Four Days In February

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  As soon as Pinchon had walked inside the White House, and gone through the lobby, agent Thompson took him into a side room and shut the door. Another agent took up a position at the door.

  "What's going on," said Pinchon.

  "Mr. President, President Woods, passed away just after you left the White House. You are no more 'Acting,' but 'President.'"

  "Who else knows about this? Has there been any kind of announcement?"

  "No Sir, until we knew your situation we decided to say nothing."

  Just then an agent knocked and then opened the door; Charles Adams walked hurriedly into the room. He said, "I presume Agent Thompson has informed you President Woods has died."

  "Yes, Pinchon said, we owe him our thanks for preparing for this moment."

  "We were beginning to think it might have been in vain."

  "Why, said Pinchon?"

  "Because if you were detained, and unable to return and fulfill your duties, we were going to have real problems. If the Cabinet had to meet and then agreed that you were unable to serve, seeing there is no new Speaker of the House yet, the next in line of succession would have been the President pro tempore Richard Sharon. Since he had said before that he would decline to serve, for age and health reasons, that would have meant Secretary of State Dabold would become President. But he was being bottled up by troops, and so was the Secretary of the Treasury, so Mitch Ishnik at Defense would have had a good chance at becoming President."

  "I see why you didn't announce President Wood's death! That would have been awkward."

  "It would have been tragic," said Charles Adams, "...rewarding a man who prevents others from serving, by making him President. It would have thwarted Woods plans and desires, and made Ishnik look legitimate. We are to say the least relieved to see you back. How did you manage?"

  "I met two officers that as it turned out had served under me some years ago, when they were at lower rank. Colonel Sanchez is in charge of the troops just outside the White House, and his commander, Major General Harry Ucclese, has set up his headquarters just outside the State Department in Foggy Bottom."

  "Did they recognize Ishnik as 'Acting President,' or you?"

  "Charles, I laid the situation out before them, and both of them were convinced by the facts, and recognized me as 'Acting President,' and declared that they would follow my instructions. They are brave men, because they know that they are disobeying direct orders from their chain of command, running right up to Ishnik himself. They could be shot, if Ishnik's plan succeeds."

  "Mr. President, does that mean the troops will withdraw from the White House, Foggy Bottom, and other parts of D.C.?"

  "No, Agent Thompson, I asked them to remain in place, so as not to tip our hand to Ishnik. I have already talked with State and Treasury by phone, and have told them what I have arranged. The General's troops are going to enter the two Departments. The news media is being informed that the troops are entering the State and Treasury Department buildings, for the security of everyone there."

  "Are my agents free to come and go from the White House; if we desire, could we bring Marine One in to helicopter you to a safer location?

  "For the present I want your agents to remain in the White House, and keep a low profile. I want it to look like we are bottled up in here. The media is also being told that while I was allowed to come back here, that the Airborne troops have a perimeter around the grounds. My hope is that the reporters, and also Ishnik will assume that I am limited in movement and ability to act."

  "Very well, Mr. President, I have to go and instruct my agents." Agent Thompson said, as he left the room.

  Charles Adams spoke, "We still have to move quickly to stop the Secretary of Defense from grabbing power. I don't think we can rely on many in Congress to go out on a limb and speak in your favor. The House leadership will, as they promised, but many of the House have been having second thoughts, and claiming they moved too rapidly, in electing you Speaker. In fact, Senators France and Olds are pushing in the Senate to have them pass a "sense of the Senate" motion, that Secretary Ishnik is the Constitutional successor to Woods, and therefore is the 'Acting President.'"

  "I am sure they will drop the word "Acting" as soon as they find out Woods is dead."

  "Precisely!"

  "Do I need to take the oath of office again, since President Woods died?"

  "No Sir," Adams said, "your oath to assume Presidential powers on President Woods disability, also is valid now that he has died. No new oath is required." Pinchon and Adams, then leave the side room, and walk down the White House corridor, and through the secretary's office, and into the Oval Office. Mrs. Roland, said, "we are glad you made it back safely, Mr. President."

  "Thank you, Mrs. Roland, there's a lot more we have to do now before this situation is right."

  An aide to Adams came into the room, and whispers in Charles's ear. Charles frowns and says, "Mr. President, the situation has gotten worse. Evidently Secretary Ishnik is now acting like he is President. He ordered the James Madison carrier battle group to turn north into the South China Sea, and go up into the Yellow Sea, off the west coast of Korea. He is threatening retaliation against the North Koreans because of their shelling of South Korean islands, and the seizing of some fishing boats."

  "The shelling of the islands, and the fishing boat matter, that has been going on for a while?"

  "Yes Mr. President, for about three weeks. Just after President Carr was killed. But Ishnik is upping the ante. He is now also accusing the North Koreans and others of possibly being behind Carr's assassination."

  "Did we have any intelligence information intimating at that before?"

  "No Sir, that is right out of the blue. If you ask me Ishnik is simply throwing that out to further justify his military announcement, and try and get the American people riled up enough at the North Koreans, to decide they better fall in line behind him as President."

