by Mark Donovan
“Yes, I already thought I was an expert in this stuff, but I learned a bit more this evening,” responded the general.
“No problem general and Mr. Hardy. This is pretty interesting and wild stuff. If you get more of this nano-dust material, and even better the software that can control it, please bring it in so we can analyze it further. “
“Absolutely,” responded the general. “You can count on it. We will be back to see you.”
With that, the two men left Doug Spade sitting in his office, mentally wiped out and physically exhausted. He was going to go straight home and take a hot shower and crawl into bed for a 12 hour nap. But for the next few moments, he wanted to just sit in his chair and contemplate the world’s future. It seemed pretty frightening at the moment.
Chapter 61 (March 26, Tuesday 9:00pm Atlantic Standard Time)
Barbas paced furiously back and forth on the deck of the Kosmos staring out at the night sky. He had his phone to his ear and was waiting for Christos Grivas to answer his phone. Grivas was supposed to have gotten back to him hours ago in regards to their plans out in Idaho. On the sixth ring Grivas answered Barbas’s phone call.
“What’s going on Christos? I was expecting a call from you three hours ago.”
“I know, but I haven’t heard anything from Lazaro so there was nothing to report.”
“Nothing to report!” shouted Barbas into the phone. “Your man should have called in hours ago. Something has obviously gone wrong and you should have called me already. For Christ’s sake are you an idiot.”
“Lazaro is a professional and extremely efficient. I’m confident he’s accomplished his mission,” shot back Grivas. “He contacted me around 9:00am today and said they were following two NSurv vehicles traveling northeast in the direction of Montana.”
“Well confident doesn’t cut it right now. I need definitive answers and I need them fast. I heard from Chief of Staff Hardy a little while ago. It seems the security surveillance threat to the administration is even greater than what we had originally imagined. If NSurv is allowed to continue what it is doing unfettered, we are all screwed. The administration, you and me! And I’m not going to let that happen. I want you to get in touch with Hardy after we hang up. Ask him to get some of his goons on site at NSurv and give us a report. Also have them find out where Lazaro exactly was when he contacted you this morning and have them check the area out. Maybe they can find a clue to what happened to Lazaro and Aftonio.”
“Will do,” responded Grivas subordinately.
“Christos, please understand that if we don’t stop NSurv soon we could see much more than the loss of the administration’s TMA legislation and our careers destroyed. We could find ourselves in prison, or at the least, international outlaws. We must terminate NSurv before they do anymore damage to us.”
“Understood Dimitris. I am all over this and won’t fail. I’ll also contact another one of my other go-to guys to fly out there and track down where NSurv has run off to. We will stop them and we’ll do it fast.”
“Good, I’m counting on you Christos. Also, has Jeff Kolosky heard anything from Dana Cogswell recently?”
“No, I asked him the same question today. Kolosky said he hasn’t heard from her in nearly two weeks.”
“Have Kolosky try to get in touch with her. Maybe he can talk some sense into her and possibly find out where Dave Henson and his little band of terrorists are.”
“I’ll have him try to contact her tonight, but I wouldn’t count on learning much from her. I’m convinced it was her voice narrating the last video they released, even though the voice was computer modified. The inflections and intonations in the narrator’s voice sounded very similar to hers.”
“Okay, it’s worth a shot anyways. Anything we can possibly learn from her could help us shut them down quicker. Make sure Kolosky calls her tonight.”
Barbas hung up the phone and pondered the night sky. There was a slight chill in the air and his right eye was tearing again. He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed the eye. He was going to have to see an eye doctor soon if this problem persisted.
Chapter 62 (March 26, Tuesday 7:00pm Mountain Daylight Savings Time)
After getting settled into their new facilities and having an early dinner, the NSurv team had moved into the lab area to prepare for the night’s activities.
Ron, Joe and Dr. Gillian looked over Dave’s shoulder and watched the video that Dana and he had put together earlier in the day. The video focused on the President’s meetings and conversations with various congressional members who had not already committed to his TMA bill. All of the meetings highlighted essentially vote buying, and in some cases blackmail, by the administration. A few of the congressional members had skeletons in the closet that would certainly destroy their political careers, and quite possibly lead to their arrests and imprisonment if the information were to be leaked. After the airing of tonight’s video, indeed the information would be leaked to the public, along with the actions of a dishonest and despicable President.
“It looks good,” commented Ron after the five minute video completed. “At least as good as it can be when watching your own President sell out his country to fellow corrupt politicians.”
Joe and Dr. Gillian made similar comments of the video before Dave explained to them that they’d be airing the video at 8:00pm.
“We have less than an hour to get ready to run this video so let’s wrap up making sure the transmission equipment is ready to go.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” commented Ron. “I’ve already checked all the systems, connections, and antennas myself. Were good to go now if you wanted to.”
