Eddy's Current (49 page)

“Go on,” Albert said.

“The elevator shaft. When that escape elevator goes up thirty floors, its shaft goes up with it. When it goes down thirty floors, its shaft goes down with it. They made a pitiful attempt to hide the location of the shafts on the lower floors, but the blueprints show clearly that the walls directly below the elevators are positioned in such a way as to accommodate the shafts. Each member of the group soon realized what Briggs was saying, and, one by one, each one raised his head, looked to Briggs’ right and stared at the wall.

“The elevator shafts are right there, Briggs said, as he tapped on the wall. Our answer is right under our noses. The sink trap is right there. Samuel never should have agreed to show me the prints.”

10:27 A.M., 12 JUNE 2026

Briggs was in a much better mood, though he was on the lookout, as always, for irritating people who might come around and make stupid remarks that would ruin his day. He had disobeyed Albert’s direct orders by ditching his dress shoes, business suit and tie. He had gone to a western wear store and bought boots, jeans and jean jacket, flannel shirt and a leather belt that was thick and tough enough to tie down a bull, with a buckle large enough to use as a hood ornament on a locomotive. He tossed his cell phone and netbook into the Gulf of Mexico.

Best of all for Briggs, he had returned his two USFIA–issue 9mm twelve–shot “hand canons,” returned his Smith & Wesson to its holster, and returned its holster to his upper body, which, as far as he was concerned, was where a holster belonged. On top of all the other things that irritated him about the way Albert had forced him to dress, his government–issue holster for the two hand canons sat far too low on his waist.

Now, instead of sliding his feet along gingerly in an undersized suit that restricted his blood flow, joint movement and the functions of other, more sensitive body parts, Briggs strode tall, loose and confident. He stood six–six in his new duds rather than six–four, but weighed the same: two twenty–seven. His weight hadn’t changed because the heavier weight of the boots and clothes were offset by the reduction in the weight of his weaponry.

Albert wasn’t happy about the change. He saw Briggs’ “return to his cowboy ways” as unprofessional and downright dangerous. Briggs had given up twenty–four rounds for seven. Briggs countered that he could hit a target with one shot from his Smith & Wesson for every twelve shots from one of the 9mm canons. Briggs told Albert that he could live with the increased odds, and that he wasn’t at all sure that he could live without them.

Immediately before the group was scheduled to execute the plan, Albert called them together to make an important announcement.

“At 7:09 this morning, 12 June 2026, Alejandro Perez, Jr., resigned as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Mr. Perez, Senator Edward Milton and I were informed at 7:07 this morning that President James Ian Barnes and Vice President Thomas N. Carr were both arrested by officials of the United Nations Leader Protection Agency who were acting on direct orders from Tyler Peterson. Mr. Barnes and Mr. Carr were charged with treason against the WWCA and the United Nations. They have also been charged with plotting to murder Tyler Peterson.

“Mr. Barnes and Mr. Carr are both being held in a secret location. We can’t be sure at this time where, exactly, that location is. We have reason to believe that the secret location is, in fact, a jail cell within a vault in this building. We intend to determine their exact location, find them, and free them from their cell today, as a part of our mission.

“As a result of Mr. Barnes’ and Mr. Carr’s incarceration, they are not able to execute the duties of the offices of U.S. president and U.S. vice president, respectively. Alejandro Perez, Jr., resigned his position as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in order to assume the office of the president of the United States. Mr. Perez assumed the office of president of the United States under Article 2, Section 1, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution; Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution; and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.

“At 7:10 this morning, Mr. Perez was sworn in as president of the United States by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Daniel W. Fogelman. Before he swore in the president, Chief Justice Fogelman, himself, took an oath and made a renouncement of Mr. Peterson, the WWCA and the United Nations—the same oath and renouncement we will make this morning. President Perez will cover the issue of our oath and renouncement in just a moment.

“We have no choice except to appear to be going along with Peterson’s decision to arrest the president and vice president. It’s the only way we will be able to pull off our plans. We have to have access. If Peterson suspects, even for a moment, that we are not loyal to him, he will do whatever it takes to keep us out of his building and to destroy us.

“The president will come in now and officially authorize us to proceed with our plan. Immediately after he addresses us, our agents will secretly usher him from the building and keep him at a location known only to them. Please stand as we welcome the president of the United States, Alejandro Perez, Jr.”

“Thank you for your introduction. Please be seated. I have a few words of official business, and then we have to move on with our plans.

“I am proud of each of you for your decision to participate in this mission today. The future of this country, and the well–being of the entire world, literally rest in your hands. Regardless of the results of today’s mission, each of you needs to know that it is an honor for me to be here with you on this special day.

“I want to make it absolutely clear to each participant that the likelihood is very high that you will be injured or killed while carrying out today’s operation. I also want you to understand that if you survive, and if today’s operation is unsuccessful, there is a high probability that you will face arrest and conviction for treason against the U.N. and/or the WWCA.

“Furthermore, each person here must be made aware that we are operating today as if the Constitution of the United States — as it existed prior to ceding power and authority to the U.N. and the WWCA — is in full effect. That is not a fact upon which all persons agree. There is, in fact, widespread doubt as to whether or not, legally speaking, the U.S. Constitution is valid in any form.

“To the extent that we in this room accept that the U.S. Constitution is in force, pre–WWCA, we will operate under its provisions. Any person in this room this morning who believes that the U.S. Constitution is not in force in this country may so demonstrate his beliefs by raising his left hand. Those who do not raise their left hand will be deemed to have volunteered to serve under the U.S. Constitution without any assurance that the protections detailed therein will be afforded them at the conclusion of today’s operation.

