Order of Succession

by Bill Thompson

  Alarmed at the President’s anger, Breaux backpedaled. "Come on. You know better than that. I'm just saying you better start thinking about damage control. This is not just going away. The CIA has that guy somewhere –"

  Cham interrupted him, suddenly knowing how he was going to deal with this. "Go out there and eat lunch with those guys," he said. "Tell them the truth if you want. They'll know soon enough anyway. Tell them I'm on a call with the CIA about what happened in Dallas."

  There was a secure phone line in the bedroom. Within minutes he had Don Case on the phone. He didn't like Case and he knew the feeling was mutual. He was one of Harry Harrison's appointments, and Cham made a mental note to fire Case as soon as he got back to Washington.

  "How can I help you, Mr. President?"

  "Where's Zarif Safwan?"

  Case had to stall for an hour. Everything would be over soon, but for right now he wished he'd simply not taken Parkes's call. It wouldn’t have worked, he knew. One way or another the President would have caught up with him, so he'd better deal with this now.

  "He's in a secret location, sir. Our agents are interrogating him. I assure you he's secure."

  "I don't give a rat's ass how secure he is. Where is he? That's what I asked you."

  "All I can say is that he's in a secure location."

  Cham was just about to explode. His face was beet-red as he stood by the bed, holding the receiver. He literally screamed into the phone.

  "Listen to me, you son of a bitch! I want to know where he is. Right now. After that go out and find some boxes. You can pack your stuff because you're out of a job when I get home, but for now you will tell me where he is."

  Case hadn't intended to tell him anything, but he had to stall just a little longer. Giving him a bone would get the President off his back, at least until Parkes realized he'd been sent on a wild-goose chase. Hopefully that wouldn't happen.

  "Safwan's in a safe house in Minnesota, a few miles from the Canadian border."

  "A.J. will call you in five minutes. I want the exact location and directions on how to get there."

  "Are you planning to go see him, Mr. President?"

  Don't you worry what I'm planning, you impertinent jerk.

  "Yes, Don," he said in a condescending tone. "Of course I am. I'm planning a little trip to Minnesota. Just give Minter the damned information and pack your stuff. You'll never work inside the Beltway again. I guaran-damn-tee it."

  He called A.J. and gave him instructions. Cham was coming up with a plan. It would take some effort, but it would work. What he needed was for Safwan to admit he was acting solo. Hassan had nothing to do with this. That was what the shooter would say.

  The last thing I want right now is to go outside and eat lunch with some big shots who want to kiss the President's ass, he thought to himself as he put on a big smile and returned to the patio.

  "My apologies, gentlemen. The President's job never seems to slow down!"

  When the Chief of Staff called, Don Case gave him a complete list of directions to get to a place that didn't exist. Now Minter waited by the phone for Parkes to tell him what to do next.

  Around 1:30 the luncheon was winding down. Puffing on a cigar, Cham thanked the moguls for their support. Lou stood by his side, his mind on the news report. This could work out very well for him, he thought.

  Half an hour earlier, while the men were having lunch, the CIA director had placed a call to his counterpart at the FBI. That man had been on standby, waiting for the signal.

  "All green. All green. Proceed with the mission." Operation Clawback was about to end.

  Cham and Lou accompanied their guests to the front door and everyone shook hands. As one of the Secret Service agents opened it, they saw four men in the doorway, wearing flak jackets and holding automatic rifles in one hand, federal badges in the other. The bodyguards started for their guns but paused when they realized everyone was on the same side.

  "FBI! Stand back! You're under arrest!"

  The President's initial thought was that one of his guests was in serious trouble. This is going to be embarrassing for somebody. Damn stupid Hollywood guys.

  He waved the FBI men back and said, "Okay, boys. There's no need for so much fanfare. Why all the guns? Who's under arrest?"

  The director of the FBI stepped in front of the agents. Cham was surprised. What was he doing here?

  With a smile, the director replied, "You are, Mr. President. President Parkes and Vice President Breaux, you are under arrest for treason against the United States. I'm going to read you your rights now."

  "You're going to regret this, you bastard," Parkes said, chomping his cigar almost in half. "You have no idea what a pile of shit you're in."

  "On the contrary, sir," the FBI director replied exuberantly. "This is the best day of my life."

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  The decision to bring the team home had been made yesterday afternoon once the interrogation of Zarif Safwan was finished for the day. It was now becoming almost certain that President Parkes would learn about their plans. Case had engaged dozens of his agents for tasks that were directly related to Operation Clawback. If the President became aware of unusual activities or if he suddenly chose to remove Don as director, the entire plan would collapse. From here on out, everything had to happen at warp speed or it could all fall apart.

  Conveniently, Parkes and Breaux had been together in Los Angeles. Don Case brought the FBI director, another holdover from Harry's administration, in on the secret.

  "I'm in southern California too!" he had responded enthusiastically. The FBI chief was on vacation at his daughter's home in Malibu. "I'm handling this one myself!"

