Whiskey Black Book Set: The Complete Tyrant Series (Box Set 1) Read Free Page B

chip?”
    “Yes, I do. If they want to buy, sell, or trade, they will need it.”
    “So protestors will starve? Innocent children will starve because their parents may object on moral grounds?”
    “I believe that people will come around to it. When they see the world moving in this direction and that it’s not harmful, they will understand that the government is the answer.”
    Ron, tired of disagreeing, did what he always did when he failed to make headway. He walked away.
    Adalyn’s phone rang.
    Ron knew what it was. She had a special phone assigned to her as President. She had a different ringtone set for each agency. For some of the cabinet members, her phone would talk to her by speaking the name of the person who was attempting to contact her. This time, when it rang, it said
Franklin Brown is attempting to reach you on your cellular device
.
    Franklin Brown was the head of the Department of Homeland Security. His department was one of many that suffered massive budget cuts just before the Islamic jihadists crossed the southern border. His call could only mean one thing. Ron knew that his worst fears were now coming true.
    “Hello?” she said into her phone, using her presidential voice. “I see … No, that’s not good. Not good at all … Well, what do you recommend? … No, I’m not obliged to do that, but it’s within my realm of responsibility, wouldn’t you agree? … Then it’s settled. Activate all military reserve units, all National Guard units, and call in the inactive reserve units … Oh, and Mr. Brown, initiate Operation Acts of Defiance.”
    Arlington County, Virginia
    National Guard Bureau
    July 12, 2031
    8:16 p.m.
    General Michael Graves was a four-star general and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when the call came from Secretary of Defense Orland Brumhurst to mobilize nearly one million Air and Army National Guardsmen. It was Brumhurst’s final duty as Secretary of Defense. He was being reassigned to temporarily head up the Federal Emergency Management Act. Graves would have liked to have considered it a shock when the call came, but given the escalation in violence and the demoralization of American patriotism, he knew this moment was inevitable. Graves was privy to a great deal of classified intelligence, as were the rest of the Joint Chiefs. Like the others, he felt a great deal of internal turmoil on the issues that were plaguing the country and how he would respond should the directive to activate nearly one million soldiers ever come. That day did come, and it came way too early, by his reckoning. When he was given the word to initiate Operation Acts of Defiance, he knew it was the beginning of the end.
    Graves called a mandatory and classified teleconference with his commanding generals. He was now sitting in a soundproof room, looking at holographic projections of each of his commanding officers. Likewise, they sat in their headquarters, looking at a projected image of their general.
    “Gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice. Let me remind you that this meeting is for your eyes and ears only and is not to be shared until you hear otherwise. I’m seeing forty-nine TAGs and that means that you all made it.”
TAG
was military jargon for
The Adjutant General
, which was a commanding officer over his/her respective state of service. The state’s adjutant general commanded the National Guard for his state of assignment. The exception was the District of Columbia, which answered directly to the President of the United States. “Title 10 of the United States Code has been initiated by President Baker, thereby calling every state into mandatory service and placed under federal control until such time as the President feels the national crisis has been abated. The Department of Defense is powerless in our current status.”
    General Graves could see the concern on the faces of each TAG. He knew their worst fears had also come to pass. Most of their projections were