“In other words, the basic rights and privileges contained in the Constitution that you swear to protect may not even extend to you at the conclusion of today’s operation. You need to know that. The question you must each ask yourself, then, is, ‘Am I willing to defend the basic rights granted in the U.S. Constitution, even though those rights may not actually exist in fact?’

“All of us, including myself, will swear our allegiance to the United States Constitution by reciting a simple oath to uphold, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, and that we will, if necessary, give our lives in so doing. Additionally, we must each renounce Tyler Peterson, the WWCA and the United Nations. As soon as we’ve all taken our oath and made our renouncement, I will say a few more words and then we will proceed with our operation.”

Each participant recited the oath and made the renouncement. Each did so individually, not as a group. The process took forty–five minutes.

“I am thankful to each of you for voluntarily proclaiming your oath and your renouncement. I have a few more comments, and then we’ll get on with it all.

“You are not here today to exact vengeance. That is not today’s charge for you. You are here to round up suspects who will be taken to a court and tried for crimes that we suspect they have committed. Two million people are dead. A beautiful young mother has been murdered. Twin six–year–olds are hidden somewhere, scared and worried, having been kidnaped by madmen. And, of course, our duly–elected president and vice president have been captured. These are the evils we will make right today. But I repeat: You are not here today to exact vengeance.

“We are not judges, and we are not members of a jury. The Constitution that you just swore to uphold, protect and defend with your life guarantees that suspects are innocent until proven guilty. I cannot and will not allow you to swear with one hand to uphold this Constitution and swear with the other to kill the suspects you capture today. It can’t work that way. I am asking you — no, I am ordering you — to make every effort to bring all suspects in, alive and unharmed, for questioning.

“Finally, Mr. Barnes and Mr. Carr are to be our top priorities. We must get them from Peterson’s men, bring them back to Washington, D.C., and restore them to their positions as U.S. president and vice president.

“Thank you. Be brave. God bless you all.”

Each member of the group had his specific duties. Al Qatari was in charge of getting the twins safely out of the building. Albert and Briggs were in charge of capturing Peterson, Hall and Samuel. Legions of other USFIA agents had been given their various assignments, right down to the most minute details. Peterson was the main target. He was to be taken, and he was to be taken alive.

The escape elevators had been sabotaged earlier in the morning. The elevators were going nowhere. Under the cover of the noise that had been part of a bogus office renovation project begun days before, the work proceeded smoothly and without raising suspicion.

The room suspected by the group to be the nursery was not guarded to the extent Peterson’s office was. The operation there would be straight–forward, they believed. Al Qatari and five other USFIA agents rushed the nursery door, forcing their way in, and discovered… nothing. The room was empty.

The USFIA agents scrambled out of the room and into the fire escape stairwell. Agents from Samuel’s security team stormed the area and trapped the USFIA agents in the stairwell. Sensing that something serious was going down, and without any hesitation, Samuel ordered Peterson and Hall’s evacuation. USFIA agents rushed up the stairwell, exited onto the eighth floor and got lucky. Hernandez was there, on his way up to the roof. He quietly directed them down a hall, up a secret flight of stairs, out an exit door to a hidden platform with a single door off to the side. He pointed and said, simply, “the kids are in there.” Then he disappeared.

The USFIA agents stormed into the room. There, off to the side, sat a female security agent. She did not know of the security breech. She assumed that the agents, guns drawn, were from her security force. They approached her with a request. “There’s been an attack, and the building is under siege,” al Qatari called out to her. Then he gambled that she was responsible for the twins’ well being. “Get the kids out now! Right now!” he yelled.

The female agent did not ask questions. She took the bait, ran into the adjoining room, gathered up the twins and ran down the stairs. Al Qatari ran down behind her. Samuel’s agents were on their way up the stairs and saw the female agent running down. One of them recognized her and assumed that she initiated the evacuation of the twins on her own, or according to specific instructions from one of Samuel’s agents. “Go quickly, run, run, get those two out of here and on down to the car,” Samuel instructed, referring to the car that was to be waiting a few feet from the building.

Al Qatari and his men heard the conversation and darted out an exit door on the floor above where the female agent encountered Samuel and his agents. They listened for Samuel and his crew to go up a few flights of stairs, then gambled that the stairwell from that floor to the ground was clear.

They lost the gamble. They entered the stairwell and began to run down, but a split second after they began their descent, shots rang out and several of them fell to the floor, dead. Others were wounded. Al Qatari was the only one of the five who was not hit.

The female agent exited the building directly onto the sidewalk. Al Qatari and four other USFIA agents were not far behind, although al Qatari was assisting the injured agents.

Al Qatari ordered a driver of a USFIA car to drive the car onto the sidewalk and block the exit door with it. The driver did it, then jumped out and joined al Qatari and the others. Just then the female agent realized what was happening and began to run with the twins in her arms. Another car sped up next to her and stayed with her.

The injured agents collapsed on the sidewalk. They could go no farther. The other agents ran to the female agent, ripped the twins from her, subdued her with handcuffs, and placed her into the back seat of the car. Two of them ran back to get al Qatari and bring him and the other agents with him back to the car. Al Qatari was nowhere to be found. All who were there got into the car and it sped away while being sprayed with a hail of gunfire from pursuing U.N. Leader Protection Agency agents. The USFIA agents inside the car laid their bodies over the twins to protect them from the gunfire.

Briggs and Albert were in serious trouble. Samuel hadn’t been so stupid after all. What he had withheld from Briggs was the fact that a backup to the backup plan had been practiced many times. It involved simply walking up flights of stairs ten floors to another elevator that then provided access to the floor just under the helicopter’s landing pad. Hernandez and just five other agents ascended the stairs with Peterson and Hall. Hall panicked. He didn’t believe that the escape plan would work. At the first opportunity he disappeared down a flight of stairs, searching for a more secure way out of the building. The disciple had abandoned his lord.