The President and his entourage mounted the dais erected before the watching crowds, and after more rapturous applause had died down the President’s voice carried clearly over the crowds as Kiera watched, one hand on her bag beside her as she prepared to take the stand.
‘We’re here to celebrate a trade agreement that spans the largest ocean on Earth and one that I believe, personally, to be long overdue. The Trans Pacific Trade agreement now welcomes China aboard as a partner, in a deal that could finally overcome the historic rivalry between our nation and the rising tiger of the East. We all know how China has grown as a nation both economically and technologically over the past two decades, and only a fool would believe that such growth will come to an end soon. To join our friends across the Pacific in a trade deal that will secure and enhance both of our nation’s futures for many decades to come, to embrace prosperity over enmity, is an achievement that we should all be proud of, and I personally applaud every single person involved in the deal for securing a partnership that I hope will last long into our futures.’
A ripple of applause fluttered through the crowd.
‘Closer to home, it’s been a hard road to freedom for our country and for that of the people of Iraq, for the end to a conflict which we did not start but which was left to us to complete, but today we can confidently say that our time in Iraq has come to an end and it came to that end in spectacular style. Members of our military were able to liberate a voice with whom so many of us have become so familiar over the years, a voice that was silenced by Islamic State jihadists intent on stifling the truth. They attempted to cast a veil over the opinions and broadcasts of one woman, and as any of us men know that’s a task that’s not easy to achieve under any circumstances.’
A ripple of chuckles fluttered across the audience as the President gestured to Kiera.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you to welcome among us journalist Kiera Lomas.’
A rapturous applause filled the lawns as Kiera stood, smiling broadly for the cameras and for the President as he stood back from the dais and applauded along with the guests as two Secret Service agents moved either side of her and escorted her to the dais. Kiera climbed the steps, the agents remaining nearby, as she approached the President and took his proffered hand.
‘Welcome home,’ the President said with a warmth that Kiera realized was entirely genuine.
The President embraced her briefly and then stood back to give her the dais and the attention of the crowds gathered before them.
Kiera moved to the microphones and saw the immense crowds gathered outside the White House grounds, flocked in their thousands and able to listen intently as the sound of the applause died down and there was suddenly a deep silence all around her. To Kiera’s amazement, in the center of Washington DC she could have heard a pin drop as all activity ceased and it seemed the entire capital city of the United States of America hung on her next word. Former presidents watched from their homes across the country via satellite link, senators and other powerful figures all waiting to hear what she would say.
Kiera’s mind fell silent as she stared across the hundreds of faces watching her expectantly, and she thought she heard a voice whisper in her head.
Kill him.
Kiera frowned, blinked, and began to speak.
‘It’s hard to put into words how much my life has changed since I was liberated from captivity in Iraq by the brave men and women of our armed services…’
Kill him!
‘… who risked their lives in order to save mine, so that I might return here and continue my work in pushing for greater transparency of government, reduced corporate interference in politics and exposing corruption and injustice in our legal system. I guess you could say that when the President gave the order for me to be rescued, he kind of shot himself and most of Washington DC in the foot.’
Laughter rippled across the crowd as Kiera felt her arm twitch slightly of its own accord, as though urging her to move.
‘And that,’ Kiera went on, ‘is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all and an ironic statement on my part. I have seen at first — hand what happens to a country when its law enforcement, judiciary and military collapse and its citizens are left at the hands of marauding bandits hell bent on destruction and mayhem. It doesn’t matter what religion they follow, all that matters is that they can bear arms against others without fear of retribution, safe in the knowledge that there is no law preventing them from carrying the weapons of war as easily as the rest of us carry a cell phone.’
Kill him, now!
‘Our country’s constitution enshrines our right to bear arms, but that constitution was written in a time when law enforcement wasn’t a phone call away, when marauding bandits plagued our lands just as they do Iraq’s now. But our country has changed immensely since those days and now the United States is officially recognized as the world’s number one gun crime murder capital. We have as many firearms in this country as we do people. It’s hardly surprising that our children are shot in their schools by people of unsound mind who are still presented with no barriers to purchasing high powered assault rifles, pistols, shotguns and other weapons that have no place on today’s streets.’
Kill him, right now!
The traffic became even more dense as Ethan carved a path toward the White House, the roads solidly blocked, and Ethan cursed as he pulled off the road and up onto the sidewalk. Pedestrians cried out in alarm as Ethan thundered down the sidewalk between trees and parked bicycles and scooters, sunlight and shadows racing past him in rapid succession, then slammed back down onto the intersection and began weaving through the vehicles again, the sun hot on his bare arms and clouds of heat from the engine billowing around his legs.
His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and Ethan fumbled for it as he rode and read the message on the screen from Lopez.
Blue van, corner of G & 17!
Ethan yanked the Harley hard left onto K Street and wound the throttle open as he accelerated toward the target.
XLIV
‘Blue van, corner of seventeenth and G!’
Lopez shouted the command in her microphone as she burst out of the White House security exit and onto the north lawn, her own cell phone screen holding an image sent to her by Hellerman of traffic camera footage of the vehicle parked there.
She heard a Secret Service Agent’s reply come back to her moments later.
‘The traffic’s too dense for pursuit vehicles, officers are joining you on foot!’
Lopez sprinted down the White House drive around the North Lawn, the security post ahead of her already unlocking the gates that opened out onto Pennsylvania Avenue NW. She sprinted through the gates and turned hard left, tourists with cameras staring wide eyed as she ran by.
‘Get out of the way!’
Lopez shouted at the densely packed citizens all watching screens erected on the north lawn showing the ongoing ceremony on the south lawn, the crowds parting for her as they saw the shield clipped to her belt and the gun in its holster beneath her shoulder.
The corner of 17th and G was only two hundred yards from the north lawn, Lopez sprinting alongside the Eisenhower Executive Office building and then out across the street.
Lopez could hear the sound of Kiera Lomas’s voice as it was broadcast on radio and on television screens erected around the perimeter of the White House.