“Possibly.” Hamilton nodded ever so slowly as she gazed into the distance.
George asked, “Market manipulation and possibly currency manipulation?”
Hamilton wasn’t fast enough with her answer for George, so he repeated, “Is our currency being attacked?”
“We can’t prove it, Mr. President.” Hamilton chose her words carefully.
George was getting angry. “What’s your best assessment?”
Hamilton gazed at the floor for a second and then looked up. “I can’t explain a drop this fast in such a short period of time. It’s as if a trigger has been pulled, or…” She hesitated again.
“Or what?”
“Or worse than that… it’s an orchestrated attack.” Hamilton spoke faster. “We have an undercover agent working in the media. He was given a heads up to be ready… shortly after that, he was dispatched to a bank… we suspect someone knew bank issues were coming.”
“If in fact that’s what’s happening, we need to find out who’s behind this,” George ordered.
“We’ll get right on it, Mr. President.” Hamilton knew it was almost impossible to prove, but that answer wouldn’t be acceptable.
* * *
Within hours, broadcasts were flooded with news of massive stock selloffs and more countries calling for their gold. The first phone calls came into The White House, asking the United States to pay all of their debt immediately.
By early evening, the gravity of the situation was totally apparent. Hamilton had been by George’s side all day fielding calls and making inquiries. With the heavy thinking that went along with the stress of the situation, she was exhausted. But the President somehow appeared to be unphased. He was as bright as he always was. She looked at him and said, “Mr. President, this is the fourth call we’ve had asking us to pay our debt now.”
George retorted, “Well, they can’t force us to pay immediately.”
“Mr. President, every agreement we have has a clause which basically says the debt is redeemable upon request.” Hamilton’s tone was grave.
George thought to himself about the people adding all of this debt to the country.
What a bunch of idiots… or worse yet, if they weren’t that stupid, they were working for someone else and it was treason.
But that wasn’t something to focus on now. He needed to focus on what he could do here and now, not on the fools and traitors who had preceded him and created this situation.
Adam knew what George must be thinking and said, “This couldn’t possibly be coincidence.”
George nodded his head in agreement. “It’s too well orchestrated and too many things are happening simultaneously for it to be coincidence. But who?”
Just then, Gabby came through the door. “I think you should watch this, Mr. President.” She picked up a remote and went directly to the channel.
“I thought we got rid of that socialist Malik,” George said, scornful of the man he had replaced.
Gabby explained, “He was at a fund raiser here in Washington and you can see the reporters crowded around him.”
She turned up the volume to quiet the room. They listened to the former President. “Well, these countries have a right to their gold and the money we owe them.”
They didn’t hear the question that had preceded his answer.
Former President Malik continued. “The agreements all say they’re redeemable upon request. The President will have to find a way to pay them.” Malik held up his hand. “I’m sorry, that’s all I know about the situation.”
Adam turned to George. “He just happened to be at a fund raiser and available to a huge group of media.”
The situation room was dead silent.
As the evening went on, everyone had left with the exception of Alexus, Adam and George. They watched as the news replayed the interviews of the day, including one with a member of a major bank. His wording didn’t settle well with George. The man warned that if the situation became worse, the US credit rating could be lowered at least two levels. He explained that, since the government wasn’t funded for much longer, the US would be paying an escalated interest rate. The damn globalist bankers. George knew these bankers had the country by the short hairs.
Finally, George said to Adam and Alexus, “You’d better get some rest. It’ll be a long day tomorrow.”
As Adam was on his way out of the White House, Gabby’s text came through. “How much longer?”
He responded. “I’m on my way.”
Chapter 9
Gabby’s body tingled as Adam lovingly kissed the back of her neck as he gently but firmly massaged her shoulders and down her back.
When their relationship had begun, Adam had been missing for several days after being kidnapped and held captive by the deep state. She and the President believed they may never see him again. After he had been rescued by a retired ex-CIA spook named Brooks and appeared backstage, they had embraced tightly. Tears had been streaming down her face. But, with the President on stage and only minutes left on the nationally televised address the eve of the election, his priority had been his country.
Adam had gone on stage without any makeup, his face battered and bruised. He’d had a fat lip and a black eye that was almost swollen shut. A punch while he’d been tied up had left a cut on his eyebrow that would leave a scar. He had wiped off the blood that had dripped, but the dried blood was still there. He would need a few stitches to close the cut properly. He stood there for the entire nation to see. It was then that the masses had understood that the globalist bankers and deep state would do anything to stop a resurgence of the United States. It was late that night, when Adam could no longer contain his attraction for Gabby, that they’d fallen into each other’s arms.
Gabby hadn’t been with him in weeks and she yearned for him, as only he could fill that void. Even though their relationship wasn’t serious, they were exclusive to each other. He came over to her place like this from time to time. She had no desire for another man. It wasn’t even a consideration.