“Okay, then do a dry run of the checklist in the remaining time before we go live with this video. I want to make sure this video is seen on both television broadcasts and the top three news aggregator websites.”
“So what’s next after tonight’s video?” asked Dr. Gillian.
Dave looked over at Dana for approval before speaking.
“What we are airing tonight is minor in comparison to what we plan to show over the next several days, at least from the administrations perspective. Tonight’s video is more about exposing the pervasiveness in the federal political corruption. It highlights not only the fact that the administration is corrupt, but also much of Capitol Hill. In specific regards to your question, suffice it to say our infected nano-targets have provided us with copious amounts of new and incendiary information on what this administration is up to. The video and audio recordings that Dana and I reviewed today were absolutely damning of the President and will undoubtedly topple him when we release them. The recordings not only show a new level of unthinkable corruption of the administration, and at a global level, but also the disdain he personally has to his own country. But for now let’s focus on tonight’s efforts.”
At 8:00pm sharp, Ron and Dr. Gillian each pushed a button on their computers’ keyboards and respectively the television airways and the internet lit up with the latest NSurv video of the President negotiating with several congressional members for their support of his TMA bill. In all cases, including the President’s meeting with the congressman from New Hampshire, the public got to see the President buying votes with taxpayers’ money for the personal benefit of the congressional member.
It was 10:00pm on the east coast when the video went live. The House of Representatives was having a late night session at the time of the broadcast. As soon as the video began to play congressional aides, who were seated in the House chamber surfing the net while they listened to the droning congressional member speeches, began to whisper to one another. One congressman who was made aware of the video by his aide then stood up and yelled to the Speaker that another video had just been released and was running live on the internet. The Speaker immediately suspended the congressional session so that they could all personally watch the video. As congressional members and their aides sat in the House chambers and watched from their laptops, those
congressional members featured in the video could be heard occasionally yelling out invectives to the video that streamed in front of them. For some featured congressmen, they knew their political careers were now destroyed, and they simply sat silently as the video played out.
In the White House the President had been relaxing in front of a television watching another March Madness college basketball game when the game was interrupted by the video. As soon as he saw the image of him sitting in the Oval Office pop up on the screen, his skin went cold and his heart skipped a beat. He knew he was about to be exposed further in the ensuing minutes. As the video played out in front of him, Ken Hardy entered into the theater room with a grim look on his face. The President glanced over at him only briefly before his eyes moved back to the screen. Both men watched in horror as they saw the President doling out money and favors to various congressional members for their support of his TMA bill. Even more frightening was the President’s own words to the congressional members for supporting the TMA legislation. That it was time for the American public to pay its fair share to the rest of the world for the economic success it has been so fortunate to enjoy over the past couple of centuries. After nearly five minutes of streaming video the same narrator’s voice they heard before came on and summarized what they had just watched.
“Tonight you’ve once again witnessed your President, along with various members of Congress, working against you and the American people for their own personal gain. As you heard from your own President’s lips tonight, he is pushing the Transportation Movement Act not to benefit the country, but instead to benefit his real constituents, his international financial backers. Their goal is not about serving the American public, nor about global climate change, but instead creating a new world order where the United States is no longer a dominate world leader. It is time to realize the ruse that has been played on you and this country, and to stand up and demand immediate change. Tonight will not be the last evidence that we show you about the depth and breadth of corruption in our federal government. So far what you’ve observed over the past several videos is only the tip of the iceberg. In the days ahead we will release more information to you that will truly show you an administration that holds complete and utter contempt for the American public and this country.”
The television screen went blank for a few seconds before the basketball game resumed airing on the station.
The President and the Chief of Staff stood silently and stared blankly at the game, while in the House of Representative Chambers all hell was breaking loose.
Chapter 63 (March 27, Wednesday 7:00am Eastern Daylight Savings Time)
The President sat in the Oval Office with the Speaker of the House, Bob Daniels, and his Chief of Staff. Representing the 7th district of Washington State, including the greater Seattle area, Bob Daniels was in the same political party as the President. He had served in Congress for over 20 years. He had always been a big supporter of the President, and always promoted his legislation initiatives in the House of Representatives. However, today he had come to talk to the President about postponing the Transportation Movement Act in light of the video that was released the prior night.
“Mr. President, congressional members, both in the House and the Senate, are panicking over the video that aired last night. They are extremely worried about their political futures. The congressional members actually shown in the video are already getting inundated with calls and emails from their constituents back in their districts demanding that they resign. Those congressional members featured in the video were already having a tough time selling the plan to their districts. Now that their constituents witnessed you doling out pork and personal financial favors to them, they have no chance of winning reelection, let alone convincing their constituents about the benefits of the TMA legislation.”
