After about five minutes of brief but tumultuous discussion, seven-thirty arrives. The mayor steps forward to the center of the raised dais, taking a seat in the center, his chair ever so slightly bigger and fancier than those belonging to the members of the City Council. With a single, sharp pound of his gavel, all of the chatter previously filling the room drops to hushed whispers. The nine members of the council take their respective seats at their hemi-annulus shaped table, name placards already laid out in front of them.
The press and the hundreds of gathered members of the public rush to take seats in the dozen or so rows of seats. Plenty more unlucky enough not to find a seat crowd around the aisles, to the point where security staff and representatives from the fire department are ushering people out for safety reasons. Even still, there’s a massive overflow audience outside the council’s meeting chambers, stretching along the hallway in both directions. Four full-sized news cameras are rolling, occasional whispers from the press staff tolerated by the council.
Another sound of the gavel follows, bringing the crowd to silence. The mayor taps his microphone, eliciting a brief screeching sound that makes me grit my teeth in pain. And others too, so it seems.
“Order, order. This emergency session of City Council on the morning of Tuesday, August 15 is now called to order. We shall now conduct an expedited roll call.”
And they do. The city clerk names all nine members of the council, plus the mayor himself, each of whom identifies themselves and attests to their presence and is sworn in. Unanimous consent is quickly attained to forgo the customary opening recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance— an apt decision, considering that the single item on the agenda concerns allegiance itself. And then, the contentious sole issue on the day’s agenda begins.
“With permission from the council,” the mayor begins, “I’d like to start by saying a few words about the current situation from our perspective along with our current thoughts on the matter at hand, followed by a chance for the members of the council to say their peace. After that, we will open the floor for public comment.
“If you wish to speak, please fill out a comment card and turn it in; one of our staff members will be available to collect them. Due to the sheer, overwhelming number of people we expect to speak here today, we are going to hold everyone to a strict two minute time limit to make sure that we have time to accommodate as many different speakers as possible.”
There are some murmurs in the crowd; the customary limit for public comments is three minutes. A few politically-minded individuals with prepared speeches are now furiously going through them, trying to pare them down to accommodate the new, shortened limits. Another tap of the gavel returns to the room to order, at which point, the mayor begins his speech.
“My fellow Americans,” he begins. “I want to address everyone in the crowd this morning. I recognize a few of the faces in the crowd, some I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working with on key issues facing our city, our state, and our great nation. I expect that a great many of you here today disagree with me on a number of important political issues, and while we may not see eye-to-eye on everything, or even most things, what unites us as Americans is our ability to come together and find common cause in our most desperate hour.
“And that’s what we find ourselves in. A desperate hour for all Americans. A new, homegrown terrorist organization has successfully laid waste to our nation’s capital, wielding power the likes of which has never been seen before.
“Not for over two hundred years has the capital of our great nation burned, despite the attempts of many over the centuries who have sought to undermine the principles our nation represents. A nation that does not always live up to its ethos, one where all are created equal, with liberty and justice for all. But a nation which, thanks to the tireless efforts of many, has slowly— too slowly— striven and clawed its way a little closer to that dream.
“But now we are at a crossroads. This new organization calling itself the First American Legion has, in the span of hours, all but leveled Washington, D.C. What remnants of our national leadership are still alive are fractured and broken, hunkered down in isolation and cut off from the outside world. And just this morning, I, as mayor, was contacted by an emissary of this Legion, with a list of demands.
“In short, assuming they are to be believed— something I trust about as far as I can throw them— they are offering us protection, of a sort. A peace agreement, if you will, to join their confederation. In exchange for our fealty and cooperation with their initiatives, they will provide resources and manpower to defend our homes and lives. Today, we are gathered to decide, in accordance with the principles of democracy, of consent of the governed and rule by the people, what course of action we will take on this most pressing matter.”
“Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” Councilor Maran says. “My thought on the matter is simple. This group calling itself the First American Legion is a terrorist organization. Regardless of their claimed intentions, they chose the path of killing tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children, all for a more dramatic backdrop with which to present their grievances, however legitimate they might have been. We must be adamant: the United States has never capitulated to terrorism, and we must not do so now.”
“It’s simpler than that,” Councilor Lochelle responds. “Once we go down the path of offering tribute to these new, would-be masters, we will be forever under their thumb. What good would it be for us to be protected from the monsters that have befallen our city in recent months, only to replace them with an intelligent, human threat?
