Fascinating Authors

CHAPTER 9

Vice President Roger Calliman was in the residence. At the moment, his wife and children were asleep upstairs. He had never really considered the idea of marriage as he was moving up through the ranks from school and through his rise in politics, but lately his family had been on his mind a lot. He had been a ladies man in school, and even after he had entered politics. Available. Most eligible. A bachelor in high demand. Then he had met Jennifer and his life changed. But it wasn’t until Seth and little Sharon arrived that the whole foundation of his world changed.

My wife and children. He had never really considered the words as part of his vocabulary before. But for nearly ten years now, the words had become his life. Not even his duties as the second most powerful man in the country could supplant them. And they were the reason he was about to commit treason against his country. He knew in his soul he had to preserve the freedoms and the greatness of this country for his family, and for the other families who deserved to have a free country to grow in.

The fact was, he knew the United States was at the point of dying. Not from terrorist attacks. The country was dying from within. It was losing all the power and prestige it had once held in the world. The economy was slowly falling off the charts, though the political spin-doctors still had ways of making it sound solid. But so much of the rest of the world now had economies that had caught up with the U.S. The military was strong, but the world had no fear that we would ever let it do the job it was supposed to anymore. The country’s major trading partners were being lured away because of the growth and development in Europe and Asia. America was still the major world power, but it was rapidly becoming a power everyone else wanted to see torn down and replaced.

And replaced with what, he thought. The likes of the little spin-off nations all over the world? Countries that couldn’t even support themselves, much less contribute to anyone else in the world? They didn’t want America destroyed, though. America could be counted on to fill too many coffers and pockets to do away with her. They simply wanted her to continue to fill those coffers, but to stay out of the way of all the big plans of the little people in the little countries. Even her supposed allies thought of her as over-bearing, controlling, and meddling. Yankee, go home. Now we heard the old refrain from our friends.

Calliman had been nursing a drink for more than an hour as he agonized over the decisions he was making. The anger was boiling inside him as he thought of where this great—or maybe just formerly great—country now found itself. His country. His family’s country.

We were no longer respected. We were no longer feared. Jeff King had three years left in the White House and if the situation didn’t change before he left, it would simply be too late. A new government would come in and would never have the time or power to act—to restore the country to what it had been.

Jeff hadn’t caused the problem, true, but he was not the man to change it. He didn’t have the power base or the inside touch to get it done. He was already showing that he wasn’t going to go along with the people in power, the people that knew what had to be done. He was stepping outside the path that had begun to be laid. He thought he could pull the reins himself. Calliman knew America needed to flex the muscle she had shown during her early years. She needed to be strong again—disciplined, without fear. Yes, diplomatic, but she needed to be powerful again. And the president’s direction was not going to make that happen. The country was going to die.

He looked at his hands and realized they were shaking. What was left of his drink was almost slopping over the side of the glass. His mind was screaming, But, treason? Is that the only way? And he suddenly swung around and threw the glass wildly at the fireplace. The crashing sound brought him up short, and then the sudden quiet seemed to calm him.

There was The Plan. It would work. It would bring things back to what they were supposed to be. He would be able to step out of this pit of fear and bring good things back to his country. His family, the families of the country, would have what they deserved. The peace and security and respect would return and his country would again be great.

Roger Calliman had agreed to serve with Jeff King because he still thought at the time that proper leadership in the White House could turn the country around and restore its place in the world. He believed he could help bring back an America that would be right for his wife and children. Now, reality had brought him up short and he knew time was running out. America didn’t have time left for diplomacy and politics. The people of the country weren’t going to do anything. The leaders weren’t going to make any waves and upset their own little empires. There would be no America left for his wife and children if change didn’t take place now. And that was why he was about to commit treason against his country. There was no other way. It was The Plan, or America (and his family) would die.

Calliman left the residence and got into his car. The driver shut the door and they rolled into the night. Calliman was not happy. In fact, he was scared to death and his soul ached. It was why he had been spending more than the usual time at church in the recent months. He knew what treason was all about. He knew this was not the way things should be handled. But, he also knew there was no other way. His times in church, praying and searching with tears and agony, had not brought him the answer. His search through the lists of all the people he had come up through the ranks with had not given him any soul-mates or confidantes or people he could trust with helping to change the country. There was only The Group.

