Kate slept poorly that night, waking to
dreams of the day her father died. She
gave up trying to sleep around 5 am that morning and lay there for a few
moments before heading to take a shower. The water washing over her skin felt
good and helped her to feel slightly more awake than she had when she got
in. Kate’s mother was already downstairs
sipping coffee when she made her way into the kitchen. The two of them looked at one another, but
neither of them spoke.
It was the first time in her life that
her mother and she had ever had a serious disagreement. Kate had always been able to talk to her
mother about anything, and this was the first time there were things in her
life that she just couldn't tell her mother.
She knew her mother didn't understand, and she couldn't explain it.
She ate even though she didn't feel
much like eating and headed back upstairs to grab her backpack. She picked her violin out of the hall closet
and was about to head out the door to school.
Her mother stopped her and insisted on driving her. Kate knew it was just an effort to stop her
from seeing Kevin before school, but she didn't argue.
Kate barely had time to say hello to
Kevin before the first bell rang, and there was no time to set up a lunch
date. She hoped he would meet her behind
the band hall anyway, and she wasn’t disappointed when lunch time finally
arrived. He was standing there waiting
for her, a concerned look on his face.
“Kate, what’s going on?” he asked.
“Kevin, two men from the Department of
Homeland Security showed up at my house yesterday while I was at mass with you
and your mom. My mom’s totally freaked
out and has given me strict instructions not to have anything to do with you. I've been grounded because I won’t agree to that. She doesn’t want me to have
anything to do with Father Donovan or anybody else in your group, either,” she
said as they walked together. Kate was
headed toward the library.
“Oh, Kate, I’m so sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be. Father Donovan warned us
this would happen. That’s not the point
anyway. I wrote down the name of one of the agents and his contact
information. I thought this might be our
ticket to finding out just exactly what happened to your father,” Kate replied.
“Do you realize those jerks told my mom your dad was wanted for murder and that
he was involved in a dangerous cult that was suspected of terrorism??”
“My dad? Murder someone? He’d never do
anything like that, Kate, I hope you know that,” Kevin said, shock and
disbelief clear in his voice.
“I know, Kevin. I think they were just
trying to scare my mom, scare me, into betraying you guys. It’s not going to
work, but it does make me aware of something,” Kate said as she opened the
library door.
“What’s that?” he asked, following her
in.
“I can’t stay at home anymore,
Kevin. My involvement with the Church is
a danger to them, and she won’t change her mind on this until I bring her
proof. I can’t get her that proof while I’m at home because she’s grounded me
from the internet,” Kate answered.
“Wow, Kate. Where are you going to go?” Kevin asked,
worried.
“I don’t know. I was hoping maybe you
could help me find someplace. I was hoping maybe someone from the group would
take me in,” Kate said.
“I’ll ask Father Donovan. When are you
planning on leaving?” he asked.
“This afternoon, while my mom is at
work,” Kate answered.
“Can you wait a couple of days to give
me a chance to get something together for you?” he asked.
“I don’t guess it would hurt,” Kate
said, taking a seat at one of the computers in the library. She wasn't sure exactly where to look for the
information they needed, but she figured the internet was the best place to
begin. She decided to simply do a search for Seth Brannigan Department of
Homeland Security.
There was a surprising amount of
information to sort through on Mr. Brannigan.
He was a graduate of Harvard and was recruited originally to the FBI,
then moved to the Department of Homeland Security 4 years later. He was then
assigned to the Anti-Terrorism division of the DHS. As she began to read through the search
results, she kept seeing mentions of FEMA popping up. On a hunch, she decided to search Department
of Homeland Security plus FEMA.
What she found there was a link to FEMA
and detention centers throughout the United States, detention centers designed
to hold 20,000 people or more per center ranged throughout 10 regions of the
United States. Kevin was reading over
her shoulder, and they looked at one another.
It was shocking and disturbing.
Kate began printing some of the more compelling evidence she was
finding, hoping it would convince her mother that the government didn't have
pure intentions.
Before they knew it, the bell rang
announcing the ending of lunch. Kate and
Kevin scrambled to put their papers together and headed out the door, agreeing
to meet at the library again tomorrow.
She was hungry, but it was worth sacrificing a meal to find the
information that might lead them to getting Kevin’s father back and to
convincing her mother that the government was the danger, not her new found faith. She just hoped what she had would
be enough to at least get her mom to listen.
