United States Invaded (17 page)

“John, are you suggesting the Russians attacked us with our own warhead? Why would he kill himself and his team?”

“We don’t think he knew what the impact would be. We think he thought he was creating a dirty bomb. Puten didn’t want any witnesses. What’s better than turning the witnesses into radioactive dust? They never felt a thing. He entered a code, then boom; he and his team are nothing but gas atoms. Sir, the FBI captured four other Russian teams; they were caught trying to plant explosives at four of our nuclear plants. If they had been successful, they would have caused four massive radioactive clouds that would have contaminated hundreds of thousands of acres. We would have lost over a million people.”  

“How do we get even?”

“I’m going to suggest it’s best to discuss these options in a much smaller group.”

Some in the room, start mumbling, the Attorney General says, “Wait a minute John, I think we all have a need to know and have a right to discuss the options.”

John looks around the room, “I’m not saying you don’t have a right to hear and discuss the options, I’m saying that if the plan fails, there’s no reason for all of you to be taken down with the President and myself. If you weren’t there, if you don’t know what the plan was, then you’re safe from any repercussions. I’m not suggesting the secrecy to keep you out of the loop; I’m suggesting the secrecy to protect you.”

The room is silent for a couple of minutes. President Brownstone says, “I’m going to agree with John on this one. We’re going to take a break for thirty minutes, during this break, John and I will discuss the options.”

The Situation Room empties except for the Secretary of Defense and the President.

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Jane Frumda is overjoyed. The world has finally caught up to her thoughts; the bomb is evil. It should be banned. It HAS to be banned. The money used to support bombs can be channeled into feeding the hungry. Frumda is so excited she jumps up; she starts calling her friends. She needs support for what she’s thinking of doing.  She’s risked her career by visiting North Vietnam during the little police action in the 1970s. She decided she was going to be a leader, the leader of the “Ban The Bomb” movement.  She reached out and called the United Nations offering her services and name to the United Nations. The Secretary-General is ecstatic to receive her offer. He knows her name will bring in money and bring instant status to the movement.

Jane holds a press conference in front of the United Nations building. She stands behind the podium. The crowd cheers her, she lifts her arms to heaven. She’s about to start her prepared statements when a local thunderstorm releases a lightning bolt which strikes the podium instantly killing her. The crowd screams, running away from the United Nations building. Sitting in an apartment a block away, two Vietnam vets watch the lighting strike the podium. Both laugh so hard the beer they’re drinking runs out of their noses. “That’s payback if I ever saw it.”

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Crowds outside the White House number twenty-thousand. Every day more people join the march that lasts until sundown when the marchers return home for a hot meal and a soft bed. On the fifth day of protests, the crowd decides to rush the fence around the White House. The leaders of the protest think they can either push the fence down or get enough people over the fence that a few will make it into the White House where they hope to hand their demands to the President. The secret service doesn’t like the mood of the crowd.

“Come in,” says the President when he hears a knock on the door.

Entering the situation room, “Mr. President, there’s a very large crowd, a mob, in front of the White House, we think there’s a small chance they can breach the fence and maybe even make it into the house. Sir, we’d like to move you to the bunker.”

“Agent Jonson, is it really that bad?”

“Mr. President, it is. The mob is trying to rock the fence. If enough of them lean and push the fence, they might be able to break a section. They’ll have a straight run to the House. We’re positioning high-pressure fire hoses and agents with M4s to protect the House.”

“Agent, please try to use non-lethal force. I don’t want Americans killed trying to get into the people’s house. John and I will continue in the shelter. Position agents in the House and call on the Marines at the 8
th
Street base for support. Please make sure any tours are ended, and the people are escorted out of the House as quickly and safely as possible.”

“Yes sir.”

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Thirty percent of the people of Minot, North Dakota, have been relocated to FEMA trailers. The Army and Air Force are building a new city from the trailers. Water and power are being run to the new city. The military has moved four MASH units to Minot to supply medical treatment for those injured in the warhead explosion. Thousands have been burned; many have third, and what FEMA is calling fourth-degree burns, covering their bodies. Over five thousand are blind from having been facing in the wrong direction when the nuclear warhead exploded. Thousands have radiation illness. Tens of thousands of farm and feed animals have to be killed and burned, they’ve absorbed too much radiation to be safe.

The Air Force, Boeing and the Federal Energy Commission are trying to figure out how the warhead was detonated. Colonel Franks is directing people to measure radiation levels around the destroyed silo when his secure cellular handset rings.

“Colonel Franks, here, secure.”

“Colonel, John Sessions here, do you have a minute?”

“Of course Mr. Secretary, what can I do for you sir?”

“Colonel, we’d like you to send teams to check the road the technicians used to reach the silo. The Russians must have intercepted the technicians someplace along the only road in or out of the missile field. We need to find something that proves they came from Russia. Colonel, this is very urgent. Do you have a deputy you can leave in charge of your current position?”

“Yes, Mr. Secretary. I’ll volunteer some troops to assist me.”

“Colonel, thank you.”

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“Harold! Harold have you seen the
New York Slimes
headline?”

“No, what does it say?”

“Harold, it says, you have thousands of child
pornography files on your computer.”

“What the fuck?”

Chapter 12

Cardinal Tomoko welcomes the Holy Father to the College of the Cardinals. “Holy One, we thank you for visiting with us. We have a seat for you at the head of the table.”

“Cardinals, I take it you think we should put the Holy Church’s name behind this farce of naming President Obsma a saint. Am I correct?”

