by Mark Donovan
Ron looked up at Dave and Dana, as Barbas ranted to Christos.
“Oh, we are much more aware of who is on to us Mr. Barbas than you could ever imagine,” Dave said coolly.
“We’re going to need to regroup and come up with a new plan very quickly,” said Barbas angrily to Christos. “We need to shut down NSurv fast. We can be assured Mr. Henson is working up alternative plans, as we speak, to go public with the Vice President’s video. And God knows what else he and NSurv have been up to or could release. Have Jeff Kolosky call Ms. Cogswell ASAP. He needs to convince her that we need her back at ABO headquarters immediately for a new story we want her to work on. By keeping her at arm’s reach we can at least keep better tabs on her, and NSurv.”
“From what Jeff told me, she was planning to be back in the office on Monday,” responded Christos.
“Good, but still have Jeff call her today and confirm that she is still planning to be back on Monday,” Barbas said. “Again, she very well may have drawn a connection between last night’s event and ABO. If so, her plans to return may have changed. We know that Ms. Cogswell and Mr. Henson had a very close relationship in the past. Mr. Henson may be convincing her to stay under his protection.”
“And what if she has already made the assessment that her abduction last night and ABO are connected?” questioned Christos. “What if she elects not to return to ABO, at least not immediately?”
“That can’t happen” responded Barbas angrily. “You and Jeff will need to convince her otherwise that she needs to get back to ABO headquarters ASAP. If you can’t come up with a juicy story to entice her back, then threaten her with possible termination due to a breach of contract. If you go with the latter approach don’t hold back. Remind her that she may also find it impossible to find new work in our industry, as the journalistic world is a rather small one.”
“We’ll do our best,” said Christos.
“No, you’ll do it!” responded Barbas. “Another screw up or apology will be unacceptable. I have too much riding on this administration.” And now more so than ever thought Barbas. “You and Jeff get Ms. Cogswell back to New York, and fast. Also, I still want to get access to NSurv’s surveillance technology. Work with Lazaro to see if he can learn more on what NSurv’s core technology is and if he has any ideas on how to get a hold of it. I’ve already got one stick in the fire on getting access to it. Chief of Staff Ken Hardy is working quietly with a close friend of his in the Pentagon, but I’m not optimistic that avenue will pan out.”
“We’ll get it done,” responded Christos, but thinking to himself the difficulty of meeting Barbas’s expectations.
“Good. Call me when you’ve heard back from Jeff and Lazaro,” replied Barbas, as he then hit the end button on his mobile phone.
Chapter 35 (March 14, Thursday 9:40am Mountain Daylight Savings Time)
“I knew we were right about ABO and that they were behind last night’s incident,” exclaimed Dana to Dave and Ron. “I thought I had recognized that man they called Lazaro. Now I know for sure I’ve seen him before. We have to bring these guys down, but how do we go about it.”
“Clearly they have no hesitation kidnapping people,” Ron said. “So anything appears dangerously possible with them.”
“Based upon Barbas’s level of urgency on shutting us down, we’re going to need to speed up our timetable and start letting the American public see what’s going on in its government and political leadership,” said Dave. “Ron, we’re going to need to plan on airing a PG-13 version of the Vice President’s actions in Buenos Aires. Can you edit the film and prepare to have it ready to be released in the next few days?”
“No problem boss. We’ll have it ready for public viewing by Sunday,” responded Ron.
“Excellent, I’ve got the perfect time and venue for showcasing it to the country,” said Dave. “I’ll work with our IT department on making sure we’re ready to do a surprise emergency broadcast announcement for early next week.”
“So what do I do about Jeff Kolosky?” asked Dana. “I assume I’ll be hearing from him in the next couple of hours. What am I going to say to him?”
“Tell him the truth. Tell him you were injured last night in an attempted abduction,” responded Dave. “Of course he’ll feign surprise, but we all know differently, and he won’t be able to fully deny the fact that you may have actually been hurt. Explain to him that your leg was injured pretty badly and that you’re going to need to take the next month off, and that you plan to stay out here in McCall.”
“He won’t buy it, because from the sound of Barbas and Grivas’s conversation they won’t accept no for an answer,” responded Ron. “He’ll relentlessly pressure her in fear of the repercussions to his own career.”
“Well, Jeff is going to have to accept no for an answer,” responded Dana in a determined voice. “I can’t go back, as Dave and I discussed last night. And from what we just heard from Barbas, he simply wants to use me as a pawn and conduit into NSurv to help take you guys down. My career with ABO is over. For me, listening to this conversation between Barbas and Grivas only strengthens my resolve in bringing these men, and the administration down. The American public needs to know what is going on in its nation’s capital. By working with the two of you in bringing these corrupt men to public justice, for the first time in a long time I’ll actually provide real journalistic value to the American people.”
“Dana, when you talk to Jeff, try to get a sense of how fully onboard he is with Grivas and Barbas,” said Dave. “Having a friend inside ABO could prove to be helpful down the road.”
