At The Podium Part 1

[alangator]

Authors Note-
I began this story awhile ago and have over 80 chapters which i will post here over the next few weeks.
alangator


At The Podium
Joe Quick
Part1



Joe Quick the speaker was still trying to clear the snot out of his nose. Since he had Allergies and Asthma the tear gas affected him worse than the attendees that didn’t suffer any breathing or respiratory problems. It would be safe to say of the attendees that almost half were still struggling with the aftereffects of the gas like Joe was. Joe could here a guy 10 feet way having dry heaves. A woman next to him was crying because she had soiled herself from the wracking cough and the vomiting the tear gas caused.

He looked as the EMT’s tried to revive the women 20 feet from him. 1 of the Paramedics was calmly administrating CPR using the latest American Heart Associations Guidelines while the other quickly set-up an Automated External Defibrillator. The thought that passed thru Joe’s mind was why?

Why did somebody think that disrupting his speech to a dozen people was going to change anything? In many ways the Country has reached the point were they were divided equally or close to it on the important issues of the day. The Health Care Bill, Gun Control and Abortion came to mind.

This act of stupidity may cost a woman her life. Tonight somebody may find out that a wife, mother, grandmother, aunt or friend died from listening to somebody share a thought or two. It seemed senseless.

As a TV news van pulled up to the barricade the women was rushed to the Ambulance and the vehicle took off with its sirens going full blast. Joe counted 6 Police vehicles, 2 Fire trucks and 4 Ambulances.

While somebody played at Anarchist the local citizens were being denied the emergency services that had descended on the small bookstore in a strip mall.

Joe was considering his next move. As the speaker the news people may want to interview him. But Joe was a prepper and always avoided drawing attention to himself. The speaking engagement was a favor to the owner of his favorite bookstore and look what that had caused.

Indecision clouded his actions while the sweet clean air coursed thru his lungs and he began to cough again. Joe felt the anger, it assaulted him with a release of bile into his stomach and he could almost taste the acid that his stomach was releasing in the back of his throat. He’d talk.

With the decision made he drinks down the rest of the bottle of water one of the Policemen had given him.

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 2

Joe walked over to the News Reporter standing next to the van as the cameraman was deploying the telescoping mast.

“Excuse me, I’m Joe Quick. I was the speaker at this event.”

The attractive 30 year old brunette reporter turned to face him,
“Mr. Quick, I’d like to interview you for the 10:00 news.”

Joe removed from his pocket the HD tape,
“I was discussing the land re-distribution aspect of Social Justice, 20 seconds after I said it was a terrible idea a woman stood up and tosses what appears to be a tear gas grenade. I’ve got the HD tape of the incident. A woman collapsed after we got outside and the Ambulance crew was doing CPR on her when they left. What I’d like to know is what this tape of the event is worth to your station? I’d also like to be granted a full 30 seconds unedited to denounce this tragedy. I’m willing to offer your station a 18 hour exclusive, excluding general news conferences.”

The reporter had her phone out and was dialing the station,
“Barb this is Chris, I’ve got the speaker for the event standing beside me and he says a women chucked a tear gas grenade during his talk on Social justice and property redistribution. A woman collapsed after they got outside and they had to perform CPR on her. He’s was taping the event with an HD camera and will let us use it with an 18 hour exclusive. Can we get him 30 seconds unedited to denounce the attack? What is that worth? OK hold on.”

The reporter turns away from the phone and Joe has wondered over to the news van that has just pulled up.

After 5 minutes he walks back over to the 1st reporter,
“Well did you get a price?”

The reporter looks at him and gives a quote,
“We can do $1,000 if the tape is any good and can give you 20 seconds.”

Joe scratches his head,
Well for $1,000.00 I’m thinking unlimited local rights only. Nothing national or cable without my written permission and I can live with 20 seconds as long as I’m not edited at all. I agree to an 18 hour exclusive”

The reporter stretched out her hand and Joe shook it,
“Here’s the tape. You’ll need to copy it and if you could make a copy for me I would appreciate it. I think the Police will need the original. Do we sign some sort of agreement?”

