by Mark Spaid
“Yes, Comrade,” Kolchevsky said.
“It is for our fallen comrades!”
“Yes!” They all shouted.
“It is for Russia!”
“Yes!”
“It is for Comrade Stalin!”
“Yes, yes, yes!” They all shouted then charged up the stairs.
* * *
“Mr. Wilson, I have an idea,” Warren said and Trent listened.
“You can do this?”
“Yes, I have it all ready. I just need to tap in and turn it on,” Warren replied.
“Okay, do it.” Warren had been stringing wires over head for an hour as he had a plan to send the soon to be invaders a strong and deadly answer to the demands to open the door, which they all knew was coming.
* * *
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention please,” Valerie said as she stood at the podium in the press room of the Whitehouse.
“I have nothing new on the whereabouts of the President. We have heard nothing so, don’t ask. I do have an announcement then I’ll take questions.” The reporters sat in silence and waited. “The cabinet has voted unanimously to invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment and place me in charge as acting President. I’ll take questions now.” Of course, everyone started shouting at once.
“Madam Speaker, what is your title?”
“Acting President.”
“Madam Acting President, what is being done to get the President back?”
“Every effort is being made to return the President and her entire party safely but as you know the Russian President is also being held hostage.”
“What about the Russian Prime Minister?”
“At this point he is incommunicado.”
“Is he being held hostage as well?”
“We don’t know.”
“Are there any military plans to get the President back?” A reporter asked.
“You know I can’t discuss that with anyone. Next question.”
“Was it your idea to take over?”
“Yes.” The room went silent as they were surprised at Valerie’s candor.
“Were there any reservations by cabinet members?”
“Of course, but in the end, it was decided that the country needed an executive in place until President Lexington returns.”
“And if President does not return then you’ll become the President?”
“You know the Constitution as well as anyone, Bob. What do you think?”
“Who is the Designated Survivor?”
“Gee, Margaret, I guess if I tell you that then I could also let you have all the NSA closed minutes for the last six months.” There was laughter.
“How do you feel about being elevated to acting president?”
“I hate it. That’s all for now,” Valerie said and left the room amid shouted questions that she ignored. Back in the situation room they took their seats except for Jonathan Red Cloud who was safely at his undisclosed location.
“Well done again, Valerie,” Marty said.
“Same here,” Rajesh Sanghvi said.
“Are you all serious?” Valerie asked, wondering if they were just brownnosing.
“No, we mean it. You were direct and clear. After all, President Lexington may not survive. We hope for the best but we have to be ready for the worst. You’re in place and if we get bad news, you’re President and there will be no power vacuum,” Susan Rojas stated.
“Jonathan has arrived safely?” Valerie asked.
“Yes,” Susan Rojas said.
“Good, now let’s pray for a miracle,” Valerie posed.
“I thought you were an agnostic?” Mohammed Aziz asked with a grin.
“I am but today I think we could use some help from a higher power.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Let’s go,” Kulagin said and he and seven men got off the elevator on the sixtieth floor and found the door to the maintenance room.
“This is it,” a man said and moved quickly with another to try and force the door.
“No!” Kulagin yelled but it was too late. Both men were lit up by high voltage electricity and began smoking. It was a dreadful sight and they dropped to the floor dead. The lights flickered in the hallway and went out. Power all over the floor was gone. Warren had wired the door from the direct line with about a thousand volts and two hundred amps. To put it simply; that is a death sentence.
“Comrade,” Kolchevsky said as he watched and smelled two men smoldering on the floor.
“Stand back,” Kulagin said as he shot off the knob and lock with his weapon. Everyone had hit the floor upon Trent’s orders because he knew when Kulagin’s men died and the power went out he’d react forcefully and with anger. The emergency lights came on finally and lit up the room and the hallway. As they all lay on the floor, men came in the room, seven of them followed by Kulagin who stood in the middle looking around. “Get up, all of you,” and everyone got to their feet. Kulagin nodded with his head and two of his men went back into the hall and closed the door.
“I’ll have to check the panel to get power so we can broadcast, Comrade,” Kolchevsky said and Kulagin nodded. There was silence as the work continued on the electrical panel then after five minutes power was restored and the room lit up brightly. Kulagin looked all around and spotted Ellen and Deniken. Trent was in front of Ellen and Deniken’s men guarded him as well. Bonnie was right next to Ellen and Clarise was on the other side. If Ellen had been aware of this, she would’ve chased them away but she was intent on Kulagin.
“We should be ready to broadcast shortly,” Manatov said.
“Good,” Kulagin said.
“What do you want?” Sergei asked.
“Why, Mister President, you must know what I want…an end to cowering to the West, especially the United States. An end to Russia giving away lands that are rightfully hers and an end to the vilification of Comrade Stalin, the only true Russian patriot ever!” Kulagin’s voice filled the room and more than one person cringed. He was a scary person and the anger and hate in his voice was not lost on anyone.
