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  None of it impressed Hudson. He knew the REMies could easily make anything look the way they wanted.

  “All right, keep me posted,” the president said. “I've got another meeting.”

  Fitz gave him a puzzled look. The chief of staff wasn’t aware of anything on the schedule until two o'clock, at which time they would be meeting with the Russian ambassador to discuss the Chinese situation, and it certainly seemed they still had more to discuss concerning the NorthBridge attack and the link to China.

  Hudson had intentionally allowed longer for the meeting with the secretary of state than he knew it would require, knowing he could carve out some free time from the official calendar to have a quick chat with Fonda Raton on the White House grounds. The unexpected NorthBridge attack made his exit a bit more awkward, but he had his own shadow timetable to consider. Cherry Tree was underway. The REMies were finally going to be challenged.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Fonda smiled as Hudson approached. “You should've seen the look on the man's face when he saw I was whom he had to escort out here.”

  “Nobody in his right mind can imagine why I would ever meet Fonda Raton, especially these days.”

  “These days?”

  “There's been so many leaks from the administration, and you’re the queen of capitalizing on leaks.”

  “Am I?” Fonda asked, exaggeratingly batting her eyelashes. “You flatter me so.”

  “Come on, you've got more inside sources than the CIA,” Hudson said, smiling.

  “But I don't have all the sources,” Fonda said, turning serious. “There are people inside your administration, very close to you no doubt, who are leaking things—embarrassing things, important things—to undermine your popularity and your credibility.”

  “I’ve got enemies everywhere, but if you know people inside the White House who are leaking, then name names!”

  “Oh, if it were that simple.” Fonda turned and walked to admire a rosebush, then faced him again. “But I can tell you why they’re doing it. They’re preparing for your opposition to the war, and for your attack on the REMies. They’re using the leaks to control you and make you seem ineffective, possibly even diminished from your near-death experience. What did happen in those nine minutes, Hudson?”

  He stared at her for a moment, but said nothing.

  “Anyway,” Fonda said, smiling awkwardly. “It’s working. Your rock-solid approval ratings are beginning to falter.”

  “I don’t care,” Hudson said. “As you may already know, I'm planning to give a speech this week in which I will take the military option off the table.”

  “No.” Fonda shook her head. “I don't like the timing.”

  Hudson scoffed. “I wasn't asking your permission. I really don't care if you like the timing, but I expected your support.”

  “Oh, Hudson.” Fonda started to reach for his shoulder as if she was going to brush imaginary dust off, but she stopped, catching a glance from the Secret Service agents. They always seemed too close. “Sometimes you just have to trust others who have been at this a lot longer than you.”

  “Trust?” He wanted to trust her, but knew better. “You can’t be trusted.”

  “Of course I can’t be trusted, Mr. President. Do you mind if I call you Mr. President?” Fonda winked. “In any case, you're going to oppose the war. What do you think that's going to get you?”

  “Hopefully it will get me peace. Hopefully it'll stop this damn war before it gets started. You know there’s no real issue for the war; this is all the REMies. It's another REMie MADE event, and the media, as always, is going along for the ride. We have no more business fighting China than we did fighting Russia all those years. This is nonsense.”

  In his peripheral vision, Hudson noticed a Secret Service agent behind a machine gun emplacement on the White House roof and imagined the man receiving an order to shoot him. Would he follow it? Was he a good one, or one of the agents Bond had described as trained in the ‘Critical Move’ to kill, or let a president die, for the good of the country? Hudson stared at the agent on the roof for another moment, and then jumped back into his rant.

  “Do you know that Frederic Remington, of the REMie Remingtons, was sent to Cuba by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst to cover the war? But when he got to the island, nothing was happening, and no trouble was expected, so he sent a cable to Hearst that ‘There will be no war,’ and Hearst cabled back, ‘You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war.’ The REMies have been doing this forever, and the media has been helping!”