The reporter grinned at the other news reporter staring daggers at her from the van parked 20 feet away. She knew he was seething; he was famous for his temper tantrums.

The reporter turned back to Joe,
“Yes Mr. Quick we sign some paperwork and they can cut a check in the morning. Let’s see what you got on that tape.”

The reporter stepped over to the van as Joe followed and handed her cameraman the tape. After putting the tape in the machine and rewinding it he played the tape. After the tape finished playing everybody was quite.

The reporter was speaking quietly,
“Well, I think this will do nicely. Bones can you make 2 copies of that tape and give me the original and 1 of the copies? Also hand me the release forms from the drawer.”

Joe spoke to the reporter,
“I want the check to be paid to the bookstore owner personally, is that a problem?”

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 3

Joe Quick borrowed a mirror from the reporter and tried to make himself presentable. His nose, eyes and face were all red and puffy from effects of the Tear Gas.

Thinking he had done as good a job as possible he stepped over to the reporter. He had talked to her about her questions and she assured him she’d go easy on him.

She adjusted the earpiece in her ear,
“Joe we’re just about ready to go.”

The cameraman pointed at them and counted it down,
“In 5, 4, 3, 2.”

The reporter began her live shot,
“Breaking news. We’re at the Timeless Book Store in Olida. 30 minutes ago a speaking event was interrupted by a woman that threw a tear gas grenade into the crowd. During the evacuation 1 woman collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. I’m speaking with Joe Quick the speaker it the event. Can you tell me what happened?”

Joe remembered to pace his words and not get flustered,
“I’m the Chair of Sociology at Jackman County Community College and I was speaking out against Property Redistribution as it was recently endorsed by a speaker at a Social Justice Forum. When I mentioned that Property Redistribution hasn’t worked in the past a woman in the crowd stood up yelled something and threw what I’ve been told was a Tear Gas Grenade. ”

The reporter asked her first follow up,
“Was anybody injured?”

Joe answered,
“Everybody in that room was affected by the Tear Gas including one woman that collapsed 5 minutes after we all got outside. Crews were doing CPR on her as they rushed her to the hospital.”

The reporter asked her second follow-up question,
“He many people were in attendance?”

Joe paused he had forgot to count them,
“A little over a dozen.”

The reporter shifted slightly into the camera,
“We’ll have exclusive tape of this tragedy that may have cost a woman her life at 10:00.”
The cameraman spoke,
“And we’re out. Chris it looked good. Joe you did a good job and other than the red and puffy face I think you’ll be happy with your performance.”

The bright TV lights faded and you could here them releasing their energy.

The reporter turned toward Joe,
“Thank you so much. I think you did a good job on-camera and I’d like to do a follow-up when you’re up to it.”

Joe nodded and turned away.

A Police Detective was standing 10 feet away and was clearly waiting for Joe,
“Mr. Quick, I’m Detective Black and I’m the Counter-Terrorism investigator for the city. I will be spearheading this investigation and need to ask a few questions. I know this has been a surreal day and I apologize for the inconvenience.”

Joe walked over to the Detective and leaned over and talked softly,
“The woman that they took away, did she make it?”

Detective Black leaned over,
“Joe you can’t tell anybody yet, but she died. We are in the process of notifying the family. We’ll release the information to the press as soon as the family notification is done. It looks as if she has family in the area so it might be as early as later tonight”

Joe sat leaned heavily on the bumper of a nearby Police cruiser,
“After the notification I’d like the name so that I can send flowers to the service. That woman was at my other speaking engagement here and I talked to her for a few minutes.
She seemed nice and was very polite, she didn’t deserve this.”

Detective Black paused,
“No Mr. Quick she didn’t. I can’t emphasize it enough that you must not tell anybody prior to the release by our office.”

Joe nodded and reached into his pocket,
“Detective you have my word. Here is the tape of the event, I hope it helps.”

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 4


Joe finishing giving his statement to Detective Black and did another segment with the news reporter.

