The Movement

Chapter Four - Part 11

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"Dr. Cole?" asked Troy.

He knocked on the partially cracked door, just light enough not to open it any further.

"Dr. Cole?" he persisted.

No answer.

Troy angled himself properly to peer inside the cracked door's narrow slit, trying to catch a glimpse of the office. All he could see was a hand extended out across the large oak desk. Panicking, Troy opened the door quickly. He was brought to a half, standing in front of the desk on which Dr. Cole lay across. His body was lifeless.

"Dr. Cole!" shrieked Troy, terrified.

Dr. Cole snapped up.

"Huh?" he barked.

"Dr. Cole, I thought you were dead!" shouted Troy, breathing heavily.

Still waking up, Dr. Cole picked his glasses up from his desk and placed them on his face.

"Troy," he said groggily before outstretching his arms. "I'm assuming you've returned from the rallies, as paranoid as you are. Typical. No worries. I see how they affected you. What did you think of them?"

"They were enormous! Dangerous! There must've been over 5000 people massacred! And my friend, Kim," yelled Troy, running out of breath.

"Shh!" hushed Dr. Cole as he arose from his seat behind the desk, rushing out to close the door and quell Troy's excitement. "Don't be so loud, people can hear you out there," he said in raspy whisper, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry, Dr. Cole," he apologized.

"Go on," he encouraged.

"They were so large, I couldn't even make a guess at the number. It had to be over ten thousand, I think," explained Troy.

"Numbers can be deceiving, Troy," said Dr. Cole.

At this, Troy stopped and stared at Dr. Cole, angling his head sideways in confusion. "Does this mean more or less than I presume?" asked Troy.

"It means nothing. It simply means that numbers can be deceiving in either direction," he reiterated.

"Okay," began Troy, feeling a loss of meaning in the conversation. "Barbara, I mean....Professor Gallagher mentioned a coup attempt that is a 'can't fail.' I have no idea what the actual attempt included. Do you know what the plan is about? She wouldn't tell me, understandably so."

"Ha! Troy! You haven't heard?" exclaimed Dr. Cole. "The attempt worked, the coup is underway!"

"What? Since when?" shouted Troy in excitement, standing up from his seat.

"Since last night, Troy! They blew up the White House; the president is dead!" said Dr. Cole.

Troy sat back down, speechless. He stared at Dr. Cole across the oak desk.

"This is great. Ha! This is great!" awed Troy.

"Are you going to ask me how, or just accept my word of it?" asked Dr. Cole.

Troy leaned forward, eager to learn more.

"Yes, yes, yes. How did they blow up...The White House?" he inquired intriguingly.

Dr. Cole was never more proud, clearing his throat for what he knew would be the final breaking news for this story, as nearly the whole nation knew by now, twenty-fours hours behind.

"Well, Troy. It all started in Damascus, Maryland. We dug a covert tunnel in that secluded area. It went so deep- nearly nine miles -that nobody knew about it. It took over six years to complete, but it worked!" he explained.

Troy continued his confused gaze from across the oak desk.

"Wait," he said with his hand propping up his chin. "So you're saying you had a crew dig a tunnel over 20,000 feet deep and then dug your way to Washington?"


"That's exactly right, Troy! A straight shot, tunnel-digging expedition, below all of the security readings of the government. We just had to make sure the digging was quiet enough to not disturb the government's security seismic readings. Simple enough, right?" stated Dr. Cole.

"Yeah, sounds pretty simple to me," said Troy, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, it has been done before. I'm not discrediting the difficulty of such an operation. During World War One, the idea had been culminating in the minds of both the British and German military leaders. Smaller operations took place by both sides in attempts to charge enemy lines while avoiding no-mans land; a guaranteed suicide at ground level. But subterranean charges, although painstakingly slow, were effective. Sometimes it took over a year to complete a tunnel from one trench to underneath the enemies. They then placed mines underneath the enemy's trench, and detonated them, creating hysteria, at worst chasing the enemy out of his trench, allowing the ability to mow them down with machine guns as soon as they surfaced -and imploding their trench at best, resulting in immediate death. We took this idea and ran with it, updating the tactic to modern levels of complexity," lectured Dr. Cole.

Troy continued to gawk at Dr. Cole, stupefied by the age-old tactic and the modern success.

"The Battle of Messines, right?" he asked.

"Yes! That British tunnel took over a year to complete the dig. Then they placed twenty mines beneath the German trench. Then, boom. Success followed," said Dr. Cole, rather laconically.

"That's genius!" assured Troy.

"The only thing we worried about was the government detecting our plan. They never did, much to our relief," said Dr. Cole.

"So how many explosives were placed underneath the White House tunnel?" asked Troy, curiously.

"Let's just say....a lot. I don't know the exact power of the explosion, but we decided that more was better than less. The power of the explosion must have been remarkable. All we knew was that it would work," said Dr. Cole.

"And it did," interjected Troy with a laugh.

"Yes, that is correct. But that was only the first step. While the coup occurred, The Movement's special forces coordinated attacks on over thirty television and news stations to broadcast the coup. And don't underestimate the difficulty of such an operation; radio and television stations are-or were -some of the most formidable buildings in this censorship state. Our special forces only succeeded in overtaking eight of them, with twenty-two failures and many more deaths for the honorable cause of sharing this story to The Movement's many supporters. Without such broadcasting, there was no quick or efficient way to begin the revolution simultaneously and officially," explained Dr. Cole.

"That sounds much more complex than it already was. I'm surprised it all worked," said Troy, looking at the floor.

"It was extremely complex. Not only in its planning but in keeping the plan secret for so long. It was a seven-year project. But now is the hardest part--backing up our initial punch," said Dr. Cole, crossing his arms over his large, burly chest.

"Do you think there will be a war? I mean, the White House is down, the president is dead, the people know...Don't we have the upper hand now?" asked Troy.

"For now," assured Dr. Cole. "But wars are rarely won in a short time, especially violent revolutions. We hope for a quick end, with The Movement triumphant, of course. But nothing is guaranteed in war besides blood, courage, and cowardice. Whichever side has more of some and less of more will prove victorious."

Troy leaned back in his chair, squinting his eyes amid his confusion.

"But I don't get it. The Movement has so many, such strong supporters. And it finally garnered enough momentum to lash back at a tyrannical government which has lashed at rallying citizens for over a decade....This is the start of something new. The start of The Movement's rise to power!" shouted Troy in dramatic will.

"This is the first great step, that is certain," said Dr. Cole, appearing a bit worried. "But remember, the government is larger than the white house. There will no doubt be a response. In fact, there will be a war, a damn bloody war."