VBT: Very Bad Thing.

VCI: Vehicule de Combat d'Infanterie (infantry combat vehicle). A variant in the VBCI family of wheeled APCs.

VCP: Vehicle Control Point.

VDC: Volts, Direct Current.

VEVAK: Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniyat-e Keshvar. The Iranian intelligence service See also MOIS.

VPC: Vehicule Poste de Commandement (command post vehicle). A variant in the VBCI family of wheeled APCs.

VTT: Vehicule de Transport de Troupes (troop transport vehicle). A variant in the VBCI family of wheeled APCs.

VW: Volkswagen.

WAN: Wide Area Network.

WD-1: U.S. military-issue two-conductor insulated field telephone wire.

Wi-Fi: Wireless Fidelity.

XL: Extra Large.

Z-9: A Chinese military utility helicopter. It is a license-built version of the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, manufactured by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. The attack variants have fixed-mount 23mm cannons.

Z-10: An attack helicopter developed by the People's Republic of China.

Z-19: A Chinese reconnaissance/attack helicopter developed by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force and the Ground Force Air Force.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Special thanks to Mrs. X., who articulated the dilemma of those trapped in and near the D.C. Beltway, bound by golden handcuffs.

Also, thanks to "Joe Snuffy." Despite having his own successful career in military intelligence, and many job offers, he chose to live a simpler life, and avoided the golden handcuffs.

This book's t.i.tle is a shared homage in honor of:.

The veterans of the U.S. Army Fourteenth Armored Division ("The Liberators").

Those who designed and built the Consolidated B-24 and PB4Y-1 "Liberator" heavy bombers; The aircrewmen who flew B-24 Liberator bombers in World War II. In particular, I thank Lt. Col. Alvin G. "Al" Millspaugh, whom I met when I was a teenager; George Hyde, the German-born designer of the American FP-45 Liberator pistol made during World War II; And Cody Wilson, the inventor of the twenty-first-century "Liberator" 3D-printed pistol.

This novel is also dedicated to the memory of famed cattleman Richmond P. Hobson Jr., the author of Gra.s.s Beyond the Mountains, which describes the early cattle ranch settlement of the interior of British Columbia in the 1930s. The largely roadless country north of Anahim Lake is still one of the last frontier regions in North America.

I also want to express my thanks to the many other folks who encouraged me, who contributed technical details, who were used for character sketches, and who helped me substantively in the editing process. They include: Fred Burton (a former DSS counterintelligence agent, now Stratfor's vice president for intelligence), Roxanne B., Frank B., Dave B., Cheryl, Mr. C. in Cocolalla, the DCS Guy, E. in Afghanistan, Erin in Bella Coola, Frank and Fern, "Enola Gay," Harry, Josh H., Buddy Hinton, Hugh, Jeff C., Jerry J., the intrepid float-plane pilot Rob J., Reggie Kaigler ("DEMCAD"), Steve K., "Ken and Terry Layton," Norm of Anahim Lake, Mr. O. of the Secwepemc, J.I.R., Patrice, Randy R., S. in Kamloops, Brian S., Tamara, an unnamed fellow ASA veteran, and an unnamed defense attache.

Last, but far from least, my sincere thanks to my editor at Dutton, Jessica Renheim, for her amazing skill in making my scribbling seem coherent.

James Wesley, Rawles.

The Rawles Ranch.

September 2014.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Former U.S. Army Intelligence officer and survivalist James Wesley, Rawles is a well-known survival lecturer and author. Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com-the nation's most popular blog on family preparedness. He lives in an undisclosed location west of the Rockies and is the New York Times bestselling author of Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse; Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse; Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse; Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse; and a nonfiction survival guide, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It.

In 1864, E. P. Dutton & Co. bought the famous Old Corner Bookstore and its publishing division from Ticknor and Fields and began their storied publishing career. Mr. Edward Payson Dutton and his partner, Mr. Lemuel Ide, had started the company in Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts, as a bookseller in 1852. Dutton expanded to New York City, and in 1869 opened both a bookstore and publishing house at 713 Broadway. In 2014, Dutton celebrates 150 years of publishing excellence. We have redesigned our longtime logotype to reflect the simple design of those earliest published books. For more information on the history of Dutton and its books and authors, please visit www.penguin.com/dutton.

ALSO BY JAMES WESLEY, RAWLES.

Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse.

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It.

Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse.

Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse.

Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse.