GGS: Good Gaelic Souls A Biker Saga (G.G.S) (23 page)

He stopped and turned towards the end of the officers table, "Lee, take a sheet of paper, put a line down the middle, one side for Aye and one for Nay." Turning back to the crowd, he told them to form a line and indicate to Lee their vote regarding the McPherson family. "I know that this is not the normal way we do business, but time is short and there is much to accomplish. We don't have the luxury of debates and discussions right now. If you have immediate concerns now, vote Nay. Any concerns that may arise later, we will deal with in due course. Until then, I want to know what your thinking right now, so let's begin."

Everyone stood up, and quickly formed a line. Once everyone had voted, she tallied the results and handed them to Strangler. He looked down at the paper in his hands and then out at the waiting members. "Although there are concerns, the "Ayes" are the vast majority. For those of you who voted "Nay", please make specific notes and I will go over them as soon as time allows. "

Turning to Mac and his wife, he said, "Welcome to the G.G.S, you are now starting your probation period. It is your responsibility to do whatever is asked of you by a club member. This is to be superceded only by myself or one of my Officers. If you are asked to do something that you do not have experience at, or are not properly instructed and given the correct tools to accomplish, it is your responsibility to advise an Officer that you require assistance. Due to what is at risk for us all, unless told otherwise, you are welcome to share your expertise and suggestions if you feel that you could be of benifit in this situation. However, be aware that you do not get a vote nor will you be privy to regular club business, until otherwise informed. You can take a seat now."

He turned his back on the assembly and asked the Officers, "Before we take a break, is there anything else that still needs to be said?" Stax looked around, and seeing that no one had anything to add, she stood up. "Prez," she said, "I would like to make a suggestion." Strangler looked at her, clueless as to what he had left out, "Go for it," He said.

Stax spoke our in a clear and even voice, "I think that in the light of all that is going on, we should have the new V.P and Sgt. of Arms sworn in tonight, right now even. This will put everyone firmly into place and show that we are prepared for whatever comes. Ceramonies can wait for better times, but our protection and chain of command cannot." Everyone in the room spontaniously applauded their approval and several stood up to speak. Strangler asked them, "If any of you are standing to indicate your disapproval, continue to stand." Each of them quickly sat back down in the chairs. "Agreed," he stated, "No time for debate or talk, lets do this now." He called Samson over to stand on his right and called Twitch to stand on his left. After asking both men if they had any reservation about accepting the positions, he advised each of them of their primary duties and swore them both in. Turning back towards the assembly, he stated, "It is my honour to present to you, 'Samson' your new Vice President and 'Twitch' your new Sergeant of Arms." After the clapping, stomping and whistling died down he spoke again, "Take a one hour break, tour the Castle and return with your suggestions and ideas, nobody sleeps tonight until we have decided on our initial stategy."

Serenity and Lee jumped up to cover the bar, as Stax and the five Officer's headed to the office. The last one in, Rage turned to close the office door realizing that Mac had followed them and was standing right outside the doorway. "
Problem
?" Rage asked Mac, who did not attempt to enter where he had not been invited.  "No sir, an important question regarding security." Mac answered respectfully. "
Can it wait
?" Rage countered.  "Yes sir, It could, but -" Strangler spoke up interupting Mac's explaination. "Let him in," he told Rage, who immediately stepped aside. "What's the issue Mac?" He asked bluntly, wanting nothing more than to sit down and think for a minute. "Sir, I was thinking that maybe you were about to place someone on watch and if so, I would be honored if you would allow me to volunteer. And Sir, if that is in fact acceptable to you, I request permission to use my own gear."

The President of the G.G.S. looked long and hard at his new prospect. He was respectful, talented and willing.  But then again, he was trained to be all of that. Strangler wasn't about to grant his request, but he did appreciate the gesture and his curiosity was up as to what type of gear Mac had brought with him. But that question would have to be answered later, right now there was too much on his plate. "Mac, I appreciate your offer but right now I want you to be involved in plannning our strategy. Twitch will be putting together the first watch for tonight shortly, right now we have someone in the security room watching the monitors. "

Mac showed no disappointment in his face, he actually looked pleased, "Understood sir, thank you for seeing me." He said, and turned on his heels to leave. "Mac," Strangler said, stopping him in his tracks his curiosity growing, "What type of gear did you bring?" Turning around slowly with a grin, Mac replied, "Well sir, my .50 cal Sniper's rifle of course, and a bag full of military issued goodies. I don't believe that you'll be disappointed, sir." He turned again and headed down the hallway.

"
Shit!
" Exclaimed Griff, he looked over at Moby, who was pouring himself a shot, "
Hey brother, you think we can convince him to show us what's in the bag? Maybe we should invite him to a little target practice in the morn
? Moby looked up with a smile and a wink, "
Maybe so, but if them fucker's show up tonight, we'll be needing to discover his goodies well before the sun starts to shine."
  Samson looked over at Strangler and could see that he too, was enjoying seeing the Trio so ready for action. It was indeed a good that so many willing to fight for what was theirs. Freedom and family, the only things truly worth fighting for.

When the cruinniú resumed, they got straight to work. Stax brought up the first concern on her list. "At the old Clubhouse, I noticed that Da's computer monitor was smashed on the floor, but his tower was missing. There is too much sensitive information in that computer, from the blueprints to the new Clubhouse to personal information on all of us." Rage assured her that the tower was safe, "
Nay lass, it's not  been taken or gone missing, Moby opened an email with a virus in it and gave it to Scratch to clean it out. There's been no time, but we're good there, it's just gonna take a minute is all."

