Chapter 76 -- BIGGFOFQQBOUHKMXAPYER
In a suite on the second floor Ishmael's two assistants ushered the President
into a large suite. In the living area a large cocktail table was surrounded
by four large armchairs with tufted upholstery. They pulled two of the chairs
back and motioned for the president to sit in one of them. After he complied,
Ishmael seated himself in the one across from him and sat down.
The president sat docilely and waited for him to speak. Ishmael sat silently,
regarding the man before him impersonally, leaning back and steepling his
fingers, any clue to his state of mind hidden behind the dark glasses.
Eventually he spoke.
"Mr. President," he said, "I have explained your situation to you. As your
general indicated, it grows worse by the hour. Should you fail to resolve it
quickly, even I cannot guarantee the survival of this nation. I am not
exaggerating. At all. What do you intend to do?"
"What do you want from me?" Kelly asked.
"As I told you, we want the restoration of constitutional rule, as originally
created by the founders. Nothing less. And we will then want certain
safeguards enacted, to prevent the situation from recurring."
"I cannot do that," Kelly said. "Congress makes laws. The executive branch is
responsible for enforcing the law. You must know that."
"Of course I know it," Ishmael replied. "And one way or another, Congress will
repeal the offending laws. And you will sign them and enforce them. You
conveniently neglected to mention the Supreme Court, which is just well, since
your regime has rendered the court irrelevant. But perhaps that
measure of balance can in time be restored."
"How do you propose to get Congress to repeal the laws?" Kelly asked.
"As of today," Ishmael said, "there forty-eight fewer members of Congress than
there were a few weeks ago. Almost ten percent. In one day. And it appears
that the replacements have not yet been seated, not that it matters. Do you
seriously believe that we will not hesitate to kill another fifty or so, if it
takes that to get their attention?
"And until there is a resolution here, beginning with you, a cessation of the
destruction occurring out there will not happen. The damage will continue to
accumulate. As I said, if you are content with ashes, ashes is what you will
have."
"I still don't see what you want from me," Kelly said. "Or what I can do. You
just told me what you want, and I cannot give it to you by myself."
The man was helpless and terrified now, pleading for even the smallest straw
to grasp. 'Now is the time,' Ishmael thought, 'to see if I can do anything
with this man. If I can't, it may be ashes anyway.'
"Mr. President," he said, "you've been nothing but an actor your entire life.
Like the one before, only your brain hasn't rotted yet. You've spent close to
fifty years doing what other people told you to do, speaking the words they gave you.
A puppet. Now you have a choice. You don't deserve it, but it's a chance to
not only survive but possibly have a legacy any president would be proud of.
Or you can die, perhaps here and now, and be forgotten.
"All the power is ours. You are powerless before even the PLA, and besides
that you have a spontaneous, unorganized rebellion to deal with. Do you know
how many men we lost on Black Friday?"
"No."
"One. One of our operatives was captured. And do you know what happened
after that? We left him in your custody long enough for him to plant a red
herring, to lead you to what you thought was one of our bases. It was a trap,
and we killed a few dozen of your people, while losing none of our own. We
are so far ahead of you that you will never be able to make any progress
against us. You no longer have any control over the future of the country. If
the situation is not resolved, and soon, it is likely to break up. That will
be the end.
"You heard what the general said about the cities, and it's getting worse as
we speak. The same goes for the transportation, communications, electricity
and water. Those will continue to be destroyed faster than you can repair them.
And we haven't even started to play rough yet. You cannot guard every bridge
and transmission tower, you cannot provide security for every member of
Congress and your administration, every judge, mayor, governor. You're
already spread so thin you can't stand even a little more. And as I said, we
have more surprises if you're interested."
"You mentioned a solution," Kelly said. "What is it?"
"It is as I said. You die, alone, terrified, and ashamed. And the country
dies. Or you can meet the challenge, for once in your life put something
ahead of your own self. In the end your life may be worth something after all.
Will you do it?"
It didn't take him long. Whether it was merely the fear of imminent death, or
the hope of delaying long enough to find a way out, he surrendered.
"What do I have to do?"
"You will begin by taking charge. You will tell you staff that your orders
are to be obeyed without question. They're probably sufficiently frightened
that they won't question you. Even when you begin the process of dismantling
what they've spent their lives creating. If they do, fire them.
"You'll have guidance from us. As part of your plan to end the crisis, you
will form a committee, which will make recommendations, which you will follow.
The Congress will ace responsibly, I can guarantee it. Those who don't will
not be there long. I can guarantee that as well. Never forget, we can resume
operations with no delay, if necessary.
"But you have the advantage. The people are tired, they are afraid. They
will accept whatever they believe will end it. And one more thing - your
advisers are worthless, and their only possible virtue is the cowardice that
will cause them to comply. If they do not, get rid of them. You'll be better
off with new ones we can recommend.
"With one exception. General Anthony is a good man, one of the few good
generals left. So is General Talley, the army chief of staff. He is in
control of the army, and he is in the same camp as General Anthony. The
country is technically under martial law, so you have considerably more
freedom of movement than you otherwise would. Need I explain further?"
