by JC Ryan
Daniel stopped and looked at her—stunned.
She tugged on his sleeve to get him moving again. “It seems, Daniel, that Hayden has reinstated himself as ‘General’ and is raising an opposing army. He’s claiming that you were in partnership with Brideaux, gave him the technology and were working with him before you decided you wanted world dominance for yourself and set things up for him to take the fall!
“He’s got his followers convinced you’ll be as bad or worse than Brideaux and is referring to you as the New Beast—a dictator who wants to control the world. He’s even got some of the religious fanatics calling you the Beast from the Book of Revelation.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Daniel said incredulously as they descended the stairs to the lower level. “We just got rid of one madman; now we have to deal with another.”
They arrived in the situation room, and the President asked for an update as she took her seat. “What’s happening at Andrew’s?”
Cliff said. “The protestors are pouring in, and the streets are blocked for miles.
“I guess the only good thing about what Brideaux did is that with his anti-gun laws, they aren’t able to shoot anyone.”
“Maybe not, but they are armed with just about everything else they could get their hands on; clubs, bats, pitchforks, knives, swords, and such,” Bill added.
“Well, doesn’t that put us between a rock and a hard place?” asked the President.
“How so?”
“I don’t want our forces firing on unarmed people, but these people aren’t exactly unarmed—even though their weapons aren’t guns?” she replied.
Cliff and Mike looked at each other uneasily. Was she saying their men couldn’t fire on these people to protect themselves?
“With all due respect, Ms. President, these people are carrying weapons that can be just as deadly as guns and more brutal,” Cliff objected.
“Relax Cliff; I agree with you. If it becomes necessary, our troops,” she looked at Mike, “and agents should defend themselves and government property. I just don’t want them to start it.
“Get all military personnel at Andrews to withdraw from the prisoners’ detention rooms and take up defensive positions to protect all military installations and their own lives if necessary.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cliff replied and left the room to relay the orders.
“Does that mean you’re handing the prisoners over to the crowd Ms. President?” Carrie Trent, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, asked.
“I’d rather do that than risk the lives of our soldiers to save the lives of those miserable criminals.”
Carrie nodded. “I agree with you ma’am; it’s a no brainer. My apologies for interrupting. I am actually here to report on the progress of the shelters and food distribution as you have requested. Your orders are being followed, and stations are being set up. The people will have access to food and shelter from now on—not all people immediately, but most within the next day or two.”
“Very good, thank you for the update, Carrie.”
Carrie left the room.
Cliff returned within thirty minutes. “Ms. President, your orders are being executed as we speak,”
“Good, I hope the mob will be happy and disperse after this.”
The Chief of Staff entered the situation room at that moment followed by half a dozen other staff members. He grabbed a TV remote control and turned on a second TV monitor. “Ms. President, I think you need to see this—it’s a live broadcast from Andrews.”
A blurry picture appeared on the TV screen, shouts and screams could be heard in the background as the crowd made a move on the gate and just kept going until they were through and ran towards the rooms where they had been told the prisoners were being held.
Minutes later, the crowd suddenly fell quiet. Someone’s voice could be heard over a handheld bullhorn. “They’re not here. They’ve been moved.”
The President was beaming broadly. Daniel and Bill wore expressions of stunned disbelief, and Cliff stood quietly, expressionless, next to Laurie.
The rest of the people in the room were flabbergasted. The President stood and explained that the prisoners had been moved the night before—in anticipation of such an uprising.
Before she could finish, General Hayden’s face appeared on TV—he looked like a wet chicken. He stuttered and stumbled and sounded incoherent, almost as if he was drunk. But those who knew him well recognized his anger—they had never seen him so enraged.
President Laurie Campbell said an earnest, silent, but very un-Christian-like prayer—Lord. A stroke or heart attack will solve a lot of problems for us right now. Don’t kill him just incapacitate him. That’ll be good enough.
***
Unfortunately, the President’s prayer was not answered.
Half an hour later, General Hayden was shouting to the crowd, “It’s time for us to rise up and put a stop to this! The President has betrayed us! She is protecting people who committed crimes against humanity, and she is about to appoint a man as Vice President, who is without a doubt a co-conspirator with these criminals.
“This man is controlling her, and by controlling her, he will soon control this country. He’s in possession of the technology the criminals had; in fact, he’s the one who gave it to them. His intentions are to control the world.
“He made it look as if the criminals were the villains, and they were, but let me tell you, Daniel Rossler’s plan is to make it appear as if he wants to help us. It’s all just smoke and mirrors to deceive us. His end game is to gain control of us! If we let him, our lives will be worse off than before.
“They,” he pointed to the White House behind him, “are lying to us. They will be our downfall, the end of our nation.
“I am telling you the truth! We have to stop them before it is too late! We want truth and justice!”
The crowd was in a frenzy, shouting and screaming, punching their fists in the air and started chanting; “We want Truth! We want Justice!”
