Currency

  “Since the action taken against us by China and Russia was not military but economic, I have ordered an economic response.”

  Again he paused. The silence was deafening.

  “I have ordered the United States Treasury to default on the debt owed to all three of these countries. We will not pay the interest or principal on these bonds.”

  The reporters began texting furiously now on their iPads and smartphones.

  “This amount is north of ten trillion U.S. Dollars. I have also put our missile defense system on high alert and have given an ultimatum to Russia and China. They will accept these terms peacefully, or I will shut down commerce between our nations and the Western world. Their export-driven economies will starve.

  “The path here will be tough, it will be hard. However, maybe Americans will learn to make things again.”

  “Good night and God bless the United States of America.”

  Hong Kong

  The top floor of the hotel was empty except for the staff and a few certain guests. It was a luxurious, expansive space mostly comprised of an open conference area. Glass walls all around gave an impressive view of the surrounding territory far below. Chinese artifacts adorned the walls.

  They sat at a large, dark, wooden table overlooking Victoria Harbour and Kowloon Peninsula. The cargo ships and ferries made their way back and forth across the water to either side of the harbor, as they had for centuries. Skyscrapers dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see along the coastline. The city was a mass of steel and humanity. The hotel was one of the tallest on the shoreline, providing a vista to the entire metropolis.

  As the men sat at the conference table, they did not notice the view outside; they were focused on the task at hand. Pleasantries were exchanged and then an awkward silence ensued.

  “We moved too soon,” the Chinese representative finally said.

  “President Walker has been stronger than we expected,” said the Russian.

  The Chinese man spoke again, “We have been successful in raising the interest rates on America debt. Since the default, they have skyrocketed. We have increased their borrowing due to the conflict in Iran, but we have lost much wealth ourselves. We will now have to slow down our military strategy and rebuild our reserves. What we did not anticipate was the reaction of the American government. Again, I believe we moved too soon. The tiger still has teeth.”

  “My country requests your help in dealing with the attacks from the Americans,” the Iranian minister noted. “We are fighting this battle alone.”

  “And you will continue to fight it alone,” said the Russian. “We will not let ourselves be drawn further into this conflict. We will deny participation in this scheme to the entire world. They will believe us. We will wail and moan about the unfairness of the Americans. How they are using this conflict to default on their debt owed to the world. There will be a sympathetic reaction for all of us,” he said.

  “We must now fall back and wait for another opportunity,” said the Chinese minister. “The Iranians must fend for themselves. Time is on our side. We will be patient and strike again when the time is right, whether it is next week or one hundred years from now. The Americans cannot keep vigilant and strong forever. It is not in their character.

  “They cannot now access international markets. They still are spending too much. They have a huge deficit every year, forty percent of their budget. We can still destroy them economically.”

  He leaned forward and spoke in a low threatening tone, “We will put pressure on them where they are weak. The weakness is in Europe.”

  The Chinese minister, when finished speaking, folded his notebook and left the room.

  Major Dan Carter was aware of the existence of the Russian S-300s in Iran. He was not worried. The electronic countermeasures on the B-2 bomber were robust. Only a select few were aware of how effective they were. Plus the plane was basically invisible to radar.

  The B-2 program was started in the 1970s. In fact, President Carter found the program so highly promising that he canceled the B-1 program. President Reagan reinstated it a few years later.

  Initially designed as a 129-member fleet, the program was so expensive, only twenty-one were produced. At almost a billion dollars a copy, to say the planes are very valuable was an understatement to the extreme. The aircraft were a national treasure.

  The crews were rehearsing this mission for some time in the simulators. They knew the sequences inside and out. They knew the possible threats they could face during each phase of the mission and how to defeat them. The real thing was almost anticlimactic.

  Almost.

  His adrenaline was pumping, but he forced himself to be calm and follow his training. Mistakes were made when people were excited.

  “This is gonna be a long one,” he said to himself as he strapped himself in to the cockpit. He adjusted his seat as he liked it so everything he would need was within reach. Then he accessed the checklist and began to turn on the aircraft.

  Preflight checks were completed over the next hour, and all systems checked out fine. The time came for the mission to proceed. Final instructions were received from the chain of command. Engines were started. The wheels began to roll.

  The Spirit of Georgia lifted off from the tarmac the airfield at her base in Missouri and glided into the air. She was one of fourteen aircraft taking off in flights of two on their way to Iran. It would be a thirty-hour plus mission, and although normally the B-2 carried a crew of two pilots, there were three on board currently. Therefore they could take turns at the controls while the other slept.

  The mission would end up being over forty hours. It was a testament to the stamina of the aircrews that were highly trained for this task. It was also a testament to the magnificence of the aircraft and all of the other crews that supported her, in the air and on the ground. There were to be multiple refuelings in flight as well as air defense suppression and electronic warfare elements engaged before they arrived in-country.

