rolled up in here that Townsend has prepared for us to sign.”
Ellis and her aide walked the vice president at a brisk pace. According to the information that O’Neil had provided, Allaire was in a meeting with Salitas and would be there for at least an hour. If O’Neil were wrong about that, and by accident they bumped into the president, she would have to think fast. But she was totally capable of doing that. And besides, it was unlikely the man would venture into this wing, especially given the diversion Gladstone had started in the other.
They led Tilden to the Senate Chamber, following the same route that Ellis had taken earlier—down the West Grand Staircase, across the House connecting corridor, into the Senate connecting corridor, and finally up the East Grand Staircase. She knew that all patrols to this side of the Capitol had been stopped per Allaire’s orders—more useful intelligence from O’Neil. Perhaps there could be room for him in her administration after all.
Ellis quickened her steps to separate herself from Tilden. Gladstone dropped back. When the Senate Chamber door came into view, she dropped the metal mailing tube to the marble floor. It landed behind her with a loud, resonating clank. Fumbling to retrieve it, she kicked it so that it would roll toward Tilden and away from the door.
“I’ll get that,” the tall vice president said, bending down.
Ellis stood in front of the chamber door, blocking the door handles from his line of sight. There was a plastic bucket by her feet. The lock and chain that had once secured the doors were now coiled inside it. Gladstone had done his job well. He always did. Before he started the food line riot, he had gotten the key to the Senate Chamber lock from O’Neil, along with a blue plastic temporary handcuff.
In the few moments Tilden was retrieving the metal tube, Ellis cut the plastic ties securing the door using a knife she had purloined from the food service. By the time Tilden reached her with the tube, she had already kicked the pieces of the temporary handcuffs under the door.
“If Townsend is right,” she said, “you’ll be taking the oath of office in a few hours.”
Gladstone readied himself as Ellis held her breath and pulled open the doors. Tilden hesitated at the threshold, clearly taken aback by the commotion and the stench.
But it was too late.
Gladstone shoved him brusquely into the vast room, and Ellis quickly closed the door behind him. Then she slipped the tube through the door handles. They could hear Tilden screaming and pounding from inside.
“Open up! For God’s sakes, Ursula! Open the door! Help!… Hey, let go of me. Let go of me, dammit!”
With Gladstone holding the tube in place and keeping his shoulder hard to the door, Ellis pulled the chain from the bucket and looped it through the handles. The door bucked as Tilden, still crying out, continued to push against it from the other side.
And then, quite suddenly, his screaming stopped.
CHAPTER 55
Ellis gave her aide a decent head start and then followed him back to the House Chamber. Her thoughts were consumed with how close she now was to taking over the reins of leadership for the most powerful nation in the history of the planet.
The House Chamber itself had degenerated into chaos. There were clusters of people facing off against one another, exchanging verbal threats, childish insults, and furious looks. Rows of sleeping cots, which had taken the place of many of the rows of chairs, were tipped over and their bedding ripped and tossed about. The floor was littered with food cartons and was slick to walk on from spilled drinks. But even in the din of that commotion, Ellis could still hear people coughing.
She had prepared a simple explanation for her whereabouts if pressed, but she found the door through which she had reentered the chamber unguarded. Capitol Police and Secret Service agents were still too busy with crowd control. Some had their weapons drawn, though most of the security force looked bewildered and incapable of restoring order.
Ellis knew exactly how to rein in the unruliness.
It was time to bring her bill to the House floor.
The time had come to expose America to Jim Allaire’s unforgivable lies.
Ellis felt she had proved herself every bit the leader that Allaire was not. She had proof now that Harlan Mackey had been executed because of the lethalness of the virus. Surely, the president had other options for dealing with the aging senator, but those options would have required him to admit his deception. In doing so, he would have made it clear to the American public that he did not trust them, and in doing so, they would learn that he was not trustworthy himself.
In contrast to Allaire, Ellis had solid reasons for what she was doing. Negotiating with Genesis and locking Vice President Tilden inside the Senate Chamber were justifiable acts under these extreme circumstances. She was born to lead, and leadership not only demanded sacrifice, but a willingness to change the rules of the game. She had done what needed to be done. True leaders, she knew, were the ones who made the hard choices and never looked back.
After a time at the rostrum working on details and watching the melee finally wind down, Ellis summoned Gladstone to her side. Her aide was pale and bleary-eyed. Never robust, he was starting to look frail. His weakened state was understandable given the hours he had spent crafting the bill and incorporating her edits, to say northing of the stress of working to elevate her to the presidency.
“Are we ready?” she asked him.
“I believe so,” her aide said. “I’ve made copies of the bill for every voting member and their aides, but only those who are in the House Chamber. I’m assuming Groups B and C are out of the equation.”
“You assume correctly,” Ellis said.
“And I used version twenty-three of the bill, is that correct as well?”
“Yes it is. Well done. Now, have you been able to locate Jordan Lamar? As architect of the Capitol, we need his support to make everything happen as I’ve planned.”
“I haven’t tried to find him yet,” Gladstone said, “but I don’t believe that will be necessary.”
“I want those television cameras turned back on, Leland. Our dear Mr. Jordan is the only person with the authority to defy the president and restore those transmissions. It’s essential the American people be made aware of the truth. They must see with their own eyes the reason why I have been negotiating with Genesis.”
Gladstone peered over Ellis’s shoulder.
“I’m saying it won’t be necessary to find him,” he explained, “because it appears he has found us.”
Ellis turned to see Lamar, Bethany Townsend, and the president heading toward them. All three looked gravely concerned.
“We haven’t seen Vice President Tilden in over an hour,” Allaire said, without a greeting. “Have either of you seen him?”
Ellis’s eyes narrowed.
“No, I haven’t,” she said. “Not for hours. Leland? You?”
“Nope. He was in line here when all the craziness started, but that was the last time I saw him.”
“Well, keep your eyes out. He’s on treatment for high blood pressure.”
Ellis tried to make eye contact with Townsend, hoping she might bring up the meeting the three of them had, but the physician looked away.
“President Allaire,” she said, “as long as you’re here, I think you should know that I’ve had a change of plans regarding my committee.”
“I hope that change involves your disbanding it,” the president said.
