Spiders from the Shadows

FIFTEEN

Sam had barely finished talking when the door opened suddenly and a mustached Air Force sergeant burst into the room. “You’re going to want to see this,” he commanded.

They all stood. “What’s going on?” Sam asked.

The sergeant nodded toward the hallway. “Come with me, sir.”

Sam and the others followed the sergeant down a dimly lit hallway to a common room where a television was playing.

Seeing the TV screen, Sara drew a sudden breath.

James Davies’ exhausted face filled the screen. He was speaking slowly, his voice measured as he read a carefully prepared text from a teleprompter. Although his hands were animated, his face remained unusually passive and grim. And there was something about him, something—Sara didn’t know—something artificial about the dryness of his voice, his words powerful but not convincing, at least not to those who knew him best. An off-camera voice swore him in, then asked him to begin.

“My name is James Davies. I am the Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. For the past two weeks, since just before the EMP attack against the United States, I have been working closely with Brucius Marino, the Secretary of Defense. Because of this, I have firsthand and intimate knowledge of what Secretary Marino intends to do, should he attain the presidency of the United States, a goal he is intent on accomplishing.

“First, and most dangerously, should Brucius Marino be sworn in as the president of the United States, he would order an immediate and massive retaliatory nuclear strike against the twenty largest Muslim cities in the world. Even now, he is working with military strategic forces, through the Strategic Command Center at Offutt Air Force Base, so as to implement this strike within a day of his being sworn in.

“Second, if Secretary Brucius Marino is sworn in as the president of the United States, he intends to sever all alliances, treaties, military agreements, and diplomatic accords with any allies who may have had knowledge of, or a hand in, the nuclear attack upon D.C., the EMP attack upon the United States, or the nuclear strike against Israel, this last despite the fact that Israel was the first to strike using nuclear weapons. The severing of these relationships and agreements will include but not be limited to expelling the United Nations from U.S. soil, severing all military agreements presently in place through NATO, as well as other agreements with our allies across Eastern Europe and the Pacific Rim.

“Further, Secretary Marino and his staff are drawing up plans to target those nations that may have assisted any of our enemies in the development of their nuclear programs, including Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and France. These retaliatory plans include severe sanctions, sea and aerial blockades, support of opposition parties within these governments, pro-insurgency operations, destabilizing propaganda, and, in some cases, covert military operations, including assassinations of key leadership positions.”

James Davies hesitated, _mewpx; } staring almost blankly, as if he had to concentrate in order to blink.

“Finally, should Secretary Marino be sworn in as president of the United States, he will order our military forces to take the oil fields of the Middle East, including those in the allied nations of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. This will be the largest military operation since the invasion of Europe during World War II. But he will not stop there. He intends to occupy, using massive ground forces, the entire region, from Iran across the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, including Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. If it is a Muslim country with significant oil reserves, he will invade it, claiming it for his own.

“Finally, you should know that even as I speak here, the Secretary is putting his plans in place to assume his rightful place as the president of the United States. And yes, it is his rightful place, for as outlined in the Constitution, he is next in line to become the president of the United States. Yet knowing what he and his supporters intend to do—and I speak now as one of his dearest friends and most intimate professional advisers—I beg the Congress not to let this happen. They must take action. If Brucius Marino is allowed to ascend to the presidency at this severe time of crisis, he will take a most desperate situation and make it infinitely worse. He will cause war to fall upon one point five billion innocent Muslim people, raining nuclear death upon their cities, all for no other reason than revenge. He will destroy every conceivable friendship or alliance that our country desperately needs in order to survive. Winter is coming and we can’t clothe, house, or provide heat and living accommodations for our own people. Our hospitals, police, and other emergency services are completely overwhelmed. Right now, we have no choice but to rely upon our friends and allies. Secretary Marino is going to make it impossible for them to help us. Worse, with the plans he and his military advisers have devised to launch a massive and incredibly deadly ground war throughout the entire Middle East, we won’t have the resources we need to feed ourselves. We need these troops at home now, helping us to rebuild this great nation. Without them, we don’t have the manpower, we don’t have the resources, we don’t have the international goodwill to rebuild. Without our military resources, we can’t provide for the welfare, safety, or well-being of our own people. To launch a massive ground war now would be national suicide.”

James Davies stopped, still staring directly into the television cameras. His dark eyes were filled with powerful emotions, his face now strai