Chapter 3. The Restaurant

As Jason was driving his SUV to the restaurant, he thought back to when he had first met Bill. It was really by mistake. Typically, freshmen at MIZZOU in Columbia, Missouri are assigned to dorms by their field of study in order for study group purposes. Jason was in electrical engineering with a minor in computer science and Bill was in accounting with a minor in management. The college screwed up and placed Jason in the business dorm. As roommates, both Bill and he immediately hit it off. They had a lot in common. Both enjoyed the outdoors. Hunting and fishing were priorities to them, not just a pastime. Just about every weekend was spent outdoors together doing some type of activity. Occasionally, they would attend college parties, each not drinking much - if at all. Both stood 6 feet with the same athletic build and dark hair color. They physically looked like brothers. Often time, students on campus who did not know them mistook them as brothers.

In addition, both of them were from Missouri – Bill from a small town in northern part of the state and Jason from a small town an hour west of St. Louis. They both had experienced heartbreaking sorrows in their lives. Bill’s parents had died in a tragic car accident when he was a junior in high school. As an only child, Bill moved in with his grandmother to finish high school. On the other hand, Jason’s father had died when he was in grade school because of pancreatic cancer. His mother, Rose, raised both Jason and his sister, Karen, on a waitress salary. Karen was a year younger than Jason.

The major difference between Bill and Jason was their bank balances. Bill had a huge trust fund to draw upon because of his parents’ life insurance while Jason had very little. This difference, however, was not a factor in their relationship because Bill was not raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. During the time Bill lived with his grandmother, she stressed the point of preparing for a rainy day repeatedly and not spending money on anything unless it was for survival or sustenance. She was a product of the Big Depression and didn’t ever let Bill forget it. Bill took it to heart.

During spring break of their sophomore year, Jason brought Bill home to pick up some additional camping gear. That was the first time Bill met Jason’s mother Rose and his sister Karen. Jason could tell his sister was visibly uncomfortable when she was in the same room with Bill. They didn’t officially start dating until after she had graduated from nursing school four years later. However, Jason found out later that Bill and Karen called each other periodically while she was still in college. The courtship lasted close to three years before Bill popped the “will you marry me question”. Jason always knew it was only a matter of time between them since Karen shared many of the same interests that Bill had. Jason was Bill’s best man at their somewhat modest wedding.

Upon college graduation, Bill immediately started with an accounting job at Mr. Statten’s company in O’fallon, Missouri. The company made liquid and gas valves with corresponding control systems. Jason on the other hand, stayed unemployed for about six months until landing a job with a small design firm that did subcontract work for other companies. A year later, Jason finally got a job with Bill’s company. Bill had found out about the opening and had forwarded Jason’s resume’ to the engineering manager.

Jason pulled into the parking lot of Carl’s Steakhouse, parked, and walked in. Bill and Karen were being seated by the maître d' when he found them.

“I hear congratulations are in order!” stated Karen as she stood up to give her older brother a big hug.

Although Karen and Jason were siblings, their physical features were totally at opposite ends of the spectrum. Karen was petite with blonde hair – just like their mother Rose. Although small in stature, Karen could take care of herself. She had earned a black belt in Kenpo while attending college. On one occasion, she had to use her skills to disable an attacker while walking to her car alone late one evening. The assailant spent three days in intensive care and a couple of more weeks recovering in the hospital. While in recovery, he had to eat soft foods through a straw because his jaw was wired shut and to take it very easy in order for his ruptured spleen to heal. Following his hospital stay, he only got six months probation. The judge just couldn’t understand how a 6’2” 225 lb guy got such a beating by a 5’ 4” 105 lb petite looking young lady. Word has it that he still walks with a pronounced limp because of a misplaced kneecap.

“Thank you very much” said Jason. “I don’t know how much I really deserve it though. I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.”

“Do you realize that you saved Tightwad over a million dollars?" asked Bill.

“I think someone would have caught it well before the end of the first production run.” replied Jason. “Yes, it would have been a costly mistake, but I figured it would be less than 100 thousand to fix the problem.”

“But you are forgetting downtime and rework labor after the initial installations.” said Bill. “I ran the numbers in my head, even if we caught it before the end of the initial production run, the rework would have been very close to 2.8 million dollars alone.”

“I didn’t think of it that way.” pondered Jason.

Karen interrupted, “Jason, what mistake did you find? Could you put it into layman terms so even a nurse would understand it”?

“Sure Karen.” replied Jason. “Natural gas distribution between cities and towns run in huge pipes that typically have about 900 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure in them. Actually, the distribution pressure can range between 200 to 1,500 psi depending on the size of the pipe.”

“That’s a lot of pressure!”

“It sure is.” said Jason. “When it gets to a substation for a city or town, it is regulated down anywhere to ¼ psi for homes or down to 60 psi for large manufacturing places. Our company is contracted to update all of the regulators and valves in the country to make it very automated and efficient. We came up with a universal regulation system that can be adapted to any pressure configuration requirement that could be completely controlled remotely. During a final check of the system design, I found a couple of “issues” that, on the surface, were quite benign and most likely would not have caused any problems at all. However, Murphy’s Law always prevails. What can go wrong, will go wrong.”

“What do you mean?” asked Karen.

Jason continued, “Well, during design development, a couple of lines of code were injected into the firmware as a means of having the ability to test data points for the pressures. These lines read a pin on a connector. If that pin on that connector becomes grounded, it would break the system at that time which would allow us to make a data point on regulator pressures. The other issue is that our production design had a wire bundle that had a wire connected to that pin that ran back to a computer controller. If the computer controller put out a command that put a ground on that pin, the system would break.”

