sight.
This may seem like a drastic measure, but under our current situation, drastic measures are allowed—indeed, even required.
Since the nuclear attack against us, I have, under the authority granted me by the Enabling Act, taken additional action to insure our security. So that there may be efficiency of operation, I have dissolved the government. Congress, as you once knew it, no longer exists, nor does the Supreme Court. Under the aegis of the Enabling Act I have taken on the total responsibility of the government. I assure you this is only a temporary condition and as soon as order is restored and I am assured that recovery is well underway, I will authorize new elections to replace the Congress. I will then, on a gradual basis, return some of the authority I have assumed to the newly elected body, which shall be known as the People’s Collective. I have also dissolved the entire military, from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, down to the lowest-ranking private. If you are in the military, and you hear this broadcast, you may take this as your authority to leave the post, base, or ship to which you are assigned. You are free to go home, or to anyplace you wish. I thank you for your service. All police and military authority now rests with me, and me alone, to be carried out by the SPS units, which I will be expanding.
Because of the unrest that is rampant throughout the country, and as a matter of personal security, I will tell you that I am no longer in New World City, the place once known as Washington, D. C., but have established the capital in a location that, for now, I shall not disclose. But, as you can tell by this broadcast, the government, through me, is still functioning, and that means that the NWC is still a member nation in the world of nations.
Thank you, and good night.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Holy crap, can you believe that?” Willie said. “He has actually dismissed the entire Army.”
“It is a stupid and empty gesture,” Jake said. “He destroyed the Army with his incompetent meddling, so there is no more Army anyway. He is just saying this to make it appear as if he is still in charge.”
“Who were the idiots who voted for this man?” Clay asked. “How could we have possibly elected someone like this?”
“When more than half the voting public got their news and opinions from stand-up comedians, what did you expect?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know,” Clay replied. “But I sure didn’t expect anything like this.”
“Always before, when our country got into serious straits someone would say something like, ‘We are Americans, we’ve been through hard times before. We got through that, and we’ll get through this,’” John said. He shook his head. “But I don’t think we have ever been through anything like this.”
“Anybody else broadcasting?” Jake asked.
“There’s nothing left on this frequency but carrier wave,” Willie said. “Let me see what else I can find.”
El huracan hara la recalada en Point de Mobile antes de medianoche esta noche. Es ahora una categoria cinco, pero disminuira en la fuerza antes de la recalada a categoria tres . . .
“I’ll see if I can find something in English,” Willie said.
“No, wait! It’s a hurricane!” Marcus said, holding his hand out to stop Willie.
“A hurricane? Where? When?”
“It’s in the Gulf now, should make landfall by midnight tonight at Mobile Point.”
“Mobile Point? Isn’t that where Fort Morgan is?” John asked.
“Yes,” Jake said. “Marcus, what’s the strength, did he say?”
“It’s a cat five now,” Marcus said. “They are saying it should be a three by landfall.”
“Whoa, that’s quite a storm.”
“Does that change our plans any?” Deon asked. “I mean, do we still plan to go to Fort Morgan?”
“Fort Morgan has been there since 1834,” Jake said. “I imagine it has gone through its share of storms. We’re still going. But we are going to get a lot of rain and wind here tonight, so we need to be ready for it.”
Willie continued to search the dial, stopping when he heard English being spoken. It was not only English, it was English with a British accent.
This is the BBC World Broadcast on 5.110 megahertz. Now, here is the news.
Authorities in Southampton have stopped looking for survivors and are now cordoning off the entire area to prevent entry into the contaminated area. The final count of casualties is believed to be a little over one hundred fifty thousand dead, with another one hundred thousand injured. There is no way of knowing the number of people who will ultimately die of radiation exposure, though it is thought to be very high.
There is little news out of Germany or Spain, we know only that they, too, had nuclear bombs explode in their countries. France reports an expected death total of one and one half million. So far there has been no news of any sort from Israel—indeed, we do not know if the country yet exists.
Caliph Rafeek Syed has announced the formation of the Greater Islamic Caliphate of Allah, composed of the former nations of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Yazikistan. That association, if true, would constitute a greater power than all of Europe, and what is left of the New World Collective.
We now know that every bomb that exploded in Europe, as well as the three that exploded in the New World Collective, were delivered on board ships. The Greater Islamic Caliphate of Allah has taken credit for the blasts, and has declared that the suicide bombers, as well as the unsuspecting crewmen of all three ships, are martyrs and now in paradise.
Supreme Leader Ohmshidi is no longer in New World City, but continues to make pronouncements from undisclosed locations. In his latest broadcast, he announced the dissolution of Congress and the Supreme Court, though such action is meaningless at the present, since the United States, or the New World Collective as the country is now known, has ceased to exist as a nation.
In addition to the loss of life and extreme damage wrought by the three atomic bombs, the rest of the former United States is in far more dire straits than any of the European Union countries. For all intent and purposes, the U.S. no longer has a functioning government. It has no viable currency, which doesn’t matter as there is no longer a commercial enterprise in operation within the borders of what was once the United States. All transportation has come to a halt and the supply of food is becoming very critical in all areas of the country. Electricity and running water have been terminated, as has all telephone service. There are no broadcast facilities in operation, not even at the local level, though we have picked up some shortwave transmissions, including those of one-time right-wing television host, George Gregoire. There are no policemen on duty anywhere in the entire nation, nor is there martial law. There can be no martial law because there is no military.
At a NATO meeting yesterday, it was decided that those nations who have not suffered a nuclear attack would make an attempt to send food and supplies to the stricken nations as soon as possible. There was also some discussion as to whether NATO should send a contingent of military to the NWC to help in restoring and maintaining order in the affected nations, though no action was taken.
Prime Minister Corey Wellington said yesterday that while he is confident that the United Kingdom will survive the single nuclear bomb blast that occurred on British soil, he fears that the nuclear explosions in the United States, on top of what the nation was already experiencing there, will make recovery impossible. He is personally saddened by the terrible conditions of what was “once the preeminent superpower of the world.”
“The United States was always the leader in, and set the standard for, aid to countries in need,” the prime minister said. “How sad it is that such a powerful and benevolent nation could have been brought to its knees by an inept and ultimately destructive president. We cannot, and we will not turn our back on our American cousins.”
This is BBC and this has been the news.