He was tired and wanted to go home and take a shower but needed to retrieve the HD camera he had borrowed from the school. He went to find Detective Black,
“Excuse me Detective Black, can I get the video camera back from inside the bookstore. It belongs to the school I work at and if I can’t get it back I’m in trouble.”

Detective Black scratched his head,
“Let me see what I can do. Can you give me 5 minutes and I’ll talk to my superior.”

Joe went to find Michelle the owner of the bookstore. She was finishing up talking to a Policeman and turned toward him,
“Michelle, I’m sorry about this. I can’t believe somebody would do this to your store.”

Michelle replied,
“It’s not your fault. I asked you to speak at the store. Do you know if that poor women made it?

Joe felt bad about misleading the owner,
“I don’t know. I’m sure the news will release her condition on the news tonight.”

Michelle paused,
“I feel so bad I never considered that a 20 minute talk could make somebody do something like this. I opened the store 10 years ago. It’s not overly profitable but I can’t imagine living without seeing the friends I’ve made at the store. Hopefully after the insurance people look at the store I’ll know if I can stay in business.”

Joe hugged her, stepped back and handed her the agreement,
“I hope your store can make it. I sold the tape of the attack to the news. They will cut a check for $1000.00 to you in the morning. Just give them this receipt.”

As he got into his truck Joe was hoping he made the right decision to speak at the bookstore since his words had caused the death of a woman. The death of the women was weighting on his mind as he drove home. He hoped that the morning things would look better.

When Joe got home and checked his messages he had a few from friends and family stating that they had seen him on TV and wanted to make sure that he was OK. He did call his mother since she worried, everybody else could wait till the morning.

Joe was woken up by the ringing of his cell phone, a friends name appeared on the screen and he let it go to voicemail. After getting ready he went to work and started his day.

When he got to his small office Joe checked his e-mail and was retrieving messages on his office phone, the first message was a shock to Joe.
“Hey asshole, rot in hell.“

The e-mails were just as bad, 6 of them.

The final count on voicemail was 4.

The only good news was that they were all you’re an idiot type of message and no death threats.

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 5

Other than the harassing communications Joe’s morning was basically the same as any other morning. He taught some classes and returned the HD camera to Media thankful it didn’t get damaged last night. At lunch he met Mandy Peters his girlfriend of 6 months in the cafe. The cute 6 foot tall 30 year old Peters often was stared at. It seemed to Joe a few people were staring but it was hard for Joe to tell if the others were staring at the guy from the TV or the cute 6 footer.

Mandy was poking at her Turkey Sandwich with a fork as she spoke to Joe. Her eyes not leaving the sandwich,
“Joe, were you on the news last night? My mother called and said a guy named Joe Quick was doing an interview in front of some bookstore. She has never met you, I have mentioned your name a few times so she called and asked. Honestly with my mother it wouldn’t surprise me to find out she ran a background check on you to see if you were good enough to date her only daughter.”

Joe finished chewing the bite of the turkey and bacon club in his mouth and offered an answer to her question,
“The owner of the bookstore asked if I’d give another talk at her weekly Discussion Night. I told you about it, remember you said you had a thing last night and couldn’t make it. Well, some crazy lady stood up in the middle of it and lobbed a Tear Gas Grenade. It was not very much fun, one of the women in the room had a heart attack after we got outside and died. The books might be unsalable and Michelle may lose the store. All in all it wasn’t a very entertaining evening. Oh and did I mention that Olida has a Domestic Terrorism Detective that is working the case.”

Mandy was astonished,
“That thing last night was Heather’s Lamaze class. She’s 8 months pregnant and as big as any pregnant women I’ve ever seen. Let’s get back to you. You mean your little talk incited somebody to terrorize a bookstore and somebody died?”

Joe nodded,
“Yes, with me and about a dozen other people in it. I had borrowed a HD camera from the Communications Department to tape the talk so that I could work on my speaking style and got the whole thing on tape. I sold the tape to a news channel and did an interview. I’d watched the lady die not 10 feet from me Mandy. I had met her last time I spoke. She was nice and didn’t deserve to die because some asshole thought that stifling free speech was the same as offering a legitimate point of view. ”

Mandy was reaching behind her and taking her laptop out of the case,
“Which station, I’ve got to see this?”

