Sam Bourne - The Chosen One

‘I’m glad to hear that, sir.’ Panic was flooding through her: she fought it down. Mastering herself, she let the silence linger and then asked, ‘What will you do now?’

‘I don’t know, Maggie. I need to think a while. But I do have one immediate plan.’

‘Yes?’

‘I’m going to fly straight from here tomorrow to Idaho and see Anne Everett. Apologize to her in person. The first of many conversations, I suspect.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I’ve also been thinking about you, Maggie. How to protect you. We need to give you what Forbes gave himself.’

‘A blanket, sir.’

‘That’s right. A blanket.’

‘You should have one yourself.’

‘I’ll have the Secret Service looking after me and my family for the rest of our lives, Maggie. But I think I may have found a way for you to have some peace of mind.’

‘How?’

‘One of the advantages of being President is that I have access to the database of the National Security Agency. Ever since 9/11 they’ve had satellites watching all our airports in real time. “Eyes in the sky” they call them. Record everything. You just have to know where to look and you can magnify the image, hundreds of times over. They can zoom in on a baggage-handler having a smoke and tell you what paper he was reading.’

‘I don’t see how-’

‘It means, Maggie, we have footage from both Teterboro and Reagan National airports which clearly shows you being assaulted and then bundled into an aircraft registered with AitkenBruce on which Roger Waugh was the listed passenger. That footage will now be lodged with Agent Zoe Galfano and her colleagues in the Secret Service. If anything happens to you, Waugh personally – not just his bank – will be the prime suspect.’

‘Thank you, Mr President.’ She didn’t feel that she could voice her worry that that might not be enough. Hadn’t Waugh told her that he had only recently become the leader of his fellow bankers? Even if he was incapacitated surely there were others who would come after her. And Uri. And Liz – and Calum. She shuddered.

‘It’s me who needs to thank you, Maggie. For everything. I know you risked your life for me these last few days. You put yourself in harm’s way, facing men prepared to kill – and you did that for me. I will never forget that, Maggie. Just like I will never forget your passion, your devotion to those who have no other voice but yours. You are truly a remarkable woman, Maggie Costello. And I hope one day to find a way to repay you.’

‘I don’t know what to say, Mr President.’

‘I also need to thank you for something more immediate – that paper you sent over this morning. On Vice President Williams. Very helpful.’

‘Was it, sir?’

‘Oh, yes. It confirmed what I had suspected, which made me feel all the more comfortable handing over to him.’

‘And what had you suspected, Mr President?’

‘Well, you saw what kind of career he’s had, Maggie. Tried and failed to get into Congress three times. Was forty-two years old before he got elected to anything.’

‘I see.’

‘No one smoothed Bradford Williams’s path, did they? He got there all by himself. It means nobody will have a hold over him. Except the voters, of course.’

Maggie smiled. ‘I think you’re right, sir.’

‘And do you know why that is, Maggie? Because I have a theory.’

‘What’s that, sir?’

‘Our friends the bankers didn’t bet on Bradford Williams, did they? They didn’t spot his talent. And I suspect that was for one very simple reason. They never believed a black man could become President.’

Wire story from the Associated Press, posted on March 28, 11.45 EDT:

Police in at least four cities across the globe have launched raids against the headquarters of some of the world’s biggest banks, in what appears to be internationally co-ordinated action triggered by outgoing President Stephen Baker’s stunning resignation announcement.

The key target of the arrests is AitkenBruce bank, which posted $12bn in net profits last year. Its premises in London, New York, Frankfurt and Dubai were raided within minutes of each other, as international law enforcement officers immediately impounded computerized records, ordering what a spokesman called a ‘total lockdown’ so that crucial evidence could not be destroyed.

Update posted at 12.01:

Federal agents have arrested Roger Waugh, the Chairman and Chief Executive of AitkenBruce, at his $35m Long Island home. In front of waiting photographers, Mr Waugh was led out in handcuffs and leg-irons – a signal, according to an FBI source who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, that prosecutors plan to level ‘the gravest charges’ against the banking giant and its boss…

One week later

‘Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States!’

Maggie watched closely to see which senators and congressmen were clamouring to shake the new President’s hand and which were withholding their affection. When Baker had done a televised address to a joint session of Congress, the Democrats had all been desperate to touch him, hoping some of his stardust might fall onto their shoulders. But the Republicans had held back.

Now both sides were eager, applauding wildly, stretching to get within back-slapping distance of Bradford Williams as he waded through the thicket of people jamming the entrance to the chamber. Democrats were determined to use the occasion to shore up the new man; the Republicans, Maggie suspected, were keen to demonstrate their colour-blind comfort with an African-American as president.

It took four minutes for all four hundred and thirty-five representatives and one hundred senators, along with the nine justices of the Supreme Court as well the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in their starched uniforms, to still their applause. When they did, Williams began.

‘My fellow Americans – all I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today. The departure of Stephen Baker was a deep blow to our nation, one that seemed to shake the foundations of our entire system. It will take us a long time to recover. It won’t be easy. In fact, it will be hard. For me as well as for you. But together I believe we can do it.’

Another round of applause. Maggie noticed that Williams’s forehead was already glistening.

‘It was a shock not only because this nation had put its trust in Stephen Baker and given him a mandate to govern just a few short months ago. It was a shock because of what we had discovered. That there had been a conspiracy to deny the American people their right to be a free and sovereign people, a conspiracy to hold to ransom the man this nation had chosen as its president. Tonight I am here to tell you and those behind that conspiracy, wherever they may be: this will not stand.’

A thunderclap of applause. Maggie sat forward.

‘Tomorrow I shall put a bill before you that will regulate those banks who have not only grown too big to fail but too big – period. I plan to curb their reckless dicing and slicing of our money. No longer will our nation’s economy be used as a casino. It’s too important for that.’

By now he was drowned out by waves of applause. But he rode right over them. ‘I plan to cap their pay, so that it reflects the real world the rest of us live in – so that those who work hard can get on, but those who lie, steal and cheat are no longer rewarded for their efforts.’

Maggie watched all but a handful of diehards applauding. The politicians knew how such a populist message would be playing with their constituents back home: they’d be fried alive if they dared to disagree with what Williams had just said.