  Each B-2 was carrying two bunker buster, guided munitions. The thirty-thousand-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, was designed specifically to destroy deeply buried, hardened targets. That meant that each target would receive at least two rounds. If the first drop didn’t destroy the facility, the second or third one would. The most critical targets would receive special attention.

  Five more aircraft waited on alert in Missouri and were loaded with nuclear weapons. They were the president’s back-up plan. He prayed he didn’t have to use them, but he couldn’t allow a nuclear-armed Iran.

  The first hostile actions taken were a myriad of cruise missile launches from naval and air assets. Over five hundred rounds were fired the first evening. These were aimed at the air defense network and command and control systems of Iran. Ten percent of these were targeted at the leadership structure. The country’s air defenses had to be degraded in order to ensure air superiority over the target areas. That way, the bomber and ground attack aircraft could act with impunity.

  The next phase consisted of concurrent targeting of Iran’s nuclear sites as well as energy assets, refineries to be exact. Although the country was awash with oil reserves, their refining capacity was minimal. This was their Achilles’ heel. All of the domestic refineries were to be disintegrated. Iran would now be totally dependent on imported refined products.

  Therefore, all pipelines leading into Iran were also severed. In addition, the coastline was blockaded by the U.S. Navy. The goal was to bring the economy to its knees by starving the country of energy. This hopefully would lead to a populist revolt to remove the leadership, or what was left of it after the offensive. There had long been a simmering opposition to the clerics and their brutal dictatorial tactics. Now was the time to aid those parties and hopefully bring about a more reasonable and friendly government to the West.

  Major Carter was back at the co
ntrols after a rest period and was tense as they crossed into Iran at high altitude. However, the crew was highly trained and professional. They were also combat hardened after being involved in multiple conflicts in the Middle East over the last decade. The entry was uneventful. They were feet dry.

  It did not take long to reach their initial target and then their follow-on target. Their weapons were released as planned. Now it was up to the intelligence assets to conduct battlefield damage assessments and see if another round of attacks was needed.

  “Now it’s Miller time,” Major Carter said over the intercom to the rest of the crew.

  Upon leaving the country and over the water again, or feet wet, the crew relaxed somewhat. However, there was still much work to be done. Midair refuelings were a challenging exercise. He forced himself to stay alert and ahead of the airplane. He had to think of what was coming next and be mentally prepared.

  The aircraft were not redeployed back to the United States. Instead they flew direct to an unknown forward operating base that was equipped to handle and maintain the B-2. This was a challenge in itself. Specially required facilities were needed to repair the radar-evading skin of the aircraft after each flight. There they rested as the aircraft were rearmed and readied for their next mission.

 

  Javid Jafari was elated. He had done his job. He believed he was instrumental in leading his country to a different path, a path of democracy and freedom. If he needed to die in this effort, so be it. He was at peace.

  He was educated in the West. He saw the prosperity that their lifestyle and economic system produced. He also was all too aware of the effects of totalitarianism and terror on his people and the pain and suffering it caused. The Iranian Revolution had been perverted. Islam had been perverted. It was a tool to maintain power. The regime’s barbarity was horrific; he could no longer look the other way.

  The Persian people yearned to be free. They yearned to be able to return to the success of the distant past when they were a great kingdom and civilization.

  That is why he had cooperated with the American CIA when they approached him several years ago to become a spy. Yes he gave them information and betrayed his government. But in his mind he was happy. He would die with a happy heart.

  As an assistant to the supreme leader of Iran, he always knew his location. He always had access to highly sensitive information on the whereabouts of all of Iran’s leadership.

  He was passing this information on to his handlers for years now. That is why he was overjoyed when the order was given to proceed to the hardened bunkers. He went with pleasure. He surmised his time on this Earth was almost over.

  He didn’t hear the bomb coming. He didn’t expect it this early, but he never had time to worry about it. The bunker buster munitions from Major Carter’s B-2 obliterated the complex. Javid died with a smile on his face and peace in his heart.

  Chapter Twenty

  He hibernated for several weeks at his house on Eleuthera. It was good to be alone. The way the property was laid out to allow him privacy, he would not be seen unless he wanted to be. The small cove in front of his home became his only world, a world he never wanted to leave again.

  The locals brought him food from time to time. He was appreciative of that. He was a good neighbor over the years and had built up some good karma. People were concerned about him.

  Time seemed to stand still on the island. The crushing rhythm of the waves brought a comfort, knowledge that this and all things shall pass. His favorite time was dusk, as the sun slowly made its way down, splashing the heavens with Caribbean colors. It was then that he thought of Kate, and of Emily. He knew clearly he was very lucky to have had them both in his life.