She knew he could use some support, and that he needed to reduce his stress after what had happened today. So, when they’d had lunch, she’d asked if he could come over. Gabby had been so frightened when she’d met him at his office and had heard of his close call that morning in the basement of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Her passion and desire had built all day, which was also fueled by her growing feelings for him. Neither one of them had said they loved each other, but she was on the verge of saying it first.
Adam slowly kissed his way down the back of her neck, rolled her over on her side and then onto her back. Gabby’s breasts bounced seductively as Adam’s hands slid off. With the combination of the lengthy massage and Adam’s slow kissing, he could sense that if he didn’t get to it, she was going to grab him by the back of the head in that playful way of hers.
He watched her chest rise as she caught her breath. His hands moved slowly to the small of her arched back.
Now she felt his powerful hands move down her ass and he lifted her torso fully off the bed. She knew what was coming next. As Adam began to satisfy her, she arched until only her shoulder blades, head and arms were touching the mattress. She had never experienced this before with one exception; it was what he had done the first time they’d been together.
A sensation of passion had transferred from Adam to Gabby. He was in total harmony with her needs, and her excitement had built with the softness of his touch. She didn’t know or care how he did it. She was unaware that, when Adam lifted her torso off the mattress, he also lifted her lower body off the bed and braced his elbows on the mattress underneath her to hold her up in the air. He could transfer the feeling of his power to her as she was nestled in his palms. She didn’t know that he used a significant amount of strength to hold her in that position.
Minutes later Adam s
aw the lowest portion of her abdomen start to quiver. Then the shudder moved up her mid-section, and another tremor fluttered.
“Don’t stop, don’t stop.”
Then, in an explosion of ecstasy, there was an eruption of tremors. They patterned up and down her mid-section. The speed increased. The tremor moved faster until they were almost a blur. Adam’s mouth had become an extension of her needs. Her little woman was firmer. He felt more of her weight transfer to his palms as she shook and convulsed. The smell of her womanhood filled the air.
As she slowed, he followed the signals of her body. He adjusted so he could stay with her, knowing a moment of sensitivity would follow.
He kissed around her inner thighs and lowered her down onto the bed. Slowly kissing his way up, he whispered, “Stay right there. We’ll do it again. This time will be a little different.”
She whispered something he couldn’t hear. It really didn’t matter.
He added, “I’ll count until we’ve reached ten. Each time will be a little different.”
Her face glowed. Adam had just begun. What a wonderful evening this would be.
Chapter 10
Chief scientist Dr. Roy Hemmele opened the door. The motion detectors turned on the lights as he led Krieger and Briggs into the small room at the top of the building.
Dr. Hemmele was the best of the best when it came to EMP technology. His main office was in Area 51, but he was a welcome sight at many other top-secret installations. Because he was pioneer in developing technology to monitor EMPs, the sun lighting and electromagnetic pulses, he had been flown in overnight. He was the inventor of several top-secret devices used by several government agencies, including NASA. He exuded the calmness of a man in his rightful place in life. As his small team headed to their designated workstations, Hemmele sat down and punched the appropriate keys to log in. Then he held his finger to the touchpad, allowing access to the next level. He nodded. His associate followed the same protocol. With the dual person authentication complete, their screens came to life.
Hemmele grinned and turned to Colonel Krieger. “It’s working.”
The team shared a brief moment of jubilation, which seemed to fade into relief. The incident that had caused the blackout in the city was the first EMP burst of any significance set off in the US outside of a test environment. This location, right here in the blacked-out city, had been set up to record these types of incidents, should they arise. The analysis part of the equipment had just been flown in. They hard wired it to the recording device. It was now up to Hemmele and his team to determine if it could give them any critical information.
Krieger and Briggs’s men hovered around the equipment that the experts navigated. They hoped to detect the source of the incident, and identify the whereabouts of the device that had caused the blackout. A new addition to this device might even detect the strength and frequency, perhaps even the direction towards which the device was focused.
Krieger hoped that this new option of tracking the movement of the source would give them an idea of where the perpetrators traveled to after setting off the EMP. Recording equipment like this had recently been mounted in a few major cities without the public’s knowledge. Krieger watched as the team worked with a sense of urgency.
Hemmele and his team had designed the recording equipment. The antenna was robust in its design, to maximize its ability to withstand a variety of scenarios. This recording equipment, like the others, was positioned at the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city.
Krieger watched the large screen at the front of the small room come alive. Unique displays appeared. Hemmele was orchestrating his team and the equipment like a composer. Then Krieger noticed Hemmele freeze. After a brief moment, Hemmele smiled.
Hemmele was focused on the screen when he said, “It looks like it lasted approximately four ten thousandths of a second.”
Krieger knew the blasts were short, but that seemed too brief. “Are you certain?”
“Yes, they’re very quick, short bursts. That’s one of the things that makes them dangerous. They occur so quickly that there’s no warning, and thus, no time to respond. They’re a thousand times quicker than a lightning strike and can be thousands of times more powerful. These EMPs could theoretically even be used to launch a projectile at many times the speed of sound.”
