The Great Crime Spike: A Dystopian Thriller Novel (Liberty Down Book 1)

by Eric M Hill

  “What gives me the right to hunt down predators and bring them to justice? The blood of tens of millions of Americans that cry out from the ground. The tears of multitudes of little children who have lost their parents to predators. The screams of terror-filled women and girls crying for help and finding none. The exasperation of predator ravaged citizens who can find no help from its laws and its government, while those same predators who have turned our nation into an endless nightmare are protected by its laws and pampered by its government.

  “What gives me the right to protect the American people, you ask? I’ll state it bluntly. We’re at a point in our history where if I don’t take the fight to the predators, there will be no nation left to fight for.

  “What gives me the right to act courageously and unilaterally is the fact that while our nation is on the verge of annihilating itself, Congress sits on its hands and does what it does best. Predators have been eating away at the nation’s core like termites and Congress continues its thirty-year discussion of what to do about the problem. Predators rape; Congress talks. Predators kill; Congress debates.

  “What gives me the right to protect our beloved nation from all enemies, domestic and foreign? It’s a broken judicial system that has neither the means nor the will to treat predators as an immediate, existential threat to the continuation of the nation. It’s a Supreme Court that is hell-bent on preserving their idealistic and unrealistic view of the Constitution even if this futile and ridiculous approach leaves the nation in ruins.”

  There was something so absolutely chilling about Cuning’s last statement about the Supreme Court that the press was reduced to wide-eyed stillness, their hostility crashing into a bottleneck of frightened confusion. Hearing these words come out of the mouth of a president with a reputation as dark as his, and one with gifts of persuasion as rare as those he possessed, was like wandering in the woods and stumbling upon a thousand-pound grizzly bear.

  Every investigative instinct of the stunned reporters was muted and displaced by the instinct of survival. It wasn’t his words alone, however, that was melting their courage like a stick of butter in a hot skillet. Rather, it was the fact that the nation had finally reached such a state of desperation that a man like Cuning, one with dictatorial ambitions, could now conceivably make his move for supreme political power. The grizzly was standing on his hind legs looking down at them.

  Unless something dramatic happened to stop him, this man was going to become America’s first dictator. Every reporter in the room was suffocating on this thought.

  “Mr. President, during your campaign for the presidency, you were regularly accused by your opponents of campaigning to become king and not president. What do you say to those who would interpret your words as you trying to use this crisis as a pretext to seize political power granted by the Constitution to the legislative and judicial branches of government?”

  The question surprised Cuning. It surprised everyone. Someone was publicly challenging America’s probable first dictator.

  Cuning looked steadily at the reporter. She was seated in the middle of the third row from the last, but she suddenly felt very alone. It was as though her question was the equivalent of loudly passing gas. She could feel her colleagues moving away from her.

  “Sandra,” said the president, “my opponents. I do remember my opponents.” He paused, letting his words hang over her. “They accuse me of many things. But justice has a way of catching up to those who slander me?”

  The room’s chill went down fifty degrees. There was no way for the reporters not to move uncomfortably on their chairs. The president had just slyly threatened a White House press reporter on live television.

  “What would I say to those who accuse me of using this crisis as a way to seize power?” he said. “I guess I’d point out to my opponents that they have tried thirty years of weakness, indecision, and hiding behind the Constitution to deal with these predators, and the problem has only gotten worse.

  “I think I’d point out to them that like every presidential candidate who has run since 2020, I, too, promised to fix the predator problem. But unlike any other president, I am the only one who is delivering on his promise.

  “I think I’d point out to them that it wasn’t Congress, and it sure wasn’t the Supreme Court, who have in only a few days prevented tens of thousands of assaults, robberies, rapes, and murders by exterminating thousands of predators. Predators who would be loosed by the courts on our society in the name of the Constitution to rob our places of business, to kidnap our children, to rape our daughters and wives and sisters and mothers.

  “Sandra, to those who’d accuse me of being power hungry, I’d remind them that this same Constitution they’d use to turn our nation over to the predators is the same Constitution that gives me the right to declare martial law to preserve the nation.”

  The silent reporters were now nearly frozen solid in fear.

  Cuning waited several moments before speaking again. It felt good looking at the guardians of the Constitution cower before him. “Some have strongly urged that I use this Constitutional authority to right the ship before it hits the rocks once and for all,” he lied. “I have resisted, choosing rather to give Congress time to see the wisdom of protecting American citizens and of exterminating predators. Others have urged me to use this authority against the thousands of heavily armed, courageous citizens and patriots who are gathering in the nation’s capital in support of my Scientific Termination of Predators legislation,” he lied again.

  “It’s ironic that those who claim the loudest to be the strongest supporters of the Constitution don’t support these patriots’ First Amendment right to peacefully assemble. Nor do they support their Second Amendment right to bear arms. And they certainly don’t support their right to do both at the same time.” Cuning looked supportively into the camera. “Well, I do.

  “But I’m not insensitive to the fact that among the many tens of thousands of armed patriots gathering peacefully in the nation in support of STOP, there are also organizations represented that have adversarial relationships among one another.