He knew what he and The Group were going to do would be an act of war against the country, and he was truly scared. He remembered when he had first been approached by someone from The Group. Casual remarks. Cocktail party conversation. Pointed complaints about the direction of the country and guarded suggestions of action. As they found him listening without challenging, the remarks got more pointed. A few dinner parties with people who seemed to all be talking about the same thing. Some lunches with statements made and questions asked of him that almost caused him to ring the alarms. And finally, after his election with King, meetings with some powerful, yet quiet, people where he finally realized that The Group was a reality and that there was a Plan. And he realized he agreed with The Plan. He knew he had gone too far with these people, but he also knew they were right and they had the way to make the changes to turn the country around.

Everyone in The Group was a patriot, and as The Group grew to become an international force, he realized that the same things that had been crushing America were crushing the rest of the civilized world. The means of making the necessary changes were no longer outright wars between countries. That time had long passed. The world was too small now. The countries depended too much on each other, or should, to allow any one country to be at war with its neighbors. But change had to come. For the countries and for the families. For his wife and children.

As his car moved through the streets of the city, he felt a deep, gnawing pain at the thought of what he was doing and where it would all lead. He felt passionately about what he was doing and what he knew was the way the country had to go. He always had. But this was different. This was treason and he was at the heart of it. He and a handful of powerful people had decided they would make the changes, no matter what the cost to them personally. The months and years of planning were over and the operation was ready to be put into place.

The Plan would bring about new laws and regulations that even the government leaders would know nothing about until they were in place. Signatures were on documents that no one knew existed except The Group. Leaders were in place, or were ready to step in, who had been hand selected, and no one would see it happen until The Group took control. Governments, militaries, unions, businesses, banks, communications, even the people. The Plan incorporated them all into a new way of life. It would be difficult. It was treason. His mind forced him to quietly say the word again, and he felt the sickness in the pit of his stomach. People around the world would suffer for a time as change took place. But the winners would be the people—the families—the children of the future.

At next month’s meeting with The Group, The Plan would be signed off and within the year would begin a tsunami roll around the world. Things would happen quickly as The Plan touched each continent, nation, government, and leader. Some would embrace the changes. Some would fight. Some leaders would be forcibly removed. Some places would need military intervention. But The Plan covered all these situations and the outcome was already known. Ultimately, with world and national order restored, the nations of the world would reach out to each other again and peace and prosperity would for once bring the world together.

Yes, he thought, that sounds like a childish dream at best—even ridiculous. It had never happened in the history of the world. Never would happen, said the prophets. But, it would. The Plan had been drawn up too carefully and too completely to be laughed off as someone’s pipe dream. It was real, and it would work.

When the people of the world—of America—experienced the freedom and economic rewards they hadn’t seen or been a part of for many years, they would embrace the changes, and no government or politician would ever be able to change things back for the worse. People everywhere were so ready to have peace—to have lives they didn’t need to beg and die for—to just have what was their rightful part of the world. They would never allow anyone to take it away from them again.

This was what Roger Calliman wanted for America. It was what he wanted for his family. There was now The Plan, and The Group would move it into place. The country—the world—would change. The Plan had been forged into reality over years of effort. The Group had worked for years to make it happen. He had prayed for years for this change to come about. It was time.

As his car wove through the city to a meeting that he looked forward to with fear, he tried to push his concerns down, back into that dark place where they resided, and to look at what would come from the efforts he and the others were laying their lives on the line for. His hands were still shaking and he felt sick at his stomach, and he wondered if the driver had taken any notice of his turmoil. As far as anyone knew, he was just going to another late-night government meeting. No one knew who he was meeting, though. He would get through it the best he could, and he would then look forward to seeing The Plan become a reality. Life would come back to what it was supposed to be and all the secrecy and plotting and fear would be replaced with the return of his country to the greatness she once enjoyed. He and his family would finally be able to live in peace.

But, the word went through his thoughts again—Treason!