On the upcoming Sunday there would be a memorial service, he told them, for Molly and the other loved ones who’d been lost. Soon a monument would be erected on these grounds for a more permanent remembrance of their sacrifice, a place where all could visit and honor those who’d fought and died to keep them free.
As for the future, his message was simple: the battle would go on, but there was going to be a change.
“There’ll be no more time wasted,” Noah said, “in trying to convince people who refuse to get the message. That’s over now; I’m pulling up the gangplanks. We’ve lost too much already trying to wake people up who won’t even be bothered to think for themselves. From this point on it’s not going to be about what we say, but what we do.
“So, to all of you out there who can see me or hear my voice, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to found this country again, starting right here. This place is where the future begins, and if you’re really up to the challenge, you’re welcome to come here and roll up your sleeves and be a part of it. We’re small now, like a pebble dropped into calm water, but what we build and what we become will spread out from here, and grow.
“And to our enemies, I’ve only got this to say. You can do your worst, and I’m sure that you will, but mark my words: Liberty is not going to end here—not in my generation.
“This piece of ground is where we stand. We’re going to give everyone here and everyone out there something to work for, and fight for, and hope for. We’re going to give these children a free land to inherit and pass on. And I know that in these times, with all the damage that’s been done, that may sound like a grand ambition. But when it comes to aiming high, believe me, I learned from the best.
“Moving forward, we’ll each do what we can. For my part, I’m not much of a hand with tools or farming or any other practical skill, but I’m not completely useless. To protect you and represent you, I might someday have to go and run for office, maybe to serve in the capitol down in Cheyenne. Someday after that I might even have to hold my nose and travel to Washington, D.C., if any shred of a constitutional government is still standing there by then.
“But all that’s in the future. For now, we have some new resources that will help sustain us through these early days, and we also have new friends who’ll do the same.
“I want to welcome all of you. It’s not going to be easy, but I doubt any one of you would really expect it to be. You know, as I do, that our rewards will only come from the trials of the struggle ahead.”
Noah looked around at all the faces before him and it occurred to him then that he should stop now, and take his own good advice. There’d been more than enough said already; it was time to begin to do. With a few closing words the meeting was over and he bid them all good night.
• • •
Despite what Hollis had said about him, that dog seemed to have taken an immediate shine to his new roommate. On Noah’s walk home the animal emerged silently from some hunting expedition in the nearby woods and sauntered up beside him, and then stayed with him all along the way.
When he was almost to the cabin, Noah paused at a great granite stone that had been hauled up and placed to the side of the main trail. The dog sat beside him, and waited.
This was the stone that would serve as the basis of the monument he’d mentioned to the crowd. It was still quite rough from the quarry and would take a great deal of work and polish before it was done. But when it was completed, it would no doubt still be standing with its message for a thousand years to come.
A stencil had been perfectly hand-lettered and taped in place to serve as a guide for the stonecutter’s chisel. Noah read over the closing words there, and when he was finished he read them once again, aloud.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:
’tis dearness only that gives everything its value.
Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed
if so celestial an article as freedom
should not be highly rated.
There weren’t going to be any names carved on this memorial stone. There would be far too many, and too many more were still to come. This fight had been going on since the dawn of man and it certainly showed no signs of ending anytime soon.
He took it slow along the path as he walked the rest of the way, and when he reached the cabin he found his friend there, already tending to some minor maintenance around the hearth.
“Nice speech,” Hollis said.
“Thanks. Hey, I need your help with something. Probably you and Lana and Tyler.”
“Just name it.”
“Back in Colorado, Ira Gershon gave me a little radio to listen to, something Molly’s people—” He stopped himself. “Something our people used to stay in touch in that prison. It was just some wires and a few pieces cobbled together; it didn’t even need a battery. I wish I could show it to you but I had to leave it behind.”
“Sounds like an old foxhole radio. Hell, I just need a coil, a razor blade, a pencil lead, and a safety pin, and I can toss together one of those before lunch tomorrow. If I can dig up a crystal and a cat’s whisker it’ll be even better, just like uptown.”
“No, I don’t need a receiver,” Noah said. “I’m going to need a transmitter.”
Hollis thought about that for a moment, and then he smiled and stood to leave. “Okay, then. I’ll see you in the morning.”
When he’d gone Noah found that though he was tired he wasn’t quite ready for sleep. He went to the front window, where the dog, Cody, was again sitting and watching the landscape, as though a loved one might still be out there, trying to find her way home.
Noah had little idea of what the coming day would bring. He wasn’t certain of very much, in fact, but he knew one thing for sure. Now he had what he’d lacked for so many wasted years. Now he had a mission.
Aaron Doyle and his minions, Warren Landers, if he was still out there alive and scheming—they would all soon be wishing for the days when they had only Molly Ross to worry about.
Epilogue
As morning came to his desert paradise, as the dawn’s first light touched the very pinnacle of his crystal palace in Dubai, Aaron Doyle stood at the tall, wide windows and listened to the rain begin to fall.
