WAR (16 page)

              Hanging up the telephone Grameniko laughs, he thinks to himself,
What an idiot, he has no idea everything we're doing is for us, not for him.  I don’t care what he thinks. I’m spending lives and money to pay Rand back for attacking the Rodina. Bloomberg has nothing I need or want. I hope his people have had enough of him and find a way to push him out. With Michael, everything is about him. He knows best on every subject. I can’t stomach him. If his people don’t remove him, I’m sure the USA will, or I’ll send a wet team to take him out. The FSB has agents already in place in LA. All I want out of Las Vegas, is the money that will soon be in our accounts. The attack on Washington is personal.

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              In Beaverton, Oregon, the Smith family is sitting in the dark worrying about the war, Sissy says, “Mommy, I’m scared. I don’t like it dark all the time; I want to watch my TV programs, I want the lights on, when is the emergency going to be over?”

              “Darling, everything is going to be alright. I’m sure the emergency is going to be over very soon. I don’t think we have anything to worry about. How was school today?”

              “It’s very hard going to school outside so we can all see our tablets, they set up solar something to charge our tablets. They even made a large tarp to cover the center field in case it rains. It gets cold sitting outside, mommy; I don’t like it. I don’t like using the smelly bathrooms outside. They’re just seats over a bunch of poop. Please tell them to turn everything back on.”

              Scott adds, “If you think sitting outside is bad, we don’t even have enough chairs. Many of us have to stand for our classes or sit on the ground. I don’t understand why the USA did this to us. We didn’t do anything to them. Why are they attacking us? Are they going to try to kill us next? I think we ought to find a way to make peace with the USA. We don’t have an army; we can’t possibly win a war against them. My friends and I think something is going on that we aren’t being told about. If the USA is going to invade us, why don’t we surrender? We were taught that a life isn’t worth losing. I think we need to stop the war ASAP and get things back to the way they were. We can’t charge our tablets at home; we can’t go online; we can’t watch TV or even read without lights. Our fridge doesn’t work; I’m tired of eating canned food cooked over our BBQ.”

              Jason, Scott’s and Sissy’s father replies, “Kids, I don’t know why the USA attacked us. I don’t think we’re going to get into a full-fledged war with the USA; they would crush us because we don’t have an army to defend ourselves. Kids, cooking canned food on a BBQ used to be a treat. We understand it’s hard without electricity; however, I’m pretty sure everything will be back and working again very soon. For now we have food; the fireplace provides with warmth; we’re doing OK; many are doing with a lot less than we have.”

              Carol adds, “I think we should think about amending our laws so we can establish an army to protect us. We need to have more than a police force and DepLIES agents to protect us. I thought that is because we didn’t present a threat to anyone; no one would attack us. The old live and let live. I see now I was wrong.”

              Scott says, “Mom, some of my friends say we attacked the USA first. Do you remember during the television program when Wolf and Sean were talking about some kids in the USA being poisoned? A couple of my friends said we did that which is why they attacked us.”

              “Scott, I heard that too. I wonder if there’s any truth to the story. Normally I would have said it wasn’t true, but I can’t think of any other reason why the USA would have attacked us. I always thought the USA President was understanding and peace loving, nothing like that asshole Brownstone.”

              “Honey, stop that. It’s not respectful to call him that. He was their President. He let us leave without a war. I don’t agree with his views on many issues either, but that’s not a reason to call him a name.”

“Honey, kids, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have called him a name. I think that either the DepLIES or President Bloomberg may have done something. I really hope they didn’t, but if they did, I think the USA overreacted. The average citizen of the LSA didn’t do anything to the USA so why are they taking out their anger on us?”

              Jason replies, “I think we must have done something in order for the USA to have blacked us out. If you look at the places that aren’t blacked out, you see the USA didn’t want to cause loss of life, they wanted to make us uncomfortable enough to apply pressure on Bloomberg to resign or on the Senate to push for new elections. I wish our leaders would be honest with us.”

              The Smith family learned from listening to their battery powered AM/FM radio that many workers aren’t reporting for work, putting a drain on the LSA’s economy. The anchor, Wolf Bracken, reports, “President Bloomberg today ordered all LSA government workers to report for work tomorrow. He said the government won’t accept any excuses for workers not reporting to their jobs. President Bloomberg also ordered everyone to honor the curfew and stay indoors after 7PM local time.”

              Jason says, “I wonder who the people are who aren’t reporting to work?”

              Sharon replies, “There are three who haven’t reported for work in my department alone. I heard in the halls that other departments also report workers who haven’t reported for work. I wonder where they’ve gone. I can understand people not showing up. I think many don’t have a way to charge their cars. If their battery runs down they might not have any way to get to their work.”

