Oscar Warren sat at his desk and glanced over the day's security brief. Not much happening here requiring any action from him or his agents, he thought to himself. Good. It seemed everyone's attention was riveted on the situation in the UK, which had elected a female-dominant government to power a few months back.
Ordinarily, this wouldn't be much of an issue, except for the fact that the new party in charge was driven by a hatred of men he hadn't seen since the attempt on President Pierce. The concern by the powers-that-be was that this ideology could spread to the United States. In fact, an American version of the party, known as The New Way, had already spread to the States, but hadn't caught on very much outside some of the larger cities like New York and Los Angeles.
He poured a cup of coffee and thought about that as he watched the morning news. The Task Force was originally set up to deal with an organization called the Mutual Marital Assurance Society, or MMAS. The organization was started and run by one Mona Larsen, a bitter, man-hating attorney who, with her twin sister and others, plotted the overthrow of the government in an attempt to force her ideology on society as a whole.
The corporate entity known as MMAS was ultimately taken down, and it took the Task Force nearly a decade to clean up the mess it left behind. But the ideology that drove it never went away, and they found themselves battling one copy-cat or another over the years. He remembered the words Pat Witherspoon, the MMAS operative who helped destroyed his life a quarter century ago, told him that day during his interview, that other entities would simply carry on the work she and her boss had started.
She turned out to be right, but Oscar had no idea just how bad things could actually get at the time. Since that interview, he had personally intervened to protect two sitting presidents, a British prime minister, and numerous others caught up in the web of betrayal and deceit that was the hallmark of MMAS and others that followed.
He looked up when he heard a tap on his door and saw the familiar face of Bill Jackson, his friend, boss, mentor and father-in-law. Bill was in his early 70s by now, but he was still strong as an ox and refused to retire. Oscar smiled and waved him in.
"Cup of coffee?" Oscar offered. "Still fairly fresh."
"What the hell," Bill said, pulling his cup out of Oscar's office sanitizer. The sanitizer was the result of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 and a subsequent outbreak that caused nearly as much damage as COVID-19. Bill put the cup on the counter and Oscar filled it with steaming hot liquid. Bill took a sip and screwed his eyes shut.
"There oughta be a law against this shit," Bill said after his first sip. This was part of their morning routine and Oscar smiled, enjoying the dig.
"You mean like elder abuse?" Oscar quipped, smiling. Bill laughed.
"Fuck you," he said with a smile. "And the horse you rode in on." They laughed at the joke. Bill had given Oscar crap about his coffee for years, but shared a cup with him in the mornings every chance he could. "You see this morning's briefing?" Bill asked.
"Yeah," Oscar said. "Not much pertaining to us, thank goodness."
"Not so fast, Hoss," Bill said. "You been keeping an eye on that New Way business over in England?"
"Somewhat," Oscar said. "Frankly, politics just isn't my thing."
"Well, you might want to dig into it some," Bill said. "The White House is very concerned about what ramifications it might have here, especially with all the refugees we've taken in from over there."
Oscar knew more than he let on. The "New Way," as it was called, began as a grassroots movement touting the usual stuff -- equal pay for equal work, equal treatment in the workplace, that sort of thing. All-in-all, it seemed rather harmless. At least in the beginning.
Several of the activists ran for public office and ended up getting elected to Parliament. Over time, more New Way activists were elected and eventually had enough seats and enough clout to get one of their own, Victoria Harrison, elected Prime Minister. They formed a majority government and promised a new day for the British Isles -- along with a "compassionate, loving" government that listens to "the people."
Their line of reasoning wasn't much different than what voters had heard before -- that women were better suited to run government because of their inherent qualities as nurturers and givers of life. Also, they argued, women would be less likely to go to war or create conflicts with other nations. And they would be more in tune with the needs of the population.
They promised a firm hand, but one tempered with love, compassion and understanding. As time went on, however, the "firm hand" became more apparent and the rest seemed to get lost in the shuffle. As the New Way consolidated its grip on power, lawmakers from the more traditional parties found themselves increasingly shut out of the process, to the point that their existence was essentially meaningless.
Then the changes began. Subtle changes to the law put men at a decided disadvantage in practically every aspect of life. Men were often set aside in positions of business in order that their female counterparts could more easily step in and take charge.
Definitions of things like "hate speech" and "offensive conduct" were expanded to include criticism of the new female-led order. Men who complained about having to forcibly give up their positions to less-experienced women without any real cause found themselves facing criminal charges and jail.
Instead of stepping back, the government pressed on, to the point that groups of men began protesting the regime firmly ensconced at 10 Downing Street. In response, the government reacted with massive police presence and the military was even called up in a few cases.
Facing potentially violent reprisals, the Harrison regime cooked up what it thought was a way out. Instead of backing off its edicts, it gave those who wished a 30-day window to leave the country and find asylum elsewhere, no questions asked. In return, those leaving would be required to renounce their citizenship and abandon all their assets and property, handing them over to the government.
As a result, a number of people fled. Some came to the United States, while others fled to Canada and Australia. Those who couldn't afford the long trip headed north for Scotland, which had just voted for independence in the wake of the New Way's rise to power. Still others went to Ireland while many more fled to France or Scandinavia.
