pull behind it. He worked outfitting the motor home with a computer, short wave radio and other equipment for communication, as well video.

There were parties in his neighborhood to honor his return. The parties went on all month, as it was a slow season on the farm. No one wanted to see him leave, especially the single women from the area. He dated several, but none seriously.

At the end of the month, with a tearful goodbye he headed out in the motor home. Winter was on its way, so he decided to go to Texas. He had a good buddy down in San Antonio.

He crossed over to La Crosse, Wisconsin and headed down the river road. It was a beautiful drive since the trees were going out in a blaze of glory before winter winds stripped them bare. He stopped and took pictures for the documentary he was preparing.

He didn’t travel more than 200 miles a day, because he wanted to see the sights. He always listened to what the people had to say about their lives and the government whenever he got the chance. It didn’t seem to matter where he was, people were concerned about the future and their children’s futures.

He stopped for a day in St. Louis to take in the sights. The next day he went to Memphis, Tennessee. He was building an interesting story as he talked to people during this trip across the country. He talked to the poor as well as the middle class and rich and found there was an underlying anger present in the populace.

At first the people were unwilling to talk, but they soon felt at ease with John. They thought he was trying to do something with his questions. He was also filming his subjects, which helped, since most everyone likes to have their picture taken — unless they’re hiding from the law.

When he got to New Orleans, he was had his motor home serviced and he decided to stay for a week to visit the French Quarter and other tourist areas. Once again, he found corruption running wild in the local government. The politicians’ campaign promises were broken the instant they were in office. The people suffered from these acts of treachery. It seemed that even when they had good intentions at the start, those were soon lost in the good old boy syndicate and web of personal gain. Finding this again and again during his travels made John sick at heart.

At the end of the week, he headed out on Interstate 10 toward Texas. He stopped in Houston for the night and worked on his notes. As he continued driving through Texas, he noted a change in the people. The Texans were more independent spirits. They were defiant of the government in Washington and the politicians. They thought most of the country’s trouble came from Washington. John had always felt that trouble began at home, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He wanted untainted replies to his questions.

When he got to San Antonio, he wanted to look up his friend Dave Nelson and spend a few days with him. Maybe he would go on further south for the winter. He was working on his computer, on the Internet, when a message suddenly appeared on his screen. It read:

John Anderson of Worthington, Minnesota. Please call 555-555-1212 at once.

He dialed the number at once. A man answered, Is this John Anderson, Social Security number 236-24-8723?

John replied, Who is this?

The man replied, I’m Number 3. Please meet us at the airport at 0700 tomorrow. There are no further instructions.

At this the phone went dead. John sat and stared into space. How did this guy know my social security number and how did he get on my computer? Since he was more than curious, he decided to meet the mystery man at the designated time.

Early the next morning he went in to the airport. At exactly 0700, a message came over the intercom, John Anderson, please report to the United Airlines ticket counter.

When John got to the ticket counter to identify himself, a man came up and said, Number 3, by way of introduction. Come with me.

I think you owe me an explanation, John said as they walked.

They kept walking in silence until they reached a remote spot at the end of the terminal. The man finally replied, I’ll explain in a moment. Right now, we need to board a plane for a private meeting with Number 1. Don’t be alarmed by the secrecy. You’ll see the reason for it in a few minutes.

They went out to the plane and boarded. John was speechless when he saw who was waiting to greet them — the President of the United States.

The president smiled and extended his hand. Hello, John. How are you? Please have a seat and I’ll explain all this secrecy. I’m aware of your service record and your attempt to report the nerve gas release during your last assignment. The report came too late and we couldn’t act on it. Are you interested in hearing more?

John at this point could only say Yes, sir!

The President continued, "We have solid proof that there’s a concentrated effort to overthrow the government of the United States. I’m forming a secret group to ferret out the threat. There are some highly placed officials involved in this. We cannot let Congress or any members of the staff in on this until we’re sure who the moles are. Are you willing to work with us out of Texas? I must have an answer right now as time is running out.

