The Krakow Klub (28 page)

“I’ll relay your message immediately. By the
way, has the president ordered the conscription of the property
yet?”

“That will happen on Tuesday afternoon. I
want Collins to be in place and ready to act by then.”

“Very good. He’ll be there with all supplies
and equipment before then. He’ll act as soon as the order is
signed.”

Number Eleven ended the
call,
and Stoellar smiled to himself. Perfect. Everything
was proceeding as he had planned.

****

At about the same
time
that
Erik Stoellar was launching Operation Plato, Maxxine
was putting together a most distressing report for John. She spoke
to Mister
T,
who informed her that John was
very busy with his guests and should only be disturbed if there
were
something urgent to report.

She decided that her report could wait for a
while. She’d just go back and examine the data one more time. Maybe
she could confirm it through other sources. At present, there
didn’t seem to be any immediate danger, but she would remain on
high alert.

One of the
spacecraft
monitoring Earth had detected something called Operation Plato.
Apparently, the operation was to include the detonation of a
nuclear device at a location called Omega. What kind of nuclear
device? Could this be a terrorist attack? Where was location
Omega?

It was all very
suspicious,
but nothing was clear yet. Surely, if this
did turn out to be a nuclear device, John would surely just ask
Maxxine to deactivate it. But then again, maybe this was just some
harmless code talk by the humans. They were always doing strange
and illogical things and often used weird code names.

After a few more minutes of investigation,
Maxxine got an updated term for the device. It was a tactical
nuclear weapon. Now, this sounded most serious indeed. She checked
her database and learned that the type of device in the report was
probably only a ten kiloton yield device. Rather small by
comparison to the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki and barely equal
to the one used on Hiroshima, but very deadly to the small area if
affected.

Her next report indicated that location Omega
was a hotel. A hotel! Who would want to nuke a hotel? It made no
sense whatsoever to her logical brain. Humans were an odd lot, at
best. Could this be the action of a disgruntled guest? Maybe an
employee who
had been fired
unjustly? Who
would know? She’d just have to find out.

So Maxxine kept listening and watching and
would tell John the next time he had the time to talk. She would
probably have more information on the subject by then.

Maxxine was beginning to enjoy herself
immensely. She totally agreed with Maxx.
Humans are
fascinating biologicals creatures.
Their ingenuity for
devising ways of inflicting pain and suffering on their fellow man
seemed to be without bounds.

She was going to enjoy her assignment more
than she had ever dreamed. “Thank you, Maxx!”

Far out in space, a pleased male voice said,
“I love it, God help
me,
but I do love it
so.”

Maxx was a fan of General George Patton’s
famous quote about war.

Maxx thought of Patton, “They don’t make them
like that anymore!”

“
The things that will
destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price,
safety first instead of duty first and love of soft living and the
get-rich-quick theory of life.”
-
Theodore Roosevelt

Freedom: S
eldom given. Often
taken.
Always difficult to keep.

Those who have been given freedom without a
dear price, seldom value it highly enough to fight those that would
take it from them.

Fortunately, and occasionally, there are a
few good men that will fight for freedom. Not only for their
freedom, but for the freedom of all men because they understand
that if all are not free, none are free.

****

At precisely noon on Monday, the president of
the United States made his announcement appointing Carla Montrose
by executive order in a brief appearance
on national
television. In the past,
he often spent more time in
recognizing reporters in the pressroom than he did for this entire
broadcast. He obviously wanted to get it over with quickly.

For this speech, Wilkinson chose to make his
appearance from the Oval Office. That in itself was unusual as the
Oval Office is traditionally only used for solemn and sober
announcements to the nation. Today, he sat at his desk, flanked by
the American and presidential flags to the right and left. Just
behind him stood Carla Montrose, dressed in a severely tailored
dark suit. For accessories, she wore only a simple strand of pearls
around her neck and a thin gold wedding band on her left hand. Her
facial expression
was one of
humility, and
there seemed to be a tear in her eye.

The president began to speak in a serious
voice. “My fellow Americans, I am saddened by the actions of
Congress in failing to approve my nominees for vice president. They
have placed our nation in a dangerous situation. This week of
partisan fighting is inexcusable and has created an image of an
impotent government—a ship of fools. This nation cannot afford to
appear
as weak to those who would seek to
destroy our form of government. Therefore, after much thought and
consideration, I have come to the painful decision that I must
exercise my privilege as chief executive to appoint the next vice
president.

“Representative Carla Montrose will be sworn
in immediately at the conclusion of my address.

“Our nation is facing a host of serious
internal and external issues that must be addressed. Further,
several terrorist organizations pose significant threats to our
homeland. It is imperative that a vice president be immediately
available to share the burden of guiding our ship of state safely
through these dangerous waters. Also, the vice president would be
required to act as president if I, for any reason, am unable to
fulfill my duties.

“Carla Montrose has served her state, her
party, and our nation tirelessly throughout her career. She
is well qualified
to hold the office of vice
president and will carry out her duties and responsibilities with
utmost dedication and perseverance.

“Therefore, I am putting the needs of our
nation first, and will now sign the executive order that
immediately appoints Carla Montrose as vice president of the United
States.”

The president lifted a pen and signed the
document before him with a flourish.

“God Bless Vice President Carla Montrose, and
God Bless the United States of America.”

The
Honorable
Sheldon G.
Rutherford, chief justice of the United States District Court for
the District of Columbia, then administered the oath of office of
vice president of the United States to Carla Montrose.”

