Payback Time

By R.P. Deiss

The Bakken oil fields are being threatened by a terrorist attack that’s being transmitted from the Canadian side of the border. The Canadian government is being uncooperative in eliminating the threat. So the Sea Demons are brought in to conduct a clandestine operation to eliminate the threat using extreme prejudice. But once they conduct the operation they find out all isn't what it seems to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.P. Deiss
• Release date: Nov 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005104405

R.P. Deiss

Hi, I'm a 54 year old Wisconsinite. I served in the Navy during the closing days of Vietnam as part of Operation Frequent Wind. I held a top secret clearance as a radioman. I honed my typing skills on the keyboard of a teletype while serving my country. I'm a 3 term commander of our American Legion Post and designer of our Veterans Memorial. I spent 19 years in the Boy Scout program including 8 years as scoutmaster and helped 11 boys reach Eagle Scout. I also did 11 years as committee chairman. I've written and given many speeches on Veteran issues. . I live in Northeast Wisconsin with my wife Darlene, I have two grown step daughters and six grand kids. I found that i have an insatiable love of writing. I did the first draft of Dead Men's Isle in three weeks. I also did a thriller called Copperhead which will be coming out in february and am now doing s sequal to Dead Men's Isle. I have now written a total of 5 books for your enjoyment. I hope that I can bring you into the pages of my books for a journey that will transport you on an adventure of a lifetime!

Book preview

I was standing under the overhead canopy in front of our hotel in Montego Bay with my new bride Karen and our adopted son Juan. We were busily bidding farewell to our invited guests who had joined us for our wedding the day before. The rain was coming down in sheets this morning as the edge of a tropical storm was brushing by us on its way to Florida.

The night before the knuckleheads that made up Seal Team Six, or the Sea Demons as we now call ourselves, rigged our hotel room as a special gift to us on our wedding night. All the hot water was gone, so no hot tub. We quickly traded rooms with my brother Chris and our son Juan thinking that we would be safe only to discover they had that planned too. The hot water was off and none of the lights in the bedroom worked. We crawled into a bed full of Captain Crunch cereal not knowing it was there. As a result of our romp in the cereal our bodies now were a faint shade of orange and itched like hell.

I had gotten hold of Juan when we opened the room door to find the grinning team listening there. He earned himself a trip into the ice cold hot tub where his new mom Karen dunked his head for him. I had taken off running after the other team members and chased them nearly bare assed across the parking lot before giving up the chase.

They stood there now grinning at me happy as hell. You know guys, sooner or later we will find a way of paying you back for this, I warned them ominously. Rick is right, you know. Being half of our medical team I will take particular pleasure in remembering last night when it’s payback time, Karen warned them. Little did she know how soon those words would come back to haunt her. Now just a minute Karen. Are you going to stand there and be all vindictive and all over a little bit of fun? Brady asked with a wide grin on his face.

Brady was one of the team clowns and our number one pilot. The other member who could always be counted on to cause trouble was Doc, the other half of our medical team.

LT, tell me that you’re not going to hold last night against us, are you? Why would that just be unlike you for a fact! Doc tossed in.

I eyed all of them as I absentmindedly scratched my chest, the itch consumed my body. I couldn’t wait to get back to our base at Dead Men’s Isle so I could take a long hot shower to relieve the itching. We had tried to shower in our room but finally gave up. The ice cold water of the shower just wasn’t working very well.

It’s coming boys, mark my words, I told the grinning idiots. Juan was standing silently with his head bowed in front of Karen and me. I think with the driving rain he was fearful of being chased out into it.