"No," Kelly said. "I have the picture. You have already been in
communication with them."
"It is better that I do not answer that question," Ishmael said. "When this
is over, there will be blanket pardons for various groups of people, no matter
which side they were on, as well as for certain individuals. We are not
vindictive, though we have often been angry enough to want revenge. What we
want is peace and freedom. You are in control, and you have the advantage of
knowing that we are on your side - as long as you do what is right. If you don't..."
He did not need to finish. Kelly knew any other action would doom him and the
country. And if he accepted the offer, and it worked out, he would have a
legacy to be envied. He was only sixty-four, he could end his presidency as
one of the most respected presidents in history. He was afraid, even now, but
not of dying as he had been before. He was afraid of the uncertainties, of
his ability to carry out the task he had been given.
"It doesn't matter," Ishmael said, and for a moment he thought he had been
thinking aloud. "You've been a puppet all your life, in return for the
benefits of being one of the wealthy and powerful. Now you'll be a puppet for
the right side, and who knows, in time you might claim some measure of honor."
"I will do it," Kelly said. "What now?"
"You have us at your back," Ishmael said. "What we would do to you, if you had
continued to oppose us, we will now do to those who attempt to thwart you. In
a more subtle manner, to be sure, but we will see to it that they fail. But
most of it is up to you. As I said, we will provide the blueprint. You do
the building. Most importantly, do not hesitate to use whatever force you need,
but only as much as necessary, against those who oppose you. The law
enforcement and intelligence services are infested with enemies, especially in
the upper ranks. Most will accept the new order to save their careers, and
even find ways to prosper. The few that will not, can be dealt with. As
ruthlessly as you dealt with dissenters before, do so now.
"Now for the hard part. You will go back to your people and tell them what
will happen. The first step is appointing the committee. When that is done,
meetings with our representatives will begin in Reykjavík, Iceland. You will
ask the government of Iceland to host the meetings - there is no reason to
believe they will refuse. If they do, we will make other arrangements. Our
representatives are already out of the country, so if you should renege you
will not be able to find them, any more than you can find us now.
"Is there anything else you need to know, before I go?"
"You're leaving now?" Kelly asked.
"Certainly. Two vessels are lying offshore as we speak. As we depart, the
army will continue to keep this area secure until we are well away. And there
will be no pursuit or attempts to find where those vessels are headed, not
that it would do any good. As I said, if you do not deliver, all of this will
begin again. As it is, once the cease-fire is announced, we will stand down
and ask the other participants to join us. I cannot guarantee that all of them will,
but you should be able do mount a successful defense against those who don't.
"I suggest you deliver the message announcing the cease-fire from here, and
return to the capitol once the majority of activity has ceased. Ours will
cease at once, so whatever remains is not ours. A message will be delivered
to the White House after you have returned, it will have a code book with
instructions for its use. In the initial stages of the negotiations, we may
have to deliver some messages to you in this manner."
Ishmael rose and Kelly did the same.
"I want you to remain here in this room for thirty minutes after I leave," he said.
"It will give you some time to compose your thoughts before you return to your
advisers. I and my men will be joining the others on the beach and leaving
on those ships out there.
"And now, Mr. President, au revoir."
Ishmael turned and left the room, followed by his men. Kelly waited
as instructed, and in fact waited well over a half hour. Returning
to the dining room he told the others to wait and went up to a third floor
room that overlooked the ocean. The night was clear, and off the beach he
could see the lights of ships. It was hard to be sure in the darkness, but
they seemed to be moving. He watched as they became smaller,
becoming almost invisible.
General Anthony was the one asset he had at hand, he thought as he approached
the dining room again. Obviously he was involved but he might also be the best counsel available.
He could see it now, the others, even if they accepted the necessity and went
along, always looking for a way to undermine him if that seemed possible.
They would have to have a private talk very soon. But for now, he had to stop
the war. He paused briefly before opening the door again, then went in.
"All right," he said. "My orders are to be carried out as I issue them, promptly
and exactly. Anyone here not prepared to do so may offer your resignation now.
I'm sure we can get it written up. Anyone?"
He looked around the table. There was no response.
"All right then," he said. "I'm warning you all now, there will be no deviation
from my orders. You know the state this country is in, and I will not risk a
return to what we have gone through. It will take long enough to rebuild as it
is, and I will not tolerate any failure, sabotage, or even incompetence."
"With that out of the way," he said, "we have a war to stop and a country to
rebuild. Jane, I believe the guys who prepared the speech are here somewhere,
assuming they haven't been released and fled. Get them up here, and I'll tell them
what to write. While we're doing that, Robert," he looked at Boling, "if you and Dean
can take a few minutes to locate the prisoners, release them, get the Secret Service
guys back on the job. Get someone to start getting everyone released and check
their condition. Harry, have the army get in here and get things cleaned up, take
care of the medical and other needs.