“We’re ready, Comrade,” Manatov said and Kulagin nodded. A monitor lit up and it was an American news channel.
“Observe, Madam President, and see how your people have abandoned you,” Kulagin said with a smirk on his face.
“Here we see Acting President Valerie Jensen who we assume still carries the title of Speaker of the house,” A newsman said as he sat at the anchor desk with a female reporter.
“Yes, Lyle, there is no word of her stepping down temporarily from the Speaker’s post. The House is not in session right now. They’ll be off for another two weeks so the question is moot and of course, there is no precedent for this since this is the first time that the cabinet has placed someone in charge as acting president.”
“That’s right, Maryann, and since we have no word as to the fate of President Lexington, Acting President Jensen is the commander in chief of the armed forces. So, the question arises, will she use the military to try and rescue the President?”
“To give us his perspective on that question is retired Army General Leonard Wilcox. General what options does Acting President Jensen have?” Maryann Brownlee asked.
“Very few military options if any. It seems clear that President Lexington and President Deniken and their staff are being held in Russia. Any operation would involve, in short, an invasion of Russia…an act of war.”
“But these are renegades or at least it appears that way?” Maryann noted.
“That makes it even worse because an attack or an operation of any kind would be directed at who? The Stalinists, the Russian government, the Crimean government if it is indeed independent as Russia says they are?”
“Then what do we do?” Lyle asked.
“Until the situation clears and we know just exactly what happened, there’s not much we can do without making things worse.”
“Are diplomatic avenues open?” Maryann asked.
>
“Diplomacy with who? The Stalinists? Deniken’s government? We don’t even know who to talk to at this point.”
“Well, that’s not very encouraging I would say,” Lyle remarked.
“Thank you, General,” Maryann said and the station went to a commercial break.
“So, you see the problem you have, Mister President and Madam President. One of you has lost control of your own country and the other has a pretender on the throne. I should also add that we are in control of Kapustin Yar and the missiles are armed and ready for launch.” Sergei looked at Ellen and they were both shocked and frightened at the possibilities.
“What do you want, Kulagin?” Sergei asked.
“Justice for Russia and her people.”
“By turning back, the clock?”
“Yes, to the glorious days of the Soviet Union!”
“Stalin was a psychopath,” Sergei said.
“I should kill you for that but I need you...at least for a time.”
“Go ahead just don’t hurt anyone else,” Sergei said defiantly.
“Alright for starters who killed my men on the lower floors?”
“I did,” Trent said.
“I did also,” Tatiana said
“And me,” Vladimir added.
“Who wired the door?”
“I did,” Warren said as he stood with the other three. Ariel put her hands to her face and trembled.
“You shall all die,” Kulagin said. Tatiana pulled the gun from her back and aimed at Kulagin but one of his men shot her in the arm, she dropped the gun and it slid to Ellen’s feet and she picked it up. At the same time, a shot rang out and Warren was struck on the side of his head and fell to the floor.
“Warren!” Ariel yelled and knelt beside her unconscious husband. Then a man aimed his gun at Ellen and Trent reacted instinctively and moved to shield Ellen but so did Bonnie and Clarise, who only had a wounded arm, also ran in front of Ellen. Lexington and Deniken were pure gold to Kulagin. He needed them as leverage to get what he wanted. He would’ve never harmed them but his henchmen were just that…thugs with no concept of the larger picture. The man began firing and hit Trent in the left shoulder; he stayed in front of Ellen but fell to one knee. Vladimir who moved to protect Sergei was struck in the right side and fell to the floor. The man kept firing and shot Clarise in the chest…she fell on the floor followed by Bonnie who took a bullet in the neck. “Stop!” Kulagin said as he looked around. The shooting ended. Kulagin went to the two men who did the firing and shot them both in the head. “No more!” He yelled and his men got the message.
“Clarice,” Ellen said and knelt by her friend and advisor.
“I guess I blew it this time,” Clarice said with a chuckle but she was hurt very badly
“Lie still, Clarice, you’ll be okay.”
“It doesn’t feel okay. No matter what happens I’m proud to have served you.” She was fading fast and Ellen held her friend’s hand.
“Don’t talk, just take it easy.”
“Too late for that, Madam President.” Clarice slowly closed her eyes and took her last breath. Ellen looked up with tears in her eyes then noticed Bonnie.
“Bonnie,” she said as she crawled to her other best friend. Bonnie tried to talk but the wound and the shock of being struck by a bullet in the neck rendered her unable to speak. The bullet entered the neck to the left of center. “Don’t move, we’ll get help. Bonnie squeezed her hand and smiled.
“Tatiana,” Dave said as went to the floor, lifted his wife up and held her.
“I guess I wasn’t fast enough,” Tatiana said grinning.
“Don’t move around, the bullet is away from any vital organs.”
“Okay, Doc.”
“I have to check on the others.”
“Go ahead but try and visit me if you can.” She chuckled as nothing much fazed Tatiana.
