It was quiet in the room as each person absorbed the information.
“Do you mean actually secede or threaten?”
“Before I answer that, I would like to hear your opinions on the whole idea of secession,” Folly said.
“Hey, I said before, I’m all for it. He attacked Valdosta without as much as a word. I don’t want anything to do with the bastard anymore,” Senator Zimmerman from Georgia said.
“What about you?” Folly asked the other Senator from Georgia.
“Well. I think it would be better if we could find another way but honestly, I doubt we can. So yeah, I would go along with that.”
“I think it’s safe to say, and speak up if you disagree Mary, that we are more than willing to join you if that’s what we all agree on,” the Senator from Texas replied.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Mary Lake added.
“Jane? Hugh? What about your position?”
“In for a penny, in for a pound. I’m for it,” Hugh said.
“In,” Jane Farley replied.
Then I guess our next course of action is to talk to any others that you feel may join us. I know Tennessee and Kentucky would be possible. Not sure about Pennsylvania or West Virginia,” Folly said.
“Oklahoma would be good to talk to and maybe South Dakota,” Mary Lake from Texas added.
“Nevada?” Folly asked.
“Doubt it. I don’t think they care one way or the other.”
“Others?”
“Louisiana, South Carolina. Not sure about North Carolina. Maybe,” Harry Tellman replied.
“What about Indiana?” Folly asked.
“Not sure. They would be worth talking to but no way will Illinois go with us.”
“They may not have a choice if we get enough of the others in the Midwest to go along,” Folly said.
“I noticed that no one mentioned California, Oregon or Washington State,” Mary said.
“Yeah, I wonder why?” Jane said as they all chuckled.
CHAPTER TEN
“It will never happen.”
“Don’t be so sure. They have lined up fifteen states that say they will secede from the union,” Adam Little of Homeland Security told the President.
“Bluster. Posturing. Nothing more. They could never pull it off. This isn’t like in the old days before instant communications. There would be a huge outcry and they would get tossed out on their ear so fast their head would swim.”
“Sir, I really think we need to take this as a serious threat. We should sweep in and remove the core of the group and arrest them.”
“Oh, that would really help. Can you imagine how the press would react to that? I can see the headlines. ‘Gestapo Arrests Dissidents’ in bold type. No Adam, that would just make them martyrs. The last thing I want to do is give them the ammunition to shoot at us,” the President said.
“We have to do something.”
“You need to relax. We need to take a step back and let things cool down some. We will leave the other commands alone as much as it irks me. For now. We need to let Eglin blow over before we do anything drastic,” the President replied.
“Sir. I doubt they are doing nothing. You know they have to be plotting and planning,” he insisted.
“Yes, yes. I know they aren’t sitting around on their thumbs but in the end it will do them no good. States are not going to try to secede from the union in today’s world. It isn’t like the Civil War. This is a complicated issue, not just one topic.”
“And I think that plays into their hands. It gives them a broader base to stir up unrest,” Little said.
“You are welcome to your opinion, however mine is the one that counts. I say we take a wait and see approach and let things cool off and that’s exactly what we are going to do.”
“Yes sir,” was all he could say in situations like this.
****
The Admiral’s Barge bobbed in the light chop as it sat anchored off the coast of Virginia Beach near the wreck of the Coast Guard ship the Cuyahoga. They could see dive ships anchored right over the wreck as they offloaded divers. They were not there for fun, however.
“Where do we stand?” Folly asked.
“North and South Carolina will go with us. Same for Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, and Oklahoma. Michigan and Minnesota are definitely not interested,” Harry Tellman of Georgia said.
“Iowa?”
“Uncommitted.”
“New Mexico?”
“I give them an eighty percent chance of going along. They understand the dilemma of not going along with others at their borders.”
“Well Colorado and Idaho are not going to go along so it will be interesting to see what happens when we really go ahead with it.”
“That brings up an interesting quandary in its own right. How do we set up the government?” Jane Farley of Mississippi asked.
“Well Jane, we haven’t quite gotten that far. I mean we are stilling trying to count the sheep before the gate is opened. I guess we would have to have an interim President and Vice President until elections could be held,” Folly answered.
“What about money? Where does that come from?” she asked.
“We have Fort Knox. I think we are pretty well set. If anything, Quasim will have a much bigger problem. He can lay claim to the gold but it will still be in our possession.”
“They will try to come after it,” Robert Pen from Texas said.
“Yes they will. And we will stop them.”
“What about currency? They have the presses. We won’t have access to printing money,” Benson from Mississippi asked.
“Not so,” Senator Pen spoke up, “We have a printing facility right in Houston.”
“Geez, I didn’t know that,” Linda Samson from Florida muttered.
