Sweet Land of Liberty: Chapter 19, "Stand and Deliver"
Baker had to get out of that basement and out onto the street to get some bars on his phone. His first call was to Jerome Little Wolf. Jerome answered on the first ring and immediately said, “It wasn’t me boss!” Baker said, “Really, Jerome, really? ... because I swear to God, Jerome, if that was you ...” Jerome cut in, “No, uncle Tommy, no ... really, It wasn’t me ... I swear! It was some wacko. The president was holding a rally in Utah after the debate and some guy jumped up on the stage and started shooting, with a short gun, a hand gun ...”
Baker immediately believed Jerome. He knew him well. Little Wolf was a Cheyenne Indian from South Dakota, and Indians never lie. Baker loved that.
(Author’s note: This Thomas Baker series novel is based on the ‘Sunset Playland’ character as seen in the “Activity” section on this LinkedIn web page. This is a work of fiction, but contains opinion commentary. The use of past and present tense falls in line with the third person narrative, the reassembled chronology, and with opinion on current events)
“... and get this, uncle Tommy ... the president’s wife, Victoria, was with him, the First Lady ... he pushed her in front of him putting her between him and the shooter like a shield. She was killed instantly. The bullet passed through her, deflected, and it hit Goldfinger in the side of his face, his jaw. I’m not sure of his condition but it doesn’t look bad.” Baker couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Jerome Little Wolf continued, “The shooter was killed instantly, shot by the secret service.” Baker asked, “Who was it?” Jerome said, “Don’t know yet, no ID on the guy. The whole thing is kind of sketchy. It’s like the JFK assassination. The news I’m seeing has few details but it smacks of a planned multiple-hit conspiracy ... more like Lincoln.” Baker exclaimed, “Jesus!” Little Wolf pushed on, “Several republican senators were also targeted. Mitch McConkle and Lindsay Ham were attacked, wounded but not killed ... and Paul Rand is missing. The whole country is in shock and on alert. It’s crazy here, even more than before!” Little Wolf was calling from his office phone in the South Dakota State House where he was an aide to the governor.
Baker’s head was spinning. Between the assassination attempt, the First Lady's death, the pandemic which was still raging out of control, the presidential election coming up, and the newly revealed white supremacist horror of President Goldfinger after the first presidential debate ... and now his own personal crisis situation in Shanghai, Baker needed some answers, quick. Hopefully, Dr. Fong and Val Grantham were close to the mask-applied vaccine they envisioned.
Dai had called Baker to let him know both she and Dr. Fong were safe and working back at the lab unimpeded, and that they were making progress. She also told him that Dr. General Yuri Blasphemnyski was out of the picture. Baker wasn’t sure what that meant. Dai just said that the whole plan was scrapped and she was told that Blasphemnyski “went back to Moscow,” and that was that. She said that she and Dr. Fong were clear of any Chinese government blowback because those bad actors and conspirators “all went back to Moscow with Dr. General Blasphemnyski” ... ahem ...
Although everything was “called off”, the ‘Grim Reaper’ virus didn’t get the memo. No one would ever know who was behind the plot in Moscow or in Beijing, but they would ultimately get their wish in silent satisfaction. Their tracks were covered. Their henchmen, Blasphemnyski and crew, were all disposed of, the virus was in full play ... their only hope now was that President Goldfinger would contract the virus and it would be his demise. They had purposely tainted his “Nasty Virus” DNA-specific vaccine to render it ineffective ... which the president had had administered earlier in the summer. The concoction actually made him more susceptible. They never would have even dreamed of the good fortune of an assassination.
They played Goldfinger straight down the line from the beginning in 2016. Get the boob elected. Use him to divide and destroy America. Then get rid of him. Then take over. He did the heavy lifting for them. A brilliantly diabolical plan, right up there with 9/11. But they didn’t take into account the resolve of the few good men who would stand and deliver and protect America.
Dai was angry about the whole political power-play debacle, and well aware of the gravity of the virus pandemic situation. People were dying. Lots of people. Baker couldn’t agree more with her. This was the ultimate FUBAR-SNAFU. He needed an offensive action plan, because so far he was playing defense. Behind the eight ball. He called Ray Hennessy.
Hennessy could pull strings even the president couldn’t pull. His phone was ringing. Baker was just hoping that it wasn’t Hennessy who pulled the strings on the president. He was relieved when Hennessy answered. “Tom! Where the hell are you. We need you, boy! The shit has finally hit the fan around here ... it’s like Iwo Jima!” Baker answered, “I know, I heard the news. I’m in Shanghai, I’m in deep shit here myself ...” Before Baker could finish, Ray Hennessy said. “No problem, Tom, how can I help?... never mind, don’t tell me, tell me when I get there ... I‘m on it!”