“What do you mean break?” asked Karen.

“By breaking, I mean that the regulator would adjust itself to supply all of the 900 pounds of natural gas to all the dwellings and homes that it is supplying.” explained Jason. “Of course, most of the pipes that are coming into the homes are quite small and the lines would most likely rupture before the majority of natural gas got into the houses. However, natural gas is lighter than air and any rupture would dissipate to the highest point. It would only seep into basements and sewers if the break was in a basement or sewer. Any spark whatsoever would be catastrophic to an entire town or city.”

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Karen.

“No need to worry. There is no longer a wire going to the pin and no firmware or software code to read that pin. That was the correction.”

“Jason, you are being too modest. That correction saved Tightwad’s butt along with our jobs.” Bill asked, “Ok Jason, what was in the envelope? Karen and I are dying to know.”

“Nope, you first. Who put me in for the award?”

“Jason, I had no idea that award was going to be presented to you today nor did any other manager. I know how you feel about being the center of attention. I also have no idea who submitted your name. The only thing the other managers and I knew was that an engineer was invited to sit in on a monthly management staff meeting. I was shocked to see you when I came into the conference room. I was going to approach you and tell you that you should be prepared to be bored silly for a couple of hours but Tightwad walked in. By the way, who invited you to the meeting?”

“Tightwad’s secretary by phone.” explained Jason.

“That’s unheard of. She only communicates with the Directors under Tightwad. Matter of fact, she never phones, emails or does any communicating to any of the office assistants in the company. Ok, will you finally tell us what was in the envelope?”

Jason remained quiet for a moment. He finally nodded his head and said, “A 200 thousand dollar bonus and a 30 percent increase in salary. In addition, I am now the lead engineer and project manager on the Haywood Project starting on Monday.”

Now it was Bill and Karen’s turn to remain quiet for a moment taking in what Jason told them.

Bill spoke first. “That is fantastic! Are you going to purchase the adjacent farm property that is for sale next to ours with the money?”

A few years back, Bill and Karen had purchased 80 acres of undeveloped land with the intention of making it their weekend get away place. It was mostly hilly, rough, and wooded. Initially, Jason was jealous; he wished he could afford to buy land. As it turned out, he spent as much time or more at the place as Bill and Karen did. If it was hunting season for deer or turkey, he was there. If it wasn’t hunting season, improvements to the property were always being done. Several improvements already were made to the property. A well was drilled. A four bedroom cabin was built. A barn was added. Approximately 10 acres of the only flat area on the property was cleared for farming. Most of the property line was fenced. Every improvement done to the property involved as much of Jason’s labor as it did Bill’s. The only difference was Bill footing the vast majority of the payments on any materials required on the place now referred to as “The Farm”.

“Absolutely”, said Jason. “I was considering getting the 40 acres anyway but didn’t like the idea of making monthly payments. Now I can buy it outright and have enough money to build my own cabin on it.”

“There goes the neighborhood.” Bill ribbed. In reality, Bill’s farming neighbors were some of the nicest people Bill, Karen, Jason, and Sarah had ever met. The neighbors watched each other’s properties like a hawk and they were not afraid to lend a hand if work needed to be done. Trust was such that if you didn’t have a set of keys to each of your neighbor’s houses that lived adjacent to your property, it was you that was considered to be the bad apple in the neighborhood.

“Have you called and told Sarah yet?” asked Karen. “I am sure she will be excited!”

His sister was the person responsible for introducing Sarah to her brother a couple of years back. Sarah had come into the emergency room with a severely cut finger while Karen was working. By profession and education, Sarah was a horticulturist. Apparently, Sarah was digging up root samples while in the field and inappropriately missed the root with a hatchet and sliced her finger. Karen was the nurse assigned to her. They had become good friends after that. Eventually, Sarah was “conveniently” invited to the farm. Of course, Karen could read people well enough to know that Sarah was a very good match for her older brother.

“No, I haven’t spoken with Sarah yet” said Jason. “I will tell her in person tomorrow morning when I pick her up at the airport.” Sarah was attending a horticulturist convention in Pennsylvania the past week. She was to have been home today (and attend dinner with them tonight) but stayed an extra evening to visit distant relatives. Sarah was like that. She always adjusted her schedule to take tactical advantage of any situation.

“Well, not to change the subject, but we have news for you” stated Karen. “You are going to be an uncle.”

“What! Congratulations! Congratulations to both of you!” exclaimed Jason. “Was this the reason for the dinner tonight?”

“Absolutely! We were going to cancel the dinner when we found out Sarah wasn’t going to be here but decided to tell you about the pregnancy anyway. Karen is dying to tell your mother that she is going to be a grandmother so we couldn’t wait any longer.” explained Bill.

“I understand. Do you have any names picked out yet?” asked Jason.

“Not yet.” Karen said. “I was hoping Sarah would help out and give some suggestions. I wish she was here tonight. I miss her.”

“So do I.” Jason said softly. Jason really did. Their relationship had really blossomed. She was part of the family. He knew he loved her but just quite couldn’t get the “L” word out yet.

