Hubbard had driven across Tennessee and into North Carolina. He wanted to stay in the Republic states as long as he could. Once he drove to Durham, North Carolina he picked up I-85 and headed north. He figured that he was going to have to get off the Interstate when he got fairly close to the border. Hubbard was pretty sure when he got to the border they would stop him. When he got to Henderson he turned off and went into the town. He filled the Jeep and stopped in at the Pizza Inn for lunch. He asked a couple of people the best way to get to Virginia without taken the Interstate.
The best way, he was told, was to go a little further up the road to Middleburg and then take Jacksontown Road north. He soon discovered that 1200 north, 1369 north, Drewry-Virginia Line Road and Virginia 4 were all the same road. Just as he was coming up on the Virginia border he saw a couple of State Police cars blocking the road.
He had just enough time to turn off on Bullock Road. He stopped and tried to decide what to do next. If he went to the line they would want to know why he was crossing into the United States. He figured he could come up with a good story but they would probably confiscate his rifle. That he couldn’t have.
He decided to drive on back on Bullock and see where it went. Not far from the turn off he found a clear cut area for the power lines. He decided that was his best option. The ground was rough so he put it in four wheel drive just in case he ran into trouble. He knew he wasn’t that far away from the road so he would have to more or less idle along until he got clear of the area. Putting it in first gear he let the Jeep just crawl along.
A short time later he came to a gravel road that headed back to the main road but decided it would probably come out too close to the State Police cars. He continued on and three quarters of a mile further the road ended at the water’s edge. There was no way he could cross there; it was part of a pretty big body of water.
He turned around and then as he was heading back he spotted a small break in the trees where cars had driven down to the lake. He turned and followed the gravel road. It went past two new homes that looked like they hadn’t been there long. He kept going and it ended at Virginia 4 Highway. What he didn’t know was how far down the road the police cars were waiting.
He took a deep breath and turned left. He kept the RPM low and shifted as early as possible to keep the noise level down. He drove north, expecting one of the cars to come up behind him with lights flashing but nothing happened. He hardly breathed until he had ten miles under his wheels.
CHAPTER SIX
NASHVILLE, TN
President Jason had now appointed the rest of his advisors. Richard Newhouse was to fill the Transportation Chief position. It was a huge responsibility. He selected Dr. Susan Churchman to head up the Education post and Gary Davis would be the Republic Security Chief.
He knew he would probably need others but for now he was determined to keep the government as lean as possible. Getting power to homes, roads open, and food transported were the most urgent necessities.
“Mr. President,” his secretary said, sticking her head in the door.
“Donna, come on in.”
“I just wanted to tell you that Senator Dryfus called and asked for a meeting. He indicated that it was fairly urgent but didn’t say why. He just hinted at it,” Donna told him.
“Of course, he is a politician. Oh wait, so am I. Forget that last part,” he said chuckling.
“Do you want to set up a meeting or just leave it on the back burner for now?”
“No, it would be good to hear what he has to say. I was expecting someone from Congress to call.”
“Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. is open for two hours. Would that work for you?”
“That would be fine. Tell him to come on up,” Jason told her.
“Got it. I’ll let him know,” she said and left him to continue working on his upcoming televised speech.
He had decided to keep it brief. He would touch on the agreement between the Republic and the United States. Of course military assistance would need to be addressed again. This would also be a good time to introduce the new advisory staff. Most of the citizens had never heard of many of them.
The situation with the economy would have to be addressed to some extent. One thing he intended to do was to freeze all prices of goods. They would be rolled back to the pre-war days. Violators would face swift and substantial monetary penalties. Fines would start at $ 10,000 for first offense.
He wanted to discuss the changes to the government structure but decided it would be best to wait until he had a chance to talk to Senator Dryfus. Congress was not going to be overly pleased with the changes he wanted made. They would contend that the Constitution was being violated but he had an answer for that already planned.
His advisors had already started writing the Constitution of the American Republic. Of course it would be based on the original Constitution but would keep the courts from ‘interpreting’ the meaning. Limits on number of terms for all politicians would be inserted along with a myriad of other changes.
Jason knew he faced a tough fight on many fronts but this was the time to make the changes. His vision for the Republic was not to emulate the United States but to change it for the better.
****
“General MacMillan speaking.”
“General. It’s Joan Swanson.”
“Admiral. Nice to hear from you. How is everything going?” Mac asked.
“Probably much the same as where you are. People to bury, cities to rebuild, healing to take place.”
“I would say that sums it up nicely. Joan, I’ve known you for many years. One thing I know for sure, you don’t like talking on the phone and you don’t like to chitchat.”
“That’s Mac. Always cut to the chase. Okay, I’ve been giving your proposal some thought. Things have come up here that are a little unsettling. Actually a lot unsettling. I would like to come and talk to you about what it is you have in mind.”