“I understand your concerns Bob,” responded the President. “And in particular I feel for those congressional members who were shown on that film last night. However, we can’t stop now. You need to settle your chamber and convince them that the work of the people cannot be stopped by terrorists attempting to blackmail them or portray them as corrupt politicians. All that video did was show how the executive and legislative branches of the government have always operated. Everyone knows that Capitol Hill backroom negotiations are a common part of the legislative process. Heck, these types of negotiations and deals are what enables compromise between the parties, and the executive and legislative branches of government. The public understands this. They get it. So relax and go back and tell your congressional members to relax as well. We need to pass the TMA bill and I am counting on you to make it happen Bob.”
“Mr. President, with all due respect, I don’t think you fully appreciate the impact of that video last night on the House of Representatives. The congressional members in our party are scared shitless, and the other party is already whispering the impeachment of you, the congressional members featured in the video, and even me. Our friend and leader in the Senate is also hearing the same opinions in the upper house. We have to put off this TMA bill and let things cool down here in Washington. You also need to find the perpetrators of these video releases and terminate them fast.”
The President looked over at Ken Hardy and asked, “Have we made any progress on shutting down the group that is responsible for these recent videos? And don’t hesitate to talk freely Ken. Bob here is on our side.”
“We have a pretty good idea who’s behind the recent videos. However, their spore has gone cold again in recent days. This said, we have Homeland Security and FBI agents all over this case and I am confident we will find them and shut them down in very short order.”
“Well until you do find them and shut them down, I have no choice but to hold off a vote on the TMA bill,” said Bob Daniels.
The President stood up from his chair and pointed an angry finger at the Speaker of the House. “Bob, you can’t do that. You must present the TMA bill to the House in the next week. We have to get this legislation passed before any additional videos come out. Even if we do catch the ring leaders of this terrorist group tomorrow, we must assume they have additional videos to air and that they have other supporters who will continue to release them. They may even have other videos that are on timers to be automatically broadcast over the airways. You see Bob, the longer we wait the tougher it may be to get this legislation passed. We need to press ahead.”
The Speaker of the House sat silently in his chair for a minute before speaking. In a sigh of resignation and concern he said, “Jesse, I can bring the legislation up before the House for debate and a vote next week. However, I pretty much can assure you the chances of it passing are slim to none.”
“Bob, don’t worry about the vote. You just let us know which members will not vote for the bill, and Ken and I here will work on convincing them otherwise.”
“And how do you think you’re going to convince them?” asked the Speaker of the House questioningly.
“Suffice it to say, our band of surveillance terrorists are not the only ones with dirt on Capitol Hill politicians.”
The Speaker of the House looked at the President and Chief of Staff in somewhat horror.
“Are you telling me you’re going to blackmail them for their votes?”
“If it has to come to it, we will do what is necessary for their vote,” said the President. “Suffice it to say I think they’ll see it our way and support the legislation, without us having to go to the levels you are implying.”
Ken Hardy had a slight grin on his face when the Speaker of the House looked over at him. “We all have our ghosts in the closet. Don’t we Mr. Speaker?” asked Hardy.
The Speaker of the House stood up from his chair and looked at the two men in disgust. Based on Hardy’s last statement he knew he would have had no other choice but to allow the legislation to go up before the House for a vote. He also realized that many congressional members of his party were going to have similar conv
ersations with the President and the Chief of Staff in the days ahead.
“Gentlemen, I will leave you now and go back and speak to the House leadership in both parties. I will attempt to calm their concerns and let them know that the administration will soon be shutting down this surveillance terrorist group. Moreover, I will notify them that the TMA bill will be presented to the full House next week to begin deliberations.”
“Excellent,” said the President as he reached out and shook the Speaker’s hand. “Again, let us know who is either not backing the legislation or is still on the fence. Hardy here will then get them scheduled to meet with me over the next week.”
“Will do Mr. President. Thank you.”
The Speaker started to turn to leave the office when the President spoke again.
“Oh, one last thing Bob. I also wanted to thank you for your efforts earlier this week in getting my nomination of Tom Landers for Vice President successfully through Congress.”
“I didn’t need much arm twisting,” replied Daniels dryly. “As in the Senate, the vote in the House was nearly unanimous.”
“Well again, I’m much appreciative for your help.”
Hardy then escorted the Speaker of the House out of the Oval Office. While he did, the President sat back in his chair and picked up his phone. He needed to talk to Barbas immediately. He had a deep concern that their meeting last weekend, which included the Chinese industrialist billionaire Chung Lee, at Camp David may be the next piece of dirty laundry that gets released to the public. He had to make sure that didn’t happen.
Chapter 64 (March 27, Wednesday 7:00am Mountain Daylight Savings Time)
It was a clear and crisp morning in Cut Bank, Montana and Dave was five miles into his morning run around the airport. As he ran and took in the natural beauty of the area he understood why Montana was nicknamed “Big Sky Country”. The Montana sky seemed to be larger and more omnipresence than anywhere else he had ever traveled. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and reverence to this land as he looked out around him as he ran.