The first time Jason met Sarah was at the farm. Karen had her visit on a Saturday around noon. Karen didn’t even warn Jason that a friend was coming late in the afternoon and staying for dinner. It was during the time that they were clearing out the flat area on the property. Jason was absolutely filthy from head to toe. He had been manning a chain saw in the middle of July on the hottest day of the year for a period of at least 5 hours. He hadn’t shaved that morning so the combination of dirt and saw dust was encrusted to his face. His clothes were completely saturated with sweat which made the sawdust stick everywhere.

When he first saw her at a distance talking to Karen, he kept on working figuring that she was only going to be there for a short while. When he went back to his task at hand, Karen and the woman started walking toward him. As they walked the 100 yards to him, he kept looking up at them periodically. As they got closer, he started noticing and looking at the woman with Karen a little longer each time. She was five inches taller than Karen which made her about 5’ 10”. She was wearing a Cardinals baseball hat and her brunette hair was pulled back in a pony tail through the hat adjustment hole. She was wearing a T-Shirt with a Disney character giving the finger. Her blue jeans fit her shapely body like a glove and her cowboy boots looked like she was use to wearing them. As they got to within 25 feet, he saw that her face was tanned and she was very pretty.

“What time will you two make it to the farm tomorrow?” asked Karen.

Jason snapped out of his thoughts of Sarah. “We should get there around five in the evening.” replied Jason. “I have some shopping to do with Sarah.”

“Dinner will be ready at six if you care to join us” said Karen as she winked at him.

“We will be there.” Jason did not respond to the wink. His relationship with Sarah was not open for discussion this evening.

Karen wondered what her brother was thinking. She knew that he loved Sarah but never verbally admitted it. Sarah on several occasions had confided with Karen about her feelings toward her brother. She had told Sarah that it was just a matter of time and that Jason would come around.

During dinner, the table conversation covered the due date of the baby, possible names, Jason’s new toy, Jason’s new property, building plans, a used wind mill, and the contents of the envelope. Every time they discussed Jason’s bonus and raise, they ended up being more perplexed about it. Both Jason and Bill concluded that there was a motive behind it but neither could determine what it was. This was not the modus operandi for Tightwad that both of them knew.

After dinner, Jason called Sarah while driving home. They talked at length about missing each other’s company. They talked for over two hours. He told her that he had a surprise for her tomorrow. She said she couldn’t wait.

After he shut off the cell phone, he thought “Damn! Why didn’t I say I love her!”

Jason finally lay down to go to sleep. He was up late the night before and a lot happened today. He remembered even waking up tired this morning. He thought back to when Karen introduced Sarah to him. “Jason, this is Sarah Phillips. Sarah, this is my older brother Jason.”

“It’s nice to meet you Sarah.” said Jason as he took off his glove and extended his hand to her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too. Looks like you’re working awfully hard in this heat today” she said as she shook his hand.

“Yes, clearing out the woods to make room for a garden.”

“That’s why I am out here.” informed Sarah.

“To help us clear the wood out!?” asked Jason confusingly.

“Actually, not to clear the wood but to take some soil samples. I’m going to find out what you need to specifically add to the soil to make a productive garden.”

“Wow!” he thought. “Not only pretty but she’s smart and outdoorsy, too.”

Karen had him pegged correctly. She knew her brother quite well and had found the perfect match for him.

 

Chapter 4. The Plan

“So the young engineer will be getting the new position on Monday, Assad? Do you think he will remain preoccupied so we can finish the task?”

“Yes Omar.” said Mr. Statten. “He will be overwhelmed with work and will be given an impossible schedule to deal with along with very little staff. I am also assigning some competent engineers from our project to his new project. We still have all of the original drawings and software being used for the production runs. I am creating a couple of systems that will have Mr. Fare’s modifications incorporated in case he or anyone else wants to look at the final product.”

“Very good, Assad. Keep a discreet eye on him. If all the installations go well, in a few years time, we will burn up the infidels in every city and town in America. It is very important that we keep to the schedule. Others are counting on us.”

Mr. Statten was a Saudi Arabian immigrant. The name given to him at birth was Assad Hussein. Both of his parents were killed by a misplaced American bomb when he was seven years old in the Battle of Khafji on January 29th, 1991. Orphaned, he wandered and begged for weeks just to survive. He eventually was taken in by a UN sponsored orphanage. While at the orphanage, an influential American couple adopted him (for political gain) and brought him back to St. Louis to live. Growing up in America, he wanted for nothing. Money, vehicles, and education were provided to him by his new parents. They gave him anything he wanted except he never wanted love. His adopted parents were both in a rest home now suffering from Alzheimer’s. He had inherited all of their wealth. At the age of 25, he became the sole owner of his adopted father’s company and started managing it on a day to day basis. His adopted parents had no other children.

Mr. Omar Fattah was a Saudi Arabian national. In Saudi Arabia, he was responsible for the crude oil pipelines as well as the distribution of natural gas in the country. His relationship with Mr. Statten (aka Assad), began as an innocent business association because of his job. As the months passed, his friendship and confidence deepened with Assad. It was Assad who first confided about his struggle with being an American while still hating America for killing his “real” parents. Over time, Assad was persuaded to join the “Jihad” against Americans. It was not hard for Omar to convince Assad. Omar was the only person to consistently use the name Assad when addressing Mr. Statten in private. It made Mr. Statten help accept his heritage and join the Jihadist movement.

