SATURDAY STORY - DAN JACKSON #13

 SATURDAY STORY - DAN JACKSON #13

An anonymous phone call was made to Northwestern University at about 4:30 p.m. The switchboard operator got the message that the CSA had kidnapped Daniel Jackson.  The CSA was the “Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord”, a radical Christian organization.  

*****

On Saturdays, I write fiction.  This is the thirteenth episode of Daniel Jackson - who built a computer in his parent's basement at age 14 in 1980, then neighbors and friends wanted computers, and Dan (with his parents and uncle) started DJ Computers. 

It is now 1985, and Dan has just finished his first year at Purdue University.  His first semester he didn’t let anyone know that he was a millionaire entrepreneur, but by the second semester, he came out of his shell, joined a fraternity, had a girlfriend, was elected to the Student Senate, and worked for one of the professors in an exploratory technology lab.

DJ Computers (led by Uncle Steve Jackson) had Dan in several commercials that ran during the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament.  The ads were very successful, DJ Computers increased their market share and for his summer job back at DJ Computers in Bloomington Illinois, he is going on the road setting up direct sales of DJ Computers in college bookstores.  

As we finished last week, he was (gasp) kidnapped from Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois.  His mother and the marketing director for DJ Computers were with him.

So, let’s continue

*****

For the first hour of the kidnapping, Dan sat quietly in the backseat with a pillowcase over his head and his hands tied together.  He had a gag in his mouth and couldn’t speak or yell out. He was moved out of the white Ford Econoline van about ten minutes after he was thrown into it and hustled into a white Oldsmobile Cutlass.  The kidnappers had taken his pillowcase off while they transferred him to the second car.  Dan tried to count the minutes and the turns.  He tried to listen to other noises.  Most of the first hour had been most likely on a major highway as traffic was very noisy. He couldn’t see or tell that his pillowcase had a head drawn on it so that a passing car looking in would not see a white pillowcase, but a head between two men in the backseat.  

There was little talking among the kidnappers.  Finally, Dan just dozed off.  

He woke a little as they seemed to get gas and a bag of some food - maybe burgers and definitely, he could smell hot French Fries. There was no talk, and he remained in the middle with a pillowcase over his head.  As they started moving again, he leaned back against the headrest and fell asleep again.

It seemed as if the kidnappers thought that Dan wasn’t a fighter and that he was probably a pretty decent kid.  By the time he woke up, the sun was getting lower over his left shower.  He could tell since that side of the pillowcase was brighter. Since it was June, Dan figured out they were going north.  He wondered where they were and where they were taking him. The guy on his left said to the driver, “He’s waking up”.  

“Do you need a bathroom?” asked the driver?  

Dan tried to answer “Mafsflasfjl eagdfsdfgt” was what came out of this gagged mouth.

The driver said, “Take off the gag.”  The man on the left took off Dan’s gag.

Dan did need a bathroom and said “Yes, I do need a bathroom.”

Maybe they would stop on a side road, or send somebody into the restroom with him. He would have to think about his options.  If he tried to escape, they might shoot him. But, he hadn’t seen any guns - maybe they had clubs or something.  Dan thought he might be faster since he ran a lot, but on a side road, there might not be a good place to run too.  Then, he remembered his feet were tied together.  

The driver pulled off and then down something - maybe a county road and stopped the car.  “Take off the pillowcase Jerry.”

The driver said, “Dan Jackson, I’m Rodney Smith.  We are part of an organization called the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord.  God has told us that He is upset at this country.  He says your coins are marked ‘In God we trust’, but the vast number of people in this country don’t believe that or trust in God.  We have been called by God to warn of the impending punishment that God will pour out on this Godless land.  But, our mission is largely unknown.  My guess is that you have never heard of us.  We anticipate that we will be caught and put on trial.  You will generate enough media coverage for us to spread our message about the sin and errors of the ways of people in this country.  We are not going to harm you, but we will not let you go until we get our demands met.  Our demands are to have a thirty-minute presentation on all television channels outlining how God wants us to change.  We are like the prophet Jonah who went into the sinful city of Nineveh and the people repented of their ways.  America needs to repent or face the consequences.  