This time it wasn’t any mere man-made shower that he’d summoned for his own brief amusement. As uncanny as it was in this arid climate, these angry clouds had formed completely of their own accord. As he’d watched, they spread and filled and darkened, they flashed and rumbled, moving slowly inland from the roiling sea at the bidding of the hand of another.
The storm worsened, the overcast advanced to hide the eastern sun. He felt something arising within him, something that had been rare indeed through the many triumphs and defeats in his long, storied life.
For just one terrible moment, he was afraid.
The doubt lingered only briefly and then it was gone, and then a comforting fury rushed in to fill the awful vacuum in his heart. On an impulse he pushed open the sliding door and the violent wind and rain lashed in and nearly struck him down. But he kept his feet beneath him, fought back into the face of the tempest, reached out blind, and staggered to the rail.
“Here I stand!” Doyle shouted. “And here I’ll stand against you, to the end!”
He raised his spindly arm and shook his fist to the heavens, bellowing his rage over the rising thunder, and as he swore damnation on anyone or anything that would ever dare to challenge him again, he felt more alive than he had in many years.
• • •
When they’d searched for their frail master and spotted him through the windows, the servants were so overcome with worry that a brave few finally risked his wrath to venture out onto the narrow balcony and bring him back inside.
They’d walked him to his study, and there he sat before the fire, wrapped in thick blankets and surrounded by fussing caretakers. There was no need for all this concern; he
was strong again, so strong it was far beyond their understanding. He sat up when he could endure no more coddling and dismissed them with a motion of his hand.
He had wasted several precious days in the doldrums, but that was over now. Embraced in the solace of all his relics and his priceless material things, he collected his thoughts and considered his options in the light of the recent events.
These latest developments had been quite unexpected, but how invigorating it was to have the gauntlet thrown down before him once again. It was a new beginning; the game was now reset to its starting positions. Though he harbored no real doubt of his ultimate victory, he felt eager as a child for this final, deciding contest to commence.
Aaron Doyle looked across the ancient chessboard, and gave a sly old smile to the empty chair on the other side.
“Very well, then, Mr. Gardner,” he said. “Your move.”
Afterword
As readers of The Overton Window already know, I love “faction”—fictional novels that are rooted in fact. The Eye of Moloch fits that genre well, and I hope you’ll spend some time searching online for any of the words or events included in the story that you suspect might have some truth to them.
I don’t want to ruin all of the surprises, but here are a few things to get your hunt started.
In Chapter 1 we see the impressive strength of the country’s domestic weapons arsenal. The following information gives a look into some of the known capabilities of the Department of Homeland Security.
“Modernizing the Department of Homeland Security’s Aerial Fleets,” Lexington Institute, Daniel Goure, February 29, 2012, http://bit.ly/10381jR.
“Why Is the Department of Homeland Security Buying So Many Bullets?” Fox News, February 14, 2013, http://fxn.ws/YhfT2r.
“Homeland Security Is Serving Warrants Using Mine-Resistant Vehicles,” Business Insider, March 4, 2012, http://read.bi/13sAGH3.
In Chapter 3 there is a reference to George Lincoln Rockwell. He was the founder of the American Nazi Party and continues to be an influential figure for the Neo-Nazis and White Nationalists of today. He believed all blacks in America should be deported to Africa and every Jew dispossessed and sterilized. He was assassinated in 1967.
“1967: American Hitler Shot Dead,” BBC, August 25, 2005, http://bbc.in/9OSe0w. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_3031000/3031928.stm.
William H. Schmaltz, Hate: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party, (Brasseys, Inc., 2001), http://bit.ly/ZvXvFY.
More from Chapter 3:
America has its own history with the Nazi Party. In February of 1939, twenty thousand supporters attended a German-American Bund rally at Madison Square Garden. Among other things, the speakers condemned President “Franklin D. Rosenfeld” and his “Jew Deal.”
“German-American Bund Rally Address by Its Leader Fritz Kuhn,” National Archives, February 20, 1939, http://1.usa.gov/ZvXTUU.
Though George Pierce’s character was created for the story, it is true that at least one American who had past associations with the Ku Klux Klan was voted into office. Former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke was elected into the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1989.
“Winner in Louisiana Vote Takes on G.O.P. Chairman,” Frances Frank Marcus, New York Times, February 20, 1989, http://nyti.ms/17K7BGF.
In depicting radical white-supremacists as the muscle behind enemy actions, we were faced with the need to use some particularly ugly and objectionable words in dialogue. For the worst of it, then, it seemed best to use actual quotes from some prominent public figures who’d largely been given a pass for their language by the press. Some of the racist and bigoted phrases used by the George Pierce character are among these. For example, in 2007 Joe Biden described then-Senator Obama as “articulate, and bright, and clean.” In a 2008 campaign interview, Obama outlined some negative characteristics of the “typical white person” and Senator Harry Reid reportedly said that Obama was a “light-skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”
“Biden’s Description of Obama Draws Scrutiny,” CNN, February 9, 2007, http://bit.ly/17tRjyL.
