State of Rebellion

From the day President Eastman had offered the vice presidency to Clarene, she had shunned the idea of shifting roles as her professional career reached its zenith. The president’s pleadings, eventually successful, had come in the form of “duty to country” presentations, designed to appeal to Clarene’s well-known sense of responsibility.

After the death of the prior vice president, Eastman had started the recruitment. “Just this last year of my presidency, Clarene, then you can step aside and either return to appointed office or retire gracefully out to pasture, as I’ll do when the time comes,” he’d joked.

Clarene had often reflected during these past four weeks that half of his last year had been denied. The mantle, completely unsought, had passed to her.

“Governor, it was most gracious of you to come.”

“Thank you, Madam President. I’m pleased you thought to ask. We’ve both been through considerable turmoil these past several months-the past two years, if we’re honest.”

“That’s an understatement, if ever there was one, Walter,” she said, laughing. “Please, have a seat. Coffee?”

“Yes, thank you,” Dewhirst replied, looking around the room. “You’ve changed things nicely. The first time I was here, back in the eighties, there was a bronze statue of a horse and rider on the credenza. A lot’s changed since that era.”

“Yes, President Reagan’s dismantling of the ‘evil empire,’ as he referred to it. Has it been that long, Governor?”

“I’m afraid so, Madam President, and I’ve got the gray hair to prove it.”

“Well, then, it’s high time we renewed your acquaintance with our. .” She hesitated, developing a small smile. “. . I should say your, capital.”

Governor Dewhirst returned the grin, sipping his coffee and leaning back to relax in his chair. “Have we finally got a handle on that, Madam President? Whose capital it is, I mean?”

“Well, that’s the reason I asked you to come,” she said, sitting beside him on the settee. “I think we have at our command the method by which we can put closure to this whole unfortunate episode.”

“Nothing would suit me more, Madam President. Please, go on.”

“I’ve wrestled with this.” She exhaled. “Boy, have I wrestled with this,” she said, shaking her head. “Colonel Connor-you remember him, I think-well, he and his task force finally put the pieces together over the past month.”

For an hour, Prescott reviewed for Dewhirst information that Daniel Rawlings had also provided to the governor during the course of their concluding investigation, revealing the extent to which John Henry Franklin had intervened and engineered the election results in no fewer than a dozen national election issues in each of the states where the Home Telephone Voting System had been adopted. To date, investigations had revealed that nine national and thirty-eight state or local elected officials likely owed their office to Franklin’s manipulations. No effort had been expended to determine whether or not each of those elected had been aware of Franklin’s electoral intervention on their behalf.

The most significant issue-that of California’s secession-had been demonstrated to have actually been defeated by nearly three to one, with only twenty-six percent in the first election voting in favor of the secession. The true number climbed to forty-two percent in the subsequent election, as a result of growing public support promulgated from every quarter.

“We’ve not made the results of our findings public. I’ve hesitated for several reasons. Obviously, those defeated in these elections would likely demand a recount. That would be costly and time-consuming, whereas the next routine election could rectify the situation-although statistics on reelection of the incumbent would seem to reject that possibility.”

Prescott paused, taking a sip of coffee before continuing. “But more important, Walter, is preserving our national credibility in the electoral process. Can you imagine the public response to the thought that a single special interest group had gained such control over who holds elective office-indeed which states remain part of the nation?”

“I see your point, Madam President. Chaos might be a mild term for the public response.”

“Exactly. Remember the old, ‘don’t throw the baby out with the bath water’ cliche our mothers taught us?”

“Yep,” Dewhirst nodded, “and I’ve been accused of it many times.”

“Walter,” Prescott said, shifting in her chair and leaning forward, “I think we need one more election to set things right.”

“I’m not certain I follow, Madam President,” Dewhirst said.

“One more of Franklin’s elections, I mean,” she emphasized.

Dewhirst’s brow furrowed, and he took on a startled look. “You don’t mean-”

“Indeed I do, Governor. In three weeks our national elections will be held to choose the next president, as well as all our congressional representatives and a third of our senators. Amid that extensive array, perhaps we can mount a hasty publicity campaign against the secession and put the vote to the California voters again. It would be one more foray into the abyss to set the record straight-under government control, of course.”

“But that would make us no different than they were.”

“Oh, I beg to differ, Governor Dewhirst. No matter what the political and philosophical pundits say during the event, man is eventually judged by his results, not by his methods. If our motivation is the preservation of the nation, as a benefit to the people, as opposed to a benefit for the perpetrators while the people are ignored-then the result will eventually earn acclamation. And let me tell you one other piece of news that only a few people know. In the last election,” she said, looking at Governor Dewhirst directly, “the one your state Supreme Court ordered-the secession initiative passed, legitimately, by just over fifty-three percent. I guess Eastman was right about the bandwagon effect.”

Dewhirst nodded at the revelation, rose, returned his coffee cup to the table, and came to stand face-to-face with the chief executive, who remained seated on the settee.

“Do you have the ability to accomplish this. . uh, repeat election, Madam President?”

Prescott was silent for a moment, holding eyes with Dewhirst. “I do, Governor.”

“And what form would this take?” Dewhirst asked, his concern about the direction of this meeting beginning to rise.

“That is precisely why you’re here.”

“I see. And how do we accomplish these altruistic and benevolent objectives? Remembering, of course, that this is also a presidential election. Madam President, the odds are that someday this rigged election process will be discovered. Imagine if it happened during the next presidential term, and people thought our president had been, shall we say, slipped in the back door.”

“We would have to be careful, Governor,” she said, smiling, “very careful. And privately, of course. Not even Colonel Connor or members of the task force must be aware.”

“How’re you going to get around Connor? You say he knows the fraudulent election system fully.”

“Colonel Connor has been very loyal and helpful during several crisis situations over the years. He will not involve himself beyond his assignment. Besides, now that the California situation and the need for the investigative task force is coming to a close, it’s not my intention-or his, for that matter-to send him back to the CIA. I’ve submitted Colonel Connor’s name to the senate for confirmation as a brigadier general. When that’s confirmed-as it will be-I intend to create a new internal terrorism task force, one separate from the military or existing intelligence agencies. A very small task force, but directly responsible to the president. The newly elected president will inherit this task force and can either dismantle it or continue to use it to achieve his ends. Colonel. . General Connor is well suited for the job.”

“Interesting,” Dewhirst whispered. He looked down at the Seal of the President woven into the carpet, Clarene Prescott waiting for him to comment. Looking up and taking a quick breath, he continued. “So, with Colonel, or rather, General Connor and the task force out of the picture, you intend to generate one more. . predetermined election.”

“With your concurrence, of course, Governor,” the president said. “What do you think of the idea?”

“May I ask a question first, Madam President? Will you inform the two presidential candidates of this event during the transition or of the impending terrorism task force?”