Concerned about the large influx, France closed its border after taking in nearly 50,000 refugees. The 31-mile-long Channel Tunnel, or "chunnel," between England and France was closed by the French until the situation in England had stabilized. Video shown by news organizations showed thousands of distraught Britons, sobbing as they left their beloved homeland, many clutching the Union Jack. Harrison's government, for whatever reason, had replaced the flag with a banner of its own, a white female power symbol centered on a green background.
After the 30-day window was up, the government closed the border and initiated martial law, ordering everyone to remain in their homes until further notice. Even the royal family was required to remain under what amounted to house arrest.
The Harrison government then conducted a massive purge of military and business leaders, replacing its top brass with women, many of whom were found lacking in training and experience. The BBC was given directives to air only government-approved programming, which always portrayed the New Way in a favorable light. Parliament was disbanded and the elected New Way officials were named "Guardian Mistresses" over the communities they once represented and given near-dictatorial powers over their subjects.
After several weeks of being locked down, the economy was in tatters, tempers began to flare and a mini-revolution began to erupt. But just as soon as the mini-revolt began, it ended. It was almost as if all the courage had been sucked out of the population overnight.
A few days later, the world was treated to a spectacle the likes of which it had never seen before. A number of men the government called "leaders" of the so-called "insurrection" were paraded into public areas across the country. They were each secured to large rectangular frames, their hands bound over their heads and their feet attached to spreader bars.
As a horrified world watched online, the men were publicly stripped naked, flogged, sodomized by women wearing leather costumes and castrated.
"Let this be a lesson to anyone who dares to cross the New Way," Victoria declared in a videocast from her office on Downing Street, the New Way banner prominently displayed behind her. "From this moment forward, all marriages in England are declared null and void. Men are now the property of the woman closest to them, be it their mother, their sister or a former spouse. Those without a close female relative will be assigned to serve their Guardian Mistresses as required.
"In addition, men are no longer allowed to own property and will will no longer hold positions of power or authority. They are no longer allowed to be seen in public unless they are accompanied by their respective mistresses. Further guidance will be made public in short order. Those who refuse to obey these edicts will be seen as traitors to the New Way and will be dealt with harshly," she stated before closing the video stream.
The world reacted with disgust and horror. Many nations broke off relations with England and President Lopez, unable to secure any compromise with the new government, responded by recalling the U.S. Ambassador and his staff. American citizens were barred from traveling to England as long as the New Way remained in power. Similarly, the British Ambassador and her staff was expelled from the country. In a rare show of unity, both houses of Congress unanimously passed resolutions strongly condemning the new government while welcoming anyone who sought asylum in the United States.
Over the course of the next few weeks, a sort of Cold War broke out between England and the United States. It was as if two long-time friends had suddenly split apart and were now staring at each other across the Atlantic, each daring the other to blink first.
Of course, Oscar was aware of all this, and was deeply concerned. For one, he was concerned about his two friends, Collette and Amanda, the two British soldiers who served as liaison officers to the Task Force before their retirement ten years ago. The last he heard, they were in Australia, exploring the outback. That was a few months before the New Way's rise to power. With the new restrictions in place, however, he was unable to contact them.
The officer who replaced Collette, Major Alan Branson, was ordered back to England and had been gone for some time. Oscar made an offer of asylum to Alan, but the major respectfully declined, saying his first duty was to England. Oscar was more than somewhat concerned Alan might reveal what he knew of the Task Force to the new government.
Oscar was also concerned the movement might spread to the United States, and possibly gain a foothold. All this ran through Oscar's mind in a matter of a few moments.
"You think there might be some infiltrators spreading the New Way message here?" he asked the older man. Bill nodded his head and opened his briefcase. He pulled out his tablet, brought up some photos and set it on Oscar's desk.
"I do. Take a look at this," Bill said. Oscar looked at the photos and zoomed in, using his fingertips. He looked at each of them, his mind going back more than twenty years. He looked at Bill, shocked.
"Is this really her?" Oscar asked.
"It looks that way," Bill said. "Granted, the tech boys had to do some extrapolation since none of the footage we have shows her whole face. Plus, she's put on a few pounds and her hair has changed a bit, but I believe that's Allison Gatsby. The last of the old MMAS holdouts."
"The one who got away," Oscar said, mostly to himself. Ever since the incident at Camp Rollins in Idaho more than twenty years ago, she had occupied a top spot on the Task Force's "Ten Most Wanted" list. His mind went back to that incident, in which 29 men died in a failed attempt to nab Jim Adams, a bio-chemist who now works as the head of the Task Force Bio-Chemical Research team.
He also remembered the day he and Officer Bascomb went to Allison's house in Denver. They were going to apprehend her for questioning, but she had already left and booby-trapped the place with a bomb that nearly killed both of them along with the FBI agents who accompanied them.
"Are you saying she's here, in the States?" Oscar asked. Bill nodded his head.
"I'd say so," Bill said. "Those photos were taken at New Way rallies in Berkeley and New York. And they were taken after the mass exodus from England. I've asked Ron to do some digging and see what he can find, but I personally think she's been in England all this time and came back during the migration. As you recall, there was very little to no vetting of the refugees at the time. She could've easily slipped back in the country with no one the wiser."
