The Loyal Nine

by Steven Konkoly

  “You people need to shut the fuck up!” he shouted. “We are sick and tired of this bullshit. Go back to Roxbury.”

  This brought a roar of profanities from the mob.

  “What do you mean by you people?” one protestor shouted.

  “You heard me! You people need to shut the fuck up. This shit’s getting old and we’re done with it,” the man shouted back.

  He looked around him as if to seek support or comrades-in-arms. There were no takers.

  “This isn’t helping,” said Donald, easing back from the edge of the opening.

  Susan looked beyond the man to the other side of the upper level. Three teenagers dumped their soda cups on the crowd below, igniting a fury of shouts. The protestors sprinted in their direction, tackling them to the ground. The protest had taken one of its final steps toward spiraling into a full-scale riot.

  “We need to shut these doors,” said Donald. He turned to look into the store. “Where are the employees?”

  “I don’t know,” said Susan.

  Earlier, Susan didn’t bother to look for any store employees. She and the girls could help themselves. Besides, on a Saturday night, the employees were probably young girls who wouldn’t understand the needs of a seven- and ten-year-old anyway. They sure wouldn’t be of any help in a situation like this.

  “You are hereby ordered to disperse,” announced a voice from a megaphone below. “This is unauthorized and you must disperse immediately!”

  “The cops must be here,” said Donald.

  Susan felt a sense of relief. I just want to get my babies home.

  “Hands up, don’t shoot! Hands up, don’t shoot!” shouted the protestors in unison.

  Susan saw Donald searching the faces in the store for its staff. She could not find any Vineyard Vines personnel either. The idiot in front of the store began shouting towards the police.

  “Hey, these savages are attacking three young boys up here! You have to help them,” shouted the man.

  Susan watched as mayhem erupted in front of her. The man was immediately swarmed by at least a dozen people.

  “Who are you callin’ savages?” shouted one woman.

  “Fuck you, honky racist!” screamed another.

  Donald pulled Susan and the girls with him to the side.

  “I’m going to close the storefront grille gate,” said Donald. “Here’s the button. When I give you the signal, you push it here where it reads close. Okay?”

  Susan shook uncontrollably when she reached for the control mechanism. Both girls cried loudly, clinging to her.

  “Are you leaving us?” said Susan. “Where are you going?”

  “It’s okay,” said Donald. “I have to make sure no one gets caught under the gate when it closes. I also want to make sure nobody gets in either.”

  When Donald started to walk away, the girls screamed.

  “Listen up, my big girls,” said Donald. “Daddy is going to work with Mommy to close the store’s gate. After everything calms down and the angry people go home, we’ll go home too. Okay?”

  The girls’ crying turned into wet sniffles, and they nodded their heads. Donald wiped away their tears and gave Susan a smile before heading toward the entrance. She watched as Donald advised the customers to either step in or step out. All of them chose the former. When everyone was clear, he gave her a thumbs-up. Susan pressed the close button, and the steel-reinforced security gate descended with a loud clanking noise. Susan watched for a reaction outside of the store, but the mob ignored the gate. When the door reached the halfway point, she heard Donald shout.

  “You can stay out there, buddy!”

  “Let me in. They’ll kill me! Please,” yelled the man who had challenged the crowd earlier.

  The other customers stood back as the bloodied man tried to slide under the rolling gate. Two protestors grabbed the man by his feet and tried to pull him back into the concourse. The man desperately pleaded with Donald.

  “Please! These savages will tear me apart!”

  Donald shook his head in disgust and grabbed the man’s wrists. Arms straining, he yanked the guy’s body out of the mob’s grasp and into the store, moments before the gate clanged to a stop against the tile floor. The crowd immediately slammed against the steel gate, ramming it with their shoulders and pounding it with their fists. The bloodied man pulled his wrists free from Donald and rose to his feet, pointing at the protesters through the steel grating.

  “Ha ha, you black bastards,” said the man.

  Donald hit the man in the face, knocking him unconscious with a single punch. “Shut up.”

  Chapter 44

  March 24, 2016

  Harvard Kennedy School of Government

  Cambridge, Massachusetts

  “Good morning, everyone, let’s get started on our last lecture before spring break,” said Sarge.

  GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

  and

  ASYMMETRIC WARFARE

  Sarge had enjoyed the first half of the new semester with his students. The more unstable the world became geopolitically, the more interested his students became in the subject matter of his lectures, and it didn’t hurt that his book, Choose Freedom or Capitulation, remained a New York Times best seller. Demand for Sarge to speak on the subject of America’s sovereignty grew to the point his publisher thought he should start charging a fee. A candidate in the presidential campaign even referenced his book during a Republican debate at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Sarge had a hunger for knowledge and he thought it was incumbent to share what he knew with others. His position at Harvard Kennedy, coupled with his book, gave him a forum and—to an extent—a captive audience. Why shouldn’t I give people the ability to formulate their own opinions?

  “How many of you agree with this statement?” said Sarge. “Wars can be both economic and militaristic.”