              Jason replied, “This isn’t good. If too many people don’t report to their jobs, our entire economy could collapse. The country depends on everyone working and the taxes that come from their paychecks, if people aren’t working and since over 40% of our population works for the government, we’re going to face serious problems if people don’t report to work. Maybe the central government should send buses to pick workers up.”

              Sharon asks, “Honey, any idea how long we have?”

              “Not without knowing how many people aren’t reporting for work, I don’t think that number is ever going to be released. We can’t report to our jobs because we only have a quarter charge left in your car and less than that in mine. We need to conserve the batteries in case we need a car for an emergency.”

              Before they can continue, they hear an announcement on the small portable radio that surprises them, “Yoko Ono reported today that she will be leading a peace march down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills this Saturday. In her words, “My late husband and lover John Lennon and I wrote a song we called, ‘Give Peace a Chance.’ I propose we hold hands on Saturday as we sing ‘Give Peace a Chance.’ I’m hoping to see thousands of you join with me on Saturday on Rodeo Drive. Come one and all to the Peace March. Maybe our government will hear us and ‘Give Peace a Chance.’

              Scott asks, “Hey Mom, Dad, can I go?”

              Jason responds, “No, you can’t go. LA is over one thousand miles from here. There’s no way you’re going to that march. I’d bet every city will have a similar march this weekend. Let’s see what Portland announces.”

              “OK, that sounds good. I’d like to see Yoko Ono, I wonder how old she is now.”

              “Scott, I’d guess she is more than 75. I wish we had power back on, I too, miss watching the news.”

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              President Bloomberg stands in his office in shock; he yells at his chief of staff, “When was anyone going to tell me Yoko Ono was planning a march a few blocks from here? Who approved her damn march? How many people are expected?”

              His chief of staff asks, “Sir, I didn’t think it would do any harm to allow her a small march. I thought it would bring attention to our problem; the press will cover her march in detail, and we’ll win their support for our side.”

              “You idiot, a mass of people that close to the Gray House will enable USA spies and attackers to get inside our security zone. Currently, no one can approach within ten blocks of the Gray House, this march will put them within two blocks of here. I want you to stop her march right now.”

              “Sir, I’m not sure it can be stopped at this late date, Yoko should be giving a press conference right about now. She promised me to say a lot of nice words about you and the LSA.”

              “Did you get a copy of her speech?”

              “No sir, she said she was just going to speak off the cuff without a prepared statement.”

              “And you believed that bullshit?”

              “Sir, she must be 75, she won’t remember to say very much.”

              “For your sake I hope you’re right. Are there any other surprises you’d like to tell me?”

              “Nothing else sir.”

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              The Secret Service moves the three Presidents to the War Room bunker under the White House. President Rand asks his military aide if they have received any message from Grameniko after the destruction of their strategic assets.”

              “No sir, not a word.”

              “I’d thought he would have reached out to us by now.”

              President Cruise says, “He hasn’t reached out to us because he’s planning something. That call from the hunters concerns me. They saw a heavy armor battalion and yet we can’t find them. I wonder if they were already south of where we sent our agents. Something about troops on the east coast concerns me. I keep thinking there’s only a single target of any value on the east coast they could reach in a reasonable time frame. That high-value target is us.”

              President Brownstone looks at his friend. “Damn, Ted I think you’re correct. I suggest we get the Marines positioned and get them some reinforcements.”

              President Rand pauses, his head starts to nod in agreement. He calls out to his military aide, “Major, see what forces are available to reinforce the D.C. area.”

              “Yes sir.”

              “Rod, Ted, is there anything else you think we should be doing?”

              Rod replies, “Paul, I’d start evacuating the people who aren’t critical to running the government. Outgoing refugees may slow down a Russian attack; it may also save many of their lives. I’d check with the Navy to see how many ships they have close to us; we may have to place some ships in the Potomac to act as mobile gun platforms.”

              Paul responds, “Rod, we lost most of our ships when we lost Norfolk and the weapons depot at Yorktown; it’s a good idea, I’ll see what we have available. Major, call the Mayor, tell him to start evacuating the city. When he asks how he should evacuate the people, tell him any way he can. Just get them moving.”

              “Yes sir.”

              The Mayor of Washington, D.C., Mayor Gray looks at his chief of staff, “The White House wants us to start evacuating our population. What do they know we don’t?”

              “Mr. Mayor, I don’t have any idea. The only city under attack is Las Vegas, I don’t know why they suggest we get our people out of the city. I don’t know how we’re going to move them out. If we tell the people to start walking, they’ll be angry and maybe not vote for us in the next election.”

