“Then make a suggestion.”
“Tell them it’s the only way to produce more food and get on the road to recovery.”
The President pondered that. Finally, he said to Fienberg, “Include that. If we can’t give them food, let’s give them hope,” he added.
Or hype, Cotta thought to himself.
Feinberg made notes.
“Let’s get back to the problem of the road pirates,” the President said to the room. “What about them?”
“They’re a problem and we’re losing credibility because we’re not dealing with them. The states are promising they will,” Knox said.
“Are they?”
“No. But this is another case where perception is everything. However, intel tells us the states are reluctant to bear down on them because they would like them as allies. Plus, the road pirates are usually not bothering the citizens of the states in which they live, they’re preying on the emigrants fleeing from further north. Since the warm states don’t want the emigrants and the road pirates have become a deterrent to travel, their activities are tolerated.”
“How serious are the road pirates from our point of view?” the President asked.
“May I field that question?” General French asked.
“Go ahead, General.”
“Along stretches of the West Coast, from the Golden Gate north to southwestern Oregon, they’re very active. Below the Golden Gate there are fewer freelance gangs because south of San Francisco and Sacramento it’s law enforcement that’s preying on the travelers, and they’re doing it with the tacit approval of Sacramento. The legal justification is that if you now have food or fuel, you must have come by them in some illegal manner, so California is using the RICO Act to ‘arrest’ the property—the same thing other states and the federal government have been doing. There’s also the perception, from Sacramento’s point of view, that the emigrants are not welcome, they’re invaders, and the states’s actions are tacitly meant to be a deterrent. It’s somewhat similar to what happened in southern California during the Great Depression when the locals didn’t want emigrants from the Dust Bowl coming into the state and straining the state’s resources.”
“The difference is that during the Depression law enforcement didn’t steal everything you had,” the President interjected.
“Times are different, now,” the general said and the President acknowledged the statement with a nod.
“Recently,” French continued, “we had a problem with a band of road pirates living near Trinidad, California, in Humboldt County, in the northern part of the state. They severely damaged a bridge on Highway 101 and completely stopped the flow of traffic. It was clearly a plan to create a bottleneck where the emigrants were trapped. The trouble was, it also impeded the Army. The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade moved in with the Corps of Engineers behind them. We don’t have the resources to arrest, detain, or imprison large bodies of population. We’ve already discovered people will break the law simply to get arrested and fed. So we don’t do that anymore. We deal with domestic terrorists swiftly and on the spot.
“Frankly, Mr. President, it is widely known that when the 1st Brigade went into the compound, they left no survivors and we haven’t had a problem with the roads being damaged or blocked by any of the gangs along the 101, since.”
The President didn’t comment on the “no survivors” statement except to say, “These are difficult times.”
“Further north, along the Pacific Coast,” the general continued, “there are still problems with road pirates in Del Norte County, also in northern California, and Curry County, in southwestern Oregon. These counties all lie along 101. These gangs intercept the people fleeing south, rob them, and there have been stories of kidnappings and murders.”
“What do you recommend, General?”
“We don’t have the resources to deal with it. It should be dealt with as a local police matter, and it isn’t. However, as I pointed out, the road pirates now know that if they block or in any way damage the roads, bridges, and key rail lines, the 3rd will deal with them.”
“I know this came up in previous meetings. But what I want to know is: Are all of these gangs, these self-styled road pirates, aware of the consequences of blocking or damaging the roads?”
“Yes, Sir, they’ve all been apprised.”
“Otherwise, they’re largely left alone?” the President asked.
“Unless they block the roads, yes. Besides, we’re afraid if we disrupt the status quo, they will engage our troops in a guerilla war and further dilute our effectiveness in dealing with the states. It’s become a temporary live-and-let-live situation.”
Finally, the President looked first at General Turnbull then at General French and said, “Gentlemen, your orders right now are to keep posted troops where they are at whatever key roads, bridges, buildings, or other facilities we have deemed important. Inform all resupply convoys they are to carry out their orders and to resupply the units they’ve been sent to maintain. If they meet resistance, they are to query us, first, and they will be directed as to how they should deal with the problem. Even if I cannot reach Governor Stottlemyer, I expect the Army to keep open the key roads the federal government needs in California, until further notice. Otherwise, deal with the road pirates only when necessary and on a contingency basis, and until we find out whose side they’re on. Right Fred?” he asked Cotta.
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“With the exception of nonessential units, there will be no more disbanding of the troop units until further notice. They are to be fed, but with ration cuts to all but the most important active units.” As an aside to the two Generals he said, “I know what I’m saying is difficult and it is going to stretch your resources until you think they are going to snap, but we’re going to have to deal with it for now.”
Addressing Secretary Knox he said, “Food stores are to be guarded and maintained. Theft from these stores is to be dealt with severely; it is now, by Executive Order, a capital offense to steal, divert, or interfere with the disposition of the food stores.”
