Storm Tide Rising: Blackout Volume 2 (37 page)

Danny smiled. "I'd be glad to. Better to eat a good dinner and stay dry here than try to ride back home tonight in the dark and the rain."

Joe stepped forward, his hand out again, and this time Danny took it. "So what do you think, Danny," Joe said with a grin, "Am I honest?"

"Like I said, Mr. Tillman," Danny answered, "word gets around."

Ch.60

The Sound of Silence

He stood in the hall of statues, among some of the greatest men the nation had ever known. The eyes of history stared down at him, and he felt their weight on his back.

It was an uncomfortable feeling.

The man walked from statue to statue, his footsteps echoing in the silent stone hall. The US Capitol building hadn't been so still and so silent since it was built. Twenty one decades had passed since the building was completed, and none of them had been peaceful. Men had always found cause to do battle with each other beneath this roof, even when their fellow countrymen had tasted their fill of war.

Now, though, there was silence. There was a strange unity in silence—like nothing else. The first noise, the first sound becomes an intrusion of the other into what had been deeply personal and intimate.

He was gazing into the face of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate General of the Army of Northern Virginia, when the other walked into the room. The man didn't turn yet, it could be only one person, and he could wait. Lee's statue was calm and stately, nothing like the butcher he had always pictured in his head. He hated the man, and admired him as well. He had not sought rebellion, but once it was thrust upon him, he had not shirked from it either, and that was admirable enough. But his moral depravity and his utter ambivalence to the suffering of others was staggering.

How telling that the two statues from Virginia stood so far apart in the hearts and minds of America; Washington on the one hand and Lee on the other.

"What is it, Daniel?" he asked calmly without turning.

"Sir, the Capitol is secure," Daniel said with precision. "We took no casualties, and the transition of operational, tactical, and strategic command was seamless. Welcome home, sir."

"No celebrating yet, Daniel," he said calmly. "We still have to make them believe what we've shown them. Are they assembled?" 

Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir. All of the Representatives and Senators that could be found are outside on the east stairs. Lights are in place, and they're waiting for you."

"Good."

Without another word, he left General Lee to his own quiet contemplation and strode through the vast empty halls of the Capitol building. As he walked, he took in the marble and granite columns and walls that gleamed like polished glass, the dark hardwoods buffed to a deep glow, and the bright mosaic tiles that formed geometric patterns on the floor. Every aspect of the building was designed to impress one with visions of power, magnificence, and authority.

The White House had been the old Presidents’ seat of power, and he was happy to leave it as such. The Capitol would be his.

He stepped through the large east doors and walked up to a podium that had been set at the top edge of the stairs. Banks of LED lights powered by small generators were focused on the podium, and a set of PA speakers connected to a small microphone amplified his voice. As soon as he stepped out of the shadows among the towering columns of the dark Capitol building, a wave of low whispers and murmurings swept through the men and women assembled on the broad stone stairs. The volume of the whispers began to rise a little, and he waited a few moments to let the impact of what they were witnessing sink in fully. The crowd of Senators and Representatives was smaller than he would have anticipated. Maybe a hundred and fifty of the five hundred and thirty five total members were present.

He cleared his throat quietly, and all other conversations snapped to a close.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congress," he began formally, "I want to thank you for meeting me here on such a short notice. As you all are aware, a tragedy unlike any previous has struck our beloved nation. We have been attacked by the use of nuclear weapons, and at least one device was detonated over a United States metropolis—New York City."

Stunned silence met that announcement. He counted to five mentally before continuing.

"It is difficult to overestimate the seriousness of our current situation and the weight of our responsibilities. The President and the Secretary of Homeland Security were both killed in New York. As Deputy Secretary for DHS, it's my duty to take over the emergency response. And since we are still under the COGCON-0 state, I'm also assuming the role of acting President since I am the ranking member of the federal chain of succession present. I will have a series of resolutions on your desks tomorrow morning to begin the process of restoring law and order, first and foremost. Are there any questions?"