Danny Mazuzu came out of the hotel and joined the group. The core group that made up the Sea Demons were now present. We were able to form the Sea Demons after we had found and recovered the hidden treasure that once belonged to Captain Kidd. Now everyone on our team were multimillionaires. Each of them had thrown ten million into the kitty to form our new team and Danny had donated Dead Men’s Isle to us to use as a base of operation. Dead Men’s Isle was located ten miles from Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Every member is important to the team and has a specific job they are experts on. My brother Chris was in the twin towers when they were hit by the planes on 9/11. He left investment banking for good and moved to Jamaica where he teamed up with Danny Mazuzu and bought a charter fishing boat to live out his days in peace and tranquility. Danny had a treasure map that had been in his family for at least two hundred years and I was invited down to help find the treasure after my Seal Team had been disbanded after we had destroyed a mosque to protect my team that was being attacked from it. We became scapegoats for the Iraq government who found it offensive that we had destroyed it even if it was for survival. We joined a long line of military scapegoats and were all booted out of the Navy. More details are available in the first book, Dead Men’s Isle.

Now because of my brother’s expertise in the world of finance he handles all of the bookwork for the team.

My second in command is Senior Chief Jake Morrison. He was the only member of the team who had enough years in when the shit hit the fan to collect a pension. He had twenty-three years in and had hoped to put in thirty before retiring. Steve Jones is Doc. I already told you about him. He is our field medic and better at what he can do for you in the field than any doctor as far as I am concerned. The next member we call Patch, because no one can pronounce his name. Patch is a proud Chiricahua Apache and an integral part of our team. He is our best tracker by far and an artist when it comes to using a knife. He is also our second pilot able to fly our seaplane and currently learning to fly helicopters. Scott and Dave Lofton are world class snipers. With their big fifty caliber rifles they could hit a flea’s ass from three quarters of a mile away. Brian Jennings is our go to guy for computer research. Gary Brady or just Brady can fly anything with a prop or rotor and our second troublemaker. Sam Brody is our gunsmith and machinist. He hand made all of our silencers that we use on our weapons. Bill Wagner is our Radioman/communications expert. Danny Mazuzu is the captain of the Sea Eagle. The Sea Eagle is a one-hundred-and-sixty-foot yacht that we converted to our needs after we took it away from Captain Jack during the hunt for our treasure. My new bride Karen Chambers formerly Karen Jacobs is a registered nurse and the second half of our medical team.

They call me LT, I was the team leader while our Seal Team was still active. I continue to be the leader of our new team. I am a six-degree black belt. My specialty is martial arts. I have blinding speed and have never come close to ever losing at a competition back when I competed. I was a second-degree black belt before I started learning from a grandmaster in San Diego. I had to finally stop competing out of fear of killing someone. He taught me that you can’t defend against speed. Speed will beat you every time. I studied under him for as long as I was able to before being stationed in Iraq. When I left he told me I was by far the best pupil he had ever had bar none. I’m not bragging, just stating facts.

After the treasure was discovered and we had our yacht we needed to add more team leaders to our team. They are paid employees and not shareholders. Chief York is in charge of the ships armaments that includes missiles and our air defenses chaff and chain or Gatling guns. He got the men he needed to man his command center aboard the ship.

We also added Ken Labby, also known as Red Dog for his flaming red hair. Red Dog was a career marine and the head of security. He provides security on the island when we are away and also on the Sea Demon when we are deployed off the ship. He also hired the men he needed to provide the security for us. That is the core of our group. We have others who work for us. Members of Red Dog’s and Chief York’s teams. Cooks and engine room mechanics. There are also wives and kids on the island that belong to our mechanics and some of the cooks.

Once we get back to the island we need to have a team meeting after Karen and I have a chance to scrub off this orange itch, I informed the snickering Seal Team.

Come on LT, you’re not going to keep on about last night, are you? Patch asked me between laughs.

If you can give me a little bit of time I can research cures for your itch, Brian our computer expert laughed out.

After your antics last night, we got a call from Bob Hale, the National Security Advisor in Washington. He wants us there yesterday, I informed them while ignoring Brian’s offer.

What’s up LT? Chief Morrison asked me as the grin slipped off of his suddenly serious face.

We don’t know yet. He wouldn’t disclose the situation over the phone. Washington has a government jet on its way to Montego Bay to take Chris and I to a meeting at the White House, I explained to the now serious team.

