A NATION

HEALING

CIVIL WAR II

BOOK III

BY

MW HUFFMAN

A Nation Healing - The Second Civil War© ©2012 By Marshall Huffman

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WaJe Production

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Once again I need to thank my wife Susan, for her endless hours of editing my books.  She never complains no matter how many grammatical errors I make.  Okay, maybe a little but she doesn’t get discouraged.

Thank you to kindle for making this all possible.  Without them, new authors would have little chance of getting published without an agent, which is nearly impossible to find these days.

OTHER BOOKS BY MW HUFFMAN

THE END–BOOK I of The Event Series

THE BEGINNING–BOOK II of The Event Series

THE REVELATION–BOOK III of The Event Series

The Second Civil War–BOOK I-A Nation Divided

The Second Civil War–Book II-A Nation at War

The Second Civil War–Book III–A Nation Healing

Project BlueBolt – BOOK I – American Gulags

Project BlueBolt – BOOK II - The Gulag Journal

Project BlueBolt – BOOK III – American Uprising

REVOLUTION

THE BRINK

CLOSE PROXIMITY

BLACKSTAR

CHIMERA

WORLDS END

SUN BURST

Sins of the Fathers

The Unfinished

Angie Bartoni Case File # 1 - The Alphabet Murders

Angie Bartoni Case File # 2 - Frost Bite

Angie Bartoni Case File # 3 - Dead Aim

Angie Bartoni Case File # 4 - What Goes Around

Angie Bartoni Case File # 5 - Nothing to Lose

Angie Bartoni Case File # 6 - Shadow Man

Angie Bartoni Case File # 7 – The Club

Angie Bartoni Case File # 8 – Shakespeare Murders

Angie Bartoni Case File # 9 – One Too Many

Angie Bartoni Case File #10 – Weak Link

Angie Bartoni Case File #11 – Vanishing Act

Angie Bartoni Case File #12 – Revenge

Angie Bartoni Case File #13 – Payback

Angie Bartoni Case File #14 – Dead on Arrival

The Logan Files - Blond Deception

The Logan Files - Innocence and Avarice

The Logan Files - The Deal Breaker

The Logan Files – Pain Center

Norris Files - Silver2

Norris Files – Insurrection

A NATION HEALING

MAJOR CHARACTERS

UNITED STATES:

President Benjamin Quasim

Vice President Hanna Cole

Chief of Staff Sara Slone

Head of Armed Forces General Ascot

Navy – Admiral Jean Swanson

Air Force – General David Erickson

Army – General Arthur Winfield

AMERICAN REPUBLIC:

President James Jason

Vice President Ben Folly

Supreme Military Chief General Allan MacMillan

External Chief of Affairs – Mary Lake

Internal Chief of Affairs – Ben Zimmerman

Education Chief - Dr. Susan Churchman

Supreme Court Chief – Garrett Mann

Treasury Chief – Bill Alan

MEXICO:

President Hermilo Medrano

Secretary of National Defense, Eleazar Guzman

“Only if you’ve been to the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”

-Richard Nixon-

PROLOGUE

If no one in their right mind likes war, why do we have so many of them?  An act of war indicates a fundamental failure of reasonable and rational leaders. With so many unavoidable deaths through disease, natural disasters, etc., why would we add war to the list of death tolls?

Even the word ‘WAR’ has an ugly sound to it and yet it is a fact of life someplaces in the world on a daily basis.  A Civil War is perhaps the most grotesque of all. Everyone who dies is a brother or sister of that nation.

The United States of America has finally ended our Second Civil War.  We no longer stand UNITED as one nation. We have evolved into three distinct factions, the former United States, the American Republic, and those few states that have yet to decide.

The Second Civil War has taken the lives of 1.4 million Americans.  Another 1.9 million are injured and 150 thousand are still missing or unaccounted for. The financial impact is impossible to ascertain.  Commerce is at a standstill and exports are virtually nonexistent.

While America was in debt previously, it is drowning in a sea of red now. The new challenges for the two previous combatants will be many and daunting. Any hope for reconciliation will distill down to one simple word: Compromise.

“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.”

- Ernest Hemingway-

CHAPTER ONE

Cities were still smoldering. The injured were still dying. People trapped under the tons of rubble were still being dug out. Hundreds of thousands were homeless. Children cried for their parents while parents cried for their dead and dying children. It was one of the ugliest times in our history.

The American Republic suffered eighty-nine thousand casualties and almost a million injured or missing.  How can a nation even begin to morn such incredible losses? After the dead are laid to rest, the injured starting to heal and the missing accounted for, it is only then that you can begin to rebuild a nation.  That was the daunting task for both sides of the Second Civil War.

****

The American Republic President, James Jason, was faced with determining how to build a nation that truly represented the people.  His desire was to bring government back into the hands of the people.  The problem was where to actually start?

At the same time, relations between the American Republic and the United States of America needed to be mended. Further adding to the challenges, was the fact that Mexico still held portions of California. The one thing President Jason was sure of was that he did not want a big government that tried to control every aspect of its citizens' lives. In his mind, that is what got them all into this mess to begin with.

****

AMERICAN REPUBLIC

NASHVILLE, TN

“Honestly, I’m not sure where to even begin. It almost seems like we need to do everything at the same time. I realize we can’t, but so far I haven’t found the logical starting point. That’s one of the reasons I asked you all to be here today,” President Jason told them.

“Well, between all of us we should be able to get something accomplished,” Mary Lake, the newly appointed American Republic External Affairs Chief, said.

“Anything we can do to help. We all realize that this is a monumental undertaking,” the American Republic Treasury Chief, former Kentucky Governor William Allen, added.

“Like I said, I’m glad all of you could make it. On top of everything else, we need to discuss the other positions which remain to be filled,” the President said, “Now here is what I have come up so far.”

He slid a paper to each of the members sitting at the table.

POSITIONS FILLED

PRESIDENT: James Jason

VICE PRESIDENT: Ben Folly

SUPREME MILITARY CHIEF:  Allen McMillan

EXTERNAL CHIEF OF AFFAIRS:  Mary Lake

INTERNAL CHIEF OF AFFAIRS:  Beau Zimmerman

TREASURY CHIEF: Bill Alan

SUPREME COURT CHIEF: Honorable Jackson Miller

POSITIONS UNFILLED

TRANSPORTATION CHIEF

EDUCATION CHIEF

SECURITY CHIEF

“Is this all you intend to have?” Vice President Folly asked after laying down the page.

“Unless you all feel that we need more. Now remember, this isn’t going to be like before where everyone gets to put in their two cents worth every time a decision is made.”

“Still. Those are pretty broad categories.”

“Yes they are. I intend for the job description to be much broader than in the past. Let me give you an example. Mary, our External Affairs Chief will deal with all issues of a non-military nature that involve the American Republic outside of our borders. This includes everything from relations with foreign heads of state to Embassy heads. If something comes up, she can come to me and we will work out the problem. If we can’t, then we may open it to others.  The point is that I want our challenges to be handled by the Administrative Assembly,” Jason told them.

“I understand all of that but what about a war. I mean external relations are often the very thing that leads us to war,” MacMillan said.

“That is true but why that happens is the real question? Is it because we stick our nose into too many other countries' internal affairs? Because we have this driving need to be the world’s policemen? Why are we even having diplomatic relations with countries that hate us? Countries that just want our money and then turn around and scorn us? I’m not saying we are going to be isolationists but I do think we can pick our friends better and dismiss the others,” Jason replied.

“Mr. President...”

“James. In this room I am James or Jason. For this to work we have to trust one another and value what the other person says, even if we disagree. It will happen many times but what I don’t want is for anyone to ever withhold his or her thoughts just because you think I don’t want to hear it. Is everyone clear on that?” he asked.

The all nodded.

“Proceed Beau.”

“James, I get what you want but the world isn’t really like that. It’s a great sentiment, but in reality we will have to recognize many countries we don’t necessarily like.”

“When I say isolationist, I think the very word strikes fear in many people. Others embrace it. What I mean is that we are not going to shell out money to every third world nation that thinks we are just deep pockets. We will have to look at each individual nation before we decide which to form diplomatic ties with.  One thing I am certain of, we will not now, nor ever, if I have my way, become a member of the United Nations,” he told them.

“Outstanding,” MacMillan let out.

“Agreed,” Beau Zimmerman added.

“Why?” Mary Lake asked.

“As succinctly as I can state it, they meddle where they don’t belong, cost way more than they produce in the way of results, get nothing accomplished and put terrorists and spies in the country under fake titles. I have no use for them or their preposterous rituals,” Jason told her.

“Now James, how do you really feel?” the Vice President kidded.

“I know. I know. But they are like blood sucking leeches that serve no real function,” he said.

“You have a few spots unfilled.  Should we start on that?” Mary asked.

“I think that would be an excellent idea. Let’s look at the Education Chief. That is indeed a very important role in the future of our nation. We need to select someone who is in tune with today’s children and what we need to do to improve education.”

“Are you talking K through 12?” Mary asked.

“Good question. Let me ask you this, are you all happy with the college students' education?” Jason asked.

“Is it a problem? I mean has it really changed all that much?” Beau asked.

“I’ll tell you what is bugging me the most. The overall cost and some of the courses that are offered that are just adding to the cost with no real value.”

“Such as?”

“I’ll just mention a few, Beau.  Now these are real college courses, not ones I made up. ‘The Art of Walking’; ‘The Joy of Garbage’; ‘The Science of Super Heroes’; ‘Zombies in Popular Media’.”

“Are you sure those are real?” Beau asked.

“Absolutely. Now you tell me, why do we have such crap in higher education? These kinds of courses just lure students in to pay for worthless credit,” James said.

“So are you saying we need two education positions?”

“No, I’m just asking what you all think.”

They discussed the need of having two people involved with education. They finally decided to have just one and that person would appoint someone for k-12 and one for higher education. Probably the straw that broke the camel’s back was the course that was entitled: Cyberporn and Society

CHAPTER TWO

NASHVILLE, TN

“James, I have a question.  We have been discussing education and I have to ask, should we honestly assume that every child will end up in College?” Mary asked.

“Another excellent question. It is a worthy goal and well-intended but to my way of thinking totally unreasonable. Not everyone is created equal in all things. We don’t all have the same skills, the same interests or the same intelligence.  Anyone who thinks that we do is looking for a utopian world. We don’t live in a utopian world. It doesn’t exist. No matter what we do, some kids will get left behind for a myriad of reasons,” the Vice President replied.

“But do we have the obligation to try?” Mary asked.

“Of course, but within reason. A great deal of success comes from many things. Education certainly being one of them but others are just as important. Motivation. Now there is something you cannot instill in a person if they are lazy. It is an internal drive that you can try to foster but in the end, it is up to them. Upbringing. It’s a huge part of success. Too many parents that think the school has all of the responsibility to raise their children. They are fooling themselves and doing a great disservice to their children. Encouragement, guidance and direction from their home life is crucial. You can’t browbeat a child and expect them to ever be happy or successful. Luck. Don’t ever underestimate the value of luck. Being at the right place at the right time still has a lot to do with success,” James said.

“The position of Transportation Chief. Does anyone want to talk about that?” James asked.

“They would be responsible for all modes of transportation I assume?” Mary asked.

“Yes. Like education it is a huge field. Not only does it cover planes, trains and automobiles but other areas as well,” James said.

“You have been watching too many old movies. But you’re right. The condition of roads and railways are also a part of that or should be.”

“Including interstate and intrastate commerce,” James added.

“Now there is a position that is going to need a lot of help,” MacMillan said.

“But you still want to keep just one person to oversee the department, is that correct?” Mary asked.

“That is what I would like but hey, I’m listening to whatever you have to say. If you feel it is too much for one person just say what’s on your mind.”

No one spoke up.

“I have a question about Internal Affairs,” MacMillan said.

“Please?”

“I guess I am trying to figure out what they really have control over. Does it include intelligence, terrorism, and security? This is one area that I can see that will overlap all the others essentially.”

“How so?”

“Let’s take the trains for example. Say that Internal Affairs determines that security is too lax on train travel. They require screening, baggage checks, and a National Identification Card. The Transportation Chief isn’t going to be too thrilled if it adds a huge cost to the system or slows down the entire system. I can see some real battles in a situation like that,” MacMillan told the President.

“That is a very good point.”

“From my point of view, I can see conflicts in every area. Internal Affairs touches every one of us every single day. They become the police, FBI, CIA and all the other alphabet agencies all rolled into one. From a personal basis, Beau and I get along just fine but I can see us butting heads over things I perceive as military affairs and he sees as Internal Affairs,” MacMillan pointed out.

“Now Allen, you surely don’t think we would ever quibble over such things,” Beau said smiling.

“Geez, I would hope not. I would hate to bomb your office,” MacMillan teased.

“How did they ever do it?” James asked after a few minutes.

“Who do what?” Ben asked.

“How did our first congress ever figure out how to divide the responsibilities? I knew it was going to be difficult, but goodness gracious.”

“Times were a tad simpler then,” Ben replied.

“I’m sure that is a matter of perspective,” MacMillan said.

“One thing I see is that too much power in one person’s hands could cause even more damage down the road,” Mary replied.

****

“Hello Admiral Swanson.”

“Well, I wondered when you would finally get around to calling.”

“It’s been hectic to say the least.”

“I’m sure. So things are starting to settle down are they?”

“Not much. Listen, Jean, I’ve been appointed the Supreme Military Chief for our armed forces. I’m not sure we would even be talking if it wasn’t for you. You saved a lot of lives with your information. We can never thank you enough. What I can do, and please consider this carefully, is offer you the position of Admiral of the Navy. You would be in charge of the entire Naval Fleet.”

“Well, that is quite some offer.  What would that mean exactly? I would have to come over to the dark side?” she said and chuckled.

General MacMillan laughed with her, “Something like that. Obviously I would not want to strip all of the fleet from the United States Navy. It would leave them too vulnerable to attack from other nations. What I would propose is that we split the fleet as closely as possible. Right down to the smallest vessels. You would be the person who would make the selections,” he told her.

“That is an interesting proposal. You have talked this over with General Ascot?”

“Not yet. I just wanted to get your take on the proposal. I know Ascot says he will relinquish control of the country when you have an election but...”

“No, I think he really will. I don’t think he wants to take on the responsibility of running the entire nation. I think he will settle for something similar to what you have,” Jean told him.

“Look, all I ask is for you to give it some thought. Would you even consider such a position?”

“Let me have some time to think about it. It won’t be anytime soon I’m sure, but I will give it some real thought and get back to you,” she replied.

“Good. That’s all I can ask. You take care and I’ll check back with you at a later time.”

“Thanks for calling and you watch yourself as well,” she said as she hung up.

“Well?” President Jason asked.

“She seemed intrigued by the idea. Telling her that we would not strip the United States was a key element. I know Jean well enough to know that she would never leave the eastern and western seaboards unprotected. It would not be in our best interest either,” MacMillan told him.

“I couldn’t agree more. It would be a blessing to have someone like Jean taking charge of the Navy,” the President said.

CHAPTER THREE

KNOXVILLE, TN

The city was mostly in ruins. The most devastated area was, of course, the center of the city. The bombers had used I-40 as the targeting indicator and had dropped tons of munitions all along the Interstate.  Virtually nothing was left standing all the way to the river.

People were still missing and the death toll was still rising. Other than Boston, it had the highest mortality rate during the entire Civil War.

Jamie Stattler had been in the hospital for three days and was about to go crazy. Hospitals, no matter what the reason for being there, had always made her squeamish. Even visiting someone she could only take an hour before she felt like the walls were closing in. When the nurse came in she quickly made her pitch.

“Nurse. I really need to get out of here.”

“I understand,” was all she said.

Understand what? Jamie thought.

“Look. I’m ready to get out of here. The city has thousands and thousands of wounded. Many are hurt way more than I am. Give my place to someone who really needs it,” Jamie argued.

“It isn’t up to me. The doctor is the only one who can release you.”

“But he hasn’t been here in two days. He doesn’t even know my condition right now.”

“He is busy. He has been going nonstop trying to take care of all of the injured.”

“Geez, don’t you get it? That is what I’m saying. I don’t need to be taking up space and having him to waste time on me. He has more important things to do,” Jamie said trying to reason with her.

“Sorry. You have to wait for the doctor,” was all she said and left.

Jamie turned her face to the wall and said, “You understand don’t you?  Better than the nurse. I thought so.”

She decided it was time to just take matters into her own hands. She took out the IV, which was the easy part. Getting the tape off without removing the first layer of skin was the hard part. Using the walker, she made her way to the wardrobe and dressed.

It was not as easy as she thought, getting her pants on over the short leg cast. Using the knife she had when they brought her to the hospital, she slit the pants leg and the cast slipped right in. She put her weight on the foot and found that it going to be much more difficult than she first imagined. Pain shot up her leg and she immediately felt faint. She stood there for a few seconds until it passed.

She was going to have to use the walker if she was going to get out of there. She maneuvered over to the door and looked out. People were pretty much wall to wall but she decided that was good. No one would give her a second thought.

She opened the door and started down the hall. The hardest part was getting around people sitting on the floor and leaning against the walls. It was a struggle but finally she made it to the door without anyone asking questions. There were so many walking wounded that she blended in as just one more.

If it hadn’t been for the concussion she would probably not have been admitted in the first place. At least that was her reasoning.

Okay, now what? She thought. Where would she go and how would she get there? She looked around and realized that it was amazing that the hospital was still standing at all. One side looked like it had been partially collapsed but the front was relatively undamaged.

A soldier was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Excuse me. I’m with ARM. Do you have any idea where they are now?”

“Sorry. What is ARM?”

“American Revolutionary Militia.”

“Oh, those guys. The reserve headquarters is gone. If any were there I doubt many got out alive.”

“Do you know where the survivors might have gone?”

“Best guess. The other side of the river. A bunch of churches have been turned into temporary housing and medical care facilities. I think that would be your best bet.”

“How do I get across the river?”

“The only thing still standing is the old railroad bridge. All the rest have been knocked down. Look, I have a motorcycle. If you think you can hang on I can drop you over by Poplar Street. I might even be able to get you right up to the tracks. You would still have to walk and only you know if you can do that,” he told her.

“That would be super. By the way, I’m Jamie.”

“Ben. Ben Wheeler.”

“Okay Ben, I’m game if you are.”

“Then my chariot awaits,” he said and she hopped on the back of the motorcycle.

It was an old Yamaha YZ80 that had been dropped more than just a few times. Off they went, smoke trailing out the muffler. It might have been old and abused but it got them through some very rough areas where buildings had collapsed.

Her leg was already hurting by the time he got to a place where he could drop her off. She could see across the bridge and knew it was going to be a long hard walk.

She was just standing there looking across the river when a voice behind her said, “Need some help little lady?”

She froze, then turned around. There stood Crocker, head bandaged and a cast on his left arm. His eyes were black and he had a couple of stiches on his cheek but she had never seen a better sight.

“Aaron, Aaron. I can’t...How...I mean,” she stuttered.

“Nice to see you too. What’s with the hobbling? I thought you were tough as nails.

Maybe just to prove a point she threw herself into his arms. He pulled her to him and just held her for the longest time. He could hear her softly crying but it didn’t seem like a good time to say anything stupid.

“I thought you were dead,” she finally sobbed.

“I kind of thought the same thing. I went back to the house and sifted through the remains but didn’t find anything so I thought if anyone could have gotten out it would be you.”

“But...”

“I got knocked clear out of the house and into the one next door. I woke up just as our house went up in a ball of flames.”

“Aaron...Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

“Uh okay. I’ll try not to have a bomb dropped on my head anytime soon.”

“I still don’t understand. Why were you here?” she asked.

“I figured that eventually you would try to get to the other side of the river. This is the only place to cross for a long way,” he rolled his shoulders, “Ergo, if you were going to go looking for me, this is where you would have to start.”

“Why did you think I would come looking for you,” she teased.

“Aww heck. I get the feeling you kind of like me.”

“Wrong Crocker. I love you.”

“Yeah. I kind of figured that,” he said and they both just stood there hugging in the middle of the train tracks.

CHAPTER FOUR

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA CAPITAL

General Ascot was having his own problems. The ending of hostilities freed up soldiers and reserves to help with the general population but other issues were coming to the forefront. The most pressing being that the citizens were worried that the United States had become a military state. In some ways they were right. The military was in control of most aspects but a growing number thought it might become permanent.

“Did you read the papers this morning?” he asked as he came into the room.

“I saw it. Someone is trying to stir up trouble,” General Erickson replied.

Erickson had been sacked by President Quasim for not doing as directed. Ascot had immediately had him released and reinstated. He was now one of Ascot's advisors.

“Yeah, you can bet it was Senator Cromwell.”

“Dickerson as well,” added General Amblin who was more or less serving as an informal Vice President.

“Both hate the military so yeah, maybe a little of both of them,” Erickson said.

“Well, right now I couldn't give a rat’s patootie. Right now getting the dead buried and wounded taken care of is my main concern. They can yell as loud as they want about needing an election immediately. It isn’t going to happen until we finalize our peace talks with the American Republic.”

“Are we going to let them remain a Republic?” Erickson asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.  That is for the new President to work out.  One thing I will say, I have no intention of going to war again over this topic,” MacMillan told them.

“Can I release that as a statement?” Kendra Cox asked.  She was the only one so far that MacMillan had let stay on. He was considering bringing Alice Dell, former Secretary of Labor, on board to help with the rebuilding and getting factories back up to operating capacity.

“No, let's hold off. No matter what we say, those two will turn it into a political statement,” Ascot said.

“What about reconvening Congress?” Erickson asked.