It was an elaborate but yet fairly simple plan to execute. It would only require two engineers to work as moles in the company. One engineer would be a computer scientist to “adjust” the firmware by writing the controller software with the time bomb. The other was an electrical engineer to have the cable harness designed with the extra wire. The hardest part was already done by Mr. Statten’s adopted father who won the contracts to provide the automated regulators and valves. It was a very simple matter to market an updated control system that would save the gas companies billions if they totally automated the gas distribution system. The gas distribution companies they sold their products to took the bait. No one passes a buck up in America.

The American natural gas distribution system is quite simple although to the eye, it appears complex. From the gathering stations where the gas is collected from deep wells, the gas is cleaned of impurities and is pressured up. It is then moved from the gathering stations to the transmission system. The transmission system has over 250,000 miles of pipes. Depending on the diameter of the transmission pipes, the pressure ranges from 200 to 1,500 psi. The transmission lines also serve as “linepacks”. A linepack is nothing more than varying the pressure in the transmission line to store a variable volume of gas. The stored volume of available natural gas is then adjusted based on end user demand. The transmission lines are fed to gate stations. The gate stations reduce the pressure for consumer use and add the distinctive odor to the gas. The gate stations also proactively increase or decrease the pressure to the end users based on demand.

Making a universal control system that could be used at any gate station as well as anywhere else in the transmission system would allow a single controller design to control the entire gas distribution system. Having a single controller system with a “design flaw” installed throughout America would enable all of the regulators and valves to be completely opened if commanded. They could even be controlled all at the same time.

Jason Fare’s discovery of the error just about destroyed and shut down the entire operation. Discussions of firing or killing him were immediately dismissed because it would have caused undo attention to Mr. Statten’s company. Using the American dream of money was the easiest solution to eliminate their problem. The idea had first come from Omar but was not immediately accepted by Mr. Statten. It took a couple of meetings at the park bench in order to convince his Muslim friend that Mr. Fare could be removed very easily with money. Mr. Fattah also knew of the nickname “Tightwad” for his friend but never shared that fact with him. He had learned about that nickname from the two moles working as engineers.

“Praise Allah!” one whispered.

“Praise Allah!” the other whispered back.

They both walked away from the park bench in opposite directions.

+++++

There was much more work for Mr. Fattah to perform. He had another person to speak with on the subject of crippling most of AT&T’s fiber network. It would be a double punch. First overpressure the entire natural gas system to the end users everywhere in America and then immediately remove any network communication. Even if they couldn’t get all of the networks down, every gate station would still have to be physically visited in order to turn the high pressure valves off manually. That was the only way to reset the gate station. The loss of communication was only intended to provide additional disruptions to the fire fighting coordination after the fires started. It was only to be the icing on the cake if it worked at all.

 

So far I really like it, keep up the good work! Thanks.

 

##Note from author: Now that the characters have been developed, the story will pick up...


Chapter 5. The Question

The alarm went off sharply at 7:00AM. Jason slowly reached out to the alarm and hit the snooze button. He did not sleep well even though he got to sleep in an extra hour. He went to bed with a tremendous amount of anxiety and emotions flowing through his brain. His last conscious thought before falling asleep was about the ring. He bought one a couple of weeks ago. He wondered if today was the day to ask Sarah. The time had to be just right.

He rolled out of bed and clicked the alarm off before it started buzzing at him again. Jason showered and got dressed. Through the work week, he normally would stop at the local donut shop for coffee every morning and receive some verbal abuse from the other coffee drinking regulars. Seldom would Jason go to the donut shop on the weekends because he was typically at the farm. He probably would get abused for that today. The conversation at the coffee shop typically was guy type “solve the problems of the world” talk. He never would eat a donut, though. He only drank the coffee. Drinking coffee was probably his only bad habit that anyone could point out. On occasion, he would have one or two beers with Bill or a margarita if out to dinner. That was the extent of his alcohol consumption.

The regulars at the donut shop were made up of a diverse cross section of society’s workforce. A carpenter, a brick layer, a lawyer, a cop, a restaurant owner, an IT admin, a mechanical engineer, a farmer, a salesman, a dentist, a concrete contractor, an architect, a car mechanic, etc were common trades. It made up a good cross section of America. The only association between them was the fact that most met each other at the donut shop every morning. The interesting thing was the amount of bartering that occurred for services rendered amongst them. Money seldom changed hands unless you had no service to offer. One guy Jason knew pushed all the snow off the office parking lot for the dentist every winter. In exchange, he had free dental care for him and his family every year.

Jason pulled into the Donut Shop, parked his SUV, walked in and sat down at the counter. The waitress already had a cup of coffer waiting for him. Only a couple of the regulars were there at the counter.

“Mornin’ Jason” said one of the guys. “What brings you in on a Saturday?”

“Morning Gene” responded Jason. “Have to pick up my girlfriend at the airport this morning.”

“We were just talking about you.” said Mike, the other gentleman sitting at the counter. “We were wondering if you had your new AR ready to go. We thought you were at the farm and we were getting ready to call you.” They were interested because on occasion, a few of the coffee regulars would join together and head to Jason and Bill’s farm to get in some target practice.

Clearing out the flat land on Bill’s property also extended the shooting range on the farm from 75 yards to 200 yards. At least five of the guys from the donut shop helped out clearing the trees. Sure made the Saturday go a lot easier even though it ended up being a long day. They even cleared the back half of the property line so a fence could partially be put in. Of course, these same guys periodically show up and use the range. It was a fair trade.

“I do have the AR together but don’t have time to shoot today” replied Jason.

“That’s ok. I’m supposed to go help my brother fix his Ford tractor.” said Gene. “I was thinking of getting some range time in before hand.”