It all took only a few minutes. It was all
over but the shouting, so to speak.

As soon as the broadcast ended, Carla leaned
forward and spoke softly to the president. The camera crew and
federal judge all thought that she was expressing her gratitude for
his faith in her capabilities. However, what she said was, “What a
corny speech! Such drivel, but the public will eat it up! You
always were good at bullshitting, Henry.”

After the swearing-in
ceremony,
they left the Oval Office together. They were
smiling, but
they both knew that all hell was
about to break loose in Washington.

One of them dreaded
it
while the other looked forward to it with glee.

Later that afternoon, Wilkinson called the
White House medical facility, just down the hall from the Oval
Office, to inform the White House physician, Dr. Wesley Newton,
that he would like a quick checkup. He explained that the stress
from the last few days had taken its
toll,
and
he was afraid that his blood pressure might be out of control. As
soon as he ended the call, he left the office and walked
purposefully down the hall to the medical center, as always,
trailed by Secret Service agents.

He still wasn’t comfortable with that
situation and longed for more
privacy,
but he
knew that would never happen. In fact, the only time that he could
have
any real privacy was inside the
residential quarters on the second floor. And even then, there was
always an agent just outside the door.

Newton greeted him warmly and ushered him
into the examination room where he performed a cursory physical
exam after a staff nurse had taken his vital signs.

“Mr. President, all your vital signs are
good, considering your heart condition. Your blood pressure is
within normal limits, so you can relax about that. I don’t think
that your heart condition has
changed,
but I’m
going to run a few additional tests just to make sure.”

“Dr. Newton, I’m just physically exhausted.
The last week has taken a toll on me. Maybe you could give me a
little something for sleep. Something
mild,
of
course. I have to be mentally alert at all times.”

“Yes, Mr. President, but I insist that you
have an electrocardiogram before you go back to work.”

Dr. Newton personally performed the EKG and
examined the readings closely.

“Your EKG hasn’t changed
from
the previous one.” He double checked the readings.
“I don’t think that your tiredness is due to your heart. I’ll give
you a mild sleeping pill for
tonight,
but I’d
like to see you again tomorrow. Also, I think we’d better adjust
your daily heart medication.” He unlocked a nearby cabinet and
withdrew a vial of prescription pills from the carefully stocked
supply of pharmaceuticals that were always ready in the medical
office. “This will be just slightly stronger than what you’re
currently taking. You should take your first dose in the morning
with food.

“As I said, your condition is still
serious,
so I’m going to insist that you take
the afternoon off and get some rest. I don’t want you interrupted
for any reason. Take the sedative at bedtime and you should rest
well,
but you won’t wake up groggy in the
morning. Just be sure to start your new medication at
breakfast.”

The president reluctantly agreed, went back
to his office, and informed his staff that he’d be resting for the
remainder of the afternoon.

Back in the medical facility, Dr. Newton
smiled to himself. The idiot had just played into his hands. Now,
he wouldn’t have to resort
to subterfuge
to
alter his medications. The gods of good luck must surely be
hovering above his shoulder. The president had come to his office
for a checkup
today,
and that gave him the
perfect opportunity to complete step one of his assigned tasks.
Tomorrow he would finish the
assignment,
and
he would be free at last. He hated what he had to do, but it meant
that his obligations would be
completed,
and
he would finally be free to pursue his life.

****

Erik Stoellar watched the presidential speech
with amusement. He smiled broadly as Carla Montrose was sworn in as
vice president
,
and he noted that
afterward
she looked directly into the camera and gave a
wink. To others, it went completely unnoticed. It just appeared
that she had a slight tic in her right eye, probably due to nerves.
But, Stoellar knew that the
wink
had been intended
for him.
It was a sign
celebrating their victory.

Stoellar was exuberant. All the years of
careful planning, meddling in global politics and even a few
assassinations was about to pay off. He was within hours of taking
control of the government of the United
States,
and that would soon lead to the Krakow Klub
controlling the entire world.

Yes, indeed, Erik Stoellar was in a fine
mood.

He walked over to the windows to look down at
Central Park again. Soon, all those little people down there would
be under his absolute control. What a joke on them. Ha! The fools
had no idea what was rushing at them. “Of course,” he said out
loud,
they never do know what is going
on.”

He ran his fingers through his carefully
styled hair and thought of his last conversation with Number
Eleven. She had proved to be his most apt pupil and had surpassed
all his expectations. She had a brilliant mind that was unfettered
by morals or ethics. She and Stoellar formed a perfect match.

Then, he thought of the former president.
He’d spent a fortune grooming that misfit and then he’d suddenly
resigned without so much as a
word to Stoellar before
doing it.
The traitor! But, as usual, Stoellar had been able
to turn a problem into an asset. He would use the resignation to
his advantage; he would simply expedite his plan.

He smiled to himself in a rare moment of
compassion. He had briefly considered letting the swine live. After
all, even ex-presidents had some political value. But he just
couldn’t do it. No one ever betrayed Erik Stoellar and lived to
brag about it. No one would ever find a trace of the former
president. But Erik Stoellar knew where he would be and where he
would remain. He was in a dark, watery grave and would be there
forever.

The former president had exited the White
House for the last time and then boarded a military jet to a
location that he believed to be safe. Hilarious! There was no
haven
available anywhere for anyone who dared
to
double-cross
Erik Stoellar.