The Fiery Trial Read online

  "Yes?" asked Bryan.

  "Mr. President, I cannot predict what the effect of issuing this order would be. I know that there are some officers and men under my command who would refuse to obey it. How many, however... I just don't know."

  The President walked over to one of the chairs set up around a table fifteen feet in front of the Resolution desk and dropped into a chair.

  "But you know that they exist?"

  He patted one of the other chairs, beckoning the General to take a seat. Hall walked over and did.

  "Yes, Mr. President," replied the Army Chief of Staff.

  "Then why are they still in the service!" hollered the President, jumping up from his chair and standing to hover over the General.

  "You're telling me that there are traitors in the Army and that they're still there?" screamed the President at the top of his lungs. "Why the fuck are they still there?"

  The General stopped for a moment to think about his next words.

  "Mr. President... I am telling you that there are officers who would feel duty-bound to refuse orders that they consider to be in violation of their Constitutional duties. That is not the same thing."

  "I am the Commander-in-Chief. That's in the Constitution. You are telling me that soldiers would disobey their Commander-in-Chief. How is that anything but treason?"

  "Mr. President, I'm a soldier. I will obey my orders. I will obey all lawful orders and remain within my correct realm. I believe firmly that that is my duty and the duty of all soldiers and officers of the United States. But I am telling you, sir, that you may only push men so far and so hard before you provoke a reaction. And you are dangerously close to that point now, Mr. President."

  "General," said the President, "you are relieved."

  "If that is your wish, Mr. President," said Hall evenly.

  "You are dismissed, General," said the President, backing away slowly.

  The General stood, saluted, and exited the room.

  Fort Stewart, GA

  "He ordered what?" asked Major General Gregory Starnes, setting his cup of tea down on the counter.

  "I've got it straight from a friend at the Pentagon," said Colonel Duncan Robinette, the Third Infantry Division's Chief of Staff. "The President ordered the Old Guard to go in and arrest the members of the Congress who've participated in raising this private security force and retaking the Capitol. They haven't been given the go order yet, but General Hall went directly to the White House and was relieved as Chief of Staff over it."

  "The fuck?" said Starnes.

  "I never liked the man," said Colonel Robinette. "I thought that he was a fruitcake when he ran for President. But I didn't think that he was totally fucking crazy. At least not before."

  "Will the Third Regiment do it?" asked General Starnes.

  "It's absolute fucking chaos in the Pentagon and around Washington right now, General," said Robinette, "but I think that most people are conditioned to obey orders. I just don't know. Some will, some won't."

  "Are they going to fight the security forces controlling the Capitol?"

  "That's apparently the intention," answered Robinette.

  "Fuck," said Starnes, walking over towards a window and looking out at the Georgia rain.

  "I swore... I swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic," said the Division commander.

  "We all did, General," said the Chief of Staff.

  "If the President of the United States orders the armed forces to disrupt the operations of the Congress – of the people's representatives – does he not become an enemy of the Constitution? One of those domestic enemies that you and I and all of us here swore to defend the country against?"

  "Assemble the senior officers that you trust, Colonel," said Starnes, "we have a decision to make."

  The Capitol, Washington, DC

  Members of the Congressional Provisional Battalion had done their best to clear a path for the Speaker to address the crowd from the West Front of the Capitol. There had been some fighting between protestors and the security forces as well as between contending groups of protestors, but finally equipment had been able to be set up and the crowd sufficiently quieted to allow Rickover to be heard. Some within the Speaker's entourage had opposed him leaving the semi-security that the Capitol complex offered, but Rickover had insisted. This was something that he had to do.

  "I never thought that I would live to see a day like today," began the Speaker, his words echoing over the crowd.

  "Reports have reached us, from sources that we trust, that the President intends to turn the military and law enforcement apparatus of the Federal Government against the Congress. He claims that our actions, in opposing his attempts to run this government by executive fiat, constitute an insurrection and he reportedly intends to use elements of the armed forces to restore order.

  "As you all know, we have assembled a security force here to prevent a repeat of the events of the other day: the seizure of the Capitol by armed thugs was an intolerable outrage, especially in that it occurred with the clear collusion of elements of the Federal Government extending all the way up to the President.

  "But the forces that we have here are not enough. I must tell you now: if we wish to continue to have a government of the people, than that government must be defended by the people. This is the people's house. We would not surrender it to a foreign dictator. Nor will I surrender it to a domestic one.

  "Yet, in spite of the repeated violations of his Constitutional duties by this President, we still face an insurmountable legal obstacle in our quest to end this dictatorship: the President still, somehow, maintains more than thirty-four Democratic votes in the Senate that refuse to remove him from office. Short of an extra-Constitutional coup, we have no means by which we might immediately secure our freedoms. And if the President is allowed to take the Congress by armed force than, truly, all hope will be lost.