“We also know that you are part of the Military-Industrial Complex - maybe not overtly, but in making computers that can be used to put men on the moon, or wage incessant war. This is NOT the way that God wanted us to live, and we have been given the task of making this message known.

“As for you.  We are guessing that you really are not part of the decision-making at DJ Computers.  You are 19 years old and a college student.  Yes, you started this when you started making computers, and you are a millionaire, but you probably can’t really cash in your stock options easily.  We hope your parents and your company will spend the money to get us the media time to spread our message.  At that point, we will release you back to your family.

“So, yes, you are kind of a prisoner, but really just a tool for us.  We will not harm you unless you fight against us or attempt to escape.  Give us a few days to get our message out, and you’ll be back in Bloomington Illinois, or wherever you want to be.

“As I said, I am Rodney Smith.  On your left is Jerry McDowell, and on your right is Wayne Flemming. Next to me in the front seat is Bob Wilson.  

Dan looked around.  The sunlight was almost gone.  Out the left window the sun was setting in the west, on the right window, it was growing dark, but not enough to have stars yet.  They were on a narrow paved road.  On both sides, pine trees leaned in over the car.  

He looked to his left and smiled at Jerry McDowell, Jerry smiled back.  Jerry was a black man with a neatly trimmed beard, with flecks of gray starting to show in his short black hair. He had on a polo shirt.  The shirt didn’t seem to have any words on it - but maybe an icon image.  Then Dan looked right and saw Wayne Flemming.  Wayne seemed to be an average white man in his upper 30s or 40s.  Brownish hair, bushy eyebrows, a chambray shirt.  Wayne also smiled back.

He could only see the back of Rodney’s head.  It had a little more gray in it as compared to Jerry.  Bob Wilson turned around to say “hi”.  Bob was mostly bald with no facial hair and blue eyes.

So these are my kidnappers, thought Dan.  Oh well, it could be worse. They seemed to be serious about their cause, but not bad people and not necessarily greedy people wanting him only for his money.

Rodney spoke again.  “Dan, we’ve been on the road for about six hours and we are getting tired and hungry.  We have a place up the road where we will stop. We’ll have dinner in a local diner and then we have a cabin in the woods.  

“But for right now, probably all of us need a bathroom break.”

Rodney slowed down and found a path into the woods on the left side of the road.  He drove down the path just far enough not to be seen from the main road, and stopped.  Dan had been looking and listening and hadn’t seen or heard a car on the road.  It was really isolated wherever they were.

Jerry on his left helped Dan out of the car.  With his tied feet it was slow going.  Jerry helped Dan to the edge of the road, then untied Dan’s hands so he could relieve himself.  Jerry stood next to him but did turn his head away while Dan peed.  

All four of the CSA - Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord men also relieved themselves.  They got back into the car and Rodney backed out slowly to the paved road.  With no pillowcase over his head, Dan couldn’t see any cars on the road at all.  Just the five of them - and the northern woods.  Dan tried to figure out where they were.  Rodney said they had driven about six hours. 

The sun was almost set on his left, so they had been driving north.  He had no idea how far.  

Once his Dad, Uncle Steve, and Dan had driven to Green Bay to see an NFL football game.  It was about 5 hours from Bloomington.  It was about two hours to Evanston Illinois and Northwestern University, so six hours from Northwestern University to the north was way past Green Bay.  He knew that the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was north of Green Bay.  He didn’t know if they were in northern Wisconsin or in the UP (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan. It was all pine woods.  

The radio was on low.  Currently, they were playing old hymns (nothing that Dan knew).  Vaguely he remembered a speaker - probably a minister - maybe an hour or two ago.  Occasionally it said “Chippewa Falls”.  He had no idea where that was, but it wasn’t in Illinois.

Back on the road, they headed north again.  Now that his head was not covered, he could see the highway signs.  They were on country highway “S”.  That made him think they were still in Wisconsin.  From previous trips, he seemed to remember that county roads in Wisconsin were letters and not numbers like county roads in Illinois. 

Soon it was dark, but Rodney knew where they were going.  After another half hour or so, they arrived at a town and picked up US Highway #8, and went a short distance to Yeti’s Drive-in.  A last admonition from Rodney to Dan was “Behave yourself.  We know the people that run this.”