We are going to be rocking and rolling on the trip out to the island while this storm lasts. If our two, cabin cruisers were smaller vessels I wouldn’t even try it Rick, Danny informed me.

I looked to the sky at the fast traveling clouds. I know Danny but luckily the storm is traveling from the south west. Jamaica will protect us part of the way to our island before the waves can build back up. I checked and the winds are at forty miles an hour. We should be able to weather the storm with no problem, I told him.

Well hell, let’s get going then. We have a job to do, Doc said as he pushed off of the pillar he was leaning against.

We have to say goodbye to our guests first and explain to them that we have to leave, Karen said. We had booked the entire hotel for our guests for the weekend of our wedding.

That could take most of the day LT. They could be straggling out all morning long, Dave complained.

We’ll hang around for an hour and the ones we talk to can pass the word out that we had to leave for an emergency, I told them.

By ten in the morning we were loading into a line of taxi cabs for the ride to the marina. Danny was the pilot of one of the boats and my brother Chris was the pilot of the other. The boats were called the Monster Hunter and the Island Hopper. Names they had since their days of being charter fishing boats.

Get us home guys, I told the two as we ran as a group for the boats while dragging our suitcases behind us. All of us crowded into the cabins while the pilots took the wheels down below in the cabins. They had a choice of steering from the flying bridge out in the open or down below sheltered from the storm.

Chris fired up the twin diesels and let them idle while warming them up. One or two of you will have to go out and untie the boat, Chris said while grinning over his shoulder.

Doc, duty calls, Sam said with a big grin on his face.

Awe, hell, you go and do it Sam, Doc said as he eyed the grinning team mates uncomfortably.

You know I would Doc but I just took a round in my ass in Cuba and it still pains me something fierce. Especially when it storms like it is right now, Sam said with a grin.

Doc eyed Sam and the rest of the team mates in the cabin suspiciously. I ain’t believing it for a minute that that there itty bitty wound is still bothering you, Doc informed him.

Did you see that, boys? Patch said while pointing at Doc with a shocked look on his face.

Why, what did you see Patch? Brady asked with a knowing grin. I just saw a chigger leap clean across his head and land on his shoulder. We’re all liable to get them! Patch told them.

Now you just hold on for one minute! You ain’t going to pull that on me again like you did during that hurricane in Cuba! Doc said, getting to his feet. While in Cuba they had the thing going about chiggers and made Doc strip naked and scrub down out in the middle of a category two storm. When he came back in he was solid red welts from the driving pellets of rain. The other team members were grinning at him like predators. It had been a struggle getting Doc out into the rain. More than one member of the Seal Team had taken a boot or an elbow from Doc. Some of them were in pretty sensitive areas.

Come on Doc, I’ll give you a hand. Here’s two raincoats hanging on the back of the door, Brady said, showing pity for the medic.

Land sakes, getting so a feller can’t even get out of the rain without folks causing all sorts of trouble. You all can go straight to hell next time you get a sliver or a bullet or something, Doc groused as he donned the offered raincoat.

As we motored out of Montego Bay the waves started to build and soon we were going through six footers.

Doc and Brady were sitting on both sides of Juan. Every member of our team had adopted Juan and were his uncles. The three sat whispering before they broke out in song.

Just sit right back

And you’ll hear a tale

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port

Aboard this tiny ship

Soon we were all joining them in the well-known song. We can have fun and be goofy when the situation allows but when it’s time to do our jobs we are deadly serious.

It took us more than an hour to get to Dead Men’s Isle. With the high waves, we had to cut the throttles to keep the boats from getting beaten apart. The rain was starting to lessen as the worst of the storm slid by our four-hundred-acre island.

We’ll meet in the ops boardroom in an hour to go over things, I told those on our boat as Karen, Juan and I took off running for our house to get out of the rain.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Chapter Two

It was nearly one o’clock when we started to gather for the meeting in our ops center. The ops center was made of concrete and brick. It was air conditioned and as plush as any office building you could find anywhere.