“I’ll try,” responded Dana. “But right now I’m so angry and disgusted I’m tempted just to tell Jeff and ABO to shove it when he calls.”
“For now I’d try to stick with playing the sympathy card,” replied Dave as he looked at his watch. “We’re going to need all the help we can get when we release our information to the nation and all hell breaks loose in the White House.”
“Ron, please show Dana around the company and introduce her to the staff. Also, see if you can find her an office to temporarily work out of. I’ve got to make a call to our newest employee back east. He’s planning to come out here next week and go through an orientation with us while his university is on spring break. I want to see if I can convince him to come on board permanently with us, at least until the end of the summer. I know my request may delay his graduation by a few months, but I think we could really use him right now for an extended period of time.”
Ron looked at Dave questioningly while raising his left eyebrow.
“Yes, he’s that good,” responded Dave somewhat defensively. “Dr. Zempke highly recommended him, and after personally meeting him and reviewing his transcripts, I’m convinced he could prove to be quite an asset for us over the next couple of months.”
Dave looked over at Dana. “I’ll be back in an hour Dana to talk with you. I’ve got a hot project for you to work on.”
Dana had a puzzled look on her face as Dave left Ron’s office in a rush.
Chapter 36 (March 18, Monday 7:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time)
President Jesse Coleman was sitting at his desk in the Oval Office going over his speech one last time. In one hour he would introduce to the nation his “Transportation Movement Act”. His Chief of Staff, as well as the Vice President and the Secretary of Commerce, were in the room providing last minute coaching and support. It was an extremely important night for the administration. The speech had been re-written a dozen times to ensure that the President couched the major elements of the “Transportation Movement Act” in a way that the public could not only understand it, but also embrace it.
Since the Secretary had floated the “Act” nearly a couple of weeks ago out on the west coast, there had been mixed reactions from Congress. Of course his closest allies in Congress rallied around the “Act” instantly. They loved it, if not for any other reason than the fact that their most ardent campaign supporters and
financial backers did so. Similarly, and as expected, the President’s traditional opponents in Congress railed against it. They had been vehemently rejecting the “Act” outright calling it another power grab from the administration that would do nothing for addressing the floundering economy or global climate change. It was the fence sitters in Congress, however, that the President was really focused on tonight. They were mainly comprised of a group of congressmen and senators who represented the rural heartland of the country. He had to prove to at least some of them tonight that the constituents in their districts would embrace the “Act”. That their constituents would see the true value of the “Act” to both the nation and themselves. The farmers in the heartland had suffered financially over the past decade, much in part due to a reduction in paid farm subsidies to them. Yes, there were a number of bad crop growing seasons over the past couple of decades, but it wasn’t the main reason for the farmers’ financial losses. But tonight he had to convince them otherwise. That global climate change was at the root of their declining farms and agricultural businesses, and not the reduction in government subsidies.
The truth was, however, that the country’s farmers didn’t need to produce as much grain as they once did. Our country can buy the grain cheaper today from other countries in Asia and Europe. Our farmers were actually doing more harm than good to the planet. By planting their crops, they were polluting the environment and actually contributing to global warming. These negatives far outweighed the benefits of helping to feed a few extra hungry mouths in third world countries. But tonight, the emphasis had to be made on global climate change as the main cause of their financial decline over the past decade. If the President could get the farmers behind him, then he could pull enough congressional fence sitters off the fence, and to his side, to pass the “Transportation Movement Act.”
“Mr. President, I just received confirmation from our communications room that all the networks are ready to broadcast your speech at 8:00pm,” said the Chief of Staff. “From what they are telling me in the communications room, the networks are apparently thrilled with the summary speech notes we provided to them earlier today. It appears you have their full support in championing the “Act” to the nation’s public.”
President Jesse Coleman stared out one of the windows of the Oval Office in deep thought. He had high hopes for tonight’s speech. His future depended upon it. He needed to get the TMA passed through Congress. His most influential supporters and largest contributors were counting on him to deliver this time. They had paid handsomely over the years to get him where he was today, and as he had been reminded more often than he cared to remember in recent months, he had failed them. There would be no more next-time if he failed to get the TMA passed in Congress.
“That’s excellent to hear,” responded the President as he turned back to his guests in the office. “We’re going to need all of our friends help to get the TMA passed through Congress. We are fortunate to have had a national press that has been so supportive of us over all these years.”
As the president completed his sentence, however, he wondered to himself how much longer the press would continue to support him if he failed getting the TMA passed through Congress. He knew who was ultimately in control of the press. It wasn’t him or his administration. It was the same men that financed much of his campaigns over the years and who had controlling ownership in the major networks and newspapers.
The Chief of Staff’s mobile phone rang. He answered the phone and quickly hit the end button.
“Mr. President, the communications team is ready for you,” said the Chief of Staff. “They’d like you to come to the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room to get you mic’d up and prep’d for the speech.”