Joe was smiling because Mandy was passionate about things and her excitement could be contagious,
“Channel 5, I don’t remember the call letters. You can look it up.”

2 minutes later Mandy was watching the tape of the speech with Joe and his phone rang,
“Hello”

The voice on the other end sounded professional and had a New York vibe to it,
“Mr. Quick, I’m Rachel Pugg from Fox News Channel. I’m a producer/booker for the evening line-up and wanted to talk to you. I imagine that you’ve had a few interesting calls so if you want to look up my number and call me back I’d understand.”

Joe reached into his pocket for a pen and wrote her name on a napkin,
“Rachel I haven’t got any death threats yet, but the day is still fairly young.”

Rachel laughed,
“Yes it is, Sir. Yes, it is.”

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 6



Joe found the Fox Network number on the internet and called the switchboard which surprisingly answered by a real person and not an impersonal voicemail system. Joe was stunned, how many times to you call a huge company and talk to a real person? He was transferred by a pleasant sounding women with an exotic accent he wasn’t able to place and listened while Rachel Pugg’s extension rang. He used the time to place a few sheets of paper in front of him for the notes he would be taking any second now.

“This is Rachel Pugg in booking speaking.”

Joe paused knowing this could be big,
“Rachel, this is Joe Quick.”

Rachel started right in,
“Joe thanks for calling me back. I’ve seen the tape from the bookstore attack last night. I understand a woman had a heart attack and died is that correct?”

Joe replied,
“Rachel that is correct, she died on the ground not 10 feet from me. I watched as they did CPR hoping to bring her back. I think it might have been a reaction from the Tear Gas that was sued during the attack, that stuff is god-awful. Most of us were on the ground coughing and that led to puking, it was quite the experience.”

Rachel paused taking in his first person version of the experience,
Yeah that Tear Gas is nasty, nasty stuff. I’ve been hit with it a more than a few occasions.
And if there is an underlying medical condition it can really be bad. I did a segment with a Police Department with full safety protocols in place and having that stuff ready helps quite a bit. In the field without quick access to water will burn the experience into your memory?”

Joe nodded even if the other caller was unable to see it,
“We were lucky; the Fire Department was on-scene 3 minutes after the call to 911 was placed. Those guys had plenty of water and told us the most effective way to treat our symptoms.”

Rachel segued to her next topic,
“Joe this may seem a little strange to you but this story has some legs. As I might have mentioned I book guests for the evening line-up and a few of the hosts would love to interview you about what happened to you. As you can imagine the “mainstream media” hasn’t mentioned this incident fearing that it was carried out by their friends in the extreme left. Meaning their type of people killed an innocent lady for fear of what you said. That makes them nervous since they tend to want to downplay the violent aspects of their party’s true believers. The radical environmental and animal rights movements have put more than a few people on the Most Wanted list.”

Joe paused and was thinking about how far he wanted to go with this. He thought about the women that had died and his resolve continued to be firm,
“Rachel I’m interested, what can you tell me about the process.”

Rachel answered,
“Well we are interested in buying the rights to the tape and would like you as a guest on 2 or 3 of our shows. Since most people aren’t trained to be on a live national news program the hosts will treat you with your lack of experience in mind. They want to hear about the experience, that’s most likely what their audience is interested in. The subject of your talk is the reason you were attacked and nothing more. If you watch our network you know most our people agree with your viewpoint.”

Joe nodded understanding and a shimmer of fear inside him dissipated. The thought of arguing with trained professionals on live TV held no interest for him,
“Rachel if you’re saying that we wouldn’t be adversarial at all then I can live with that. Anything else first-timers tell you?”

“Joe here’s the most important thing in your case. More important than money which I heard you gave to the bookstore owner. And that is security. If you ever talk to a Republican that has ran in a Traditionally Democratic area or a conservative that has been on our programs they will tell you that the left is vicious. Shooting into offices, picketing, internet character assassination, lawsuits, pranks, they’ll target family and neighbors and death threats are common. This is a serious business with serious consequences; we want to be very upfront with you about this.”