Baker said, “No, wait! Don’t get on a plane. I may need to come to you. Can you get me back on one of those state department long-range Gulfstream jets? ... like we did that one time? I’ll have four or five people with me.” Hennessy said, “Yes, probably ... when?” Baker answered, “Pretty soon. I’ll let you know. Things are unraveling quickly here.”
Baker proceeded to tell Hennessy the whole story of the Russian-Chinese pandemic plot and the genocide on the American people. He told him about Dr. Fong and Blasphemnyski, Dai, Huang Lo ... the helicopter crash murder attempt, and even the lethal glass ice chip attempt at the Hyatt. And about Housekeeping. He told Hennessy about the vaccines Dr. Fong had created, the “Nasty Business” DNA-specific drug, and the LSD override drug ... and the aerosol mask spray he and Val Grantham were now working on. He told Hennessy to get in touch with Dr. Val Grantham in Utah and offer any assistance he may need in his work with Dr. Fong. He also put Hennessy in the loop with psychologist Lisa Hollister in San Francisco, adman George Lotus in New York City, and Jerome Little Wolf in South Dakota. Hennessy already knew Zhang Hong at the port, and, amazingly, Hennessy knew Johnny, the Shanghai Metro Police undercover cab driver. Small world, Baker thought ... but really not surprising considering the players.
Hennessy told Baker, “Jeez, Tommy boy ... sounds like you may have bit off a little more than you can chew ... no matter, we’ll chew on it together.” At this, Baker felt a sense of relief. He asked Hennessy if he knew who the helicopter kill team may have been, and that Huang Lo said they were Americans. Hennessy said he had some ideas, and that they were probably Russian and knew who Baker was and why he was in Shanghai. He said, “Sounds like a FUBAR all around. I don’t think you have anything to worry about now though ... well, maybe just a little.” They both laughed.
Then Hennessy said, “I guess you didn’t see the debate the other night?” Baker said, “No, I was busy fleeing for my life and hold up, hiding, in a dirty basement under a chicken store in the business district here.” Hennessy laughed, and jokingly sang a refrain from the famous Johnny Rivers song ‘Secret Agent Man’ that both he and Baker had always laughed about, “...Swingin’ on the Riviera one day, and then layin’ in the Bombay alley next day..." Baker said, “Very funny.” Hennessy continued, “...They’ve given you a number, and they’ve taken ‘way your name ... da da da da da da da da da da da da... secret agent mannnnnn ...”
Baker said, “Your voice sucks. How’s Goldfinger, he gonna make it? And what about poor Victoria? ... Damn! ...” Hennessy replied, “Yeah, sucks about Victoria. He used her as a shield. Pushed her toward the guy. What an ass. Looks like he’ll make it. Says he’s looking forward to the next debate, and not a word about his wife.” Baker said, “Figures. I’m not surprised at all. Tell me about the debate.”
Hennessy recounted the presidential debate from a few nights before, “It was a disgrace, Tom, that’s all I can say. Never seen anything like it. Made me sick to watch it. What the hell’s our country come to? It wasn’t even entertaining, more like a car wreck ... or a nasty fire fight. Goldfinger embarrassed not only himself, but all of us. He was the school yard bully as expected, wouldn’t let the other guy or even the moderator get a word in edgewise.” Baker said, “Yeah they’re talking about it over here, not in a good way. No wonder they hate us.”
Hennessy continued, “And get this ... he’s been threatening to remain in office and already calling foul on the election results. Said he wants his supporters to monitor the poles on election night, and he wants the mail-in ballots all not counted.” Baker, “Wow. I thought voting was a private affair, behind the curtains.” Hennessy, “Yeah, and it gets better ... his “supporters” guarding the poles would be these wimpy “militia” goons and white supremacists. The moderator asked if he would call off these violent, ignorant people, tell them to stand down, and he said, sure, he’d tell them to “stand back and stand by” ... can you believe it?! “Stand by”!!! ... it’s their call to arms ... they already have their T-shirts made and wearing them.”
Baker said, “Stand back, stand by, stand down ... sounds like it’s time for someone to stand up ... stand and deliver. Stay tuned, brother.” Ray Hennessy quietly sang again ... “Odds are you won’t live to see tomorrow ...”
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah
https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
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