Hell Breaks Loose

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It wasn't the typical press crowd one might find in the White House Briefing Room in normal times, but these weren't normal times. Flip-flops, shorts, t-shirts seemed to be the uniform of the day. Only the woman from CNN and the man from the Nippon Television Network were wearing something approaching business attire, the junior reporter from Fox News was wearing jeans and a polo shirt, he seemed to be better at "reading the crowd" than his peers.

President Nakagawa was going over his notes just off stage in the impromptu briefing room his staff had set up in one of the VA Center's outbuildings. Unfortunately, his staff had not chosen wisely as the air conditioning in the small room was struggling to keep pace with the number of people in the room. Most of them were from small news outlets from the surrounding communities. One man, who had introduced himself as a blogger with two thousand followers, had been admitted only after the Speaker of the House had indicated that the guy was a good writer, took no sides, and seemed to dislike all politicians.

The President had quipped, "Well, he hates us all, so he should be unbiased, let him in."

"Mr. President, the reporters out there aren't taking this seriously, shorts and t-shirts, Sir, really?" Bruce Ingalls, one of the President's junior aides, seemed pretty distraught over this.

Nakagawa chuckled, "Have you been in there, Bruce? It's hotter than Mississippi in August. Let 'em be comfortable."

Having said that, the President took off his suit coat and hung it on the back of his chair. Standing up he said, "Let's get this over with.

"What do you mean we can't leave?" Matthew Burleson, ostensible President of the United States, barked at his chief military liaison officer.

"Sir, we contacted HMX-1, their operations staff indicated that they provide transportation for the President and Vice President, not former Cabinet members." The colonel delivering this bad news braced himself for the expected outburst from Burleson, who was touchy at the best of times and now was certainly not that.

Surprisingly, Burleson didn't react at all. He stood up and said, "I'll be in my quarters."

The President's chief of staff, Ted Anderson, came in shortly after Burleson had left, he seemed confused.

"Colonel, where is the President?"

"Apparently he's in West Virginia."

Which drew a sharp look from Anderson, "That isn't funny, Colonel."

"No Sir, it's not funny at all. We could be facing a firing squad in the near future. I'm out, get someone else to do this, it ain't worth the candle."

"Now see here, Colonel ..." Anderson realized he was talking to the door, which had slammed behind the colonel as he left the room.

Anderson began to see that this was not a game at all. He had been coming to brief the President on the killing of the FBI Director. There were also rumors out of the Marine Barracks at 8th and I that the Marines had executed their former Commandant and Vice Admiral Washington after a summary court martial had been held.

Well, he was just a staffer, right? He'd worked for Burleson at the Pentagon and had followed the man here to Raven Rock. He hadn't been the one to make Burleson President, he was just a staffer, he was just following orders, that's all. He should be fine.

Shouldn't he?

President Nakagawa looked relaxed and well-rested, which he was to a certain extent, as he stood at the podium. Checking his notes, he then looked out at the reporters and began to speak.

"First of all, it's like a sauna in here, so I'll try to make this brief. I have a statement and then at the end I'll take any questions you might have. Of course, the more questions you ask, the longer we'll have to tolerate this heat." Nakagawa grinned at the ripple of laughter which went across the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in the last few months, weeks really, the country experienced something almost unprecedented in our history. Various agencies within the government decided to take matters into their own hands and force unconstitutional change upon our citizens."

"Federal agents have died, private citizens have died, in both cases actions which caused these deaths can be traced directly to various Federal agencies within Washington DC. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency are both involved, in the FBI the responsibility went all the way to the top. In the CIA there is no evidence of  the involvement of senior staff at that agency, but a few rogue agents operating outside the bounds of their agency's mandate and, more importantly, outside the law governing the responsibilities of the CIA."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are trying to bring order out of chaos, as recently as yesterday we had three separate claimants to the Presidency, myself included. With the death of the FBI Director, that number has been reduced to two, myself and the former Secretary of Defense, Matthew Burleson. We have documentation which proves that Mr. Burleson was fired as Secretary of Defense shortly before my predecessor's untimely death. So, by law, he has no valid claim to the Presidency."