“I don’t honestly know. I guess it couldn’t hurt much but one thing we all have to keep in mind. We will not turn control over to another Quasim or Cole. When the time comes, the way elections are held will be different,” Ascot told them.

“Different how?”

“Stricter limitations on who can run for office for one. Placing controls on spending and raising money. We need a better method of accounting where the money comes from and goes to. Several other things as well. We had this war because of the way things were going. I don’t intend to perpetuate the same mistakes.”

“Then I would say you have another war coming. This time with the Senate and the House,” Cox said, shaking her head.

“Okay, enough about those issues. We need to get down to real business.  We need to get kids back in school, our bombed cities rebuilt and our interstates back open. Not by the usual means of one man working and three watching either.”

“So you are going to take on the unions as well?” Erickson asked.

“They will do the work or we will get people who will. I don’t want to be a union buster but this is for the national good.”

“Then I suggest you call a meeting and have that conversation with all of the trade union heads. Otherwise you will be drowned in bickering and backstabbing,” Alice Dell interjected.

“That’s a good suggestion. Can you set that up?  Get us all of the union heads, down to baggage handlers or whatever. We will hold three meetings. One here in Washington, one in New York and the other in Ohio.”

“Any specific dates?” she asked.

“The sooner the better.”

“David,” he said turning to Erickson, “I would like for you to meet with the Governors of the states that suffered the most damage and with the Mayors of those towns. Find out what they need from us. Let them know we are willing to help in any way we can.”

“Anything else I can do while I’m out running around?” Erickson asked.

“Give our soldiers a pep talk every chance you get.”

“Goes without saying.”

****

“I’m telling you. We have to get those yahoos out. We can’t have the military telling us what we can and can’t do,” Senator Cromwell raged.

“Yeah, easy to say but damned hard to do. It would be a little tough to just go over to the Pentagon and tell them they were out,” Governor Harrison said, much calmer.

“All I am saying is that the longer they are in power the harder it will be to get it away from them. Power is a very strong aphrodisiac.”

“You’re right but ranting and raving about it won’t do much good. We need to come up with a plan to force them to turn control back over to the Senate,” Harrison replied.

“Well, why haven’t I thought of that,” Cromwell said.

“Don’t be a smartass Howard.”

“Sorry. I just want to restore the natural order. Having the military in control is nothing short of a dictatorship and I for one don’t like it very much.”

“None of us do. Why don’t all of the Senators, Representatives, and Governors ask for a meeting with General Ascot.”

“And what? Tell him we think he might turn into a dictator?”

“Well Howard, maybe not quite that bluntly, but just let him know we have some concerns and would like to have an election as quickly as possible. We can sell it as helping heal the nation,” Governor Piers Harrison from Pennsylvania said.

“I guess it is worth a try. I mean what do we have to lose, especially if we go in mass. He will see that we are a united front,” Cromwell said, settling down a last.

“Why don’t you start on the Senators and House of Representatives and I’ll start getting the Governors all lined out,” Harrison told him.

“Yes, I like it,” Cromwell replied.

CHAPTER FIVE

KNOXVILLE, TN

Bruce Hubbard was more than disgruntled. His wife and three children had been killed when President Quasim had sent the bombers to destroy Knoxville. A fire was raging inside of him. Someone was going to pay for this stupidity.  Killing soldiers was bad enough but innocent women and children was unforgivable.

Ever since he had buried them, he had been making plans. He was a long time hunter and could bring down a deer at four hundred yards without much problem. With his family murdered, it was time to extract some measure of revenge.

He knew this was probably the best time. The fighting had stopped but almost everyone had a pistol or rifle that they carried. The situation at the various borders was an  unknown that he would have to deal with, but once he got to the United States territory he figured they would be disorganized just like the American Republic was.

He drove his old Jeep CJ-7 that he used to hunt with out to the edge of town. He sat up targets at two hundred, three hundred, and four hundred yards. He had decided to take his Accuracy International Surgeon Rifle .308 caliber with him. He eased into the prone position and lowered the legs on the Harris Bipod. He had settled in, adding his Nightforce NXS scope. He spent a few moments getting comfortable and everything just right. Flicking the safety off he placed the crosshairs on the center X of the two hundred target. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, gently squeezing the trigger. The rifle bucked back against his shoulder. The shot was less than a ½ inch from the top of the X. Dialing the scope in took patience. He made minute adjustments to the scope, chambered another round and went through the routine again. The X all but disappeared.

By the time he had finished he was able to put all five rounds in the X circle at four hundred yards. He packed up his gear and climbed into the Jeep. He would just drive east and see what happened.

****

President Quasim and Vice President Hanna Cole were under house arrest at Tudor Place in Georgetown.  Thirty-five police and National Guards were stationed around the grounds for two reasons.  To ensure that Quasim and Cole stayed put and to make sure that no one tried to harm them.  They had been whisked there in the dead of night and no one saw them as they were ushered in.  It seemed like the perfect place to hold them.

Washington, being Washington, made keeping the location a secret for more than a few hours impossible.  In the Capital if two people know about something, within hours everyone knows about it.

Cole had been the most vocal about being held as a ‘prisoner’ as she told everyone who would listen.  Not many did.  Finally, General MacMillan granted the former President and Vice President the freedom to go outside for a few hours as long as they did not go within fifty yards of the surrounding streets and at least six guards were escorting them and never let them out of their sight for even one minute.

While not happy, Cole considered it a victory and started immediately planning her next item to grumble about.  She wanted to have a computer and internet service but so far, MacMillan had refused. She would just have to work on that next.

Quasim had fallen into a state of depression. He seldom spoke to anyone and didn’t want to be anywhere near Hanna Cole. He had even considered committing suicide but didn’t have the nerve to actually do it. While no one was too concerned, he was starting to look like a haggard old man. He seldom shaved and his hair was getting long.

A few of the guards had even made comments about his personal hygiene. Quasim didn’t seem to notice or if he did, he certainly didn’t care what they thought.

****

Hubbard had driven across Tennessee and into North Carolina. He wanted to stay in the Republic states as long as he could. Once he drove to Durham, North Carolina he picked up I-85 and headed north. He figured that he was going to have to get off the Interstate when he got fairly close to the border. Hubbard was pretty sure when he got to the border they would stop him. When he got to Henderson he turned off and went into the town. He filled the Jeep and stopped in at the Pizza Inn for lunch. He asked a couple of people the best way to get to Virginia without taken the Interstate.

The best way, he was told, was to go a little further up the road to Middleburg and then take Jacksontown Road north. He soon discovered that 1200 north, 1369 north, Drewry-Virginia Line Road and Virginia 4 were all the same road. Just as he was coming up on the Virginia border he saw a couple of State Police cars blocking the road.

He had just enough time to turn off on Bullock Road. He stopped and tried to decide what to do next. If he went to the line they would want to know why he was crossing into the United States. He figured he could come up with a good story but they would probably confiscate his rifle. That he couldn’t have.

He decided to drive on back on Bullock and see where it went. Not far from the turn off he found a clear cut area for the power lines.  He decided that was his best option.  The ground was rough so he put it in four wheel drive just in case he ran into trouble. He knew he wasn’t that far away from the road so he would have to more or less idle along until he got clear of the area. Putting it in first gear he let the Jeep just crawl along.

A short time later he came to a gravel road that headed back to the main road but decided it would probably come out too close to the State Police cars. He continued on and three quarters of a mile further the road ended at the water’s edge.  There was no way he could cross there; it was part of a pretty big body of water.

He turned around and then as he was heading back he spotted a small break in the trees where cars had driven down to the lake. He turned and followed the gravel road. It went past two new homes that looked like they hadn’t been there long. He kept going and it ended at Virginia 4 Highway. What he didn’t know was how far down the road the police cars were waiting.

He took a deep breath and turned left. He kept the RPM low and shifted as early as possible to keep the noise level down. He drove north, expecting one of the cars to come up behind him with lights flashing but nothing happened. He hardly breathed until he had ten miles under his wheels.

CHAPTER SIX

NASHVILLE, TN

President Jason had now appointed the rest of his advisors. Richard Newhouse was to fill the Transportation Chief position. It was a huge responsibility. He selected Dr. Susan Churchman to head up the Education post and Gary Davis would be the Republic Security Chief.

He knew he would probably need others but for now he was determined to keep the government as lean as possible. Getting power to homes, roads open, and food transported were the most urgent necessities.

“Mr. President,” his secretary said, sticking her head in the door.

“Donna, come on in.”

“I just wanted to tell you that Senator Dryfus called and asked for a meeting. He indicated that it was fairly urgent but didn’t say why. He just hinted at it,” Donna told him.

“Of course, he is a politician. Oh wait, so am I. Forget that last part,” he said chuckling.

“Do you want to set up a meeting or just leave it on the back burner for now?”

“No, it would be good to hear what he has to say. I was expecting someone from Congress to call.”

“Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. is open for two hours. Would that work for you?”

“That would be fine. Tell him to come on up,” Jason told her.

“Got it. I’ll let him know,” she said and left him to continue working on his upcoming televised speech.

He had decided to keep it brief.  He would touch on the agreement between the Republic and the United States. Of course military assistance would need to be addressed again.  This would also be a good time to introduce the new advisory staff. Most of the citizens had never heard of many of them.

The situation with the economy would have to be addressed to some extent. One thing he intended to do was to freeze all prices of goods.  They would be rolled back to the pre-war days. Violators would face swift and substantial monetary penalties.  Fines would start at $ 10,000 for first offense.

He wanted to discuss the changes to the government structure but decided it would be best to wait until he had a chance to talk to Senator Dryfus. Congress was not going to be overly pleased with the changes he wanted made. They would contend that the Constitution was being violated but he had an answer for that already planned.

His advisors had already started writing the Constitution of the American Republic. Of course it would be based on the original Constitution but would keep the courts from ‘interpreting’ the meaning. Limits on number of terms for all politicians would be inserted along with a myriad of other changes.

Jason knew he faced a tough fight on many fronts but this was the time to make the changes. His vision for the Republic was not to emulate the United States but to change it for the better.

****

“General MacMillan speaking.”

“General. It’s Joan Swanson.”

“Admiral. Nice to hear from you.  How is everything going?” Mac asked.

“Probably much the same as where you are. People to bury, cities to rebuild, healing to take place.”

“I would say that sums it up nicely. Joan, I’ve known you for many years. One thing I know for sure, you don’t like talking on the phone and you don’t like to chitchat.”

“That’s Mac. Always cut to the chase. Okay, I’ve been giving your proposal some thought. Things have come up here that are a little unsettling. Actually a lot unsettling.  I would like to come and talk to you about what it is you have in mind.”

“Do you think that is wise?  Leaving the US?”

“I can fly you know.”

“But they are bound to check where you are going. You know they will tag your plane the instant you get airborne,” Mac said.

“Come on General. Don’t you think I have figured a way around all of that?”

“Yes, but I just don’t want to cause you any risk. I don’t want them to start doubting you. The information you fed us was risk enough. You have done your share and then some.”

“I appreciate your concern but trust me, I have it all worked out.”

“Then when do you want to come?”

“Give me a couple of days. I will shoot for next Wednesday.”

“Anything I can do to make it easier?”

“Nothing I can think of. If I do, I’ll call.”

“Alright Jean. I’m looking forward to seeing you in person.”

“Until Wednesday,” she said and hung up.

General MacMillan wondered what was going on that would cause her to reconsider so quickly.

CHAPTER SEVEN

WASHINGTON D.C.

General Ascot, General Winfield, and General Erickson were seated in the front row of the House Chambers. Senator Dickerson was acting as the Speaker of the House and was introducing General Ascot.

“Ladies and Gentleman, General Ascot,” he announced. People chapped politely but not very enthusiastically. President Quasim’s house arrest grated on many of those present.

“Thank you Senator Dickerson. I know you have been anxiously waiting to hear about what the future of the United States holds for all of us.  Tonight, while I won’t go into every detail, I will give you a broad outline of what to expect during the coming months,” he told them. He took a sip of water before going on.

“First, the actions taken by the military were done to end the loss of American lives. I know many of you feel it was wrong to place the President and Vice President under house arrest but,” he paused for several moments.

“The death toll was reaching into the millions. Hostilities were becoming more brutal with each new attack. I could not in good conscience allow the escalation of American casualties to continue. Dialogue with the former President was unproductive.  To that end, it was the decision of my advisors and me that in order to put a halt to the killing we needed to remove from power those who were determined to continue it. Therefore, we removed both the President and the Vice President from office and initiated a cease fire with the American Republic,” he said, looking around the room.

He could read the faces of most of those in the room. Many were skeptical and some hostile, while others were just waiting to see what else was going to transpire.

“I am sure that those of you sitting in this room tonight are most concerned with when the government will be turned over to the election process and out of military control.”

Again he waited. Holding their attention for what was to come next.

“I will tell you that it will not be for quite some time.”

Groans, shouts, and yelling filled the room. The General just stood there, letting it run its course. It was several minutes before he started to speak again.

“You can yell, shout, cry, and throw a temper tantrum if you want, but the military will continue in its present position. Like it or not, that is the way it is going to be until we feel that the United States is on the right track. There will be changes. One of the major changes will be that the Commander-in-Chief will not be the President. e will not have the power to wage war on his own. A new process for sending young men and women into battle will be initiated.”

Some more grumbling rattled around in the room, but not to the same extent.

“The government will be radically reduced in size. For years you have harped on the military getting lean and mean. Now it is the government’s time to do the same.”

He might as well have told them he was going to cut their hands off from the amount of shouting that occurred in the room. Ascot just stood stoically waiting. Finally, growing tired of the emotional display, he yelled at the top of his voice.

“Shut up and sit down. Now.”

Everyone stopped, mostly in shock. They were Senators, Representatives, important people, no one dared to yell at them.

“I will not repeat myself. You will all sit down and shut up or you will be removed. If you want to see if I am bluffing just stand there and glare at me,” Ascot said threatingly.

Slowly they all sat down. Ascot continued to look at them before speaking again.

“What you haven’t come to grips with yet is that the old United States no longer exists. The country is divided. Mexico has claimed part of California. Some states have not decided what they are going to do yet. We need to take action, not sit in committees and see what kind of deals we can cut and how we can profit from it. The terms politician and fat cat were synonymous. That will no longer be the case. You don’t have to like it but that is the way it is going to be until such a time as the military feels that the United States is able to effectively serve the citizens of this country.”

With that, he stepped down and along with the other Generals, walked out of the room. No one shouted out or even stood until they had departed.

****

“Who does he think he is?  Napoleon?  Stalin?” Dickerson ranted.

“Well I have to tell you. I have never seen anyone so arrogant in my life,” Cromwell replied.

“You know we simply can’t allow this to continue. We are going to have to do something and quickly,” Dickerson said.

“I hear you, but we have one small problem.”

“And that is?”

“They have all the weapons. For the most part, the citizens in the US are unarmed and can’t do a heck of a lot about it,” Cromwell told him.

"Well, we cannot let this country turn into a dictatorship controlled by the military,” Dickerson said.

“We need to get a committee together to discuss our options,” Cromwell replied and then broke out laughing.

“What?”

“A committee. I was just thinking about the General using that phrase. You know he might just be on to something there.”

“Don’t tell me you are going to go over to the dark side,” Dickerson replied.

“Right now there is only one side and they control it,” Cromwell bemoaned.

****

Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense, Eleazar Guzman, sat sipping on a cup of coffee watching as President Hermilo Medrano looked over the large map of California.

“You have reinforced the frontlines?”

“We have doubled the number of men from Castaic to Ventura. We have taken Point Magu Air Base and have moved a large number of our helicopters to the base. We were fortunate to have captured a large amount of munitions along with a great deal of construction equipment.  We have been able to use that to our advantage as well,” Guzman told him.

“And the fighters and support planes?”  Some are at Magu Naval Air Station but we have spread them out so that one attack can’t destroy them all.”

“That is good. Very good Senior Guzman. What about our Naval ships.”

“Well, as you know, we would be no match for the American fleet if it was still on the west coast but since they moved everything to the east coast all we have to contend with are a few old ships and the Coast Guard.”

“How many have you committed?”

“Right now we have our three missile ships, Huracan, Tormenta, and Usumacinta along the coast from the boarder to Santa Cruz.”

“And the others are in the gaps?”

“Si, Presidente. The Frigates, Destroyers, and Corvettes are scattered in-between the three missile ships.”

“Then I guess we are as ready as we can be under the circumstances.”

“Unless they divert a large portion of their Navy and Army back to California we will be able to hold the territory. Even if they do, we have had time to reinforce and dig in. It will not be easy for them to dislodge us.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

NASHVILLE, TN

Nashville’s Capital building is a stately Greek revival limestone building that took fourteen years to build. The limestone came from a local quarry. It is one of the few state capital buildings that does not have a dome.

As expected, statues of Andrew Jackson and James Polk adorn the grounds. The building underwent a lengthy and costly restoration in the 1950s.

Now it was the American Republic Capital as well. President James Jason was meeting with Senator Dryfus to discuss the political future of the Republic. The meeting was considerably more cordial than his counterpart in the United States had experienced.

“Sir. As you might expect,” Senator Dryfus said, “we are obviously anxious to rebuild the country. We are currently in limbo as to what part you want the representatives of the citizens to play in the restructuring of the nation.”

“I certainly understand your concern. We are of a like mind about getting the country up and running again. Of course you must realize that it is going to take a little time. We have already made some headway. We have appointed good people to several key positions that will greatly help facilitate the process.”

“Yes. I have the list of the appointments but we do have some concerns.”

“I see. Meaning that you didn’t have a chance to debate their merits in Congress I supposed?”

“It is just that we were not given a chance to properly check the qualifications before their being appointed as is the normal custom.”

“Senator, these are unusual times. We are a new Republic. We are still struggling with rebuilding our cities and getting transportation running again. Honestly, do you really think this is a good time for debates about the qualities of those selected? We can’t wait around for deliberations about each person chosen.”

“Mr. President, I understand the need for urgency but at what cost?”

“Senator let me ask you this.  Right this minute Mexico is holding an important part of California. If I ask you to go back and gather your cohorts together to determine what action the American Republic should take how long do you think it would take?”

“Well, I can’t say for certain.”

“Just a guess.”

“You’re asking me to estimate how long it would take to determine what action should be taken in a totally unusual situation,” the Senator objected.

“And there is your answer. Every situation at this time is unusual.  We have never had to deal with destroyed cities, refugees in our own country, and hundreds of other unusual situations. We simply must act expediently for the sake of the people.”

“But you are cutting the representatives of the people out of the decision making process,” Dryfus replied.

“To some extent that is true. Will it stay that way? Absolutely not. But for now, that is the way it must be until we have met our most immediate needs. I am totally aware that you want to be involved in the shaping of the country and you will be in time.  The moment we feel the country is on sound footing, I will reconvene Congress,” the President assured him.

“So the message you want me to take back is...?”

“We will reconvene the Congress as quickly as possible, but until that time decisions will remain with the Presidency and his advisors.”

“You are going to get a lot of grumbling.”

“I expect that is true but I know, Senator Dryfus, that you are a skilled leader, a patriot, and if anyone can make them understand the uniqueness of our situation it will be you. I am looking forward to our working together in the near future,” the President told the Senator.

“I appreciate that Mr. President.  I will do my best.”

****

“How did it go?” General MacMillan asked when the President came in the room.

“It actually went better than expected. Of course they are upset over not having a say in the appointments I made but I think I smoothed their ruffled feathers somewhat.”

“So we move on then?” Vice President Folly asked.

“Yes. I think we should get as much accomplished as possible before they start to get nervous again.  We probably have a month or two at the most.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll gather the others and we can start this afternoon.”

“The sooner the better,” the President replied.

“What about Cox? Do you want her included?” Folly asked.

“Humm. I think we should hold off on that. I don’t want any leaks to accidentally get out while we are working on this. I do think we should have her put together something about the meeting with Senator Dryfus.  Something that is upbeat and positive.”

“And she should also do a story about the upcoming meeting with General Ascot. Play up the peace aspect of the meeting. The healing of wounds. That kind of thing,” MacMillan offered.

“Excellent I like that. It should play well if we could tie it in to the meeting with Dryfus. That may be a stretch but let’s see what she can do with it,” the President said.

“I’ll get her started,” Folly offered.

“Good. Now tell me about your upcoming meeting with Admiral Swanson,” the President said turning to MacMillan.

“All I know right now is that she said some things are going on that were bothering her. She was willing to sit down and listen to what we have to say.”

“Are you comfortable with that? I mean she wouldn’t report this back to General Ascot would she?”

“Sir, I am absolutely certain of that. She was our inside source at the White House at great risk to herself. Knowing Quasim and Cole, they would have had her shot if they had even had an inkling that she was the source of the leaks.”

“Alright General, you know I trust your judgment and if you say she is solid, then she is solid.”

“I’ll report back after we meet.  Speaking of which, I had better get it in gear. I need to go pick her up.  I know you have met at the White House before but do you want me to bring her by here?” MacMillan asked.

“If you have time. I think it would be nice for her to know that everyone is behind her decision if she chooses to join us,” Jason told him.

“Consider it done. Now if you all will excuse me.”

****

“Where is Admiral Swanson,” General Ascot asked.

“She is visiting ships for the next couple of days. She is getting battle assessments for you in case you want to move against the Mexican army.”

“You have to admire that woman.  Not only is she a great asset but she certainly knows how to keep the fleet in preparedness,” Ascot replied.

“She always seems to anticipate exactly what you are going to need. I certainly giver her credit for that,” General Erickson added.

“Good military officer,” Ascot concluded.