  Sarge planned on counting the hands, but the class was unanimous in its agreement.

  “How about this one?” asked Sarge. “A militaristic war can be fought over economic issues.”

  The show of hands reflected unanimity. Let’s get them involved.

  “Mr. Ocampo, what is a currency war?” asked Sarge.

  This young man continued to shine. He had also become friendly with Miss Crepeau. Now that would be a formidable duo someday.

  “A currency war is the battle between countries as they attempt to destroy the value of their own currency,” said Ocampo.

  “Are you telling the class that a country might deliberately try to devalue their own currency?” asked Sarge. “Why would they do that?”

  “Let me use the United States dollar as an example,” said Ocampo. “As the dollar goes down in value, the price of our exported goods follows suit. Other countries will increase their purchases of American goods, which in turn stimulate our economy. The net result is American business increases its production and hires more employees.”

  “Sounds like a good plan if you live in the United States, does it not, Miss Crepeau?” asked Sarge.

  “That’s true, but it also hurts our ability to purchase imported products when the dollar is weak,” said Crepeau. “For example, the bulk of the household goods purchased by Americans come from China. If our dollar is weak, the price of those goods can skyrocket, resulting in inflation.”

  “That’s a very good point, Miss Crepeau,” said Sarge. “During a currency war, a nation may take affirmative steps to reduce the value of its currency in order to stimulate its own lagging economy. But in the process, its citizens pay a price in the form of inflation.”

  Sarge observed the room. Let’s call on Mr. Mantega. Mantega’s grandfather was the former Brazilian Finance Minister.

  “Mr. Mantega, how does a nation devalue its own currency?” asked Sarge.

  “There are three ways to devalue your own currency,” said Mantega. “Using the U.S. dollar as an example, the Federal Reserve can sell dollars and purchase other currencies, like the Chinese renminbi. Technic
ally, that wouldn’t happen, because the two countries no longer have an exchange rate cooperation agreement, but it’s just an example. Second, the Fed could print money. The term they like to use is quantitative easing. Really, it means they’re flooding the world economy with newly minted dollars. By creating a large supply of USD, the demand for the dollar goes down and so does the value. Third, a central bank can lower its interest rate to near zero. Finally, our government officials can discourage currency manipulators from speculating on the dollar by trash-talking our own dollar.”

  “Very good, Mantega,” said Sarge. “A government will purposefully devalue its currency in order to stimulate economic growth within its borders. It does so at the expense of other nations’ productivity and the risk of increased inflation, which places a burden on its own citizens. How does that make you feel?”

  “Sounds pretty sketchy to me,” said Mr. Lin. Sarge and the class laughed with Lin.

  “I agree with Mr. Lin; this activity sounds sketchy to me as well,” said Sarge. “Yet it happens every day on the world stage as governments compete with each other for that almighty dollar, or the renminbi, as the case may be.” Sarge switched the slide.

  BEGGAR THY NEIGHBOR

  “This phrase was coined by the famous political scientist and economist Adam Smith, whose classic treatise The Wealth of Nations earned him the title as the father of modern economics,” said Sarge. “Smith stood for free trade and laissez-faire economics—transactions should be between private parties thus free from government interference, such as regulations and taxes. Smith coined the phrase beggar thy neighbor as a policy through which one country attempts to remedy its economic problems, without regard to the economic problems created in another country.

  “In the context of global governance, can you see how the interaction between nations can be complicated by a currency war?” asked Sarge rhetorically.

  The students nodded their heads affirmatively.

  “Smith’s beggar thy neighbor theory can also be applied to international trade,” said Sarge. “In this presidential campaign, a significant amount of dialogue has centered around the trade deficit the United States has with China. One candidate in particular wants to levy an import tax on Chinese goods. His theory is that American goods would become more competitive, because the price of Chinese goods would be too expensive with the added import tax.”

  “Mr. Lin, does that sound sketchy to you?” asked Sarge.

  “If I were his boss, I would say you’re fired!” replied Lin to a round of laughter. “An import tax on Chinese goods would raise the price to Americans and result in inflation. Plus, the Chinese would not sit still and take it. I expect they would retaliate in kind.”

  “You’re right, Mr. Lin,” said Sarge. “In such a scenario, the United States would make the first move in a trade war and enjoy a modicum of success initially. But China would eventually react, leveling the playing field to protect the domestic and economic welfare of its country.”

  “What started as a run-of-the-mill currency war has now escalated into a trade war as well,” said Sarge. “What could happen next?”

  There were no volunteers to answer this question.

  “I will submit to you in this geopolitical climate, currency wars can lead to trade wars. Trade wars often lead to hot wars,” said Sarge. “When two opposing global powerhouses—bulls, if you will—butt heads repeatedly over currency manipulation and trade embargoes, the next step could be asymmetric warfare, which might include military action.”

  Sarge changed the slide.

  GEOPOLITICAL FOES

  “In the 2012 election, Mitt Romney famously said that America’s biggest geopolitical foe was Russia,” said Sarge. “He was widely criticized by the President and the media for making such a statement. I believe the President’s words were ‘the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War’s been over for twenty years.’ How many of you believe we have entered a new cold war with the Russians?”

