The Election Read Online Free Page A

a disruption was one key to the Federalists’ plan, and TransWorld held that key.
    Randolph greeted Pierce as he entered the room. The two men shook hands firmly.
    â€œHow are you, my friend?” Randolph asked.
    â€œFine,” replied Pierce civilly. “And how was your trip?”
    â€œThe flight was fine,” replied Randolph. “We made it to LaGuardia from LA in just under six hours.”
    â€œBurke’s looking good in the polls. Do you think he can hang on to his lead?”
    Randolph winced. Already Pierce had changed the subject to the weakest link in the plan. There was no legitimate chance of success unless the Federalists obtained control of the White House.
    â€œHe’s scoring points with Hispanic voters with his promise to open the Mexican border to more immigration,” responded Randolph, as if Edward Burke was Harvard’s star quarterback rather than the man projected to be the next president of the United States. “The African American supporters are ecstatic over his position on affirmative action. He’s promising to fill vacant judicial seats with minority jurists and, of course, we will tell him who those will be. The economy is still strong, and that keeps the middle class satisfied. We just can’t have any surprises like last time.”
    The receptionist’s voice interrupted their conversation—this time to announce the arrival of Milton Hawthorne McAdams.
    Randolph knew it would be more difficult to convince Milton than Pierce that a problem had to be eliminated for the good of the cause. But he also knew Milton believed in their cause as much as, or more than, Randolph did and that he would agree the presidential race was too important to take the risk of being exposed.
    Again the elevator doors opened, and Milton McAdams strolled across the hall to the conference room. He was shorter than the other two men, slightly slimmer, and almost completely bald. The few wisps that remained of his prematurely gray hair gave him a dignified, fatherly appearance. He wore a conservative gray suit, white shirt, dark tie, and wingtip shoes.
    Milton controlled the largest bank in the world, World Federal Bancshares. Its headquarters were in New York, but it had offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, and London. Over the last several years his brokers had been acquiring large positions in all the world’s currencies. Very discreetly World Federal had cornered the market on the dollar, the yen, and the euro. Through its sophisticated maze of subsidiaries, it had acquired more Treasury notes guaranteed by the United States than all other banks and individuals combined.
    With these acquisitions came the ability to manipulate the bond market and, therefore, long-term interest rates. Milton had explained to Randolph that it was a simple case of supply and demand. A few days after Edward Burke’s inauguration, Milton’s brokers would be instructed to begin dumping bonds on the Chicago market, driving bond prices down. Long-term rates would soar, causing widespread panic and selling on Wall Street. Then the Federalists would ride in like white knights to save the world economy…at a price, of course. Randolph, Milton, and Pierce had all agreed it was a great plan.
    World Federal was also the largest issuer of credit cards. It had for years issued credit cards to unemployed college students. It wasn’t as much of a risk to Milton’s company as it sounded, since a student’s parents would pay the bill, if necessary, to protect their child’s credit rating. But Randolph knew that Milton didn’t really care whether the debt was repaid or not.
    The purpose of issuing credit cards to consumers, whether they qualified or not, was to condition the population to accept that credit cards were the same as currency. Anything could be purchased with a credit card—from groceries to pet food to furniture to automobiles. When the Federalists