Rigged

by James Rosone

  “This will allow us to move forward with securing our electoral process and holding a new election on Monday, January fourth, 2021. As such, under the authority of the 2012 and 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, and DoD Directive 5525.5, I am issuing Executive Order 2021, moving the country to a state of martial law until Tuesday, January fifth, 2021. At the conclusion of the presidential election, the state of martial law shall be lifted and a return to civilian rule shall be implemented.”

  Marshall let out a stream of obscenities.

  “Now that the United States is under a state of martial law, as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, I am suspending the en banc ruling by the Ninth Circuit and moving forward with the voiding of the election results of this past Tuesday. I’d like to remind you that it was determined that substantial levels of foreign interference changed the outcome of the election. Per my original executive order regarding the postponing of the election, all absentee and mail-in ballots will be suspended. All persons wishing to vote in the presidential election will have to vote either in person or via the iVote app. If you require assistance in either using the voting app or casting your ballot, then you have sixty days to request the assistance of a poll worker, and one will be made available to help you.

  “Despite the nation being under a state of martial law, I don’t believe it’s necessary to deploy our armed forces into the countryside or the cities, unless a situation of great civil unrest warrants it. I have instructed the Secretary of Defense to minimize the use of the military on our soil as much as possible. I want to assure you, my fellow Americans, that your day-to-day lives will not change. There is no need to worry or fear that this is a takeover of your government or country—it is not. If I lose the election on January fourth, I will accept that loss, and I will do my utmost to help ensure a quick and smooth transition of power to my successor.

  “It is imperative that our elections be fair and free of foreign interference. That was not the case of this past election, and if we are to trust future elections, we have to know that a foreign power was not involved in the direct suppression or outright theft of votes. There can be no finger placed on the scales of our Republic. I will now step aside and allow the Attorney General to speak more to the legal case and justification for why we have declared a state of martial law. He will also tell you about the prosecution of more than five dozen individuals who participated in this scheme.”

  Marshall was about to let out another storm of curse words before his wife walked in, shocked to see that he already had the TV on and was watching the broadcast. Before she could say anything to him, he threw the remote at the TV, causing it to crack. Without a word, he headed into the bathroom to resume his routine of getting ready for the day.

  *******

  “Is there still any cheese pizza left?” asked Jerome as he got up to walk over to the counter, where five pizza boxes were still sitting.

  He spotted one piece and quickly angled for it before anyone else had a chance to grab it. While he was there, he also added a slice of sausage pizza to his plate as well. He looked down at his selection and recognized that he’d pay for his choices tomorrow morning at the gym, but right at that moment, with all that had gone on that day, he just didn’t care. He just wanted comfort, in any form that he could find it.

  Janey looked at the two pieces of pizza on his plate before commenting, “Really, Jerome? That’s like four pieces you’ve had. I thought you were trying to eat better.”

  He shot her a dirty look. “I’m stressed. I eat poorly when I’m stressed.”

  She shook her head. “I think you’re going to get fat in this job, then. You’re about to walk into the most stressful year of your life.”

  Jerome picked a slice of pizza up and scarfed down a couple of bites without replying.

  “So, the governors of California and New York are in agreement?” asked Marshall, who had stayed out of the banter between his staff. “Are they going to ignore the President’s decree for a redo of the election?”

  Jerome shoved another bite in his mouth before he explained, “Not just California and New York. We spoke with all the Democratic governors, and they are all in agreement. They insist the President doesn’t have the authority to redo the election just because he doesn’t like the results. The Speaker of the House is also on our side now, which means the majority of Congress is with us. Even now, the House is moving forward with a bill that would curtail the funds going to the DoD. Without all that money, it will significantly reduce their ability to enforce martial law.”

  Marshall sighed. “What happens next, then? If all these states are not going to recognize Sachs’s authority to do what he’s doing, where do things go?”

  Janey picked up this question. “We’re working on that. Right now, the plan is to hold some sort of unifying press conference in a couple of days with the governors and yourself. We want to let the Sachs administration know that we aren’t going along with his call for a new election. The governors are going to say that they won’t work with the administration to hold a new election, and that come January 20th, they will no longer acknowledge President Sachs as the duly elected president—they will only acknowledge your authority, and they are encouraging the other states to do so as well.”

  Marshall nodded in approval. “Then the die is cast,” he said. “We’ll move forward with the transition and continue on as if today’s proclamation never happened.”

  Jerome and Janey nodded.

  Marshall added, “We need to formulate our cabinet quickly. We’ll need to let the world know who’s going to be in our leadership team and move forward with preparing the new government. We have to make things appear as if everything is normal, as if it is Sachs who is living in this alternate reality and not us.

  “Get with the major networks, and let’s make sure we can get them on board with us as well. It’s going to be important that we message this right, that we make it look like Sachs is the one acting irrational and out of sorts. If we can create the right message, the right image, I think we have a shot at turning this to our advantage.”

