American Exit Strategy: Book 1 (24 page)

CHAPTER 33

"Government can do something for the people only in proportion as it can do something to the people."

-Thomas Jefferson

"No way!" Howe demanded. "Six weeks before I take office, and we all of a sudden get fiscal religion? We have Paul Randall trying to instigate a civil war. I need the full support of the military. There is no way I can authorize a 15% pay cut to the military right now. Take it from somewhere else. If we have to cut their pay, we can do it after I have instituted the weapons ban. Besides that, our currency is on the brink of disaster. If the currency fails, we will need the military to keep the population under control. If soldiers start deserting, who will maintain the relief camps in a currency crisis?

Everything is coming to a head and it’s going to all boil over at once; right into my lap. You did a real good job of kicking this all down the road until you were almost out of here Al Mohammad."

Al Mohammad was furious. "Ladies and gentlemen, can the governor and I have the room for just a few minutes?"

The Director of the International Monetary Fund, Stanley Klauser looked surprised, but Treasury Secretary Melinda Chang was already aware of the power struggle between Howe and Al Mohammad. The Fed Chair, the IMF Director, Chang and all the other advisors got up and left the meeting room.

Once they were alone, Al Mohammad stood up out of his chair while Howe sat and listened. "Anthony, you address me as Mr. President.  You are in this meeting as my guest. I have tolerated your input even though you have absolutely no say in any of these matters. The only reason you are still here is for the good of the country.

These terms are being dictated to us by the International Monetary Fund. If we don't play ball, we don't get the funding to keep the machine rolling. If that happens, cuts will be much larger than 15%. These cuts are across the board. Everyone on government payroll is getting a 15% cut; Congress, the IRS and the Department of Defense. Everyone on Social Security, SNAP, and all the other assistance programs are getting cut 15%. Even my staff and I are taking the cuts. There are no sacred cows. These are the terms, no negotiations.

There is no way I would have allowed Randall or Marcos to attend these meetings if they had won the election. You start showing some gratitude or get out and come back on January 20th. At that time I'll have my staff drop a 25 lb. box of memos so you can read about what we’re about to do over the next six weeks. And while I am being so transparent, let me just tell you that your little 'business' trip to Brazil just before the campaign was not out of the reach of the NSA. I have all the details of that trip and quite a bit of it is on film.

Now that we have those unpleasant matters out of the way, go tell everyone they can come back in and you sit down and shut up. I don't want to hear you say one word for the rest of the meeting. Am I clear?"

Howe was fuming. His father's firm, Howe Clancy, had footed a huge chunk of the campaign funds that put Al Mohammad in office. Now Al Mohammad was blackmailing him?

"Yes Mr. President." Howe forced himself to say.

The meeting resumed and the IMF Director, Stanley Klauser was noticeably annoyed at having been asked to step out of the room.

Klauser was the first to speak. "I will remind all of you that the IMF was invited here by The United States. If you find our terms disagreeable, you are more than welcome to try to secure the funds you need to keep your government afloat through other channels. The IMF recognizes the importance of America to global financial stability. For that reason, we have gone to great lengths to put together the funds you have requested.

The only way we can justify this level of assistance is by requiring that America reduce its liabilities to a more sustainable level.

In addition to the measures we have already laid out, the IMF is asking that you eliminate all negative taxation in your tax code; particularly the refundable portions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit. You cannot continue to pay out money from your treasury to people who have paid nothing in.

You should also begin walking back your FDIC insurance limits. In the event that you would require further assistance, we would need to exact a portion of your citizen’s bank deposits as we had to do in Cyprus years back and more recently Spain, Italy and Portugal. We have run analysis that suggest  deposits over $50,000 would need to be seized in order to secure approval for additional funds from the IMF administrators.

Mr. Howe, this will most likely fall into your hands, but all of you should consider reducing the insurance amounts now."

Howe barely looked up as he nodded at the IMF Director. He didn't dare open his mouth after Al Mohammad's warning.

President Al Mohammad said "Director Klauser, with all due respect, I have to get this through my congress. Is there any way we could spread the austerity measures out over a longer time period? That might make it a bit more palatable."

Director Stanley Klauser stacked up his notes and stuck them in his brief case. He simply answered "No." As he walked out the door, he said "Good day ladies and gentlemen."

Swiss born Stanley Klauser had a feeling of being vindicated. He believed the entire global meltdown had been triggered by the United States via their profligate lifestyle of debt and their insistence on imposing themselves into everyone else's business. He had a wonderful feeling inside to know he had been the one to put these arrogant Americans in their place.

"What are you going to do Mr. President?" Fed Chair Jane Bleecher asked.

The president's chief political advisor, James Mackie said "I don't think we can get this through the House or the Senate."

"Then I will do it through executive order." the President announced. "Armando, have your people start getting a speech ready for tomorrow morning. I want to get in front of this so we don't have any more riots. Let the folks know what is going on without making it sound like the nation is broke. "

"Yes, Mr. President." Armando Sanchez said.

CHAPTER 34

“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”

-John Adams

Texas Governor Larry Jacobs had made Paul Randall as secure as possible in his hideout. He had provided him with encrypted communication equipment, counter surveillance and a very large contingency of Texas National Guardsmen stationed in two separate positions that could reach Randall in 15 minutes if his cabin were to come under assault by a federal agency. They were kept at a distance to deter suspicion that could be triggered by a mass of troops in a single location.

"How are you holding up Paul?" General Allen Jefferson asked over the secured satellite phone.

"I am good Allen, thanks for asking." Randall answered.

Jefferson continued, "I’m glad to get to speak to you, but I know how important it is to keep the conversation short, so I'll get right to the details. Al Mohammad has closed several key military bases around the world. We are recalling submarines and air craft carriers as well."