  "I therefore ask you now – those of you standing here in front of me and those anywhere who can hear the sound of my voice – to stand with me in defense of free government.

  "I will not lie to you. We do not have enough weapons here to equip all of you. Nor do we have the time to train you to defend this place against the sort of attack that might be mounted by the President should he be able to gather all of his forces. It is our hope that the presence of an armed force in defense of the Capitol will, however, deter all but the most serious of blows and force the President to think about what he would be inaugurating by making such a move. We will not assail the President. He can have no conflict without himself being the aggressor. By this action we hope that we might remind President Bryan – and all who support him – of the repeated lines that they have crossed in pursuit of their own dreams and of the ultimate consequences should they trespass further.

  "Officers of the force raise to defend the Capitol – the Congressional Provisional Battalion – will be circulating momentarily. As well, a web site is up at defendcongress.org or @defendcongress on Twitter. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country."

  The Oval Office, The White House

  Senator Dawson of New York had, after considerable effort, finally managed to secure a meeting with the President. When she was ushered into the Oval Office, she found Bryan sitting quietly in his chair behind the Resolution desk and gazing out the window at the nighttime visage of the nation's capital.

  "All I wanted to do was to protect the people," said the President quietly as the Senator walked towards him.

  "I know that, Mr. President," said Dawson softly.

  "Do they?" said the President pitifully, pointing at the window.

  "A lot of them do, sir," said the Senator.

  "I only went into politics because I wanted to see the government do more to help people. Because I grew up in places where people had nothing and I saw that there were so many places where others had everything. That's all that I
wanted."

  "Mr. President, I know that, but I have to tell you that people are very frightened up on the Hill. No one knows what's going to happen. The Speaker has his own personal army wandering the halls of the Capitol now and there are these rumors that the army or the FBI is going to be coming and knocking down the doors of the place at any moment. This is so far gone that someone has to back down. And I don't think that it will happen on the Hill."

  "It won't happen here, either," said the President, with a slight kick to his voice.

  "Then where does this end?" asked the Senator.

  "It ends," replied Bryan, "when the will of the people is done."

  "But, Mr. President, everyone here thinks that they represent the will of the people. Both mobs. You. The Speaker. Everyone. Now, I happen to agree mostly with you – but you can't all be right and you can't talk other people out of their deepest convictions."

  "Those who have violated the law must bear the consequences of their actions," said the President firmly.

  "At what cost, Mr. President? If you order the Army to storm the Capitol and have them or someone else drag away the opposition, what is the reaction going to be? In Washington? In the media? In the country?"

  "Treason has been allowed to flourish, Senator," said the President, rising from his chair, "traitors have sought to undermine this country at every opportunity for years, attempting to seize our government and make it a creature of the wealthy and the mega-corporations. I just won't have it. I will stop it now, whatever the cost to myself might be. I will return this country to the people."

  "Mr. President..."

  "I'm sorry, Senator," said the President, "it has been a terribly long day and tomorrow will be no easier. I think I need to get some sleep."

  The President got up and began to walk towards his private office, where he had often taken to sleeping in recent days. As he reached the door, he stopped and turned to face the Senator.

  "It would probably be best if you and the rest of our friends weren't in the Capitol in the morning."

  Then he closed the door behind him.

  U.S. House of Representatives

  The Speaker and the Majority Whip were watching proceedings on the floor of the House when one of Nelson's deputies, a very young-looking Congressman from Oregon, pushed his way through the door.

  "Michael!" he rushed through the door of the office before spying Rickover. "Mr. Speaker," he said more formally, stopping to straighten himself up.

  "Almost all of the Democratic members of the House and Senate, along with staffers, have begun to clear the building," said the Congressman.

  "Well, I suppose that means that they're coming," said the Speaker.

  "Henry tells me that he has about two thousand volunteers for the Battalion from the crowd. He's only giving weapons to people with military or law enforcement experience, and he's using them to try and block all breach points into the Capitol. More experienced men, especially those from Praetorian or the active duty folks who have come over are, typically with a Capitol police officer or a staffer as a guide, serving as rapid-response teams within the complex itself," noted Nelson.

  "The Democrats have all left the building," repeated the Speaker with a smile.

  "Yeah," said Nelson, "but I mean – the President can veto anything we pass, if he'd even bother to look at it and not just declare anything we vote on now illegitimate..."

  "Does anyone know where the Chief Justice is?" asked the Speaker, as he pulled out his personal smartphone and quickly began typing something out.

  Fort Myer, VA

  It was shortly after 4AM when the 4th Battalion was given its go order, issued directly through the chain of command by the Secretary of Defense. No fewer than three officers within that chain had resigned rather than relay the order to the next echelon on down. But, eventually, it had gotten there.