Joe fidgeted with his coffee,
All this because of what people say, it sounds like they are attempting to infringe on the Right to Free Speech. How bad is it?”

Rachel answered,
“They are attempting to remove certain voices from the dialogue. Because of this constant threat we have very good security here at out studios. The guys you see on our channel are constantly surrounded by bodyguards. More than a few wear protective vests when in public or any other place they are vulnerable. They are harassed in every phase of their personal life on a regular basis. One of the commentators was assaulted by a soccer dad 2 weeks ago at a game for 5 year olds. On that occasion security had been loosened at the commentator’s request, luckily he had some training and prevailed.”

Joe asked the question of the day knowing the answer,
“Why do they do it?’

Rachel paused,
“I work for commentators so I’ll only comment on the guests that I have personally met that have braved the juggernaut. They think it’s important, so important that they risk all sorts of bad things to speak out and share their thoughts without reservation. Joe I think maybe you are one of those people. They are special people that feel the way they feel and personally I think they are good Americans.”

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 7

Mandy sat next to Joe and watched as her mild mannered boyfriend wheeled and dealt like he’d been doing it his whole life. While Joe talked Mandy had used her computer and done a search on Rachel Pugg. She had shown Joe what she was able to find. Rachel’s Facebook page showed that she was a news veteran and had been around some big shows.

Joe agreed to a price for the videotape and agreed to be a guest on 3 shows over the next 24 hours. Since he had committed to an exclusive with the local news channel his first appearance was on one of the shows later that evening that had smaller audience. He was to get to the local television studio 45 minutes early and a stylist would assist him with his wardrobe choice and do his make-up.

A local security consultant with body guarding experience would be assigned to access his security situation and deal with the threats that might arise. His fee was paid by the network and he would accompany Joe to all taping and live interviews.

The Security consultant was ex-pd and had lost a daughter on 9-11. Rachel assured Joe that he had no love for terrorists either foreign or domestic and would provide him his full attention. The consultant was fully versed on the latest in threat assessment and was an affiliate of a Company that did a lot of work with movie and TV personalities, sports stars, musicians, rich businesspeople and politicians.

Mandy could hear some of other side of the conversation and was shocked at the shows the booker was offering him. From hearing just one side of the conversation Mandy thought that Joe could end up on Oprah or Larry King Live.

Joe finished up with Rachel,
“Well Rachel I guess I’ll be looking for your e-mail and talking to you later. Thanks, wish me luck.”

Joe hung up and looked at Mandy,
“I’m not going to make dinner tonight unless you like that all-night burger place on Main.”

Mandy stared at Joe,
“I could get a chicken sandwich. Can I come with you to the studio?”

Joe hesitated,
From what Rachel told me at some point this could get a little dangerous. You can come tonight but after the morning I’d recommend that you pass on the experience. They’re hiring a security consultant and we’ll figure out if it’s safe for you to join me or not. It would mean a lot to me to have you there.”

Mandy smiled,
“Oh, we’ll see about that. You need me to pick out your tie and make sure it’s straight.”

Joe’s phone rang and he answered it,
“Bryce thanks for calling so quickly. Rachel mentioned we need to look at my house and do an assessment of my security risk factors. She also said that you know what you’re doing so give me an e-mail address and I’ll send over my address and you can send me the paperwork.”

Joe listened carefully and made a few notes in the notebook he had used when he was on the phone with Rachel,
“Bryce, tell me what do you think about looking at the house today?”

Again Joe listened and jotted down notes. Joe’s writing was so bad it was almost it’s own code and Mandy had a hard time deciphering it from the angle she was sitting at.

Joe slid Mandy’s laptop around and began typing on it.

After a few minutes Joe asked,
“I can leave here and send it to you in maybe 5 minutes does that work?”

Joe hung up the phone and turned to Mandy,
“I need to get to my laptop and e-mail some stuff. Sorry about lunch. Hey, are you busy now you can come with me. I need to get a haircut. I don’t want my mom calling and harassing me for looking sloppy on national TV.”