  He spent many nights staring at the ocean from the deck on his home. The warm, summer breeze coming off the water was soothing. And from time to time, he ventured to the bar where he had met Kate; however the pain there was great and these visits became fewer and fewer. The bartender greeted him as always but left him alone. It was obvious he wanted solitude.

  The days passed. He took long walks on the beach. Over time the pain started to recede. Or, at least it became more manageable. He was always able to compartmentalize things. He would have to do so again. He had to put the pain in a tiny box in his brain and wall it off. It was only to be felt when he could afford to let the feelings out.

  There was one thing Connor was having difficulty understanding. Why didn’t Burr find the gold? He obviously was searching for it. The answer remained a mystery.

  Eventually he decided to reengage with life and return to Nassau. The decision did not come lightly, but after many days, he knew that was what he wanted. Perhaps civilization would get his energy flowing again. He wanted to revisit the trust. He wanted to solve the riddle about Burr not finding the gold.

  It seemed odd to return to this pirate city. Kate and Alex were dead. The place seemed foreign to him now. The thrill of the hustle and bustle in the streets was gone. He was lonely. He had grown used to not having this feeling with Kate around. It was back. It was back with a vengeance. He was depressed.

  He really didn’t remember getting to the trust company. He didn’t even notice the tourists milling about the shops anymore.

  The staff recognized him and let him in. A large, Bahamian woman smiled at him and shepherded him to the ornate room to which he had first been shown weeks ago. Nothing in the room had changed. Then they brought him the box, opened it, and left him alone.

  My how far he had come since he first opened the box. There must be something I am missing, he thought.

 

  He searched the chest again and again, examining every item thoroughly. Nothing. He had gone through these documents a hundred times. He closed the lid and noticed the golden little lion staring at him. He touched it, caressed the smoothness of the craftsmanship. The gold piece moved slightly as he touched it. What?

  He pushed down on the golden inlay. The whole lion moved inward. He heard a noise inside the chest and opened it. He had pushed the lining of the top of the chest into the chest itself. He opened the lid so it faced upwards to the ceiling. There he saw a very old parchment pressed to the top that had been hidden inside the lining.

  He opened it and began reading.

  It was a letter to an unnamed person.

  So this was why Burr never found the gold. He had never found this parchment.

  The parchment confirmed what he had found at Hamilton’s grave.

  Connor left the trust company an hour later after combing the box for any more hidden chambers. There were none.

  He had some hope again. Maybe this will all come to some good after all, he thought.

  Hong Kong

  The French finance minister entered the executive suite at the top of the hotel where the leaders were located. He was a proud man, an elitist. This task did not come easy for him. How could it? He believed with all of his heart in the European project. He believed in the cradle-to-grave entitlement system. He believed in the state. And most of all, he believed that all Europe needed was to borrow a few trillion euros to buy some more time, and he was sure that Europe itself would work out its problems. He could not fathom failure. It was unthinkable.

  He was led to the conference table by a staffer, where the others were waiting. The introductions were friendly enough. However, the pleasantries did not last long.

  “Mr. Valentine,” the Chinese premier spoke in fluent English. “You have come here seeking our help, have you not? You have a problem. You are out of money. If you are not lent large sums of money, and I’m speaking of trillions of euros, your region will suffer an economic disaster. Have I summed up the situation clear enough?”

  “Yes, Premier Len,” the finance minister replied. “I think you have summed up the situation correctly. None of the measures we have put in plac
e over the last decade since the crisis started have been effective. We need large amounts of capital to bail out several economies of the Eurozone and to stabilize our banks. If we are not successful in raising this money, the euro will cease to exist. This would be devastating for all of our economies. If fact, it would be devastating for the world economy.” He looked at the men seated around the table and tried to glean their intentions; he was trying to make this their problem as well. “However,” he continued, “I do believe with some breathing room the funds will give us, Europe can solve its own problems.”

  “Seeing as how the United States just defaulted on the money they owe the People’s Republic of China, we are very leery of lending you this money. If we would consider doing such a thing, there would be a price. A very high one.”

  “Premier Len, please outline your terms. Our way of life is at stake, and we do not have many options. I will relay them to my superiors.”

  “Very well. We require the following. All international transactions by the European Union going forward must be denominated in yuan. U.S. Dollar transactions globally will cease to exist. All foreign troops must leave European soil, that is United States forces. NATO must cease to exist. Defense spending in the Eurozone must cease to exist. You must turn over any technologies we deem appropriate to the People’s Republic of China. And we expect a reply within forty-eight hours, at which point, this offer will be null and void. The Americans have no money. Even though they have defaulted on our debt, they still are indebted to the rest of the world. There will be no discussion of these terms. You are dismissed.”

  Valentine looked at the Chinese premier across the table, a look of disbelief on his ashen face. How can I relay this to my superiors?

  The French finance minister stood up and left the room with his tail between his legs.

  Somewhere Over the Continental United States