Nano Surveillance (Dave Henson Series Book 1) (24 page)

Chapter 63 (March 27, Wednesday 7:00am Eastern Daylight Savings Time)

The President sat in the Oval Office with the Speaker of the House, Bob Daniels, and his Chief of Staff. Representing the 7th district of Washington State, including the greater Seattle area, Bob Daniels was in the same political party as the President. He had served in Congress for over 20 years. He had always been a big supporter of the President, and always promoted his legislation initiatives in the House of Representatives. However, today he had come to talk to the President about postponing the Transportation Movement Act in light of the video that was released the prior night.

“Mr. President, congressional members, both in the House and the Senate, are panicking over the video that aired last night. They are extremely worried about their political futures. The congressional members actually shown in the video are already getting inundated with calls and emails from their constituents back in their districts demanding that they resign. Those congressional members featured in the video were already having a tough time selling the plan to their districts. Now that their constituents witnessed you doling out pork and personal financial favors to them, they have no chance of winning reelection, let alone convincing their constituents about the benefits of the TMA legislation.”

“I understand your concerns Bob,” responded the President. “And in particular I feel for those congressional members who were shown on that film last night. However, we can’t stop now. You need to settle your chamber and convince them that the work of the people cannot be stopped by terrorists attempting to blackmail them or portray them as corrupt politicians. All that video did was show how the executive and legislative branches of the government have always operated. Everyone knows that Capitol Hill backroom negotiations are a common part of the legislative process. Heck, these types of negotiations and deals are what enables compromise between the parties, and the executive and legislative branches of government. The public understands this. They get it. So relax and go back and tell your congressional members to relax as well. We need to pass the TMA bill and I am counting on you to make it happen Bob.”

“Mr. President, with all due respect, I don’t think you fully appreciate the impact of that video last night on the House of Representatives. The congressional members in our party are scared shitless, and the other party is already whispering the impeachment of you, the congressional members featured in the video, and even me. Our friend and leader in the Senate is also hearing the same opinions in the upper house. We have to put off this TMA bill and let things cool down here in Washington. You also need to find the perpetrators of these video releases and terminate them fast.”

The President looked over at Ken Hardy and asked, “Have we made any progress on shutting down the group that is responsible for these recent videos? And don’t hesitate to talk freely Ken. Bob here is on our side.”

“We have a pretty good idea who’s behind the recent videos. However, their spore has gone cold again in recent days. This said, we have Homeland Security and FBI agents all over this case and I am confident we will find them and shut them down in very short order.”

“Well until you do find them and shut them down, I have no choice but to hold off a vote on the TMA bill,” said Bob Daniels.

The President stood up from his chair and pointed an angry finger at the Speaker of the House. “Bob, you can’t do that. You must present the TMA bill to the House in the next week. We have to get this legislation passed before any additional videos come out. Even if we do catch the ring leaders of this terrorist group tomorrow, we must assume they have additional videos to air and that they have other supporters who will continue to release them. They may even have other videos that are on timers to be automatically broadcast over the airways. You see Bob, the longer we wait the tougher it may be to get this legislation passed. We need to press ahead.”

The Speaker of the House sat silently in his chair for a minute before speaking. In a sigh of resignation and concern he said, “Jesse, I can bring the legislation up before the House for debate and a vote next week. However, I pretty much can assure you the chances of it passing are slim to none.”

“Bob, don’t worry about the vote. You just let us know which members will not vote for the bill, and Ken and I here will work on convincing them otherwise.”

“And how do you think you’re going to convince them?” asked the Speaker of the House questioningly.

“Suffice it to say, our band of surveillance terrorists are not the only ones with dirt on Capitol Hill politicians.”

The Speaker of the House looked at the President and Chief of Staff in somewhat horror.

“Are you telling me you’re going to blackmail them for their votes?”

“If it has to come to it, we will do what is necessary for their vote,” said the President. “Suffice it to say I think they’ll see it our way and support the legislation, without us having to go to the levels you are implying.”

Ken Hardy had a slight grin on his face when the Speaker of the House looked over at him.  “We all have our ghosts in the closet. Don’t we Mr. Speaker?” asked Hardy.

The Speaker of the House stood up from his chair and looked at the two men in disgust. Based on Hardy’s last statement he knew he would have had no other choice but to allow the legislation to go up before the House for a vote. He also realized that many congressional members of his party were going to have similar conversations with the President and the Chief of Staff in the days ahead.

“Gentlemen, I will leave you now and go back and speak to the House leadership in both parties. I will attempt to calm their concerns and let them know that the administration will soon be shutting down this surveillance terrorist group. Moreover, I will notify them that the TMA bill will be presented to the full House next week to begin deliberations.”

“Excellent,” said the President as he reached out and shook the Speaker’s hand. “Again, let us know who is either not backing the legislation or is still on the fence. Hardy here will then get them scheduled to meet with me over the next week.”

“Will do Mr. President. Thank you.”

The Speaker started to turn to leave the office when the President spoke again.

“Oh, one last thing Bob. I also wanted to thank you for your efforts earlier this week in getting my nomination of Tom Landers for Vice President successfully through Congress.”

“I didn’t need much arm twisting,” replied Daniels dryly. “As in the Senate, the vote in the House was nearly unanimous.”

“Well again, I’m much appreciative for your help.”

Hardy then escorted the Speaker of the House out of the Oval Office. While he did, the President sat back in his chair and picked up his phone. He needed to talk to Barbas immediately. He had a deep concern that their meeting last weekend, which included the Chinese industrialist billionaire Chung Lee, at Camp David may be the next piece of dirty laundry that gets released to the public. He had to make sure that didn’t happen.