  “Of course they have, and of course I agree with you,” Fonda said. “And obviously it's the REMies using the media to create the war with China, but if you come out against the war now, they'll just ridicule you, destroy your reputation, and make you into an unpatriotic communist sympathizer bought off by the Chinese. They'll even turn on you and say that the big corporations—ironically, the very ones that the REMies control—have convinced you not to go to war because it will hurt their sales. After all, we import half a trillion dollars of goods a year from China.”

  “Yeah, before Bill Clinton handed the keys to China, we purchased almost nothing from them. People forget that now . . . now that China is the enemy,” Hudson said. “I wish I could take your advice, do everything at the perfect time, but we’re a little short on time.”

  “That we are,” Fonda said. “But that doesn't mean doing things in a rush is going to save time.”

  “Funny, you’re in agreement with Vonner, a man you profess to hate and disagree with entirely. He also doesn't think the time is right to oppose the war—or anything, for that matter.”

  “Of course he doesn't. You keep forgetting he's a REMie. He's the one who's controlling you. Vonner doesn't want you to oppose the war the REMies want. He doesn't want you going after the REMies.”

  “And he doesn't want me going after NorthBridge either.”

  “NorthBridge? Then I agree with him again,” Fonda said. “What you need to do is start reforms slowly. Don't declare your opposition to the war yet, don't be some big crusader, and don't make yourself a target for all the extreme groups. The right and the left will both hate you. The REMies will take you out. If they don’t, then NorthBridge will. Everybody will come for you.”

  “What else is new?”

  She frowned. “Come on, Hudson. We need you alive. It’s not about opposing this or that, changing who or what. The only hope is to first take the fangs out of the intelligence agencies. That’s what keeps the REMies in power. You've got to do this smart.”

  “Is there a smart way?”

  “Look, since 1900, only three presidents have defied the REMies,” Fonda said. “McKinley—assassinated, Kennedy—assassinated, Carter—”

  “Jimmy Carter?”

  “He refused to play along, but the REMies decided the country was too fragile following Vietnam and Watergate for another dead president, so they made sure he had an ineffective, do-nothing, one-term presidency.”

  “What about the Camp David accords? Peace between Israel and Egypt?”

  “Come on, you know your history,” Fonda said with an incredulous look. “It meant nothing, and led to the assassination of Egypt’s leader, Anwar Sadat.”

  “They haven’t tried to assassinate me.”

  “Haven’t they? Who tried to kill you on Air Force One? Everyone thinks it was NorthBridge, but why didn’t they take credit for it? They always have in the past.”

  “If the REMies wanted me dead, then I’d already be dead.”

  “There are lots of ways to kill a man, and they don’t all involve death,” Fonda said, picking up some flower petals that had fallen from a rosebush. “People have been so polarized, but there’s no difference between what Democrat and Republican presidents do. It’s only the media, the propaganda of the elites, that makes it seem so. Just look at Bill Clinton, a darling of the liberals, and yet, as we noted a moment ago, he gave away the economy to Walmart, China, and NA
FTA. Clinton made a further gift to Wall Street by repealing Glass-Steagall, and deregulated the risky derivatives market. The guy was a Republican. He expanded the war on drugs more than any other president, made sixty more crimes eligible for the death penalty, and was responsible for massively swelling the prison population with his crime bill that included the brutal ‘three strikes’ law. I won’t even mention Monica. She was just to keep the public distracted—works every time.”

  “I thought you were a liberal,” Hudson said, amused. “What about Bush’s taking us to war with Iraq for the invisible weapons of mass destruction?”

  “That’s my point. They’re all the same, and I am a liberal, but Clinton wasn’t, and Obama wasn’t, at least once they got into office,” she said. “They all change because the REMies let them know who’s really in charge. But you haven’t changed. Well, you have, but in the right way.” Fonda gave him a look like a woman about to kiss her lover. “That’s why I don’t want them to kill you.”

