Treasonous Behavior- in the Beginning

by Robert Johnson

  General Wells went on. “I have complete confidence in my generals and commanders in the field. Thus far, every one of them has done an outstanding job in carrying out their assigned tasks despite the difficult situations they find themselves in. I have no doubt,” he addressed the President, “that our mission shall be completed as planned and on time. With that, I would like to turn it over to the Military Operations Commander, Lt. General Howard Clayton.”

  “Thank you Mr. President, General Wells,” General Clayton commenced without fanfare.

  “We currently have over two million uniformed and armed troops on the ground, including regular soldiers, bands of National Guards, and foreign militia. Troops have earlier been proportionally attached to command centers in every population core throughout the nation. That includes over fifteen hundred cities with census counts over 25,000. Larger metro regions, have of course, been much more challenging than the smaller towns and rural areas. However, with the coordinated efforts of all active agencies, and you gentlemen,” he pointed around the table, “we can expect excellent results within the time frame allotted.”

  The President had one question. “General, have you encountered any form of resistance so far?”

  The General was hoping he would not be asked that question, though he had no choice but to tell the truth. “Nothing we can’t handle, sir. We’ve had isolated pockets of resistance, mostly in the outlying areas. They’re nothing but a few groups fluffing their feathers. A small number of our soldiers have been killed in the round-ups, mostly foreigners, so it’s not a big loss.”

  “What about out west?” the President asked. He knew Texas and the sparsely populated sections of the western portions of the country could be thorns in his side, as they had been throughout his presidential elections and administrative terms.

  “Well…well,” the General stuttered. “There are clusters of resistance throughout Texas. As you know they still allow people to own guns out there. Some of them won’t go down without a fight, but we have enough military forces nearby to contain and snuff out the rebels.”

  “And down south?” the commander-in-chief wanted to know.

  “Hillbillies and rednecks. They have no leadership, no structure, no serious forces. They’re always a royal pain in the ass…ah, excuse me sir. But I believe we have them under control also, sir.”

  Fire burned in the President’s eyes. Nobody was going to slow down, never mind stop this essential mission, least of all a bunch of inbred, toothless wonders living in trailer houses down near the creek. “Damn rednecks. No good Texans. They always want to start a fight. What the hell is this, National-fucking-Pride Week?”

  No one dared to respond.

  “Listen to me everyone, and listen good,” the President blasted, as he stood up. There were no smiles at the table now. “I want this operation to be completed as planned. I don’t care what has to be done. I don’t care who gets trampled on or who dies. Most of them are going to die anyway. I don’t give a shit what it costs. If you have to wipe out a whole town or an entire city, then do it. There will be no surviving subversives. These mobs of rebels, these backward revolutionaries, these ill-advised patriots must be swiftly and aggressively dealt with. I want them completely exterminated.

  “Gentlemen, these people are nothing more than domestic terrorists, homegrown insurgents. I want them hunted down ‘til they have no place to hide. I want them squashed to a pulp, burnt to a cinder. There will be no mercy, you hear me? Each of you gentlemen have been selected because of your special skills, your years of experience, and your pledge to the new order. Now do your god-damn jobs.”

  General Clayton shrunk into his seat and timidly bowed to his commander, letting the next man pick up the briefing.

  The Deputy of Transportation straightened out his pile of top secret documents, giving the President time to simmer down.

  “Mr. President. All traffic came to a stand still when the pulse hit. Millions of running vehicles stopped in their tracks without warning. All aircraft were permanently grounded.” He nearly snickered at the double meaning. “Ocean vessels have been rendered useless. All major roads critical to the mission have been cleared. Reports have come in that some older vehicles have been seen traveling about, but the numbers are considered insignificant.

  “Our fleets of necessary military vehicles and transport buses are operational, thanks to the protective shields installed. More buses could have been used due to the large number of detainees. However, the transports are running around the clock as we speak. Air Force One and your helicopters, sir, are in perfect condition as well, and are ready for your use once it is safe above.” The Deputy finished his reporting, relieved the President didn’t rip him a new one too.

  But the President did have a question. “Mr. Deputy, what happened to the planes in the air once the pulse spread?” He knew the answer, but he simply wanted to hear the gruesome details from an expert.

  The Deputy cleared his throat. “At the moment of the EMP impact all power would have been lost to any aircraft in flight. There would be no survivors.”

  “What about the flights outside the perimeter of impact, the planes en route to the United States?” the President clarified his inquiry.

  “Oh,” the Deputy mumbled. “Aircraft flying safely beyond the force of the pulse would not be affected. However,” he took a long

  pause, “they would still have to land. Most aircraft inbound from overseas would not have sufficient fuel levels to turn about. A few may have been able to change course to places like southern Mexico, farther north into Canada, or perhaps one of the islands in the Caribbean, but for most of them that would be impossible. And as you are aware sir, per the devised mission, it was standard procedure to block all major runways with abandoned vehicles, heavy equipment, and debris to prevent any landings at the larger airports.”