  Don had expected his counterpart to dispatch agents from the LA Bureau to make the arrest, but he understood exactly why the director wanted to be present. Don wished he could be there too. After everything Harry Harrison and the others had gone through, Case would have enjoyed watching these despicable men hauled away in handcuffs.

  _____

  Last night's double-whammy of negative news caused wild swings in the Asian financial markets. Around seven Eastern time the Dallas attacker Zarif Safwan had been positively linked to Amin Hassan who, thanks to President Parkes's support, owned control of Exxon.

  An hour later Americans heard the shocking news that the President and Vice President were under arrest for treason. That story was still unfolding, but volatile news always meant a lower stock market. The Asian and European exchanges swung wildly, but there wasn't the severe negativity that happened when the planes disappeared. This was a crisis that could be dealt with. The markets closed down less than five percent, which allowed investors to be tentatively optimistic about the New York's opening at 9:30.

  Once the news about Parkes and Breaux had broken last night, Harry Harrison called Vincent Valgardo and asked him to sit tight on his block of Exxon stock. Reminding Valgardo of the confidentiality document he'd signed, Harry disclosed that they would all be returning tomorrow. The world would learn he wasn't dead after all. That news would be released before the market's opening; Harry's advisors were optimistic it would counteract the negativity.

  Harry explained what was going to happen. CIA Director Case had contacted the ruler of Dubai, who agreed to take Amin Hassan into custody on charges of stock manipulation. Extradition procedures would begin immediately to bring him to the States to stand trial on a dozen charges.

  The Treasury Department would liquidate the Exxon stock Amin had purchased, requiring sellers to return the funds they'd received from Hassan and receive back the shares they'd sold. Those proceeds – Hassan's money – would immediately be seized by the US government to keep it out of Amin's hands. The government would guarantee that anyone who had sold stock to Hassan would not suffer a loss when they returned the shares. Whatever profit they had made by selling to Hassan Group, they could keep, courtesy of the US government.

  The plan was bold, it solved the problem of a criminal
enterprise owning a huge oil company, and it could be accomplished by a simple executive order if Harry were returned to the presidency. Valgardo agreed to keep his block intact, so long as he had the same guarantee against loss in case everything went to hell at the Stock Exchange tomorrow morning.

  _____

  At 7:35 a.m. local time, a Boeing 737 touched down at Homestead Air Reserve Base in south Florida. The pilot, a colonel in the United States Air Force, had been sent on a secret mission to a remote Caribbean island to pick up a group of people. Although he’d been given no details, the pilot was accustomed to ferrying high-level government officials, but there was no hiding his amazement when he saw the missing President, Vice President and Secretary of State come on board. There were tears in his eyes as he shook hands with his passengers. He told everyone how important this moment was for America and how proud he was to be a part of history.

  The Gulfstream would remain hidden on the island. There was plenty of time to bring it home once Operation Clawback was finished.

  The only thing air traffic control and base officials were told about the incoming flight was that the jet was on a classified mission for the government. It was directed to a large empty hangar that had been outfitted with a desk and a secure phone. Everyone milled about killing time as Harry and Marty discussed final logistics with Don Case. Case called Defense Secretary Vernon and informed him that the team was alive and returning from Homestead to Washington momentarily. Vernon wasn't part of the team – all this was news to him, and he was thrilled to learn his colleagues were alive.

  The Vice President walked across the hangar to the group and asked everyone to board in preparation for departure shortly.

  Harry had one more person to contact. He couldn't place the call himself – not just yet. This would be his last call before the world learned the astounding truth about the disappearances.

  With Harry on the line, the CIA director called Chris Wallace at Fox News. When Case told the operator it was urgent, the renowned newscaster was on the line in seconds.

  "What's up, Don?"

  "Are you sitting down? I have someone on the line who wants to talk to you."

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  Chris Wallace was a commentator for whom Harry had tremendous respect. He left nothing out – he gave Chris an exclusive interview, telling the entire story. He heard how the Air Force sergeant at Andrews allowed the planes to be sabotaged. He learned that the two Supreme Court justices had been murdered at the instructions of Amin Hassan. And he learned that Harry Harrison was on his way back to Washington to reclaim the presidency.

  It was only 8:15 Eastern time. The Stock Exchange wouldn't open for over an hour, and Harry urged the newscaster to get this story on the air quickly. Wallace assured him that would not be a problem. An exclusive like this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It would take a few minutes to vet the situation; if this were a hoax Fox would be in a colossal mess. Wallace’s producer called his contact at the CIA and was quickly transferred to the director, who confirmed everything was true. Harry Harrison was really alive and returning to DC.

  All finished, Harry strode across the hangar with a huge grin on his face. He climbed the mobile staircase, stood at the front of the cabin where all his friends were seated, and said, "Let's go home!"

  No one argued with that order.

  As the 737 rose into the air, four fighter jets pulled alongside to escort them to Andrews. They were on hand courtesy of the Defense Secretary. Vernon was a strong, tough man with years of combat service under his belt, but he had wept profusely when he learned everyone was coming back. It was a glorious day.