CHAPTER NINE

VIRGINIA

Bruce Hubbard was now making good time after his first harrowing experience of crossing the North Carolina-Virginia boarder. What he soon discovered was that he was going to have to stay on Virginia for much longer than he had hoped. If fact it was taking him Northwest when he wanted to be going Northeast.

It wasn’t until he found State Route 615 that he could turn back east. By the time he finally reached Interstate 85 it was dark and getting cold. He found a small hotel and stopped for the night.

There was no restaurant open so he ate candy bars, chips and a coke from the vending machines. The only luggage he had was his backpack and the gun case. Only two other cars were in the parking lot. Not many people had a reason to travel.

He got back underway early the next morning heading up Interstate 85. When he got to Richmond he ground to a halt. Smoke was still rising from where some of the houses and buildings had been leveled by the American Republic. His plan had been to loop around the city but even that was impossible. The roads were littered with cars, trucks, and overpasses that had been toppled. He was forced to backtrack and take a number of secondary roads. It was another three hours before he was able to pick up I-95 heading to Washington. He was forced to stop just outside of Fredericksburg when a torrential thunderstorm swept through the area. The weather was turning colder and he didn’t bring anything warm. He found a Wal-Mart and bought a heaver coat and some boots before starting out again. The CJ-7 heater didn’t exactly keep him warm, especially with the top flapping and air gaps around the doors.

He finally rolled into Alexandria, Virginia just across the Potomac River from Washington D.C. Now he could begin his search for Quasim and Cole in earnest. His mind was at ease. He had lost everything he loved and owned in the bombing of Knoxville. He held President Quasim and Vice President Hanna Cole responsible and he was going to get his measure of revenge.

****

“General Ascot, I think we may have a slight problem,” Secretary of Labor, Richard Newhouse, said as soon as he was shown in to his office.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard yet. A slight problem instead one of the big ones we are up against,” he said chuckling.

“This where you are supposed to say, ‘there are no problems, just opportunities?’” he quipped.

“Yeah, but we both know that's a pile of manure. So tell me what our problem is.”

“Stan Foster.”

“Stan Foster of the NATCA?”

“The very same.”

“He is such a jerk. I have talked to him twice already. Now what is his problem?” Ascot asked.

“According to Foster, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association cannot be forced to have military personnel replace their regular controllers.”

“You know, for a supposedly smart man he is awfully dumb at times. Somehow he just doesn’t seem to get it. I don’t give a rat's ass what his Association allows. We have military aircraft using every available air field. We will have military air traffic controllers on board to get those planes off the ground and landed safely.”

“I understand. I’ve told him that in no uncertain terms but he is threatening either legal action or a strike.”

The General broke out laughing, “Well good luck with either of those. There will be no legal action against the government period, so he can just drop that crap. As for a strike, tell him to go ahead. We have more than an ample amount of personnel to handle replacing his people. There will be no picket lines, of that you can assure him,” Ascot told him.

“So basically you want me to tell him tough cookies and to get out if he doesn’t like it.”

“Exactly. You can put it in your own words but just get the message across. Tell him if he doesn’t like it to come see me directly. I would be happy to explain it in terms even a dumbass can understand. Anything else?” he asked.

“It’s just a logistics problem. We need to get more large scoop shovels into Richmond and Boston. Can we get the Air Force to load some on planes and deliver them?”

“Not a problem. I can have a couple of C-5A deliver them if they have the airport open.”

“C-5A? Is that a big plane?”

The General chuckled, “Not many come larger. Maybe a Russian one but everything else pretty much pales by comparison.

“That would be wonderful. I’ll start rounding up equipment and get it over to Andrews Air Base.”

“It might be a little tight for Andrews but that would the best place probably.”

“Wow. Those things must be really big.”

“Richard, you have no idea.”

****

Bruce Hubbard spent four long days listening to people talk, watching the news and reading the papers to try to get a line on where the ex-President and Vice President were being held.

He chased down a half dozen false leads. He wasn’t discouraged but he knew that it could take months at this rate to finally find out where they were held. The one thing all the rumors had in common was that they were someplace in Georgetown.

He moved to a small hotel near N Street and Wisconsin Avenue. He found there was a small local hangout bar just a block from his hotel. He decided that would become his main place to pick up the local gossip.  If they were being held in Georgetown, someone would talk about it sooner or later. He would just have to be patient for now; after all he wasn’t in a big hurry. He had nothing to go back to.

CHAPTER TEN

NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The F-16D eased toward its touchdown on runway 20L. Smoke drifted off the tires briefly as the plane touched the tarmac. Admiral Jane Swanson let the fighter plane roll a ways before reversing the engines and turning to wind her way to the Air National Guard facility.

Shutting the engine down and opening the canopy bubble, Admiral Swanson pulled herself up and climbed out of the aircraft. A National Guardsman stopped and talked to her a moment after saluting.

Swanson, fifty-six and tall with brown hair and a youthful figure walked toward the Flight Operations Building. General MacMillan stepped out and offered his hand rather than waiting for her to salute him. He was senior in rank but he didn’t want that to be the issue on this particular day.

“Jane, look at you. I swear, I get older and you seem to get younger looking every time I see you.”

“And you haven’t improved on your bullshitting one bit either,” she said laughing.

“Okay, maybe a little, but you do look great. Still wringing the dickens out of the F-16?”

“Every chance I get.”

“How much time can you give me?” MacMillan asked.

“Two or three hours.”

“That will give us a chance to go to the Capital. President Jason would like to see you if you can spare the time.”

“The last time I saw him he was being banished from further meetings because he didn’t agree with the direction the President was headed,” she replied.

“Do you want to change or stay in your flight suit?”

“I didn’t bring anything with me so the suit will have to do.”

“Then I have a car and driver waiting. We can talk on the way to the Capital.”

“Lead the way,” she said.

****

Once they were in the car and headed toward downtown Nashville, the General said, “Jane, I know you are taking a big risk by even coming here so I will get right to the point if that is alright with you.”

“Mac, I have never known you to beat around the bush. I would expect nothing less.”

“Good. The American Republic is not going to rejoin the United States. At least not for some time.  We firmly believe we can make a better country on our own. One that does not need the government interfering in every aspect of our daily lives. We intend to streamline the Judicial System, Legislative System and how we handle foreign relations,” he told her, watching to see her reaction.

Admiral Swanson was far too seasoned to give away anything by her body language.

“Our financial policy will demand that the Republic not put the country into debt. A balanced budget will be required by law. The President, with only a few exceptions, has to submit one that meets the criteria.”

“And in a war situation?”

“Obviously that is one of the exceptions. However, we have a check stop measure that will keep the President from going to war without meeting certain criteria.”

“And what would some of those criteria be?” Jane asked.

“It would require the support of the military. It will require an agreement of a majority of the states, to name two.”

“So you are saying that the President is essentially no longer the Commander-in-Chief, is that right?”

“Exactly. The President and his advisors will not be running any wars from the Capital.”

“And you agree to this?”

“I do. I know the risk of a military coup but that could be done if the military wanted to at any time.”

“I’m not sure I agree, but go on,” Jane replied.

“Those that want to work, will have a chance. We will have plenty of jobs for everyone with the devastation caused by the war. After that, we will have a system similar to what they had after World War Two. Something along the lines of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Our infrastructure is in poor condition.  Bridges, Railroads and Interstates all need a tremendous amount of work.”

“It sounds a little Utopian to me,” Jane mused.

“Utopian? No. A better way of running the country? Absolutely.  Small businesses will play a vital role in the nation once again. Much of the red tape will be disposed of. Capitalism will continue but be structured differently. Everyone will pay their equal share of taxes, from the President on down.”

“You are going to revamp the tax codes?”

“Oh, yes. And a lot more.”

“We are here sir,” the driver said opening the door.

They had been so intent that they didn’t even realize they had arrived at the Capital Building.

“Well, that was some introduction,” Jane said, taking Mac’s hand as he helped her out of the car.

“That is just the tip of the iceberg,” he assured her.

Over the next two hours he briefed her on his vision for the military as a unit and how it would play into the political make-up of the nation. He went as far as to tell her that the President of the Republic would not have the same powers as in the days of the United States of America.  It would be a performance based position just like any other business.

By the time she left, after dropping in to see the President and spending a few minutes with him, she had quite a lot to think about.

****

Bruce was nursing his third Guinness listening to the banter at the bar. The bartender, probably in his late fifties, was talking to three younger men. They had come in shortly after he had and sat down a couple of stools away. They were on their fourth pitcher of beer. The din of the crowd made it hard to hear everything that was being said but they were definitely talking about the ex-president.

“Hey, I’m glad the bastard is gone. I can’t see one thing he did that made my life easier.”

“Ah hell, Sean, you don’t like him because of his name.”

“Well there is that. Sounds like one of them towelheads to me.”

“He was born in the US.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he is the President for goodnessakes.”

“Anyway, I’m just saying, good riddance.”

“What do you think they will do with him?” the third guy asked.

“That’s a good question. What the hell do you do with an ex-president that has been forcibly removed from office?”

“I know what I would like to do with Cole. That woman is just pure evil. They should put her some place where she will never see sun again.  I detest that woman.”

“Ah hell, Gil, tell us how you really feel. No, don’t hold back now.”

“Well they are gonna’ have to do something with them. I mean you can’t keep them cooped up at the Palace forever.”

“It damn sure is nicer than they deserve. They ought to be in jail,” Sean replied.

“Turn 'em over to the American Republic and let them deal with them,” Gil offered.

By this time, Bruce had quit listening. He finished his ale, paid his bar tab and headed back to his room.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MILWAUKEE, WI

The meeting between General Ascot of the United States and President Jason of the American Republic was to be held in Milwaukee. Wisconsin was still considered a neutral state at this time having never taken a position during the Civil War.

The two leaders would fly into General Mitchell International Airport and be transported to the nearby Hilton. They had agreed to bring only one other person with each of them to take notes and occasionally advise.

Ascot had decided to take General Amblin and President Jason was bringing Mary Lake since her area of responsibility was External Affairs.

The room was nothing more than a suite that had been reserved for their use. A low table and four chairs sat in the center of the outer room. A small refrigerator held an abundance of bottled water and soft drinks. The four were the only occupants.

“I guess since I initiated the contact I should be the one to go first if it’s alright with you, President Jason.”

“Please,” he said, opening a bottle of water.

“I’m sure you know the same as we do that the death toll from the Civil War is at two million American lives.  Many more will die over the next months as a result of burns, wounds, and other reasons associated with the war. When I called, I just could not in good conscience allow the killing to continue. Fortunately for me, you were of a like mind. I applaud you for that,” the General said, warming to the speech.

“It was the only thing that reasonable people could do. I appreciate your saying that but I would have been a total fool to want to continue to tear the country apart,” Jason answered.

“We have placed ex-President Quasim and Vice President Cole under house arrest. At this point I am not exactly sure what should be done with them. I see them as traitors to the United States of America but I’m sure many others hail them as martyrs. We have considered turning them over to you if you want to deal with them,” Ascot said.

“No, I don’t think that would be wise. No matter what we did it would be viewed as wrong.”

“What if you tried them but gave them a suspended sentence and banned them from the Republic? We would, of course, not allow them back into the United States,” Ascot offered.

“Let me give that some thought. We can come back to that point later. What I would really like to discuss is how we will treat the borders of our two countries. How the economics of the two nations can be handled and how to avoid bloodshed on a long term basis. I don’t want another ‘Cold War’ mentality creeping in. How you control your country is an internal affair and one that we will honor and keep out of,” Jason assured him.

“And we will do likewise. I certainly agree that neither of us can stand another arms race,” the General said.

“I sense a ‘But’,” Jason said.

“We have two major concerns. The first is Mexico and the other is a worry about other nations thinking they can waltz in and take over our country while are weak. We are an eastern seaboard country mainly and that makes us more vulnerable than you.”

“Are you proposing some kind of mutual assistance agreement? If one is attacked the other will come to its aid?”

“If anyone declares war on either of the Americas, we should unite to defend the entire country,” the General replied.

“I agree in principal but we would need to hammer out the details.”

“But you agree in principal?”

“I do.”

“Good. Thank you. It was a major concern. Now for Mexico. As of now they are only in the southern part of California. It is attached to the continent so what should we do about them if anything?” Ascot asked.

“Honestly? I just don’t know. They wanted to go their own way. Same for Washington and Oregon. To some extent this is of their own doing. In some ways America is split into three separate countries. The United States, American Republic and the Independent States.”

“But if we allow another country to get a foothold on our continent how long will it be before they decided to expand their territory?” Ascot asked.

“We have the same concern. Mary has had people doing reconnaissance and reporting back. They continue to dig in deeper and bring up more men. If we wait much longer it will end ugly.  It isn’t a matter of knocking them back, it’s the amount of civilian lives that will be lost and the destruction of LA and the surrounding area,” the President replied.

“Are you willing to send a joint taskforce to deal with the situation?”

“Who would you suggest command the operation?” Jason asked.

“General MacMillan would be my first choice. I’ve known Mac going on twenty years now. He is the finest tactician I have ever seen. We can put Admiral Swanson as second in command and she can oversee fleet operations if that is acceptable to you,” Ascot replied

“Let me talk to the General about it and see what all he will need. I do know he is tired of fighting and sending young men and women off to war.”

“I agree completely. We are hoping to change our foreign policy in dealing with other countries,” Ascot told him.

“Interesting. We were just talking about that exact same thing. Once we have ours refined maybe we should compare notes,” the President suggested.

“Excellent.”

****

General Ascot and President Jason talked about various subjects and for the most part things went well. The issue of Fort Knox was one area that caused some tension but they agreed to table that for a later time. The other area that they didn’t reach an agreement on was how to protect the sovereignty of the two nations. Everything from passports to electronic detection chips was discussed but in the end, they could come to no real agreement. It was another subject that they would have to talk about at a later time.

The one area they both skirted was how the country’s political system would be run. Neither asked or even mentioned it. They agreed to meet again in two months but would have General MacMillan get in touch with Admiral Swanson to start putting a plan together to remove the Mexican Army from California.

Little did General Ascot know that MacMillan had been in talks with her for some time now.

CHAPTER TWELVE
GEORGETOWN, DC

Bruce left the bar and went back to the hotel. He stopped at the doorman and asked for directions.

“Do you know where the Palace is located?”

“Are you talking about the Tudor Palace?”

“I guess so. Are there any other palaces in the area?”

“That I don’t know but the Tudor Palace is just a few blocks from here.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No sir. Go right up Wisconsin a few blocks to Q Street. Take a right on Q and the Tutor Palace House is just a couple of blocks further on your left. You can’t miss the place, but you can’t go in any longer.”

“Why is that?” Bruce asked the doorman.

“Something is going on there and people aren’t even allowed to stop and take pictures right now. All kinds of Police and military are hanging around all over the place.  From what I’ve heard if you walk too slowly the get on your case.”

“Wow. It must be something big then.”

The doorman just shrugged his shoulders.

Bruce couldn’t believe he had been within a few blocks of the place all along. Unbelievable. He took out his city map and found that sure enough, it was only four blocks up Wisconsin and two blocks over.

He took his rifle out of the case, broke it down and cleaned and oiled it. He wiped each shell and placed them in the magazine. He spent time going over the entire gun to make sure no fingerprints were to be found. He placed it back in the case and decided to get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow he would scout out the entire surrounding area.

****

Nashville, TN

“Welcome back. How did the meeting go?”

“Productive,” the President said.

“Meaning you made progress or it was just so-so?” Vice President Folly asked.

“Overall, I would give it about an eight on a scale of ten.”

“That high?” the VP said, rather surprised.

“Well for one thing, they are in the same boat we are in so it makes it a little easier to be open about the issues. One thing that we both see as a high priority is the situation with Mexico.  We are going to issue a joint proclamation to the President of Mexico and inform him that we intend to combine forces and will move submarines, aircraft carriers and our DLG’s along with the Air Force and Army if they do not leave the US territories immediately.”

“Is it a bluff or did you actually come to an agreement?”

“No, we really did agree. Mac is going to be the overall command officer and Admiral Swanson will be his second in command.”

“You’re kidding me. Mac and Jean.  That’s just too funny. Here they were sneaking around and now Mac has carté blanche to talk to her. If they had waited a week no risk would have been involved,” Folly kidded.

“Things work out in strange ways sometimes. What we could not agree on was how to enforce the borders. It is very complicated with Illinois and Michigan being part of the United States but essentially isolated by the placement of Indiana. General Ascot wanted to implant chips in all citizens with a code that would track them. I couldn’t agree to that. That was part of the problem with Quasim. He wanted to control every aspect of people’s lives. I can’t go along with that,” Jason told him.

“So how did you leave it then?”

“We decided to table it for now and talk about it again in two months when we have our next meeting.”

“Man. I didn’t think that would happen so soon,” Folly said.

“I’m telling you, we made some good progress. I am hopeful that we can find a way to solve a few of the problems still lingering.”

“Fort Knox being one of them.”

“Yeah. That was probably the most tense part of the conversation.  They feel it belongs to the United States Treasury. He wanted to know if we had any objection to having the gold moved to Washington. Obviously we didn’t see eye to eye on that issue.”

“He wasn’t joking? He actually thought we would let him just take the gold to Washington?” Folly replied.

“No he wasn’t joking. He was quite serious. Without gold they are going to be hard pressed to get their economy back on track.”

“Then they shouldn’t have started the damn war.”

“There is that,” Jason conceded.

****

NASHVILLE CAPITAL BUILDING

Jason had just finished briefing his team on the meeting with General Ascot. He gave MacMillan a draft of the letter that would be sent to the Mexican President.

“Can you make that time frame?” Jason asked him.

“Only if we open the Panama Canal. We can’t get the ships in position soon enough if they have to go all the way around South America.”

“Mary. I need you to get the canal open. Think you can do that?”

“I can,” was all she said.

“Good. I’ll hold off sending the letter until you have firmed up the plans with Admiral Swanson.”

“I’ll call her as soon as we finish here,” Mac told the President.

“Okay. This is what I would like to talk about today unless others have something on their minds.  Anyone? Good. I want to talk about how we are going to elect Presidents and representatives of the people. Let me start by saying that I feel, and have always felt that too often the person who gets elected turns out to be very different from whom you thought you were voting for. Let me throw this out on the table and then we can talk about it. First the requirements. Anyone that is the American Republic Presidential race must be born in one of the states that make up the Republic. Second, we will require proof in the form of a certified birth certificate to be presented before being allowed to seek the office. Third, the President will be elected by popular vote. I want to do away with the electoral system entirely. Forth, and you will have to give this one some thought, the person can only run for one six year term. Now why did I pick six years? Well it seems to me that if you can’t deliver what you promised in six years you need to be put out to pasture. To add to that, I want a three year performance evaluation of the President. At the end of the first three years, a representative sample from the Republic will be taken and if they cannot score a satisfaction rating of fifty-one percent or more, they will be replaced by the Vice President. Any benefits due the President will be cut in half to go with his performance. There are some other things but let’s start with those,” Jason said sitting back in his chair.

There was nothing but dead silence in the room. Even the dust bunnies had stopped moving. Jason waited.  MacMillan was writing on his pad of paper, Mary was holding her head in her palms. Beau Zimmerman, Ben Folly, and Bill Alan were looking down at the table. The Honorable Jackson Miller made a quick note on his pad of paper. Richard Newhouse and Gary Davis had the ‘deer in the headlights look’. Susan Churchman was obviously in deep thought. He could almost hear the wheels turning as she weighed out what she had just heard. It confirmed Jason’s belief that she was the right person to fill the Education Chief position.

“I have one comment, or question, or both,” Beau said.

“Spit it out boy. You’re among friends,” Jason said smiling.

“Let’s suppose that the President only gets a 45 percent approval rating. I assume you are talking about an overall rating, not one specific area.”

“Correct.”

“So, he gets a 45 percent approval. He is then essentially fired. The Vice President steps in to finish the term. Then what happens at the end of his three year term as President?”

“The same thing. He gets an approval rating. If he is doing a good job, 51 percent or better, he can run for President.”

“Giving him nine years as a possible total term,” Susan spoke up.

“That would be correct.”

“We still have the problem of the last three years of any President. As lame duck Presidents they can do pretty much as they please,” Susan said.

“Except for one detail, the pension and perks. To get the full amount, they must leave office with a 51 percent approval,” Jason told her.

“I like it,” she replied.

“The rest of you?”

“I have to admit, I think the electoral system is ridicules in the first place. The only thing that should count is what the people want,” MacMillan added.

“I agree with Susan. I like it better than what we are doing now. This holds the President’s feet to the fire to keep the promises that were made. It means it will be harder to talk out of both sides of their mouth,” Beau said.

“What about the rest of you. I want to hear what you think,” Jason urged.

Over the next forty-five minutes they discussed the topic. One question concerned who would be polled for the approval rating? They decided that it would be one item that would take separate consideration to make sure it was representative of the Republic as a whole and that the system was monitored by a totally independent panel.

Everyone agreed the concept was long overdue and with some minor tweaking it would be a viable system.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ADMIRAL’S ROW  NORFOLK, VA.NAVAL BASE

Norfolk, Virginia Naval Base in not large. It’s gigantic. The entire community of Norfolk lives and dies by the Navy’s presence in the area.  That doesn’t mean they love the sailors even though they make their living off of them. Billions of dollars are pumped into the community but it has always been the plight of the sailors to have the ‘No dogs or Sailors Allowed’ attitude displayed by the local community.

General MacMillan was deep in conversation with Admiral Swanson. Present as well were the Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier, USS George H.W. Bush, CVN 77 and the Commanding Officer for the carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln. CVN 72.