A dozen voices started calling at once, and for a moment he did nothing. Then, slowly, he held up a hand and silence fell. He looked briefly for any friendly face he could recognize from his many committee and sub-committee meetings. Finally, he picked out a six-term Senator from New Mexico.

"Senator Alexander, did you have a question?" he asked with a subtle grin.

The Senator looked around nervously for a moment, his eyebrows drawn down in confusion. "Uh...I guess, where are we going to sleep?"

"Excellent," he said. "the White House should be reserved for the next President Elect, I would think. Therefore, I will be taking residence up here, in the Capitol. And you are all welcome to stay as my guests. Rooms have been set aside for you all. Thank you, and welcome."

Without waiting for a response, he spun on his heel and walked away. Daniel was waiting for him among the shadows of the columns, of course. The security forces would see to showing all of the Congressmen and Senators to their chambers, and they would stand guard over their doors to keep them safe. As he walked through the tall, echoing halls, the smile that he had worked so hard to keep at bay crept slowly over his face.

There was still much to be done to secure his power and tighten his grip on what was left of the country. And, eventually, that meddlesome, glorified computer repair man in Utah would have to be dealt with. But for now, he took a moment to relish in how far he'd come. Just a few more loose ends to tie up and his authority would be complete.

Then would come his time to exercise it.

Ch.61

The Answer

Marcus stepped through the doorway, and the painfully loud, screaming cacophony of death metal music cut off abruptly. The man was laying at an incline on a metal rack, his hands tied securely behind him, and his ankles bound as well. The position twisted him into impossible contortions without risking any of his bones, joints, or organs. It had been meticulously and thoroughly engineered to cause pain and discomfort but no damage.

It made Marcus sick to his stomach to see the tears streaming down the prisoner's face. He took a deep, slow breath and bent down next to the man's ear. "We need a name," Marcus whispered softly, and the man began sobbing harder. "You gave us the office; now we just need the name to confirm. That's all. You've already given us the information; we just need to confirm it. You can do that, right?"

Tears streamed down the man's face as he wept hard enough to shake his entire tightly bound body.

Marcus swallowed the taste of bile at the back of his throat. "If you don't give us the name, how can we be certain that you're telling us the truth? We need the truth, not just some title that anyone could have held at any time."

The man blinked and finally opened his eyes. He focused them on Marcus, and Marcus could see that he was broken.

"Will you kill me?" the prisoner asked. "Please? If I tell you the name, will that be enough for you to just kill me already?"

"I don't know," Marcus replied honestly. "but I can tell you that if you don't give it to us, we'll keep you alive a lot longer."

Great, heavy sobs shook the man as he wept and strained against his captivity. Finally exhausted, he slumped and whimpered softly to himself.

"Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Phillip Hall," the prisoner said at last. "He's the one giving the orders. He's the one who set the whole thing in motion. He sent me here, personally, to kill you, Marcus, Lt. Commander, whatever you are. I was supposed to work my way onto your floor's maintenance crew and kill you by any means necessary. Then destroy as much of the system as I could on the way out. Happy now? You've got everything I know, all of it. Now please, kill me and get it over with."

Marcus stood and the room seemed to spin. He barely made it outside before losing his lunch. He staggered sideways down the hall a few steps, then caught himself. The Chief stood silently behind him, a mute witness to Marcus's growing depravity. Marcus swallowed hard and decided not to vomit again at the thought of a witness to his own cruelty and inhumanity.

He climbed the halls through the nearly empty facility in a numb silence of shock and denial. Commander Price met him halfway there, his face grim.

"Did he confirm the name?"  Commander Price asked.

Marcus nodded. "It's Hall at the top," he replied. "Prisoner confirmed it."

Commander Price paused, his eyebrows drawn down in a thoughtful expression. "You trust it? Is this real?"