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 8

Mandy called her hair stylist and got Joe an appointment for a haircut. Her stylist agreed to see them as soon as they got to the shop and was true to his word. Joe got a shorter more respectable cut than his regular hair stylist usually recommended and Joe tipped the stylist $20.00 for fitting them in on short notice.

Mandy marveled at how the new haircut gave Joe more of a sense of being a grown-up.
That combined with listening to him talk to the Network producer in New York convinced Mandy that Joe could hold is own against the forces that would eventually criticize him for his out-spoken views on the violate issue of Social Justice. She didn’t envy the buzzsaw he was about to walk into.

Joe holed up in his office and made some notes he thought might be useful. His main focuses were examples from some of the political changes that had been experienced in Africa over the last 20-30 years how those changes had affected everyday people. After a few hours in his office working he got to a stopping point and sat back in his chair and relaxed and visualized what he wanted to accomplish.

As the darkness of night began replacing the sunny day Mandy knocked on his office door and they left for the studio together. Mandy offered to drive and Joe grabbed his backpack out of his office and followed her to her Honda SUV.

Mandy didn’t talk much on the way downtown thinking Joe needed to get himself centered and mentally prepare for being on live National TV. Traffic was light and they made it to the studio with over an hour before he was scheduled to go on.

Joe sat in the make-up chair while Tonya the assistant explained what she was doing and briefed him on how the ear bud and monitor worked. She explained that a slight delay was common and encouraged him to try to pace his speaking to the host to avoid talking on top of each other. She pronounced him ready and they moved into the studio to get him miked up and the camera set-up.

10 minutes later he watched on the monitor as the host did his intro and he was on live TV.,
“We’ve got Joe Quick the speaker at the event that was interrupted by an activist that threw a tear gas grenade into the small crowd at a bookstore. Joe, I want to thank you for being here with us tonight.”

Joe replied,
“Adam thanks for having me.”

The network host continued,
“Joe can you tell me what you were talking about that upset the lady in the crowd? I also heard that an attendee collapsed after the evacuation and died. Joe is this information correct?”

Joe paused and dug in,
“Your information is correct, an attendee collapsed and died on the way to the hospital from a cardiac event. I’m told the effects of the Tear Gas played a large part in her death.
Adam I was discussing a video of a gentleman that advocated Property Redistribution as it applies to Social Justice. The video was from a recent conference in Milwaukee, videos of that event started hitting the internet within the last few weeks. I had seen it and thought I’d share a few thoughts about it.”

The host looked at the camera,
“Now let’s watch that tape.”

The screen went to the 20 seconds before the incident and continued till after the room was cleared and Joe turned the machine off. The activist was in clear focus and almost centered in the shot. Joe had avoided watching the tape and knew later he would react to the women’s death.

The host was efficient and Joe managed to hold his own without looking foolish for the remaining 5 minutes of the segment. The host thanked Joe for coming on the show and Joe returned the thanks and the segment ended.

Mandy was holding Joes phone while they removed the microphone equipment from his waist. The phone rang and answered it.

“Joe Quick speaking,”

Rachel Pugg was on the other end of the line,
“Joe, you did great. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of your interviews gets bumped to prime time. The tape is being used on a panel discussion at noon and I’ll e-mail the show information to you so you can watch it. Looks like you’ve got till 2:00pm tomorrow so get some rest.”

Joe took Mandy to a nice restaurant downtown for dinner to thank her for her help. A few friends and relatives called during dinner to say they saw him on TV and tell him he did a good job.

Everything was going well until Joe and Mandy were looking at the desert menu and the phone rang and when Joe answered it the digitally altered voice on the other side said two words.
“You’re dead”

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 9

Joe hung up the phone and exhaled loudly.

Mandy looked at the strange look on his face,
“Is everything OK? You have a strange look on your face.”

Joe regained his composure,
“It’s just a death threat. The first in my life by the way. I’d better call Bryce and tell him what happened. They told me that death threats are fairly common and less than an hour after going on national TV they’ve begin.”