I had the cook staff bring in trays of cold sandwiches, potato salad and pitchers of lemonade. The stockholders of our company had private homes on the island and sometimes ate at home and sometimes in our cafeteria. We had dormitories built for some of the hired crews. Our engine room mechanics had private homes built too because they were family men with wives and kids. Juan was off playing with their kids now while we met for our meeting.

Karen and I sat eating our lunch while the rest of the team came straggling in, grabbing their food from the side table before sitting down at the board room table to eat.

I started the meeting off once the last member of the team sat down. As I told all of you in Montego Bay, I received a call from Washington late last night. They have a situation for us to handle that they didn’t want to discuss over the phone. Chris and I will be traveling to Washington for the meeting. While we’re gone we need to have the rest of you take inventory of our supplies and replenish those we used in Cuba. I know we have some medical supplies that need to be ordered. We used almost all we had when we came into the village and discovered the massacre in progress there. We still have to bill Sam too, Doc said with a grin. Sam got a suspicious look on his face. What do you have to bill me for Doc? Sam asked him.

Why, we have to recover the cost of operating on your tush, your butt, you know, your ass! We have to recover the cost of bandages, antibiotics, local anesthetic and a set of crutches, Doc told him, looking serious.

Doc, you can just stick that idea up your own ass sideways! Here I go and take one for the team and this is the thanks I get for putting my ass on the line, Sam complained good naturedly to the laughter of the others in the room.

That was a stray bullet you caught, you were not the intended target. But you sure did catch it in an interesting place, har. har, har, Patch laughed out as he slapped the table.

Let’s stay on topic, people. Doc, you and Karen are in charge of resupplying our medical stores. Make sure we have enough of everything, I told him. I thought we had plenty when I ordered the supplies. We didn’t know we would be going into a bloodbath, Karen explained.

Yeah, I know it was unexpected and may never happen again but let’s plan for it anyway, I said.

Karen and I will start going over everything and make up a list this afternoon LT, Doc promised.

Jake, have Scott and Dave inventory all of our small arms ammunition for the Glocks and the M4 carbines. Make sure they have enough ammo for the sniper rifles too, I told the senior chief.

Make sure I have the phone number for Rusty so I can call him and get our supplies coming our way, Chief Morrison said.

Rusty Patterson was a Canadian gun dealer we used to supply us with certain needed items.

After the meeting, remind me and I will get the phone number for you chief, I said before moving on.

Chief York, go over the munitions on the Sea Eagle and Sea Demon and let Jake know what you need ordered. Have your team go over our air defenses to make sure everything is in tip top shape. Right now, I don’t know where our mission will take us and if we will even be able to take our ship there, I explained to him.

We’ll get right on it as soon as the meeting is over, Chief York promised me.

The Sea Demon, named after our team, was a thirty-eight-foot cigarette boat that had four three hundred horse power outboard motors mounted in its transom. In the bow hidden under the front deck were two twenty millimeter cannons. When not in use she hung on the stern of the Sea Eagle from her davits.

Brady, I know we went through a hell of a lot of ammunition for the chain gun on the helicopter, not to mention rockets out of the rocket pod. Let the chief know what we need replenished, I told the pilot.

Okay LT. We have to look at the FLIR camera too. It got wet during the hurricane and didn’t work quite right after that. When we got back we took off the inspection covers and dried it with a hair dryer and that seemed to fix it. But we need to do something more permanent to keep it from happening again, Brady explained.

Alright, Sam, why don’t you see if you can’t seal it up so we don’t have any more issues, I told our gunsmith.

I should be able to seal it up with silicone. Brady, why don’t you and Patch take the bird for a spin after the meeting and make sure it’s working properly before I seal it. I’d hate to seal it up tight only to have to take it back apart again because it wasn’t working, Sam told him.