“You know you guys are welcome at the farm anytime. Good grief. Both of you guys have keys to the house and barn already” stated Jason. “You know Bill or I don’t have to be there. We trust you.”

“Yea, we know that. Just wanted to shoot your AR” Mike said smiling.

“You two alone could just about outfit an entire company of Marines. Why do you want to shoot my new AR?”

“Wanted to check the consistency of your match grade barrel.” replied Gene.

Mike and Gene were the type of people that you could rely on. Mike was an EMT and Gene was a gunsmith. A person would consider Mike an intellectual and Gene a realist. Both were good people and would go out of their way to help a friend in need out.

Jason left the donut shop shortly thereafter. He wasn’t even given a ration of verbal abuse this morning. It was a sign of a good day or so he thought. The drive to the airport took close to a half hour. He checked Sarah’s flight on the internet using his cell phone to see if it was still on time. The Delta flight was on time. She should be landing in about five minutes. He knew that she would be tired because the Philadelphia to St Louis flight started at 6:40AM with a layover in Cincinnati.

He parked his vehicle in short term parking garage and began the walk to the terminal. When he entered the terminal, his cell phone rang. It was Sarah calling.

“We just landed, honey” she said.

“Great, I am standing right outside of security” he replied. “See you in a few minutes.” He hung up the phone and stuck it back in his shirt pocket.

He stood there and waited with a dozen other people who were waiting for lovers, friends, relatives, and acquaintances to arrive from their flights.

He finally saw her walking down the aisle. “She is sure beautiful. I missed her this week.” he thought as he smiled and waved at her.

Sarah picked Jason out of the crowd and smiled and waved back. Her pace quickened to get to him. They hugged and gave each other a kiss. The kiss was a lover’s kiss. It was passionate and meaningful.

“I missed you” exclaimed Jason.

“I missed you, too” replied Sarah.

“So how were the relatives?” he said as he took her carry on bag.

“It was good to see my aunt and uncle and some of my cousins if only for a short while. Someday you will have to meet them. They are good people.”

As they began walking to the baggage return he said, “A lot has happened this week while you were gone. It looks like I can afford to purchase the property next door to Bill and Karen. I got a small bonus and a raise and it looks like I can swing it. Bill is calling the guy who is selling the property and is drawing up the paperwork as we speak. I plan on building a 4 bedroom cabin similar to Bill’s within a few weeks.”

“That’s fantastic Jason!” exclaim Sarah. “Will the small bonus and raise cover it?”

“Oh yes. I am sure it will. Along with what I have in savings, I should be able to pay cash for the property as well as the cabin.”

“It must not have been a tiny bonus.”

Jason smiled. “Actually, I was shocked when I saw the amount. I was even more shocked when I read the memo about the raise and reassignment as a project lead. I am somewhat self-conscious about it all. I still can’t believe it myself.”

“I am happy for you Jason. If anyone deserves it, you do. You work hard and have a good work ethic. I know you well. You care for people as much as you care for your work. Other people recognize it, too”

“Thank you Sarah. I love you!”

He finally said it. She abruptly stopped walking and stared at him.

She reached her arms around his neck, embraced him and kissed him again. It was a lover’s kiss, even more passionate then the one they had a minute earlier.

When the kiss ended, she said, “I love you, too Jason” A grin was on her face. “I think I loved you the moment I first saw you with all that dirt and sweat on you.”

“You have got to be kidding me! I was gross!”

“No, you looked like a man that I could fall in love with.”

They embraced each other for a while longer. People were beginning to stare at them in the airport. It was “the moment” Jason thought. He got down on one knee in front of her and held up a ring.

“Sarah, I love you. Will you marry me and be with me for the rest of our lives?”

She stood there with her mouth agape. She couldn’t believe it. Karen was right. He had come around. In one moment he told her that he loved her and the very next he was proposing.

Waiting for her response, it seemed like an eternity for Jason.

“YES! YES!” she yelled. “I will marry you!”

He placed the diamond ring on her finger.

People were clapping and taking pictures of them. Several people congratulated them. Some asked for their email address so they could send them the pictures they snapped of the moment. One person had even taken a video of them. It was their five minutes of fame and they relished it.

They stood arm in arm waiting for her bag to come out of the carousel. Sarah would periodically admire her ring. Both were smiling and staring at each other while waiting for her bag. He finally recognized her leather bag and hefted it off of the carousel. A women’s suitcase is normally heavy. Hers was not. It was like her personality though – strong and simple with nothing in it she didn’t absolutely need.

“Can I grab the bag and go to the restroom?” she asked. “It’s been a long flight.”

“Sure honey.”

She walked off to the restroom carrying her bag that was checked for the flight. He understood the reason.

They met each other outside the restroom and began the walk to his SUV. Jason carried her two bags. As they walked, they smiled and stared at each other, oblivious to anyone else. They scarcely talked the entire walk to the vehicle.

As they approached Jason’s SUV, they were interrupted.

“GIVE ME YOUR F***ING WALLET BUDDY IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU!!!” bellowed a voice behind them.

 

good so far,,ready for more!

 

Purely constructive( from a fellow writer), but who's the target audience? I feel like I'm reading a story for Junior high level reading.

 

You would be surprised how low of a reading level most books are written to. Even some classics that we read in his school are actually on the junior high level.

 

Good so far.

 

Purely constructive( from a fellow writer), but who's the target audience? I feel like I'm reading a story for Junior high level reading.

