"Brown, Dale - Warrior Class" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brown Dale)

It was then that the chief justice realized that all the stories he had heard about Thomas Nathaniel Thorn were probably true. This was impossible . . . unacceptable! "Governor Thorn, please, we should be going." No response. Thompson raised his voice in his most commanding courtroom tone: "Governor Thorn! "
One of the children opened her eyes, looked at the chief justice, then looked at her mother quizzically, but closed her eyes again when Amelia didn't react. "You may join us, you can observe, or you may leave," Thorn said in a very quiet but perturbed voice, keeping his eyes closed, "but you may not disturb us. Thank you."








Chief Justice Thompson knew his presence was'demanded at the Capitol, knew he had to be there-but he couldn't make himself leave. He stood, transfixed, and watched in amazement as the minutes ticked by and the hour of transition approached. There were several urgent radio and phone calls, all answered by the Secret Service, but the Thoms and the Busicks, could not be disturbed.
Thompson considered saying something, perhaps even ordering them to get their asses in gear and get going because the nation was waiting for them, for God's sake, but some unexplained force kept him from saying another word. He couldn't believe the children-even the infant seemed to be resting, and the toddlers didn't move a muscle. He had never before in his life seen toddlers sit still for so long-his own grandchildren, although very well behaved, seemed to have nanosecond attention spans.
Precisely twenty minutes later, the Thorns opened their eyes-it was as if a silent command had passed between them, because they all did it together. The Busicks, opened their eyes when they detected the Thorns stirring. None of them looked sleepy in the least-in fact, they looked energized, refreshed, ready to power ahead. The older children quickly leapt into action without being told to do so, checking the younger children's diapers and helping Amelia Thorn pack up. Within moments, they were ready to leave.
"Governor, Senator, we ... we'd better hurry," Chief Justice Thompson stammered, still not believing what he had seen with his own eyes.
"No hurry, Mr. Chief Justice," Thorn said. "We have lots of time."
"But it'll take at least ten minutes to get to the Capitol, even with an escort, and at least ten more minutes to get up to the-2' "We're not going to the Capitol," Thorn said. The Busicks
and the Thoms were out the door, led by Secret Service agents scrambling to clear the way. They bypassed the elevator and headed right to the ancient stairway.
"You're ... you're not going to the Capitol?" Thompson asked in shock. But he, too, had to hurry to keep up with the family.
"The ceremony there is to honor President Martindale and
Vice President Whiting, Your Honor," Thorn said. "The people elected me to work for them, not to give speeches or put myself on parade."
"But . . . but the Congress, the other dignitaries, the invited guests, hundreds of thousands of citizens from all over the country-they're all waiting for
you at the Capitol. What are they going to say when you don't show up?"
"Same thing as they would if I did show-maybe kindlier, since they won't have an inaugural speech to pick apart," Thorn said. "No matter, Your Honor."
"You're not giving an inaugural speech? " Thompson cried in stunned amazement. "You're joking, of course." He knew he wasn't.
"I've got work to do. I've got a cabinet to get confirmed, several dozen federal judges to appoint, and a government to run. I promised the voters I'd get right to work, and so I shall."
The Thorns and Busicks marched downstairs, across the omate lobby of Blair House, and right across Pennsylvania Avenue past the barricades and the District of Columbia Police to the security gate at the White House. The crowds were thin, more than the usual number of tourists and passersby on the pedestrians-only street, but most of them were still along the parade route. In a few moments, however, a small crowd was gathered around them. Thomas Thorn shook a few hands, but he remained purposeful as he and his vice president--elect marched their families up to the security gate.
The Secret Service agents radioed ahead as fast as they could, but the group was still stopped by angry and confused Park Police. "What the hell is going on here?" the guard asked.
"I'm reporting for duty," Thorn said confidently. "Open UP."
"What?" the guard shouted. "Who the hell are you, bub? Back the-2' and his jaw dropped as recognition began to dawn. The chief justice stepped up.
"I am Joseph Thompson, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. I have just administered the oath of office to these two gentlemen. Governor Thorn and Senator Busick . . ." The chief justice looked at his watch-it was now twelve-oh-








two. I mean, the President and Vice President of the United States wish to enter the White House and begin their work."
By that time, the Secret Service Presidential Protection Detail had responded, moving the crowd back, clearing the way, and providing the proper authentication to the startled and shocked Park Police and uniformed Secret Service officers. The security guard couldn't believe it was happening, but he buzzed open the gate and admitted the new President and Vice President of the United States and their families onto the grounds of their new home.
"Mr. President, are you sure you want to do this?" Chief Justice Thompson asked again, as urgently as he possibly could. "This is ... certainly unprecedented."
"There is nothing in the Constitution that directs me to have an inauguration ceremony, give a speech, parade through the streets of Washington, or put ourselves or our families on display," Thorn said. Thompson quickly scanned two decades' worth of studying and teaching the U.S. Constitution, and he realized Thorn was right: there was no Constitutional mandate or public law that said there had to be any sort of ceremony.
"Our inauguration is not a victory celebration, Mr. Chief Justice," Thorn went on. "We've just been given an important job to do-nothing more, nothing less. There's nothing to celebrate. I'm disrupting my family life, putting my dreams and aspirations on hold, and opening myself to all sorts of public scrutiny, doubt, and danger-all to do the people's business. I see no reason to celebrate anything but the peaceful transition of power in the world's greatest democracy. If anyone should celebrate, it's the voters who chose to exercise their right to choose their form of government and to choose who should lead it. As for me, I'll get right to work."
Chief Justice Thompson could say nothing else. He held out his hand, and Thorn shook it warmly. Thorn and Busick shook a few more hands, and to cheers and chants of "Thorn, Busick! Thorn, Busick! " led their families forward to the White House and marched into history.
Prlzren, Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia That same time
Usratta mozhna! That cowardly bastard did not even have the guts to attend his own swearing-in!" Chief Captain Ljubisa Susic, chief of the Prizren Federal Police Force, Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, laughed at the television with glee. He prided himself on his excellent knowledge of Russian, especially obscenities. "At a time when the eyes of the whole world are upon him, he
decides to hide in the White House and play with his vice president's meat pole, on igrayit z dun'kay kulakovay! "
Susic was in his office, staying late so he could watch the satellite TV broadcast available only in the headquarters building. Here in his office he had peace and quiet, the television picture was reliable and relatively clear, he had maraschinostrong, expensive Serbian cherry brandy-and he had his pistol, which he was required to carry while on the base but forbidden to carry outside. That was another example of the idiotic rules he had to follow because of the NATO occupation of Kosovo: he could carry a weapon when he was surrounded by a hundred heavily armed guards, but when he was on his own outside the headquarters compound, he had to be unarmed for fear of inciting unrest and fear in the civilian populationmost of whom would gladly put a bullet in his head or a knife in his back.
Prizren, in the southern section of the southern Yugoslavian province of Kosovo, was the headquarters of KFOR MNB (S), or Kosovo Force, Multi-National Brigade-South, the NATOsponsored, United Nation s-sanctioned peacekeeping force composed of fifty thousand troops from twenty-eight nations around the world, including the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and Russia. KFOR was set up to patrol Kosovo and attempt to minimize any more ethnic confrontations while the world community tried to find a solution for the problems associated with the disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
And there were plenty of problems. There was a Republic of Kosovo provisional government, sanctioned and even