“Barack Obama Tries to Explain That ‘Good People’ Still Hold Racial Stereotypes,” Michael McAuliff & Michael Saul, New York Daily News, March 21, 2008, http://nydn.us/1778iZo.
“Reid Once Called Obama Light-skinned with ‘No Negro Dialect,’ Media Mostly Mum,” Noel Sheppard, NewsBusters, January 9, 2010, http://bit.ly/6D08kt.
Some of the racist comments that George Pierce uttered to Molly Ross are references to actual quotes from President Harry Truman and the late Senator Robert Byrd. For example, in a 1911 letter to his wife, Truman wrote, “I think one man is just as good as another as long as he’s honest and decent and not a nigger or a Chinaman.”
“The Conversion of Harry Truman,” William E. Leuchtenburg, American Heritage, November 1991, http://bit.ly/11aoAQL.
In 2001, former KKK recruiter turned Democratic senator, Robert Byrd, said, “My old mom told me, ‘Robert, you can’t go to heaven if you hate anybody.’ We practice that. There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I’m going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I’d just as soon quit talking about it so much.”
“Top Senate Democrat Apologizes for Slur,” CNN, March 4, 2001, http://bit.ly/1038JxI.
When George Pierce says, “This is your army. We’re ready to march. Now let’s do what we have to do and take these sons of bitches out,” he’s repeating a quote from Teamsters president James Hoffa. Hoffa was appealing to President Obama in 2011, urging an open offensive against the Tea Party.
“ ‘Let’s Take These Son of a Bitches Out’: Teamsters President Hoffa Calls for War on Tea Party at Obama Labor Day Event,” The Blaze, September 5, 2011, http://bit.ly/1038LWj.
In Chapter 6 there is a reference to Silas Deane (1737–1789). Deane was the first diplomat to be sent abroad on behalf of the American colonies. He was sent to France as a secret agent to obtain financial and military assistance and to investigate the possibility of an alliance. But his reputation suffered when he was accused of making personal financial gains while working as a representative of the people. Letters also surfaced that put into question his loyalty toward the American colonies. Deane was recalled by Congress and eventually went bankrupt. He died under suspicious circumstances while on a boat traveling from France to America.
“Silas Deane” Encyclopedia Britannica, http://bit.ly/IRkyl6.
In Chapter 7 the characters use technology designed to gather tactical data and images through walls. This is real: researchers at MIT have developed a radar system that provides real-time video of what is going on behind solid walls. The question remains, however, what type of surveillance technology is already in use that has yet to be unveiled to the public?
“Seeing Through Walls,” Emily Finn, MIT News, October 18, 2011, http://bit.ly/nVw40j.
In Chapter 8, Warren Landers says, “We’re going to spit upon our hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” This is lifted from controversial American journalist and critic H. L. Mencken (1880–1956). Though he routinely challenged representative democracy, despised organized business, and constantly criticized the American middle class, Mencken continues to be influential for the Libertarian movement. One quote of his that many people still find relevant today is: “The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest the most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.”
“The Libertarian Heritage,” Libertarianism, http://bit.ly/IoFtvO.
The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations, Margaret Miner and Hugh Rawson, (Oxford University Press: 2006), p. 27, http://bit.ly/11kuz20.
In Chapter 12 we read about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This is real, as is the timing of its passage. On December 31, 2011, while many Americans were on vacation and
not paying attention to the news, President Obama signed the NDAA for fiscal year 2012. This is the first time in American history that a U.S. law allowed the military, per order from the president, to detain U.S. citizens indefinitely, without a trial. Despite signing the bill into law, Obama said in a statement, “I want to clarify that my administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation.”
“Statement by the President on H.R. 1540,” The White House, December 31, 2011, http://1.usa.gov/uUNb0v.
In Chapter 14 Warren Landers threatens to turn against his ally George Pierce, a tactic that was used effectively by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934, when he ordered that hundreds from his own party be killed in an effort to eliminate potential threats from his rank and file. It has been dubbed the “Night of the Long Knives.”
“Night of the Long Knives,” History.com, http://bit.ly/9O5lkz.
More from Chapter 14:
Diocletian was a Roman Emperor who ruled as a dictator. His empire grew to have “more tax collectors than tax payers.” He instituted failed price-fixing policies to combat inflation, and the sons of tradesmen were forced to replace their fathers in an effort to resolve labor dislocation. Diocletian justified these measures by uniting the country against an enemy; his biggest target became the Christians. Though it was never proven, he blamed Christians for fires that broke out at his palace and used it as an excuse to start the Great Persecution, a decade-long purge that killed about two thousand people.
“Diocletian: The Worst Persecutor of Them All,” Christian History Project, http://bit.ly/ZBb4AO.
In another scene, Warren Landers tells George Pierce that more than forty people were killed in just one weekend in Chicago. This is true: forty-one people, mostly African-American, were shot and killed in Chicago in the span of just three days (March 16 to 19, 2012).