I won't pretend that I am in any way an accomplished author and I do appreciate constructive criticism.
The story is meant to elucidate the idea of "prepping" to non-preppers by means of a terrorist act.
As for reading level, I am attempting to keep it uncomplicated and unsophisticated. It is meant to be a casual read.

Thanks,
MoResident

 

Chapter 6. The Parking Lot

They turned around to see a guy pointing a revolver on them holding it with one hand. The other hand was sticking out waiting for Jason to hand him his wallet. The robber looked and acted very nervous.

“NOW MOTHER F*****!!! LADY, GIVE ME YOUR RING, TOO!!!”

Jason dropped the bags down and began reaching for his wallet. He slowly brought it out but then tossed it hard to the ground beside the robber.

“YOU MOTHER F*****!!!” the robber yelled as he looked down sideways at the billfold.

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM!

The assailant got a very startled look in his face and immediately lowered and dropped the revolver onto the concrete. He clutched his chest with both hands. Blood was visibly staining a large area of his chest. He turned around and started walking in the opposite direction. After stumbling about 25 feet, his legs started to quiver and eventually dropped to his knees. Once on his knees, he slowly sank back on his haunches. He then lay over sideways, not even catching himself as his head smacked hard against the concrete surface. The body quivered slightly for a short moment and then was very still. There was a deafening silence.

Jason looked over at Sarah. Sarah was still in a shooting stance but her Beretta Cougar 8040 was pointed at the deck and her finger was off the trigger. She flicked the decocker and slowly reholstered the Beretta in her waistband never taking her eyes off the robber. To Jason, she seemed like she had done this before. All of her actions seemed extremely deliberate.

“Don’t touch his revolver Jason.” she said as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911.

“Yes, 911, there has been a shooting in the airport short term parking garage on the third level at the main terminal. A robber has been shot and is down. Everyone is secure and safe. Please send an ambulance and police.”

Avoiding the blood trail, Jason and Sarah approached the downed assailant. A bystander seemed to appear out of nowhere and approached the assailant at the same time. There was a considerable amount of blood. The bystander started CPR.

“It was a lawful shoot Ma’am”, the bystander stated while he was repeatedly pushing the assailant’s chest. “Saw the whole thing. The way this guy was shaking though, I thought you two were going to be the one’s that got shot instead of him.”

While the CPR was being done, both a squad car and ambulance arrived on the scene. The paramedics shook their heads and took over doing the CPR.

One of the officers on the scene asked, “Ok, tell me what happened.”

The bystander pulled a badge out and displayed it. “I am an off duty St. Louis County law enforcement officer. I witnessed the entire shoot. The perp on the ground bleeding out tried to rob this couple with that gun laying there. She shot him after her husband threw his billfold down on the ground.”

The police officer said, “Ma’am, please hand me your firearm and please turn around.” He gently took possession of the Beretta, unloaded it, and handcuffed Sarah. He walked her to his squad car and gently put her in the back seat. “You” as he pointed to Jason, “do you have a firearm in your possession?”

“No sir.”

“Please walk over to that column and wait for me.”

The police officer had quite a discussion with the off duty witness. It took at least 20 minutes. Other police vehicles arrived on the scene while the witness explained what happened. The witness was quite animated with his motions explaining the story. It would have been comical except for the seriousness of the situation. Sarah looked at Jason and Jason looked back at Sarah most of the while.

The first officer on the scene finally walked over to Sarah, got her out of the car and removed the cuffs. He questioned her and wrote down everything that she said. Jason wished she would have asked for a lawyer instead of talking. This event could be turned all around to make her out to be the perpetrator instead of a victim protecting herself. After 20 minutes of questions and answers, he told her to stay put. He walked away to talk with some of the other officers.

About a half hour later, he finally walked back to Sarah and motioned Jason over to them. He was smiling as he said, “Looks like one for the good guys today.” Sarah was handed back her Beretta. The shells were given to her separately along with the eleven round magazine.

“Nice piece - 40 cal – it did the job very effectively.” stated the officer. Under normal circumstances, we would arrest you and take you in for questioning. Your gun would be held until the DA cleared you. However in this case, you have an outstanding witness that corroborates your story. In addition, the parking garage security cameras have it all on video. The video confirmed everything you said and what the witness said. By the way, the perp you killed had a record that is longer than my wife’s weekly grocery list. He is currently out on probation for shooting someone else a few years ago. I am sure once we do a ballistic test on his gun, we may solve one or two outstanding murder cases.

“He’s dead?” inquired Sarah. She was clearly starting to get visibly upset. Jason held her close.

In a matter of fact tone of voice, the police officer replied, “Oh yes. Looks like two through the heart and one right above it. Your witness who happens to be a police officer said you were extremely fast. He didn’t even see you pull your firearm out. You must practice. It is good to see citizens take the time and effort to protect them selves. It makes our jobs easier.”

“Yes, we do. We practice quite a lot.” she said as she looked at Jason. “It’s just that I have never shot or killed someone before. It’s distressing.”

“If you were not distressed, you would not be normal” replied the policeman. “Although a person trains, practices, and goes through many “what if” scenarios in their head, the realization that their actions killed someone is never easy to digest. That is, of course, you are not a sociopath in the first place. The police officer then turned to Jason and inquired, “How come you don’t have a CCW permit like your girlfriend? You have a clean record.”

Jason gave him no answer. He just shrugged his shoulders.

