by JC Ryan
“And knowing now that you could face a court martial would you have done it differently?”
“No, Ms. President, I would not.”
“That’s the right answer, Lieutenant. In my report to your superior officer, I will be requesting you be given special commendation for your service to, and support of, your President.”
Rick blinked his eyes. “Ma’am?”
She smiled and reached out to shake his hand, “It’s a pleasure to work with someone who knows their job and isn’t afraid to stand their ground—not let themselves be bullied. Thank you, Lieutenant.”
“Thank you, Ms. President, I’m honored!” he said saluting.
She smiled. The young man reminded her of her sons when they were that age.
Rick, receiving an acknowledgment of his salute, turned on his heel, and exited the office.
“I think you just made that boy’s day,” Daniel observed with a grin.
“In my book, he deserved it. Refusing that order would have ended his career had things turned out differently with Hayden.”
President Campbell motioned toward the matching sofas covered in cream and gold paisley upholstery, before settling onto one in the corner nearest the fireplace.
Daniel took a seat across from her. He noticed that she hadn’t wasted any time locating and returning the Oval Office rug with the Presidential seal and the two flags to the room. The American flag and the Presidential flag stood in their rightful places behind the desk. He imagined as the sitting President she would be adding additional personal touches in due time. He noted the walls were bare and that she’d removed all indications of the previous usurpers of the premises.
“So, Daniel, what have the Rosslerites decided?”
“They’re in—boots and all. You’ll have our high-level plan by this time tomorrow.”
“Thanks, I’m looking forward to reading it.”
For the next half hour, Daniel gave her a detailed account of their discussions at the hotel, including the part about Roy’s Nano-nukes.
“Daniel, I’m with Nigel on the nuclear weapons issue—I hate them with a passion.” She commented. “But it is as your group has so accurately concluded, we can’t be sitting around hoping no one else will build nuclear weapons. Of course, I can’t and won’t give you official sanction to proceed with your plans, but off the record,” She leaned forward and whispered, “make sure Roy James and his team give that highest priority. We need those Nano-nukes ASAP.”
“Will do,” Daniel smiled. “On the record, off the record, official, unofficial, plausible deniability, et cetera—terminology I will have to get used to in this job.” He joshed.
Laurie chuckled. “Yes, Daniel, those and many more are part of all politicians’ daily vocabulary.”
Daniel nodded and returned to the subject. “I believe you may be familiar with our Head of Security, former FBI Profiler Salome James; she has agreed to be your contact with the Rossler Foundation.”
“Hmmm. The name rings a bell. Wait a sec; is she not the young girl who took the FBI to task about their monitoring of the stock markets? Or I should say, their flagrant lack of doing so to discover terrorist activities?”
“That’s the one,” Daniel smiled.
“The Secretary of the Rossler Foundation…” the President mused. “Got a nice ring to it. What do you think?”
“No ma’am, no official office, just a civilian contact. A top secret one, I suggest.”
For the next hour, until the President was due to meet with the Cabinet, she and Daniel discussed plans and strategies.
Thus far, Daniel had been highly impressed with Laurie’s prowess as a leader, a thinker, and most important of all, a good listener. She instilled a lot of confidence in him and made him feel more at ease with accepting the nomination.
“Daniel, we’re about to go into a meeting with the Cabinet, and I appreciate the fact that you are not a politician—yet. But I am sure that’s exactly what we need now—a fresh, new, non-political perspective.
“So, allow me to play devil’s advocate here for a short while.
“If you were in my shoes right now, having to go into the meeting and nominate new heads of department, what would you do?” Laurie sat back in her chair waiting—and smiling.
“Laurie this sounds a lot like a job interview.” Daniel jested.
“There is that,” she chuckled, “but what I really want to know is how you think. I’m not going to be a dictator; I want input from the people who work with me.”
Daniel nodded, and it didn’t escape him that she used the phrase ‘work with me’ and not ‘work for me.’ “I’ve given it a lot of thought since this morning. As far as I am concerned, the word is accountability…”
Laurie interjected with a big smile. “Music to my ears. How would you do it?”
“I would get every appointed official in and review their job descriptions with them, including deliverables, time frames, and budget. Then I’d make them commit to that agreement and publish it for the public to see. I’d set up a system whereby they can be held accountable for what they have committed to. That would avoid empty promises and keep everyone on their toes.”
“We are going to make a great team Daniel; I can see that.”
“One more thing I’d do is to put our jobs, yours and mine, under those same rules. In other words, you and I will agree our deliverables, commit to it in public and allow the public to hold us accountable.”
“Nigel knew what he was talking about when he recommended you for Vice President,” Laurie smiled.
Daniel blushed. “I would make every appointment subject to a three-month probation period—every three months, performance is reviewed, and underperformers are replaced—that includes you and me.”
“Dramatic, even radical, I would say, but I love every bit of it. If we had that in place years ago, we could have avoided the John Brideaux catastrophe.