  “That is the reason there is such an overwhelming presence of the army in and around Washington D.C.—to keep the peace. It is not, as some of my opponents have accused, me using the presence of the army to blackmail Congress into voting for STOP.

  “I mentioned earlier that the ongoing extermination of predators has occurred in part because Dr. Anderson selflessly answered his country’s call to duty. In support of this great cause, many others also answered the call. To prevent legal repercussions against these heroes, I have authorized federal and state pardons for everyone who directly and indirectly participated or assisted in any way in the Scientific Termination of Predators program.

  Furthermore, anyone who participates or assists in the program now or in the future in any way shall be pardoned from any and all federal and state crimes relating to their involvement. The matter of the president of the United States being Constitutionally authorized to provide legal relief at the state level for American heroes who assisted or those heroes who may assist in the extermination of predators may be deliberated by the Supreme Court for a reclarification of Article 2, Section 2, of the Constitution. This authority has been submitted as an amendment to STOP. But in the interim, I think the American people will agree with me that it is in the best interest of the nation to treat this amendment as law.

  “Finally, there is still a chance that Congress and the Supreme Court will try to destroy STOP and undo what we have accomplished for the safety of the American people. For every American who is fed up with living under the threat of becoming some predator’s latest victim, I ask you to march on Washington D.C. Let Congress and the Supreme Court see you in the flesh. Let them see in the flesh up close and personal that we demand an end to the predator problem.

  “You’ve placed your faith in me. Now I’m placing my faith in you. Together we can make our nation great again.
Good night. And God bless the United States of America.”

  Chapter 55

  The president entered the Oval Office. His chief of staff followed, noting a peculiar look behind the failed stoic expression of the Secret Service agent at the door, then closed it behind him. Cuning went to the portrait of Abraham Lincoln and silently stared for several moments, but thinking of other leaders and not this president.

  “How do you think George Washington would’ve liked my speech?” he asked, without taking his eyes off the portrait.

  “He wouldn’t.”

  ““And this fella here. Mr. Lincoln. What about him?”

  “Same.”

  “Hmm. I tend to agree. What about Hitler?”

  The chief of staff’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. He immediately corrected himself.

  “Hal, you hesitate.”

  “Virgins tend to do that the first time, Mr. President.”

  “Now, Hal, we both know you’re more of a whore than a virgin.”

  The chief of staff pursed his lips and nodded his head. “In a purely political sense, I’ve been known to frequent a bed or two.”

  “Or three,” Cuning added.

  “Or three,” agreed his chief of staff.”

  “So why the hesitancy?”

  “I mentioned Hitler to you not too long ago, Mr. President. It didn’t appear to go over too well. I made note to never make that mistake again. So it came as a surprise to hear you make reference to him.”

  “Makes sense,” said Cuning. “But I wasn’t really offended when you said it. It’s just that a man in my position has to keep some things to himself.”

  “Until the appropriate time,” said the chief of staff.

  “Exactly. Until the appropriate time. So, what would Hitler say of my speech?”

  “I think he’d give you an A-plus, Mr. President.”

  “A-plus? Really?”

  “Well, you did the pre-work. You got your dead-on-arrival bill into Congress. Then you got Dr. Anderson, of all people, to kill the predators. Thus, proving that getting rid of the predator problem is within reach. Basically, making it political suicide to vote no on STOP—even though the Supreme Court is sure to shoot it down.”

  The president walked to his desk and sat down, crossed his leg, and clutched his crotch. “Have a seat, Hal.”

  He did.

  “Continue.”

  “You appealed to people’s emotions and deep need to feel safe. You admitted to breaking the law, but you framed it in altruism. You broke the law because it was the only way you could protect the people. You made Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution look like the bad guys.”

  “You gotta have bad guys to get what you want in a representative democracy,” said Cuning.

  “That’s what Hitler did with the Jews and the Communists. One reason why he’d give you an A-plus.”

  “Go on,” said Cuning.

  “You put Congress and the Supreme Court in a no-win situation. There’s maybe half a million people camped out in D.C., most of them armed and angry. And you’ve asked for more to come. By tomorrow there could be a million people laying siege to the capitol. It’s now them versus the people. You think Congress is going to defy you and have the peasants rush the castle?”

  The president smirked and squeezed. “And these peasants aren’t carrying pitchforks.”

  “Nope. They’re carrying automatics. But I think the thing that Hitler would’ve loved the most was how you took the Constitutional authority to pardon state crimes and directed the Supreme Court to clarify Article Two, Section Two to give you this authority. If you can do this with one thing, you can do it with another.”

  The smirk left Cuning’s face. He dropped his leg to the floor and leaned into his desk. “This is war. A lot can go wrong in war.”

  “Like what?”

  “Congress can grow balls and impeach and convict me. They got rid of President Tunnelly and Vice President Woodruff in the same month. Who saw that coming?”

  Hal shook his head. “Tunnelly was Al Capone with half a brain. And that idiot, Woodruff, was dumber than a circus clown. You can’t compare yourself to them. The country wasn’t desperate enough yet for their power grab.” He paused. “And they didn’t have STOP, and they didn’t have Anderson.”