Jerry untied Dan’s hands and feet

By this time of night, there was only one booth occupied at Yeti’s Drive-in.  And, Rodney and Jerry stopped at that booth to say “hi” while Wayne and Bob walked Dan to a back booth. Rodney and Jerry soon joined us.  A waitress with a nametag of Aggie came to the table, she greeted the others and looked at Dan.

“What will you have?” She asked.  The others ordered things they liked - like hot beef sandwiches, turkey and dressing.  Aggie looked at me.  I asked, “Could I see a menu?”.  

Aggie laughed and said, “Honey, order anything you want, and if we don’t have it, I’ll tell you no.  The big items are hamburgers.  Do you want a hamburger?”

Dan, somewhat perplexed, said, “Sure”.

Aggie then went through a bunch of options - ketchup, mustard, mayo, cheese, bacon, fries, sweet potato fries, coleslaw, potato salad, regular salad, beans, broccoli, and corn.  Somehow Dan ordered a burger with cheese, onions, ketchup, and bacon with a side of regular French fries, and a coke.  

The others got their meals first - as they got their meals ordered first.  But, before they started eating, Rodney prayed for wisdom and peace. The others said “Amen” at the end of Rodney’s prayer.  Aggie brought a plate of French fries to the table so Dan did eat some of the fries before his order came.  

There was a TV in a corner.  Rodney requested Aggie to change the channel to Headline News.  The clock on the wall said 8:57.  They wanted to see the top news story at the top of the hour.  And, they did.

After three minutes of commercials, the screen cleared and said “Top Stories”.  And, the top story was “Computer Developer kidnapped.  Dan’s face was shown on the screen.  The commentator described the situation and said if viewers had seen Dan call the FBI.  The second story was related to the kidnapping of Dan who was on the campus of Northwestern University opening a new DJ Computer salesroom in the campus bookstore.

“Daniel Jackson was kidnapped today by the radical Christian anti-government group Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord.  The CSA is asking for a half-hour of media coverage of their issues before they released Daniel Jackson of DJ Computers.”

The four whooped at the story, and even Aggie joined in.  When she brought Dan’s hamburger, she said, “And, you must be Daniel Jackson”.  Dan blushed and quietly said “Yes”.

Aggie continued, “Here is your hamburger Mr. Jackson.  I’m pleased to have you in our community.”

Dan mumbled “Thank you”, and set to work on the burger.  The others laughed.

As the others finished their meals, Aggie brought over root beer floats.  When Dan finished his burger, she brought him one as well.  He hadn’t ordered it, and he wasn’t paying for the meal (or maybe only indirectly paying for it).  

Rodney paid for dinner on a credit card and then filed out to the Oldsmobile Cutlass again.  Dan thought they were headed east - as the faintest hint of sunset lingered behind him. In a short while pulled into a lane to a church and some cabins.  There was a sign as they pulled in - CSA campground.

*****

Jerry and Dan got cabin #5 and settled in.  There were fresh clothes for Dan on one of the cots including some pajamas.  Dan was used to sleeping in his underwear, but did put on the PJs - and later was glad he did as the nights were still cool in Northern Wisconsin.  Jerry reminded Dan that even if he escaped, there were miles and miles of pine forests around them.  And, he slid a dresser in front of the door so even if Dan did try to get up, it would be hard to move the dresser away from the door without walking up Jerry.

Jerry was soon asleep, but Dan was awake.  What was going on?  What should he do?  He didn’t fear this group anymore but also knew he couldn’t escape.  As a chess game, it was the other side’s turn to move - that is, his parents, DJ Computers, and the authorities (FBI).

*****

Friday, June 14, 1985

And, the other side was active.  The FBI had established listening devices on Jackson’s home phone, and Steve Jackson’s phone at DJ Computers.  They took the threat seriously.

On Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. Will and Beth Jackson got a phone call from CSA - Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord group. 

“Hello”, went Beth Jackson.

In a distorted voice, a person said, “We have your son.  We will not harm him.  He is in a safe place.  We just want to get our message out to the country to turn from their sins and return to God, much like Jonah and Nineveh. We want 30 minutes of national media coverage within the next three days.  We’d prefer Sunday as it is the Lord’s Day. Do you understand?”

