by Eric Gurr
He noticed Strickland stiffen and go momentarily pale. He recomposed himself quickly. He had no intention of entering the conference room. He faked a broad smile. “Oh my boy how I would love to go in there. Let me guess, it’s one of the business owners who is objecting right?”
“Well, yes, it is.” Colby answered.
“Oh how I envy you Colby my boy. He’s just talking in circles. Don’t let him frustrate you. We’ll have our own currency and we’ll be fine. It takes a bit of time, not much. During the transition, it can get a little bad for a spell but it passes quickly. No, I believe I’ll leave the joy of beating them over the head intellectually to the younger people. You’ve earned it. Just tell him we know it will take a spot of time but we will be just fine.”
Colby went back into the room and told him what Strickland had said.
“See Colby? He said nothing. He sent you back in here with no real advice. Look, Colby, I want to help you. I do. Not because I like you or I think you’re right. I don’t. But you did tell the truth about one thing. Us. We did this to you.
Every movie you saw growing up and every television show you watched did this. They were crafted to get you to think a certain way. It worked. We thought it would give us more power and money.
If we could get you to hate Republicans, and think they were racist bigots, we would have you. If we could get you to believe they were stealing from you, we would have you. We could work with the Democrats. We could give you free stuff and make you feel better.
Then they would pass laws giving us cheap labor and at the same time make it harder for small business to grow and compete with us. We did this, and it got out of hand.
I take my share of responsibility for that. But I also won’t lie to myself again. This is a bad idea. It is a terrible idea in fact. And now I have told you why. I cannot force you to listen. All I can do is tell you the truth. And I will do my best to give you good advice to make this work if you do secede. But I seriously doubt it will work.”
Colby was frustrated and angry. Anderson was right about Strickland. But that didn’t mean Strickland was wrong about everything. Something inside him wanted to make Anderson believe. For some reason he could not articulate to himself, he wanted Anderson on his side.
He had an idea. He thought it might backfire, but he had to try something. He was beginning to understand these people. He believed that they had lied to him and everyone else. But he thought he might just be able to make that right as well.
“Look Scotch, and everyone else here, I want you to listen to me closely. We are learning. We are beginning to understand what it is you want. And we agree with you to an extent. Scotch, no one is going to take your business away from you. In fact, your taxes will probably fall once we stop sending money to Washington. We want to control the energy sector and we want the public to own health care. Top to bottom.
Strickland has made it clear we are going to have to force people to work. But with a good wage, they will want too. We are not against any of you. We don’t want communism. Well, not all of us anyway. We want a social safety net like they have in Sweden or Germany.
You will own your business and we will leave you alone.”
“You can have my business. Without the rule of law, without a constitution like the United State Constitution, you will be able to take it any time you want. So take it now. I do not care. I will help you. But I won’t lie to myself ever again. If you want it, it is yours. And I will still help. Only because I helped to create this fucking mess.” Anderson said.
He then looked around the room. No one else had spoken. The businessmen were either terrified or satisfied, he could not tell. The politicians were terrified. He knew this was over. They were going to secede. It didn’t matter what he said. So Anderson continued to talk.
“So, why don’t we all take a vote? Is anyone opposed to secession of California, Oregon and Washington into the Peoples Republic of California?”
He asked. No one responded.
“So there you have it Colby. Complete political cover. Now, who is the president of this great new nation? Or do we have one?”
Ohlbinger was stunned. It had been too easy. “Uh, well we thought the governors would continue in their role and our committee would lead until we could have elections. Which we would hope would be very soon. Oh, and we are calling it the Free Nation of California.”
“So is that it for today?” Anderson asked.
“If there are no questions or other business, I guess so.”
When the meeting ended Colby returned to the adjacent meeting room. Strickland was still there but most of the others had left.
“How did it go my boy?” Strickland asked.
Colby was agitated. With just three people in the room, he felt like he could, and should challenge the professor. He was only fifty-eight or fifty-nine years old, but he acted like he was eighty. He was born and raised in California, but faked a slight English accent. His arrogance had to be checked.
The professor had to be put in his place. But he was also nervous about it. The others really seemed to like him.
If Anderson was right, and this turned into a disaster, he knew the people would turn on him as quickly as they turned to him.
He needed to get the national police force in place. He hated the idea, but again Strickland had been persuasive. There would be problems if it wasn’t done. It would be a temporary necessity. He decided to push back on Strickland.
“Are you sure about this currency thing Strickland?” Colby normally referred to him as Gene or Professor. He wanted to assert some authority over the arrogant man.
“Getting cold feet my boy?” Strickland asked.
