Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [150]
“Sorry, Wellington, no offense meant, but I have a little more clout in the Senate than you may give me credit for having. I can tie McCarty up in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delay his nomination of Elizabeth Cartright using my vote on the Judiciary Committee, slow his efforts to institute the new Department of Energy, Transportation, and Climate-change, and use my bully pulpit to put a monkey wrench in his budgetary and rationing plans.”
“Senator, it appears I underestimated you,” Wellington said, impressed, “You can rest assured I’ll do whatever I can to publicly and financially support you and those patriots who choose to ally with us. We’ll take our message to the public and with your efforts in the Senate, we should be able to either stop him or slow him down. Perhaps you might even find grounds for impeachment—you know, exceeding presidential authority, stuff like that.” Might as well plant a few seeds, Wellington had thought.
“While we’re at it,” said Hugo Bromfield, caught up in the moment, “McCarty has also abdicated the sovereignty of the United States to an outside entity that will regulate the amount of oil we can import. Further, their cockamamie oil plan calls for the United States to relinquish more oil in this special contingency reserve pool than any other country.”
“Right on, Hugo, and they’re doing all this in collusion with Red China,” said Collingsworth, fueling the fire.
“Senator, would you be willing to appear on my show tomorrow?” Wellington had asked, knowing full well the answer.
“Of course, Wellington, what would you like me to do?”
“I’d like to have an open conversation with you, much like we’re having here, to make known the perfidy of this administration. I’ll give you a few softball questions and then engage you in conversation. We’ll open it up for a few phone calls, and once I have my audience worked up, I’ll announce that the Taking Back America road show kicks off in ten days or so.”
“Count me in, Wellington. In the meantime, Hugo and I’ll compile a list of like-minded senators who will join in our crusade.”
The loud crack of a tree breaking in the gusting wind shook Wellington out of his reverie. For the first time, he realized that the hurricane might do what no human force had been able to do: shut down his broadcast. He didn’t fear for his life, but what if his precious studio was knocked out or destroyed by Hurricane Matilda?
Perplexed, he put on his rain gear and rushed to his studio. If it was going to be blown away, he’d go down with it. There was nothing he hated more than to not be in control of a situation, and he was frightened this might be one of those rare occasions.
55
Mankato, Minnesota
25 October 2017
Pastor Veronica Larson’s first conscious thought upon waking and seeing the frost on her window was, How will my struggling parishioners pay their next heating bill? The change of seasons had taken on a new meaning as the oil crisis worsened.
The Life Challenges Co-op had completely consumed her since she introduced the idea two weeks ago. As part of an executive committee charged with launching the co-op, she had met every day since to plan, recruit, and delegate tasks to keep it moving.
The president’s speech last week had added fuel to the fire. She had never seen such panic in Mankato before; she couldn’t believe how quickly the crisis had taken hold and spread. There were long lines at the gas stations, even though premium gas was selling at $10.78 per gallon; several stations had already closed as their pumps ran dry, and the remaining stations limited gas purchases to five gallons per customer. The effects of rising oil prices put a strain on all other energy forms, and heating fuel costs were becoming problematic as temperatures started to drop.
The president’s call for gas rationing had ignited the efforts of the co-op’s executive committee. They now had