Читать книгу New Earth: The Search for Justice - R.D. Ph.D. Pittman - Страница 8

Alex busied himself calling facilities and bases to see how things were progressing with the consolidation activities. The naval units were set. Admiral Hanover had a firm control over all the Pacific fleet forces. The Air Force units were ready, all base commanders were in their locations, and fighter and bomber squadrons were on standby alert. The Army units, particularly the mechanized artillery and tank battalions, were still not positioned in the Midwest to Alex’s satisfaction. He urged the three Generals who commanded those units to hasten the pace. The western United States and Pacific coast combined forces were aligned and combat ready. Alex set a weekly conference call for all unit commanders to discuss any issues that may have arisen, but reminded all of them that he was on call 24/7 for any emergency issues.

All the residence people including Elena and Andrade were on hand for the nationally broadcast speech by Torrance scheduled to begin 6 p.m. Alex asked Curt to set up a digital recording device and they all seated themselves in the den around the big screen television. Alex asked Curt to tune into CNN for the speech. Afterwards he planned to tune in to MSNBC to get their slant on the speech; he needed to hear all sides of the issues. The television screen went blank, a logo of the American flag appeared, then an off camera commentator announced the Admiral.

“Good evening my fellow Americans, this address will be the first of several that I will give to the nation to explain how we intend to remake this nation in the coming months and years. So you may anticipate the future speeches, here is a list of the topics I will be addressing each Wednesday night for the foreseeable future. Tonight I will talk about taxes, then each speech after tonight will cover, Social Security, the legal system, immigration, foreign policy, abortion rights, the right to bear arms argument, education, and healthcare. Before I begin discussing taxes let me assure all of you that our country is fundamentally strong. We simply need to change the direction of this country and bring back the values that made this country the envy of the world. Many of you are concerned our financial markets will collapse, this couldn’t be further from the truth, there has been no interruption of commerce, our banks are all on solid ground and the Federal Reserve stands ready to intervene if necessary. Truckers and trains are moving goods between markets, farmers are growing their crops for delivery to markets as always, children are in school and teachers are there to teach them. Police are on duty to maintain order in our communities, our military is on standby alert and the nation is secure from any outside threat.

“You will undoubtedly hear the name General Alex Hanken mentioned in the coming days and weeks. First, let me say that he is one the finest military commanders I have ever had the privilege to serve with. General Hanken has control of all of our land based nuclear forces, the Pacific fleet, NORAD and SAC command headquarters, along with a massive Air Force, which includes all of our nuclear capable bomber squadrons. I want all Americans to be confident that General Hanken is not some hothead with a happy trigger finger. He was specifically chosen to head up these divisions because he is incredibly skilled at decision making. His strategic thinking processes are unmatched by any military commander I have seen in my forty years in service to this country. We are safe from outside harm because of him.

“There is just one problem with General Hanken. He opposes the action we have taken and has stated to me that he will do everything in his power to stop us from reforming this great nation. I can only hope that in the coming weeks he will come around to our way of thinking. In the meantime he has assured me that he intends no hostile action against any of the forces under my control. Both he and I agreed a civil war would serve no purpose, and could very well endanger our sovereignty as a free nation. I ask that all of you pray for General Hanken in the hope that God will touch his heart and mind and bring him back into the fold. Enough said about that.

“Tonight’s topic is taxes, yes the dreaded yearly exercise we all go through each April fifteenth. Effective January first of this coming year, the current income tax rates for both corporate and individual taxpayers is hereby eliminated. It will be replaced by a national flat tax of fifteen per cent of gross income. Use all the deductions you want but everybody will pay a flat tax of fifteen per cent of gross income, no more, and no less.

“Both Social Security and a medical insurance plan tax will continue to be taken out of your salaries by your employers and sent directly to the US Treasury. This streamlined approach to tax filing will allow us to significantly downsize the IRS, saving billions of taxpayer dollars. Our budget office estimates we will have substantial budget surpluses sufficient in size to retire the US debt within fifteen years. The next item to be discussed will be the insolvent and unworkable Social Security and Medicare retirement system, which will be next Wednesday’s topic. I thank you for your time this evening and may God bless the United States of America.”

Newsrooms around the world were clamoring to find out who this General Hanken is, where is he located, and why did Admiral Torrance seem to glorify him? It became the hottest race in history to get the first interview with this man, who commanded the largest nuclear arsenal on the face of the earth. The Pentagon switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree with inquiries as to how to reach General Alex Hanken, only to receive a comment that his number is classified. Good reporters being who they are, eventually tracked down Alex to the Colorado Springs area specifically Peterson Air Force Base.