              “See how many buses we can dig up and start with those closest to the bridges leaving the city. They have the shortest distance to go. If there is an issue that requires us to evacuate our people, we’ll at least have moved some of them out of harms way. Try to see what they know about any threats to the city.”

              The phone in the Mayor’s office rings, the chief of staff picks it up, “Hello, Mayor Gray’s office.”

              “Sir, this is the city crisis center, we have reports that the city may be under threat of attack.”

              “What information do you have? Where did you get it?”

              “Got a call from the US Marines.”

              “Shit, cancel the previous order, get everyone possible out of the city.”

              Mayor Gray issues the order to sound the alarms throughout the city that causes panic and chaos. People don’t know what to do or where to go. Some run for the bridges; others take the time to loot and burn stores close to their homes. They started causing more damage to the city than the Russians planned to do. Some sit on the curb waiting for government help to arrive. Some tear into old enemies deciding this is a good time to settle old and new disputes.

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Chapter 10

              Colonel Grover and his team listen to the announcement of Yoko Ono’s peace march on their cars’ radios. Grover smiles, he says, “This is our chance to get inside the barricades and sneak into the Gray House.”

              One of the younger sergeants asks, “Colonel who’s this Yoko Ono? Why is she holding a peace march?”

              Colonel Grover laughs saying, “Did you ever hear of John Lennon? How about the song ‘Give peace a chance?’”

              “No sir, never heard of either of them, was she a singer? Did she write the song?”

              Grover laughs and slaps his head. “This proves I’m too old to lead people in the field. I have to find a new career, maybe sitting behind a desk isn’t so bad. I wonder how beer testers get their jobs?”

              The sergeant laughs saying, “Colonel, you’ll never get hired as a beer taster, you never met a beer you didn’t like. You’ll drink up all of their product before it’s shipped.”

              Everyone in the team laughs at both the Colonel and the Sergeant.

              Grover says, “For you young’uns, a long time ago there was a singing group called the Beatles, John Lennon was one of the four members. He married Yoko Ono; they went on to destroy one of the best groups in the world while writing some memorable songs, ‘Give Peace a Chance’ was one of them. She was always a little ‘off’ which explains her living here in LA. We have two days until her march; let’s gather some local color so we can blend in better with the march. Go out in twos, never alone. Remember your cover stories. I don’t want to have to bail any of you out of jail so don’t do anything stupid.”

              The men laugh at the Colonel’s joke. They start to slip out of the hotel rooms in twos to gain some local color and information. Looking around, Grover is happy he studied the television program to ensure their clothing was correct so they would fit in. The team mingles with people, listens in on the local rumors, four visit the Beverly Hills High School to chat with those who have been moved there. Some shop, some visit a local Starbucks, a couple try to walk on Rodeo Drive, which remains closed. Colonel Grover is able to slip behind two of the DepLIES barricades enabling him to inspect and locate their weaknesses. He files the information away for use later on. Each team is stopped at least twice for an ID check. Thanks to the NSA and the CIA, each member of the team has a perfect ID which,  when queried by DepLIES, opens to their full profile pages which the NSA created and inserted by hacking into the LSA network. Colonel Grover’s team is able to move around the LSA without fear of being caught or stopped. They sign up for Saturday’s ‘Give Peace a Chance March.’ They receive their parade ID cards; they are told to report back at 0800 Saturday morning. Grover smiles thinking to himself,
It’s sure easy to get into the parade and within a couple of blocks of the Gray House.
He tells his team to shop and blend with the locals for two days.

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LSA President Bloomberg calls his Treasury Secretary, “Chuck, I want you to use your printing presses to start producing USA currency; a lot of US Currency.”

“Mr. President, we have samples of their currency, we should be able to reproduce it, but sir, the issue is their new currency has metal threads woven through it. They also have a 3D hologram embedded in their bills. Given a few weeks we should be able to match their currency. How much do you want us to print?”

“Chuck, I would like you to print one hundred billion dollars of the new United States currency.”

“Michael, we’ve been friends for many years. We’ve worked together since you were the Mayor of New York City, and I was the New York State Senior Senator. Michael, if you’re trying to destroy the USA’s economy by flooding them with counterfeit money, have you considered what will happen to us if they figure this out? I think we’re looking at the end of the LSA if President Rand figures out what we’ve done.”