  The sound of Anderson’s name jarred Cuning. What if he turns on me? “All it takes is a simple majority in the House.”

  “That bunch of misfits?” said his chief. “You’re going to get a majority out of them? Five warring parties. They’re crabs in a barrel. They fight each other just because they can. They couldn’t put a majority vote together to get a bill for toilet paper passed if they ran out of it. And even if they did, it takes two-thirds of the Senate to convict. It’ll never happen.”

  Cuning turned his head away, thinking, calculating. Anderson was the wildcard. He could get the votes.

  “Mr. President, let’s say Congress did grow a pair. Okay, so now what? They talk impeachment with a million armed, angry people right outside the Capitol? Many of these people are your supporters.”

  “Some, yes. But some of them hate my guts. And most of them don’t trust me. They think I’m power hungry. They think I’m the antichrist. If Anderson turns on me, it can happen,” said Cuning. “They won’t need balls. He’s got enough for all of them.”

  The chief thought on this. The president was right on that count. He was also correct about most people’s deep distrust of him. Even his supporters viewed him as a man with the tendencies of a vampire. The only things that kept his teeth from their necks were the daylight of public scrutiny and the coffin of the Constitution. Absent either of those and it was bye-bye neck. And now night was fast approaching, the coffin’s lid was up, and Dracula was showing his fangs.

  “Anderson hates your guts, but how can he come against you now? Why would he? He’s the one killing the predators. He’s the smartest man to ever live for crying out loud. He can’t just say, ‘Oops, I’m sorry. I knew the president was evil, but I wanted revenge for my daughter’s death so badly that I compromised everything I believed in and gave my enemy the power to become supreme ruler of America.’ You think he’s willing to sacrifice his reputation like that? He’d be the most hated man in America.”

  Cuning’s fingers danced on his desk as though he was at a keyboard. His intense eyes went left and right as he pondered. “He’d be the second most hated man in America. But that’s exactly what he’s going to do. I know it.”

  “Mr. President, he hates you. I’ll give you that much. But not enough to destroy himself.”

  The president cursed. “Hal!” he snapped. “Wake up! He’s not going to do it because he hates me. He’s going to do it because he loves this country. Predators! Unemployment! Deflation! Fear! He doesn’t care! His love for this wasteland and its ridiculous government and Constitution has blinded him! He’ll do it, Hal. I know he will.”

  The chief of staff was intrigued by the president’s behavior. He knew he was a strategist. So why had he not thought of this possibility until now? “Mr. President,” he began tentatively.

  The president preempted. “Because other people are dying from this thing. Whatever that swollen head scientist has come up with is not only killing predators, it’s killing other people, too.” The president slammed his hand onto the desk. “The smartest man to ever live my behind! The smartest man to ever live would know how to make a killing machine or drug that knows the difference in a predator and a correctional officer!”

  The chief of staff had never had a panic attack. And from what he knew of them, he wasn’t having one now. But if he wasn’t on panic attack grounds, he certainly was looking over the fence at its lawn. He stared straight with dead eyes at one of the three windows behind the president. His gaze didn’t make it onto the south lawn. It was fixed with dread on a pane. He’d respond to the president’s bombshell as soon as the dizziness and nausea passed.

  He coughed and wiped his mouth
with his handkerchief. “Uhh, when did you get this information?”

  “Just before I went on. Delaying the speech was out of the question. Congress is going all night. The vote could happen within hours. So I sure couldn’t admit to the nation that Anderson’s concoction killed two guards.”

  The chief’s faint rise of exuberance was ridiculous and desperate, he knew. But he needed something to hold on to. “Two? That’s all?”

  The president looked at his most trusted advisor with a tinge of impatience. “Am I missing something, Hal?”

  His chief dabbed his head with the handkerchief. “Just wondering. Hoping really. Several thousand predators dead and you have info that two correction officers may—”

  The president interrupted again. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Hal. But there’s no maybe to it. Anderson killed two of the good guys. Washington State Penitentiary. Predators laid out all over the place. Heart attacks. Strokes. Aneurysms. Suicides. Cancers. And a bunch of crazy horror movie crap.”

  “Cancers?”

  “Yeah, whatever that alien created, it not only can give you a disease, it can speed up its progress so that it looks like you had it for years.”

  “How do we know the correction officers died from Anderson’s machine?” The nausea was still there, but the chief of staff had received a kick of spin adrenaline. “People die from diseases every day. Okay, so two non-predators happened to die of diseases during the extermination. Coincidence.”

  “One of them livestreamed his suicide,” said Cuning.

  Hal swallowed uncomfortably, interpreting the sickened expression on Cuning’s face as the prelude to some very bad news.

  “He got on Worldnet and hung himself in his home—in front of the world, uniform and all.”

  The chief felt the swirling nausea become a solid ball in his belly. “There’s more, isn’t there” he said weakly.

  “Oh yeah. There’s more alright. Seems Officer McKinsey had a big skeleton in his closet. He confessed before the world that he had chosen to kill himself by hanging because he and three other guards hung a predator in his cell. Jeffrey said the poor sap looked as though he was being forced by himself to kill himself.”