“This briefing is about our combined action to remove the Mexican Army, Air Force, and Navy from California. General Ascot and President Jason have signed a nonaggression pact between the American Republic and the United States. We have also agreed that even though technically California is neutral, we cannot have foreign interests invading North America. To that end, Admiral Swanson and I have been given the responsibility to remove them by force if necessary,” Mac told them.

“So we just forget about the sinking of the USS Truman?” the Commanding Officer of the Lincoln said.

“Yes Commander. That is correct, is that a problem for you?”

“Damn right it is. We lost a lot of good men and one of the finest Captains in the fleet,” he said, his face starting to get red.

“Stand down,” Swanson said.

“Sir, are we really expected to have a joint operation with General MacMillan?”

“What you are expected to do is to obey orders. General Ascot initiated the contact asking for them to put together a plan. The General is in charge and I will be acting as his second in command.”

“Second in command? You mean we are to follow his orders?”

“That’s the way it is done Commander. Let me be a little more blunt. You are relieved of command of the USS Abraham Lincoln as of this moment. You will remain on base until after this operation is completed. I know your wife lives on base so that should cause no undue hardship. You may leave now,” Swanson snapped at him.

He sat there looking stunned. Just like that he was being relieved of command? He would go to the General about this. No way was Admiral Swanson getting away with this.

“This is not over Admiral,” he said, picking up his hat and walking out of the room.

“Sorry about that General MacMillan.”

“I understand. The wounds run deep on both sides. Commander Loffler, if you have the same feelings, this would be the time to put them on the table,” Mac said.

“No sir. The Navy has a job to do. It will be a lot easier with both the United States and the American Republic working together. I’m sorry for Commander Parks. He is a good skipper but his mouth has gotten him in hot water before. He tends to shoot first and then tries to repair the damage.”

“I’ll let him cool down then talk to him but he embarrassed me in front of the General and that fish won’t fry,” the Admiral said.

“Don’t worry about it Admiral Swanson, I understand the difficulty of sitting in the same room with what was once your enemy.”

“The bad part is that we need to postpone this until I have a talk with Commander Peterson on the Eisenhower. I want to make damn sure he understands the parameters of this mission before I bring him in.”

“When can you do that?”

“He is due back later this afternoon. I can corral him then and have a chat with him,” she told the General.

“Then I suggest we reconvene at 0900 hundred hours tomorrow morning,” the General suggested.

“No problem for me sir,” Commander Loffler said.

Jane just nodded.

****

GEORGETOWN, DC

It took Bruce Hubbard three days to find a spot where he could get a good look at the Tudor Palace grounds and surrounding area. Like any good hunter he knew the trick was to blend in to the environment and act like you belonged.

He bought a pair of blue coveralls, a Georgetown Bulldogs baseball cap and gloves. He went to a quick sign place and had two cling on Dish TV Repair signs made. The truck rental went smoothly and he placed the signs on the sides of it when he got back to the hotel. His last stop was to purchase a thirty foot extension ladder to put on top of the truck's rack.

Blend in, he reminded himself as he drove the van up 31st Street alongside the Tudor Palace. He pulled over and looked at a map. He knew the guards would not let him sit there very long. Sure enough one walked over to the van and Bruce rolled the window down.

“You need to move along.”

“I will but I’ll be darn if I can find the place where I’m supposed to fix the dish. Someplace on Avon Lane.  You have any idea where that is?”

“You missed it. You need to go back the way you came. About halfway down you’ll see it on the left. It doesn’t have a street sign but that’s Avon.”

“No street sign huh? No wonder I missed it. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem,” he said.

The guard even stopped the traffic so Bruce could turn around without having to circle the block.

Bruce parked the tuck and walked around to the back of the second building carrying the ladder. He took his time, he was just an hourly employee after all. Once he had the ladder extended and in place, he went back to the truck and retrieved his backpack leaving the gun in the truck.

Once on the roof, he used the scope as a monocular. Lying on his stomach he could just see over the edge of the building to the Tudor garden grounds. His location was excellent.  He could see the front entrance to the Palace and the grounds in front of it for a good fifteen yards before trees obscured his vision.

He stayed and watched for almost an hour then packed the scope away and went back down the ladder.  Today had been nothing more than a dry run.  He would be back tomorrow to finish the job.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ADMIRAL’S ROW - NORFOLK, VA.

The briefing went smoothly the next morning. MacMillan had decided to let Admiral Swanson do the talking and that seemed to do the trick. It went quickly and they went through the plans.

“I hope it doesn’t come down to a shooting war. General Ascot and President Jason sent Mexican President Hermilo Medrano notice of our intent to remove them. They have given them ten days to vacate back to Mexico. It also warned that any killing of civilians or military personnel would be dealt with accordingly,” the Admiral told the two sailors.

“Is the Panama Canal going to be open?” Loffler asked.

“It is being done as we speak,” MacMillan assured them.

“Then we need to get our provisions and get underway immediately,” the Captain of the Eisenhower added.

“Yes. I am going to leave it up to the two of you to also pick your escort fleet. Take whatever you need.  If you run into any resistance, have them come talk to me,” Swanson told them.

“I doubt we will have much trouble. Between Commander Parks being sent down and the Mexican Army and Navy on North American soil, no one will raise a fuss,” Loffler replied.

“I have a list of our Navy vessels that we know are in the area. It may help in your selection process,” MacMillan said, handing a copy to each of the men.

“That will be most useful.  Anything on the Air Force?”

“Just happen to have that with me as well,” he said smiling and passed a copy to each of them.

“Got a million dollars in that briefcase of yours?” Commander Peterson kidded.

“Well I did have but Admiral Swanson said I had to pay for the carrier's fillup of fuel. Unfortunately my credit card limit forced me to pay cash,” he joked back.

The tension in the room dissipated as they continued to go over the plans. General MacMillan left feeling overall very positive about the meeting.

****

President's Palace-Mexico City

President Hermilo Medrano was enjoying a light breakfast by the pool. His orange juice was actually spiked with tequila and Grenadine, a Tequila Sunrise. The bank vaults were being emptied in Los Angles and the contents shipped back to Mexico. Artwork from the galleries was being appraised and sent back along with other valuable treasures. Life was definitely good.

“Mr. President. I have a special delivery envelope for you,” one of his servants said, holding it out.

“I am enjoying my breakfast. Perhaps that escaped your attention,” he said without looking at the man.

“Sir, it is marked Urgent, Open Immediately.”

He sighed and held out his hand. Glancing down it suddenly seemed very hot in his hand. It was from the American Republic and the United States. Both were clearly marked on the envelope.

He expected one of them to rattle their sabers but he was not expecting to hear from both of them together. He opened the envelope and unfolded the single sheet of paper and read:

President Hermilo Medrano,

This document serves as notice that the United States and American Republic have signed an non-aggression pact.  As of this date, we have further agreed to jointly protect the all areas within the confines of the original United States of America.  This includes Alaska, Washington State, Oregon, California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.  We have also agreed that the Panama Canal is to remain open to all nations.

This document further serves to notify Mexico that they must retreat to the original California border.   All Americans are to be returned to the US and any persons held prisoner must be released immediately.  Any and all possessions belonging to the US must be returned.

Mexico is hereby notified that in ten days, unless the conditions stipulated in this document are met, we will have no choice but to commence aggressive action.   Both President Jason of the American Republic and General Ascot of the United States genuinely hope that you will withdraw and meet the terms of the document.

General P. Ascot for the United States

President J. Jason for the American Republic

His hand was shaking by the time he finished the last sentence. How could they have united so quickly? It should have taken years and Mexico would have been firmly entrenched.

He needed to send for the Secretary of National Defense, Eleazar Guzman immediately.

****

GEORGETOWN, DC

Hanna Cole had been browbeating the security staff for the last two weeks about having more space to move around in. She wanted them to quit hovering around her every minute, especially when she went outside to walk the grounds.

“As senior man, I am telling you that this is totally unacceptable and I demand you do something about it.”

“Ma’am, I do not take orders from you. You are welcome to take it up with my superior but I have strict orders and I intend to follow them.”

“So you really aren’t in charge. You're just another lackey. That’s just great. Then I want to speak to your superior and I mean today,” she said, her fist balled up.

“I’ll see if he is available but he is in Richmond, Virginia at the moment. I can try to reach him by cell.”

“Then do it,” she demanded.

“Oops, look at that. Time for shift change. I guess it will have to wait for tomorrow,” he said smiling and turning to walk off.

“Don’t you dare turn your back on me mister. I’ll have you sent to...”

“Stuff a sock in it lady. You aren’t going to do anything. No one cares who you think you are,” he said without even stopping.

She was furious. She stomped her foot like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Quasim had been watching the spectacle from an upstairs window. It was all he could do to keep from laughing.

Also watching the show was Bruce Hubbard from the rooftop across the way. He didn’t know what was being said but it was still funny to watch.  Obviously Hanna Cole had not gotten her way.

He could see ex-President Quasim laughing in the upstairs window. He had the distinct impression that he didn’t much care for Hanna Cole either. He lay there trying to decide what to do next. He could take the shot on Cole right now but then Quasim would escape. If he shot Quasim, Cole would more than likely get away. They were both responsible for the death of his family. If he had a suppressor...no use wishing, he didn’t. Finally he made up his mind.

He put the scope on the rifle and locked it in place. e eased the rifle over the edge of the low wall and placed the cross hairs on the middle of the chest. He took a deep breath, let it out and squeezed the trigger ever so slowly. The rifle punched against his shoulder. He immediately left the rifle and scrambled down the ladder. He walked to the truck as quickly as possible, got in, started the motor and slowly drove off.

He knew if he went too fast someone would notice him. He took off the gloves while he drove. He took the Potomac Parkway and headed across the river. He wound his way out to Baily’s Crossroads before he stopped. He pulled into a large computer super store and drove around to the back.  He took off the coveralls and baseball cap. Everything went into a plastic bag.

He got out of the van, tossed the bag in the dumpster and walked to Columbia Pike where he took the bus.  He eventually got back to Georgetown.  Military police, Georgetown Police cars, and emergency vehicles were still choking off traffic.  Roadblocks had been set up and every car was searched.

He walked down to the bar and took a seat. Everyone was talking a mile a minute. The TV was showing a woman talking head in front of the Tudor Palace with a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ banner running across the bottom of the screen.

The bartender was deep in conversation and he had to wait for several minutes before he ambled down his way.

“Crazy huh?”

“I guess. It’s a crazy world,” he said, “A Guinness when you have the time.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

NASHVILLE CAPITAL BUILDING

“Amazing, did you hear?” Kendra Cox asked as she came in the room.

“I was just watching it on television. A hell of a thing. I mean, why now? If someone had done this earlier we probably wouldn't have had the damn war.”

“Mr. President.”

“I know. Not very Christian but it’s the truth. Think of how many lives could have been saved.”

“Still. No one has the right to do that,” she insisted.

“Humm,” was his reply.

“Anyway. They are assembled and ready for you when you are,” she announced.

“I’m on my way.”

His entire staff was sitting at the large conference table when he came walking in. Several started to get up but he just motioned them to stay seated.

“I know you all have a ton of work to do but I felt it was necessary to talk about another issue I have been struggling with,” he told them.

“How the states are going to be represented?” Beau Zimmerman said.

“Have you been sneaking a peek at my files?” Jason kidded.

“Well, it would seem logical. We talked about the President last time so it would seem logical that we would move on to the next level,” Beau replied.

“Very good. And you are exactly right. What I don’t want is a government that costs the nation huge amounts of money. By the time you consider all the factors of having both a House of Representatives and the Senate it is mind boggling. No wonder we were going broke.”

“And you want to do what?” Mary Lake asked.

“I’m not sure. Hence the meeting.”

“Doing away with one or the other will create some real problems,” Susan Churchman said.

“How so?”

“The Senate represents the States. The House the districts within the state. If you take away the house the people have no one they can go to.  If you take away the Senate, the states are left without representation.”

“That is very true but there must be a better way,” Jason insisted.

“Cut the number of House Representatives down to one from each state and one Senator for each state,” the Treasury Chief, Bill Alan said.

“So you are suggesting we let the states determine how to handle the rest internally?” Jason asked.

“Maybe. I mean, they can make the state government as big as they want. It would be on their nickel. I’m pretty sure that would hold the numbers down,” Alan answered.

“So the states go broke?” Mary asked.

“Hey, they would have to live by a budget the same as the President this way. If they want a bunch of fat cats sitting on the payroll, they had better be able to afford it,” Alan replied.

“So then, the House Representative would stay in the state except to confer with the Senator whenever necessary. The Senator would be in Nashville, is that essentially it?” Jason asked.

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Let’s take it one step further.  What about their perks. Senators and House members love their perks.”

“I, for one, think they should have to pay into Social Security if we are going to keep it. They should have to disclose their tax returns each year. No free medical, they pay like the rest of us. The little fact finding trips should be totally eliminated unless approved by the President,” Susan spoke up.

“Oooh. Someone thinks they have been getting away with too much,” Beau said.

“Darn right. Everyone else has to follow the rules. Why shouldn’t they?”

“So no special retirement plan?”

“No. They can take out a 401K like the rest of us. That is if we still have that in place,” she said smiling.

“Actually, I’m glad you all brought this up. I have been playing with the same issues. I think the government is way to top heavy. We need to cut out the fat and get back to a reasonable size,” Jason replied.

Once again, the conversation and exchange of ideas went on for hours.  In the end they had a reasonable working plan of action for the future of the American Republic.

****

NORFOLK, VA

The two Super Carriers had left Norfolk almost immediately after the briefing with Admiral Swanson. They would travel at full speed since they had the longest way to travel. The Bush and Lincoln were too large to fit through the Panama Canal. They would have to traverse the South American Continent.

A new section was being added to the Panama Canal but even then, it would not be able to accommodate the American Super Carriers and submarines would also travel with them as an additional layer of protection.

The USS Anzio CG-68 and USS Monterey CG-61 would rendezvous with several other DLG and support ships out of Pensacola, Florida. They would easily be able to fit through the Gatún Locks. They would then meet up with the two carriers and submarines and proceed to engage the Mexican Navy if necessary.

General MacMillan had dispersed the 20th Fighter Wing flying F-16’s from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Holoman Air Force, home of the 49th Wing, with F-22’s would also see action alongside the F-16’s.

Even with all of this fire power, boots on the ground would still be necessary. Twenty thousand active and reserve troops were standing ready to be inserted into California.

The planned insertion was dependent on two critical objectives.  Since the Mexican Army had reinforced their positions all along Santa Paula Freeway, it made the job considerably more problematic. The two airfields that they needed were in enemy hands.

The Santa Paula Airport was just south of the Freeway and was being used by the Mexican Air Force. It would be critical to capture it without damaging the runways. Equally daunting was taking back the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu. The advantage it offered is that the troop ships could offload the Army and Marines within a hundred yards of the airfield. Unless they could seize the two bases, the war would be much more protracted and deadly.

Both General Ascot and President Jason waited anxiously for word from the Mexican President that would end the situation without the need for bloodshed.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

MEXICAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

“What do you want me to do?” Secretary of National Defense, Eleazar Guzman asked with a hint of trepidation in his voice.

“What is the current situation?” the President asked.

“Two of their newest aircraft carriers met up with a sizable fleet of other ships three days ago. They are within a few hours of reaching the California border.”

“And you see no way that we can defeat them or at least hold our own so that we can negotiate a settlement?”

“In all honesty, there is no way we can hold back the might of their firepower,” Guzman told him.

“Then this is what we will do. We could not meet their demands at this point in time anyway. I will send them a message telling them that we will comply but that we need more time to withdraw. It will be delayed in getting to them. When they start the hostilities we will look like we were attacked without provocation.  We can then go to the UN and force either a settlement or UN troop support.”

“But sir. That is only prolonging the situation. Our soldiers will die for no reason. We would be doing nothing more than sacrificing them and to what end?”

“Senor Guzman, that is not for you to decide. With a settlement we will have gained much in the way of concessions. We will get part of California back and I have no intention of sending back any treasure that we have confiscated.  California is rightfully Mexico’s anyway,” the President insisted.

“I beg you Mr. President to reconsider. What if they decide to attack Mexico City as well. Once they see the damage we have done to their country and the number of civilians killed, they may seek revenge.”

“It was war. Damage is a natural part of it and so is death.”

“I do not think they will feel the same way if they find the mass graves and hear the stories of what our soldiers did,” Guzman replied.

“You will do as you are told. I do not wish to discuss this further.  Carry out my orders immediately,” the President said slamming his hand on the table.

“As you wish, Mr. President,” Guzman said.

The President sat for a long time reliving the conversation. He knew Guzman was right but he was backed into a corner. Mexico would be seen as weak if they just succumbed to the American demands. Even if they did, there was still the matter of the deaths and destruction they had inflicted on the cities and people of California.

The Americans would want compensation and Mexico was in no position to honor such a dept. The damned Americans.

****

NASHVILLE CAPITAL BUILDING

“Anything?”

“No sir. Not a word.”

“Time is running out,” President Jason said.

“They couldn’t pull out in time now, even if they wanted to,” Mary told him.

“So they want a shooting war. Why is that? They must know they stand no chance. All that will happen is that they will end up getting people killed. Why?” General MacMillan added.

“I agree. So what are they really trying to accomplish?” Jason asked.

“Outside help,” Susan Churchman replied.

“Outside help? From where?” MacMillan asked.

“The UN,” she told him.

“Ha. If he is counting on that, he is a bigger fool than I thought he was. The UN. What a joke. They will be a year debating its involvement.  Add another year for them to finally mobilize and even then, what are they going to do against the American Republic and United States?”

“Hope for some kind of negotiated settlement,” I would imagine,” Susan replied.

“Good luck with that. They invaded our country. We have nothing to negotiate with them,” MacMillan replied, always the warrior.

“Still, that would be my best guess. I didn’t say they would be successful but that is what they will try,” she insisted.

“I think Susan is right,” Jason interjected, “They think that they can still come out ahead somehow.”

“Sir, we can’t negotiate with them after this,” MacMillan said.

“Oh I quite agree but I believe Susan is correct when she said that is what they were pushing for.  Unfortunately President Medrano has miscalculated our resolve,” the President told them.

“So what do we do now?” Mary asked.

“We pull the fleet up to the coast, fly our planes over in mass and start sending in our troops to the two airbases. If one shot is fired by them first we will attack in earnest.”

“And what about the drones? Is that still on the table if they fire on our troops?”

“Absolutely. Mexicali, Tecate, and Tijuana are to be targeted as planned,” the President said.

“Mexico City?” MacMillan asked.

It had been on the original list of cities to hit if shooting actually started.

“Hold on that until I approve it. I know it was part of the original plan and after we start shooting if they do not immediately surrender, Mexico City is back on the list,” Jason confirmed.

“I will let General Ascot and Admiral Swanson know of the latest developments. I should stay in close contact with them once the first shots are fired.”

“Absolutely. That takes precedent over anything here at the Capital. You do whatever you have to do but please keep me apprised. If we need to unleash on Mexico City, I will authorize the attack,” MacMillan said, “If you all will excuse me, I will go call Ascot and Swanson and bring them up to speed.”

“They fire the first shot,” the President reminded him.

“I understand,” was all he said as he closed the door.

“Just one question, how will we know who really fired the first shot?” Mary asked.

“I guess that’s the beauty of it. No one knows for sure,” the President answered.

“I don’t want to be out of line but I would respectfully suggest that you call President Medrano and explain exactly what is going to take place if they do not remove their troops,” Susan offered.

No one spoke for a second. The President reached behind him, picked up the preprogrammed international phone and said, “That is an excellent idea, Susan. I should have done that two days ago.”

He dialed and waited. It took some time to finally get through to President Medrano. He was skeptical of taking the call at all. At first he was unavailable but after reconsidering, decided to take the call.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

MEXICO PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

“President Jason, I do not think we have met formally,” Medrano said.

“You are correct Mr. President. I have not had that honor yet.”

“Yes, well perhaps someday.”

“I certainly hope that will be possible. Mr. President I know you are a very busy man as am I so forgive me for coming straight to the point.”

“But of course. Please,” Medrano replied.

“Mexico has invaded the sovereignty of the North American territory of California. I know we have had our internal problems but the United States and the American Republic have not only put that behind us but we are united in our endeavor to reclaim the territory you have occupied. We have given you time to withdraw your troops but as of today you have not done so...”

“If I may Mr. President,” Medrano interrupted, “California is no longer a part of the United States or the American Republic. Therefore, it is an independent country and they are certainly within their rights to protest to the UN or to meet our troops in battle. I do not see how that concerns either you or General Astor.”

“General Ascot. I understand how you may have misconstrued the situation but nevertheless our two united nations will reclaim California. Please listen carefully.  I am not the type to threated any nation or world leader, but sir, you must reconsider your position.

Tomorrow at 0800 our fighting troops will return and reclaim California by force if necessary. I would rather it not come to that but we are fully prepared to take whatever action we deem necessary.  Do not make the mistake of relying on the UN to bail you out. It simply will not happen. Mr. President we will carry the war to your country as well, including where you are this minute. There is no way you can win.  Please, for the sake of your country, remove your troops immediately,” Jason said.

His voice had remained flat, never once raising or pleading. It should have been quite clear he was talking with grim determination.

“We cannot possibly do so in the time allotted. It would take several days to withdraw our Army and Air Force.  We simply can’t do it.”

“Then you will lose them starting at 0800 tomorrow. Thank you for your consideration. Goodday Mr. President,” Jason said.

“Wait. Would you be willing to give us more time?”

“Sir, you have had plenty of time. You were willing to gamble on us backing down but I assure you that is not going to happen.”