“Not at all. But, I’ve trusted you on a lot of the details. Are you sure about this? We are all counting on you. You wanted to take the ball on the reconstruction. Surely you don’t mind me asking for a few of the details?”
He tried to say it as nicely as possible but he was afraid it had come out contentious or confrontational. So he smiled.
“Colby, this is nothing new. Nations have done this for hundreds of years. As I said before, it can be a little rocky at the start. That’s one of the reasons you need a loyal, well paid national police force. But if you get people to work, and give them some security, they’ll quickly accept the new currency.”
Colby let it go. When he was alone he realized that once again Strickland hadn’t really said anything. He made a point to schedule a one on one meeting with Scotch Anderson. It was a critical moment for the movement. He had to get good advice. He didn’t want to lose it all now. But first, he had to let this afternoon play out.
It was noon in Washington D.C. In just three more hours his plans would either be solidified or fall apart quickly. He rushed to his next meeting.
When he opened his hotel room door Katana was already there. Two other people were there as well. Both confidants of Katana and both young men who knew exactly what was going to go down in D.C.
“How confident are you guys?” He wanted to ask Katana directly but she had been so quiet lately that he just threw the question out.
Justin Ternau was just as aggressive as Katana but much more passionate and willing to talk.
“It’s all set. Congress passing a law to allow staffers to carry guns in the Capitol is probably the dumbest thing they ever did.” Ternau said.
“So all sixty have guns?” Colby asked, knowing the answer already.
“Well, no. Only thirty-five or so were able to pass the background check. But those that do each have two guns. So by the time it starts, all of our people will be armed. The joint session lets out at three O’clock. Should be a full house. That’s five hundred and thirty-five people counting the senators.
We are only targeting Republicans. If we can take out tw0-hundred, we should be able to take control.”
“So each shooter has to get three kills and a few more have to get four kills if my math is right.” Ohlbinger offered.
“You’ll be lucky to get fifty.” Katana said.
“What?” Ternau protested. “We have sixty people. There are ten rounds in each gun. That’s six hundred rounds that are going to be fired. Katana, I’m pretty sure even the bad shots can get three kills out of ten shots.
Even if they don’t, the three hundred outside will be storming the steps before the ambulances even arrive. They will mop up, and we’ll take control.”
Katana just shook her head and smiled. “You’re so fucking stupid Justin. You really are.
First, only about half of those sixty will fire. The rest will run. Of the thirty that fire, half of them will be shooting into the air. So you might get fifteen people shooting accurately. Let’s say you’re right and they get three kills. That means forty-five. And that’s your best case.”
“Well, Katana, even if you’re right, when the three-hundred storm the steps they’re going to get a few kills as well don’t you think? So half of them each get one kill. Now you’re at almost two-hundred. Just like I said.”
Colby listened to the two. He wanted to believe Ternau. He believed Katana.
“Can we still take the Capitol?” He asked Katana.
She hedged for a second and looked at the ceiling while thinking.
When Colby and Katana had first met she was forty pounds overweight, but much of that muscle. Her hair was streaked with pink and blue. She had piercings in her nose and lips. She wore old gray sweat suits.
Now her hair was her natural light brown. She had lost nearly fifty pounds. She wore tight-fitting blue jeans and sleeveless shirts. She wore no makeup and Colby realized she was actually quite attractive. She rarely smiled and even less rarely spoke.
“I don’t see how.” She said.
“So what the hell is the point of all of this?” Colby said. He was trying not to yell at her. She had been on board with the plan from the start.
“The point is to disrupt. If this works at all, if you get even one or two kills it will cause disruption. Then the right wingers will leave us alone. California, Oregon and Washington will be allowed to secede. No one will bother us. But don’t kid yourselves. None of our people will get out alive.” She said.
Colby had a sudden realization.
“You knew this from the start. That’s why you didn’t let the Rebecca girl go isn’t it?” He said.
Katana nodded slightly.
“She doesn’t know this for sure. Ternau protested. She can’t see the fucking future. This is a solid plan. Look, it may not go perfectly. But all we have to do is create enough chaos to get our three-hundred in and take control. When that happens ten thousand more will come every day and we’ll have the nation. Then we can force the Army to fight with us.”
Colby knew this was ridiculous. But if they could take control of the Capitol building for just a few weeks maybe they could win. The army would never fight, he knew that, the admiral had told him. But that could also work to their advantage.
Somewhere between Katana and Justin Ternau was the truth. He hoped it was closer to Ternau. But even if they only killed forty-five people, it could still work.
They ordered pizza, turned on the television and waited.
At three O’clock they moved to the edge of their seats. The anchor was talking about the special joint session of Congress that was ending.
The scene moved to inside the Capitol building and the remote reporter was speaking. As the doors opened she rushed to the first person she could find. It was a Democrat from Vermont. She asked them if any issues had been resolved and what transpired.