Beth Jackson handed the phone to her husband.  “Hello, this is Will Jackson.  I’m not sure we can get national media coverage within three days.  Can we talk to our son, Daniel?”

The voice continued, “We can get Daniel on the line later this afternoon.  He is sleeping in this morning.  We will call you back at 11:00 am Central Daylight Time.  Try to arrange a half-hour of media time for us.  We will have Daniel online by then.”

The call ended.  The FBI was attempting to trace the call, but the call was under a minute and probably from a payphone.  They tried but the trace got as far as St. Louis Missouri.

*****

But, a couple of miles away from Will and Beth Jackson, Steve Jackson and Wally Bunting were smiling at 9:00 a.m. - actually grinning - in Steve’s office at DJ Computers.  Because Daniel Jackson had been kidnapped, the country's spotlight was on DJ Computers.  Their stock price surged after the kidnapping was announced.  Wally reminded Steve that almost any publicity is good publicity.  The name DJ Computers was in the news.  Steve had been interviewed by CBS, and NBC reporters out of Chicago.  A writer from the Wall Street Journal had done a 20-minute phone interview with Steve.  The country was cheering for the release of the nerd founder of DJ Computers.  So while Will and Beth Jackson wanted their son back, safe and unharmed; Steve and Wally were hoping for a couple more days of free media coverage  

Between them, they figured a cost of about $150,000 for CBS, NBC, and ABC for 30 minutes of media coverage for CSA - but the publicity of having their founder kidnapped was worth a lot more than that.  Covenant, Sword, and Arm of God wanted media coverage and if DJ Computers could hold them off for a couple more days, they could get 30 minutes on an early morning during the week for maybe only $100,000.  

People around the country wanted to buy DJ Computer stock to be supportive of the poor computer geek that started the company.  The stock price was up 37% from 3:00 pm yesterday when the first news came out.  Steve, who had some 40,000 shares, was now worth over $14,000,000 in terms of his stock options.

While Steve and Wally wanted to get Dan Jackson home, safe and sound, if the crisis could last a couple more days, the media coverage would be fantastic.  Steve didn’t tell his brother Will Jackson about his thoughts though. 

*****

FBI Special Agent Wayne Pauli was the key person in the kidnapping for the authorities.  It seemed like CSA was a multiple-state organization and therefore the Chicago Police or Illinois Police were under the direction of the FBI.  They had public service announcements asking if anybody in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, or Minnesota had seen Daniel Jackson call in their report.  The announcement had Dan’s picture from the SigEp composite picture.  

*****

At 9:30 another phone call from Covenant, Sword, and the Arm of God came into the Jackson home.  It was brief.  “Do have media present for our 11:00 call.” <click>.

*****

At 11:00 the main call of the day came in from Covenant, Sword, and the Arm of God.  The sound was terrible.  Wayne Pauli thought it was a phone call from someplace to a bank of payphones in Jefferson City Missouri and then the call to the Jacksons came from another phone.  At least Wayne got a pretty good location on the phone call this time.  

The raspy voice introduced himself as the spokesperson for CSA. He then said, “Here is Dan Jackson”.

Dan’s distorted voice came over the phone.  Will and Beth nodded to the FBI attendant that they believed it was really Dan.  

Dan said, “Hi Mom and Dad.  I love you.  I’m in a very isolated location and they will not let me tell you where.  I am safe and well-treated.  These people seem to be serious about their beliefs and want the media time to give their side of the story, and I’m just a pawn in the process.  After this call, I think they will let me take a run.  But, yes, I’m good, I’m safe, I’m okay, I’ve been treated nicely.

The main spokesman came back on - after taking the phone back from Dan.  “Yes, your son is safe.  He seemed to sleep well last night.  We will let him take a run today.”

The spokesman (who was Rodney Smith) said, “Like Jonah in the Old Testament we have been called to testify to this country about the sins this country has committed and call this country to repentance and to return to God.  Except none of us has been swallowed by a whale.” (He paused for the Jacksons to remember the story of Jonah and the whale).