“Mr. President, I will give the order to start the withdrawal immediately. We will start evacuating the front lines and recall our Navy. We cannot comply with everything in the document you sent but we are willing to negotiate that aspect.”

“Mr. President, there is nothing to negotiate. You will comply in an systematic way. Yes, we will grant you some additional time but no longer than five days from today. As you know our Navy is within a few miles of the California coast. Our submarines have already targeted your main ships. They must be out of American waters by 0800 tomorrow or we will fire on them.”

“Yes. I understand. I will give the orders immediately. This misunderstanding can surely be corrected at a later time. Now I will give the order to withdraw all troops as quickly as possible,” Medrano told Jason.

“That is good for both of our countries. I will leave you to your work. Good day President Medrano.

“Good day to you President Jason.”

****

Everyone let out a cheer as soon as the President pushed the speaker button off.

“Excellent job,” Mary said.

“Very good Mr. President,” Vice President Folly added.

“Yes, well we need to get hold of General Ascot, Admiral Swanson, and of course Mac, immediately so they will know what is going on. I want them to remain on battle alert just in case President Medrano has a change of heart.”

“I’ll take care of that immediately,” Mary Lake replied.

“Good.  Thank you. Well, that is a big hurdle out of the way,” Jason said, wiping his brow.

“Sir, we have one other little detail we need to attend to,” Beau reminded them.

“Ah yes. The funeral. We really should send a representative. Given my former position, it would be more than awkward for me to attend. I sorry but that duty must fall upon one of you.”

“I don’t mind going,” Beau offered.

“You sure you don’t mind? You have had some pretty aggressive scraps with them in the past as well.”

“At least I will get to throw dirt on the grave. That will be satisfaction enough,” Beau said smiling.

“Well, there is that,” the President conceded.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

WASHINGTON, DC

As much as it galled him, General Ascot had conceded to allowing for a funeral procession to follow the tradition for a former United States leader. In his heart he felt it was unworthy but he did not want to cause an outcry. The people had enough stress without his refusal to honor tradition.

The one thing he did not give in on was having the body lay in the rotunda. That was just too much to ask. In concession he ordered the flags flown at half-mast for three days.

Only a few countries sent emissaries. England, Russia, France, Canada and a few smaller countries were represented. He was surprised to find that Beau Zimmerman was coming to represent the American Republic.  He really wouldn’t have blamed them if they had elected to forgo the ceremony.

The horse drawn carriage procession had traveled down Constitution Avenue, around the Lincoln Memorial and crossed over the Arlington National Memorial Bridge before entering Arlington Cemetery.

General Ascot had asked Beau to ride with him to the burial site so they could talk.

“It looks like we dodged the bullet with Mexico,” the General said.

“Yes. They took longer to get out than we would have liked but they are gone. We have begun to assess the amount of damage and loss of life. It is considerable. Our forces have found two large mass burial sites. We have just begun to exhume the bodies.”

“I figured as much.”

“They are slowly returning the items they sacked from the museums and art galleries. Gold and cash are missing in large amounts as well. We fully intend to pursue that aspect,” Beau told him.

“That brings up another matter I would like to discuss with you. The gold at Fort Knox. We really need to have serious talks about that. We will simply not be able to survive on the amount we now have in our possession. We all need to sit down and see if some compromise can be reached.”

“Well, I can’t speak for the President but I don’t see what harm could come out of frank and open dialogue. We do not want you see you fall into a depression. The war took enough out of the people.”

“Then you will ask President Jason about a meeting. Your Treasury Chief and our financial leaders?”

“I will indeed,” he said just as the car pulled to a stop at the site.

It was a beautiful cloudless day.  There was a slight chill in the air but nothing that would require a coat. Beau stopped and turned to look at the city.

“It is always inspiring isn’t it?  No matter how many times you see it,” Ascot said.

“Beautiful. Just beautiful. I am thankful that the Capital was spared any war damage.”

“I’ll admit, the American Republic showed great restraint in not bombing New York and the Capital.”

“Part of the credit has to go to you as well. You initiated contact with President Jason. They would have been targets at some point,” Beau said as they continued to walk to the burial site.

The service was brief and for that, Beau and the General were both grateful.

Beau picked up a handful of dirt and tossed it on the casket.

“You don’t deserve to be buried alongside these brave Americans.  God rest your soul Hanna Cole.

****

WASHINGTON, DC

General Ascot had dropped Beau Zimmerman off at the airport. The one thing good that came out of the day was Beau’s agreement to discuss the gold situation with the President.

On the other hand, Senator Cromwell would be waiting to see him back at the Pentagon. He spotted the Senator standing outside as soon as they drove up. No way to avoid the situation so he decided to just get it over with as painlessly as possible.

“Senator Cromwell. Nice to see you,” Ascot said shaking his hand.

“I’m sure it’s not really. I hope you will forgive me for not going to the funeral. I never could stand that woman.”

“I would have avoided it as well if I could have found a graceful way to get out of it. Walk with me to my office and you can tell me what’s on your mind,” the General said.

“Several things come to mind but the most pressing is what are you going to do about the Congress? We are accomplishing nothing while we are in limbo,” Cromwell said.

“I understand your frustration but frankly we simply are not in a position to reconvene the Senate yet. I’m sure you know that we are still working out several important items with the American Republic. We have pressing issues such as the borders, interstate commerce, and the distribution of gold, just to name a few.”

“Yes, but we could help with those. After all, every one of those affects the citizens and we are here to represent them. Certainly interstate commerce needs our input,” Cromwell insisted.

“Let me ask you something Senator.  If I said I want a proposal on how to handle interstate commerce in, oh say, two weeks, could Congress present a proposal in that time frame?”

“Two weeks? I mean, we could probably throw something together but to come up with a comprehensive program, it would take maybe two or three months.”

“And once again, therein lays the problem. We need interstate commerce within weeks, not months.  Fortunately, our transportation people have already devised a program, but you see the problem,” the General said.

“General, how could you do that without the approval of Congress? You can’t just make up things as you go along.”

“And that is another area in which you are wrong. Not only can we, but we will continue to deal with problems as they arise. Senator, business as usual went out the window when the first bombs fell. Now you may not like everything that we do but the missions will be accomplished and in a timely fashion. The military does not act by committee. Proposals are made, discussed, and acted upon.  End of story. We don’t debate, make deals, or vote.”

“But that isn’t how democracy works. You are acting without the consent of the citizens,” Cromwell insisted.

“And your way is more democratic? Just how much do you actually tell your constituents when a bill comes up? How much do they really understand? What about the sweet deals that are tacked on to a bill so it will get approved or so that you can pull one over on the public?” Ascot countered.

“You are oversimplifying the issue. Of course we don’t explain everything. The average citizen wouldn’t understand the process or even care.”

“So you are saying that you just really do what you want but it takes you longer. You all have to line each other’s pockets first,” the General shot back.

“That is a blatant lie.”

“Is it? Are you going to stand there and tell me that no money, pork projects, or attaching riders to a bill goes on?”

“Not like you are making it out to be. Everything is legal and above board.”

“Legal, maybe. Ethical, probably not. Senator I will make my position clear once more. Congress will reconvene when we have determined what form it will take and what it’s role will be in the future.”

“You do not have the authority to do that. You cannot dictate to Congress.  We will hold you in contempt,” he said.  His face was beet red and his voice had gone up a full octave.

“Senator. I hold Congress in contempt. Now I have work to do. You can see yourself out,” the General said and opened his office door and went inside.

Senator Cromwell just stood there looking at the closed door.  He was a Senator. No General could tell the Congress what they could and could not do. He would reconvene without his blessing and hold hearings on General Ascot. He was not going to get away with thumbing his nose at them, he decided as he stormed out of the Pentagon.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

NASHVILLE CAPITAL BUILDING

Once again the President had everyone assembled. It was becoming a weekly event. Most of them were looking forward to having an avenue for the exchange of ideas.

“Mr. President,” Susan said as they all got comfortable.

“James.”

“Sorry. You are the President after all.”

“That is true but in this room I really don’t want to have to call you Ms. Churchman.”

“Fair enough. Anyway, I was wondering if you would mind talking about education a bit? I have some hard decisions to make and I would like to bounce ideas off all of you.”

“That is certainly a worthy subject.  You have the floor.”

“Here is the thing. If we are going to be a world leader or even to compete in the world, we have to change our approach to education.  I’m talking about from kindergarten all the way to the sixteenth grade,” she told them.

“I think we are open to suggestions on how to accomplish that,” Jason replied.

“Well, here is the rub, to paraphrase Shakespeare. We have stripped all the character development skills out of our children. We do not hold them responsible for the actual learning,” she said.

“Meaning?”

“A nation is no better than its future. The past doesn’t really matter all that much. What we teach our children about responsibility, ethics, pride in accomplishment, and a myriad of other character development skills is just as important as any other basic subject. We need to incorporate higher standards of behavior in our children and continue all the way through the education process.”

“I understand what you are saying, Susan, but how do we actually do that?” Mary asked.

“By changing the way we teach. Right now we use all kinds of standardized tests to see how a school is doing. What has that really accomplished? Teachers are doing whatever it takes to make sure their students meet the test requirements.  Does that mean they have really learned the subject? Don’t kid yourself. It means that the teacher is being forced to teach to the test.  The majority of their time is spent on prepping students to meet the criteria that some arbitrary group determines is the benchmark. We are doing nothing more than dummying down the curriculum.”

“So you are saying we shouldn’t have standardized tests?” Beau asked.

“I’m saying that everything should not be centered around those tests. You want it straight? Not every child is smart. Not every child is motivated. Not every child is going to make it to college, or even wants to. We have been dummying down our curriculum to make it appear that we are doing better, but in reality we have been cheating our students. Our brightest students are bored in class. Our least motivated don’t care. A teacher can engage his or her students, but they cannot make them learn or be smarter. Simply put, we may all be created equal but we do not all have the same brain capacity, motivation, or desire to learn.”

“So if I get this right, you're saying just leave the dumb ones behind,” MacMillan asked.

“I certainly would not put it that way but I am saying don’t penalize the ones who want to learn and the brightest students for the sake of a few that are not on the same level. That is what we are doing now and if we intend to make advancements, we need to change how we approach education. The 'No Child Left Behind' policies are not valid in the real world. You cannot legislate intelligence or motivation. We simply lowered the bar for all students and hindered any teacher who wants to teach creatively and challenge students to excel. This is why those who could afford to do so removed their children from public schools.”

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about it much,” Mary interjected.

“I’m not sure I agree with all of that,” Vice President Folly said.

“And that’s why I brought it up. Please, I am not saying we don’t educate the less gifted but we do it in a different way. We meet them where they are academically and provide a good learning experience geared to their needs. We still teach them the basics but let’s face it, how many in this room alone can name the Capital of South Dakota? How you find the cubic volume of a cylinder?  The point is why do you even need to know those things unless you are going to work in a field where it is used? Here is a true story that happened to me once when I was giving a test for one of our teachers on maternity leave. The question was: If the sun was at a 20 degree angle to a tree and the shadow was 35 feet, how tall was the tree? The question was worth ten points,” she told them.

“And?” Jason asked.

“One student wrote that if they needed to know bad enough they would get a chainsaw and cut it down and then measure it,” she said.

Some smiled, some chuckled, and a couple didn’t get the point.

“I gave him ten points for the answer. The point being that not only did he not care, he realized that he would never again try to figure out how high a tree was by knowing the length of its shadow. He was saying ‘who cares? I sure don’t’. The truth is neither did I. I’m never going to be a lumberjack. The question had no practical application.”

“So if I understand this correctly, you are saying that starting in elementary school and going on, we need to have classes for those that will never use higher math or science and one for those that will go on to aspire to those programs that need that kind of application.”

“Pretty much,” Susan replied.

“Isn’t that discrimination?” Supreme Court Chief Jackson Miller asked.

“I don’t know. Is it? You are the head of the courts. Before you answer, let me ask you a question. If your son or daughter was very motivated and bright, would you want him or her in a class that bored her to death? One where she lost interest and just mentally dropped out?”

“Well I can’t answer that. The law covers everyone, not just my children.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if at some point she just dropped out?”

“I’m not saying that. I would make sure she continued with her education.”

“Please tell me honestly Jackson, did you have you children enrolled in public or private schools?

"Well I don't think you can use my children as an example for children in general," he said.

"So the answer is private. And was that so that they could achieve at a higher level?"

"I get your point, but I still think it's a tricky area. We can’t have schools that discriminate and make the decisions on who will succeed and who will not be given the chance,” he replied.

“Sir, all I can say is that you should spend time in the classrooms before you make that kind of statement. I have seen literally hundreds of really bright students who lose interest because of the test prep curriculum. In addition, our classrooms have a significant number of undisciplined malcontents who take up space in the class room, distracting, bullying, and threatening the 'preps' or studious children. You tell me how to fix that and I will,” she said.

“All I know is that I am not going to let discrimination creep back in. Not in the school system or any other area.”

“Good luck with that. It already exists no matter what laws you pass. You cannot legislate people's attitudes any more than you can their intellect, or will. That’s partly what got us into the mess in the first place. If we go down that path again, we will end up in exactly the same place. Now is the time to make positive changes in our educational policies for the future generations that follow,” Dr. Churchman replied.

It was quiet in the room for several seconds before the President spoke up.

“Why don’t we all take a little break? This is obviously a passionate subject and I think it would be good to step away for a few minutes,” Jason said.

“Yes, I could use a little break,” Vice President Folly added.

CHAPTER TWENTY

WASHINGTON, DC

Twelve Senators were gathered together with twenty-six Representatives. They were meeting at the Oxen Hill Manor just outside the Capital Beltway. Some of the less trusted members of Congress had not been informed of the meeting.

Senator Cromwell was doing most of the talking as usual. He had just finished briefing them about his last clash with General Ascot. Of course he embellished in a few areas to get the intended indignation response from his audience.

“So there you have it. He indicated that he would reconvene congress at his discretion. He essentially told me that we were nothing more than a bunch of do little crooks always trying to line our pockets.”

“We have to do something and quickly.”

“That’s why I asked you all here. I agree that something has to be done and soon or we will never be in control of the country. Democracy as we know it will be dead,” the Senator stated.

“We could call for a national strike. Go on radio, television, the print media or whatever means we can and let the public know that the United States is a dictatorship and that the people are no longer represented,” the Senator from Maine said.

“Don’t you think they would shut us down? Take over the stations?” one of the New York Senators asked.

“We would have to do it lightning fast. Before they had a chance to react. With a little luck we could get enough information out to the population. We would have to tell them up front that we would most likely be arrested or the stations taken over. That would set the tone,” Senator Billings of New Hampshire said.

“The message would have to be short but dynamic. Full of urgency for the citizens to rise up and protest a military state,” Cromwell added.

“It would be a one shot deal most likely. I mean we could probably get some private stations that are hard to find to continue our message but it wouldn’t be the mainstream media.”

“We could hold town hall meetings.”

“Which they would raid.”

“Yes but even if they do, it proves our point,” Senator Dickerson said.

“It can’t be just a few of us.  We need every Senator, Representative, Governor, and State and local politician if we are going to be effective,” Cromwell told them.

“That increases the risk considerably. Everyone that we bring in is another potential avenue for a leak. We have to do it surreptitiously. If the military finds out before we can take action they will sequester us immediately,” Senator Dickerson replied.

“But if we do nothing we are subject to military rule. I can’t go along with that. This is not some third world country. This is still the United States,” Cromwell said.

“How many of you are willing to meet again to determine our course of action and to work on the delivery and areas of responsibility for contacting the others?” Dickerson asked.

All of the hands came up which was even more than Cromwell had expected.  Maybe they could get this done after all.

****

Bruce Hubbard had left Washington after two days. He was in no hurry.  He knew that no matter how hard they tried they would never be able to trace the gun to him since the war.

He took the van back and threw everything else away. He concluded that there was nothing more for him there so he started the drive back to Knoxville.

He decided that he would take I-85 traversing Virginia until he got to State Road 58. There he turned south heading for the Virginia-Tennessee border.

He was sure that he could find a secluded area where he could cross back into Tennessee. It was late by the time he arrived at the turnoff.  He took the exit north and found a fairly new motel where he could spend the night.

The next morning he drove across Main street and ate a good breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. After buying a couple of snacks and using the restroom, he picked up SR 58, heading toward the border.

At noon he stopped at the small town of Damascus. There he filled up at the Chevron station, grabbed a quick bite at a local dinner.  Looking around, he noticed that a lot of hikers must come through the area.  He counted at least six different outfitter stores and three bike rental shops.

He looked at the map one more time. He would stay on SR 58 until the split and then take 91 across the border. His only worry was whether the Sheriff had a car sitting there.  If that was the case he would abandon the Jeep and hike through the woods into Tennessee.

Bruce stopped the CJ at the last big bend before the border. He carefully looked around the corner and sure enough a County Sherriff’s car sat blocking the road.

As much as he hated to he would have to abandon the Jeep and hike across the border. It was almost dark when he decided he had gone far enough to be back in Tennessee. He had a heck of a long walk before he would be out of the forest.

****

The man stood in the shadows, watching the street for fifteen minutes. He checked out every car parked along the street. He had even brought a pair of night vision binoculars to make sure no one was lurking in the trees that lined the road.

Once satisfied, he dashed across the street, his raincoat flapping.  When he got to the steps he quickly rang the doorbell several times. It seemed like hours before the door opened a crack.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I have something important to tell you.”

“Here? At my home? It can’t wait?”

“No. You need to let me in. I can’t afford for anyone to see me,” the man said nervously looking around.

“Shit. Alright, come in but stay here in the foyer. I need to get my robe,” he said and quickly closed the door once he had stepped inside.

A few minutes later he returned and looked at the puddle of water that had dripped off the man’s raincoat.

“Now what is so important?”

“There was a meeting. A large one.  There is a plan to cause a general uprising of the people. They intend to shut down as much as they can. They have evidently been working on this for a couple of weeks. I just found out a few hours ago. It is fairly well organized and I think it could be effective,” the man said.

“Damn. Everyone is in such a hurry. No one wants to take it one step at a time. No, that’s not it. They don’t want anything to change. They liked the system the way it was. Now the winds of change are in the air and they are circling the wagons.”

“They haven't announced the exact date but it must be soon. They are now talking to Mayors and Councilmen.  They are trying to stir everyone up so the military will be forced to reconvene the Congress.”

“And you honestly think they can pull it off?”

“I would say they have better than a 60-40 chance right now. The longer they prepare the stronger the chances of success become.”

“You did the right thing. We will have to act on this immediately. I’m sorry if I was gruff. I apologize for my abruptness. Thank you for coming.”

“I just thought you should know as soon as possible.”

“And you were absolutely right,” he said and opened the door.

The man looked around quickly and dashed back across the street as surreptitiously as he had come.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

NASHVILLE CAPITAL BUILDING

President Jason was having his fair share of difficulties as well. Senator Dryfus was due to meet with him in ten minutes and he had a splitting headache.

What he really wanted to do was just take the rest of the day off and go fishing or almost anything but meet with the Senator. The afternoon session had been another fairly heated one over education. Dr. Churchman was not about to back down on the fundamentals that she believed were necessary to improve the school system for the future of the children and the country.

Most of the exchanges still centered on equal rights and discrimination. It was a very touchy subject that some of the others shied away from. Finally it was decided to end the session and revisit it at a later time. Neither Dr. Churchman nor Supreme Court Chief Jackson Miller was very happy.

A discrete tap on the door let him know that the Senator was here.

“Come on in,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“Mr. President,” the Senator said, offering his hand.

The two men shook hands and then sat across from each other. Jason didn’t want to give the appearance that he was aloof by sitting behind his desk.

“Senator, what can I do for you this afternoon? Let me warn you, I have a splitting headache so if it looks like I am not paying attention or giving you strange looks, please put it down to that.”

“Maybe I should just reschedule,” the Senator suggested.

“No. No. You’re here and it is just a headache after all,” Jason assured him.

“Well, I’m afraid it is about the same subject as before. We have talked amongst ourselves and are all anxious to help the country and the administration. I have been asked to speak with you about something that we could contribute to the good of the country. None of us wants to be the fifth wheel on the cart of progress.”

“Fifth wheel on the cart of progress. I like that. Hell, I may even steal that. Who came up with that,” Jason asked.

“It just sort of rolled out of my mouth,” Dryfus replied.

“Darn good line. Well, I understand your dilemma. I think you have been more than fair about giving us time to get our feet on the ground. Let me tell you a little bit about where we are and then let’s see if we can figure something out.”

“That would be very much appreciated by all of us,” Dryfus said leaning back in his chair.

Jason could see some of the apprehension disappearing. He honestly knew how he would feel. Actually how he did feel after Quasim had basically banned him from any meetings. It hurt and he felt demeaned.

“Let me tell you our thinking about how the President of the American Republic should conduct business. First we intend to limit some of the power the President. I am all in favor of that. I have seen what too much power can do. Second, we intend to change the terms of the President,” he went on to say.

For the next twenty minutes the conversation centered on how the President and Vice President would be held accountable. Dryfus was enthralled by what he was hearing. The people actually holding the President accountable for his actions?

Jason talked about the revamping of the education system and while they had not reached a firm decision they had made good progress. He went on to explain that the legal branch would undergo changes as well.

“The current system,” Jason said, “is so broken that there is no way to patch it up. We need to step back and take another look at the entire system.”

“Lord, that is a huge undertaking.”

“It is, but we simply can’t continue under the same system. We have had some preliminary talks but we have only brushed the surface at this point,” Jason told him.

“You haven’t mentioned the part that Congress will play. Do you intend to change that as well?”

Jason knew this was the moment of truth. Dance or just tell it like it is?