He read more from the list for several minutes until he reached a point where he said, “Other than what we’ve cleared for public consumption, none of what has been discussed here is to go any further than this room, especially with regard to the possible future disbanding of more military units. Anything the public has to know they will hear in my radio address, tonight.”
He looked around the table to make sure he was understood.
Turning to Sam Feinberg, then to the others in the room, he said, “I want tonight’s address to focus on six points:
“First, I want to begin with efforts being put forth, here in Washington, to cope with the climate change.
“Second, I will reaffirm that all active military units will continue to operate. There will be no future disbanding of military units.”
The generals nodded.
“Third, food reserves will be distributed so everyone will get a ‘fair share.’
“I want ‘fair share’ to be in the speech,” he said in an aside to Feinberg.
“There will be rationing but ample food for all will become available once we’re on the road to recovery. Hoarders, whether they obtained their reserves before the ice age began or since then, are required to notify local authorities of their reserves and it will be treasonous to keep reserves concealed from lawful authorities. Any ‘surpluses found in private hands will be taken under the terms of the RICO Act and the hoarders will be dealt with harshly.”
“With all due respect…” Martinez said.
The President didn’t like being interrupted and glared at him.
Martinez nervously continued, “…are there measures in place to ensure caches of food, medical, fuel, and other supplies will come into the system as they’re discovered? What we’re finding is that when such supplies are discovered, they disappear before they get into the system.”
“We’r
e working on that,” the President said.
Returning to his notes the President read, “Fourth…this is the fourth point, isn’t it?” He’d lost count because of the interruption.
“It’s the fourth,” Sam confirmed in a low voice.
“Fourth, secession and insurrection are illegal and will not be tolerated.
“Sam, I want you to include the text from Article 1, Section 9, of the Constitution concerning the suspension of habeas corpus. It’s only about two dozen words…and make mention of both the Insurrection Act and Preventative Detention Act. I want to stress to the listeners that the country is still under martial law and that state officials—or their agents—participating in secession are outlaws and they are committing treason and will be punished.
“Make it clear what suspension of habeas corpus means and that violators may be subject to court-martial by the various local military tribunals.”
Sam made more notes.
The President paused again. “Also, I don’t want to use the term ‘warm states’ in my address.”
Sam thought a second and, again in a low voice, he said, “How about ‘outlaw states’? Everyone will know what you’re talking about.”
The President thought a second. “Let me think about that.
“Don’t include the message warning Governor Stottlemyer unless we can’t reach him by late this afternoon,” he said to Feinberg.
“Fifth, any interference with lawful authorities, including military, law enforcement, and contracted agents lawfully acting on the behalf of the United States government, is both terrorism and treason, and will be treated as capital offenses which will be dealt with accordingly, under the terms of the Insurrection Act…”
He turned to Sam again. “…put in the word ‘swiftly,’ too. They’ll know what that means. And add that it doesn’t matter whether the interference comes from local law enforcement or…find a word for ‘private’ here so the road pirates will understand I mean them.”
Sam wrote furiously but confidently.
The President paused and looked around. “Who came up with this term ‘road pirates’?”
“It’s just fallen into the parlance,” Secretary Knox said.
“I do not want the term ‘road pirates’ used,” the President said. “It’s got a romantic connotation and I’d like to avoid it.”
“But,” he said to Sam, “I still want the wording so it’s clear who we mean.”
“’Unlawful gangs and terrorists’…we might even add in the phrase ‘so-called road pirates,’” Sam said in a low voice.
The President scowled. It still contained the words “road pirates.”
“Seditionists, radicals…”
“Come up with something,” the President said.
He paused again. He wanted precision in what he said and in a low voice conferred for a moment with his National Security Advisor to ask which point he was on before continuing with, “Sixth, disruption of lines of communication and travel—this includes interfering with the flow of Federal traffic, including military traffic, along roads, bridges, rail lines, and airports, but not limited to those—is a Federal crime and a capital offense and will be dealt with swiftly and without benefit of trial. Furthermore, it will not matter whether the perpetrators are road pirates…or whatever substitute for ‘road pirates’ Sam comes up with…or those following the orders of illegally-acting state government officials, and they will be dealt with accordingly.”
“Mr. President, may I make a suggestion?”
It was only because the President valued Fred Cotta’s advice that he nodded.
“We can’t send an ambiguous message. Everyone knows what the road pirates are. You’ve got to refer to them directly or you’re going to lose some of your audience. Castigate them, demonize them, call them wanton criminals and predators, but you must be clear about whom you are referring.”
The President thought about it. “Can you handle that?” he asked Feinberg.
Sam Feinberg nodded without looking up.
