The Krakow Klub (44 page)

He raised his glass in a toast to the group,
“Here’s to our success. Here’s to restoring the government to the
people.”

They all raised their glasses and in unison,
repeated, “To victory.”

As they finished their meal, the president
raised his glass and proposed one last toast, “Hail to the
chef!”

The president laughed
good-naturedly
when General T took a brief bow and
acknowledged the honor.

Turning to John, the president asked in an
amazed voice, “You mean that General T prepared our meal?”

“
Absolutely
!” remarked
John, “He has many talents.”

As they stood to leave the table, each person
looked out at the last rays of the setting sun. Each buried in
their individual thoughts of the future; each silently praying for
a successful meeting at the Greenbrier.

The next few hours would determine the fate
of the nation, indeed the fate of the entire world.

The
resident
bowed
slightly toward Julia and Sylvia. “I’m very appreciative of your
excellent hospitality and warm friendship. I look forward to a long
friendship with you all, and, by the way, I’m not just trying to
influence your votes.” Smiling, he continued, “We will have to
gather for another meal together very soon, perhaps in the White
House.”

Then with a huge grin, he added, “After we
have saved our country, of course.”

John addressed the entire group, “It’s time
for us to go. General T has programmed the craft for our trip to
the Greenbrier.”

All rose from the table. John and Julia
walked together, arms around each other. The president followed
them closely. Jim and Sylvia brought up the rear.

Jim did not put his arm around Sylvia,
saying, “No matter what happens from now, I hope that our futures
will include each other. I realize what a huge emptiness has
existed in my heart ever since I left you in London. I can’t change
the past, but I hope and pray that we can be together again.”

As they neared the waiting
spacecraft
, John swept Julia into his
arms,
and they embraced in a lingering kiss. Each wishing
that it did not have to end, but each knowing that it must.

Julia, with tears forming in her eyes, said,
“Good luck and Godspeed. I will be thinking of you every minute
you’re gone.”

John simply gave her a last kiss and turned
to enter the shuttle craft.

Jim started to enter the
craft
, but turned at the doorway and looked back at
Sylvia. He said nothing. She said nothing. But the eye contact was
enough to send the message from each of them to the other. In that
brief instant, the past melted away and each knew that their future
would be together. There were tears forming in both their eyes as
Jim turned and entered the craft.

The hatch slid
shut,
and
the craft silently lifted off and disappeared into the darkening
sky toward their destination in West Virginia.

John was the first to speak. “Mr. President,
here’s the plan. I’ve requested that the Speaker of the House,
along with the Senate Majority Leader call a joint meeting of the
legislature
this evening. I suggested that
they exercise caution and keep the whole thing under the radar as
much as possible. They can use any ruse that they want to justify
the meeting. The main thing is to be clever enough not to alert any
of the guards that something might be amiss. Being an agile
politician, I have no doubt that they can spin a yarn that will
lull the most suspicious minds into complacency.

“We’ll arrive in stealth mode and I’ve found
a way that we can enter the West Virginia Wing without alerting the
military. It’s important that Lt. Colonel Stevens, the battalion
commander, does not know of our arrival.

“There are only two sentries at the service
entrance to the West Virginia Wing. The ‘guests’ have no idea that
they are in harm’s
way,
so there was deemed to
be no need for a stronger military presence. In fact, it would have
only served to arouse suspicions.

“It will be quite easy to neutralize those
two guards until it’s all over. They won’t even remember what
happened.

“Once we’re in the meeting room, I’ll have
Maxxine place a gravity shield around the room to block anyone from
entering or leaving and to dampen the noise level to prevent any
undue attention.”

Then, speaking specifically to the president,
John said, “I expect there will be a considerable ruckus when you
enter the meeting room.”

The president smiled
broadly
but said nothing.

“After the Speaker introduces me, I’ll
address the group first and outline the actions of the Krakow Klub.
Obviously, there’ll be some members who are on their payroll but
there won’t be any way for them to alert their masters. I doubt
that they will even make an attempt to try.

“Trust me, after
all
is
said and done, they’ll buy into my offer with little or no
disagreement. When they realize that they
are all to
be
killed,
they’ll have no choice but
to agree
to
my offer. I regret that
I must be
less than truthful with them about
their demise, but I am comfortable with that. Without my
intervention, they would have been doomed, so I am not exactly
lying to them.

“Then, if they agree
to my
proposal,
I’ll present them with the
pièce de
résistance
. They’ll get the shock of their lives when I
introduce the president of the United States, and Henry Wilkinson
walks into the hall.

“Then, to make a long story short, once
they’ve agreed to my terms, we’ll proceed with destroying the
Krakow Klub and returning President Wilkinson to his rightful place
in the White House. Once he’s safely
there,
he’ll order the military to stand down. With a little luck, they
will do so without fighting. It will be hard for the Krakow Klub
military minions to resist once they know that the president has
ordered
them to stand down. They would be
facing a charge of treason.”

The president was thoughtful for a time and
then replied, “It’s obviously time for bold actions by brave men.
Together, and with the help of your great power, Mr. Scott, we’ll
take our country back. Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead!”

****

Two members of the Scorpion Battalion were
assigned to guard the service entrance to the West Virginia Wing.
They had been rather unhappy with their boring assignment and
complaining about the lack of excitement. Suddenly, both men were
frozen in their tracks. Thanks to the gravity shield that now
encased them, they could neither speak nor move, much less raise an
alarm,

As soon as the guards were secured, John, the
president, and Jim Slater quickly exited the shuttle craft and
darted into the building.