  Chapter 24

  Homecoming

  November 13, 2020

  Tampa, Florida

  Seth pulled up to the driveway of his home on Davis Island, excited to see his wife and four kids. It had been nearly a month since he’d seen them, and so much had happened in that time, both for him and his family. His son had lost another tooth, and his daughter had broken her wrist and was having to sit out of gymnastics until New Year’s.

  After putting his truck in park, he hopped out, grabbed his go-bag and walked up to the front entrance. He fumbled with his keys briefly until he got the right one. After he unlocked the door and walked in—to his surprise, he found no one was home.

  They must have gone out to eat or out to the store, he reasoned.

  Regardless, he took a moment to walk around the house, soaking in the feeling of being home. When he made his way to his bedroom, his oversized king bed was beckoning to him. Seth dropped his bag on the floor near the closet, took his blouse and trousers off and climbed in. He figured he’d catch a short nap while he waited for his family to return.

  When he awoke, it was dark out. He instinctively checked his watch and noticed it was 4:21 a.m.

  Oh wow, they must have seen me sleeping and just left me alone, he thought.

  It was the first good night’s sleep Seth had had in a month. He turned to the side and placed his feet on the floor, stretching his back and arms as he yawned. His wife stirred from her slumber and rolled over.

  “Welcome home, sleepyhead,” she said coyly as she moved over closer to his side of the bed. She clearly had more of a physical welcome home on her mind after not seeing him for nearly a month. “The kids are still asleep,” Dana said with a wink.

  Later that morning at breakfast, his kids regaled him with all he had missed the last thirty days, bringing him up to speed on everything that had transpired.<
br />
  “Are you home for a while now or do you have to go away again?” asked his son. His daughter slowed her eating to wait and listen for his response.

  Seth wasn’t sure how to respond at first. “As far as I know, I’m home for a while. As a matter of fact, my boss gave me the next four days off work. I was thinking that maybe this weekend we could all take a trip over to Disney.”

  Cheers went up from his son and daughter. They loved hanging out with all the characters. Buying a Disney annual pass had been a great idea when they’d first moved to Florida—it had allowed them to tour the park without feeling rushed, like they had to pack everything in at once.

  The rest of the weekend went by quickly as he did his best to spend as much quality time with his kids as possible. Seth did his best to forget the last month and what he knew was going to continue to be a time of turmoil and strife for the country. At that moment, he just wanted his kids to enjoy one last fun family vacation before the craziness of what the Sachs and Tate factions were about to unleash on the country.

  *******

  November 17, 2020

  Washington, D.C.

  White House

  “We have a problem, Mr. President,” Malcolm Wright announced. He was the first person to speak during what was becoming a daily emergency cabinet meeting.

  “Explain,” replied Sachs.

  Every eye turned to the Attorney General.

  “Of the twenty-three Democratic governors, twenty-one of them are backing Senator Tate and have openly stated they will not acknowledge your authority as President come January 20th. Likewise, they are not going to allow a redo of the election to take place in their states on January fourth. That said, two of the Democratic-controlled states—Kansas and North Carolina—have broken with them and are siding with you. Additionally, the state legislatures in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia have broken ranks with the governor and are siding with us. They have all said that whether the governor goes along with holding a new election or not, they will do everything in their power to help facilitate it.”

  Patty Hogan from Homeland Security interjected, “We actually have a bigger problem than that, Mr. President. We have a massive image problem developing. Senator Tate and his acolytes in the media are doing their best to portray this as a power grab by you in light of your electoral loss. They are completely ignoring the evidence the FBI and DNI have presented that shows direct foreign interference. Just the other day, when I was a guest on CNN, they wouldn’t even acknowledge the Chinese involvement in the postal worker scheme or acknowledge that it had even happened. It’s as if they have deliberately moved in the direction of creating a false reality, as if we didn’t capture a known Chinese spy operating in the Balkans or arrest more than half a dozen conspirators here in the States.”

  “I think we may have another issue we need to discuss as well,” added the Secretary of Defense.

  Everyone turned to look at him. They were all getting a bit of whiplash.

  How many fires can we possibly have at once? Sachs asked himself.

  McElroy lifted his chin, as if steeling himself. “We have a twofold problem right now. The first is domestic, so I’ll deal with that one first. You’ve already heard that we have twenty-one state governors who are not going to acknowledge you as President in a couple of months. Some of these governors are starting to put their National Guard units on alert for possible activations.”

  A murmur went across the room.

  “Excuse me, did you say some of them are alerting their National Guard units?” asked Sachs, leaning forward. “What exactly are they alerting them to do?”

  McElroy took a deep breath before he responded. “I’m honestly not sure. Right now, they’re saying it’s to help quell some of the protests and rioting that have taken place in some of their cities. To me, that’s a legitimate reason. However, my concern is they are looking to activate these units now so they can have them mobilized and ready should that governor feel like he may need them come January 20th.”

  The President held up his hand. “Need them for what? What do they possibly think they are going to do with these forces? Depose me? Capture Washington, D.C.? Who the hell do these people think they are?”