Will do, Sam. We have to take LT and Chris to the airport this afternoon on the helicopter. We’ll make sure it’s working right then, Brady promised. Brian, while they’re sealing up the FLIR I want you to check all of the wiring connections and make sure they are waterproof, I told our computer specialist. I’m on it LT. Bill can give me a hand tracing out the wiring and checking the connections, Brian said.

Danny, we need to go over food stores on our ship and make sure they are fully stocked. Top off all of the tanks, fuel, both for the ship and for our smaller craft. Make sure our water tanks are full, I told the ship’s captain.

Sure Rick, I planned on doing that once your wedding was over anyway, Danny informed me.

Check with the kitchen staff here on the island and resupply them while you’re at it, I added in.

My phone picked that time to ring. Looking at it I saw it was a Washington phone number. Rick Chambers speaking, I said.

Rick, this is Bob Hale. The government jet should be landing in Montego Bay right about now, the national security advisor informed me. Alright, Chris and I will head on over to the airport now, I told him. Thanks Rick. I will have a car standing by at Dulles Airport to bring the two of you to the White House, he promised before hanging up.

The government plane is landing. Is there anything else we didn’t cover? I asked the team.

Once we get the helicopter gone over LT I’d like to continue my training on it, Patch mentioned.

Sure Patch, keep at it. Having a second pilot that can fly helicopters is a valuable asset for the team, I said. Patch already piloted our float plane and was working hard to earn his license for helicopters.

Thanks LT, Patch said gratefully.

We’ll get right on it LT. Patch is close to being ready to take his test, Brady informed me.

Good, the meeting is over. Chief, come into my office and I will get you the phone number. Chris, we need to change into our business suits for the meeting and pack an overnight bag. I don’t know if we will get back tonight or not, I told my brother.

What about our hand guns? Do we leave them here on the island? Chris asked me.

We don’t go anywhere unarmed Chris, you know that. We could be targeted in the airport walking to the waiting jet, you never know. When we get to the White House I’m sure we’ll have to surrender our weapons while we are in the meeting and pick them up afterwards. But make sure you’re armed and have at least one spare clip on you, I explained.

Okay Rick, if you say so, Chris said.

The meeting is over. We’ll meet again when Chris and I get back and let you know the particulars and then the team can decide if we’ll accept the mission or not, I said as I pushed back my chair and got up.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Chapter Three

Patch, land us by the heliport. I see the government jet has landed and is standing by for us to board, I said into my headset.

Sure thing LT, I’ll set it down just like I was landing on hen’s eggs, Patch promised.

Not like last time when the two of you scared the hell out of our first customers? Chris said grinning.

Now Chris, you know that was just a misunderstanding. We were just testing out the new joystick we installed out of that combat helicopter, Brady said with fake innocence.

Montego Bay control this is November six seven two niner requesting landing clearance at the heliport, over, Patch said, keying his mic. November six seven two niner you are clear to land. Wind is out of the southwest at eight miles an hour over, a voice replied.

Roger that Montego Bay control, this is the Seahawk, out Patch said ending his transmission.

Chris and I grabbed our overnight bags and headed over to the waiting government corporate jet. The pilot and copilot were waiting on the tarmac for us. Are you Lt. Chambers? the ranking officer asked me.

Not anymore captain, it’s just Rick now. This is my brother Chris and he will be traveling with us.

Yes sir, if you would get settled into your seats we’ll get clearance for take-off, the captain said as the four of us shook hands.

It was a quick flight up the east coast of the United States and sooner than expected we were landing at Dulles Airport.

Chris gave out a low whistle as he looked out his window. This must be pretty important Rick. It looks like they have a whole motorcade waiting for us, Chris said.

They live for motorcades in this town. Someone probably has another meeting they need to get to so they want us there fast so they can get to their next meeting, I explained.

There were three limos in our motorcade and six motorcycles front and back. Everyone’s lights were flashing. If nothing else it was an impressive sight for anyone who has never seen one.