  The President released a wide smile. “Yes, I know.”

  An aide, an Army Major, tapped lightly on the double doors, opened them and entered the conference room. He moved toward the President, his head lowered. He excused himself and gave the commander a small piece of paper which the President quickly read. From his chair the President looked at his cabinet with an extended silence.

  “Gentlemen, I regret to inform you that the Vice-President has been killed.”

  Chapter 28

  T

  he VP was dead. A stunned hush filled the room at the sudden news.

  There wasn’t much love lost over the demise of the Vice-President. It was generally agreed that he was more of a liability than an asset to the administration and for the new order. His absence from this committee meeting was painfully obvious and pleasantly noticed. If the truth were told, the Vice-President was kept on a short leash simply to pull in some of the senior constituents and the white vote. Except for those limited benefits, he was actually looked upon as a moron whose numerous misspeaks and foolish antics had caused unwarranted issues for the political party in general and the administration in specific.

  The President mulled over the memo. He was glad the dimwit was gone. In fact, it had been he, the President, who had sent the VP on the scheduled emissary trip to the United Nations just minutes before the pulse was set off. Great timing. The fool had no idea what was about to happen.

  After a moment of silence the President nodded toward the next man at the table to continue. Rest in peace you moron, we have work to complete.

  The Deputy of Energy spoke up.

  “Mr. President, I am pleased to report that all command posts have adequate power to complete their tasks. Generators, shielded from the

  anticipated blast, are in proper working order. The main electrical grids and power plants, are, of course, out of commission. However, additional backup generators placed in storage prior to the event are ready for quick installation and reactivation of any or all power transmissions throughout crucial portions of the country when the time is right.

  “All nuclear power
plants were safely shut down yesterday and are capable of maintaining their integrity once we open up for business again. You will certainly be able to restrict their upstart as you deem necessary, sir. And finally, the White House can be up and running with the flip of a switch. In conclusion, all systems are proceeding as smoothly as can be expected.”

  The President nodded his approval. He liked hearing good news.

  It was the Communications Deputy’s turn to share his information.

  “Mr. President, the telecommunications we had installed in Stations One and Two are working perfectly. Our satellites were well beyond the range of impact and were not affected by the EMP. They continue to function as designed and the satellite phones are operating as planned. The feed allows us to send and receive encrypted data through our secured network. All sectors, districts, and regions relay their status through the proper levels to our communications Command Center here at Station One. Local communiqué exchanges between the men in the field and their section headquarters have been restricted due to the limited range of their equipment. But, I believe, sir, that the majority of the information we are receiving is current and accurate.”

  The Deputy quickly turned to the man next to him, hoping the President didn’t have any questions or concerns. But, as every man in the room knew, the commander-in-chief understood the basic workings of every system in play.

  “Thank you Mr. Deputy,” the President added. “Tell me. Are there any active civilian communication systems?”

  Damn! The Deputy thought to himself. The President was better briefed than he had believed. “Yes sir. Some citizens band radio transmissions have been monitored. Apparently, patchy groups were able to cage their equipment allowing them to work over long distances. However, these rebels are ill prepared and fragmented in such a manner that they should be of no danger to the completion of your plan.”

  “If they’re so ‘ill prepared’ as you say,” the President interjected, “then how is it they knew enough to shield their transmission systems?”

  The Deputy had no answer and sat in his seat like a dummy.

  The President held his cool this time. “I told you men to put a stop to any insurgents, any dissidents who may cause problems. That, gentlemen, includes knocking out their CB capabilities.”

  “Yes sir,” the deflated Deputy responded, knowing it was impossible to stop every CBer in the country from freely broadcasting.

  After a short pause, the next member, the Deputy of Foreign Affairs, moved quickly into his lengthy report.

  “Mr. President, the entire world has been watching America over the past twenty-four hours. Many of our European allies have declared states of emergencies themselves, fearing a similar EMP event may hit them as well. Canada and Mexico are most concerned since significant portions of their nations have already been affected. Both countries are on full military alert. Several other allies, including Great Britain, Japan, South Korea, and Israel have initiated first steps toward martial law as precautionary measures, while maintaining their military forces in critical defense maneuvers. Our allies are scared to death, Mr. President. And rightfully so.

  “America’s financial networks no longer exist. It is in complete shambles. The Federal Reserve is shut down and has lost control of the government’s monetary system. All banking has ceased, leaving citizens without pay checks and cash. The New York Stock Exchange is dark, and I dare to say, all financial instruments—stocks, bonds, hedge funds, commodities, pensions, both private and public—have been suspended, if not entirely wiped out. Expectations are that none of the mentioned systems will ever recover. All of that leads to the U.S. dollar having lost more than fifty percent of its value in the international market over night. It is projected that the American dollar will be worthless in no time.

  “Conversely, the quote on precious metals has skyrocketed in the past day. Speculation is causing demand to out-pace the supply. Gold is trading thirty-five percent higher than yesterday. It is projected by the major London banks that gold will reach three thousand dollars per ounce should America fail to turn around in the next week. Silver is following the same upward swing and may hit three hundred dollars an ounce.”