Mandy smiled to reassure Joe,
“Well you told me they are usually are just cranks and seldom represent a real threat to your safety.”

Joe pushed the desert menu away deep in thought and answered,
That’s true; I was hoping that the hoopla was just that. I’ll see what Bryce says and change my number in the morning.”

Mandy looked concerned,
“I’m not really interested in dessert anymore. Do you mind if we call it a night? We want to make sure that you’re well rested for tomorrow.”

Joe was motionless as he answered Mandy’s question,
“Thanks, if you don’t mind.”

When they got to the car Joe called Bryce to tell him what happened. He suggested they meet in the morning before any of the taping began and work up a game plan.

The next morning found Bryce at Joe’s front door. Joe’s 5 acres outside the suburbs were outside city limits and offered some flexibility compared to areas closer to town. He had a good relationship with his neighbors and hoped that if things got worse they’d keep an eye on his place. Bryce examined the house and let Joe know the alarm salesman was stopping by later. Bryce had worked with the security company representative before and felt comfortable with him and the company. The plan was to design the system today and have a system installed the next morning.

Joe also told Bryce about his Concealed Carry Permit and asked about carrying his weapon from here on out. Bryce agreed that he would be a good idea and wanted to see his carry piece.

Joe got his Ruger LCP out of the safe, removed the magazine and cleared the weapon. Bryce examined the weapon for function and cleanliness, finding it was well maintained and seemed to function properly. Joe told him that he used an inside the pocket holster and always carried 2 spare magazines.

Bryce nodded,
“Well, let’s see if you can shoot it. Can you fire weapons out here legally?

Joe looked at the man,
“Sure that’s no problem.”

Bryce set up an empty milk jug on a sawhorse that they drug out of the small outbuilding. Joe managed to get consistent hits from 3 to 12 feet without a problem.
Bryce was happy with his gun handling and shooting.

He had Joe clear the weapon and watched him remove the weapon from the pants pocket of his khakis several times. Joe seemed well practiced and Bryce was happy.

The alarm company’s representative showed up and they all walked thru the house together. His suggestions were for a basic system with a few extra windows wired into the system and the addition of a smoke and heat detector. He also recommended cellular back-up and a drive way notification monitor that Joe could order over the internet. The driveway monitor was wireless and simple to install. He promised the alarm system would be installed the next morning and Joe signed the papers for the alarm installation and the monitoring contract and handed the man a check.

Joe went upstairs too shower and shave. After getting dressed Joe and Bryce headed for the studio for the next appearance.

Again Tonya did his hair and make-up and got him ready for his appearance. Joe was again a tad nervous about his appearance. This show was the second highest rated on Cable News during the day. With the host on vacation a judge that was a regular contributor was the host and Joe hadn’t seen him and didn’t know what to expect.

5 minutes into the segment Joe was waiting for the opportunity to unleash his roundhouse. He had answered 2 questions from the replacement host already and it was almost time.

Joe hesitated just 3 seconds after the question was asked and weighted in,
“Well as a Sociologist the thing I find the most disturbing is that we see a parallel between the actions used in this instance that it is similar to the methods used in the Mideast with Suicide Bombings. The tear gas grenade could have been thrown from outside the building and the effect on the participants is the same. That removes the possibility of harm to the thrower. This willingness to put the perpetrator at risk is disconcerting to say the least and might reflect an adjustment to more aggressive tactics.”

The host asked another easy question and the segment was over.

Joe got up from the chair, removed his mike and drank half a bottle of water. He’d let one loose. Time to see what happens next.

[alangator]

At The Podium
Part 10

As Bryce was walking Joe outside after the taping he asked if Joe had plans for the next 2 hours. Joe mentioned he was free till the next interview and both men hopped into Bryce’s Black Suburban.

Bryce drove for 15 minutes and stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse in a run down industrial area. Both men got out of the vehicle and walked toward the door. Bryce pushed a button on the intercom next to the door and a voice asked who it was.

Bryce leaned toward the intercom,
“12 W one. Code T.”

