“It’s worth a try. I don’t know if Quasim is willing to talk or not. So far he has been the one escalating the amount of damage. He must think he has the upper hand,” Jason replied.
“He may well think that but we have a damn powerful arsenal as well. We have the same weapons they have, we just have not used them,” MacMillan told them.
“I heard they sunk one of their own subs by accident. It was the new USS Dakota. I guess they didn’t have the signature on file so they didn’t bother to try to force it to the surface, they just destroyed it. Of course the official story is that it was an unprovoked attack by one of our submarines,” Mary told them.
“You can slant the story anyway you like when you control the press,” Jason said.
“And you can control the people and the press when you control the weapons. They seem to be proceeding right along,” Vice President Folly replied.
“What do you all think about trying to talk to them?”
“Hey, what have we got to lose?” Mary said.
“Well, for one thing they may see this as a sign of weakness. That we can’t take what they are throwing at us,” MacMillan responded.
“But it’s all lies, except for Atlanta and Houston. Heck, they have lost every major encounter so far,” the VP said.
“You know that and I know that but Quasim is not in touch with reality. He has Cole spoon feeding him whatever she wants him to believe,” the President added.
“She is one evil woman,” Mary chimed in.
“So, the question is still the same. Do we or don’t we contact them and try to sit down and talk,” Jason asked again.
“Where would the talks take place? They won’t come to us and if we go to them we will be arrested and tried as traitors. No way would they pass up the chance to grab us. Especially you Mr. President,” MacMillan said.
“What about Canada? We could contact them and see if they would broker the talks,” Jason offered.
“That might work,” MacMillan conceded.
“They could remain neutral that way. You know, that just might work,” Mary said.
“Okay, first let’s contact Canada and see if they are even willing to host the talks. If they are, then we contact Washington and see if they will attend,” the President suggested.
After a little more discussion they all agreed it was at least worth a try. Jason was pretty sure Canada would go along, it was Quasim, or more accurately, Hanna Cole that might be the problem.
****
“Madam Vice President, the police are reporting that a near riot is taking place just north of the reflecting pool. It seems they want to march in front of the White House and are not willing to stay in the designated area,” the Chief of Staff told them.
“Damn it, Ben, I told you we needed to do something about demonstrators. We can’t afford to have these kinds of distractions,” she spit out angrily.
“Well, we confined them to a specific place and for a limited amount of time. If they won’t abide by the rules, they will be arrested,” he replied.
“You are missing the point. We don’t need this in the first place. All it does is cause unrest. We can’t have thugs and dissidents roaming the streets causing trouble for the rest of the citizens of Washington.”
“Hanna. The police can handle the situation,” he tried to assure her.
“And if they don’t? If they overwhelm the police and end up in the front yard? Then what?”
“I think you are crossing the bridge before we get to it. I’m confident the Police Chief has it under control,” Quasim said.
“Then why are we getting this report if everything is under control?” she asked.
“Just a precaution.”
“And I’m saying we shouldn’t have to take precautions. We shouldn’t have the problem in the first place.”
“So you are suggesting what exactly?”
“We limit the number that can gather at any one time. They would have to submit a petition that we approve before they would be issued a permit to gather.”
“We have something like that in place already.”
“No. I mean the White House would have to approve it. Not the Police or the City. The White House,” she said.
“You mean set up another division just to handle those permits?”
“My office could handle them. I would have a couple of people to research the group and then submit the applications for approval,” she said.
“Well...”
“Look, Ben. It’s no big deal. My people can handle it with no problems. I have staff that could take it on. I would need maybe two more people at most. Maybe even just one. I would have to think about that first.”
“What would the requirements be to get approved?”
“I’ll give that some thought too. Don’t worry about the trivial details. I can handle that part.”
“How many are you thinking about limiting it to?”
“Fifty.”
“That’s all?”
“If they can’t get the message across with fifty, what good would more do?” she told him.
“Alright if you think you can handle it,” Quasim replied.
“No problem. No problem at all,” she assured him.
Well there goes the fourth amendment, the Chief of Staff thought.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Mary Lake and Beau Zimmerman were sitting in a comfortable waiting room in Ottawa, Canada. Prime Minister Benoît had agreed to meet with them. Mary had been rather vague when she had scheduled the appointment.
The Prime Minister was somewhat reluctant to get drawn into the internal affairs of America but nevertheless agreed to at least meet with them.
At exactly 10:00 A.M. a full dress military officer appeared and asked them to follow him. He led them down a long hall of marble. The officer’s steps echoed off the walls and he took them to a set of huge wooden doors. He opened it for them and ushered them inside.
The room was large with just a huge desk and two chairs facing the Prime Minister.
“Please. Come in and have a seat,” he said standing up and walking around the vast desk.