“Do you think that is wise? Leaving the US?”
“I can fly you know.”
“But they are bound to check where you are going. You know they will tag your plane the instant you get airborne,” Mac said.
“Come on General. Don’t you think I have figured a way around all of that?”
“Yes, but I just don’t want to cause you any risk. I don’t want them to start doubting you. The information you fed us was risk enough. You have done your share and then some.”
“I appreciate your concern but trust me, I have it all worked out.”
“Then when do you want to come?”
“Give me a couple of days. I will shoot for next Wednesday.”
“Anything I can do to make it easier?”
“Nothing I can think of. If I do, I’ll call.”
“Alright Jean. I’m looking forward to seeing you in person.”
“Until Wednesday,” she said and hung up.
General MacMillan wondered what was going on that would cause her to reconsider so quickly.
CHAPTER SEVEN
WASHINGTON D.C.
General Ascot, General Winfield, and General Erickson were seated in the front row of the House Chambers. Senator Dickerson was acting as the Speaker of the House and was introducing General Ascot.
“Ladies and Gentleman, General Ascot,” he announced. People chapped politely but not very enthusiastically. President Quasim’s house arrest grated on many of those present.
“Thank you Senator Dickerson. I know you have been anxiously waiting to hear about what the future of the United States holds for all of us. Tonight, while I won’t go into every detail, I will give you a broad outline of what to expect during the coming months,” he told them. He took a sip of water before going on.
“First, the actions taken by the military were done to end the loss of American lives. I know many of you feel it was wrong to place the President and Vice President under house arrest but,” he paused for several moments.
“The death toll was reaching into the millions. Hos
tilities were becoming more brutal with each new attack. I could not in good conscience allow the escalation of American casualties to continue. Dialogue with the former President was unproductive. To that end, it was the decision of my advisors and me that in order to put a halt to the killing we needed to remove from power those who were determined to continue it. Therefore, we removed both the President and the Vice President from office and initiated a cease fire with the American Republic,” he said, looking around the room.
He could read the faces of most of those in the room. Many were skeptical and some hostile, while others were just waiting to see what else was going to transpire.
“I am sure that those of you sitting in this room tonight are most concerned with when the government will be turned over to the election process and out of military control.”
Again he waited. Holding their attention for what was to come next.
“I will tell you that it will not be for quite some time.”
Groans, shouts, and yelling filled the room. The General just stood there, letting it run its course. It was several minutes before he started to speak again.
“You can yell, shout, cry, and throw a temper tantrum if you want, but the military will continue in its present position. Like it or not, that is the way it is going to be until we feel that the United States is on the right track. There will be changes. One of the major changes will be that the Commander-in-Chief will not be the President. e will not have the power to wage war on his own. A new process for sending young men and women into battle will be initiated.”
Some more grumbling rattled around in the room, but not to the same extent.
“The government will be radically reduced in size. For years you have harped on the military getting lean and mean. Now it is the government’s time to do the same.”
He might as well have told them he was going to cut their hands off from the amount of shouting that occurred in the room. Ascot just stood stoically waiting. Finally, growing tired of the emotional display, he yelled at the top of his voice.
“Shut up and sit down. Now.”
Everyone stopped, mostly in shock. They were Senators, Representatives, important people, no one dared to yell at them.
“I will not repeat myself. You will all sit down and shut up or you will be removed. If you want to see if I am bluffing just stand there and glare at me,” Ascot said threatingly.
Slowly they all sat down. Ascot continued to look at them before speaking again.
“What you haven’t come to grips with yet is that the old United States no longer exists. The country is divided. Mexico has claimed part of California. Some states have not decided what they are going to do yet. We need to take action, not sit in committees and see what kind of deals we can cut and how we can profit from it. The terms politician and fat cat were synonymous. That will no longer be the case. You don’t have to like it but that is the way it is going to be until such a time as the military feels that the United States is able to effectively serve the citizens of this country.”
With that, he stepped down and along with the other Generals, walked out of the room. No one shouted out or even stood until they had departed.
****
“Who does he think he is? Napoleon? Stalin?” Dickerson ranted.
“Well I have to tell you. I have never seen anyone so arrogant in my life,” Cromwell replied.
“You know we simply can’t allow this to continue. We are going to have to do something and quickly,” Dickerson said.
“I hear you, but we have one small problem.”
“And that is?”
“They have all the weapons. For the most part, the citizens in the US are unarmed and can’t do a heck of a lot about it,” Cromwell told him.
"Well, we cannot let this country turn into a dictatorship controlled by the military,” Dickerson said.
“We need to get a committee together to discuss our options,” Cromwell replied and then broke out laughing.
“What?”