Next on the list was to inform everyone that they were basically under lockdown and nobody could leave the Clubhouse without express permission from the Prez himself. "No school, no work, no going home." Strangler told them firmly, "Come morning, a convoy will leave here for one final trip out. Those of you who own your own business will have only enough time to grab what you need and lock it down. Bring every computer, don't waste time calling your customers and making apologies, you can make your calls from here. Everyone else will have to take an indefinate leave of absence or lose their position, thats unavoidable. We all knew that eventually we would end up here and be completely out of the mainstream anyway. Call the schools and get all of the kids set up for homeschool, no execptions. Don't come to me about school games and recitals, there is nothing more important than keeping them safe." He paused long enough to let his instructions sink in.

He knew how disruptive this was to their daily lives and how hard it was going to be to deal with it all, but they had no other choice. They had to join together and protect each other, it was them against an unknown force. His actions now, would decide whether or not they stood a snowballs chance in hell to get out of this unscathed. He knew that eventually, the MC's would start working together to protect their way of life, just as they were doing now. But he also knew that as an HC, the G.G.S  was not considered a part of that culture. Though they enjoyed friendly peace with them, they would not be considered allies. They were their own island, and it was soley up to them whether or not they could weather this storm.

"Twitch, I want you to work up a four hour rotation for the guards," Strangler instructed, "Select four guys right now and send them to the turrets. I want two men in the Gatehouse now and one more on it's roof tomorrow morning until the convoy gets back. Once everyone is inside, lockdown the gatehouse. There needs to be four on the Clubhouse roof at all times until we see activity or get more information. Keep two women and one man in the security room on three hour rotations. Nobody should be on duty long enough to get bored or complacent, we have to stay alert.  Make sure you turn on all of the flood lights, I want that courtyard to be bright enough to land a plane.

Turning towards Della, he continued giving instructions, "Della, you get the women organized to keep the kitchen and laundry going. Dimples, you and Tandy need to set up a triage in the barracks. Choose some of the teenagers to assist you and teach them what things are called and what they are for, if the need arises they will probably become your nurses. Prepare for everything from a paper cut to a gunshot wound. Griff said he bought an Autoclave a few years ago at an auction, we'll find it and bring it in to see if it works.  As for now, everyone not on duty needs to go upstairs and set up the beds. I saw several toolboxes in the barracks, so someone grab whats needed before you head up. The other furniture can wait, but get the beds in place quickly. Couples take the rooms upstairs and everyone has to share, just think of it as a splitting a motel room, we've all done it. After Cat has set up her daycare, any leftover partitions can be used to give you guys a little privacy. We are going to keep the children in the front parlor for now, with Cat and Griff. All single men on rotation will use the barracks. If needed, we still have the library and other rooms that can be converted for extra space. I need to know how many more beds, if any, will be needed a.s.a.p, so let's get that out of the way now and meet back here in an hour.

Once again they adjourned, but this time they hurried upstairs. It wouldn't take long with most of the club working together. Before the hour was up, every bed was in place complete with sheets, covers and pillows. Heading back downstairs, the women went straight to the kitchen to help out, while some of the men went to the Barracks with bedding for the racks. The teenagers all joined in with Cat to set up camp in the parlor.

An hour later, they all gathered back in the Bar Room. Serenity and Lee began slinging drinks again and soon everyone had been served and was seated. Strangler could feel the weight of the world on his back as he began reading the text message that he had just recieved from Sheriff Bob, "
High Alert, guard your Castle.
"

Chapter 16

"Times are Hard"

After reading that last message to the club, Strangler advised Twitch to double the watch and told everyone else to get sleep. "We have to rest now, while we can," he advised, "I had hoped that we might have a little more time, but we can't afford take chances. The convoy into town tomorrow is cancelled, nobody leaves, period. Come the light of day, if all is clear on the grounds, we will gather whatever we can from our own resources and bring what we need inside, the rest we can store in the parking garage. As soon as we adjourn, everyone who brought items or food from home, please go down to the garage and bring it in quickly." He saw the look of concern on their faces and he knew that the severity of the situation was beginning to register. This wasn't just an informational meeting, this was real life danger for all of them. He knew that he had to drive home just how serious their situation was. He couldn't sugar coat it, so he made the decision to hit them hard with the reality of what he believed in his heart was about to happen.

"Listen closely," he began, "they want to be the biggest most powerful MC ever, and to accomplish that goal, they need to be invincible. They not only need a large number of members, they also need a headquarters. Look around at what we have here people, it's a fucking
self-sustainable fortress
. History tells us, that the safest place to be and the easiest place to defend is a
goddamn Castle
, and that's exactly what
we
have. History also tells us, that if a fortress is invaded and conquered, the inhabitants become the
property of the invader
. Once they actually see it, war is inevitable. However big they are by now, another 60 or so bikers would only further serve their purpose and make it that much easier to complete their agenda. Strategically speaking, it makes perfect sense that once they actually know what and where this is, we will be the next place that they try to physically take over. We are not only large enough, but we have all of the resources that they need." He saw the implications of what he was saying hit home. Now they truly understood the life and death plight that they were facing.

Without allowing for comments, he continued, "We must realize that they are willing and capable of being as violent as they feel they need to be, in order to reach their goal. Nobody in their right mind would start something like this unless they felt certain of victory. So far it's been mild violence, but it's obvious that they have  been setting the stage, increasing their numbers and gathering intell to decide on where to wage the first real battle. They already  they know who we are and how many there are of us. Once they see what our assets are we will become their main priority. Taking us over
first
would pretty much guarantee their ability to continue this takeover." He stopped, aware that like Slider, most of them had been hoping that diplomacy and negotiations would get them through this. Up to this point, most of them had been treating this as a drill, but he had just changed that.