Chapter 86
1:30 PM CST Day two of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Arrowhead Stadium
In Kansas City, Mayor Madeline Sipes was surrounded it seemed, by every agency that existed on the planet, not to mention those belonging to the United States. There were people from Interpol, the Vatican, secret service agents from several countries, and to top it all off, brass from every military unit in the U.S. They were meeting in makeshift quarters at Arrowhead Stadium using the Chief’s media room, which was the only place that was capable of handling this amount of people in a single enclosed space, and away from the press, which was camped out at City Hall. How the feds got their people here so quickly, she had no idea.
The City Manager was asking Reverend Marks why they could not relocate the Rally to Arrowhead or some other venue. The answer was always an emphatic no. He insisted that Arrowhead Stadium was a closed building, which could not house the multitude that was gathering in the city.
Mayor Sipes knew that her city was bursting at the seams and even if the Feds shut down the highways leading into the city and rerouted travelers from MCI to other airports, it was still a mess. People were actually walking to the city and to Memorial Park. There were already thousands camped out, just sitting, and waiting, even though Jack South would not even be here until Thursday evening; not much more than forty-eight hours away.
Now she had been made aware that the President was coming, which meant dealing with the Secret Service. On a prior visit a year ago, Stevenson had been a pain to deal with. Now the Vatican was sending representatives and a large group of high level Europeans, including many leaders from there and Asia. Many corporate leaders around the world were coming or were already here. They all wanted to be here for this Rally and it made no sense to her at all.
She found out that The Waldger Group had rented the entire City Center Complex for meetings on Friday and Saturday. That meant a lot more very high profile world leaders would be here not only for the ‘Rally,’ but the scheduled meetings as well. These seemed to have been planned out of the blue. Normally, groups as large and as powerful as this had their meetings scheduled well in advance of a year, if not more.
She turned her thoughts back to what was going on here. Fortunately, South’s people had agreed to let the dignitaries that were coming have secure seating on the stage, which would keep them away from the public. A clear bulletproof glass wall was being, erected on both sides of the stage, and would surround them; but still allow them to hear and to see the event.
This whole ordeal was becoming a nightmare and a total drain on the city’s resources. Fortunately, the Feds had come to the rescue. She noticed it had become quiet, so she turned her attention to the front of the room.
Roland Winters, a full Bird Colonel in the Army, stepped up to the microphone and started speaking.
“Thanks to all of you for coming. As you well know by now, this Rally that should have been at most a few hundred people has now taken on worldwide interest.” He paused for everyone to take this in. “As of right now, Kansas City is under the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Government until further notice. Like the disaster in California, it is in the nation’s and the region’s interest that the military take command of the city and its policing. I realize this is not normal, but we have absolutely no choice. It is the only way we can ensure the safety and security of not only the city, but also the many dignitaries who have seen fit to come here. This is unprecedented, but we have a plan and we will follow it.” He then flipped on a switch and a grid of the city came up on the screen.