“Okay, we are getting off the beaten track. So as it stands right now we have nine definite states and a couple of probably states.
“Crap. Pardon my French. I forgot all about Arkansas. They are definitely in.”
“Excellent. We should see about Montana and Wyoming. They are stuck out there pretty far but it couldn’t hurt to talk to them.”
“Same for Kansas and Nebraska. Probably North Dakota too,” Folly said.
“We can take care of those. I’ll take two and Robert can take two if that is okay with you,” she said turning to Pen.
“That’s fine for me. I don’t care which ones I visit but I do think it should be a priority. I’m sure the White House knows we are working on this plan.”
“Undoubtedly,” Folly agreed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
President Quasim was more than struggling. He was fighting severe depression. His ratings were the lowest since he had taken office. Spontaneous riots were still breaking out across the nation and the NRA was painting him as a future dictator.
He was sitting alone in the Oval Office with only the light from the windows illuminating the room. The room matched his mood, somber and dark. The reports that several states were going to try to secede from the union were nagging at him. He was sure it was a bluff to try to force him to change his position on the second amendment.
The change was critical for his future plans. It was necessary if he wanted to stay in office longer than two terms. Once the militias were squashed he would have the power to do as he pleased. He could tweak the first amendment to limit the size of assembly to stop the protesters and rioting. From there it was an easy step to imposing security measures on the media. Criticism of the administration could be virtually eliminated.
As much as he didn’t like the Secretary of State, Hanna Cole, she certainly understood the way to control the masses. Without her suggestions he doubted he would have ever considered Operation Clean Sweep. Turning back now would end everything he had been working for.
The room continued to grow darker as the few remaining shadows moved across the room until it was plunged into total darkness. It was easier to see the future without the lights.
<
br /> ****
“He is a wimp,” Hanna said.
“Yes, that may be true but he is who we have hitched our horse to.”
“Why? Look he is President now but that does not mean he has to be once everything is in place. He can think that, hell, I want him to think that, but he can’t remain in power once this is over.”
“Hanna,” Ralph Larson said, “Right now we need him. He is the one the people are looking at. He has to remain in power until this is totally a done deal. After that...then it can change.”
“Ralph, you are dead wrong. Once we initiate the changes to the Constitution he will be even more powerful. He will have the military in his pocket and no one will be able to touch him.”
“But to get rid of him before the changes will create a vacuum. The last thing we want is for Vice President Jason to take office.”
“Look, at that point it won’t matter. The Constitution will be a shadow of its former self.”
“Okay, if you find a way to take Jason out of the picture you still have the Speaker of the House next in line.”
“He has cancer. I have it from his own doctor that he has less than a year to live. You have seen him. He is weak and falls asleep half the time from the medicine they are pumping into him. That’s why we have to press forward. If he dies a new Speaker of the House of Representatives will be appointed. Then we have a whole new bunch of problems,” Hanna told him.
“Lord. I’m not so sure we can really pull this off,” Larson said.
“Listen Counselor, don’t start getting skeptical on me now. You need to stay the course. If you want to be the Vice President when I take over, you have to be the kind I can depend on.”
“I’m not skeptical. I just saying that a lot of things out of our control have to fall into place for this to happen.”
“No. It will happen. You and I are going to see that it does. Got it?” she said emphatically.
“Yeah. I have it.”
“Good. Now here is what we need to do next...”
****
“Sir. Do you realize what you are risking? How this will play out in history?” Senator Beau Zimmerman of Georgia said.
“This is bigger than what people will say after I am gone.”
“It will start before you are gone, Sir. You will be dragged through the mud on a daily basis,” the Senator replied.
“That may be true but this is the only way that I can see that it will send the right message to the rest of America.”
“All I can say is that it would be an honor to have you on our side. I know you will go through hell in the short term but I honestly hope for your sake you will be able to weather the storm.”
“I’m tougher than you think.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
HEADLINE NEWS – Thousands of protesters clashed today in Washington DC. Anti-Quasim demonstrators and Pro-President Quasim groups met near the Washington Monument. Police were greatly outnumbered as they tried to keep the two groups apart with little success.
Police Chief O’Dell said that the two groups were to stay on their designated streets. The Anti-Quasim protesters were to be confined to 17th Street NW and the Pro-President demonstrators to 15th Street NW.
“We had police and barricades set up to keep the two apart but as the numbers grew they were able to overcome the police,” Chief O’Dell said.
During the melee two fatalities were reported and several hundred injured. When asked what started the free-for-all, Chief O’Dell replied “Ignorant people on both sides.”