  “I cannot be the man that ushers in World War III,” Hudson said. “I have to stop them from tricking the American people into yet another war . . . the last war.” He took a deep breath and put his hands in his pockets.

  “The public isn’t as dumb as you think,” Fonda said. “A lot of them have already realized that all the presidents are the same people, just wearing different masks. They know the two-party system—us-versus-them—is bogus. Why are there parties at all? Why can’t anyone run for president and get on the ballot? Let them all debate.”

  “You know why. They control both sides of the table.”

  “But you, Hudson, you were a mistake. Somehow, they let you slip in. Don’t blow our only chance. Don't do it the wrong way.” She inhaled the scent of the rose petals, then blew them off her hand, smiled at him, turned, and walked away.

  Back in the Oval Office, in advance of the meeting with the Russian ambassador regarding the Chinese situation, Fitz and an aide resumed briefing the president about the NorthBridge strike on the drone base. They read him a new statement from AKA Jefferson saying that NorthBridge was going to continue to destroy the war-making abilities of the United States.

  “It is the official position of NorthBridge that a war with China would be catastrophic. Not only for the two countries involved, but for the entire world.”

  Hudson couldn’t believe the timing. Now, if he opposed the war, in addition to siding with Thorne and Fonda Raton, he’d appear to be giving in to NorthBridge’s demands.

  He sat there a moment, waiting for the Russian ambassador, and replayed Fonda’s advice.

  Take the fangs out of the intelligence agencies.

  He shook his head and let out a small, frustrated laugh. “Why not try something easier, like, control government spending?” he said to himself, then pressed a button on his desk and asked for a cup of tea.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Bastendorff placed the final few Legos on the four thousand piece Death Star replica as an assistant waited.

  “Okay, what is it?” the billionaire asked with a tone of annoyance very familiar to all who worked for him.

  “News broke that a new kind of listening device has been found in millions of Chinese-made products, and millions more computers have preinstalled malware which collects data and sends it to server farms located in China.”

  Bastendorff smiled. “Let’s see how our young American president handles this situation. How is he going to oppose the war now?”

  “And have you seen what Brown said?” the assistant asked, handing him a copy of the interview that Vice President Brown gave to a prominent internet news site.

  Bastendorff started reading, occasionally mumbling quotes out loud in a sarcastic tone. “Such guff! ‘War is always wrong, but I’m not saying I wouldn’t do something ‘wrong’ to defend our country. If I were president, and we were threatened, I would act.’ Isn’t it nice that Vice President ‘Pacifist’ Brown would resort to violence under the right conditions? Maybe I should arrange for a group of armed Chinese mercenaries to start shooting up San Francisco. I wonder if that would qualify.” Bastendorff pushed a cream-filled pastry into his mouth. “Damn Vonner for giving us this mess to deal with. That loser couldn’t choose a decent president even if he was at the signing of the Declaration!” he said through his food, several crumbs hitting his assistant in the face.

  Bastendorff stormed into the elevator, leaving his beloved Lego collection behind. As they arrived on a floor of the building that resembled NASA’s mission control, only a few technicians looked up from their monitors.

  Bastendorff went on reading and ranting as they walked. “The vice president suggests that nations focus their armies solely on the defense of their own established borders. ‘That way,’ she says, ‘the world can know real peace. But in the meantime, if someone tries to invade America, we’ll blow the expletive out of them.’”

  “Maybe it’s a message,” the assistant speculated.

  “An irresponsible message,” Bastendorff snapped. “Make sure we bury her with coverage.”

  The assistant understood the order, and immediately left the billionaire, who continued on alone to a viewing room. The assistant quickly approached a woman seated at a large console surrounded by computer screens and phones.

