There was almost a roar in the room, especially around the table. No one was even willing to listen to such things.
“I believe you can see that this will not happen,” said the Senator.
“I believe it will,” said the President. “Since just before the war began, there has been an investigation regarding former CIA Director Harman and the attack on the United States. The FBI was called in and a special prosecutor was assigned. Director Harman had been suborned to believe he worked for the House and Senate Intelligence Committees instead of me. During the attack, his staff saw the launch of the missiles a good ten minutes before they struck their targets. Instead of putting out a warning, he called Senator Maynard of the Senate Intelligence Committee on his private line. Upon investigation, we found that the Senator called Senator Ross, Senator Hughes and Senator Kelly, all of the minority party. We also found that Congressmen Yelton, Strauss, Bennington and Stone of the House Intelligence Committee were called. Harmon later told investigators that he had been told not to do anything about the attack. But the worst was that a member of Senator Hughes and Congressman Kelly’s staff contacted a Demetri Cronin a suspected agent of the Russian government. This is important because they relayed to the man that the warning was provided by a secret satellite system called Eyeball.”
The men in the room gasped. Most knew about the program because they were on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. The President reached back and was handed a thick folder.
“This is an investigation and its findings. It names times, dates, places and people. You either get the legislation passed or the public will find out,” the President said.
“You can’t do this!” yelled Senator Hughes. “It’s blackmail! You can’t tell us what to do and you would undermine this government if you did so,” he shouted, pointing his finger at the President.
“Oh I am not releasing the information. But these men are,” the President said. He motioned toward one of the agents at the door and two men came in the room. Everyone knew Bob Kelso and Brad Freeman. They walked to a spot beside the President.
“Congressman, Senators, in case you don’t know me, I am Bob Kelso of CNN. That investigation he just showed you was not from the FBI. I’m sure theirs is much thicker than that. This is the information we gathered at CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, the AP and the Washington Post. In all, we have been contacted twelve times about the Harmon case and have been told about Eyeball from you and your people. You yourself contacted one of my reporters recently Senator Hughes. So did staffers from several of your offices. In the middle of a war, where our men and women were dying, you were out to play politics as usual. You would have had the media in this nation take part in what we consider a traitorous act that we are convinced would have killed many of our service men and women and might have caused us to lose the war. As far as we are concerned, you are all guilty,” he said solemnly. “We will not destroy the nation we serve for your politics.”
“I am Brad Freeman. Both Bob and I have come here to let you know it will no longer be business as usual with you or anyone else in the Congress. We no longer trust you. We are going to be skeptical of anything you send us. The days of calling on you for comments is over. There are a number of media outlets that agree with us. The bickering in Congress has to end. The American media system is changing. We are returning to days when objectivity was the norm. So don’t come to us to help or hurt a candidate. Don’t come to us to get something across that you want. We agree with the President that term limits is the key to change, so I suggest you make it happen. If not, the American media will see to it that you are all brought before a judge and never receive those pensions you have fought so hard to finagle. And remember, you have no control over what we say or do. Nothing we report will be a lie, but the circumstances will insult every American,” Freeman said.
The room remained silent. “Do you realize what this will do to us?” asked the Minority Leader.
“Once it is passed, the legislation must be ratified. That means you may get one more term before you retire with dignity,” said the President. “But along with the amendments, I also want all people in government service to have the same insurances and retirement packages. That means members of Congress will have to get by on the same medical and retirement benefits afforded the average citizen. That will include people like me as well. We have all gotten so used to the perks of office that we don’t understand what the average American faces in these and a few other areas. So if we are going to do this, we need to do it right,” he said.
“One more thing,” said Kelso. “You need to make sure these things are passed even though the President will out of office. You see, we are not bound by term limits, only retirement. And for my part, I will make sure the information is held until the measures are passed. Once that happens, it will be destroyed and you will never hear of it again. I speak for all of us.”
“What about the FBI investigation?” asked another Senator.
“I’m afraid Senator Maynard may face some charges,” the President said. “So will the staff members of Senator Hughes and Congressman Kelly,” said the President holding up a small set of papers. “You see, this is a report from Mister Cronin back to the Russian Intelligence Service. It reports on what these two men told him. Fortunately, it does not go into what Eyeball can do, it simply says there is a new satellite that we are using. Early in the war the Russians destroyed one of our older KH-14s over the area, thinking it was Eyeball. Luckily we dodged a bullet. I am told that our media will not report on the trial. When you return to your offices, you may find they are already in custody.” Both Kelso and Freeman nodded.
O’Bannon could tell by the look on their faces that he had won the argument. He didn’t want them to leave empty handed. “Ladies and Gentlemen I am not going to dictate legislation. I ask you to please draft it so that few are hurt and it benefits the people of our nation. Done properly, you will all be known in history as possibly the saviors of our great republic. I believe the people we serve will approve. Thank you for meeting with me.”
The Senators and Congressmen quietly left the room. A member of the President’s party stopped him and asked, “Why did you include us with all this?”
“Because it was something we all needed to hear. Something like this hurts both parties and I doubt the public would differentiate between the two.”
The man smiled. “You know, it might make serving much simpler,” he said as he shook the President’s hand. “We’ll get it done.”
The blue Rolls made its way through the streets without a whisper. The top was down and Jeffers was enjoying the warm breeze blowing around the car. Following the GPS unit, Jeffers was led out of the city to a more rural area. Along the way he thought about all that had happened. With the end of the war Iowa had made several more stops to show the flag and to be available in case anything happened. Although the surrender had been signed, there were still some who worried there could be more trouble, so Iowa and Wisconsin made the rounds.
The first stop for Iowa was St. Petersburg. She had arrived with three container ships full of food and supplies. Most welcome were the panels which were set up on each building. Once hooked up, they each fed not only the building but the rest of the city as well. The Iowa dressed ship and invited the residents for tours. They had berthed the ship at the cruise ship terminal which allowed ample space not only for visitors but concerts as well. The Iowa’s band played as she entered port and on one evening they gave a concert. Nearly twenty thousand people showed up for it.