He held out his hand and shook Mary’s and did a small bow and then shook Zimmerman’s hand.
“I understand you are the Public Affairs and Internal Affairs Chief’s for the new American Republic,” he said and returned to his chair.
“Correct, Mr. Prime Minister,” Mary replied.
“Well, you certainly have your work cut out for you. I don’t envy trying to start up a new nation,” he said leaning back in his chair and clasping his fingers together.
“It has its challenges,” Mary offered.
“And just what does Public and Internal Affairs entail?”
“Well Mr. Prime Minister, Public Affairs is what America previously called the Secretary of State. Internal Affairs deals with relations within the country.”
“Like your FBI?”
“Not exactly but it is a fairly good analogy,” she said.
“So? What is it you wish to discuss?” he said, cutting to the heart of the matter.
“As you know, we are embroiled in a Second Civil War. Deaths are piling up on both sides. We, meaning the American Republic States would like to see if we could open a dialogue with the United States. A peace conference if you will.”
“Humm. I see. You wish to find a way to reconcile?”
“Not exactly. We want to find a way to stop the death and devastation.”
“A friendly parting of the ways, then?”
“Something like that,” Beau replied.
“And you want Canada to help in some way?”
“Mr. Prime Minister, we would like to have Canada broker discussions between the two factions. We cannot very well go to them and they would certainly not be willing to come to us. We need a neutral place to meet. We have a great admiration for your country and would consider it an honor to have you host the talks,” Mary said.
“I see
. And is the United States willing to come to the table as well?”
“We don’t know yet,” Beau said, “We wanted to get your reaction first. We did not want to contact unless Canada was willing to act as the host for the talks.”
“And our part would be to do what exactly, other than to provide a dwelling for the talks to take place?” Prime Minister Benoît asked.
“We would need security as well.”
“Security. I see. You do not trust the President?”
“Prime Minister, President Quasim has made it clear that he considers us traitors to America. He wants us arrested, tried for treason and executed,” Beau said bluntly.
“Executed?”
“Yes sir.”
“Well. So we would need very heavy security. I hate to bring this up but who would pay for this exactly?” Benoît asked.
“We would split the cost but in the event that they refuse, we would give your word that we would pay the amount in full,” Mary replied.
“I see. Well, here is what I will do. I will talk to our Ministers and see what they think. Our military and Special Units will need to be consulted as well. If they have no objections then I will certainly consider it,” he said standing up and coming around to the front.
“Thank you Mr. Prime Minister,” Beau said extending his hand.
The Prime Minister grasped it in both of his.
“You have much to do. I wish you well. You will hear from us in a few days,” he said turning to Mary and bowing.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Prime Minister,” she replied.
****
“Is everything set up?” President Jason asked.
“I believe so. We were to call at 1:00 P.M. They assured me that they would take your call,” Beau Zimmerman said.
“Alright the, let’s do it,” Jason said and Mary dialed the number.
“White House. Yes, I am calling on behalf of President James Jason for President Benjamin Quasim,” she said.
“Just one moment.”
They waited until the recognizable voice of Quasim came on the line.
“President Quasim speaking.”
“President, this is Jason,’
“Yes. I am well aware who you are. I understand you are now President of the new rogue nation,” he said icily.
“Mr. President I have called to see if you would be willing to send a delegation to Canada to see if we can find a solution to the current situation.”
“What situation would that be?”
“The deaths of our US citizens,” Jason said stoically.
“And where would such a meeting, assuming we agree, take place?”
“Ottawa, Canada. We have approached Prime Minister Benoît and he just informed us that they would host such a meeting,” Jason informed him.
“Canada. Why would they do such a thing I wonder?”
“Probably numerous reasons. Trade and tourism just to name two. I am sure it is damaging their economy to some extent,” Jason replied.
“Who would attend from your...government,” he finally said.
“Our Chief of Internal Affairs, the Supreme Military Commander and Internal Affairs Chief. I would attend as well.”
“The agenda?”
“To cease hostilities.”
“That is simple enough. Stop your people from murdering Americans and the hostilities will cease.”
“Mr. President it is not that simple and you know it. We need to have real dialogue. Sniping at each other over the phone isn’t going to accomplish anything productive,” Jason replied.
“Is that what we are doing?”
“Maybe not yet, but it will happen eventually, and then we would have made no progress.”
“I’m not convinced that a meeting would do either of us any good.”
“How will we know if we don’t try?” Jason asked.
His last statement was met with silence. At first he thought maybe the President had hung up but then he could hear Cole’s voice in the background.
He came back on the line, “Who would pay for the cost involved?”
“I should think we would split the cost,” Jason answered.
“And why should we pay for a meeting that you are calling for? Since you want dialogue, you should pay for it,” Quasim replied.
“Then you don’t think a meeting is worth it, I take it?”
