Chapter 96
8:35 PM EST Day two of 1260 Camp David, Maryland - Temporary Press Room
The press was invited into Camp David to an auditorium hastily set up for a press briefing. As usual, the feed was coming from The Network, which had priority since the Stevenson administration had come to office. The place was full. Many of the reporters had been camped outside most of the day. Not wanting to be left out, several other news agencies had filtered in as the day wore on.
The side door opened and Christopher Hughes, White House Press Secretary, stepped up to the podium. He glanced out at the sea of media people and took the notes he had and laid them on the podium. He then started to speak, “Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for your patience today. As you well know, the United States is under siege with the effects of the disaster in California, which is at this time, the worst we have ever had. There is also the possibility that Jack South may well be correct in his other assessments and predictions. Before I take any questions, I need to tell you three things. The first is that President Stevenson sends his regards and wholehearted sympathies to the family of Ken Giles. As all of you know, Giles was shot in a field near here today. The First Family’s prayers are with the Giles at this time of sorrow.”
“Secondly,” Hughes continued, “the full ability of the United States government, the FBI, and other agencies will work diligently until the murderer of the Attorney General is brought to justice. It is early in the investigation, but we feel confident that the FBI and the local authorities will gather all the clues necessary in order to find the person or persons responsible and bring them to justice.”
“Thirdly, we are announcing that the President will be traveling to Kansas City and will attend the Jack South Rally there on Thursday evening. The following day, he will be in attendance at special meetings with other leaders of the world’s business and political systems regarding the crisis that we now face. These are being held in Center City in Kansas City on Friday and Saturday. Please note that for now, press releases will be given during those meetings, but the meetings themselves will be behind closed doors.”
“Now I am open for questions.”
The babble was unreal. The open forum then became a frenzy of hands waving in the air and calling out. Chris looked through the audience and picked one he thought would not be very difficult. He pointed to Walter Sanchez from the Associated Press.
“Chris, do you have any comments on the breaking news that was aired on The Network about the U.S. giving the okay to Israel to purchase the new state of the art military bombers? They are capable of accommodating nuclear warheads, if I have my information correct. Are they to be sent there from Lockheed in exchange for releasing Jack South?” Sanchez asked.
“Yes, we do have a comment. Jack South was illegally detained in Israel on a technicality. Our government and the Israeli Government knew he was traveling to Israel and his Attorney, Mark Anderson, handled the pre-notifications to the State Department. Due to the security concerns for Mr. South, it was felt that going through the normal process of leaving one country and going to another would not be in his or anyone’s best interest. Unfortunately, someone in Israel’s Secret Service, also known as Mossad, overstepped his or her bounds on a tip from an unidentified source. The President, as he would for any citizen detained for no reason, made a call to the Israeli Prime Minister and they were able to secure Jack’s release. As far as we know, he is now en route back to the United States.”
“Regarding the issue of allowing Israel to purchase the new bombers, we are and have been in negotiations with Israel over the purchase of the planes. I do realize that many in congress and other world leaders are concerned about the U.S. providing them to Israel due to their ability to be armed with nuclear weapons. So here is your answer; yes it is still being negotiated, and as we all know, the President has always been in favor of letting Israel have them. But to date, nothing has been sent to them.”
“Are you saying then that The Network Anchor, Brad Williams, is lying?” Sanchez asked.
“No, but maybe he is misinformed. Now, who is next?” He saw Julie and said, “Julie do you have a question?”
“Yes, thank you. Julie Bernstein, New York Times. You have been in session here at Camp David all day. Do you have any updates on what you are discussing? There are rumors that the President is considering martial law. The other rumor is that prior to the hurricanes hitting the U.S. mainland, FEMA camps will be opened and people will be forced to leave the affected areas and go to these camps. Any truth, to this?”
“First of all, Julie, this self-proclaimed witness as he calls himself, and who we know as Jack, has said this would happen, However, it has not yet happened and we are not one hundred percent sure that it will. You have to understand that we are in unchartered territory here and we do not have answers as to whether or not he can predict anything for sure. However, in light of the rains which have already begun in North Africa,” he continued, “which have added up to Jack still being one hundred percent correct, we are taking precautionary measures. We are doing some planning in the event that he is right about the hurricanes. From listening to the constant media reports on TV and other news outlets, you folks have probably also done some calculations of the scenario we would face. Therefore if we feel these disasters are imminent then yes we do need a plan that will work.”
“To expand on this, Julie, if the hurricanes do develop, the affected areas will include up to thirty million people, not counting homes, property, businesses, and even national landmarks. Category four and five hurricanes are destructive and will in fact level certain areas and make some of them uninhabitable for a very long time. You know as well as I do that the government has several avenues open to ensure the safety of the public. Some of those rules and regulations have been on the books for over thirty years and yes some were updated in the past few years after 911.”
“But, are we planning on putting people in these camps today? No, we are not. Is it a possibility? Yes it is. We may need to mobilize a lot of material, personnel, and resources in the event Jack is right; and so provide as best as we can for the welfare of our citizens. I am sure you know the ramifications, but we do not want to start a panic when there is no reason to. We will react, as each situation deems necessary and decide what to do from that point. I hope this helps, and thank you Julie.”
Now, Dennis Crawford?”
“Thanks, Chris. Dennis Crawford, Washington News, District of Columbia. I have heard rumors that the U.S. government is going to Cheyenne Mountain next week. Is there any truth to this?”
“Yes, Dennis. The storms have already started in North Africa and the Middle East, which we think will feed the tropical disturbances in the Atlantic. Therefore, Jack may be right again. Yes, we will move the government to Cheyenne Mountain. As you well know, it was, built in the event of a nuclear strike. Of course, that is not on the agenda, but the facility will allow us – while Washington is shut down – to maintain the integrity of leadership of the country during this crisis.”
“Doesn’t that require martial law to be implemented, Chris?” Dennis continued his questioning. “Or, as I understood it from scenarios that are public knowledge, this would be the protocol in the event the government felt it had to take shelter?”
“No, it does not. Moving the government’s headquarters to another location does not automatically invoke Article Nine or any of the numerous other executive orders that can be implemented if necessary.”
“Thanks, Chris.”
“Okay, one more. Paul Wiegan.”
“Thank you, Chris. Paul Wiegan, The Network News, New York”
“It is my understanding that this afternoon the President sent to the Justice Department a brief that would in effect put the entire United States and its territories under martial law until further notice. Is that true?”
Chris wondered how in hell they had found that out.
“Paul, do you want to expand your question?”
“Okay, Chris. We have it on good authority that the President sent a three hundred-page document to the Justice Department this afternoon, which we do not have a copy of. It allegedly relates to the constitutional question of martial law and its implementation. We do know that the document was delivered. What we do not know is what it says.”
We got a leak here, Chris thought. He was not sure whether to lie or let it be. He mulled over the question in his mind and wished the President was there; but it was his job to deal with it so he needed to come up with an answer. “Paul, we are possibly going into a crisis mode here in our country. There is a possibility that we may need to put martial law into effect to keep order and protect the sovereignty of the United States. However, in keeping with the concerns of the rights of our citizens, a draft of such an order was sent to the Justice Department for a full review and consideration.”
“In other words,” Paul went on, “that is what you are planning to do?”
“Maybe.”
Chris picked up his notes and started for the side door. He could hear the questions from all over and some of them were getting nasty. He held his head up as he walked to the door, opened it, and shut it behind him. He leaned up against the wall, straightened his neck, and said silently to himself, God help us all. We have a major leak. He shook his head to shake off his feeling of uneasiness, and walked down the hall.