“Okay, sounds good,” responded the President.
As they stood up to depart the Oval Office Secretary Devins patted the President on the shoulder and said, “Knock it out of the park tonight Mr. President.”
The President looked at her and responded with a smile. “Nancy, if I can do half as well as you did with the business leaders, we’ll pull enough of those fence sitting congressmen to our side and get this deal done.”
The Secretary just smiled back at the President, and as she did, the NSurv team back in Idaho watched the President pass by her and out the door of the Oval Office.
Dave looked over at Ron and Dana and said, “Let’s start paying closer attention to those fence sitting congressional members. For the ones that decide to fall into the President’s camp we need to clearly understand and record why they did so. I’ll bet it won’t be from constituent support of the President’s plans that they fall in line with him. We’re going to need to deploy more assets to track all of the congressional fence sitters. Ron, work out a plan to get them under surveillance.”
“Will do Dave, however, it could prove to be quite the logistical effort,” responded Ron. “Chasing down congressional members is akin to trying to catch un-penned chickens.”
“I agree. However, you should be able to get access to the majority of them at the Annual Congressional Dinner that is coming up in Washington in three days,” replied Dave.
“As a matter of fact Jeff Kolosky is the Master of Ceremonies for the event,” commented Dana.
“You’re right,” thought Dave out loud. “I know he wasn’t all too happy with you telling him that you’d be taking a leave of absence for a month to recover from your leg injury, but maybe you can talk to him again to see if you can glean some information out of him about the dinner. Any intelligence we can get up front could help make Ron and his team’s job a little easier.”
“Yes, he wasn’t too pleased with me when I spoke to him, but he seemed to be reasonably understanding about my decision to take time off,” replied Dana. “I’ll give him a call tomorrow and see what I can find out. Overall he’s not a terribly bad guy. Like anyone else in the news industry, he’s just an extremely ambitious guy. Unfortunately in his case, he’s been managed by some very tough and wealthy men who have their own political agendas.”
“Based on what you’re saying then, simply explain to him that you’re calling to give him a status update on your health, and that you’re looking forward to getting back to the office as soon as you’re physically able,” responded Dave. “This way he won’t become suspicious with your questioning of the dinner.”
Chapter 37 (March 18, Monday 8:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time)
The red light lit up as President Jesse Coleman looked into the lens of the camera and began to address the American public. Off to the side of the room, and out of the view of the camera lens, stood the Vice President, the Chief of Staff, Secretary of Commerce Nancy Devins, the First Lady, and a number of aides and communications room technicians. They all stood perfectly silent as they waited nervously for the President to begin speaking. They were all in this together. Each knew their way of life, including the power, wealth, and prestige that they shared, were on the line tonight. Like the President, they all knew that they were at the end of their ropes with their most ardent and wealthiest financial supporters, and that if the President failed, their careers and all the spoils that came with it were gone. As they quietly stood looking at the President he began to speak.
“Good evening my fellow Americans. Thank you for welcoming me into your homes’ this evening to share with you my vision of the future for both our country and the world. As we are all sadly aware, our country has suffered economically over the past decade. A large number of Americans are out of work today, and many have been unemployed for years. I empathize greatly with these Americans. It is an unacceptable situation that can’t be allowed to continue, nor should ever have happened in the first place. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons that occurred before my time in office, and situations that have risen under my watch that I have had little control over, we have found ourselves in this economic malaise.”
The President paused for effect and to pivot to another major topic in his speec
h.
“At the same time we’ve witnessed the economic decline in our country, we’ve also experienced several major natural weather catastrophes over the past decade. These catastrophes have also negatively and significantly impaired our country’s economic progress. Though there are still some non-believers out there in our country about the reality of manmade global climate change, make no mistake, it has adversely affected us. Global climate change has played a significant role in not only the health of our planet, but also in the economic health of our country. The cost of natural disaster clean-up and recovery in several of our major metropolitan cites over the past decade has been in the trillions of dollars for our nation. And this cost doesn’t include the economic loss of private businesses, which in itself is estimated to be in the trillions of dollars. Moreover, global climate change also affects the personal health and well-being of the citizens of this great land, particularly the young and elderly. The increasingly warmer temperatures during the summer months now kills thousands of people each year due to heat stroke and related ailments. Similarly, the increase in frequency of strong hurricanes and tornadoes, as well as blizzards, kills several thousand people annually now in this country.”
“Consequently, as President of this great country, I am here talking to you tonight to tell you that there is a direct relationship between the poor economic state of our country and global warming. But more importantly, I come to you tonight with a plan that addresses both of these major issues facing our country. A plan that restores our economy to its glory years, and that at the same time, addresses global climate change.”
The President paused to take a sip of water from the glass sitting next to him.
“The plan that my administration has put together is a sound plan that will provide millions of new jobs over the next decade, reduces our country’s carbon footprint dramatically, and finally, revolutionizes our public transportation infrastructure. The plan is officially named the “Transportation Movement Act”.”