“All we are asking for is 30 minutes of time on CBS, NBC, and ABC for us to call this nation to repentance. Maybe DJ Computers can buy the airtime, that is your issue.  If that can be arranged, have Dan Rather on the CBS Nightly News tonight in his coverage of this story say exactly these words. ‘Negotiations are underway at this hour’.  Any other words will keep Dan in our custody.  Once we hear those words we will discuss the arrangements.  Do you understand?  We will not harm Dan and will drop him off at some safe place once we have made our online presentation.  We trust you and the FBI to act in Good Faith on this issue.  I realize that I personally will be jailed and tried for kidnapping - and I will come willingly when that time comes.  You have my word as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Do you have any questions?”

Beth grabbed the phone from Will Jackson, “Where are you?”

The raspy voice from a couple of phone transfers actually laughed.  “Mrs. Jackson, you know I can’t answer that, but in good faith, you will know soon.”

Will Jackson took the phone back from Beth, “Can I speak to Dan?”  

The voice said, “Yes - but just a minute”.  

Will asked Dan, “Son, we need to verify that this is you.  We think it is you, but can you tell us the middle name of Abby Jackson?”

It sounds like a laugh, “Dad, Abby's middle name is ‘Marie’, and Ada’s middle name is ‘Grace’”

Will also laughed, “Son, we love you.  We trust this will work out well.”

The leader’s raspy voice came back. “If there isn’t anything else, then let me pray, “Almighty and everlasting God, let this nation turn its back on sin and turn to your blessed son, Jesus Christ, Amen”.

The connection went dead.  

*****

Wayne Pauli said, “We’ve isolated the phone call to a bank of payphones outside the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Jefferson City, Missouri.  We do have the local police converging on that location now, but they might already be gone.”

*****

After the call, Dan asked if he could take a run.  

Rodney said “Sure”.  

But Dan said, “You know you kidnapped me in my dress clothes.  I’d prefer not to run in my dress shoes.”

Rodney called Jerry over and said, “Jerry, you know that lost and found a box in the back of the maintenance building.  Can you take Dan over there and see if there are any shoes that he could wear? And see if there is a long sleeve shirt and maybe some jeans. “

So Dan and Jerry found some shoes.  Dan “had” to get a run.  He felt he did some of his best thinking when he was running, and he had some ideas floating in his brain.

The CSA campground had a lot of trails.  Today was Friday, June 14, 1985.  It was going to be a great day to run.

Dan was a little surprised that none of the CSA men went with him or even stayed outside to watch him to make sure he didn’t run away.  Yes, there wasn’t much where he could go.  He thought they were maybe a couple of hours north of Green Bay, so even if he headed south, he wouldn’t make it that far.  He could find the road to Green Bay and run and hitchhike.  But, he dismissed that.  He was going to let the situation work itself out.

Rodney had said, “Be back by dinner time - about six o’clock”.

*****

Rodney Smith was liking this kid.  He was drafting a plan to present to the Jackson family and was in an office area in the campground.  The campground had a satellite dish and he had CNN and Headline News on so he could monitor the news about Dan’s kidnapping.  

*****

D’Anton Brown and Denise Brown sponsored a prayer vigil at Shekinah Glory Baptist Church on Friday evening for Dan.  About fifteen people joined in prayer for Dan.  Several of the members of Shekinah Glory worked at DJ Computers and the kidnapping of the founder of the company really hit home. And, they all remembered when Dan Jackson had come to church with the Brown family. 

*****

Abby and Ada Jackson had heard their Dad say that cousin Steve had been kidnapped.  They didn’t quite understand that term.  After all, as kids, they napped too.  They asked their Dad if cousin Steve was okay.  And Steve Jackson assured them that he was.  

*****

Will and Beth Jackson didn’t go too far away - hoping they might get a phone call from the kidnappers.  They had kept Linda Watson, Dan’s girlfriend and her family informed.

*****

The SigEp guys at Purdue were anxious for news about their brother and many were following it on the news.

*****

And even Michael Dell from Dell Computers had expressed his sympathy for the Jackson family.  

*****

The FBI put out bulletins to news media.  They indicated that the kidnappers had contacted the family with a ransom request.  

An eager nation waited.

*****

END OF EPISODE 13 of Daniel Jackson, founder of DJ Computers.  My mind is still looking at some options.  I was up this morning at 5:30 as I wanted to write.

So, what will happen?  Will this all work out?