Adam
usually didn’t care a whit about a speech by the President of the United States
but he was very interested in this one. So were many other Americans.
"The
Congress has failed to act on the immigration crisis, and because of that I
must act alone," the President said after a few introductory words. "Not only
will I continue using my prosecutorial discretion to refrain from arresting and
deporting the undocumented Americans living among us, but I will use my
executive powers as president to end this human tragedy once and for all by
granting them unconditional citizenship. The consciences of the members of
Congress might allow them to ignore this crime against humanity, but mine will
not allow me to do the same."
Adam
White smiled as he listened to the President. He sat alone in the living room
of his home. His wife and children were somewhere else in the house. They lived
in Houston in a middle-class community. He lifted his hands from where they had
been resting on his tailored pants and straightened his tie before pulling it
tighter again.
"One
of the things that makes us great as Americans is our willingness to help
others," the President said. "And if we refuse to help others in their greatest
time of need we condemn ourselves in the most explicit terms imaginable." The
television camera panned across the crowd, showing a mixture of the top leaders
from both political parties in the Rose Garden under the midday sun
enthusiastically applauding and cheering the president before they returned to
looking extremely grave.
Adam
watched a little more and then he turned off the television and grabbed his
keys. He found Victoria in their bedroom and kissed her, thanking her for the
lunch before driving back to the office of his cover job to finish the rest of
the work day.
He
reached the office of his nonofficial cover job and sat down behind his desk to
do some paperwork but he was only there for a short time before his secretary
called his line and told him that a woman had come to see him. Adam told her he
would see her immediately.
Amanda
Langli, not the name she had given his secretary, opened the door and the first
thing Adam saw was her long legs ending in crimson high heels. Today, she was a
long-haired blond (half hanging behind her and the other half hanging over her
front shoulder–no bangs) wearing a fiery dress that matched her shoes.
She
quietly closed the door and walked towards him, taking off her sunglasses when
she stood in front of his desk, her thighs pressing against the wooden top.
"They finally found the courage and voted to start it. They’ve given you the go."
She remained standing, her right hip ever so slightly to one side and her red fingernails
touching the desktop, ignoring both of the available chairs on that side of the
desk.
The
Caucus had formed some time ago after the President had seized absolute power
following a Convention of States.
The
Convention of States had come about after a handful of national leaders had
helped organize it in response to the President after he had already grabbed a
substantial amount of authority. However, once they had assembled the
Convention of States, the President and his party had said that in doing so
they had nullified the entire Constitution, and that he then had the power to
rule with an entirely new interpretation of the law. His opponents had
countered that a Convention of States did no such thing and had spent countless
weeks writing articles and papers for media outlets and think tanks, and filing
legal motions to prove that he was wrong. The President and his backers had
simply ignored them.
The
Caucus had originally lacked cohesion and the ability to function as a unit.
Many of its leaders had conflicting ideas and agendas on what to do about the
President and his regime. And that wouldn’t have changed had it not been for
Amanda and her ability to persuade and mollify people. And once she had
succeeded in helping make the Caucus an effective entity, the nation had its
first true, albeit secret, opposition to the President and his party in years.
"They
will not like what I will do," Adam told her. "And when they see what I will
do, do you honestly think they’ll be able to hold onto their newfound courage?"
Amanda
smiled at him and leaned forward, placing both finely manicured hands on his
desk as she got closer to him. "Of course they won’t. But I’ll be there to
force it back into them," she said, looking him straight in the eyes.
Adam
looked back. "Okay."
She
smiled even bigger at him and then left.
Adam
ended his work day and returned to his house. Victoria walked into the living
room as he arrived, smiling at him as she carried some freshly laundered
clothes. "Back so soon?"
He
looked at her. "Amanda stopped by. Get ready to run."
Her
smile remained, but she paused and brushed some of her long blond hair behind
her ear. She looked away and then looked back at him, nodding her head once
before she walked out of the room.
Adam’s
government job had him working directly for an element of the executive branch very few people knew existed. The
element consisted of only four people: the President, the Vice President, the
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and him. No one else, apart from those
who had previously held the positions, even knew of the existence of this
element. The President who had created it had decided to make the D/CIA a part
of it instead of the Director of National Intelligence. He had viewed the DNI
as largely a figurehead of the intelligence community and hadn’t really
respected it.
Yet
despite his unique position, even Adam could not see the President simply
because he wanted to see him. He was the operational component of the element
and yet the others viewed him as a junior member who rarely should speak unless
spoken to first. He would have to have a reason–a good one–to contact him and
he would have to go through the D/CIA first. But he knew just the thing that
would guarantee him an immediate audience with the President; the one thing the
President prioritized over everything else. . . .
Read the rest of this and two other stories by buying Mortal Gods: Ignition at Amazon.