  This morning most Americans were still in shock from last night's news. The brand-new President and Vice President were in custody. Would a Speaker of the House become President once again? This was a wild, crazy and unsettling time, reporters reflected. Polls indicated that fear was once again sweeping the nation, only weeks after the tragic disappearance of President Harrison and the others.

  Millions of people were eating breakfast or getting the kids ready for school or driving to work when yet one more breaking news announcement came.

  What next? People would later recall the shivers of fear – the goose bumps – as they turned up the volume and steeled themselves to hear what had happened now in a country that only a month ago had been as calm and stable as any on earth.

  PRESIDENT HARRISON AND VP TAYLOR ARE ALIVE AND RETURNING TO DC TODAY.

  That was the banner that ran along the bottom of the screen as Chris Wallace reported the incredible story. He announced that he had spoken to President Harrison just moments ago. He and all the people on both aircraft would be arriving in Washington this morning.

  At Harry's suggestion, Wallace had contacted the chief justice for a comment. The justice said he was confident Harrison and Taylor would be reinstated to their offices. Parkes and Breaux still held their positions, under the presumption of innocence until being proven guilty. There was neither precedence nor need for the Speaker of the House to become President, the chief justice opined. Parkes and Breaux would possibly resign voluntarily, upon which the justice would recommend Harrison and Taylor assume the positions since neither had been officially declared dead. If the jailed leaders did not resign, the chief justice would recommend temporarily reinstating Harrison and Taylor pending the outcome of their trials for treason.

  Yes, the chief justice revealed, he had been involved in the mission from the beginning. So had Don Case, director of the CIA, and the late Senate Majority Leader Michelle Isham.

  As Wallace reported all this news, it was impossible to miss the broad smile on his face and the positive tone in his voice. At last the media could give the public something upbeat – something to be happy about.

  Finally it was time for the New York Stock Exchange to open. As expected, stocks opened lower; the Dow Jones Industrials fell around a hundred points in the first few minutes as sell orders that had been entered before the market's opening were automatically executed. Trading in ExxonMobil was halted for the day. That move was orchestrated between Don Case and the Secretary of the Treasury in the interest of maintaining an orderly market. By the time Exxon traded again, Harry Harrison would have announced the government's plan to sell Hassan Group's block.

  The market today was reacting vastly differently than that day when the planes went missing. Today there were plenty of buyers. Institutional investors looking for bargains began snapping up stocks as the prices fell and the market shot upwards. It would end the day up over nine hundred points, buoyed by the news that twenty-five missing people were alive and well.

  It was nearly eight in the evening in Dubai. Amin sat in his darkened office, watching television. He hadn't answered any of his wealthy partner's calls today, and Zayed's noon deadline to sell the stock had long since passed. He couldn't have sold it anyway; Exxon stock was halted on the New York exchange. And what did it matter? Suddenly that had become the least of his problems. This had been the worst day of his entire life. One crisis after another piled on Amin as the media announced each new astounding revelation.

  The first news flash had been about Amina. She was shown at Heathrow airport in London this morning, leaving for New York in the protective custody of two CIA agents. Amin's daughter was going to cooperate with American authorities in their investigation of Hassan Group. Upon their arrival at JFK, reporters had mobbed her, but the agents whisked her away before they could push her for answers.

  His own daughter, the ungrateful wretch. He had given and given and now she was going to help them attack her own flesh and blood? How could it have come to this?

  Next had been today's email from the enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission. It referenced the sweeping allegations of wrongdoing by Zarif Safwan against Hassan Group and Amin personally. It demanded the divestiture of his holdings in ExxonMobil within five days and stated that a criminal investigation was commencing.

 
According to the news, Cham Parkes and Louis Breaux were in custody. Amin would have been elated if he hadn't been shown on TV as a coconspirator. The President was a detestable individual. Amin had hated every minute of kowtowing to the crude boor, but now it was over. All of this was over, once and for all.

  As if that all wasn't enough, there had been the news about President Harrison and the others. All that work – all that money he'd spent – had been for nothing. Tariq the Hawk, the young smartass who thought he had pulled off the greatest terror plot in history, had ended up being nothing but a pawn in the US government's clever plan to ensnare Parkes.

  He leaned back in his office chair and put his feet on the desk, reflecting on the powerful company he had singlehandedly created. No matter how much you give people, he thought wistfully, they will stab you in the back if it benefits them. Trust no one. Not even your child.

  The night officer on duty in the lobby forty floors below buzzed him.

  "What is it?" Amin asked, clicking to the video feed from the man's desk in the expansive public area. He saw a dozen uniformed men standing there.

  "The police are here, sir. A lot of them. They're demanding I send them up. I . . . I want to be sure it's all right."

  The guard's voice was shaky. He wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't his fault, Amin thought. The kid was merely doing his job, and he was doing it a hell of a lot better than Zarif Safwan had done.

  "Of course. Send them up."

  He had almost no time left. He reached into the lower left drawer of his desk, took out his father's old hunting pistol and held it lovingly in his hands. He'd spent some of his best times as a child in the company of his father. Maybe he'd see him in a few minutes and they could reminisce about those days.