John had studied the layout of the building
and had the major
rooms
and hallways
memorized. They headed directly
for
a utility
closet located outside the meeting room but near the entrance.

Instructing the president to remain
in
the closet, John left the door slightly
ajar
so that sounds emanating from the hall
could be heard.

Before leaving the president,
John told him, “Sir, be alert for the sound of “Hail to the
Chief.”
After the first few bars have played,
you are to walk straight into the hall and up to the podium as
quickly as possible.
There will be pandemonium and lots of
people trying
to greet you personally
, but you
must get to the podium as soon as you can work your way through the
crowd.”

John and Jim entered the hall from a door
near the back of the stage.

The entire stage
was
draped with American flags. A large video screen at the rear of the
stage displayed the Great Seal of the United States.

As they entered the hall, they were struck by
a cacophony of sound. Congressmen were huddled in small groups,
mostly along party lines, discussing the president’s action in
sending them here. Many were most unhappy with the situation,
feeling that they should be highly visible during this time of
crisis.
The last thing they wanted the voters to feel
was that their elected officials had abandoned them.

Several
were convinced
that the whole Greenbrier
thing
was just a
means of intimidation by Carla
Montrose. She
was well known for her steamroller tactics. The conversation
continued unabated until people began to notice the two men who had
just entered the stage where the Speaker of the House and the
Senate Majority Leader greeted them.

John extended his hand to the Speaker of the
House and then to the Senate Majority Leader. He was blunt and
serious in his tone as he said, “Mr. Speaker, Senator Millwood, My
name is John Scott.” Turning to Jim he said, “And my colleague is
Dr. James Slater. Please call the meeting to order; we have very
little time and a lot of information to present to you.”

The Speaker pounded his gavel on the podium
and called the meeting to order.
Being already
curious as to why they were in the meeting
, the crowd
quickly became quiet.

The Speaker briefly explained that these two
guests had critical information regarding the national crisis.

“Fellow congressmen, I would like to
introduce you to Mr. John Scott, a man with an important message
for us. Please welcome Mr. Scott and Dr. James Slater, his
associate.”

John stepped to the podium. “My name is John
Scott. Until now, you’ve never heard of me. After today, you’ll
likely never forget my name. Please give me your full and undivided
attention. Your lives are in imminent danger. There is a plot
underway to take over the government of the United States. A part
of that plot is to eliminate everyone in this room. You might call
it ‘
Congressicide
.’ That may not be a proper
word, but it is a proper description of your potential fate.

“Unless we come to an agreement at this
meeting on how to deal with this situation, in a short time you
will all be dead.

“That is the bad news.

“The good news is that I may be able to save
you.”

John decided not to bring up the fact that
the entire nation was in danger. He figured that most members of
Congress would be more interested in their personal fates.

With that, John directed their attention to
the video screen behind him. Maxxine had prepared a frightening
presentation for them. With that, he spoke a
command,
and the video began with full quadraphonic sound
to back it up.

It began with the fiery crash of the van into
the ambulance. No one in the room except John and Jim had ever seen
it before. The scene was so vivid that you could almost feel the
heat from the inferno. There were many gasps of horror.

The next scene was Carla Montrose being sworn
as the president of the United States. That produced a loud
reaction as
well,
and it was mostly
negative.

The next several scenes showed the various
attacks reported around the country.

The last scene was Carla Montrose ordering
the relocation of Congress and many others to the Greenbrier.

John spoke in an authoritative tone, “The
scenes that you’ve just witnessed should be of no surprise to you.
But, you have been duped. Those
scenes
and
many
others
were all well planned and
orchestrated to hide the truth from you.”

John continued, “My next video will present
you with the situation here at the Greenbrier. I will make no
comment at the moment, as none will be needed.”

The video that followed brought the members
to a
complete hush
. They were stunned. Then
they were alarmed. Finally, they were angry.

The next scenes, chronologically presented,
showed Erik Stoellar instructing President Wilkinson to appoint
Carla Montrose as vice president regardless of any and all
opposition.

Next, there was a meeting between Montrose
and Stoellar in which both were drinking champagne and toasting
each other over the successful assassination of President
Wilkinson.

In conclusion, there were scenes of the
driver of the white van practicing his attack somewhere out in a
vast desert in the Middle East. Then, Stoellar’s agent presenting
the jihadist’s proud family with a briefcase filled with unmarked
bills in payment for their son’s martyrdom. The family was shown
getting into their ancient car and rattling off down the dusty
street. Within a block, it exploded in a ball of flames that
destroyed several small nearby businesses.

The screen dimmed and then, to everyone’s
shock,
a new video was displayed showing the
Scorpion Battalion placing explosives at strategic locations around
the West Virginia Wing where they were all staying. The hall was
now so silent that John could hear his
own
breathing.

The final scene showed an unidentified man
delivering an unusual container to another unidentified individual.
That container, transported on a heavy duty dolly, to everyone’s
utter shock
was emblazoned
with the
international danger symbol for radiation.

As the final scene faded, John calmly added,
“That last frightening scene was of a man named Alexei Pawlak
delivering a small tactical nuclear weapon to this hotel. It is the
intention of the Krakow Klub, the organization behind our national
crisis, to detonate that device very soon.”

There was not a single calm face in the
crowd. The entire group was in a state of shock and absolute
horror. A few murmured prayers could be heard winding their way
heavenward.