I’ve reviewed your record and experience, and believe that you’re the right person for this mission. What’s your answer?

John looked at the ceiling for a moment, then said, I’ll accept the mission, if I report only to you.

The President smiled. That’s the answer I hoped you’d give. You’ll answer only to me. Number 3 will give you all the details and supply you with the necessary equipment. Thank you for your service. Then he turned and went into another part of the plane.

John and Number 3 went back to the terminal, where Number 3 said, I have two suit cases of equipment for you. I’ll help carry it to your car. It’s valuable, so be sure to secure it. John opened the trunk and they put the cases in and locked the trunk.

As they put the equipment in John’s vehicle, Number 3 said, By the way, I have a real name too. It’s Collins.

John laughed. He liked the man. He also thought the President was sticking his neck out on this one. One thing was for sure; his time in Texas was not going to be dull.

John headed into the outskirts of San Antonio. His friend Dave had married a girl named Maria and he’d never met the woman. Dave and his wife had bought a little airfield and ran a student flying service and flew charters out of it. Maria was the bookkeeper and commanding officer.

They weren’t able to have children, so they spoiled a large German shepherd named King. He became friends with John at once. He could sense that John liked dogs.

Dave and Maria insisted that John park his motor home at the airfield and stay with them as long as he wanted. John said he would, if they would let him help out at the business to pay for his room and board.

Dave and Maria had a successful business and Dave was glad to have John’s help with training the students. Maria was a good pilot who also helped with student training, but they often had more business than they could handle. John had been a top gun in the Gulf War, so was perfect for helping out.

John’s first evening there, Maria made dinner for them. After a pleasant meal, John took King for his evening walk and thought about the day’s curious events.

Chapter 2

Dave and Maria had four Piper Cub trainers and a Lear jet for corporate flights. Mike Hazen was their aircraft mechanic. He was a buddy who’d served in the Gulf with John and Dave.

It was sort of like old home week for the three, so while they were talking, Maria went to see her friend, Kathy Paulsen. Kathy was chief loan officer at a bank in the area. She and Maria had become friends when Kathy was learning to fly. Now that she was certified, she often came to the field to help with the students and their tests. This gave her a vacation from the bank.

Maria wanted Kathy to meet John, so they went back to the house to interrupt the men’s reunion. As the two women came in the door laughing, John locked eyes with Kathy. He smiled and stood as Maria introduced them. He’d never met such a lovely person. She was blond and blue-eyed and had a fine figure.

Kathy noted that John was blond and blue-eyed — definitely a Nordic type. He was over six feet tall, she guessed, and weighed about 195 pounds. She liked to guess about people to herself. She also thought that he was an attractive man.

They all sat making small talk as Maria prepared some drinks. After a while, Kathy said she had to go home because she had an early morning meeting the next day. John volunteered to walk her home, since she lived just a few blocks away.

As they walked and talked, they became better acquainted. At the door, John asked, Will I see you at the field again?

Kathy replied, Without a doubt, and smiled. Kathy quickly entered her home and John walked home whistling. He whistled when he was in deep thought.

When John walked in, Maria said, It sure took you a long time to get Kathy home. Did you like her?

John blushed, and Dave came to his rescue. Maria thinks everyone should be married. Let them do their own thing, dear. Maria laughed and went to the kitchen.

John yawned and said, I think that I’ll hit the hay. I haven’t caught up on my sleep yet. I want to look the town over tomorrow.

The guest room for you is all ready for you, Maria said from the kitchen. It can be your home away from home for as long as you want. John thanked her and went off to get some shut-eye.

It didn’t take long for him to go to sleep. His last thought was of Kathy. He warned himself that he must not let personal feelings interfere his mission. John was positive that the President’s request was the key to save the nation and he was going to do the right thing.

John woke early, as was his custom. Upon going downstairs, he found that Maria was already up and preparing breakfast and Dave had taken King out for his morning