  The Deputy took a deep breath. “We all know it will take upwards to a year for the country to regain any substantial ground. But most of the nation will never recover, at least not under the old methods.”

  “What about our enemies?” the President asked.

  “They’re coming out of the woodwork. Nearly every country in the Middle East is celebrating our dilemma. The Emirates, Saudi Arabia, even Kuwait and surrounding kingdoms who we’ve worked with have remained silent, though the word from that region is the White Satan and the infidels have finally succumbed to Muslim radical terrorism. North Korea is rattling its sabers, forcing South Korea and our troops stationed there to stand at the highest level of readiness. Iran, too, is causing trouble, which should be no surprise. That nation is preparing to launch its first round of short-range missiles toward Israel which would spark full out regional war.

  “The nine hundred pound gorillas in the room are, of course, China and Russia. Both nations have their nuclear subs within striking range off all our shores, with heavier presence along the eastern seaboard, most notably at the mouths of the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay. Although we have certain agreements with the countries’ leaders, neither one can be trusted to hold up their end.”

  The President grinned. He knew every aspect of the Chinese and Russian working relationship with the U.S. He had been the one to initiate the temporary treaties. And yes, he expected them to renege on their deals once the giant appeared to be down for good. They could never be trusted to hold true their agreements, and so too was he, the President thought.

  The Deputy of Foreign Affairs concluded his formidable account. “In effect, our allies are too involved with their own self preservation to offer any form of assistance to America. Our adversaries are prepared to swoop in once the country shows no proof of life and its inability to defend itself. We have perhaps four or five days at most before World War III begins.”

  “Thank you Mr. Deputy,” the President said. “A very informative report.”

  The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security was next.

  He could not match the previous speaker’s intensive briefing. “Sir, DHS, working in conjunction with the new Army, has focused its efforts on the preliminary operations, which I might add once again, are functioning beyond our expectations. Our first task was to initiate the Internet kill switch to ensure no one except for authorized insiders would be capable of spreading news of the event or coordinating grass roots militia forces against our operations.

  “We have also, in coordination with the Department of Transportation, set up checkpoints along every major roadway corridor and highway in the country to control the potential civilian and unsanctioned militia movements. The southern borders have been left unmanned since it is anticipated that very little northbound traffic will be encountered. Quite the opposite, if anything, it has been reported that undocumented immigrants and some U.S. citizens are trying to flee into Mexico, probably due to the blackout and arctic sweep. Very few of those traveling southbound will survive the trip.

  “The American roundup, as determined by the NSA’s Threat Matrix Score, or ‘Red List,’ has assisted in the streamlining of final disposition for potential dissidents. The mission has proceeded relatively smoothly with the assistance of Russian and Chinese troops, with whose nations we have bilateral agreements,” the Secretary added.

  “There is a lot going on simultaneously, much of it hand-in-hand with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a contingent of DHS. So, with that, I’ll turn to the Undersecretary of FEMA to expound on the situation.”

  The man in charge of FEMA was ready.

  “Our major Readiness Exercise 84 is in full procedure. As General Wells had mentioned, Operations Rescue and Clean Sweep are moving along fine as sub-prog
rams of Operation Garden Plot in their movement and control of the population. The more advanced process of Operation Cable Splicer, Mr. President, involved in the orderly takeover of state and local governments by the new order, had been established prior to the pulse event. Cable Splicer has appointed low level military commanders to replace the local elected officials in order to guarantee the continuity of government and the ability to monitor the regions’ populace.”

  The Undersecretary reached for a glass of water and took a small sip. “As for the nearly twelve hundred incarceration facilities scattered around the regions, they are filling up quickly as the buses, trains, and trucks are shuttling in their cargos from local temporary detention centers. Once the camps reach maximum containment we’ll

  have to contend with the excess prisoner populations as earlier discussed. I suggest, Mr. President, we look closely at the United Nation’s Agenda 21 plan to deal with the massive influx of captive civilians and loose dissidents. Otherwise, the centers and camps will be well beyond capacity within the week.”

  The President nodded toward the FEMA chief. “Thank you. I’ll look into that.” Massive executions at the detention centers were an option previously arranged. He glanced at General Wells, as if to say, take care of this potential mess.

  The Deputy of the National Security Agency was next and he didn’t waste a second.

  “Our decades-long monitoring of potential undesirables within the country has paid off. All of those on ‘The List’ have been tracked through various Internet, social media, telecommunication, and personal means. Through our dozens of intercept centers we have collected over twenty trillion transmissions. Our surveillance of domestic, as well as foreign contacts, has gathered incalculable data-mined intelligence.

  “We know everything we need to know about everyone we need to know. We know who they are, their familial situation, their financial status, their political position, and their affiliations. We know where they live, where they work, what they read, what they watch, and what they think. We even know how much they cheat on their taxes.”