We went through the gates of the White House without stopping and pulled up to an entrance. Marine guards were standing at attention on both sides of the entrance when we went through the doorway and then through a metal detector that beeped loudly.

Are either one of you armed? a young secret service agent asked us in a bored voice.

We both are, I admitted.

The agent pulled out a couple of bins. Put your weapons and spare clips in these bins and walk back through the detector. They will be returned to you when you leave the White House, He explained.

He gave us tickets for our weapons and we were led into an elevator for a trip down into the basement below.

The meeting is being held in the situation room. It’s being run by the vice president. The president is away at a summit, our guide told us. He motioned us through a doorway into a large room filled with older men sitting around a conference table.

We have a problem Bob, a man sitting on the left side of the vice president informed the national security advisor.

Bob let out a sigh of frustration. What’s the problem now?

Lieutenant Chambers possesses a top-secret clearance but his brother has never been vetted. He doesn’t have the clearance to attend this meeting, it wouldn’t be proper, he said with a degree of smugness.

Now if anyone knows anything about me at all it is this. I would make a shitty proctologist. I don’t get along with assholes at all. Who is this asshole Bob? I asked him. I could see my brother out of the corner of my eye trying to keep from smirking because he knew what was coming.

He is the director of the FBI Rick, Bob said reluctantly, knowing what was coming.

What the hell would an asshole like you know about what is proper. I might live in Jamaica but I still see the news. All your VISA warrant abuse and your illegal wiretaps have made you look like a third world goon squad. You only follow the rules when it’s to your benefit. I still don’t know why you still have a job and aren’t stamping out license plates in a federal pen, I told him as I looked him in the eye.

He started to get out of his chair as his face got red with rage. Now see here! he started to sputter.

The meeting is over gentlemen. You’ll have to hire the B team. We are turning down the assignment, I said, cutting him off as I turned towards the open door.

James, sit down and shut up! Lieutenant Chambers, your brother just got granted a top-secret clearance on my orders with no investigation. Please sit down and hear us out, the vice president said as he looked at the FBI director daring him to say more.

Do you want to stay or go Chris, it’s your call, I told my brother who was already out of the room.

Please Mr. Chamber stay. There will be no more outbursts from James or he will be asked to leave the meeting, the vice president said. I looked at the director of the FBI and he sat in his chair glowering like a little kid that was sitting in the principal’s office. Looking at him I could see a lot that was wrong with our government.

We came all this way Rick. We may as well hear what they have to say, Chris said as he stepped back into the room and sat down.

Thank you, the vice president said in a relieved voice.

Let me make the introductions. In the meeting are the directors of the FBI, CIA, NSA and homeland security. Also, the secretary of defense, secretary of energy, national security advisor who you already know and myself, the vice president said.

That’s a lot of powerful people to have in one meeting. This must be pretty important, Chris said, impressed with the titles of those sitting around the table. It is very important Mr. Chambers, Vice President Lansing agreed. We must be getting threats from somewhere Mr. Vice President, Chris said.

We are fearful that the oil fields in North Dakota are going to be attacked by party’s unknown. Both the Bakken and the Three Forks formations are being targeted, Vice President Lansing explained.

Where is this information coming from? I asked the group of bureaucrats.

Maybe Fred, the director of the NSA better explain that part of it to you, the vice president said, nodding at the NSA director.

We’ve been getting a lot of chatter regarding the two oil formations lately. We have never in the past intercepted any such communications. Frankly it has us worried and on edge, the NSA director admitted.

Where is the threat coming from? Is the threat domestic or Foreign in nature? I asked the group.

That’s just it, we don’t know. Some of the intercepts are in English and some are in Spanish, Fred said.

Nothing in Arabic? It’s not Islamic in nature? I asked.

If it is, they’re not using their language in order to throw us off, Fred said, shaking his head.

"Why doesn’t the FBI have a handle on it if the threat is coming from inside the United States? Chris asked.

Because it’s not coming from inside the United States. It’s coming from across the border in Canada, the FBI director informed us.