Chapter 64 (March 27, Wednesday 7:00am Mountain Daylight Savings Time)

It was a clear and crisp morning in Cut Bank, Montana and Dave was five miles into his morning run around the airport. As he ran and took in the natural beauty of the area he understood why Montana was nicknamed “Big Sky Country”. The Montana sky seemed to be larger and more omnipresence than anywhere else he had ever traveled. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and reverence to this land as he looked out around him as he ran.

He had gotten up early to clear his head, formulate the team’s next step, and to get some much needed exercise. Since the release of the Buenos Aires video he had been unable to get in any exercise until today. Besides the physical benefits, running always helped him sort out problems and formulate ideas. He knew his team didn’t have much time left to complete their mission. He had no doubt that the administration would eventually track them down and most likely attempt to terminate them on the spot. They were going to need to finish editing the collected surveillance information and release the remaining couple of videos in the next few days if they wanted to complete their work and save their hides. Last night’s video had already made its effect on the country.

Several major cities saw spontaneous protests break out during the night. The people were demanding the impeachment of the President and the removal of the Congress. All of the talking heads on the news channels were beside themselves as they commented on the video. You could tell from their faces and words that they didn’t know whether to continue to support their man in the White House or to turn on him. Their internal conflicts were evident and palpable by their on-air words and actions.

Dave also realized the administration would not take the events last night sitting down. He knew the President was desperate and would release the full force of the military and the Department of Homeland Security on hunting them down. He was sure that the President had already figured out that they had also caught him negotiating with Barbas and the Chinese billionaire businessman Chung Lee for major contracts associated with the TMA bill. Even more damning were the President’s expressed reasons for enacting the TMA legislation. When the country understood his internal feelings towards his own country, the public would be demanding more than his impeachment. They’d want his head served on a plate.

As Dave jogged the final hundred yards back to the NSurv building he saw Dana and Ron standing outside.

“So what brings you two out so early in the morning?” asked Dave as he came to rest in front of the two of them.

“Well we were both looking for you,” responded Dana. “You’ve been gone for nearly an hour and we were starting to get a little concerned. Plus we have some news for you.”

“Really? You two missed me. I’m touched.” He gasped as he tried to catch his breath. The lack of exercise and the high altitude had really taken its toll on his body. 

Dave walked over to a picnic table that was located next to their building and took a seat. As he leaned back against the table and let the endorphins kick in he commented, “Man this is some beautiful country.”

“It’s beautiful. I’ll give you that,” commented Ron, “But it’s a little more remote than I prefer.”

“Yes, it’s a little more rural than what I’m used to,” commented Dana. “However, it’s a perfect location for the situation we currently find ourselves in.”

“And that’s exactly why I chose it,” said Dave. “It’s remote, beautiful, and perfect for us completing our work.”

“Speaking of our work,” interjected Dana. “We have some new information that we wanted to bring to your attention.”

“So what’s up? Did we hear more from our nano-Canaries last night?”

“As a matter of fact we received an interesting video feed this morning from the Oval Office, courtesy of Chief of Staff Ken Hardy,” responded Ron. “Suffice it to say the folks on Capitol Hill are getting very nervous. The Speaker of the House met with the President and Ken Hardy this morning and recommended that the TMA legislation be put on the back burner for a while. Apparently many congressional members, particularly the ones we featured in last night’s video, are panicking for their careers.”

“Excellent. That was the affect we wanted to produce,” Dave commented.

“Yes, but unfortunately the President was successful in convincing the Speaker of the House to press on with the introduction of the TMA legislation to the House, regardless of the congressional members’ concerns,” responded Dana.  “He plans to introduce the legislation to the chamber next week.”

“Frankly this news is not unexpected,” Dave commented, as he took a sip of water from his bottle. “As a matter of fact, I expected no less from the administration, and quite frankly I prefer it. It’s time for us to bring this President and all of his corrupt political cronies down. We’ve already recorded all the intelligence we need to take them out.”

“Yes, and we got a little bit more on record today,” interjected Ron. “The President said in no uncertain terms to the Speaker of the House that he will apply whatever pressure is necessary on certain congressional members to get their votes, including blackmail and physical threats. Of course he didn’t outright use those words, but the inference was unmistakable in a court of public opinion.”

“He also promised the Speaker of the House that he would find and terminate us swiftly,” Dana commented. “He indicated he had FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents hot on our trail, though he did admit our trail had gone cold.”

“Good, then we have some time,” said Dave as he stood up and stretched his tightening hamstrings.

“Though he had said our trail had gone cold, it won’t take them long to find it again,” responded Dana in a concerned voice. “I’m sure the men that Ron took out had communicated their rough position and direction of travel before their demise.”

“True, but as we said, we’re in some rural country and in a non-descript building. As long as we stay off of our cell phones and keep a low profile here in Cut Bank, we should have the time we need to complete our work,” said Dave.

“Speaking of phones, I forgot to mention to you that Jeff Kolosky tried contacting me last night. I didn’t pick up nor listen to his voice mail, but I would suspect they are trying to locate us via him.”

“Yes, I am sure they are employing every possible tactic they can to locate us. We need to make sure all of us keep our cell phones off going forward. I’ll make sure to talk with Joe and Dr. Gillian about this.”

“What about Jeff?” asked Dana. “Do you think we should contact him in some way? I’m still pretty convinced that he is not totally onboard with Grivas and Barbas. We may be able to turn him and use him to our advantage.”

“Agreed, however, we’ll need to contact him in such a way that our location can’t be compromised. Let me think on this a bit. In the meantime, I need to get cleaned up and get something to eat. Then we need to get to work.”

The three filed back into the building. As they did, Dana offered to warm up for Dave some left over pancakes the rest of the team had had already.