  The President continued to fume for a minute. Everyone else was silent, apparently still trying to digest what McElroy had just said. This was more than just a PR issue or a problem with optics—it was the first visible sign that the union might not hold.

  Finally, Sachs asked, “What if we federalize these forces? Shift them away from their home states so they wouldn’t be under any direct influence or control of the governor? Is that possible?”

  “We could, but we’re running into a financial problem,” said McElroy. “We don’t have the necessary funds for the Pentagon. As you know, we’re still working off a continuing resolution right now. We were unable to get a budget finalized before the end of the fiscal year, so Congress gave us a ninety-day CR to get us through the election and into the lame duck session.”

  Rich Novella, the President’s Chief of Staff, jumped into the conversation. “We haven’t even heard a peep from Congress about the budget. The Senate has put together a budget that funds the government through the fiscal year, but the House has yet to send us anything. My bet is whatever they send us, they are going to tie to you accepting the results of the November election and turning things over to Senator Tate.”

  “Great, one more thing to look forward to with Congress,” said Sachs. He knew his face betrayed the fact that he’d rather have a root canal than work with this body of polarized legislators. “When is that meeting with the new House Speaker?” he asked.

  Rich looked down at his calendar. “Tomorrow at nine a.m..”

  Grimacing, the President just shook his head in frustration. Looking at his staff, he said, “OK, people. Let’s continue with business as usual. Tomorrow, I’m going to need the Office of Management and Budget Director and the Treasury Secretary to be here at eight a.m. We’ll game plan how we’re going to handle Congress.”

  Sachs turned to the SecDef. “Chuck, I know you said the other problem you wanted to talk about was outside our borders. Let’s hold off on discussing that until tomorrow while we get this domestic issue sorted. Perhaps we’ll have a better picture of what’s going on outside our country at that point.”

  McElroy nodded, and with that, the President ended the meeting.

  Chapter 25

  Negotiation

  November 18, 2020

  Washington, D.C.

  White House

  “Mr. President, it’s a pretty straightforward funding bill. We’re even throwing you a bone by funding nearly all of your top priorities and the rest of the government for the remainder of the fiscal year,” said Congressman Tim Borq, the new Speaker of the House.

  Sachs grunted. “You’re trying to hold a gun to my head, Borq, and you know that.”

  Borq leaned forward, an almost evil smile on his lips. “If you don’t sign this bill, then we will move forward with impeaching you over this whole state of martial law you’re trying to impose on the country,” he said.

  The President was unmoved. He crossed his arms and stared at Borq with a level of eye contact that would have made almost anyone uncomfortable. “Perhaps you don’t fully understand how martial law works, Mr. Speaker, but right now, I am the head of the government and the military. Congress’s only role right now regarding our armed forces is to advise—you have no consent authority. You have no authority to threaten me with impeachment, and furthermore, you’d never get seventeen Republican senators to go along with your little scheme.”

  Borq turned beet red. “You are not a dictator, an emperor that can just wield power as you see fit!” he exclaimed.

  “And you cannot come into this office and demand that I accept the results of an election that we both know beyond the shadow of a doubt was rigged by a foreign power. I’ve declassified the intelligence of this scheme, an
d I plan on fully releasing that information at the end of the day, so all of the American people can see exactly what’s gone on. If your cronies don’t accept the fact that a foreign power directly manipulated our election and support my efforts to hold a new, secure election, then I will have you all arrested for fomenting insurrection against the federal government.”

  “You can’t do that!” Borq shot back angrily.

  “Oh, really?” asked Sachs. “I have twenty-one governors telling me they aren’t going to cooperate with the new election. As a matter of fact, all twenty-one governors have said come January 20th, they will not even recognize me as the lawful president. I am this close,” he said as he moved his index finger and thumb to within an inch of each other, “to declaring those states in open insurrection to the federal government and ordering their governors arrested and charged with treason!”

  The President took a deep breath, changing his tone of voice. “What I’m seeking from you, Congressman, is either a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year or a six-month CR to see us through this constitutional crisis your party has engineered.”

  Borq shook his head in disgust. “You think you’re so powerful, do you? We’re done here!” He stood up and began a hasty exit.

  Before he could leave, Sachs shouted after him, “You’d better watch what you say, Borq, or I’ll have you brought up on charges of sedition and treason!”

  He saw the congressman pause for a moment, but then he continued on. The two other Democratic congressional leaders who’d sat in on the meeting looked at each other in shock. Then, without saying anything, they shuffled out of the office as if they were holding their tails between their legs.

  The Republican lawmakers that remained sat there in a state of shock at what had transpired. The President walked around his desk to take a seat at his chair while the remaining lawmakers and others stayed seated. He closed his eyes briefly as he lifted his head to the ceiling, taking in several deep breaths to calm his nerves. When Sachs opened his eyes again and looked at them, he had a burning fire in place of what was once uncertainty.