Others were walking and smiling in the background. There was no gunfire. There was no chaos.
After a few minutes they realized nothing would transpire. Katana stood up. Laughed, and left the room. After a few more minutes Colby looked at Justin. “I guess Katana was right.”
Just as he said it a few pops could be heard, and people in the building started running. The camera panned around and was shaking. Then the feed cut.
At the anchor desk the talking heads were scrambling. Clearly something had happened and they were fairly certain they had heard gunfire.
“Oh yeah?” Ternau said.
Colby kept staring at the television waiting for news. A few minutes later the remote reporter at the Capitol building was back.
There has been some kind of attack. We are not sure what is going on but a group tried to rush the Capitol building.”
“Has anyone inside been injured?” The anchor desk reporter asked.
“No, all are safe in here. Our cameraman tried to get a look outside but the doors were quickly closed.”
“Oh no.” Colby said.
“What? What’s going on?” Justin screamed.
Colby just looked at him. “Don’t you get it? The three-hundred are starting the second wave. But because there was no first wave there was no confusion. They were spotted by the police and are being stopped at the steps.”
Colby walked to the television and turned it off.
“Go home Justin. It’s over.”
It would be several more hours before Colby knew what had happened. Because of the Joint Session, there was to be extra security. They had decided to ban all guns in the building for the day.
The three-hundred attackers had not known this, and had proceeded as planned. Katana had been right. Only two-hundred or so showed up. They were spotted before they ever got close to the steps.
Colby sat alone in his hotel room. There were bodies lying at the front of the Capitol in the street. More were scattered about. On top of that news the reporters were talking about California, Oregon and Washington seceding from the union.
They were speculating that the two events were connected. Colby’s phone buzzed constantly. He told the reporters he was not aware of any connection and that he was busy going about the business of helping to govern the new nation. There would be a press conference and the ‘foreign press’ from the United States would be welcomed to attend.
After four interviews he had simply stopped answering his phone. He knew this was a loss. Not only had they gained no influence or control in D.C., their representatives and staffs would now be sent home because they had seceded. Information about what was going on would now be harder to get.
But in some small way, he knew the sacrifice would be worth it. The deaths of the three-hundred would cause enough of a distraction to focus on building the Free Nation of California.
Strickland had suggested that the next move should be to build an army to secure the nation and strike east. They had made plans to take Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, but they knew it would have to wait until next spring.
But Ohlbinger had seen enough. His mission would be to hold on to their gains. He would work with Anderson and anyone else to create a Scandinavian type nation for the West Coast. In his group there were committed communists and socialists. But he knew the answer was somewhere in between.
On the television the governor of California was being interviewed. She expressed sympathy at the violence in Washington and expressed optimism for the future.
Colby knew he had to lead. He wanted to lead. But something was changing in him. With victory at hand he was having doubts. He knew he needed help. And he would take advice. But he wouldn’t let them bully him into abandoning the cause. They wanted socialism. He wanted socialism. He would deliver.
He would bridge the gap between the business owners, the communists and the politicians.
The first step was to solidify control and the victory. He would order a national holiday for Monday. No one but the most essential would be allowed to work. Businesses would be f
orced to pay their employees for the day off.
Then he would announce the elections. His committee would rule with the governors for the first year. Then there would be open elections. Everyone was allowed to vote. Everyone over the age of eighteen, maybe even sixteen.
He would head the committee. A nation needed a President. He would tell them it was just a title. Someone had to be a single point of contact to establish trade deals and treaties with foreign nations. He would act as President, but only for a short time.
Then he would build the army to defend the gains. There were going to be tough months ahead. But he had won. He was the head of one of the most powerful nations in the world. Not yet thirty-two years old, and he was a world leader.
Failure was not an option. He gathered his small security detail from the adjoining rooms. He would need to pay them more. They should be the highest paid employees in the state. That would keep them loyal. And he would need more of them.
He marched out of the hotel with his detail and across the street to the Capitol building. Today the city of Sacramento would become the Capital of the nation of California.
And Colby Ohlbinger would be the first President.
Chapter 12
The long winter
Fall turned to winter and the nation was generally peaceful. The United States technically existed as it always had except for California, Oregon and Washington.
But even the remaining states were not united. The Midwest, the south and the northwest were isolated from New England. Virginia itself was divided with Richmond clearly in the sphere of D.C.
Pennsylvania was divided from Philadelphia to everything to the west of the city. In Detroit, the Muslim radicals had seceded, but the moderates still fought and the city was surrounded by a small army.
The first of the winter fights were small but decisive. Hartwick’s army of the right was winning the middle of the country.