  “US Vice President Brown just gave an anti-war interview,” he began. “We need US and European media to ridicule her ‘irresponsible and unrealistic statements.’ Question her ability to lead, should the need ever arise. Questions should be asked about her ties to China. Dig up some campaign contributions, inappropriate meetings with Chinese officials. You know the drill. Oh, and make sure there are stories in Japan and South Korea media as well. She is to be bombarded with negatives.”

  “Starting when?”

  “Now.”

  The woman began clicking keys. “How long?

  “Until she resigns, or you hear differently.”

  With the aid of the 3D system, and NSA communications monitoring, the pace of FaST arrests increased daily. The public applauded as more “NorthBridgers” were put behind bars. Meanwhile, Crane and the Wizard had turned Gypsy onto Covington’s tactics and “storm troopers.” By analyzing those who’d been arrested, Gypsy showed that those detained had no links to NorthBridge. Instead, they were mostly people who had views deemed “inappropriate” by Covington. Most had only expressed a dislike of 3D, fear of going to war with China, and a general distrust for government or the media.

  Hudson reviewed the findings and called Vonner. “I’m going to fire Covington.”

  “You can’t do that,” Vonner said. “They won’t let you.”

  “You mean you won’t let me.”

  “I mean that Covington is the REMies’ man.”

  “He serves at the pleasure of the president,” Hudson said. “That’s me, and this thug gives me no pleasure.”

  “Be that as it may,” Vonner said, glancing over at Rex, who was rolling a handful of multi-colored dice as he watched a bank of monitors. “You’re stuck with him.”

  “Why?” Hudson pressed. “What happens if I fire him?”

  “One, you’ll wind up with someone worse—”

  “Not if I make Colonel Dranick DNI.”

  Vonner scoffed, but made no comment. “Two, I think it would be your last official act as president.”

  “Is that a threat?” Hudson asked angrily.

  “Not from me,” Vonner said in his friendliest tone. “It’s a warning, though.”

  “We’ll see,” Hudson said, ending the call.

  Vonner turned to Rex. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. I’ll call Fitz, but get some of our other assets mobilized to talk some sense into Hudson.”

  “Speak of the devil,” Rex said. “David Covington, line eight.”

  Vonner gave him a surprised look. “Can that be a coincidence?”

  “Get your boy under control,” Covington said as Vonner opened the line.

  “He’s concerned about F
aST.”

  “I know what troubles the president, but FaST is what’s keeping order in this country. Without us, NorthBridge would have the country sliding into a state of anarchy by now.”

  “Some people see it differently,” Vonner said, pouring a scotch and mounting his exercise bike. “There are those who think FaST is a vehicle to remove those who don’t want war.”

  “War is coming,” Covington said. “The president does not get to decide.”

  “It should at least appear—”

  “You want to talk about appearances?” Covington whined. “He runs the country barefoot from some Florida beach!”

  “We’re working on it,” Vonner said breathlessly as the digital speedometer passed ten miles per hour. “Just keep cool. These are tricky times. You may think you have a handle on what’s going to happen next, but the funny thing about surprises is that they tend to surprise you.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  With the stunning success of the FaST raids, people began to support the government's case for war with China. Thorne asserted it was because those opposed to the war had been simply disappearing, but he couldn’t prove it. The day that polls first showed a majority of Americans believed war against the communist nation was both necessary and winnable, President Pound did the unthinkable: he gave a speech declaring his opposition.

  “How can we willingly commit to a war that could easily lead to the end of civilization, even our species?” Hudson began. “For nearly half a century following World War II, we avoided war for that very reason. Mutually Assured Destruction, or ‘MAD,’ made it clear that the Soviet Union and the United States would be insane to allow the cold war to heat up into a nuclear confrontation. And yet, for reasons not entirely clear, we are now on the brink of just such a nightmare. The United States and China, both economic and military superpowers, must not allow our differences, suspicions, and competition to escalate. For if they do, we may find events quickly spiraling out of control. That is why, as Commander in Chief, I am taking the unprecedented step of pledging not to order the use of force to resolve this dispute.