A click sounded and Bryce pulled the door open. Joe was ushered into a well lit space. While not fancy it was clearly a shooting range. The space above where they stood contained a second level with a wide set of stairs descending in an open atrium type of stairway with plenty of natural light. The far wall was about 35 yards away and looked as if a million rounds had bounced off every surface between the shooting line and the bullet trap.

A fit looking ruddy faced man with a slight limp walked down the stairs, he gripped the metal banister tightly. To Joe the man coming from upstairs indicated the upper area was finished as an office or an apartment. He looked at least 50, his head was shaved and his face bore a thin scar next to his left ear.

Bryce smiled and embraced the man,
“Lazarus it’s good to see you. How are the kids?’

Lazarus smiled as they came apart,
“They are doing great. Melissa sent me cookies from school if you guys want a snack when you’re done. And this must be Joe. Joe just call me Lazarus, it’s nice to meet you. I saw your spot yesterday night. I’m guessing death threats?”

Joe smiled,
“Lazarus it’s good to meet you and yes death threats are starting to come in.”

Lazarus started slowly walking toward the head of the marked shooting lanes,
“Bryce says you’re carrying a Ruger LCP, is that correct.”

Joe nodded and fished into his pants for the small weapon. He pulled it out as they reached the waist high counter and cleared the weapon and set it on the counter with the loaded magazine next to it.

Lazarus checked the weapon a second time and pulled an exact duplicate of Joe’s weapon out of his waistband and cleared it before setting it down beside the first one.

Next to it he placed 2 black Surefire G2s on the counter.

Lazarus pulled a remote from his pocket pushed a button and Joe heard a motor gently whining and noticed the light from the atrium stairway fading. The room was now illuminated solely by the overhead lighting,
“Today we work on low light shooting and presentation. I recommend you change into a pair of coveralls from the locker in the restroom and we will begin. The locker room has a shower and an assortment of toiletries so you can freshen up when we’re done. I believe we have 3 hours to get some shooting done before you go back on TV and piss off a bunch more people.”

Joe did as recommend and changed into a grey pair of overalls that he found in the locker room. He had lugged his BOB into the warehouse and pulled a pair of white socks and his sneakers out and put them on to avoid looking foolish. Grey coveralls worn with tan socks and light tan trainers would never look good on any man. The small locker room was equipped with 2 stalls and a shower; it had an assortment of soaps in small travel size bars and 5 types of spray deodorant on the shelf above the side by side sinks. An 8 foot tall mirror rounded out the sink area. A stack of towels sat on a stainless steel cart next to the shower area. It actually had a row of lockers in it that looked like they were taken out of a factory in 1950. Joe noticed it didn’t have that funky smell that locker rooms sometimes had so he assumed it was well ventilated or seldom used.

When he returned from the locker room Lazarus handed him a pair of goggles and ear protection and began to teach him the fundamentals of low light shooting.

Bryce climbed the stairs to the apartment above the firing stations. Before he went upstairs he took Joe’s cell phone to avoid interruptions and told Joe to listen carefully. He explained that this was the foundation of his safety training and it was important to be able to successfully shoot in low light conditions since most firearms encounters involved less than ideal lighting conditions.

Joe guessed Lazarus was an excellent firearms teacher and was amazed at how much material they covered. The buildings light could be extinguished little by little and as the training progressed they gradually worked with less and less light till they were working with just the aid of the G2 and its high output incandescent beam.

2 hours later with their training complete for the day Lazarus walked Joe upstairs and offered him the use of his shower. The apartment was maybe 1200 square feet and looked comfortable. It was pretty much a loft with only the bedroom area and the bathroom having doors. The kitchen was equipped with a 6 burner restaurant style gas stove. One end of the small island doubled as an eating area with café height chairs. The original exterior brickwork had been retained and the rough wooden beams gave it a downtown loft feeling in the middle of the vacated industrial area. The loft had windows unlike the rest of the building and offered a nice view of the river less than a quarter mile away.

Bryce was sleeping on the couch with his shoes off and as Joe headed for his shower he could hear his gentle snoring.