It was just about noon when Sarah and Jason were released and were free to leave the scene of the robbery. They walked to Jason’s SUV holding hands. They hugged. They both trembled. From experiencing love to experiencing their own demise within 10 minutes of each other strained their well being. After sitting down in the SUV, they just sat there contemplating the entire event.

Jason spoke first. “Thank you Sarah. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being strong. Thank you for saving my life today. Thank you for accepting my hand in marriage. Have I told you how much I love you lately?”

She smiled, leaned over, kissed him on the cheek and gave him another hug. They were cheek to cheek just sitting there. Emotionally, they were both drained.

“I thought when someone got shot, they fall down like in the movies.” stated Jason. “The guy possibly had two bullets through his heart and still walked 25 feet. He could have shot us both instead of trying to get away.”

“That is why I took the third shot” explained Sarah. “He was still a threat until he dropped his gun. I would have kept pulling the trigger if he wouldn’t have dropped it. Most people who get shot don’t fall down like you see in the movies. Unless the brain or spinal cord is hit, it takes time to lose consciousness because of the loss of blood. You are right. The robber was very much capable of shooting us even with three bullets in his chest. His reaction is typical of an untrained shooter. His priority switched to self preservation after he was shot. That is why he tried to get away.”

“You seemed to know what you were doing – before and even after the shooting.”

“Yes, the mental preparation for a possible shooting is part of the training I took. By the way, throwing the billfold down on the ground on his weak side was an excellent move. It distracted the robber enough to take his eyes and gun off of us. Thank you”

“In all actuality, I just wanted him away from us. I wasn’t even thinking about distracting him. Honey, you know, I always thought that you were paranoid for carrying your pistol all the time. Now I understand you were just being prepared and not paranoid. It’s like my sister having a black belt – she wouldn’t hurt a fly unless she had to. No difference. I couldn’t even answer the cop when he asked me why I didn’t have a conceal carry permit. Now I feel stupid.”

“Welcome to my world Jason. You will make a wonderful husband.” She kissed him again.

“I suppose I should call Bill and Karen and tell them what went down this morning before they see this on the news” said Jason.

“It maybe too late already” replied Sarah. “Didn’t you notice all the TV crews there? We were in the parking garage for at least a couple of hours.”

Jason dialed Karen on the cell phone. “Hey Karen, I just picked Sarah up at the airport and we ran into some difficulty.” - pause
“You saw it on the news?” - pause
“Yes, that was us standing there.” - pause
“Yes, we were the one’s he was trying to rob.” - pause
“We’re ok. We’re not hurt” - pause
“Sarah is not in trouble. No - no lawyer is needed” - pause
“We had an off duty police officer as a witness” - pause
“You saw a picture of me on my knees in front of Sarah?” - pause
“Yes, I proposed.” - pause
“Yes, she said yes.” - pause
“No, no date has been set yet.” - pause
“I guess I can’t surprise you with anything!” - pause
“Yes, we are still planning to be there for dinner” - pause
“Oh sure, easy for you to say – you weren’t there.” - pause
“OK, see you in awhile.”

He hung up the cell phone and said, “Jeesh - someone recognized us from inside the airport when they started televising the shooting. Someone emailed the pictures of me proposing to you to a TV news station! Someone even leaked the garage security video on TV! What a fricken day! Isn’t anything private anymore?”

They both started laughing. They needed the emotional release after what they went through.

He started the SUV and began the trip to the farm. Along the way, they stopped at Jason’s apartment to pick up his newly assembled AR-15. That wasn’t the only reason they stopped. The passion between them couldn’t wait until evening.

 

Excellent!

 

Thanks! pretty good so far

 

Great story so far. Thanks

 

good read - and as you said the action is picking up. that's what we all like.

 

Very good thank you for the new chapter.

 

Thanks

This is a great plot scenario, and the writing is as good as any on here.

I asked a guy who runs a natural gas plant if the compressors run on electricity. He said, no, they run on gas. So I asked if in the case of the power going out, they would still run? He said, you mean like an EMP hit? The PLC controllers will shut the engines down if they don't see good oil pressure, etc.

That happened last year when NM lost natural gas due to Texas power outages.

So this is a good topic to explore. Thanks for your fast posting, too.

 

Great, just what I need. Another excellent story to keep up with on the boards.:thumb:

 

Chapter 7. The Farm

Bill and Karen were standing on the porch of their cabin when Jason and Sarah drove up. They had heard Jason’s SUV when it drove over the cattle grate at the entrance to their driveway. The SUV parked and Jason and Sarah got out. Jason grabbed Sarah’s bags and both of them walked to the cabin. Hugs were exchanged between all four of them.

“Oh my goodness Sarah, how are you doing?” asked Karen. “I remember when I was attacked and I got the adrenaline rush afterwards.”

“I am doing fine now. I think your brother might need another hug though.” she said smiling.

“Let’s go in and sit down. You had an exciting morning! Congratulations on your engagement! I knew my brother would come around!” said Karen.

“Come around?” asked a bewildered Jason. “That’s the second time I heard that today. Did you two have this planned?”

“Yes, come around. The day I first had Sarah visit, I figured it was a match made in heaven. I just had to get you two together. You were smitten by her the first day you met her. Tell the truth.”

Jason just smiled. “I was infatuated, no doubt about it. Just took me awhile to figure out that it was love and not lust.”