"However, these times are unusual and unprecedented. Some of you may see my ascension to the Presidency as unlawful, or at best of questionable legality. Therefore, I am asking you, the people of the United States, to make the final determination here."

"Shortly, on your television screens, you will be given instructions on how to vote in what I believe is the first nationwide referendum. Whether or not you, the people, accept me as your President. It's a simple yes or no, folks. If no, then I will step down , if yes, then I will continue as your President until our next regularly scheduled elections."

"You will, however, have the chance to vote in a special election to be held as soon as possible where some of you will have to select new Senators and Representatives to replace those who have left their posts during this national crisis. Details on that will be forthcoming."

"Now, any questions from the folks in the room?"

A number of people began shouting at the President, he pointed to the man from Nippon TV.

"Mr. President, there are reports that you ordered the death of the FBI Director, is that true?"

The room went dead silent, the reporters were on the edges of their seats, wondering which way Nakagawa would answer. The silence was broken when one of the local media people, looking at his phone, gasped, "Holy shit!"

Everyone in the room turned to the young man, wearing jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt. One of the President's security detail moved in that direction but stopped when the President asked, "What is it? Something of interest to all of us?"

The man turned beet red, then stood and said, "According to Reuters, there has been an armed clash between units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy and forces belonging to the Philippines and Japan near the Spratly Islands."

The President turned to his military aide who had his laptop computer out and was typing furiously. Lieutenant Commander Josh Higgins went pale then turned to the President.

"Our reconnaissance assets over the area report three ships on fire. The Philippine Navy is reporting that one of their Jacinto-class patrol boats has been hit and is sinking." The naval officer paused for a minute, he looked sick to his stomach.

"Sir, the Japanese Ministry of Defense is reporting that one of their Maya class destroyers has engaged and destroyed a Chinese vessel, class unclear at this point. Their own ship, JS Haguro, has herself been damaged, many casualties, the extent of the damage to Haguro is unknown at this time. PLAN forces in the region are withdrawing at this time."

The President looked to his liaison with the State Department, "I want to talk with the Chinese ambassador, we need to know what is going on."

The man from State, Frederick L. Waltham III, swallowed and said, "Mr. President, the Chinese Ambassador left for home three days ago, it's unclear if he was recalled or left on a vacation. With the unrest and the chaos here at home, I believe the Chinese decided to adopt a wait and see, from a distance, attitude."

"I see."

Turning to the crowd, the President announced, "I'm afraid we'll have to pick this up at a later time, thank you for being here, thank you for your understanding."

As he was leaving one last question was shouted at him, "Mr. President, what about the rumor about the FBI Director?"

Nakagawa stopped and spun on his heel, he was clearly angry, "Mr. Sheppard was ordered to cease and desist pushing his illegal claim to this office. He refused, in fact, he told me to 'stick my orders' where the sun don't shine."

"But, Sir, did you have him killed?"

"I ordered him brought in dead or alive, he chose poorly."

There were more shouted questions, but the President ignored them, he might be staring at the start of World War III, he had to try and stop things before they got worse. He turned to LCDR Higgins, "Where are the carriers, Lieutenant Commander Higgins?"

"Truman and Reagan are in Japan, Reagan is preparing to come home. Ford and Enterprise are almost ready to come out of scheduled maintenance and can probably steam in less than ten days."

"We may not have ten days, get people moving, whatever you need from me, let me know."

Higgins merely said, "Aye Aye Sir, I'll get on the horn to the Yard, it's where the Navy is being run from at the moment."

After the sailor had gone, the President arrived at his office, which was a flurry of activity. Walking in, he turned to Bill Aspinall, "Think our SEALs and a couple of platoons of Marines from 8th and I can retake the Pentagon?"

"Right now, Sir, we could probably take it with a squad of DC cops, but I'll get Senior Chief Howard on it ASAP."

"Do it."

Turning to the room at large, he said, "Alright people, what's happening? I need details, what they've got, what we've got, and options to calm this situation down. It's going to be a long night, so let's get down to it."