“A committee. I was just thinking about the General using that phrase. You know he might just be on to something there.”
“Don’t tell me you are going to go over to the dark side,” Dickerson replied.
“Right now there is only one side and they control it,” Cromwell bemoaned.
****
Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense, Eleazar Guzman, sat sipping on a cup of coffee watching as President Hermilo Medrano looked over the large map of California.
“You have reinforced the frontlines?”
“We have doubled the number of men from Castaic to Ventura. We have taken Point Magu Air Base and have moved a large number of our helicopters to the base. We were fortunate to have captured a large amount of munitions along with a great deal of construction equipment. We have been able to use that to our advantage as well,” Guzman told him.
“And the fighters and support planes?” Some are at Magu Naval Air Station but we have spread them out so that one attack can’t destroy them all.”
“That is good. Very good Senior Guzman. What about our Naval ships.”
“Well, as you know, we would be no match for the American fleet if it was still on the west coast but since they moved everything to the east coast all we have to contend with are a few old ships and the Coast Guard.”
“How many have you committed?”
“Right now we have our three missile ships, Huracan, Tormenta, and Usumacinta along the coast from the boarder to Santa Cruz.”
“And the others are in the gaps?”
“Si, Presidente. The Frigates, Destroyers, and Corvettes are scattered in-between the three missile ships.”
“Then I guess we are as ready as we can be under the circumstances.”
“Unless they divert a large portion of their Navy and Army back to California we will be able to hold the territory. Even if they do, we have had time to reinforce and dig in. It will not be easy for them to dislodge us.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
NASHVILLE, TN
Nashville’s Capital building is a stately Greek revival limestone building that took fourteen years to build. The limestone came from a local quarry. It is one of the few state capital buildings that does not have a dome.
As expected, statues of Andrew Jackson and James Polk adorn the grounds. The building underwent a lengthy and costly restoration in the 1950s.
Now it was the American Republic Capital as well. President James Jason was meeting with Senator Dryfus to discuss the political future of the Republic. The meeting was considerably more cordial than his counterpart in the United States had experienced.
“Sir. As you might expect,” Senator Dryfus said, “we are obviously anxious to rebuild the country. We are currently in limbo as to what part you want the representatives of the citizens to play in the restructuring of the nation.”
“I certainly understand your concern. We are of a like mind about getting the country up and running again. Of course you must realize that it is going to take a little time. We have already made some headway. We have appointed good people to several key positions that will greatly help facilitate the process.”
“Yes. I have the list of the appointments but we do have some concerns.”
“I see. Meaning that you didn’t have a chance to debate their merits in Congress I supposed?”
“It is just that we were not given a chance to properly check the qualifications before their being appointed as is the normal custom.”
“Senator, these are unusual times. We are a new Republic. We are still struggling with rebuilding our cities and getting transportation running again. Honestly, do you really think this is a good time for debates about the qualities of those selected? We can’t wait around for deliberations about each person chosen.”
“Mr. President, I understand the need for urgency but at what cost?”
“Senator let me ask you this. Right this minute Mexico is holding an important part of Californi
a. If I ask you to go back and gather your cohorts together to determine what action the American Republic should take how long do you think it would take?”
“Well, I can’t say for certain.”
“Just a guess.”
“You’re asking me to estimate how long it would take to determine what action should be taken in a totally unusual situation,” the Senator objected.
“And there is your answer. Every situation at this time is unusual. We have never had to deal with destroyed cities, refugees in our own country, and hundreds of other unusual situations. We simply must act expediently for the sake of the people.”
“But you are cutting the representatives of the people out of the decision making process,” Dryfus replied.
“To some extent that is true. Will it stay that way? Absolutely not. But for now, that is the way it must be until we have met our most immediate needs. I am totally aware that you want to be involved in the shaping of the country and you will be in time. The moment we feel the country is on sound footing, I will reconvene Congress,” the President assured him.
“So the message you want me to take back is...?”
“We will reconvene the Congress as quickly as possible, but until that time decisions will remain with the Presidency and his advisors.”
“You are going to get a lot of grumbling.”
“I expect that is true but I know, Senator Dryfus, that you are a skilled leader, a patriot, and if anyone can make them understand the uniqueness of our situation it will be you. I am looking forward to our working together in the near future,” the President told the Senator.
“I appreciate that Mr. President. I will do my best.”
****
“How did it go?” General MacMillan asked when the President came in the room.
“It actually went better than expected. Of course they are upset over not having a say in the appointments I made but I think I smoothed their ruffled feathers somewhat.”
“So we move on then?” Vice President Folly asked.
“Yes. I think we should get as much accomplished as possible before they start to get nervous again. We probably have a month or two at the most.”
A NATION HEALING - BOOK III The Second Civil War (The Second Civil War - BOOK III 1) Page 3