“The members should be gathered in the Cabinet Room by now,” she said as she stood up. “Let’s go and break this exciting news to them. For now, you are still part of an ‘unofficial’ advisory group attending the meeting on my invitation.”
Daniel nodded his understanding and followed her as she exited the Oval Office, strode purposefully down the carpeted hallway to the first door on the right and opened it to enter the Cabinet Room.
Art Deco-style sconces depicting eagles with wings spread decorated the off-white walls of the Cabinet Room, while three modern glass pendant lights hung over the massive elliptical mahogany table surrounded by eighteenth-century design chairs. On the back of each chair was an engraved brass plate that identified a cabinet position.
Heavy gold drapes along the East wall were open allowing sunlight in through the wall of arched lunette windows over the top of French doors. The scent of various aftershaves and perfumes hung in the air.
The floor was covered by a custom-made carpet of golden stars scattered randomly on a field of crimson surrounded by a sapphire line, separating it from the cream-colored border decorated with a pattern of olive leaves. What a handsome room Daniel thought as he took it all in.
The room was buzzing with the various conversations going on when they entered.
“Everyone, please take a seat,” Laurie said as she entered. Moving toward the Presidential seat at the center of the East side of the table, she indicated to Daniel that he should sit in the chair next to the fireplace. There was one on either side, and Daniel chose the one next to the bust of George Washington. The Chief of Staff took the chair behind and to the left of the President, and a secret service agent sat in the chair on the other side of the fireplace next to the bust of Benjamin Franklin.
A hush descended on the group, followed by the soft scraping of chairs being moved on the carpet and the rustle of papers being arranged and stacked.
“First of all, I’d like to thank you all for responding on such short notice. Our country, not to mention the world, is in a crisis right now. T
he abrupt removal of that maniac John Brideaux and his Supreme Council, while most welcome, has left every country in the world in leaderless chaos. We have to act quickly to re-establish ourselves as a nation and resume our place in the international community.
“As Brideaux is an American, and our former President was involved in his scheme, I believe there will be a call for retaliation from some countries, if not most of them.
“I fully expect this to turn ugly, ladies and gentlemen, very ugly.
“I’m looking to bring stability at the quickest possible speed, rebuild our defenses, and try to keep us out of a war. We have very little time, and I am counting on each and every one of you to step up and give more than your best and to motivate and lead your staff by example.”
She looked around the room for a moment, noting the presence of the six individuals she had asked Glenn Baier, The Chief of Staff, to contact.
“Before I start with the appointments I want to make a few things clear; first, all appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate.
“Second I am asking you to make the following commitment; all appointments, confirmed or not, are on a three-month trial basis.
“I am aware that’s a radical decision, but I suggest we all get used to it. I will publicly and officially put myself on that three-month trial basis at my inauguration. If I don’t perform, I will resign. We are in desperate times that call for such measures.
“Everyone, and I reiterate that includes me, will be evaluated every three months. If we perform and deliver as our job descriptions dictate, the appointment is extended for another three months. If anyone fails to perform, they’ll be replaced—immediately.
“Any questions?”
The room had gone so silent; one would have been able to hear a pin drop on the carpeted floor.
“I take it the silence means everyone is in agreement then.” She didn’t wait for responses.
“That’s good. Let’s get down to business. If you are appointed but don’t feel comfortable with the conditions, please feel free to say so and I will make alternative arrangements. But if you accept the appointment you accept the conditions.”
She paused, looked around the room, fixing her gaze on each individual in turn until she had a verbal agreement from everyone. Then she continued.
“I’m appointing Bill Simms Secretary of State, Jerry Taylor Secretary of Interior, Cliff Willis Secretary of Defense, Ruth Morgan Secretary of Labor, Tyler Jones Secretary of Transportation, and Shannon Thomas Secretary of Veterans Affairs.”
“The rest of you were appointed by former President Cooper. I prefer not to make any further changes to the Cabinet at this time unless it’s absolutely necessary. The only condition to your continuation in your current position is that you are now subject to the accountability rules laid out before.
“I hope I can depend on you for your support and loyalty, and that you will do your utmost to work as a team to get our country through this crisis. If any of you feel you cannot discharge the duties of your office under the current administration and circumstances, please let me know now. And remember we are all on three-month probation as of right now.”
There was silence for a few moments before she continued. “Alright, it appears as though no one wants to jump ship yet. Thank you all for your willingness to continue to serve.
“With that out of the way, let’s start by looking at what we know. Martin, I know you haven’t had much time to analyze things, but what can you tell us?”
“Thank you, President Campbell,” the Undersecretary of State, Martin Goldsmith, said. “Currently, all other nations are scrambling, as we are, to re—establish their governments. My analysts are suggesting, as you rightly pointed out earlier, that retaliation from several countries, and possibly from independent radical groups in other areas. Nothing has officially come across the wires yet, but the finger pointing among some groups has already begun. I will have a more detailed report for you by this time tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Martin.