“Vladimir is hurt,” Sergei said. Dave knelt and examined the wound.
“The bullet is inside. There’s not much I can do. He needs a hospital. Keep him still and elevate his head.” Those not shot were scared to death. Belinda hugged Justin, Jozette held Andy and Ariel knelt by Warren.
“Over here,” Ariel shouted and Dave came right away.
“He’s taken a grazing hit on the side of his head. The bullet didn’t break the skull so that’s good.”
“Why is he unconscious?”
“Any time the head is injured the brain can put a person to sleep to keep them safe.”
“So, he’ll be okay?” Ariel asked as her voice cracked.
“I didn’t say that but he has a chance since the bullet didn’t enter his brain. Keep him absolutely still and don’t let him talk.” Ariel nodded and Dave went back to Tatiana. Ellen was talking to Sergei as Kulagin paced the room trying to decide what to do next. He had lost control of the situation and he always hated that. He was one who had to be in charge at all times and people took his orders. The two dead comrades on the floor was suggestive of what happened to anyone who crossed Andrei Kulagin.
“That was not my doing,” Kulagin said.
“This is all your doing,” Ellen replied.
“I have removed the problem.”
“You are the problem. You’re a psychotic megalomaniac obsessed with his own glory and place in history.” Trent motioned for Ellen not to antagonize Kulagin.
“I see you’re holding a gun, Madam President. Slide it over to me.”
“No.”
“I won’t ask again.”
“Well just so we’re clear I’m not giving you the gun.”
“Then I’ll be forced to kill more of your people.”
“I thought you’d say that; President Deniken and I have an answer for that type of threat.” With that Ellen grabbed Sergei and pointed the gun at his head.
“What are you doing?”
“What needed to be done a long time ago. You see this security thing is all backwards. Too many people have died or been hurt trying to protect me. That stops right now. I’m the President of the United States and I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. What I should’ve been pledging to protect was the people of my country. How can I do that if they keep getting in the way of bullets meant for me? No, from now on I’m going to take the bullets meant for my people starting right here today.” Kulagin was dumbfounded and he didn’t know what to say. “Well, where’s your platitudes about Stalin? None, okay, so this is how it’s going to be going forward. If any harm comes to any of these people in this room. If one more person is hurt, I will shoot President Deniken in the head and then myself. If any of your men come close, I’ll do the same thing. With both of us dead, you’ll have nothing with which to bargain.”
“Do you play poker, Madam President?”
“I have.”
“Do you ever bluff?”
“Sometimes.”
“What if I think you’re bluffing”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
“I like your style, Madam President.”
“I guess we’re at a stalemate,” Ellen said.
“Maybe but I could order a missile launched at your capital. I’m sure your husband and children are there.”
“They are.”
“How do you think they’ll do crawling through the rubble?”
“Can’t say but they’re resilient.”
“What will your people say if you let Washington DC go up in smoke? Or what if I order all missiles launched at New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angles, Atlanta and so on.?”
“I’d say how will your people do crawling through the rubble of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Volgograd etc.?” Kulagin lost his grin as he took a breath and pursed his lips.
“Like you said, Madam President, we’re at a standoff.
* * *
“Comrade, you’re here,” a guard said as Viktor Melenkov slipped in a side door at the Senate office building where the Presidents of Russia made their residence and o
ffice. Kulagin had people everywhere and they were ready for Melenkov and for the coup that they were sure was coming.
“Yes, I am; now secure the building as best you can. I’ll be in Deniken’s office.”
“Yes, Comrade.” The guard moved through the building seeing the guards who were fellow Stalinists. They weren’t all in Kulagin’s camp. About eight were Stalinists and twelve who were loyal to Deniken. Melenkov reached the office and closed the door behind him. He looked around and grinned.
“So, I’m here at last. The end of Sergei Deniken and the traitors who would sell out Russia.” He sat at the desk for a minute then called a number on his cell.
“Yes,” the voice said on the other end.
“Comrade, I am in the office.”
“Good, I’ve hit a snag here but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” Kulagin said.
“What next, Comrade?”
“I call Radinsky.”
“Good, good,” Melenkov said as he fidgeted like a little kid who just got what he wanted for Christmas.
“I’ll be in touch, keep things under control there.”
“Yes, Comrade.”
* * *
“That was a confederate and we now control the President’s office,” Kulagin said as he put his cell away.
“How do you know the army will support you” Sergei asked.
“They will when I explain my position on television tomorrow.” It was two in the morning and most of those in the room were sleepy. Andy, Jozette, Justin and Belinda were huddled near Little Wolf as Julieta sat on the floor holding his hand with her head on his lap. She was asleep. Ariel was next to Warren who was asleep. Dave was with Tatiana. He was asleep but she was wide awake and not taking her eyes off Kulagin.
“Brave what can we do?” Julieta whispered as she woke up.
“Not much right now. There are four heavily armed men and we saw they’re not afraid to shoot us.”
“The President is sure a brave woman,” Julieta said.