From the tone of Hemmele’s comment, Krieger felt that perhaps he was working on launching a projectile, but this wasn’t the place or the time to ask.
Hemmele added, “Depending on the type of device that caused this… EMP devices that are like a bomb emanate outwardly in a uniform three hundred and sixty-degree radius.” He hesitated, taking time to determine whether he wanted to disclose his next thought. He had suspicions because this EMP blast was so small and the effect was localized. He decided he’d better not. Sharing that he had helped develop the technology that could cause the EMP to emanate outwardly irregularly, giving an area of focus, wasn’t something relevant to this… or so he thought.
Krieger wanted confirmation of his assessment of what the doctor had just said. “You’re implying this equipment can tell us something about the type of device?”
This was Hemmele’s first live detection of an actual EMP. “We may be able to, sir; give me a few minutes. We’re working on it.”
Dr. Hemmele expertly navigated his way through the program as screen shots appeared and then dissolved. Krieger wanted to ask more, but waited as Hemmele asked one of his companions to verify the starting time and central coordinates. When she had verified the coordinates, he began searching through commands in the system. He was looking for the recording at the time of the burst.
A short time later, Hemmele had an overhead view of the area on the eight-foot screen, showing what looked like a high-tech electronic radar signal. The overlaying grid was symmetrical, like a stationary radar.
Krieger finally had to ask, “What are you doing?”
“This is called a radar chart. I wanted to get a visual. This is just a few seconds before the incident began. Watch, and you’ll see a red line showing how the EMP burst emanated from the source… Realize that what you’re about to see happened in milliseconds.”
In slow motion, a red line came to life at the center of the radar chart. It emanated irregularly outward. The lines to the east grew faster and went farther than the lines to the west. They all watched in silence. The lines reached a peak distance from the source and then disappeared.
Hemmele’s tone lowered. He was solemn. “That’s how it happened. Now, let me take you back to the peak point of the burst.”
Krieger and Briggs watched as Hemmele started the visual of the blast over again. This time the screen froze at its peak effect.
“Do you see how the pulse radius is irregular?”
It was obvious. “Yes, but what does that tell us?” Krieger asked as he turned his eyes from the screen to Hemmele.
Speaking a little more carefully now, Hemmele said, “I’ll run it through our statistical verification program, but I can tell you that this did not come from a bomb. That’s why I didn’t use the term blast. We use that term with a bomb that’s designed to emit an EMP pulse. Bombs emit blasts that have a relatively symmetrical circumference. Give me a second.”
He slid his mouse around until the curser hovered over some drop-down boxes. After making a few choices, the screen came alive with a world of information. Hemmele scrolled up, down, back up and back down.
“There you have it. See this number?” Hemmele pointed to a decimal point followed by three zeros. “That’s called a screaming P value. It says the likelihood of this not being a bomb is less than that number… To put it another way, this was not a bomb. It came from a different type of manmade device.”
Krieger asked the question Hemmele knew was coming. “What kind of device?”
Hemmele feared that he knew, but wa
nted to wait until the equipment verified his thoughts, so he said, “We’re getting to that. Give us some time.”
Krieger watched for a few more moments. Hemmele continued to explain as he worked.
“What most people don’t know, is that we’ve just developed the ability to focus an EMP blast or pulse on a very select place to help our troops go into an area and do what they need to do. When communications are disabled, our troops are able to go in without encountering an organized resistance. It makes it much safer. It also gives us the ability to minimize the fallout to areas we don’t want to affect.”
Briggs nodded. “Maybe some rogue dictators could learn a lesson the hard way.”
“Most people associate an EMP with a total takedown,” Hemmele said. “With the most advanced technology on earth, it is possible to have a more localized EMP that has a less dramatic effect.”
After a moment of silence, Hemmele continued. “As you know, when you devise something, you begin devising a way to measure it and counter it. So, when others finally get that technology, you can track it and counter it. There are high-power microwave weapons small enough to fit in a suitcase that can disable smaller targets like neighborhoods, banks and stock exchanges. Devices can also be used to cause confusion or to allow someone to infiltrate secure areas by disabling alarm systems. An attacker would simply need to get within a few yards of a target and push a button to unleash the pulse.”
Though he’d never seen this process before, Krieger knew that when someone was navigating a complex program using some of the world’s most sophisticated technology, it required an extreme amount of concentration to do the right thing so the proper outcome could be realized. So he was patient until, on the eight-foot screen, he saw what looked like the high-tech electronic radar signal chart again. The red line was irregular around the center point.
Hemmele worked at a rapid pace. “I’m matching this pulse distribution against the known devices that can emit this distribution pattern. The statistical part of the program will match the data with known devices. This is similar to a multiple distribution analysis in statistics. Then it’ll give us some probabilities, which in your term’s sir, amount to a probability of a match. When it comes up, I’ll interpret it for you, and we’ll see if there are any conclusions to be drawn.”
Return of Our Country Page 6