Kate headed home right after school and
worked on her homework. The twins were
nowhere to be seen. She supposed they
were either sleeping or off at a friend’s house. She came down at 4 to fix dinner so that it
would be ready when her mother walked in the door. She couldn't get the images of those FEMA
camps out of her head, and she wondered where the land of the free and the home
of the brave had gone.
Her mother came home promptly at five.
They sat down to eat and the silence was deafening. Kate’s mother didn't say a
word the entire time. Kate waited until her mother was finished eating before
she spoke.
“Mom, you said you would believe me if
I brought you proof. I have some
proof. Will you look at it?” she
asked.
“Yes, Kate, I will look at it. Just
don’t expect me to take your word for it,” she said.
Kate went upstairs and got her papers
out of her backpack then brought them downstairs to her mother. She watched as her mother furrowed her brows
while looking through the papers.
“Where did you get this information,
Kate?” she asked.
“On the internet, Mom. Did you know
about this?” she asked.
“No, I didn't know about the camps.
However, these appear to be built to house populations in case of emergencies
like natural disasters. I don’t see how it’s related,” her mother said.
“Mom, did you look at some of that? Do
you realize there are executive orders in place that give the president and his
agents permission to arrest and detain people indefinitely? Without a trial or
any kind of due process, just because they say someone is an enemy of the
state? What if that’s what’s going on here, Mom?” Kate pleaded.
“Kate, I just don’t believe that our
government would do something like that,” her mother said stubbornly. “Besides, if this really is the case, I don’t
want you getting caught up in it. What if they decided you were a terrorist
based on your friendship with the members of this cult and had you arrested?”
her mom replied.
“Mom, I can’t just ignore this. This isn't about me. This is bigger than me,” Kate argued. She couldn't understand why her mother didn't see it. “What if our founding fathers had said the same thing? What if they’d
said they didn't want to get caught up in the mess and decided not to fight for
our country? Our government doesn't have
the right to just take people from their homes in the middle of the night
without notifying them of their crimes and then giving them a chance to defend
themselves. That’s what tyrants do,” she continued.
“Kate, I do think you’re being a bit
melodramatic,” her mother said.
“It’s not melodrama, Mom. Kevin’s dad was really and truly dragged out
of their home in the middle of the night without any reason given. Nobody knows
where he’s being held or what the charges are.
In fact, the closest anyone’s come to getting information out of the
government is that visit those two guys gave to you when they told you he was
being held on suspicion of murder,” Kate replied.
“Kate, look, why don’t we go downstairs
and do the research together? I can help you sort out the reliable sources from
the kooks. We’ll get to the bottom of this together. I’m sure it’s not what you
think,” her mother said, relenting slightly.
“However, if I can disprove the stuff you've given me, you agree to do
what I say without any further argument and avoid Kevin. Agreed?”
Kate agreed and the two of them headed
downstairs together. One of the first
things that Kate’s mother did was to do a search for a notice about the arrest
of Kevin’s father. There was no notice
in the paper. Kate’s mother frowned at
this and explained to Kate that there were several reasons for police blotters. The first was to notify family members and
loved ones that someone was in police custody, so they wouldn't have to worry
about where they were or what had happened to them. The second was to let everyone know what
charges had been brought against the person to give everyone a chance to
provide witness for or against the detainee.
Her mom seemed very troubled by the fact that there was no such public
notice given.
Kate showed her mother the searches she
used to find the information in the first place, and Kate’s mother gave her a
lesson in how to look at and interpret the original source documents that
formed the backbone of the information.
In the end, Kate’s mother had to agree that there was a Halliburton contract for the construction of FEMA camps capable of holding up to 20,000
individuals per camp. She also agreed
that images of the camp showed double rows of barbed wire, unusual for a camp
intended to hold people who were supposedly living there voluntarily. They spent time reading over the executive
orders giving the President permission to detain citizens of the United States
indefinitely without due process provided that he first declared them enemies
of the state.
The more they searched, the more they
found, and it was even more disturbing than Kate had anticipated. It was clear that the government had a long
term plan to get rid of anyone that got in the way of its total control of the
citizens, and that the media was doing nothing to stand in the way of the
government. In fact, by every evidence it was doing nothing but helping to
cover up the actions of the government.
She could see that her mother was just as disturbed by their findings as
she was.
She wondered, though, whether it would
be enough for her mother. Whether her mom would be willing to help her in
fighting this or whether her mother would try to protect her by forbidding her
from participating. So much depended on
her mom’s decision. Kate silently prayed
that her mother would see things her way.
She didn't want to leave her mother this way, but she didn't see another
option that would allow her help fight this injustice. If her mother wouldn't fight it with her, Kate
would fight it on her own.
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