They went into the cabin and sat down in the great room. Sarah began to inform them of the events that occurred in the morning. She started when she first saw Jason at the airport and concluded with them stopping to pick up the AR-15 at Jason’s apartment. Of course, the private details of Jason’s apartment visit were appropriately left out.

Karen had recorded the newscasts of the airport shooting. The security video was in black and white so it wasn’t as graphic as real life. You could not see any of the resultant blood. The video also left out the scene where the robber fell down on his side and quivered. Of course, when the picture was shown of Jason in front of Sarah on his knees with the ring in his hand, everyone in the room started laughing.

“That was romantic!” said Karen.

Jason blushed.

“I have an announcement for you Sarah.” exclaimed Karen. “Bill and I are going to have a baby!”

“Congratulations!” said Sarah. “Wow, I’m going to be an Aunt, too!”

Sarah started crying. It was the first time Jason had seen her cry. She was always so strong. He held her tight.

“I’m OK!” sobbed Sarah. “It’s just that I am so happy. I’m getting married and my best friend is going to have a baby! This is the happiest day of my life.”

They spoke a while longer in the great room. Eventually, the women got up and made their way into the kitchen to talk and left the boys to their typical planning session. Bill got out the property information for Jason and they went over it together. Other plans were discussed about getting completely off the grid and creating their own power. Jason tossed around ideas about building his own permanent magnet DC wind generators along with some solar panels. It would also require getting deep cell marine batteries and a large power inverter. Bill and Karen’s house would have to have additional wiring put in to run some things with DC voltage while keeping the AC lines intact. Jason would have his house prewired with both AC and DC outlets. Much like an RV is configured.

“Not to change the subject Bill, but I am going to get a concealed carry permit. After today, I totally understand why Sarah is never without her Beretta.” Jason said. “She saved both of our lives today.”

“I agree with you. Karen and I also discussed it today after watching the news. I was going to bring it up to you if you didn’t. We’ll all go together.”

“Karen wants one, too?”

“Yea, she does. Even though she could kick the crap out of all of us, she can’t move faster than a bullet.”

The menu for dinner was rib eye steaks, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob. Everything was cooked on the charcoal grill outside by Bill. While dinner was cooking, Bill and Jason continued on with their planning session. When the food was done, dinner was served on the picnic table. Unbeknownst to them, the ritual of community eating would become common place in the future out of necessity and not companionship.

 

Good chapter, excellent story!

 

Chapter 8. Another Park Meeting

A Little Over Two Years Later
September 6, 2012
9:30AM

It was a warm fall morning. Brightly colored leaves were beginning to descend from trees in the park. Two nondescript well dressed Middle Eastern men in business suits were sitting on a park bench innocently watching the activity of children playing in front of them.

“Assad, is everything going as we had planned? Has the young engineer been any trouble at all?”

“Omar, everything is going as planned. Our production of the system finished well ahead of schedule. Also, the installations were completed ahead of schedule as well. The entire project was a success and has made me a lot of money.”

He continued on, “The engineer has been extremely busy these past two years. He has not even had time to even take lunch breaks. He puts in extra hours to ensure everything for his project is done properly. He somehow worked in time to get married and build a new house in the country. He and his wife are going to have baby very soon. He absolutely has had no time at all to look in on his old job. I did as you suggested and gave him another raise as a wedding gift with a personal note attached. You were correct. Americans are preoccupied with money. I am happy with the investment.”

“Very good, Assad. Allah is watching over us. This will be the last time we meet in America. Make sure you have your business trip planned as scheduled so you are not caught up in the devastation. “

“Praise Allah!” one whispered.

“Praise Allah!” the other whispered back.

Again, they both walked away from the park bench in opposite directions.

All was going well with their plan. So well, in fact, other countries were procuring Mr. Statten’s control system through third party American subcontractors. Without Mr. Fattah’s knowledge, even Saudi Arabia was one of the countries receiving the upgrades, too.

+++++

“Hey Charlie, did you get any pictures of that other guy sitting on the park bench?”

“I did but it was from a bad angle. I couldn’t get any front shots with the camera. We’ll have to review the video to see if it got anything better.”

“Any idea who the other guy is?”

“No, never seen any pictures that looked like him before.”

“Should we follow him? He’s going in the opposite direction.”

“No, our orders are only to follow Fattah.”

“I’ll call it in.”

“Wish we had the park bench bugged.”

The two gentlemen were with the FBI. They were sitting in a van with dark tinted windows 200 yards from the park bench. Mr. Fattah had been assigned to them to follow because NSA had intercepted a long distance phone call between Fattah and a suspected terrorist in the U. S. a week earlier. Everything the Feds had on Fattah indicated that he was a normal everyday business person except for the one intercepted phone call. It could be coincidence or something else. They just had to be sure it wasn’t something else. As Fattah traveled from place to place in the U.S. for the last week, each local FBI office would pick up his tail and monitor his activities.

Upon review of the surveillance video, it was found that the gentlemen with Mr. Fattah never turned his head to face the camera. All they had was height, weight, hair color, and possible age. The situation board got updated in the FBI office. A frame with a large question mark over a picture of a man’s back was added. It was labeled “The Park Meeting” with a dark line drawn to a picture of Fattah.

 

Added my vote on this thread, why it was not a five star is beyond me?!?! Thank you for your work, good stuff!

 

thank you

a good read, excellent story, hope you keep it up!

 

Thanks for the story, hope there is more.

 

Thanks another good chapter.

 

Thanks!! Good read!

 

Excellent so far. Thank you.