  "Ishnik's plans always were intended to make him look good. He didn't care how many soldiers or sailors were sacrificed to do it. But this is the second strange thing I have heard tonight."

  "Yes Sir, how is that?"

  "Well, I was talking with Colonel Sanchez as we drove back from Foggy Bottom to the White House. I asked him how the Airborne got so fast from their base in North Carolina to D.C.? I mean they were here almost as soon as Ishnik announced on TV he was sending in the troops."

  "I wondered about that too, and never knew how it was done."

  "It was done, because Ishnik had secretly pre-deployed the troops down in Quantico, and they simply drove to D.C in trucks and Hummers. They didn't have to come from their home base at all."

  "That doesn't make sense, Mr. President. Why were they pre-deployed? How could the Secretary of Defense know he would need soldiers in the capital?"

  "It doesn't make sense, unless Ishnik was planning to take over the government anyway."

  Adams said, "Well, he detested Woods being Carr's running mate. He thought Woods was incompetent. ...And he sure didn't like Woods succeeding Carr. I was told by the Chief of Staff, that Ishnik was trying to put pressure on Woods to consider firing the Secretaries of State and Treasury and then resigning. This was right after Mobile, right after the assassination."

  Pinchon said, "That makes sense, with his argument about Federal Officers being Cabinet Secretaries, being the only Constitutional successors to the presidency, which shows that he was already conniving to become President."

  Adams went on, "That was the night that Woods tumor caused the stroke. Then in the days after that, while Woods was still able to think and communicate, but did not want to meet with him, Ishnik daily, began demanding meetings with the President. That is what motivated President Woods to develop his plan for succession, and bring me in to accomplish it."

  "But," Pinchon, said, "Ishnik was already preparing the Airborne to come in and make him President. He had even months ago, be
en preparing the troops to take over D.C. They did quiet reconnasance missions. He just needed to manufacture something to justify a military putsch so the Army would obey."

  "And when Woods plan was announced, and you were elected Speaker, he declared himself to be defending the Constitution by stopping you from succeeding Woods, and usurping the presidency. He then sent the troops in ...they were sitting ready to go. ...But what is the second matter you said was strange."

  "How did the Defense Secretary know the North Koreans were going to make a provocation, and just happen to have a carrier battle group handy to send after them?"

  "Mr. President, do you think he engineered this Korean crisis, to coincide with a carrier group's, port call in Japan?"

  "I think he is fully capable of doing that. But as big a question is, how did Ishnik also know that President Carr would be killed?"

  "Maybe," Adams said, "maybe Ishnik just took advantage of that to put his plan into action. Maybe that was just an unexpected opportunity."

  "Maybe, but maybe not, the Ishnik I know is meticulous in his plans."

  Just then, the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff came into the Oval Office. "Mr. President, the Chinese are going off like rockets. Their official media are broadcasting that the U.S. is directly challenging the security of China, while threatening their ally in Korea. They say the carrier battle group must not proceed further through the South China Sea, nor enter the Yellow Sea. The Chinese say that any consequences for what happens will be the fault of the United States.

  They are also saying that the government of the United States appears to be disintegrating, and they are not even sure as to who to speak to about the issue. They note that there are now three Presidents over one country. One President is sick, and two more are claiming his powers. They say a President may be trying to create an international incident so as to solidify power in Washington."

  Pinchon said, well they may be right on the last point. I need to phone the President of China."

  The National Security Council Adviser said, "What are you going to tell him, that you have a rogue Cabinet officer trying to start another Korean War?"

  The Chief of Staff said, "And how will you explain the chaos in the American government right now? How will you convince him that you have the power and ability to control the military at this given moment? I mean ...what would we think and do if the situation was reversed?"

  Pinchon said, "I don't have any choice in the matter. Ishnik will surely be calling the Chinese President soon. He will claim to be the American President, and in control of the military, and will try and negotiate with the Chinese President an end to this crisis. It will make him look to everybody to be the President."

  "But can you say that you can control the American side of this crisis," asked the NSC Advisor? "How can you stop Ishnik pushing the buttons at the Pentagon?"

  "Fire Ishnik," said Charles Adams. "Remove him from his being Secretary of Defense."

  "How do you effectively do that?" said the NSC Advisor. "He is in the Pentagon, and already has said that he does not recognize General Pinchon as the constitutional and legitimate President."

  The Chief of Staff suggested: "The President is going to need to go on television, make his case, and then before the American people, fire the Secretary of Defense."

  Charles Adams spoke up, "But in the mean time the President of China is preparing a possible military response against our sailors."

  Pinchon said, "No, this matter has to be settled, and settled soon. I have to talk with the Chinese President, and buy a short bit of time ...a day or so. I will have to convince him that I am "the" President, and that I am going to control the American military. I met him briefly, about four years ago in Beijing, when I was there meeting my Chinese counterparts. Some of his Generals know me, and he will have them telling him about me right now.

  "After I deal with the President of China, then I will have to deal with the so-called 'Acting President' of the United States, Mr. Ishnik.

  "Now get me the Chinese President on the phone."

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