The President nodded to Cotta, then asked, “Ladies and gentlemen, are there any questions or other inputs?” he asked.
“I think the message is clear,” General Turnbull said.
“It’s a very good speech,” Secretary Knox said.
There were nods all around.
“It’ll be a good speech after Shakespeare here gets done with it,” the President said, referring to Sam.
“Should you discuss people attempting to cross the border in your speech?” Martinez asked.
“Which border?” the President asked because there were emigrants attempting to enter the United States from Canada.
“The border with Mexico.”
He turned to Sam, again. “Make it clear it is illegal and treasonous to attempt to take food out of the country, even if it’s for personal use. Otherwise, anyone who wants to leave and go to Mexico or anywhere else is welcome to.
He thought about the second part. “Don’t put that last sentence in the speech,” he said in an aside to Sam.
Feinberg nodded his head in confirmation.
The President continued. “But while we’re on the subject of the borders, it’s been brought to my attention that we’ve got to take stronger measures to block the influx of Canadians trying to cross into the country. However, we’re not going to address that tonight. It’s been pointed out it would be construed as an admission of desperation on our part to deny Canadians entry into the country.”
There were nodded assents.
“So, we’ll send more troops to likely crossing points, but it will not be publically discussed.”
He didn’t bother to note that in an earlier meeting they had decided that the military buildup by Mexico, along its almost two-thousand-mile-long border with the United States, that stretched from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in the east, could become pretext for future options and actions, since Mexico was now perceived as a candidate for future U.S. expansion if climatic conditions got worse.
The President continued, “I also want a change in vocabulary. We have been using the term ‘state of emergency’ with little success. We will now invoke the term ‘martial law.’ ‘State of emergency’ no longer exists and it will no longer appear in any documents.”
“What about the upcoming elections?” Carlos Ruiz, the Attorney General asked.
“It’s too soon to talk about that,” the President said, though most of those present already knew the decision to cancel them had already been made. Besides, since it was now considered illegal to speak out against the various programs, many of those in the opposition party had already been arrested. It was “necessary.”
The President sat back in his seat, a sure sign he was finished with the meeting. “If there are no other questions or inputs,” he said, “I’d like to adjourn this meeting. We will meet again tomorrow morning at this same time, after responses to the speech start coming in, and after we receive updates on what’s happening with the secessionists.”
With that, he rose from his seat. “Thank you for your time,” he said, and the others rose with him and the meeting was adjourned.
Two hours later, Sam Feinberg laid the finished speech on the President’s desk. It contained the message about secession that was specifically addressed to Stottlemyer, the California governor and made reference to the “outlaw states.”
The address was broadcast that evening, and rebroadcast several times over the next several days (and analyzed and reanalyzed by commentators), as millions of Americans listened.
Chapter 24
September 2
Danielle awoke with a start. Her sister wasn’t in the chair with her. With panic rising up into her throat she came out of her early-morning grogginess and sat straight in the chair.
She looked around and saw him. He was sitting on the couch watching her. In his lap he held Whoops. He was feeding her. It
started coming back to her that she had willingly surrendering her sister to him in the middle of the night.
He was wearing some kind of earphones. “Good morning,” he said tentatively. He saw the fear on her face and he took part of the headset away from one of his ears to hear her response.
She leaned back in her chair and, pulled the blanket up over her shoulder and turned away. She sat like that a long time. Whoops seemed comfortable with him and even she was beginning to feel…comfortable. But she was dead tired.
She peered back and he was still listening to whatever was coming through the headphones while he fed Whoops and whispered to her. Whoops seemed rapt as she listened.
“How long can you watch her?” Danielle finally asked.
“I can watch her all morning.”
There was a ring of sincerity in his voice.
“Good, ’cause I need sleep before we go,” she said as she turned away and pulled the blanket over her face to block the light.
“Go ahead. I’m going to take her out and bait a bear trap with her so we can get more meat.”
She was beginning to see he had a sense of humor. “She’s tough,” she said while smiling, but so Zach couldn’t see her. “She’ll knock the stuffing out of a bear.”
“I know. It was her idea.”
Danielle smiled again, but still didn’t let him see it, then closed her eyes and in seconds she fell back to sleep.
Chapter 25
September 2
Billy Raymond awoke to the crack of a single gun shot. He scrambled and stumbled from his tent, still half asleep, with his rifle at the ready. De Angelis came out behind him with his own rifle. Mayfield emerged from the tent he shared with Peterson looking confused and scared. Waiting for them, with the rest of the Brady clan, was Hank, his rifle in his hands, and a smirk on his face.
“Time to get up,” Hank announced.
“What the fuck are you shooting at?” Raymond demanded.
“You were gonna sleep the day away.”
“No shooting,” Raymond yelled. “We don’t want anyone to hear us.”
Danielle Kidnapped: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Ice Age Page 26