  Many of the men and women of the battalion were themselves ambivalent about the assignment. One in ten of them refused the order outright and were placed under arrest as a result. Others obeyed, but moved slowly and voiced their reservations constantly. What use they would be if the thing actually came to a fight remained a great unknown.

  The deployment of the battalion was further delayed by nearly an hour when some unknown party sabotaged the fuel pumps for the battalion's Stryker vehicles, leaving pools of diesel fuel on the ground for Colonel Gregory to tour.

  "Fuck," said the Colonel as he looked at the effects that this single act of sabotage had already had.

  "Don't people understand – this might be our only chance to avoid this blowing up into something larger?" he asked.

  "What do you mean?" asked Quentin Salinger, a young Second Lieutenant who commanded a platoon.

  "If everyone in Washington wants to act totally fucking insane, the only way that things might cool off is if we can separate the warring parties. This is like the Goddamned Yugoslavia right now. Right and wrong are out the window for the moment. We just need to stop people from killing one another in great numbers."

  "And if we march on it and arrest – or support the arrest – of members of the Congress, then what?" asked Salinger.

  "We let the system sort things out."

  "The same system that's putting talk show hosts in prison? The same system that's utterly fucked up this whole country?"

  "Lieutenant..." said the Colonel.

  "No sir," said Salinger, "I can't, in good conscience, abide any of this."

  "Lieutenant," said Gregory, "you don't want to go down this road..."

  "Sir," replied Salinger, "to participate in an attack upon the Congress of the United States would be a violation of my oath under the Constitution."

  "Son..." said Gregory.

  "No sir," answered the Lieutenant.

  The Colonel signed and gestured to two MPs who were standing nearby.

  "Take Lieutenant Salinger into custody for violating Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice," ordered the Colonel.

  Fort Stewart, GA

  "This is a mutiny, you realize," said Colonel Robinette as he and General Starnes watched the line of Abrams Tanks and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles of the 3rd Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment get fueled and equipped.

  "Is it?" said Starnes, "we have a duty, as officers, to defend the United States and its Constitution. I would argue that if the Congress of the United States is under attack we, as soldiers of this country, have an obligation to defend it."

  "Tell the court that right before they hang you," said Robinette.

  "We live in such civilized times, Colonel. They wouldn't hang me. Inject me, maybe," answered the General.

  "I don't think that these are going to be civilized times much longer," said the Chief of Staff sadly.

  "Perhaps not," agreed Starnes, "perhaps that was part of the problem."

  "Are those fuel trucks ready to go?" shouted the General as a Major jogged by.

  "Almost good to go, General!" shouted the Major without stopping.

  "Eighteen hours to Washington," said the General, checking his watch.

  "Assuming that the fuel holds and that no one tries to stop you along the way," said Robinette.

  "Nothing short of another Abrams is going to stop our fucking tanks," answered the General.

  "The Air Force might," said Robinette.

  "They're not even going to have time to process what the fuck is going on," said Starnes. "The Seventh Cavalry will be able to come to the rescue before they have a fucking clue. I'm saddened that we could only move on battalion on such short notice, but damn am I proud that it's this particular one."

  U.S. House of Representatives

  "I'm surprised that they didn't think to secure the Chief Justice," said Senator Russell of Kansas as she and her colleagues were briefed on the Speaker's plan.

  "You know, though, there are still a few Democrats around here," she said, "I suppose that they're supposed to delay things if we try and pull something like this so
that their colleagues can come rushing back to save the day."

  "We're prepared for that," replied Michael Nelson.

  "Well," said the Speaker, "there's really no time to waste, is there? I've prepared this in a hurry, but it ought to do in a pinch."

  He touched the screen of his smartphone and e-mailed the text he had prepared to everyone in the room.

  Resolved, that Kevin Jonathan Bryan, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

  Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Kevin Jonathan Bryan, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

  Article I

  In his conduct while President of the United States, Kevin Jonathan Bryan has repeatedly violated his oath of office and his Constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. He has abused his powers as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States by intimating and abetting criminal investigations into unambiguously non-criminal conduct with the purpose of intimidating and harassing political opponents. He has seized private property without legal authorization and attempted to use it to fund spending not authorized by the Congress.

  Wherefore, Kevin Jonathan Bryan, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.

  "You know," said Theresa Rowan, looking up from her smartphone, "some people are going to say that doing this while the Democrats aren't around is a dirty trick."

  "Well," replied the Speaker, "fuck 'em."

  Fort Myer, VA

  Wheezing from the effort, 4th Battalion, Third Infantry Regiment was finally able to hit the road at a little after 8AM. Only 75% of its personnel were available to make movement, and many of them were moving under protest. Nearly a third of the battalion's officers had either resigned or refused their orders and been placed under arrest.