The Fourth K

In the very next second eight cars swung into the open area and Secret Service men in combat gear and bulletproof vests that made them seem like gigantic balloons came tumbling out with shotguns and machine pistols and caught the attackers in the rear. They shot with precision and short bursts. In less than thirty seconds, all twelve attackers were lying in the avenue dead, their guns silenced. The presidential limousine roared away from the curb, other Secret Service cars following.

At that moment, A

One TV cameraman had the wit to swing his camera for a panoramic shot of everything that was visible. Thousands of people had flung themselves to the ground when the firing broke out and were still lying prone as if begging some unforgiving God for mercy. From that prone mass issued streams of blood that came from those who had been hit by the heavy fire from the assassination teams or killed by the explosion of the powerful bombs. Many in the crowd had suffered concussions and, when the terror stopped, rose and staggered in confusion. The camera caught all this for television to horrify the nation.

In the office of Vice President Du Pray, Christian Klee jumped out of his chair and cried out, "What the fuck happened!"

Helen Du Pray stared at the TV screen and then said sharply to Klee, "Who was the poor bastard who took the President's place?"

"One of my Secret Service men," Christian Klee said. "They were not supposed to get that close."

Du Pray was looking at Klee very coldly. And then she became angrier than he had ever seen her. "Why the hell didn't you cancel the whole thing?" she shouted. "Why didn't you avert this whole tragedy? There are citizens dead out there in the street who came to see their President. You've wasted the lives of your own men. I promise you, your actions will be questioned by me to the President and to the appropriate congressional committee."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Klee said. "Do you know how many threats are made against the President every day? If we listened to all of them, the President would be a prisoner in the White House."

Helen Du Pray was studying his face while he spoke.

"Why did you use a double this time?" she said. "That is an extreme measure. And if it was that serious, why did you have the President go there at all?"

"When you are the President, you can ask me those questions," Klee said curtly.

"Where is Francis now?"

Klee stared at her for a moment as if he would not answer. "He's on his way to Washington. We don't know how extensive this plot is, so we want him here. He is very safe."

Du Pray said in a sardonic voice, "OK, now I know he's safe. I assume you've briefed the other members of the staff, they know he's safe, what about the people of America? When will they know he's safe?"

Klee said, "Dazzy has made all the arrangements. The President will go on television and speak to the nation as soon as he sets foot in the White House."

"That's rather a long wait," the Vice President said. "Why can't you notify the media and reassure people now?"

"Because we don't know what's out there," Klee told her smoothly. "And maybe it won't hurt the American public to worry about him a bit."

In that moment, it seemed to Helen Du Pray that she understood everything. She understood that Klee could have cut the whole thing of before it reached the culminating point. She felt an overwhelming contempt for the man, and then, remembering the charges that he could have stopped the atom bomb explosion but didn't, she was convinced that that charge was also true.

But most of all she felt despair: she realized that Klee could never have done this without President Francis Ke

CHAPTER

23

THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT rocketed Ke

November, Francis Xavier Ke

United States. It was a victory so overwhelming that it carried into office nearly all his handpicked candidates for the House and Senate. At long last the President controlled both houses of Congress.

In the period before the inauguration, from November to January, Francis Ke

When President Ke

In fact Ke

Ke

But most startling of all was the proposal to establish criminal colonies in the wilds of Alaska for three-time offenders. In effect, life sentences.

Francis Ke

It was during those three days that Oddblood Gray requested a private meeting with the President. They met in the Yellow Oval Room over lunch.

Gray was extremely formal, deliberately erasing his past relationship with Ke

Ke

"I ca

"Why not?" Ke

Ke

"Then let them stop committing criminal acts," Ke

Gray shot back, "Then let your big corporations stop using blacks for slave labor-"

"Get off it, Otto," Ke

"On this we trust nobody," Oddblood Gray said.

"I'll give you the reality," Ke