Have you talked to Prime Minister Trudeau about the situation in his country? I asked them.

Our relations have been uneasy as of late. We reached out to him to see if we could work together on the situation. Our attitude was it would be beneficial to both of us to get a handle on the situation, Vice President Lansing replied.

What was his answer? Is he willing to work with our government to head this off? Chris asked.

No, he denied us access to Canada. In fact, he closed the border down in the area between North Dakota and Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the vice president replied.

That doesn’t make sense to me. Why would he do that? I thought our two nations enjoy a strong bond, Chris said as he threw up his arms in frustration. I agree with Chris. Just look at all the fishermen, hunters and families that go up there on vacation and spend their money. Tourism is a major source of income for their country, I said.

I think it has something to do with their oil sands in the province of Alberta. The process they use to extract the oil from the sand is the most destructive method in the world and that is the biggest reason for developing the oil fields in North Dakota, Jim Bagley the secretary of energy said.

Well, didn’t developing the oil field also make us oil independent for the first time in nearly a century? Chris asked.

The answer to that is complicated Mr. Chambers, oil is a world commodity. Oil harvested in North Dakota may be sold in Europe for example while oil harvested in Saudi Arabia may end up here, the energy secretary tried to explain.

That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Why send our oil thousands of miles across oceans and then bring oil here from halfway around the world? Chris asked.

Like I said it’s complicated, the energy secretary said with no further explanations.

So, how are the oil fields in North Dakota posing a threat to the oil productions in Canada? I asked them.

It’s all about supply and demand. The more oil that is available the lower the prices are driven. Right now, the process for extracting the oil out of the oil sands is costly. They are making a profit, but not much of one. If something were to happen to the North Dakota oil formations the price of oil in the world would jump up sharply making the sale of oil sands much more lucrative, the vice president said.

For the North Dakota oil fields to be shutdown it would take an environmental disaster of epic proportions. Surely Canada would also suffer from the effects of it, I tried to reason.

I assure you Lieutenant, that was brought to their attention. Unfortunately, our arguments have fallen on deaf ears I am afraid," the vice president admitted openly.

What about the CIA, they work outside the borders of our country. What have they found out? I asked the CIA director who was sitting across the table from me.

We have agents currently poking around in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba. I don’t know how familiar you are with the geography of the area. In the south, you have vast wheat fields with patches of woods scattered everywhere. In the north its vast forests and swamps. The size of these provinces is huge. Each of the two provinces are barely smaller than the state of Texas. Together they are nearly double the size of Texas. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. On top of that most of the provinces are uninhabited, leaving vast swaths of undeveloped land. The only way in or out is by either airplane or in the winter time snow machine, Curtis Grimm, the director of the CIA explained in frustration.

We’ve tried to pinpoint the source of the chatter but it doesn’t seem to be in a stationary position, the CIA director informed us.

So that would indicate to me the source is in the southern part of the provinces. Otherwise they would be stationary because travel would be too difficult, I said.

But not if they are using a helicopter or floatplane, Curtis reminded me. The entire thing doesn’t make any sense to me. For them to be broadcasting chatter that you can listen in on they have to have someone somewhere else they are sending it to. Have you intercepted any replies to their transmissions from anywhere else? I asked.

Not a word that I am aware of at this time. It’s like they’re a radio station just sending but not receiving, the NSA director explained.

So, either it is a ruse to just stir up trouble or they are casting out their signal to many entities scattered all over hell, I said.

That was our determination as well, Lieutenant, Vice President Lansing agreed.

Are there any domestic terrorist groups in the United States or Canada that would be capable of causing an environmental disaster of these proportions? Chris asked.

Not that we are aware of. We’ve scoured our databases for anyone who could be responsible and have come up empty, James Morgan, the FBI director told us.

"The only organization I can think of that is organized and large enough is ANTIFA. But this wouldn’t be their style. They have no problem if they out number someone five to one but they’re too cowardly to put their own asses on the line. Besides that, I don’t