by Ira Tabankin
Two agents and two nurses push a hospital bed into the Oval Office; the halls of the White House have been cleared, air traffic over the city has been halted, the secret service has issued body armor to Rash and the President, additional agents take up positions around the White House armed with automatic M4 assault rifles. Four agents are on the roof holding stinger anti- air missiles. At first none knew if the person down was the President; the secret service and White House medical staff responded as if it was the President.
“Doc how is Steve?”
“Mr. President, he’s had a heart attack, he’ll be in Marine One in two minutes and at the hospital within another four. I think he’s going to be OK. Everyone is waiting for us at the hospital.”
“Doc, I, the country needs him, take care of him.”
“Mr. President, we’ll give him the best care we can provide. I've got the secret service to get his personal doctor to the hospital with his files as quickly as possible. I understand the secret service is going to fly his doctor on a ‘copter to the hospital.”
Within a minute Marine One lands, armed Marines form an armed corridor between the White House and the helicopter. Within two minutes of landing Marine One is back in the air with the President onboard. President Brownstone and Rash go over what happened with the secret service agents and a second doctor who arrived in the Oval Office. The lead secret service agent talks into his microphone, he stands saying, “Mr. President, Mr. Press Secretary, please stand up, don’t touch anything, don’t place your hands near your mouth. Please just take a few steps away from the coffee table. Sir, who brought the coffee?”
“Agent Jonson, I really don’t remember, I looked up to see someone pushing in a fresh cart with the coffee and tea. I thought to myself that I was just going to call for some when it arrived.”
The agent, nods, he speaks into his microphone, “Condition Zebra Black. Repeat Zebra Black. Oval Office. This is NOT a drill; this is actual Zebra Black.” Alarms sound in the White House. Agents lock the House down; no one will be allowed to enter or leave. The kitchen is locked; five agents guard the kitchen staff. Even the trash is sealed and taken for testing.
The agent looks at the confused President, “Sir, the coffee may have been poisoned; we have specialists coming to test it. Please don’t touch anything that was on that cart. Is Steve the only one who drank the fresh coffee?”
“Yes, he got up to get a fresh cup almost as it was being pushed into the room.”
“Sir, we want to take you to the bunker, please come with us.”
Before the agent can finish five additional agents enter the office, “Mr. President, we have to go right now. Please come with us. The White House is on total lockdown.”
Rash and the President walk towards the elevator to the bunker, “Mr. President, how could anyone have gotten anything inside the White House without the agents checking it?”
“Rash, that’s a very good question, one that’s bothering me too.”
“Agent Jonson, I only want agents I personally know to be with Rash and myself.”
“Sir…”
“Agent, if something was put in our coffee, I don’t know who to trust, so I don’t want anyone near us I don’t know. Am I clear?”
“Yes sir, I’ll arrange it.”
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Meanwhile in Moscow, the Russian Federation Defense Minister and President Puten are sharing a bottle of Vodka. The Minister turns towards President Puten, “Mr. President, what if President Brownstone isn’t found guilty?”
“Minister, the peace loving people of the Russian Federation, will help bring him to justice. The world will see Russia as the ‘good guys.' President Reid and I have spread around enough gold to ensure President Brownstone is found guilty no matter what is said inside the courtroom. We’ll provide military support to Reid’s LSA to bring the murderer to justice. Having our forces supporting President Reid will give us control of the world except for China, which we’ll get soon enough. The American markets will close to China when the world’s financial markets blackball the American dollar. This will push China’s economy into collapse, when it does; we’ll be ready to step in and ‘help them.’ We’ll be the world’s only superpower ensuring our control over the world’s assets.”
“Mr. President, a good plan as long as President Brownstone doesn’t come up with one of surprises the Americans are known for.”
“This time they won’t have time to come up with one of their nasty surprises. They’re going to be kept off balance on all fronts.”
Chapter 4
The twelve members of OPEC agree to meet in the Grand Hotel Keminiski. In order to arrange for the member’s security, the hotel has been closed for four days so each country’s security forces can screen every inch of the hotel. Any hotel guests still in the hotel when the security screens begin are paid to move to other hotels. OPEC, as they normally do, rent the entire hotel for a weekend meeting. Only the Saudi member, the Prince, decided to stay elsewhere. He never stayed in the same hotel as the other members. He liked to be protected by his own handpicked security teams.
None of the OPEC members are happy, they are on the verge of losing one of their largest customers. In addition, the technology the Americans are using, can be and has started to be, deployed by other countries cutting deeper into OPEC’s income. OPEC knows if the trend isn’t changed very quickly they will have lost the “golden goose.”