“Nothing is firm yet but this is what we are leaning toward.  Restricted terms. How many is yet to be determined. Full disclosure, just like the VP and the President, on all income and taxes every year. An audit by an independent agency. The retirement plans and special medical plans will be eliminated and Congress will have to do the same things as the people they represent. No junkets of any kind. The laws of the land will apply to them just as they do to every other citizen. Two Senators will represent the state and work in Washington. Each state will have three delegates to the House of Representatives. They will work out of the state and only go to Washington when special sessions are called or a major decision has to be made. States can determine how they want to handle the state level politics as long as it falls within the guidelines of the Republic laws,” Jason said.

Dryfus just sat there with his mouth slightly open.

“There is more but that is the gist of the thought process at this moment.”

“You are changing the entire system. How can every state have only three delegates to the House of Representatives? How can Senators be expected to be in Washington practically full time? This will not be accepted by the members of Congress.”

“Some of it may change but the nucleus will remain the same I assure you. As for Congress accepting it?  Well let’s just say that the next election will only offer the choices that I just spelled out. What you need to come to grips with is that this is a new era and a new country.  The American Republic is going to undergo sweeping changes in the way the government represents its citizens. Congress will be held accountable for spending, their ethics, and doing the job they were elected to do.”

“With all due respect, Mr. President, if you think that Congress with just roll over and play dead you are sadly mistaken,” Dryfus said, standing up quickly.

“Sit Senator Dryfus. I have not finished yet.”

Dryfus looked at him in shock. He was not used to being treated this way.

“Senator. You have to understand, we have started with the role of the President and Vice President. We are requiring the same thing out of them that we are requiring for Congress. You may think you are better than the people you serve and deserve special compensation, but sir, I can guarantee that will no longer be the case. The government of the American Republic will answer to the citizens for our actions and that includes members of Congress as well. Those who don't like it will find they no longer have jobs. New Congressional members will take their place,” Jason told him.

“You can’t do this. We will take this to the Supreme Court,” he said standing again.

“Well Senator. Since the Chief of the Supreme court is in agreement with us, I’m afraid you will have a difficult time. And even if you do try to get the case heard, it will be on your nickel. The government will not foot the bill,” he said.

The Senator turned and stormed out of the room without another word.

Jason sat down and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t intended to go quite that far with his information but it wouldn’t have gotten easier with time, he finally decided.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

NASHVILLE, TN

The Vice President was nursing a Scotch neat. His shoes were off and his feet were on the coffee table.  He looked down and pulled his foot closer to him.

“Holy smokes. Is that a hole in my sock?” he said holding it out to Jason.

“I’m afraid it is. How long have you been wearing those raggedy old things?”

“They are my lucky socks.  Whenever I feel like I need a little luck I put them on.”

“Well, all I can say is it seems you have certainly needed a hell of a lot of luck,” Jason joked.

“It’s been a rough year.”

“Can’t disagree with that.”

“So it did not go well with the Senator.”

It was a statement not a question.  Jason had filled him earlier.

“I think that would be safe to assume. Anyway it’s all out on the table now so it will be what it will be.”

“You know the next big item will be revamping the Judicial Branch.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure we chose wisely with Miller. He seems a little too...I don’t know, just too much something,” Jason replied.

“Stodgy?”

“Not exactly stodgy. Too set in the old way of doing business. I’m not sure he will be able to adapt,” the President said.

“Then maybe our next course of action would be to put him on the spot and see where he stands. We don’t really have enough background on him at this point. I mean we liked his rulings previously but then everything was pretty much structured.”

“I agree. We need to feel him out on his openness to change. I don’t mean tweaking the system, I mean overhauling it. Frankly the way it was is offensive to me. We had too many levels of law. One for the rich, one for the poor, and another for the working person. That has to stop.  I’m sick of a sliding scale of justice,” the President stated.

“We have another meeting scheduled tomorrow. We were going to take up the education system again but since this is linked maybe we should tackle the Justice Department first to see if we need to look for a replacement for Miller,” Folly suggested.

“I agree. Do you mind letting Dr. Churchman know of the agenda change?”

“Chicken,” Folly said chuckling.

“Hey, I don’t want to tangle with her. She is tenacious.”

“Passionate really. She is totally focused on getting the education system back on track.”

“Well that’s what we need from everyone on the advisory staff. Passion for making a change for the better.”

“Geez, that sounds like some two bit politician's slogan,” Folly retorted.

“Out. Go take on someone tougher.  Go see Dr. Churchman,” the President joked.

****

WASHINGTON DC

“We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you a special message from General Ascot, speaking from the Pentagon,” the announcer said.

“Thank you and good evening countrymen of the United States. Many of you are wondering who I am and why I am addressing you this evening. First, let me say I am not a politician so I won’t have that smooth, practiced delivery you are used to from past Presidents. No teleprompters to keep me on track telling me when to breath.

I am speaking to you from my mind and heart. The Civil War divided the nation into three groups. The United States, the American Republic, and the Independent States. We must accept this as a fact unless we want to resume a protracted and bloody war. As a military man, I can assure you that I have no intention of allowing that to happen.

For the last six months the military has been in control of the government much to the anger of Congress. They want to take back the government. I understand their concerns,” he said pausing to look into the camera.

“But…we are unwilling to return it to the hands of the people who have failed the citizens. Congress was enacted to work for the people. To represent you honestly and ethically.  This was not being done. They have granted themselves immunity from scrutiny for their actions. They come and go as they wish with no consequences. Congress has failed miserably in acting on your behalf. They line their pockets with your tax dollars while hardly paying any.  They grant themselves privileges that you as hardworking men and women are not privy to. The government is nothing but a sea of red tape,” Ascot told them.

“Congress is concerned that we are becoming a dictatorship. In the strict sense of the word, maybe we are at the moment,” he paused again.

“That is not the way it will remain. I am a military man but I am also a citizen of this country. I expect...no, strike that...I demand that the people who come to Washington do the job they were elected to do. Before I am willing to turn the country over to Congress we intend to do away with the secret handshake deals. The ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality that is rampant in Congress,” he said.

His eyes seemed to be burning into the camera. Everyone in the studio room was hanging on his words.

“Congress obviously adamantly opposes any changes. Why shouldn’t they want to keep things the same?  They have it made. They don’t pay into Social Security so taking it away or raising the age requirements means nothing to them. That is going to change before Congress is reconvened. They can rant, cry, throw temper tantrums or whatever else they want to do but it will change and the citizens of the United States will be the better represented for it. You have the power to get rid of the ones who refuse to do the job you sent them to Washington to do. If they don’t keep their promises you have the power to change out the old for ones who will,” he told them.

“One last thing. We will have elections. When?  As soon as we make the changes that will put the control of the government back in your hands.  Frankly, I wouldn’t have the job of President for all the money in the world,” he said and smiled for the first time.

“If they come crying to you about the mean old military, keep in mind that we are the ones who put an end to the war. We stopped the killing and bombing of our country. Not Congress. They were still holding meetings while the bombs fell. All I ask is that you give us time to point the country in the right direction before we hand it over to new leadership. Thank you and goodnight.”

The camera cut to the announcer who had a wide eyed look on his face.

“That was General Ascot from the Pentagon. I was not quite prepared for his address.  We had no advanced copies.  In fact he apparently didn’t use notes or a script of any kind.  Congress has asked for equal time to respond to the General's remarks; however, at this time they have elected to reschedule for a later date.  We will return you to your regularly scheduled program.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

KNOXVILLE, TN

It took Bruce two weeks of hard traveling to make it back to Knoxville. He was surprised at how much had been done. Even some new construction was taking place and fewer people seemed to be walking around in a daze.

He stopped in at an open restaurant. It looked like it had been more or less thrown together but it was packed with hungry customers.

“Well, well. Look what the cat drug in,” Aaron said when he saw Bruce walk in.

“Hey dude. Long time no see,” he said walking over to the booth.

“Have a seat man. Where in the hell have you been?” Aaron said scooting over to give him room.

“You look beat,” Jamie said.

“I’ve been hiking a lot. My old Jeep finally stopped running.”

“Hey, you can get a car. The Army is helping people get transportation.  You might be able to sweet talk them into another Jeep if you want one.”

“I’m not much on sweet talking,” Bruce said.

“Then we can send Jamie. She can charm the skin off a mule if she tries hard enough.”

“Gee thanks. A mule.”

“I was gonna’ say a snake but I know you aren’t too fond of them,” Bruce teased.

“Only good snake is a dead snake in my book,” she shot back.

“So, where have you been?” Bruce asked.

“I took a little trip. I heeded to take care of a few things. Sort of get the cobwebs out of my head.”

“Anything spectacular happen on your walkabout as the Aussies say?”

“Not really. I did a little hunting but didn’t get as much as I would have liked. I may go again sometime,” Bruce said.

“Maybe we’ll tag along. You wouldn’t mind would you Jamie?” Aaron asked.

“Heck no.”

“Yeah, well it may be a while. I have to get things in order here now.  I’m not even sure what I want to do next.”

“Knowing you it will be something exciting,” Jamie said.

****

“Our current judicial system is not working. We seem more focused on the criminals than the victims. That strikes me as putting the cart before the horse. I would like to begin by saying that I have little faith in the current system.  Jackson, what do you think we should do?”

“Our system does work. It is misguided at times but overall I think it has had a good track record.  Can we improve it? Absolutely. Do we have weak areas? Undoubtedly,” Miller replied.

“Humm. So you think that when someone goes to prison they should have cable television, recreation facilities and be able to use computers. That the government should pick up the tab for them becoming prison house lawyers?”

“I’m not saying that but you can’t lock them up and give them nothing to do. They have to be afforded opportunities to better themselves.”

“And what do you see as the Supreme Court's role in interrupting the Constitution?” Jason asked.

“Well, we always have to keep in mind that new situations arise and the nation matures as new technology emerges. The Constitution was written very broadly and at times it is necessary to determine how that doctrine fits into today’s world.  When that happens, the court has to make a determination as the facts are presented,” Miller replied

“Given that you have the power to make broad changes, what would you look at?” Folly asked.

“A way to arrive at a more consistent policy of incarceration sentencing. The inconsistency is appalling at times. I have read cases where a mother abuses or abandons her children and is given a less strict sentence that someone who writes bad checks. That strikes me as inconsistent in view of the weight of the crime,” he replied.

“I totally agree. What else?”

“Death row inmates.”

“Meaning?” Jason prompted.

“Right now when a person is sentenced to death, the time between sentencing and the actual event being carried out is on average ten to fifteen years. All that time, the state or federal government is footing the bill. I feel that if all of the appeals cannot be heard within a certain window of time, the execution should take place.”

“So you favor Capital Punishment?”

“Favor is not the right word. I absolutely hate it but there are times that it is the only appropriate way of dealing with heinous crimes.”

“Should women be treated differently than men in sentencing?” Mary asked.

“I would like to think on that before just tossing out an answer. I will say I don’t think the punishment often matches the severity of the crime.”

“Here is something that rankles me Jackson. When the courts rule that ‘God’ can’t be used in certain situations. The courts seem to think that God is not as important today as when the Constitution was originally written. Why do the courts see ‘God’ as a negative? Is it because they think they should replace Him?” Beau Zimmerman asked.

Beau had been at the forefront of many a battle about everything from Nativity scenes to classroom prayers.  He was a staunch advocate of putting God first in the country.

“I understand that it is a very touchy subject but America has seen many changes in the decades since the Constitution was first written. We have many religions in the country today whereas in the past, only one or two existed and they were both ‘God’ based if you will. Now we have many, many, religions and often they have different beliefs of who or what ‘God’ is. That has to be carefully balanced by the courts,” Miller answered.

“Do you believe in God Mr. Jackson?”

A quick intake of air could be heard in the room. Everyone waited for the President to step in but he just sat their passively.

“Mr. Zimmerman, I do not wish to answer that. There are some things that are private and should remain private,” he fumed.

“Really? Then let me ask you a simple question. When you are sworn into office isn’t part of the oath ‘so help me God’?”

“Yes.”

“If you don’t believe in God, how can you agree to abide by that oath?” Zimmerman pressured.

“Mr. President. I object to this line of questioning. My personal beliefs have nothing to do with how the Supreme Court rules,” he said.

“But you see, they do. Just as my beliefs often determine what our policies are and how we steer the nation. I cannot separate myself from my basic beliefs.”

“But the courts have to look out for all people. We can’t afford to be selective,” he argued.

“And you think that as President I don’t have to look out for the welfare of the entire country as well? Of course I do, but the decisions I make are still based in part on my character which is shaped by my beliefs,” Jason answered.

Miller sat there a few seconds then said, “It would appear that I may not be the right person for this job. You want a court system that leans to the right. I don’t think I am the person for the job if that is a requirement.”

“You may be partly right. What I want is someone who is in the middle.  Someone who can see how victims are given the short end of the stick. A court system that delves out punishment by the severity of the crime. Where technicalities are not what determines the outcome of a trial. Jackson, I want someone who isn’t afraid to say that we have a screwed up system and has a desire to change it. Status quo is not acceptable to the American Republic.  Everyone in this room has seen what happens when the government tweaks the Constitution to suit their needs. You cannot take away any of the Bill of Rights and not defy freedom of choice. Are you telling me that you are not the person to make the changes?”

“Not to the extent that you want. I do not want to see us revert to the Salem Witch trials era, targeting groups because of their race or religion,” he said firmly.

“Very well Jackson. I want to thank you for your time and input during these arduous meetings. We certainly wish you the very best and the nation, and I, thank you for your contributions,” the President said, standing and walking around the table to shake his hand before leading him out of the room.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

WASHINGTON, DC

“That bastard. Do you realize what he has just done?” Cromwell ranted.

“Yeah, we all saw the same program you did,” Dickerson replied.

“How? How in the hell did he know?”

“Look, we knew there was a chance of someone ratting us out when we expanded the base to the various levels of government. Have you ever known anyone to keep their mouth shut when they had a hot tip?”

“Still. This affected us all. Some moron couldn’t just  disagree and keep quiet. Oh no, they had to go blab,” Cromwell fumed.

“It’s done. The rug has been pulled out from under us. How he found out doesn’t really matter at this point,” Dickerson offered.

“It does to me. I want to find that dirty rat and punch his headlights out.”

“You’re a tad old for that don’t you think?”

“You know what I mean. Not physically but I would love to have a chance to tell them what I think of them exactly,” Cromwell replied.

“So, what do we do next?  Wait?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to give it some thought. Any idea where we can find the guy who took out Hanna Cole?” he asked.

“Holy shit. Don’t even joke about something like that,” Dickerson said.

“Oh hell, I was just kidding. I don’t condone that kind of action. Not even against Hanna Cole,” he recanted.

“I'm just glad there was only the two of us in the room. If anyone had overheard you, who knows what would have happened,” Senator Dickerson replied.

“You’re right. If anyone is listening, I was just kidding,” Cromwell said raising his voice loud enough to be heard by anyone close by.

****

THE PENTAGON

“That was brilliant,” General Amblin said when the televised broadcast was over.

“I think it defused the situation for the time being,” the General agreed.

“Then we need to pick up the pace if we are going to keep everyone happy. We still have hundreds of issues to deal with,” Amblin told him.

“I’m all too aware of that. It seems like we have a few problems out of the way. Alice Dell said that the labor unions have pretty much fallen in place. She managed to get everyone on the same page and moving in the right direction. I have to give her a lot of credit for that. I didn’t have to actually intervene, just let her know she had our full support,” Ascot said.

“We need to really concentrate on how the government is going to function once we turn it back over,” Amblin replied.

“I know that the American Republic has been hard at work on that as well. They are of a like mind on many things. What do you think about setting up another meeting with President Jason and finding out how they are progressing. I mean if we can use some elements of their plans it could save us a lot of work. I don’t think they would be opposed to sharing that information with us,” the General said.

“Is that wise? I mean they were our enemy just a short time ago.”

“The operative word is was. They are anxious to get on with building their country, not worrying about what we are doing.”

“Still. It could be seen as a weakness.”

“What kind of weakness? Think about it. We both have our weaknesses. Working together is the best way I can think of to relieve any harboring of ill will,” Ascot told him.

“It’s your call General. I’m not sure I would make the same assessment but...”

“And I appreciate your candor. We need to have a relationship that gives us the freedom to talk without worrying about how everything is said. Nothing gets accomplished when people are afraid to speak up, as I am learning,” Ascot replied.

****

General Ascot sat alone in his office surrounded by hundreds of photographs and plaques. Was he having a change of heart? At one point he had considered doing away with Congress entirely and installing his own form of government. Not a dictatorship exactly but not a democracy either.

Somehow all of that was changing.  After only a few months, he was starting to realize that no one person could run the entire country without valuable input from trusted colleagues. Not just a group of folks who were afraid to speak up but ones who would share ideas freely.

Power. It is so corruptive. He could see how people could get sucked in. Especially at the very top. While he had earned power along the way in his military career, it was not to the extent that the head of a country has.

He had felt his own weakness, flirting with the idea of retaining absolute control. Sitting alone in his office he knew deep in his heart that if he did, freedom would no longer exist in the United States.  It would just become another cheap dictatorship.

The only question that remained in his mind was who to turn the country over to and how to accomplish it in such a way that Presidents like Quasim would not rule the country again. Perhaps that was just wishful thinking. He realized that some of the smoothest talking politicians were elected even if they couldn’t lead their way out of a paper bag.

Corruption was the other concern.  Power seemed to inevitably lead to corruption. How could that be stifled? Ah well if the job was easy, anyone could do it and he was finding out quickly that was simply not the case. A light knock on the door brought him back to the present.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

MILWAUKEE, WI

The two leaders had decided to meet again. General Ascot would be accompanied by General Erickson and Admiral Swanson. President Jason would bring General MacMillan and Mary Lake.

The meeting was held in the same Hilton as the previous one. Much like the first meeting, they settled down to talks almost immediately other than for introductions and handshaking.

“Mr. President, I asked for this meeting and I want to be open and honest. First, thank you for working with the United States to get Mexico back on their side of the border. I know how difficult it is to get the stolen objects back but I understand you are making good progress.”

“Not as much as I would like but thank you.”

“The business at hand is still two fold. Gold, and we want to ask for your help with setting up our government.”

Jason remained stoic. He wasn’t sure exactly what the General was referring to with the last statement.

“We know that a part of what started the Civil War was the way the government was abusing its power. It would seem logical that you are going to certain lengths to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. We are much the same in that regard. We are not happy with the way Congress in particularly conducts business. If you would share some of your thoughts on how you intend to proceed we would be most appreciative,” Ascot told the President.

“General believe me when I say, we don’t really know what the hell we are doing either. What I mean by that is everything is untested at this point. We are discussing all sorts of possibilities. We are looking at every aspect of government at this point. Everything from labor and education to the role of Congress and the President are being reevaluated. Nothing is sacred at this point. But I must preface that by saying, we don’t really know if we are making the situation better or worse. We are going on gut feelings with absolutely no proof that any of what we are looking at will work,” Jason explained.

“I appreciate that but you have a government of sorts in place right now. We just have the military point of view and often we do not see the forest for the trees. We are told what to do most of the time and we do it. Certainly we have power within the ranks but this is totally different.  Anything we come up with will be considerably more authoritarian than the citizens would like or deserve,” the General countered.

“If you don’t mind, let’s come back to that. I think we have determined a fair way of settling the gold situation. I’m sure you will be interested in our proposal,” Jason replied.

“Gold is an issue, or lack of it.  Please, what do you have in mind?”

“Presently you have a vast majority of the Naval ships. While we have some, it's nothing to the extent you currently possess. We would like to strike a fair deal. A purchase if you want to look at it that way,” Jason said.

“Well that certainly is a novel approach. I’m not sure what you have in mind.”

“I’m afraid it will mean a great deal of work for Admiral Swanson and our Admiral Heathcoat but here is what we have in mind,” he said sliding over a folder.

Ascot opened it and started reading the contents. A copy was given to Admiral Swanson and General Erickson. The President waited silently while they finished the documents. When the General was finished he closed the folder and looked at the people on the other side of the table.

“I have to say, that is a very innovative way of doing business.”

“I think we have to be innovative under the circumstances. You want some of the gold in Fort Knox and we need to strengthen our Naval fleet. This could accomplish both,” Jason replied.

“How would we determine what is a fair market price for the ships and who would get what?”

“That’s the part where Admiral Swanson and Admiral Heathcoat come in. They draw a list of every ship and boat and then with whatever help they need, determine the worth of the vessels. After that, it is a matter of balancing out the two Navies. In return, we would pay you in gold for the ships.”

“What do you think Admiral?” Ascot asked.

“Interesting. The General is right, we do have the greater number of the Naval ships. Without some way of raising the necessary capital, operating them and the required maintenance will become a great issue with each passing month. We have already placed two carriers on stand down, along with several frigates and other ancillary ships,” Swanson told him.

“Yes, but could you actually put a price on them and then divide them so it would be fair to both sides.”

“I certainly trust Admiral Heathcoat. Our paths have crossed on many occasions and we have never crossed swords, so to speak. I think he would be the perfect person for me to work with if that is what you decide we should do. Of course that would be your decision to make.”

“Gee thanks,” the General said smiling.

“Hey, that’s why you get the big bucks,” Jane replied.

“Listen Mr. President, I would like a little time to think this over. To really sit down with the Admiral and talk about the details. I am certainly open to the concept. In fact I think it is brilliant. I would just like a little time,” the General told him.

“Please. Do your diligence. That is the smart thing to do. I perfectly understand. I would want to do the exact same thing if I were in your position,” Jason told him.