Within two hours of Torrance’s speech, satellite TV trucks and news helicopters were on their way to the base. Alex received a call from base security around eight thirty informing him that the front gate was being besieged by reporters and it looked like helicopters were flying in as well. Agent Evans and Commander Morris returned with the tapes from Provo and arrived in time to see the speech by Admiral Torrance. In a surprise to everyone including Alex, the President got a call through to Alex’s command center and the call was transferred to the residence.

“General Hanken, this is President Betts, I don’t know how long this connection will last before they find out, so let me say you need to blunt Torrance’s speech by meeting with the news media. Use them Alex, tell the American people the truth. Thank God you’re on our side Alex,” the President advised.

“Mr. President, I will handle Admiral Torrance and restore you to power; all I ask is that you be patient. It may take several months to accomplish, but I will find all of the conspirators and bring them to justice.”

“Alex, the country is in your hands, God spe——

Alex brought Commander Morris into his private office.

“Mike I want you to scramble some Apache helicopters and fire warning shots at any of those news media helicopters that invades restricted airspace. Next, I want you to mobilize the entire Seal group and take them down to the front gate, and clear the road back two hundred yards. Inform any civilians and news media personnel that the two hundred yard restriction is in place and anyone entering that space is in an authorized kill zone. Tell the news trucks that I am in the process of setting up an interview with the major news outlets and the interview will be pooled for everyone to utilize in their broadcasts both nationally and internationally, any questions?”

“No sir.”

“Now, ask Sandi, Cynthia, and Liz to come in here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sandi, Cynthia, and Liz came into to Alex’s office as requested and sat down.

“Alex, are you going to do what the President suggested?” Sandi asked.

“Yes, and that’s where you three come in. I want you to track down the news editors of the following networks, ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and FOX, tell them who you are, and that you are calling on my behalf. Further, tell them that I will grant an interview to one of their top news people of their choosing, tomorrow at ten a.m. This will not be an exclusive interview; it will be pooled both nationally and internationally. Inform them of the five networks that will be present, and the interview will last for an hour and a half. I will not answer any questions that involve me personally or my family. The interview will be held at the base media center, they are to call you back within the hour with the names of those who will be conducting the interview. They are to have proper credentials when they arrive at the front gate. Ask them how long it will take for them to set up their equipment. They should plan on arriving at a time that allows for setup and the commencement of the interview. Any questions?”

“No Alex, and this ought to be interesting,” Sandi said.

Commander Morris mobilized the Seal team and sent six Apache attack helicopters to monitor the restricted airspace; he gave them permission to fire warning shots at any unauthorized helicopter within a half a mile of the base. The Seal teams embarked toward the front gate in a convoy of humvees, each humvee had a fifty-caliber machine gun mounted on a turret. When the Seal teams arrived there was pandemonium at the front gate. People were pushing and shoving each other, satellite TV trucks were trying to inch their way toward the gate nearly running over pedestrians. Morris was not amused; he halted the column and had the security guards open the gate. He walked toward the crowd and opened fire with his assault rifle. He fired his rounds into the ground just in front of the crowd, moving them back with each volley. His Seal teams did the same. The noise was incredible. An Apache helicopter appeared overhead and fired its electronic machine gun in front of a local news helicopter as a warning shot scattering everyone backwards. The Seal team methodically moved the crowd back until Morris was satisfied a two hundred yard barrier was established. The Seal team placed wooden barriers on the spot. He took out his bullhorn and spoke to the assembled crowd.

“This barrier is in place for a reason, you have trespassed on a highly secured military installation. Anyone crossing this barrier from this date forward will have entered an authorized kill zone, and you will be shot dead on the spot, no questions asked. General Hanken is in the process of contacting the major news outlets to set up an interview. The interview will be pooled nationally and internationally. All of you news media people are asked to leave this area immediately. If your presence creates a threat to the safety of civilians or the orderly operation of this facility you will be fired upon with deadly force. Now leave this area and clear the road for normal traffic,” Morris put down the bullhorn.

One of the TV satellite trucks pushed forward knocking over one of the barriers, Morris ordered his Seal teams to disable the vehicle, not the driver. They opened up on the truck with a barrage of volleys and literally took off the front of the truck, blew the satellite dish off of the roof, and shot out all the tires. That did the trick; there was a hasty retreat by all concerned in fear for their lives. Within thirty minutes the road was completely clear of all vehicles and all the news helicopters made a quick exit once the Apache helicopters made their presence known. Morris posted six Seals at the barriers with orders to shoot anyone trying to cross into the kill zone. The real fireworks were about to go off the next day when Alex would be introduced to the American people.