Some in the mob rushed to the security fence surrounding the White House and began to climb it.
Hayden took cover when the White House security force started firing warning shots over the heads of those attempting to breach the fence.
“Call a meeting of our top officers!” Hayden shouted at his aide in panic. “We need a plan of attack to take these bastards out for good. And get some people down to the Joint Regional Correctional Facility in Virginia. We’ve got to get those criminals out of there and execute them!”
***
“Daniel! Are you alright?” Sarah questioned breathlessly.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. How’s Nicholas?”
“He misses his daddy—just like me.”
“I know. Thank you for returning to the Rabbit Hole where it’s safe. As much as I miss you, I wouldn’t want you to be stuck down here in times like these.”
The President, Daniel, some of the Cabinet members, Secret Service men, and others present in the White House Situation Room had quickly moved to the more secure Presidential Emergency Operations Center, six stories below the East Wing, when the first petrol bombs exploded in the streets.
“It’s crazy out there Daniel,” Sarah exclaimed.
“I know. Hayden has a lot more support than we anticipated and has stirred up a hornet’s nest,” he said as he watched a silent television screen showing scenes of fighting in the streets, homemade bombs exploding, and buildings burning in the background.
“It’s like half the nation’s people have lost their minds.”
Chapter 18- Under new management
There was a sense of urgency amongst the Cabinet members as they realized that General Hayden was stoking a fire that would soon be out of control. The first order of business was to get the President sworn in, and Daniel’s appointment as Vice President confirmed by Congress.
Glenn Baier, the Chief of Staff, took it upon himself to make that happen in short order.
He gathered the senior White House officials and went to work throughout the night.
By 10:00 am the next day, the President’s inauguration was scheduled—it was to take place at noon. With Congress severely reduced by Brideaux’s actions there were only sixty of the one hundred Senators, and one hundred ninety members of the House of Representatives, left alive. Nevertheless, the remaining two hundred fifty members of Congress outdid themselves. In an almost unprecedented bipartisan vote, they confirmed Daniel’s appointment with an overwhelming majority—only five abstained while another ten voted against.
At noon, the most inconspicuous presidential inauguration ceremony in history took place in the Press Briefing Room of the White House. The room was packed with reporters from every conceivable media outlet who could find a place to stand, leaving almost no space for anyone else to be present. That didn’t matter, what was most important was to get the news out across the country and the world, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
America had a new President and Commander in Chief as well as a Vice President in the saddle.
First, Daniel took the oath of office of Vice President, followed by Laurie Campbell taking her oath as President—as was the tradition.
The President made her inaugural speech, keeping it short and to the point as she informed the media of the appointment of officials, and the new accountability strategy that would be put in place for every appointed official, including herself and the Vice President.
She continued, “Due to the civil unrest ravaging our country, I am declaring temporary national martial law until the country stabilizes. This will be implemented in three stages. Stage one, which begins now, is total government control of certain things that I will explain in a minute.
“Stage two will be when the government is able to start releasing the control established in stage one. This will happen gradually as our country stabilizes.
“Stage three will be the complete cessation of all government control established in stage one.
“I’ve established and communicated the stages to you to reassure you that this is not the establishment of a dictatorship and that it is not permanent. There is a plan in place to remove national martial law as soon as possible.
The duration of martial law will depend entirely on the people of the United States. The quicker we return to order the quicker this will be over.
“As of now, full national martial law is established. Our international borders are closed. No person will be allowed in without proof of American citizenship. Our border patrol officers have been instructed to enforce this order. If you are outside the country and watching this, for your own safety, do not attempt to cross the border at any location other than a legal checkpoint.
“The status of our trade agreements with other nations is unknown at this point. Until this is resolved and trade agreements have been re-established and confirmed, very few goods will be coming into the country.
“All fuel resources are now under government control. We will be producing and refining our own petroleum. Until we are fully operational and capable of supplying our needs, there will be travel restrictions to preserve our existing resources.
“Production, transportation, and distribution of food and medical supplies for public use will have top priority and be unrestricted. Those traveling locally for work have secondary priority.
“Travel for pleasure outside your local area is prohibited. All these travel restrictions apply only to vehicles that use gasoline. You are free to move about by foot, bicycle, paddle, or animal power.
“All farms and farm equipment are now under government control for food production. If you have a farm and or open land, officials will be coming to discuss crops with you. Your land will remain in your possession; we only want crops to feed our people. Your equipment will remain in your possession, and you will only be asked to use it on your land or available land nearby.
“We will be depending on farmers and ranchers who know their areas and which crops will grow best to make recommendations to us for planting and harvesting.
“For those of you who have small properties with room for gardens, we encourage you to plant and farm food for yourselves and to share with neighbors. If you have need of seeds, officials will make sure they are available to you. Personal gardens only large enough to feed your own family will not be touched by the government—we’re only interested in mass production to feed our nation.