****

They broke for lunch and each group drifted off to hold private talks. It was a beautiful day and the President and his people sat outside.  Jason had his shirt sleeves rolled up and his hands behind his head, face-up to the sun.

“You know,” he said, “A day like this can make you forget some of the problems of the world.”

“For a few minutes at least,” Mary replied.

“Killjoy.”

“Alright, I guess we need to go solve the world’s problems,” he said.

They went back to the meeting and spent the next four hours talking about plans for the Republic's government. While it helped somewhat, it was more than the General had in mind. What he was most interested in was the function of the President, Vice President, and what part Congress would play.

Education, the judicial system, and all the other items would be the next person's problem. Both sides left with a good feeling about the meeting. The gold for ships would take a little time but no glaring issues seemed to get in the way.

What both parties didn’t know was that another test of resolve and trust was about to rear its ugly head.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

IRAQ

In the closing months of 2007, the Russians, desperate to keep their economy afloat made a secret deal with Iraq to sell two nuclear submarines. Having been decommissioned they were doing nothing but costing the Soviet government money.

Iraq approached Russia and began negations to purchase the two Charlie 1 Class submarines. It would be a package deal. The K-429 Ckam and the K-320. What the Iraqis didn’t know, nor did the Russians bother to mention it, was that the K-320 had already had a reactor accident while it was being built.

Along with the submarines, Russia would provide training for Iraq’s submariners and for a further tidy sum, ten cruise missiles. The deal was finally struck after five years of negotiations. The Iraqis would pay Russia to re-core the reactor and retrofit them to current propulsion engines. In exchange, Iraq would pay Russia 4.5 billion American dollars.

By 2013, Iraq had acquired the subs and their crews were now operating the submarines.

****

Amal Hafsa was privy to information that only a very few knew.  He had been sworn to secrecy upon death of his parents and family. Amal was the captain of the former Russian submarine K-429. It had been renamed the Qahira which means victorious.

The Qahira had been at sea for thirteen days and had slowly been edging its way toward the American east coast. They had taken a zigzag path to keep from giving away their intent.

Captain Hafsa had opened his sealed orders just after they had gotten underway. When he read them he almost swallowed his tongue. His orders were to get near the Cuban coast and to launch two nuclear cruise missiles. One was to target New York City and the other Washington DC.

He could hardly hold the orders in his hands, they seemed to burn his fingers. This was suicide. Once the missiles were launched every ship in the American fleet would be looking for them. It took him a while to calm down and rethink what he was being told to do. By being on the backside of Cuba tucked in the Jagua Bank and only a short distance from the Juragua Nuclear Power plant it would hopefully mask where the missiles had been launched from.

What he didn’t understand is why would Iraq attack the Americans in the first place and why with only two missiles? But then he was merely a Captain, he did not know of the higher goals of his country. Still it bothered him to think that he could be responsible for starting a nuclear war.

****

Only a few miles away, unknown to Captain Hafsa, the second submarine now named Qudsai (Holiness) was also commanded to attack America. Their targets were Atlanta, Georgia and Nashville, Tennessee. Captain Suhair was feeling much the same as Captain Hafsa. Why would Iraq want to start a war with America?

Also like Captain Hafsa he knew he had no cause to question those in authority. It seemed like a foolish plan but it was his duty to carry it out to the best of his ability.

****

GALS – KEY WEST, FL

The Gulf Array Listening Station is located in Key West. It is a spectacularly uninteresting block of buildings that hold no charm except to those who are stationed inside of them. Their primary function is to monitor any submarines near the Continental United States. The system was not as functional as it was originally designed to be. Budget cuts of nearly 480 million dollars, during the Presidency from 2008-2012, had curtailed many of the upgrades that were vital for our national security. It wasn’t until 2009, when a Russian stealth submarine the AKULA slipped into our waters for two weeks undetected that the alarm did sound. We were not prepared for the latest Russian submarines.

Fortunately for us, the Iraqi submarines purchased from Russia were products of the 70s and 80s.

“Commander, I am getting some strange anomalies.”

“Strange anomalies. Could you elaborate just a smidgen?”

“Well, it’s almost like an older Russian submarine. It seems to be heading to Cuba.”

“How old?”

“Twenty or more years. It’s pretty noisy by today’s standards.”

“Son, I doubt that a twenty year old Russian sub could even make it this far any longer. It would have been decommissioned.”

“Yes sir.  That’s what makes it so strange. I ran the tape through all the old files. Sir, it came back as the Russian K-320. An old Charlie 1 class submarine.”

“That can’t be right. Let Chief Anderson have a go at it,” the Commander ordered.

“Yes sir, but I’m sure I’m right.”

“Just let the Chief handle it, sailor.”

“Aye, Aye sir.”

Mumbling to himself he went and told the Chief what he had stumbled upon. The Chief followed him back to his station and plugged in.

“Well, it’s definitely an older sub. I think you are probably right. Russian.”

“Yeah Chief. Look, here are the signatures. Theyare slightly different but look at the radiation level. That old bucket of bolts had reactor problems before, according to the log.  It leaves a RAD trail.”

“Well crap. I guess they could have resurrected it at some point but why? And why send it so close to our shores. They got away with the Akula but this thing is nowhere near stealth.”

“What should I do?”

“I’ll go talk to the Commander. Tell him I agree that we have a Russian submarine poking around in the Gulf. See what he wants to do with it.”

“Thanks Chief. He didn’t pay much attention to me.”

“You're and E-4 and he thinks he is a god. Of course he isn’t going to take you seriously. The only ones they will listen to are Chiefs. You know why?”

“Yeah, you’ve told me a hundred times.”

“Because they run the Navy,” they both said together and laughed at the same joke that had been repeated thousands of times.

Chief Anderson walked down to the Commander's office and knocked.

“Come.”

“Commander. I was just at Parker’s listening station. I think he is on to something. He has traced it back to an older Charlie-1 class sub. The K-320.  Now why it is here I haven’t a clue but it is poking its nose where it doesn’t belong. I think we need to rattle their cage,” Chief Anderson told him.

“Oh hell Chief. What the hell would a piece of junk like that be doing so close to our shores?”

“Well sir. Just following the plotting that Parker has I would say it intends to tuck in behind Cuba.”

“Why?  What would be the purpose?  Are they going to invade Cuba with one old submarine?”

“Don’t know sir but I am officially logging it as a confirmed contact.”

“Ah crap Chief. Do you know the mess this will stir up?”

“Better to stir the pot before it boils over my mom used to say.”

“Very well. I will notify Admiral Greenfield. Put the ball in his court. You just make damn sure you don’t go sending us on a wild goose chase. If they are that close to Cuba, it can get really sticky,” he told the Chief.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHARLESTON, SC

“Commander, Admiral Greenfield is on the line.”

“Damn, that didn’t take long,” he muttered as he picked up the phone.

“Admiral Greenfield, Commander Dixon.”

“Yes Commander, I know who you are. I am the one that called after all.”

“Yes sir, sorry sir.”

“Don’t be. Just tell me why you think we have an old Russian submarine prowling around near our shores.”

“Sir, one of my men discovered it. We have been tracking it non-stop.  It has tucked in along the coast of Cuba. Right now it is just sitting there. Why it is in those waters and right up near Cuba is a total mystery.”

“Could the Russians have sold it some other nation?”

“It would be pure speculation on my part but I would say I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Does the Carlie-1 class carry nuclear missiles?”

“Sir, it was originally designed to carry long range cruise type missiles. I’m sure that if the Russians did sell it, they probably upgraded it.”

“So the answer is yes.”

“Sorry sir. Yes it carries nuclear missiles.”

“Where are they exactly?”

“In the Maria la Gorda, very near the town of Sandino. Right now it is approximately eight miles off shore but it has been slowly moving toward land at around three knots.”

“Not good. If we send helo’s in, the Cubans will accuse us of an act of war. Hell, they would probably try to shoot them down,” the Admiral said, as much to himself as the Commander.

“A hunter killer?” Dixon suggested.

“I’m not sure we have the luxury of that much time. If someone did buy it and it is armed with nukes, they are on a mission. You hang tight.  I’ll call the President immediately,” Admiral Greenfield said and abruptly hung up.

“How wude,” the Commander said.

****

“Mr. President. We may have a situation on our hands,” Admiral Greenfield told the President.

“What kind of ‘situation’?”

“We are pretty darn sure we have tracked an old submarine into the Gulf of Mexico. It has tucked itself up close to the Cuban coast. We think the Russians may have sold it to some other country.”

“And?”

“And it could be carrying nuclear cruise missiles.”

“Why would they do such a thing?”

“My guess, and it is only a guess, would be if they intend to launch missiles toward the US and make it appear that they came from Cuba. They would shoot and then slip out into international waters,” the Admiral told the President.

“What our options?”

“Inform Cuba of our suspicions and see if they will let us send in helicopters to sink it or force it to the surface.”

“I doubt they will believe us. They will probably think it is some ploy.”

“Sir, if they don’t let us and the sub does fire, they are going to look like accomplices.”

“It is worth a try. I will let General Ascot know as well. He may have another suggestion. In the meantime if they are going to use cruise missiles, get as much in the air as you can to try to intercept them in case we run out of time,” the President said.

“Yes sir. I will issue the orders immediately. We will be free to engage the minute they launch?” he asked.

“Absolutely. The second you detect a missile, all bets are off. Do whatever you have to keep them from reaching our shores,” Jason said.

After hanging up, he immediately called General Ascot and brought him up to speed on the situation. The General agreed we needed to get everything in the air. He wanted to make sure as many ships were at sea in the area as well. He would have Admiral Swanson get every available ship headed to the Gulf of Mexico.

“My only fear is that we may have discovered this too late. If Key West had been allocated the money to upgrade our listening array, we would have known the instant they came into the Gulf,” Ascot bemoaned.

“Now we just have to keep this from happening. I have called the President of Cuba but he is deemed to be unavailable.”

“Then we have to assume they already know about the plans or they would have detected the submarines so close to their shores,” Ascot replied

“I’m not sure it’s because they know or they are simply thumbing their noses at us. No matter what it takes, if those missiles are launched, Cuba will not stand in our way,” Jason said forcefully.

“I am in total agreement,” Ascot replied.

****

Captain Suhair could only wait at this point. He was on station. The missiles had been fed the coordinates and all systems were ready for the launch. He looked at the targets once again. Atlanta and New York City.  What good would this do? Yes, they would kill millions of Americans but he had seen what America can do when attacked.

Did he want to be responsible for the death of millions? How would it affect the entire world? Radiation, world opinion, and condemnation should be considered and yet here he was, just a few miles from America with two deadly nuclear weapons aimed down their throats. Would he be remembered as a hero in Iraq or a hated villain by the rest of the world. He decided to pray for guidance. He was about to make the biggest decision in his entire life.

****

“Mr. President, Cuba’s President is on the line.”

“Excellent. Put him right through.”

A second later Raúl Castro was speaking with President Jason.

“Thank you for taking my call Mr. President,” Jason said.

“Yes. This call is concerning?”

“Sir. We have tracked an older submarine into the Gulf. It is currently in the area of Maria La Gorda. We believe the Russians have sold the ship to another country. It is very near your coast. We also believe that it carries nuclear missiles,” Jason informed him.

“We know of no such situation. Why would it come into Cuban waters?”

“Sir. If they launch missiles at the US it will initially appear that Cuba may be responsible,” Jason said, stopping to let it sink in.

Several seconds passed before Castro replied.

“You think they are trying to lay the blame for an international crisis at the doorsteps of Cuba?”

“Mr. President, it certainly looks that way. You know as well as I that if the US is attacked, retaliation will commence immediately. We do not want to see it come to that.”

“Yes, well this is all a..a..what is the word?”

“Supposition?” Jason offered.

“Maybe. A guess?” Castro said.

“It is our best military deduction,” Jason replied.

“We will look into it from our end. I will get back to you President Jason.”

“Sir, we would like to unite in a joint venture with Cuba. With your permission, we would like to assist in investigating the situation,” Jason said.

“I doubt that will be acceptable. I will talk it over and call again later,” Castro insisted.

“We may not have that kind of time. I am sure the last thing Cuba needs is to be implicated as a coconspirator in a plot to kill millions of Americans and potential start a nuclear war.”

“We have nothing to do with this. I will call with our answer,” Castro said and hung up.

Jason just looked at the phone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

HAVANA, CUBA

“Is the submarine where the Americans said it was?” Castro asked.

“Si.”

“And I was told nothing?”

“It was better for you not to know. We only allowed them to use our waters. We did not ask what for.”

“Them?”

“Si. Two submarines.”

“They are in our waters. They have nuclear missiles that in all likelihood they intend to shoot at the Americans and you think that is alright?”

“Mr. President, what they do is not our concern.”

“You damn fool. They are in our waters. Any missile fired will be presumed to have come from Cuba,” the President screamed.

“But we do no...”

“No. I do not want to hear it. This was a stupid mistake. I want those subs out of our waters immediately. No, before immediately,” he shouted, “Go get out of here. Get them gone.”

“Mr. President it is too late. They are departing in ten minutes.  We cannot even reach them in time.”

“You idiot. You have quite possibly caused the death of Cuba,” Castro said picking up the phone and dialing President Jason.

****

“Mr. President. I have just discovered that there are two such submarines in our water. We did not authorize them to be here and are in the process of trying to raise them. I do not know how long we have but I wanted to let you know immediately. Cuba will do everything in its power to stop these intruders even if it means sinking them.”

“Where is the other submarine?”

“In the Jagua Bank. Near the nuclear reactor station near the city of Juragua. They have slipped inside our territorial waters it appears.”

“I must go. We will discuss this at a later time. I need to take action immediately.”

“But we are..”

“Goodbye and thank you,” Jason said hanging up.

Immediately Defcon-five was placed in motion and General Ascot informed of the developments. Choppers and planes were already on the way to the area.  Cuba’s airspace was not even a consideration. If Cuba fired on any of our aircraft we would immediately retaliate in full force.

****

“Captain Hafsa. It is time to break radio silence,” his number two informed him.

He had been dreading the moment.  The message would be either proceed or abandon the mission.

“Flash the signal we are ready,” he told his number two.

It was no longer in his hands.

“Sir,” the second in command said handing him the communique. He opened it and looked down at the note.

باشرت – PROCEED

He took a deep breath and said, “Prepare to fire missiles on my command.”

****

Just a few miles away to the west, the Captain of the Qudsai was just being handed his orders. He looked at them, and much like Captain Hafsh, he realized what this would mean. It would be the end of the world as he knew it.

He read it once more, hoping it would change but the bold PROCEED stared back at him.

“All stations, prepare to launch on my mark,” he said over the loud speaker.

The crews, excited by the upcoming event but having no idea that they were about to fire at the United States went about their job of making the missiles ready for launch.

A minute later the report that all was ready came back to the Captain.  This was madness he thought.

“On my..”

It was the last thing the Captain ever uttered. The ASROC missile slammed into the submarine. The explosion destroyed the integrity of the sub and scattered the pieces of the boat over a half mile area.

****

The two cruise missiles burst out of the surface from the Qahira. Captain Hafsa had hoped they would not fire but they went as planned. Now all he could do was to get out of the waters and as far away from Cuba and the United States as he could.

“All ahead 110 percent power. Come right to 088 degrees. Rig for deep dive,” he commanded.

He could feel the ship coming to life as the reactor control rods retracted and power built. He willed the sub to move faster. Fifteen knots. Eighteen knots. Twenty-one knots. He watched as it continued to build.

“Depth to the bottom?”

“Three hundred meters.”

“Excellent take us down to one hundred and fifty meters,” he ordered.

“Sir, contacts. Multiple. From all sides. Closing fast.”

He sighed. He knew it was all over. Maybe it was for the best. How would he live with the weight of millions of lives on his shoulders?

“Sir, missiles in the water.  Oh...”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The joint effort of the United States and the American Republic was in full swing. Helicopters, planes and ships were covering as much of the coastline as possible.

Radar picked up the two subsonic cruise missiles tracking to the north as they headed over Cuba. Immediately the information was relayed to every aircraft and ship. The trajectory was quickly worked out and realized at least one was headed toward Washington and the other probably New York City.

Every available aircraft instantly deviated toward the known flight path. As the first missile passed over the Florida Keys interceptors vectored toward the missile. The one advantage they had was its speed. Traveling less than Mach .8 they would have time to shoot it down. The real problem would be destroying it without detonating the nuclear warhead.

Three airplanes spotted it as it traversed over the Everglades. They immediately attacked it with cannon fire. One of the planes had managed to get behind it and emptied round after round into the missile. It exploded in a huge ball of fire, tumbling to the earth below.  Everyone held their breath, waiting for the warhead to explode but nothing happened.

One down and one to go. It appeared the one heading toward New York was still on target. Planes filled the air in search of the elusive missile.

The missile had reached Jacksonville, Florida before it was finally spotted. A swarm of fighters swooped down and finally brought it down. Luck was with them as it tumbled into the waters just off the coast of Amelia Island. It landed in the shallow waters of Fernandina Beach.

****

For the second time the American Republic and the United States had joined together to deter an outside aggressor. Both leaders felt that it was a good basis for building trust and for the two countries to continue to stand together against any outside antagonist.

As a result, they signed a formal mutual Assured Defense Agreement. While the independent states were somewhat of a puzzlement, they decided that it was in their own best interest to include them in the agreement.

****

“I guess we dodged the bullet on that one,” the President said.

“Too damn close if you ask me. The things were already inbound,” VP Foley said.

“Obviously we need to improve our listening stations,” McMillian said.

“What about Cuba?” Foley asked.

“I’m not sure what action to take if any. Obviously someone knew the subs were there. They found them too darn quick."

"Yes, too quick,” MacMillan replied.

“I don’t think Raúl knew. If he did, he is a darn fine actor. I think one of his military heads knew and figured it would be better if the President didn’t know about it,” Jason rejoined.

“What I really want to know is who bought the submarines. Obviously the Russians sold them. We know the Chinese didn’t purchase them. They have as good as or better than the Russians,” MacMillan said.

“Let’s find out. Someone is going to pay the price for an unprovoked attack on this country,” Jason responded.

“I will get with Admiral Swanson and maybe she and Admiral Greenfield can find out. We could go in and raise the subs I suppose but Cuba may get their dander up a bit.”

“That is the least of my worries,” the President replied.

****

The two nations were coming to grips with rebuilding their war torn countries. While the death toll continued to climb as new bodies were found, it had tapered off considerably.

By their combined efforts, they had saved millions and millions of lives. The search for the responsible party would continue but was neither nation's priority.

President Jason now focused on how to utilize Congress to help get the nation back on its feet. A series of meetings ensued with the top members of Congress and while the gatherings were often spirited, they continued to make progress with each successive conference.

It was quickly realized by President Jason that Health Services would need to be included in the leadership circle. He chose Doctor Lenore Bartlett to head up the Medical Chief position.

****

“You have all had a chance to meet and discuss concerns with our new Supreme Court Chief, Garret Mann. Garret is going to throw out some of his thoughts about the current system so I’m turning it over to him.  Garret lay them on the table,” Jason said.

“First, it is a real privilege to be among such a distinguished group.”

“No sucking up. We can take it,” Beau said, smiling

“Oooh, tough group. The President warned me. Okay, here is what I am thinking at present. Our courts are bogged down to such an extent that often really important cases get shoved along or pleaded to save time. So it seems to become more effective we need to free up more time for the courts to do the real work. I think tort lawsuits that are frivolous should be handled differently. I propose that we hold the plaintiff’s attorney financially responsible for these types of lawsuits. For example, an attorney is approached by a citizen who has been sitting in the back of a pickup truck. The truck hits a bump and he falls out. They decide since there is no warning sticker on the truck, they will sue the truck company. The initial court fee to file the suit would be the responsibility of the attorney. A minimum percent of what they are asking for would be the fee. It they lose the case, the attorneys lose the fee plus have to pay the defendant's legal fees. Now when someone is dumb enough to spill hot liquid on them, they stand a chance of losing a large sum of money as well. It would also cost the attorney a large chunk of money as well. That would put an end to lawyers who run around looking for companies to sue.

I intend to put a stop to lawsuits that are caused by people too dumb to be responsible for their own actions. Even if they did win, it would be a comparative award suit. If the plaintiff is more than 51 percent negligent in the eyes of the court, they would get no monetary award,” he told them.

“Can we do that? I mean doesn’t that give corporations the upper hand?”

“There are times when corporations are certainly negligent and should be held accountable. What I am talking about are the ambulance chasers that look for every little thing they can find as an excuse to file a lawsuit.”

“I like the idea but I think that is going to be really tough to enforce. I mean, I can see some legitimate cases never getting to trial,” Mary replied.

“No more than the frivolous ones we have now backlogging our courts. It is just a rough plan and I will continue to define the parameters but I wanted to get it on the table, as the President said.”

“Can you give me another example?.  I just want to make sure I understand what you would consider frivolous,” Dr. Churchman asked.

“Sure, here is one that involved a school football coach recently. The coach suspended two star players from the team when he learned that they had been smoking dope. He talked to several different classmates and confirmed the story. He asked the boys point blank and they said that they had been experimenting with a few different drugs. He kicked them off the team for the rest of the season,” Garrett said.

“What’s the problem?,” Dr. Churchman asked.

“The parents of one of the players said that it would ruin his son's chances at getting a scholarship to a major university and eventually could cause him to fail to be drafted into pro football. He found an attorney that would take the case, so they sued.”

“How could they know what would happen? He could get hurt, he could get stoned and kill someone driving.  Why would the courts even take up such a case?”

“Because you have the right to sue. Simple as that. That is what I intend to do away with. As it is, the school board, not wanting to spend the money on a trial, made the coach return them to the squad. He refused and they fired him. Now we have a suit against the school board for wrongful dismissal.”