“Holy Father, we think we should review the background and..”

“Cardinal Raymond, listen to yourself. Can anyone in this room stand and look at me in the eye, look into God’s eye and say with truth they believe President Obsma even believed in God?”

“I’m prepared to sit here for days if necessary. Our Lord is with me in questioning the motives behind this meeting.”

“Holy Father, we don’t think we have a choice. President Reid is prepared to destroy the Holy Church to get what he wants.”

“Am I to understand that you, the holy Cardinals of our Lord are siding with Satan on this issue? All of you are willingly siding with the fallen one, the enemy of our Lord?”

“Holy Father, we’re not siding with Satan. We’re on God’s side.”

“NO YOU’RE NOT. You’re here to convince me to convene an investigation to look into Obsma’s background. I know you’ve seen the documents released to us from President Brownstone. Obsma’s entire life was a lie. Nothing about the man held a kilogram of truth. Do you want the Holy Church to support a lie? Yet you still want me to make an announcement don’t you?”

“Holy One, if you can’t make the announcement, one of us will. There’s no need for you to face the world’s media and make a false announcement.”

“So one of you is willing to sin? This is the example you set for others? Is this what your life of service to God has brought you? To lie? To sin? To do both in the holy city? Judas pointed out our Lord for thirty pieces of silver, while the price has gone up, are you now acting as Judas?”

Cardinal Rivera stands, walking to the center of the room, “Holy father, none of us are Judas. We do what we think is right to save the Holy Church. We fear that President Reid’s PR master will smear the Holy Church that we may not be able to recover from. Many will see us as followers of Satan if many stories surface that our local priests molested children again.”

“Cardinals, does anyone has any knowledge of any new molestation? I want to know even rumors, any whispers, any information at all. Does anyone have any?”

The Cardinals look from one to the other; none raises a hand. The Holy Father continues, “You are afraid of a lie?”

“Holy father, lies, are very powerful.”

“Yes they are, but they are not truth. Only truth is light, lies are the path to Hell. Did our Lord lie when he was beaten by the Romans? Did our Lord lie when it would have saved him from the cross? Did our Lord lie when they nailed him on the cross? If our Lord didn’t lie, why would any of you? Truth is much more powerful than any lie. We will stand in the light. We will beat President Reid at his own game. I am going to draft a letter I want every priest to read this Sunday to their congregation. Cardinal Rivera, will you please open a channel to President Reid, tell him we are considering his proposal. The truth is we are; we have reviewed it. We are not lying; we’re just not going to tell President Reid what we’ve decided until after we talk to our congregations. We will turn the table on President Reid.

“I want it very clear that the Church doesn’t pick Saints. Saints are who they are. Saints are holy people who have given to others. President Reid invented the entire story so he could put pressure on President Brownstone. President Reid knows President Obsma isn’t a Saint. I’ve already stated that President Obsma wasn’t a Christian. He sat in a political church for twenty years. He sat in the pew only for political reasons. Everything the man did was for politics. He might be a Saint for Satan, but never for our Lord. I will never accept anything that marries the Holy Church to anything President Reid proposes. I refuse anything to do with this Obsma Sainthood stunt. I plan to make an announcement on Sunday evening that this entire Obsma Sainthood program is a scam. Anyone looking into the President’s life will surely see this wasn’t a Saint. I intend to use some of the documents President Brownstone sent us. President Brownstone is a Cristian. He attends church every Sunday. I have spoken with the Bishop in Washington who has met with the President many times. The Bishop has informed me; he has an open invitation to call or even visit the President on any topic. He has the President’s private cellular number. He has supported the Holy Church, and this is the man you want to help President Reid destroy? I say no to Satan, I say no to the darkness, I say no to the lies.”

Cardinal Smithstone is concerned, “Holy Father, might it be best if the Holy Church didn’t make any announcement after the Sunday morning one from the local priests?”

“Cardinal, why do you suggest this?”

“Holy Father, I am concerned about the potential of an attack against you.”

“President Reid wouldn’t dare. He’ll lose support in the LSA.”

“Holy father, he is already trying to make the LSA a religious free nation. We fear he will wipe out open showings of religion within a few years.”

“I have heard this from our people in the LSA. I plan to address this in my address Sunday.”

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Rash tells his staff, “It’s time to start leaking Obsma’s background. Why not start with his college records? Use a couple of our friends who went to Colombia with him. They’ve already written articles saying they don’t remember ever seeing him in any classes. Let one of them “stumble” on the records. Say he has a friend in the records office. After the release start questioning who was he? Post the questions, how can a stranger be a Saint? How can a liar be a Saint?  This ought to give anyone with half a brain pause.”

Rash explains to the President his plan. “Rash, you know better than any of us, that’s just the issue. Many are looking at the issue, not with their brains; they're using only their emotions. When people make emotional decisions, logic usually can’t budge them. My father used to tell me when emotion enters a room; logic goes out the window. They’ve closed their minds to logic. You’ll have to force open some of these closed minds, just remember most have made of their minds on pure emotion so they not only won’t change, they’ll be angry when facts are shoved in their faces. None will want to talk about facts. Facts and emotion don’t mix well. The only way to fight an emotional point is with another emotional argument.”

“Mr. President, which is what I plan to do. I plan to ask and push the point that everything about the man is a lie, a lie that hurt everyone. We’ll be able to get through to a few of them. Maybe the Holy Father will take notice of some facts. If the Holy Father makes a statement, he will sway many minds.”