The Venezuelan minister starts the meeting off, “My friends; we have to stop the Americans from expanding their domestic oil and gas production. The fracking technology is soon going to be adopted by every country. We’re going to lose trillions of dollars, our organization is going to collapse, and our economies are going to fail. Our people are going to starve and revolt. All of our countries are going to be turned inside out, none of us can afford to change our basic economic model. We don’t have the time or the resources to change. I suggest we throw all of our support behind the LSA’s case against President Brownstone. If Brownstone is taken down, there’s a very good chance Reid can merge the LSA and USA together; he will stop their domestic production and sign a new-exclusive agreement with us. He will sell us their latest military technology and pay us in precious metals for our oil. My friends, our time is running out, did any of us really believe the Americans would change so quickly, or be able to ramp up their domestic production so quickly? We in Venezuela didn’t. I know most of you like us, thought OPEC could manipulate the American press forever, they and their Hollywood executives would take our money to convince the public that fracking was wrong and damages the environment. This President Brownstone is a very dangerous man. We’ve made offers to him; he removed our people’s diplomatic status, and he sent them home! This isn’t a normal American politician who can be easily purchased.
“My friends, according to our latest projections the USA will cease importing oil and gas from all of us in less than twenty months. Every month sees their imports decrease. I propose we do everything within our power while we still have some, to bring Brownstone down before we all become a third rate country.”
Saudi Prince Azaid takes the podium, “Fellow members of OPEC, We haven’t always agreed on everything, our governments aren’t the same; our philosophies aren’t the same. We in Saudi agree with the esteemed representative from Venezuela. Our internal projections agree with the twenty-month timeline of when the USA will no longer require any oil imports. Our intelligence organization has discovered that President Brownstone has secretly ordered the construction of huge underground bunkers to hold a new-strategic reserve containing over one billion barrels of sweet crude. Added to their existing 727 million barrels this will provide the USA with over 180 days of supply if oil production was cut to zero.
“We’ve also discovered that he has instructed the US Navy to start development of small nuclear reactors for new warship construction so they can travel around the world many times without needing to be refueled. Our science branch
estimates these new reactors will enable these new ships to operate for 25 years on a single core. These same small reactors will also be able to provide electrical power for the country, allowing America to shift away from using oil to generate electrical power.
“President Brownstone announced his goal to bring manufacturing and product creation jobs back to the USA. I suggest we contact Premier Xing to sound out his support. If Brownstone is successful in bringing home factories to the USA, China will be the single country the most hurt. A partnership between us and China will be very powerful, maybe powerful enough to force President Brownstone to slow down his programs.
“My friends, we also have to keep an eye on President Puten, by taking over Europe he has gained their offshore oil fields, he too is expanding their domestic production. We think that both Russia and America will be energy independent within two years. We have picked up rumors that both Russia and America are offering to supply China and Japan with all of the oil and gas they may require. My friends, Russia and America, are at the point where they have committed an act of war against us. We must act before it’s too late.”
The other members of OPEC agree with the statements of both the Venezuela minister and Saudi prince, however, they can’t agree on a focused course of action. The minister from Qatar stands to address the group, “My friends, we in Qatar also agree with the view Russia and America are on their way to not only cease buying our production, but to compete with us. Yes, we agree; our concern is what to do about it. Can any of us forget the reactions of both Russia and America if they are threatened? Can any of us forget how first Russia and then America spent years in Afghanistan? Can the minister from Iraq ever forget about the Americans crushing their country? We fear that anything we do to step on the American’s or Russian’s toes will see our skies filled with their guided bombs destroying our infrastructure. We are too small to survive if one or the other sends hundreds or thousands of their warplanes to attack us. They don’t even have to use a single manned airplane; they can send their damned cruise missiles and drones to kill us while we can do nothing. If the Americans complete their next generation of weapons, we may not even know we’re under attack until we pick our heads up from the rubble of our countries. Qatar agrees; something must be done. However, we’re not in agreement to directly or indirectly attacking either or both Russia or America. Supporting President Reid against President Brownstone is taking sides in their civil war which is a dangerous path for us to go down, even after the split of the country, the USA is too strong to fight. We do agree to approach Premier Xing to see if we can reach an agreement to sell China oil on a long term agreement. We’ll be in better shape to have a long-term sales agreement than have a future of certain economic collapse.”
The meeting delegates couldn’t agree on a path forward; they broke the meeting with an agreement to meet again in 60 days.
Prince Azaid decided to seek out the delegate from Venezuela; Azaid thought he might be able to get the Venezuelans to push a mass of illegal immigrants north into America putting pressure on their systems. Azaid also decided to fly to Los Angeles to meet with a few Hollywood producers; he decided to fund them to create anti-fracking movies quickly to sway the American’s minds. He laughed, knowing that in Hollywood money talked, the producers would sell their own daughters for a large enough bag of cash. He instructed his aide to prepare a large suitcase filled with gold back American dollars and Russian Rubles which were accepted in the LSA.
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“Honey, have you see the signs on some of our neighbor’s front lawns?” Brad asked.
“Yea, I saw them this afternoon, I’m shocked these people are falling for the pile of crap the media is pushing out. I think most of the country, if not the world, forgot how to read and reason for themselves. They live in a world of sound bites and movie stars who have fewer brains than a groundhog. Everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame.”