“Keith, the same goes for you, I know you’ve had very little time to prepare for this meeting, but what have you got?”
The Undersecretary of Defense, Keith Adams, spoke up boldly. “Ms. President, as we all know, our entire military has been demobilized, and Brideaux intended to destroy all the weapons. The only positive thing about that is the same is true in all other countries as well. He did not succeed in destroying all of our weapons, and I have instructed all remaining personnel to get on the phones and start contacting as many former soldiers as they can, to bring them back to work.
“I’m happy to report that the effort is going well. Word is spreading, and many soldiers are simply ‘reporting back for duty’ as if they had been on furlough.
“I’ve got the senior officers verifying that all bases are staffed. The first order of business for those reporting for duty is to secure each base and inventory the weapons and equipment.
“I expect a near full inventory will be available sometime over the next 48 hours.”
“Good work Keith.” The report was better than she had hoped. Keith’s efforts impressed her. “I would like to get an interim report in 12 hours, finished or not. Then I want an update every 12 hours until all our bases are secured and personnel ready for deployment if and when needed.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Before I give Bob a chance to talk, can you confirm my understanding that the world’s nuclear arsenal has been destroyed—there is no nation left with a nuclear weapon?”
“Yes, Ms. President, that is the correct,” Keith nodded. “That’s unless someone has somehow managed to escape Brideaux’s proverbial nuclear Gestapo net.”
Laurie shook her head. “This means we are back into the arms race which was supposed to have ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the Cold War in 1989.”
“I’m afraid you’re right about that Ma’am.”
“Bob, how are things on the Homeland Security front?”
Bob Thompson cleared his throat. “Brideaux penetrated all our top-secret files. Efforts are underway to re-secure the information as well as developing better security measures for the future.”
Oops! Daniel thought, I forgot to tell Laurie that we have recaptured all that information. In fact, not only the information pertaining to the USA but every nation on earth. I’ll let her know as soon as we have a private moment.
“We are working on re-establishing locations and details about all known terrorists and terrorist groups, and will be working with the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Energy to provide them with the most up to date information possible.”
“Not good news, but better than it could have been. I’d like progress reports from you every twelve hours as well.”
Yes, Ms. President.”
“Since we’re on the subject, what is the situation with the Department of Energy?”
“Our power grid is currently stable.” Secretary Hank McMillian stated. “Brideaux ordered the shutdown of all nuclear power plants, and we started with those that produced the lowest percentage of their state’s overall power. A dozen plants are down, ten of which we can bring back online—the other two were due for decommissioning in the next couple of years, so we’ll proceed with an early de-com on them.
“Another fifteen were being prepared for shutdown, but are still functioning at reduced capacity and can be brought back up to full power in a short time.”
“George, how’s the Treasury Department?”
George Miller shook his head. “Unfortunately, not good Ms. President.
“Brideaux wiped out all debt and then used that damn chip and his ‘credits’ to replace the currency. With his system down, no one has any way of using the credits they had under his system.
“At the same time, he wiped the electronic records in every financial institution around the world, so the only money that’s out there was what was in people’s possession at the time of the shutdown.
I believe Secretary Richardson of Health and Human Services can give you a better picture of how this is affecting the population.”
Laurie nodded for Helen to respond.
“Thank you, Ms. President, George,” Helen Richardson, joined the discussion. “Unfortunately, the situation is grim, to say the least.
“In the cities, gangs have taken over control and citizens are forced to deal with them for food and personal needs. Their prices are unsavory to put it politely. Those who trade with them literally trade their body and soul—women, and sometimes their children, are forced into prostitution—men are forced to join the gangs, often losing their lives in the vicious gang wars that are raging.
“Those in rural areas seem to be better off as they have pulled together in groups; working out both a system of defense and a barter system for food and clothing. Those groups are weathering this whole situation much better than the rest of us.
“Urbanites initially went into the cities, but now that they’ve encountered the gang system, they are moving toward the rural areas, bringing useful tools and equipment, and trading their skills to become part of one of the community groups.”
President Laurie Campbell screamed silently, she felt like bursting into tears, grieving for her people. She ground her teeth. “Cliff, I want soldiers in the cities to stop these gangs. When you give the word, I’ll declare martial law until we can establish peace and return legitimate commerce to the areas.”
As an afterthought, she turned to the Attorney General, “Scott, correct me if I’m wrong, but I do have the authority to declare martial law without having to run it through Congress—don’t I?”
“Yes, ma’am, Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution allows you to do that.”
She did a double take. “You knew that right down to the clause just off the top of your head?”
Scott smiled grimly. “I thought it might come up so I looked up the reference before this meeting.”
“Good. Cliff, as the new Secretary of Defense, do you agree with all this?”
Cliff, whose face had gone pale along with just about everyone else’s in the room, nodded.