Marcus looked down at his feet for a moment, and shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. "Well, the prisoner just gave me the confirmation, and told me he was sent to kill me. Then he asked if we could kill him since he finally spilled the beans so yeah, I think he's probably not holding much back. We broke him."

"Eventually, everyone breaks, Marcus," the Commander said absent mindedly. "We should take this conversation back to my office."

The Commander turned and started back down the hall, leaving Marcus no choice but to hurry to catch up. "Do you really think someone might be able to overhear us in the halls between your security detail and mine?"  Marcus asked.

Commander Price smiled. "The question is never what's indiscreet, Marcus, only the answer. And let's just say I'd feel more comfortable on known ground."

Marcus couldn't think of a good answer to that, so the rest of the walk passed in silence. The two officers walked within arm's reach of each other, and they were surrounded with more than half a dozen security personnel keeping an active eye on the hallway ahead of them and behind, as well as any doorways or offshoots they passed along the way. They were safe after curfew, though, and the halls were supposed to be totally empty except for the rotating patrols. So far they'd seen no one else.

Once they were back in the Commander's office, he relaxed visibly, and took a seat behind his desk, motioning Marcus to take the one across from him. "Now at least we know the name of who we're at war with," Commander Price said. "Unfortunately, I was on the way to tell you that the name doesn't matter. Somehow the man has blacked out his entire digital identity before the day he was sworn in as the Deputy Secretary for DHS. The only other thing I could find on him was his name in the chain of command and succession tree attached to the Continuity of Government plan. He's named as next in line to take over operations for the Secretary of DHS, and that would make him the highest ranking government official alive in line for the Presidency until a new election is held."

Marcus frowned and shook his head. "So he's actually the one who's supposed to take charge legally? What do you mean he's blacked it out? It's his past, right? It's got to be there somewhere."

"Wherever it is, the files have been either sealed, deleted or both," Commander Price answered. "From the day he was sworn in onward, he exists as a model civil servant and government employee in every respect. There's nothing to implicate him as having any sort of nefarious intentions. Even his financial records are mundane at best and show he lived well within a generous government salary."

"So he just decided one day to pull off the greatest terrorist attack in human history, and then he did it flawlessly after a near spotless career? Why?"  Marcus asked and shook his head again. "It just doesn't add up, Commander."

After a long moment of thoughtful silence, Commander Price arched an eyebrow. "Unless he planned it all before he ever became the Deputy Secretary, probably before he ever became employed by the government."

Suddenly, it all clicked into place for Marcus, and he felt like he might be sick again. "This bastard meant to overthrow the government for himself from the beginning. He sold the others on promises of power and money, but he had his own eyes set on the larger picture. He put himself in the position to take legitimate power when the time came. He was after the US from the start."

Commander Price shook his head slowly. "A man with Hall's ambition for power, and his ruthlessness, I don't think he'll settle for just the United States. I think he means to take the world. And if he ever gets his hands on the information in our systems, he just might."

"Commander, what are we going to do with the prisoner?"  Marcus asked. "We can't keep justifying the way we're torturing him. The man is suffering to the point that he'd rather die than keep breathing. Think about that."

Commander Price's face turned hard. "I think about it, Marcus," he said through clenched teeth. "The man is guilty of treason and a lot worse. He'll get his request granted soon enough."

"Aren't we going to have a trial?"  Marcus asked, shocked. "You can't just execute a man."

Commander Price fixed him with a hard stare. "You've spent time interrogating this man, Lt. Commander. Do you think he deserves a trial? Do you think one's even necessary to ascertain his guilt? He's confessed it multiple times."

"In response to torture!"  Marcus shouted.

"Marcus look at this rationally," Commander Price said calmly. "Who else can we really trust to be honest in this? Who will be the judge, the jury, and the lawyers? You and me? There just isn't any way, and we can't have a known and admitted traitor and assassin just sitting in a cell where he might escape and cause mayhem."