  Most of the class raised their hands.

  “Mr. Mann, tell me why you think a cold war exists with Putin,” said Sarge.

  “Once the Russians took control of Crimea and extended its military reach into Ukraine, the relationship between our two countries hit rock bottom,” said Mann. “The Russians have now threatened the Baltic States militarily, and even alluded to the use of nuclear weapons if another country interfered with their attempts to reunify the former Soviet Union.”

  “Mann has touched on just a few of the most noteworthy events,” said Sarge. “There have been sightings of Russian nuclear submarines throughout the waters surrounding Europe. Recently, Russian intelligence ships have docked in Havana, Cuba. Their long-range bombers are routinely observed in the Caribbean and within international waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Sounds a lot like the Cold War to me.

  “How many of you believe the Russian economy has been badly damaged by United States-led sanctions and the falling price of oil?” asked Sarge.

  The class was unanimous in agreement.

  “Should the economic conflicts between the United States and Russia continue to inflict damage on the Russian people, I believe tremendous political pressure will be placed on Putin to react,” said Sarge. “If Russia doesn’t have any economic bullets to fire at us, they will either enlist the assistance of their new ally—China—or they will consider other, more serious forms of retaliation.

  “This is how economic wars based upon currency and trade can escalate into a military conflict. Typically, belligerent nations will exercise restraint. However, the current geopolitical conflict between Russia and the United States could become an asymmetric war of epic proportions.”

  Chapter 45

  March 25, 2016

  Senate Intelligence Briefing

  Washington, D.C.

  Abbie patiently awaited James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, and Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, to appear in the secure briefing room on the lower level of the Capitol Visitor Center. It was almost 4:00 p.m. and nearly two-thirds of the chairs in the room were empty. Most of her colleagues on the Intelligence Committee had opted to catch flights home for the two-week Easter recess, instead of attending what they assumed was a routine briefing.

  “Hi, Senator,” whispered Katie O’Shea. “It’s so nice of you to join the other nine senators who give a shit about what I’ve got to say. Nice bag, is that a Gucci Aviatrix?”

  The women laughed together. Abbie and Katie had become close friends since Abbie’s arrival in Washington. Although the two couldn’t socialize publicly, they shared many evenings in Abbie’s Georgetown townhouse, watching movies and sharing bottles of wine. Abbie loved Katie for her bluntness—and the stories of her sexual escapades. Abbie called her life The Fifty Shades of Katie O’Shea.

  “I expected you to skip this today,” said Katie. “Shouldn’t you be campaigning? I would have brought you up to speed.”

  “My campaign manager says I need to attend all Intelligence Committee meetings and functions,” said Abbie. “She doesn’t want me to get Kay Hagan’ed”

  Abbie was referring to former senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who was criticized during her failed senate reelection bid because she missed numerous Armed Services Committee hearings.

  “Yeah, makes sense,” said Katie.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Abbie.

  Katie was a rising star in the national intelligence community. Through some assistance, she was elevated to a high-level security clearance within the recently formed National Insider Threat Task Force. The NITTF was formed as a rapid-response agency to address high-profile incidents, such as the Fort Hood shooting, the Wikileaks debacle and the explosive Edward Snowden revelations. After years of focusing on outside threats to the nation’s security, the federal government had finally turned inward, utilizing a broad range of technologies and counterintelligence strategies to root ou
t spies, terrorists or leakers. The NITTF was despised within the intelligence community, having dropped the see something, say something directive in every department’s lap.

  “Well, you get to watch me in action today,” said Katie. “Director Clapper wants me to brief the Senate Intelligence Committee on a matter that has come to our attention. This information was verified earlier in the day. Director Clapper and Admiral Rogers will declare this meeting classified, and the press will be removed so the senators may ask questions without fear of media spin or intrusion.”

  “About time,” said Abbie. “It should always be that way. Why did they delay the briefing until four?”

  “This is going to be a fairly big news story, which is why they waited until late Friday afternoon before the Easter recess, when most of D.C. has left town,” said Katie. “Plus, they wanted all major markets to be closed for the announcement.”

  “What’s going on?” asked Abbie.

  Director Clapper approached the microphone, and everyone scrambled to take their seats. Katie pulled away to take her seat at the front of the room, but leaned back quickly to whisper something to Abbie.

  “Your dad’s not going to be happy.”

  Chapter 46

  March 25, 2016

  73 Tremont

  Boston, Massachusetts

  John Morgan carefully reviewed the last of the reports provided to him by Donald Quinn. He made notations on the reports, which focused on the European financial situation. Political tensions had begun to boil over in the Eurozone, signaled by several new breaking points identified by direct sources and painstaking analysis. There were new rifts in an already broken alliance.

  Germany had reached a critical decision point. The nation had carried the Eurozone economically and politically since its inception. The anticipated European Central Bank (ECB) announcement of yet another round of quantitative easing could cause the euro to spiral downward and push Germany back to the deutsche mark.