“Currently we have a serious situation in the cities where gangs have taken control. Military forces are being dispatched to supplement the police force. Those arrested for violence will be imprisoned immediately and their weapons will be confiscated.
“In anticipation of these arrests, those prisoners serving time for non-violent crimes will be released as needed in order of the severity of their crime starting with the least severe first. Those who are released will be sent to work on nearby farms to help with food production. Prisons will be moving to near lock-down status and food will be restricted to the basics. Prisoners will have a bed, blanket, water, and basic food. They will not be treated inhumanely.
“All areas will be subject to a dusk until dawn curfew. I ask all citizens to please cooperate with the military and law enforcement. We need to work together to stabilize our country as quickly as possible so that martial law can be ceased.
“One final note. Radio and TV broadcasts are going to be temporarily restricted to the following conditions: G and PG rated films may be shown; family shows may be shown; informational and historical shows may be shown.
“Violent movies and shows are temporarily prohibited in an effort to help influence the establishment of peace. The news media is allowed to report facts, and I encourage them to report positive facts and not sensational speculation. Please don’t fabricate news.
“There are protests in progress at the moment. Freedom of speech is a right of every citizen, and I don’t want to take that away, even temporarily. Therefore, peaceful protests and demonstrations are allowed but limited to groups of fifty in any given area. Groups of more than fifty will be required to split and move to different locations no closer than two-hundred yards. If a protest or demonstration turns violent, military and law enforcement will act accordingly.”
A long, shocked, silence descended in the Press Room.
The President used the silence to again plead with the people of America to remain calm and exercise restraint, to help each other and to do their patriotic duty by obeying the laws and cooperating with the law enforcement agencies. She explained the food and shelter provisioning arrangements that were already in progress.
When she stopped, there were a few moments of chaos as every one of the reporters tried to get a question in. The President answered questions for about half an hour, and then she and Daniel left to attend an emergency Cabinet meeting.
***
The people at the Rabbit Hole watched the proceedings at the White House—as expected thunderous applause went up when Daniel took the oath. Their jubilations subsided when President Campbell moved to the podium and took her oath, then ended completely when she proclaimed Martial Law. Some of them expected the announcement, but for most of them, it came as a big shock.
Martial law was declared only once, nationally, in the history of America and that was at the outset of the Civil War in 1861 by President Abraham Lincoln. Although Congress has never declared martial law, they ratified most of the measures declared by President Lincoln.
When the ceremony and questions ended, the Rossler Foundation leadership group assembled to busy themselves with the tasks at hand.
First order of business was to consider the impact Daniel’s new role would have on the functioning of the Rossler Foundation. Sarah and Daniel had already had a long discussion about it in the early hours of the morning and agreed on what they wanted to happen.
Rebecca and JR, Salome and Roy, Raj, Nigel, Ben, Luke, Ryan, Sam, Sinclair and Sarah, were all present in the
Robert Cartwright Town Hall.
Sarah informed them about the talk she and Daniel had and opened the topic for discussion.
“I think Sarah did a wonderful job of running this place while Daniel and the rest of us were trying to make our way back from the Grand Canyon site after Brideaux stole the technology and left us for dead,” JR said.
“Hear, hear!” Ryan, Sarah’s dad, and Ben, her father in law shouted.
“Thank you,” Sarah said. “I appreciate the gesture JR, but Nicholas and I will be off to Washington as soon as things have calmed down. So, I am afraid you will have to do without me.
“Daniel and I think it’s best to turn the management over to a committee or board of directors.”
Ben said. “I still think we’ll need one person to be the CEO of the Foundation, or at least the interim head until you and Daniel return. We need someone with a vision for the Foundation who can direct us.”
“Well, it could be ten years before the two of them return, Ben.” Sinclair laughed.
“What do you mean, ten years?”
“Well, Campbell has two years left in the previous President’s term. then Daniel will be President for two terms,” Sinclair chortled.
When they stopped laughing they looked at each other, and Sarah said, “You saw the news: gangs running amok in the cities creating terror and race wars. People are killing each other over food, property disputes ending in murder, families and even whole communities starving to death, reports of cannibalism, people dying from lack of medical care, and diseases spreading due to unsanitary living conditions in the most poverty-stricken areas.
“And that doesn’t even take into account the political uprising nationally and worldwide! Daniel and I think it is a task beyond a single individual.”
Luke agreed. “Do you have something in mind, Sarah?”
“Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do,” she grinned.
They all looked inquisitively at her.
“Sam did an excellent job of leading the Phoenix project, he and Luke have a lot of experience with security and both national and international issues. Nigel is our political expert. My father in law, Ben, and my dad both have been very efficient with setting up and running things locally, Sinclair is the master of the translation project, and John has really gotten the ‘pulse’ of the people here since he took over running the school.