“Chuck, if you can copy their currency correctly so even their secret service won’t be able to determine which is real and which isn’t, they’ll have no way to determine we had our hands in their cookie jar. We have the two Russian armies, one in Las Vegas, and one getting ready to invade Washington, D.C. They got lucky when their militia found the Venezuelans who were stupid because they didn’t bring any anti-air weapons. What they don’t know yet, is there are two army groups getting ready to leave Cuba. One army group will invade southern Florida, the second army group will sail into the Gulf of Mexico and invade Houston. Both of these will catch the Americans by surprise. While they are facing four armies on their soil, we’ll flood their country with phony currency destroying their economy. Even if they should destroy the invaders, they’ll be left with a destroyed economy. It’ll most likely take them years to sort out the real from the counterfeit currency. They will have to recall, test and replace all of their currency. Can you imagine the chaos flooding the USA with a hundred billion dollars of counterfeit currency will do? Chuck, I was one of a handful of billionaires in the world, I, more than most, understand the disaster and destruction to Rand’s economy we’ll be able to cause. We can win the war by taking down their banking sector. Their currency will no longer be trusted. The mighty US dollar will cease to be the world’s currency of choice. Fourteen years ago Russia and China tried to destroy America’s economy, they dumped billions of dollars on the market. They started to accept trade in other currencies. The only action, which saved America, was President Brownstone bringing in Forbes to tie the US Dollar to precious metals giving it a real value. We now have a chance to destroy any value of their currency.”

“Mr. President, if we get caught, they will destroy us and our dream. There will be nothing left of the LSA. Sir, they will consider this the largest act of terrorism in their history. They used a nuke to destroy a terrorist base and show the world what happens to anyone who attacks the USA. Michael, what you’re proposing is the worst act of terror anyone has ever used against America. I’ll start the process of creating the currency, however, before you give the word to proceed, I’m asking you to review the plan.”

“Chuck, if you do a good enough job of copying their currency, they’ll never catch us. It’s all in your hands. Don’t let us down.”

“Michael, I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will.”

Smiling to himself President Bloomberg thinks to himself,
If the Russians and the Cubans can’t bring Rand to the negotiating table, the crash of their economy will. If we time this just right, we, I, will be in complete control of all of North America. Once I pull all of North America together, we’ll move to pull South America into our control. At the end of the day, there will be two world powers, Grameniko, who’ll rule Europe and Russia, and me ruling the Americas. China will tear itself apart. Later Grameniko and I will share whatever’s left of China. Africa will be treated like a zoo continent. Hell, with their petty wars, we’ll let them kill each other off. If their wars don’t kill them, starvation, Ebola or AIDS will clear Africa for us to take all of their minerals. This will ensure we end up ruling the world.

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US Generals Watson and Wilson are trying to figure out where the army group the hunters saw moving south, went. General Wilson says, “They can’t have just vanished. They have to be somewhere.”

“General, if you were leading that army group what would be your target? Where would you be heading?”

“General Watson, there’s only one target worth the risk. That’s us and D.C. If I were leading an invading army group on the east coast, I’d try to remain hidden and surprise the capital. If I could conquer the capital and capture the President, it should end the war. The LSA would become the victors. Bloomberg would share our assets with Grameniko.”

“I agree with you. Which means we have to find that army and stop it before they reach D.C. General if you were in command of that army what route would you take to reach D.C. from Montreal?”

“General, I’d split my forces so that I’d surround D.C. I’d time the arrival of my forces so that they all arrive within a couple of hours of each other. When my troops were all in place, I’d take the city by surprise. I’d hold the citizens hostage to get the government to surrender.”

“I agree. You named your own mission. General Wilson, I want you and your Marines to find that army and stop it before they can carry out the plan you just outlined. Any questions?”

“No sir. I’ll get right on it.”

“General, I don’t want to surrender the Pentagon or the White House so find that missing army group and stop or destroy them before they can attack the city.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m going to contact the President. I think he should leave the White House for a safer location. I’d love him to relocate to the mountain.”

General Wilson salutes the Chairman as he takes his leave of the Pentagon. General Watson picks up the red telephone which connects him to President Rand, who picks up the telephone on the first ring. “General, what’s wrong?”

“Mr. President, we feel there’s a strong possibility of a Russian army group trying to invade D.C. We’d feel much better if you would move to a more secure position.”

“General, where is this army group?”

“Mr. President I’ve sent General Wilson to locate and stop the Russian army group. We believe it’s the same one that the hunters saw in Montreal. We think they split their forces and are planning on surrounding Washington. My best guess is they think if they can capture the city and you, the war will come to end.”

“General, if the people see me leave the city they’ll know something’s very wrong. They’ll be scared. If the Russians do invade the city, it’ll be the first time since 1814 that D.C. was invaded. We’ll lose the morale of our people, and I don’t need to remind you, once we lose the support of the people, we’re done. It’s critical General, that you stop the invasion of this city before it takes place.”