"Any specific area?" Paul asked.

Allen answered "Some bases are being closed from all over the globe, but we are recalling all the assets from the Pacific. I suspect China had some part in making that a requirement to the authorization of the IMF bailout that Al Mohammad is begging for. China may have footed some part of the bill. As far as I know, the IMF didn't have access to the quantity of funds that Al Mohammad needed to keep things going."

"What else is on the chopping block?” Paul asked.

"We’re being briefed late tonight, but I hear the cuts are pretty draconian. I expect the White House to announce something by tomorrow.” Allen Jefferson explained.

“What are you using to defend against drones?" the general asked.

"I think the guys Jacobs sent have something called a Skygrabber that puts the drone into a holding pattern or sends them home." Paul answered.

General Jefferson replied "That is great for the big boys that are working off of a satellite signal, but you have to watch out for the bugs. Bugs are micro drones that are about the size of a quarter. They operate as a swarm that gathers information from a 25 mile radius. Bugs have a small hive that is about the size of a large coffee can. The hive collects solar energy to recharge the micro drones. The NSA has likely dropped thousand of these hives all over Texas to look in windows and cars to try to identify people through facial recognition software. They are operating on a C band signal which is transmitted from the hive. Skygrabber is strictly for satellite controlled drones, it has no effect on the bugs. To disrupt bugs, you need to construct spark gap generators. You should have Jacobs put several around you to disrupt hives in your area, but also all over the state to cause interference. If the NSA sees interference only in your area, you might as well just email them your latitude and longitude now.

I’m doing everything I can to get specific information about what they are doing to find you, but they have locked me out of the loop."

"I appreciate your help." Paul Randall said.

"I am going to get off here; we have already been on too long. I know what type of proxy system you are set up on and it’s only effective for short conversations." the general said.

The men said their goodbyes and Paul Randall took the notes on the spark gap generator to the guard that would be rotating out that night. The guards would first return to the Governor to be debriefed after a 72 hour shift at the cabin. They acted as curriers between Governor Jacobs and Paul Randall. This kept their communications sterilized from electronic surveillance.

Jacobs had arranged for two men to keep an eye out for Sonny while he visited his parents for Thanksgiving. They lived in Austin which was a blessing and a curse. It was a major metropolitan area which made it easy to blend in, but it also made it easy for the enemy to blend in. Another negative factor was that there were several federal agencies with offices in Austin, including the modern equivalent to the East German Stasi, DHS. Sonny would be returning to the cabin tomorrow, but tonight, the Randalls were having a family night.

The Randalls sat near the fireplace and watched an old movie. They ate popcorn as they watched the old family favorite. Hiding out had started to feel a bit like a vacation. Paul liked being out in nature, it was a welcome change from the constant stress of the campaign.

One of the guards came into the TV room yelling. "Upstairs now! Safe room now!"

The Randalls were all startled. Kimberly froze. Paul grabbed her and forced her to walk up the stairs to the room that had been predetermined to be a safe room in case of an attack. The two inside guards ran up the stairs behind them. Once in the safe room, they all put on their gas masks and Ryan and Robert grabbed their AR-15s. Paul held Kimberly with one hand as she sat catatonic behind the bed. In the other hand he held his .40 cal. Sig Sauer pistol.

A shotgun blast was followed by two large explosions that boomed from downstairs. The door had been breached and flash bangs had been deployed. Two more pops were heard. No doubt, those were tear gas grenades being activated. The two outside guards assigned to protecting the Randalls were down. One was hit, lying in the woods, and the other was dead.

The one in the woods was notifying the backup teams to come in. He used the radio to let the two interior guards know that the assault team was a 12 men team. The two interior guards took up positions at the top of the stairs. Ryan and Robert took prone positions just inside the door way of the safe room. Paul kept one hand on his wife and the other sat on the bed with the gun sights at the center of the door.

The Randalls could hear rapid fire gunshots from the other side of the safe room door. The guards at the top of the steps held the tactical assault team for about five minutes before they advanced up the stairs. The only shots that mattered were head shots. The assault team was covered in body armor. To get a kill, the Randall’s guards had to shoot the assailants in the face. The guards managed to take out three members of the tactical team before they were both killed.

When the shooting stopped, the Randalls knew the guards were dead and it was a matter of time before the door would be kicked open. Robert quickly shoved the writing desk in front of the door to slow them down. Ryan overturned a bookshelf to use as cover for his prone shooting position. Robert did the same with a chair. The overturned furniture offered absolutely no ballistic protection from the 5.56 mm ammunition, but it did provide visual cover.

"Remember to keep one eye shut guys. They will probably throw a flash bang in here when they breach the door. That will temporarily blind the eye you have open. Once the flash passes, open the other eye." Paul yelled to his sons through the gas mask.

A shotgun blast blew the locked doorknob off of the door to the safe room. Two of the tactical team members began bashing the door to push back the desk blocking it from the inside. As soon as Ryan saw a body part, he took a shot. He hit one of the invaders in the shoulder. The hit team backed up and the Randalls saw the flash bang being pushed through the crack. All the Randall men were able to close both eyes when the bright light from the device detonated. Robert began firing even before he opened his eyes. The tactical team dropped to the ground to avoid the erratic fire from Robert’s AR-15. One of the invaders was hit in the head by Robert before he could take cover. The door was a kill zone for the invaders. Anyone who came through had to escape the cross fire from the twins' AR-15s. The invaders cleared the desk at the expense of another team member who was shot by Paul Randall. The tactical team fired into the room as they tried to make a traditional stacked entry but two more of them were quickly executed by the Randall twins.