“That’s just nuts,” Mary interjected.

“As we say, ‘I rest my case’." Which brought a chuckle from all of them.

“Boy, and I thought I had my work cut out for me,” Dr. Churchman bemoaned.

“The rebuild of the system will take a long time but we need to start immediately. Another issue high on my list is regarding inmates that get better treatment and privileges in jail that they had before they were arrested. I intend to take the country clubs out of the system. The government is not obligated to pay for them to learn how to beat the system and it is a terrible financial drain on the taxpayers,” he said forcefully.

“It sounds like you aren’t too fond of the way the system is operating presently,” MacMillan stated.

“It is pathetic. It is not doing one thing to deter crime. One of the most interesting statistics that seems to get overlooked is that states with concealed weapons permits have lower crime rates than states with the most stringent gun laws.  We will never take the guns out of the criminal element. They don’t register them,” he told them.

“So that is another area you intent to change?”

“Not change so much as look at carefully. I know one thing for sure, you try to do away with the 2nd amendment and it leads to war.”

“Amen to that,” Jason muttered.

Like all of the important issue meetings, it went on for the next several hours. One thing they knew immediately, Garrett Mann was the right person for the position of Supreme Court Chief. e might not have all the answers, but he realized that change was necessary.

CHAPTER THIRTY

WASHINGTON, DC - PENTAGON

General Ascot had been spending every waking moment, when not dealing with a crisis, thinking about his role. He knew that the United States was a democratic society. The military had been in control for almost nine months now and he wanted to wind down not only his involvement but the military’s overall.

He had spent countless hours talking it over with his aids, especially Generals Amblin and Erickson. He decided it was time to try to talk to Senator Dickerson and see if some headway could be made.

A meeting was arranged for the next Thursday at the Capital building.  It was to be just the two men.  To his surprise, Senator Dickerson was all in favor of the meeting. He had been expecting some resistance or even hostility but it certainly wasn't evident in the phone conversation.

****

“General Ascot,” his secretary said, sticking her head in the door.

“Come. I’m just reviewing some material.”

“Sir, a Detective, Dan Markham, from the Metro Homicide Division is here and would like to have a few minutes. He said it would be of great interest to you.”

“That’s very cryptic. Go ahead and send him in,” Ascot told her.

Detective Dan Markham was not what the general expected a homicide detective to look like. He was tall and youthful looking. In fact, he hardly looked like he could have been out of college more than a year. He wasn’t handsome but certainly distinguished looking.

“I am sorry to barge in on you like this General Ascot but I think you are going want to hear what I have uncovered.”

“Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”

“A soft beverage if you have one would be great.”

“Could you bring Detective Markham a Coke?”

“Certainly,” she said heading to get the beverage.

“So, what is it that you uncovered that I will find so interesting?”

“It concerns Supreme Court Justice Glenda Foley,” he said.

“Justice Foley? You caught the person responsible?”

“Yes and no. Yes we know who is responsible but no we haven’t been able to apprehend him.”

“Okay, so who is this person?” Ascot asked.

“It was a contract hit. A professional killer actually strangled Justice Foley. His name is Odin. It’s not his real name but what he calls himself professionally.”

“And you can’t locate him?”

“Not so far. He is an international assassin and works for whoever will pay his fee. He has no real interest in the victim other than the money it represents.”

“And he was hired to murder Justice Foley?”

“That is correct.”

“Who hired him? DO you know that?” Ascot asked.

“Yes sir I do and that is why I am here.”

“Go on.”

“Sir, the hit was ordered by Hanna Cole.”

“What? Are you one hundred percent sure?” Ascot said excitedly.

“Yes sir. We have traced the call back to him, looked into her financial records and found that she has used him twice before.”

“My God. Do you realize what you are saying?”

“I most certainly do. That is why I came to see you. I’m not sure I know what to do with this information,” Markham told him.

“Holy smokes. That stupid, stupid woman. I knew she was evil but nothing like this,” Ascot moaned.

“Yes sir. The former Secretary of State, Emily Niles. She was killed in a car crash. Going back, it turns out that she was actually murdered and it was staged as an accident. Cole paid two hundred thousand dollars to have that little accident happen.”

“I don’t even know what to say at this point. Who else knows about this?”

“Captain Sellers and my partner, Jose Cartié.

“Geez. Now what? I know I shouldn’t say this but thank goodness the woman is dead,” the general replied.

“As hard to control as she was, it would have been a real dog and pony show trying to arrest her,” Markham replied.

“So I need your assurance that this will go no farther than it has at this moment. You tell both the chief and your partner that they are not to tell a soul while I try to figure out what is the right thing to do.”

“Yes sir. Sorry to have to dump this on you.”

“I’m thankful you did come to me. Any chance of catching this guy?”

“Slim to none truthfully. He is long gone. Interpol has been after him for years and years. I doubt he will show up in Washington any time soon unless she put out a hit on ex-President Quasim.”

“She was one vicious woman,” was all the General said.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
NAVAL SHIPYARD-NORFOLK, VA

The Norfolk Naval shipyard is so large that half the people who work there have no idea where many of the other buildings are. Admiral Swanson had finally had to send an escort to direct Admiral Heathcoat and Admiral Greenfield to the meeting.

Both had been there many times before but it was always confusing under the best of times.

“You made it,” Jean said as they were shown into the room.

“How in the hell do you find your way around this monstrosity?” Heathcoat asked.

“I let my driver worry about that. I told you that we would pick you up.”

“Don’t be an ‘I told you so’. We had GPS in the car but all it did was get us hopelessly lost,” Heathcoat complained.

“Anyway, you’re here now. I have lunch being brought in so we can continue to work. We have a ton and a half of work,” she told them.

“Just one and a half. I figured at least three,” Greenfield shot back.

“It will feel like it once we get started. First. We need to get all rank and formality off the table. Do you agree?”

“You bet.”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. So Leon and Colin it is. I’m Jean so we can move on from there. Have a seat. In front of you are six binders. The top one has SUBMARINES on it. If you all agree, I would like to start there.”

“Let’s get to it,” Colin replied.

“Each submarine is listed by build date, what it cost for construction, length of time in service, upgrades, needed upgrades, and its depreciated value using the GAO’s MACRS standards. Below the general data about the sub is the current armament onboard that will go with the boat plus any ancillary items.”

“MACRS is the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System, correct?” Leon Greenfield asked.

“Correct,” Jean replied.

“Just making sure. The US and AR represents who currently has control of the ships?”

“Right again. If you look on the last page it gives you a visual representation of how things stand now.”

“That certainly makes it easier,” Colin replied.

“We have a smart screen so we can move ships around as we need,” she told them, “My computer whiz, Lieutenant Winslow will do the honors. So shall we?” Jean said.

The next three hours were a blur of activity and non-stop discussions about each submarine. By lunchtime they had a pretty good fix on the division. At this point the United States actually would owe money to the American Republic but they all knew once they got to the surface ships that it would change radically.

****

It was going on nine O’clock by the time they decided to call it a night. They had agreed to the submarine split so that each had seven ballistic missile subs, two guided missile subs, and twenty-seven attack submarines. Each would have one submarine tender.

The carriers had posed more of a problem even though there were only eleven of them. The compliment that made up the air wings had to be factored in as well. They were halfway through when they quit.

Just looking the list over, not even considering decommissioned ships and those in mothballs, it was apparent that it was going to be an arduous undertaking.

****

“Senator Dickerson,” Ascot said shaking hands.

“Good to see you again General. Is there anything I could get you before we start?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then I guess we should get on with it. You called the meeting so, please.”

“Senator, this past nine months have been the most challenging in my long career. I am not a politician,” he said.

The Senator smiled, “Yes, that been brought to my attention.”

“I guess so. Anyway, the military does not want to control the country. That is not what this country is all about. Civilians need to have the reigns. Having said that, our old system was in shambles. Congress was no longer doing the job that the people elected them to office for. Money flows like water and no one really knows what is going on. So many back room deals are made that the public opinion of Congress was at a twenty-one percent approval rating before the war.  wenty-one percent. If any company’s president was only satisfying twenty-one percent of the shareholders he would be out on his ear. And that is the crux of the problem,” Ascot told him.

“Congress is a very complicated system. The average person has no idea what it takes to get anything accomplished in Washington,” the Senator replied.

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Why is it so difficult? Why can’t the average person understands what their representatives are doing in Washington?”

“It is the way it has evolved. We have more issues and many are harder to understand. We deal with very complicated laws. Congress doesn’t want to rush through and miss an important fact that could affect hundreds of thousands of people.”

“Senator. We are making decisions that affect millions every day. Why is it so hard? If I may, I honestly think it’s because people bribe congressional representatives with money. Why would we have a need for so many minor and often ridiculous laws? What gives the government the right to tell someone they can’t have too much salt. Too much cholesterol? We put the information out so why not let them decide for themselves? Because we are concerned about their health? It’s their health. Let them make the determination.”

“General you are trivializing what we do. People need guidance. We are helping them make better decisions.”

“Again Senator, I ask you why? That is exactly the reason we are in the situation we are. We take responsibility for making bad decisions out of their hands. They don’t have to be responsible for anything. Let the government tell them what to do. I can think of a thousand areas where the government has no business poking their noses in,” Ascot said.

“People want us to make those choices. The government’s job is to protect them, even if it’s from themselves.”

“Senator. This country is simply not going to operate like that any longer. I have with me a copy of what the American Republic is doing with their Congress. I don’t expect you are going to like it much but keep in mind, I simply will not let Congress go back to doing business as before. Please take this and look it over. Take it to your group that meets regularly and discuss it with them. I am open to some negotiation but there will be changes in the way Congress operates before I turn the country back over,” Ascot reiterated.

“I’ll get back to you General. Thank you for this discussion. Even though we didn’t agree on anything today, I feel some progress was achieved.

“Likewise, Senator.”

Dickerson left wondering how General Ascot knew about the group that had been meeting weekly. What else did he know about and who was feeding him information? It seemed like every time they were ready to take a course of action, he was able to derail them.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

AMERICAN REPUBLIC

By the one year anniversary of the end of the Second Civil War, the Republic had made progress that both pleased and displeased the President.  What he had to focus on was the amount of progress that was being made and not on what remained to be accomplished.

The education system under Dr. Churchman had begun in earnest. She had put together a panel of top educators in grades K-12 and gave them free reign to offer suggestions on ways to make public education a better system. Every idea was recorded so that each could be reviewed. One thing became clear almost immediately. Some children would be left behind. Not one single educator thought that intelligence could be legislated. Children with special needs would certainly require an adapted curriculum that met their particular needs. The same applied to the truly gifted students. Gifted classes would no longer be compromised in order to balance ethnic groups or gender.  ll agreed that it was much more important to focus on high interest, engaging, and challenging curriculum as opposed to State or Federally mandated tests.  Some standardized testing serves an important function for students, parents, and educators. This was an area of focus for future meetings.

Dr. Churchman was fair but firm with those taking part. If discussions became hostile, she immediately put a stop to it. She wanted free exchange of ideas not political correctness.

She had decided on K-12 as the logical starting point because as she told the President, ‘that is where the future rests’.

They discussed issues from bullying to super achievers and everything in between. Teaching responsibility was a central theme along with how to better engage parents in the child’s education process.

****

Supreme Court Chief Garrett Mann was having a much tougher job trying to straighten out the court system and sentencing in general. The system was appalling. A drug user was sentenced to ten year in prison. A child molester was given the same ten year sentence but it was suspended if he went to counseling.

A mother who killed her two little girls was given fifteen years while a bank robber with a gun was given twenty-five years. Stealing money cost the perpetrator twenty-five years in jail but stealing two little lives was worth only fifteen. What were these judges thinking? Extenuating circumstances? Unless the kids were threating her life, there could be no reasonable extenuating circumstances.

He was also investigating gangs in prisons. Why were they so prevalent?  He was absolutely convinced it was because it made it easier for the prison officials to allow status quo rather than breaking up the gangs. It was time to end that as well and he brought a group of prison officials together to discuss the problem and ways to change it.

The way the death sentence was handled was another hot button for Garrett.  He was going to shorten the time lag to an absolute maximum of five years. If enough evidence hadn’t been produced to warrant a new trial after five years the sentence would be carried out. No last minute appeals or interference by local politicians would be incurred.

His list was long and he knew it would take several years but like it or not, the Supreme Court of the American Republic would not operate as another political arm of the administration.

****

Mary Lake, External Affairs Chief was busy with her own priorities. She notified the UN that we would no longer support or be involved with the UN. They sent a team of delegates to try to dissuade her and even appealed to the President.

President Jason essentially told them that they needed to discuss it with Lake. He would not intervene.  He would not second guess his key people.

Her second act was to start withdrawing any ambassadors that were under the auspices of the American Republic who were in countries hostile to the Republic. This resulted in the vacating of twelve embassies. She informed the United States of their decisions on both the withdrawal of ambassadors and the withdrawal from the UN.

She was now reviewing countries that we gave financial assistance to and what they actually used it for. She was for aid to indigent countries for humane purposes but not if significant amounts of money were being siphoned off for administrative fees and bribes. If the money or supplies could not make it to where they were intended, she reasoned, why fatten the wallets of the crooks?

Trade agreements would be her next big item. There was really no such thing as free trade with other countries. In most countries America couldn’t compete. Companies had started outsourcing and sending millions of jobs to other countries. That was going to change. Companies that outsourced would soon find that it was even more costly through taxation and tariffs. The outcry would be enormous but if America was going to compete on a global level, companies would have to find ways to produce goods and services right in the American Republic.

****

General MacMillan was changing the scope and the mission of the military. We would no longer be the world police. Just as with our Civil War, internal affairs of other countries would be their problems. If the UN wanted to step in that was just fine with him since we would no longer be a member.

Bases would be shared by the Navy and Air Force whenever possible.  Duplications would be reduced. The Marines and Army would share bases as well. Dissention came from all sides but MacMillan explained that the savings in upkeep, maintenance, and operating costs would be passed on to the remaining bases for long overdue repairs and upgrades.

They had suddenly found themselves with a very large Navy and much less shore to guard. The base at Pensacola would be increased in size for both the ships and the additional amount of planes housed there. Eglin would be reduced in size and used as a repair facility for all types of aircraft. Charleston would also increase its facility along with Jacksonville. Many of the ships that they acquired in the swap of gold for ships were older decommissioned ships. They would be sold for scrap and the money pumped into the costs for the expanded bases.

National Guard bases would be left alone for the time being. A few of the smaller ones would be combined with large bases if the distance wasn’t prohibitive. The General still considered the National Guard an indispensable element of the military as well as the militia groups that had fought valiantly alongside the regular military men and women.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

THE UNITED STATES

General Ascot was not experiencing the same kind of success. The constant distraction of the former Congressional members was draining too much of his time. At one point he even considered declaring Martial Law and having them placed under either house arrest or sequestered at a military base.

After further thought he decided that it would more than likely lead to an uprising. Instead he continued to meet with different members of Congress. Each time he came away discouraged. They were protecting the 'sacred cow' and would not accept change or compromise easily.

It was at about that time that he formed a plan of action. If he could not bring Congress to his way of thinking he would simply change the members. He announced on national television of his stalemate with the current Congress and that the United States would hold a special election. The election would take place four months from that date.

The qualifications, duties, and terms by which a member could run for office were also announced. A new Congress would reconvene on July 1st.  The only names that were to be allowed on the ballot would be those running for Senate. Only two of which would be elected. The delegates for the House of Representatives would be elected after the new Senate was seated. Details for House members would be announced within the next two months.

The announcement did two things immediately. It proved the military’s intent on having the government back in civilian hands and it sent the current Congressional members into a frenzy. He simply would no longer deal with them. If they wanted to remain in Congress they would have to abide by the terms that had been laid out.

Two major problems that had been solved were that they now had gold to back up their monetary system and the size of the Navy had been reduced freeing up money that would normally be eaten up by operational overhead.  Most of the major cleanup of the cities had been accomplished. New construction had started and the number of displaced was being reduced every month. Electricity had been restored to every area along with the most common utilities.

Crime was almost non-existent since the military was reinforcing the normal police. The earlier looting had curtailed completely due to the heavy presence of both police and military as well as strict punishment for the offenders.

They too had notified the UN that they would no longer be members and that the world headquarters would need to be relocated within six months. It caused a furious outcry but the General turned a deaf ear to their moans and groans. Once he looked at the cost to host the UN he was aghast and that, as much as anything, added to his decision to have it moved out of New York.

They had not even begun to tackle other important areas but he was determined that the ones they did confront would be done right. His concern was for the welfare of the nation over any one individual or special interest group. He was determined that those days were over. His thinking was much the same as President Jason's.

The election of a President was another thing weighing heavily on his mind. He needed to step down and put democracy back to work. The question he struggled with was when to do it and how it should be facilitated. He had reviewed the Republic's requirements and job description, and while he agreed in principle, certain provisions bothered him. He would need more time to arrive at a course of action he felt comfortable with.

One thing that he was not even aware of was the blessing that Admiral Swanson had decided she could help more in the United States than in the American Republic. She would continue to liaison with Admiral Greenfield and Heathcoat so that they could be a joint fighting unit if the need ever occurred. The General had no idea how fortunate he was.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

INDEPENDENT STATES

Soon after the end of the Civil War, most independent states were realizing that they would have a difficult, if not impossible time of going it alone. The events in California served as a kind of wake up call. No one state had the might to stand alone.

While interference from the Federal Government wasn’t necessarily wanted, it was apparent that isolationism was not the answer.

Arizona was the first to change from an independent state to the American Republic. Utah soon followed.

Michigan joined the United States.  The remaining states of California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Colorado refused to join either and formed an alliance with each other.

The remaining states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and North Dakota wanted to remain independent but stuck out on their own, it was difficult. They would have no direct means of accessing the other Independent States. Transportation of goods would prove to be very difficult unless they could find a way to work with Canada. The initial approach to the Canadian government had proved to be discouraging.

The issues of borders had not been solved. Roadblocks, while only somewhat effective were still in place. No decisions had been made about how to handle interstate travel from one nation to the other or between independent states.

****

NORTH AMERICA

The former United States of America would never be the same. It would be decades before the scars of war would heal entirely.

The final death toll was placed at three million six hundred and seventy thousand. There was hardly a family that had not been affected by the devastation caused by the Second Civil War.

The United States took longer to recover than the Republic. The approval rating for President Jason after three years was seventy-nine percent.  He would go on to finish out his six year term. Congress was reconvened with new check and balances in place. General MacMillan remained the Supreme Military Chief until his retirement four years later.

Dr. Churchman made amazing progress in revamping the education system. Discipline was restored to the classroom with documentation and review by a panel of teachers from that school district. State and national mandated standardized testing was dropped and a trade school curriculum was developed for those not headed to College.

Garrett Mann continued to work on the judicial system refinement. The five year limit on appeals for death row inmates was established. Frivolous law suits dropped eighty six percent in the first year alone after the new guidelines were put into place. Standardized sentencing continued to be a difficult one to get a handle on but progress was being made in many areas.

The transportation system was creating thousands of new jobs by having a semi-truck lane only added to all major Interstates. All freight trucks would be relegated to the special lane except to pass and that could only be done in the normal slow lane. Any truck driver caught in the center lane would not only be fined but have their license suspended for two years.

General Ascot finally seated a new Congress and immediately set about to hold Presidential elections. By the middle of the third year after the end of the war, the United States had a new President and Congress.  General Ascot, like General MacMillan retired once the change in command was made. General Erickson became the head of the Armed Forces and was the Commander-in-Chief. The President no longer held that power. So much work was still to be done. So many lives had been lost. The same question remained:

Why would any nation go to war with itself?

THE END

About the author:

Marshall W. Huffman did not begin writing until after he retired from teaching.  He decided to start with a trilogy based on a cataclysmic event.   Marshall’s first trilogy is THE EVENT and consists of THE END, THE BEGINNING, and THE REVELATION. With THE EVENTS success he decided to write a second trilogy that is a frightening look at the events that could lead to THE SECOND CIVIL WAR.  It is made up of: Book I – A NATION DIVIDED; BOOK II – A NATION AT WAR; BOOK III – A NATION HEALING.

He has also published a series of books entitled: the ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILES with a central cast of characters.  In addition, he has two another series entitled: THE NORRIS FILES with its own set of central characters and THE LOGAN FILES.    He enjoys writing mysteries, techno-thrillers, and Sci-Fi.   His other Sci-Fi books THE BRINK – DEEP FLIGHT and CLOSE PROXIMITY are intense techno-thrillers with Sci-Fi intertwined.   He finished BLACKSTAR and it just went on sale. His latest addition CHIMERA is a look at what could well happen if we don’t stop twisting science in perverted way.

Marshall was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and grew up in Indiana.  After spending eight years in the Navy, he attended Ball State University, earning a B.S. degree in Business.

During and after college, he was involved in the restaurant business and spent the next twenty-five years in all types of venues, eventually owing his own fine dining restaurant.  After years of long hours,  he decided on a career change.  He attended Eastern Illinois University earning a MBA.  Because of his business background, Eastern Illinois University asked him to teach in the hospitality management program.  He was recruited from Eastern to Parkland College and soon took over as the Program Director for the Hospitality Program.  During his tenure there, he became a chef and had a television show called Cooking around the World with Chef Marshall and taught a series of Gourmet cooking classes for Continuing Education as well.

Professor Huffman retired from teaching along with his wife, Dr.  Susan Huffman, to the Tampa Bay Florida area.

You can find his books under:  MARSHALL HUFFMAN at Amazon.com.