“History has shown that groups which rule through fear, intimidation, and military might, almost always turn to oppression and subjugation, usually sooner rather than later. What good would it do us to have our lives, if it is only to live in an ever tightening cage? The tributes they demand and the terms they offer might seem favorable now, but what assurances will we have that those terms will remain in force after the ink is signed? I need no imagination to foresee a time when their representative looks at us here on the council and says ‘I am altering the terms of our deal; pray I don’t alter them any further.’!”
Councilor Symone— one of the two women, and one of the two who had taken a more conciliatory posture toward the Legion— shakes her head. “Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that everything you say is true. Let’s say that these agitators are going to demand tribute, and let’s also say that their terms are going to become increasingly stricter over time. What do you propose as an alternative? You don’t mean to try to fight against them? And with what weapons? I just can’t countenance sending our citizens to their deaths so this council can proudly boast about how they ‘stood up to terrorism’ or were ‘tough on crime’.”
“We’ve already heard back from Major Richardson and Colonel Wilson, the leaders of the military detachment currently stationed in and around the city. With our national leaders currently incapacitated, and senior military command assumed to be either captured, killed, or compromised, they are preparing to place themselves under the civil command of the city council for the foreseeable future.”
“That does not give us the right to throw their lives away,” Councilwoman Symone interjects. “Not after all the sacrifices they have made and the lives they have lost to allow the rest of us to mostly continue living our civilian lives unfettered. Or need I remind you of how many of our sister cities, both domestically and internationally, do not exist anymore, or are rubbled, with the survivors struggling just to pick up the pieces and try to survive?”
“That is proof that we are in an optimal situation to fight back and restore our lawfully-elected government,” Councilman Terry responds. “I am confident that they will wholly underestimate our military capabilities. Whatever weakened state D.C. might have found itself in at the time of the terrorist attacks and subsequent coup, they will need time to consolidate their power. We should take advantage of their situation, while they are still not yet cemented in power, to excise them and restore them.”
He stands up, pausing for a moment, then taps on the table to emphasize his words. “Every one of us swore an oath to our Lord to defend our country and our Constitution. Now, in our nation’s most desperate hour, it is time to uphold that oath, lest we be rightfully damned for our cowardice. I think we should channel the words of our Founding Fathers when our young nation was beset by pirates: Millions for defense, and not one cent for tribute!”
A back and forth heats up between Councilman Terry and Councilwoman Symone, the two of them not quite veering into personal invectives, but each of them making very pointed jabs at one another. Obligation and oaths, potential and possibility. The rule of law versus the public good. Councilman Terry makes an interesting point that if the council were to accede and give legitimacy to this coup, then what’s to stop a military takeover of the city council? Or another group to replace them? It would, based on his logic, lead to a string of successive juntas and warlords each toppling each other and being toppled in turn.
“But if that is the case,” Councilman Richard— the other of the two who had taken a more dovish stance in pre-meeting discussions— says, “then should we not consider a third option? I do not disagree with you in principle, Councilor Terry, but in practice, the United States has long maintained a stance of doublespeak with regard to negotiation with terrorists.
“Yes, we claim not to do so and publicly posture as such, in order to deter would-be terrorists from targeting our citizens, both at home and abroad. But we have, time and time again, through various intermediaries, done exactly that in order to secure the safe return of our citizens held hostage by both hostile governments and terrorist organizations alike.”
“And you mean to do that here? We would be tacitly supporting the overthrow of our own government!”
The mayor taps his gavel three times in quick succession. “Order! Order! Councilmembers!”
Credit to the man. I don’t know what Skill he’s using, or if he’s even using a Skill at all, but within seconds, the council members all sit back down in various states of displeasure. “To our audience this morning, you have heard our thoughts on this matter. But now, we wish to hear from you. Our staff has randomly selected and ordered from among the many, many people gathered here to speak. When your name is called, please make your way to the podium.
“To everyone else in the audience, please remain respectful and courteous to those who have come out here to speak this morning. Polite applause after a speech has finished is permissible, but I ask that you please refrain from any jeering, hollering, or any actions which might be inflammatory or obscene.”
It’s here that I see a familiar face in the outer range of my [Archangel’s Gaze], though not one I’m particularly keen on interacting with. Nicholas has just arrived, in full military dress uniform. He’s damn good at keeping his face devoid of any expression; he looks poised, professional, and prepared to speak or act however this meeting goes down.
I don’t like any part of what’s going on, but I already know that the two of us— three of us, Chloe included— need to have a conversation.
After informing Chloe of the good major’s arrival, the two of us slip out of the council chamber, prepared but not happy to hear what he has to say.