Pandemonium in the Oval Office
Chapter One
The hushed muttering of the advisors slowly diminished upon sighting the President, arriving with his noble escort who bore the official documents enlisting the propaganda of the scheduled meeting, to which he was over half an hour late. His eyes swept across the room silently and settled upon the face of his military advisor, General Herman Williams who sat spine straight at the end of the oval table, his aura radiating poise and valor. The old general smiled faintly at the President but soon frowned slightly when he observed the susceptible glares of suspicion with a tinge of disappointment, laced with handsome dose of rage and lethal fury in his emerald eyes. Confusion was smeared across the face of the General as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Something was amiss. The President was staring daggers at him which was perplexing as he and the President had shared respectable bonds of comradeship and undoubted trust. What could have possibly altered that?
“Mr. President, thank goodness you’re here!”, sighed the advisor on Education, Maria Justice, in relief, “We were worried something bad had happened. You’re late; you’re never late”.
The advisors nodded unanimously in concurrence. President Gerald Hugh then peeled his eyes off the General and made his way to his extolled seat at the head of the table. Greeting his cabinet members, he cleared his throat and apologized for his tardiness.
“I had pressing issues to attend to”, he said remorsefully as he briefly glared at the General spitefully sending shivers down the spine of the old man, “Shall we begin!”.
There was shuffling of paper and clicking of pens as the meeting began. Reports from the health and education advisors were delivered and analysed critically and tactically. Maria Justice worriedly insisted on the need for security upgrade in target states of the Eastern Nation terrorist attack, utilizing the recent deaths of over 1000 students and teachers of a local high school, to a bomb attack.
“What has the military done to curtail the attacks of these alien miscreants?”, questioned Thomas Cooper, the Information and communications advisor. The General tapped rhythmically on the table and stated with utmost confident and surety,
“The military is doing its utmost to expel these vagabonds from the country’s borders with immediate effect, that I assure you”
“Not to question, your efforts in eradicating these chaotic elements, but if I may ask, how is it that they are able to accrue such elite weaponry. The police managed to apprehend some of these miscreants as you rightly termed them, in New York, and a thorough search yielded loads of American arsenal. Guns, hand bombs, tear gas and whatnot. The real question is, how are they getting these weapons? Our weapons?”, she asked the cocky General with a raised eyebrow.
“They are using our own artillery against us?”, added the advisor on Health, “Do you know the degree of mortality in each of the states per week? This is becoming outrageous”.
“Does this mean the military cannot account for its weaponry. Our arsenal is being smuggled or stolen rather, under our very noses? Do you know how gravely this has affected the economic sector of this country?”, asked the advisor on Finance.
And in that way, everyone seemed to hurl at the already discomforted Herman who already had sweat beads forming at his forehead. He was obviously nervous, or perhaps he was panicking in guilt. These were the President’s observations as he studied the old general melt like butter in the face of the verbal chaos that saturated the Oval office. As the noise became incessant and rather irking, the President called for order
“Enough! Quiet everyone! I have made a decision”, he thundered whilst banging his fists in anger to silence the incessant hullabaloo, “General Herman Williams, I hereby order for your retrenchment from military service and state advisory!”
Everyone gasped in shock but no one was more shocked than General Williams himself.
“What?”, he screamed in sheer disbelief, “Mr. President, how could you? What did I do to deserve this?”
“You are a traitor! You have been engaging in illegal sales of weapons to the Eastern nation troops”, roared President Gerald as he stood in anger, his teeth gnashing in fury.
“You can’t accuse me of such preposterous and treacherous deeds”, retorted the General, “Not without evidence, at least”.
“1 hour. In sixty minutes, I’ll expose your illegal dealings to the cabinet and you will be tried in the court of law, for treason against the United States but until then, meet your replacement. The new General, Bright Oswald”, announced the President as he pointed to the door from where a young, blonde haired man with an athletic build emerged from. The man bowed slightly before the cabinet and approached the President before saluting him respectfully.
“With him around, I’m afraid your services will no longer be required. The authorities will arrive in thirty minutes to take you into custody so sit tight, my friend”, snorted the President as he adjusted his tie.
“Mr. President!”, cried the General in plea as security officials surrounded him, keeping him put until the authorities arrived. The President summoned his escort and addressed his cabinet, “Meeting adjourned!”.
The President proceeded to the door and stopped abruptly. He placed his left hand on his chest and screamed in agony. His escort held his hand, asking worriedly for the cause of his outburst. No answer. Instead he crashed to the floor his eyes closing and his body going numb, a few of his advisors surrounding him, trying to ascertain what the qualm was.
“What’s wrong with him?”, asked the advisor on Health, shaking President Gerald vigorously, “Stroke? Heart attack? Lethargy?”
“Death! He is dead!”, shrieked Maria Justice.
And just like in the beginning, there was hushed muttering, only this time, it was followed by pandemonium.