When asked about the fighting taking place right outside of the White House a spokesperson told the news that “It may be time to implement a new policy limiting the number of people allowed to gather.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“We are live from the White House press room where in just moments the President of the United States will deliver a message. He has indicated that he would take a few brief questions.”
“Good evening my fellow Americans. Tonight I am going to address the lingering problem of the refusal of certain military commanders that are disobeying a direct order to relinquish control of their bases,” he said looking into the camera.
“We have exhausted every avenue of negotiation at this time. We have sent envoys to each base to talk to the commanders but have been turned away. I have personally tried to call each commander but they have refused to take the calls from the Commander-in-Chief. This is a blow to the security of the American citizens. This is quite simply not a situation that we can allow to continue.
America’s security is being jeopardized by a few self-serving military officers that do not care about the safety of the citizens they have taken an oath to protect. As Commander-in-Chief, I am publically issuing a direct order to those base commanders to relinquish control and to surrender to the proper military authorizes. You have exactly twenty-four hours to turn over control of the bases, at which time military action will be initiated to regain American assets.
For over a month we have tried other approaches and none of them have succeeded. At this point, for the security of our American citizens, we can no longer tolerate this blatant act of treason. It is with a great deal of regret that I am being forced to make this decision but my oath to protect the citizens of this great country must be upheld.
My fellow citizens, this is a last resort measure. I wish with all my heart that I did not have to give the order to commence action against those rogue elements. For Americans to remain free we must have a strong Commander-in-Chief, one that is willing to make the hard decisions. As much as it unsettles me, I am willing to make that decision.
I am asking all Americans to understand the position of the Administration for the good of the country. This has been a tumultuous time for the entire White House staff and the military commanders that are responsible to bring these base commanders under control.
My hope is that they will realize the consequences and the danger in which they are placing the young men and women under their command. You must obey the order to surrender the bases and yourselves to the military authorities.
“Thank you and God Bless each and every one.”
Kendra Cox, the White House Press Secretary came to the microphones.
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the press. The President will answer a few questions concerning the present situation only. Irrelevant questions will not be answered,” she said looking out over the crowd.
Hands immediately shot up and he nodded to a reporter.
“This is the first we have heard of other base commanders not obeying the direct orders of the President. How many bases are you talking about?”
“Well Scott. Of the over one thousand military bases, we are talking about six tenths of one percent,” he answered.
“Meaning?”
“Obviously six bases out of the one thousand. Elaine,” he said moving on to another reporter.
“Thank you Mr. President. Are you willing to release the names of the bases and the commanders?”
“Not at this time. With the impending possibility of military action, the last thing we want is for the curious to get caught up in the action. We are withholding names in hopes that this can still be resolved peacefully,” he said and pointed to another reporter.
“Sir. What kinds of weapons will you use to regain control of the bases?”
“Whatever it takes short of nuclear weapons. Yes?” he said to the next person.
“You seem to be taking the position that the Constitution needs to be changed, especially the second amendment. Isn’t that what started all of this?”
“Absolutely not. A few dissidents cannot be allowed to twist the intent of the Administration. The NRA has been working hard to spread that vicious rumor but it is unfounded and untrue.”
“Even so? That still is why you have the situation you are now facing isn’t it?” he asked.
The President ignored the remark and pointed to another reporter.
&nb
sp; “Last question. Ann,”
“Mr. President. How do you hold up under such scorching criticism?” she asked.
“Because I am an American sworn to protect this great nation of ours. It is my responsibility to the people of the United States to do the best thing for the country without regard to the personal attacks on me or my administration.”
They were still clamoring questions when he made his way out of the room.
****
“What do you think?” Quasim asked.
“Very good. Sincere and yet grim. Letting them know that only six out of over one thousand refused to follow your command put it into perspective.”
“I hope we don’t get caught on that.”
“No one knows, including the Pentagon, exactly how many military bases we have around the world. It’s a flowing number. You know yourself that it all boils down to what is considered a military base. So we took the high side. No one will go after that angle,” Kendra assured him.
“That was a great idea to feed that question to Ann Silzer from NBC. Make sure she is properly taken care of.”
“I’ve already done it. She has been invited to a reception you are giving. She will be given the advanced agenda so she will have a huge leg up on the others.”
“Good. We need to keep stroking the right media people.”
“I’ve got it under control,” Kendra replied.
“I never doubted it for a minute. Any polls yet about the speech?”
“Probably not for another hour or so. I would imagine by 10 O’clock we should have the first results.”
“Any guesses?”
“It will be better than the last time.”
The President laughed, “It would be hard for it to be worse.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Senator Folly’s office.”
“Could you get Zack on the line. This is Mary Lake.”
A NATION AT WAR - The Second Civil War Book II (The Second Civil War - BOOK II 1) Page 4