“I’m not saying that. I’m simply saying it is you who wants the meeting. You should foot the bill.”
“Are you saying that if we pay the expenses, you would send a delegation to the meeting?”
“I’m not agreeing to anything just this moment. I would want to talk it over with my staff before we commit to a face to face meeting,” Quasim said.
“Alright. If that is what it takes to get you to meet we will pay the bill. I will hold off informing the Prime Minister until you inform us of your decision.”
“Very well. We will get back to you at some point,” he said and hung up without another word.
“Wow. Warm and friendly,” MacMillan said as Jason put down the phone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“Why would we want to even consider talking to them?” Hanna Cole said.
“What harm could it do?” the President asked.
“Harm? It would send a message that we are not in control,” she said.
“Hanna, that doesn’t make sense to me. If they want the meeting they are the weaker party. They initiated the contact and have even gone so far as to see if Canada would host the thing. That sounds desperate to me,” he insisted.
“Benjamin, they have been kicking our butts in just about every battle we have fought. We have won maybe a handful of smaller battles but in most cases they have cleaned our clocks. They don’t consider themselves being in a weak position.”
“Then why would they even ask for such a meeting?”
“Hell if I know. But what I do know is that before we even consider it we need to bloody their noses. Something that will make them sit up and take notice. No small skirmish someplace out in the boonies where no one will know what happened.”
“Your suggesting a major attack on some well know city?”
“Exactly,” she confirmed.
“I’m not so sure that will spur them on to a meeting,” he replied.
“So what? The worst that can happen is that they call it off. Big deal. We will still have smacked them upside the head,” Cole insisted.
“We would have to get General Ascot in here to discuss something like this.”
“Recall him. He is just down in Norfolk.”
“Very well. I'll have him come back tomorrow. We can meet in the Oval Office at 4:00 P.M.”
“Excellent. This will give them something to really want to talk about,” she replied.
****
“What do you think?” Jason said after Quasim hung up abruptly.
“They will come. They have to act like they aren’t interested. It’s Cole’s influence. I’ll bet she is running the war more than Quasim is,” General MacMillan said.
“Probably but still, I can tell you from experience, Benjamin is damned stubborn at times. I know how he thinks. Right now they are discussing how they can get the upper hand. They will want to send us a signal that they don’t really need the talks because they have the upper hand,” Jason told them.
“You mean a major offensive?” MacMillan asked.
“Probably.”
“That does not sound good.”
“I can guarantee you they will pull out all the stops to show us who the boss is,” Jason replied.
****
Aaron was ten different shades of red as the escorts took them to the Hutton Hotel. They were showing him the King Suite that he and Jamie had been booked into.
Jamie was looking around thinking she wished she had a larger selection of clothes other than the BDU’s they had been given.
“Wow, come check out the view,” she yelled to Aaron.
> He was still in the outer room. He had yet to venture into the bedroom yet.
“Come on. Take a look at this,” she said.
He slowly walked into the bedroom and immediately looked at the king size bed. There was just the one bed.
“Look here,” she prompted, pulling back the heavy drapes, “Isn’t it spectacular?”
He was still gawking at the bed.
“What’s wrong,” she finally asked when she looked over and saw him unmoving.
“The bed?”
“Uh...there is only one.”
“Yeah, isn’t it cool?”
“But there is just the one,” he repeated.
“Are you afraid of me Aaron Crocker?” she said, standing with her hands on her hips.
“Well, no but...”
“Hey if it is going to bother you one of us can sleep in the other room. The couch makes a bed too.”
“No. I don’t mean that. It’s just that...” he let the sentence trail off.
“Go on. Say what’s on your mind.”
“Are you, I mean, do you...ah hell. Are we going to sleep in the same bed?”
“Do you have something against that?”
“No, but are you sure," he asked nervously.
“Aaron. I’m not afraid of you. We have been joined at the hip for most of the past week. Heck, a family of five could sleep in that thing and not touch.”
“Well, okay if you’re good with it.”
“I am. And thank you for worrying about it,” she said.
The phone rang and Aaron almost jumped out of his skin. He picked it up and heard the voice of General MacMillan.
“Glad I got you. Look, I would like to send a car for you tomorrow morning. Is 0800 hundred okay with you?”
“Sure. That would be fine.”
“Good. Just be in the lobby and one of my people will pick you up. Bring your wife along as well. She may remember something you overlooked.”
“Eight O’clock. We will be there.”
“See you tomorrow. Get some sleep,” he said and hung up.
My wife? Oh hell. They must think he and Jamie are married. Now what was he going to do?.
“I take it that was the general.”
“Yeah. He wants us to be in the lobby at 8:00 A.M.”
A NATION AT WAR - The Second Civil War Book II (The Second Civil War - BOOK II 1) Page 13