“Honey, they want their fifteen minutes to go on forever. It’s like that poor college boy who killed all of those people because the girls he dated wouldn’t sleep with him. He made YouTube videos crying about how sadly his poor life was, 22, no job, no skills, except for being born into a well to do family. He grew up expecting everything. When he didn’t get what he wanted, he went crazy.”
“Kath, he was crazy to start with. This is what happens when kids grow up without any losers; everyone is a winner, everyone makes the team, everyone gets an award, and everyone is a star. I blame the parents for not accepting the fact that taking a belt to the rear end doesn’t break the child, it makes them realize some things are just wrong. I look at our granddaughters; at least our girls are smart enough to let their girls be kids, they can go outside to play, if they fall, they’re told it’s just a scratch. I worry about the next generation. “Common Core” is going to produce a generation of simple minded morons. None will learn how to think through a problem. They think comedy shows and the program “E” is real news.”
“But those signs, calling the President a murderer, and a child killer for turning off the electricity, none of it makes any sense. Why would he turn off the power? He and the country had nothing to gain from it. The signs are so disgusting, the language so bad, one house is covered in the signs and its right in front of the school bus stop. When I was young, we’d get our mouth washed out with soap for using the F-BOMB plus, I’d be punished and grounded for weeks. These people paint it on bed sheets and large plywood signs in front of their house. If they don’t like it here, why don’t they move to the LSA and leave us in peace?”
“Good question, next time I run into one of them, I’ll ask them.”
Laughing, Kathy says, “You’ll probably be called a racist.”
“You’re right; I will be, I don’t mind, I’ve been called a lot worse. By the way, where’s our permanent dinner quest? It’s almost time to grill the meat; he’s usually here by 6:30.”
“I forgot to tell you; he called an hour ago to say he was going to be late, something about a mass demonstration at one of the colleges. It seems the students have decided to take over the school administration building until President Brownstone gives himself up to the World Court.”
“Man, history does repeat itself, this sounds the late 1960s again. As if those doing a ‘sit-in’ in a college building is going to change anything. All of the money being spent on their college education is being wasted.”
“They think the world revolves around them, the entire world is going to pause to listen to them because they have something to say.”
“Did Ron say if he was going to be late or not make it at all? I’m getting hungry.”
“Why don’t you call him?”
“I don’t want to bother him at work; he’s most likely having a good time arresting the students.”
“Hey, I seem to remember you said when you went to college, you protested the Vietnam War.”
“I only protested because I didn’t want to go, plus it was a great way to meet girls.”
Kathy laughed and threw an oven mitt at me saying, “Make yourself useful, put the potatoes in the oven.”
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Most of the US Military bases are surrounded by angry screaming people demanding the US dismantle and disarm all of their weapons of mass destruction. Unions brought in thousands of people on buses. They wore color matched T-shirts so the media could see the different unions supporting the anti-nuclear movement.
A few of the military remarked the different colored T-shirts reminded them of the “Hands-around-DC” march that didn’t end well for the peaceful protesters. Another remarked it looked like a fruit basket, which caused a sergeant to give them a stern look. “Get back to work, we have to make sure the perimeter is secure. Unless you’d like to invite them to dinner.”
“No Sarge, we’re checking the fence line and making sure all of the base defenses are in place, do you really think they’re dumb enough to try to break in?”
“It doesn’
t matter what I think; we have our orders.”
The media set up broadcast vans to live broadcast from the bases with the largest demonstrations. Some of the older reporters remarked that this was more fun than reporting the anti-war movement in the early 1970s when people chained themselves to the fences around military bases and people held hands and wrapped themselves around the bases.
On the inside of the fence line, the military patrols are in full combat gear with live rounds in their M4 and M16 rifles. HUMVEES and LAVs patrolled the fence line 24/7.
Some protesters, who tried to climb the fences, quickly learn barb wire on the fence top, isn’t easily climbed without tearing skin and clothing apart. Those trying to climb the fence all falloff with their hands and clothing cut to shreds, many yells to the military on the other side of the fence, “We’re going to sue you! You’ll pay for this!”
The troops ignored the protesters until some tried to cut the chain link fence. A captain approached the area where the protesters are cutting the links; he bent down on one knee, looking across the fence line saying, “You know I can turn on the electricity to the fence, if I do, you’re all going to get badly injured. If you do manage to cut through and enter the base, we’ll consider you terrorists, and we’ll open fire on you. Why don’t you stay on your side and sing your songs and we’ll stay on our side? It’s not going to end well for you if you enter the base.”
One of the protesters threw a handful of dirt at the captain, “You wouldn’t dare harm us, the press is here. They’ll record everything; you’ll be shown as the baby killing maniacs you really are.”
“If you noticed the signs, you'd see the warning notices that this is government property, access requires a permit; deadly force can be used to meet any non-authorized entry; that is if you can read. To help you, it’s printed in nice bright white letters on a red sign in three languages. If you can’t read it, please let me know so I can hand you a sign in a language you can read.”
