“Government is in reality established by the few; and these few assume the consent of all the rest, without any such consent being actually given.”
“After a two-day search, the U.S. Coast Guard recovered the body of Chief Justice Clarence Noyner of the United States Supreme Court,” said the Fox News anchor in a “breaking news” alert on one of the big screens in Zach Turner’s Bunker.
Zach and three others working in the Bunker stopped in dead silence. Nobody said a word during the news alert broadcast.
“Damn,” said Zach, barely audible.
Then they all started to speak at once.
Holding both arms up, Zach said, “Hold up, hold up!”
“At the request of his family, Justice Noyner was cremated earlier today within hours of his remains reaching shore,” continued the newscast.
“Are you kidding me? Are you serious?” yelled Will at the screen.
“Wow!” said another.
“Who does that? That’s one of the most important men in our country and they don’t order an autopsy? Are you flippin’ serious?” screamed Zach at the screen, then turning to his men, who looked bewildered.
Will grabbed the remote to turn the sound down on the Fox screen and turned up CNN.
“They’re all saying the same thing… Wow,” Will said, his voice unbelieving.
“Guys, call your contacts right now. This may be an accident as they say, but I want to know what the chatter is. Do it now,” ordered Zach.
Zach sat down and a sinking feeling came over him. The Supreme Court had several cases on its docket that were controversial and very close to Zach, including vital cases that involved gun control that could effectively gut the 2nd Amendment if decisions came down on the liberal side of things.
The death of Noyner now put the Court in a 4-4 deadlock, with one justice who was so moderate that he tended to be liberal in most decisions and was expected to be a gun regulation proponent.
President Bartlett was now poised to appoint a Supreme Court nominee that would be hard left. With Bartlett now in the White House and the conservative justices so old, Bartlett could swing the Supreme Court of the United States for generations to come. Transformational would be an understatement.
“Zach, Noyner was with Senator McCray and some guy named Ottosson from CIS. They flew down to Florida on the CIS corporate jet.”
“CIS? What the hell is Noyner doing on their damned plane?”
“CIS is a major donor for McCray,” replied Will, holding up a donor sheet pulled off a government campaign contributor website.
“Find out about this Ottosson guy. Who the hell is he?” bellowed Zach.
Holding the phone over the mic of his headset, another Turner employee yelled, “He’s a lobbyist for CIS. Apparently some kind of playboy in D.C., too.”
“This is already starting to smell,” Zach stated. “It’s not like Noyner to be on a lobbyist’s jet. I don’t get it.”
“Bartlett is doing a statement from the Oval Office tonight at 8:00,” said Will.
The eyes of the nation were on the East Room of the White House as everyone waited for Bartlett to stroll down the red carpet to the podium with the presidential seal.
This was the first opportunity for Bartlett to address the nation since her inauguration, and she was looking forward to the opportunity. Dressed in a powder blue pantsuit, she walked up to the podium, looking somewhat stiff.
“My fellow Americans, it’s not lost on me that my first opportunity to address you as your president is on this very solemn day. We have lost Chief Justice Clarence Noyner of the Supreme Court to a terrible accident while he was fishing off the coast of Florida.”
Bartlett tried to feign sadness and real emotion but, try as she might, it was hard for her to hide the fact she had been openly critical of Noyner for many years.
“I would like to thank the proud men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard who braved some very bad weather for two days in the Gulf of Mexico to finally locate and recover Chief Justice Noyner’s body. My heart goes out to his immediate family and to his extended family at the Supreme Court.”
Bartlett reached down under the podium for a tissue and dabbed her right eye, although no tears were visible.
“Justice Noyner and I had our differences for sure, but he was a principled man from Texas with very humble beginnings who became one of the great legal minds of our time.”
She paused and looked around the room. A controlled environment, this was not a press conference where the president took questions.
“We have lost a great man, a great public servant, and an outstanding Supreme Court justice. We have lost a man known to many as The Lion of the Law. God bless his family and God bless America.”
“No questions. No mention of an accident investigation, no mention of an inquiry and no mention of an autopsy. What the hell?” asked Will, looking around the group in Turner’s Bunker who had stayed to watch the broadcast.
“It’s the cremation that bothers me the most,” said Zach. “Hell, the last two or three pop stars that died unexpectedly had autopsies ordered and here the chief justice of the Supreme Court dies, supposedly by accident, yet no autopsy and a very quick cremation?”
“Makes no sense to me, either. Why do it this fast?” Will agreed.
“You know, I could be thrown off the scent I’m getting on this if they had just done an autopsy. The immediate cremation just doesn’t sit well with me.” Zach looked both perplexed and suspicious.
“A couple of news commentators noted that his body was in the ocean for two full days. A lot could have happened out there to it,” remarked one of the other men.
Zach stood up to pace a few steps back and forth while lighting a cigar. “I can understand under those conditions the family not wanting to do an open casket funeral; that makes perfect sense for that reason. But we all know autopsies are performed every day on remains likely in worse shape than the judge’s.”
Taking a cue from Zach, Will looked at the rest of the crew and said, “Keep digging, boys. We want details. What happened on that boat? Who else was on the boat? Why the CIS jet? Who knows anyone on McCray’s staff?”
While Zach’s crew was discussing their next steps, CNN was already profiling likely replacement nominations to the Supreme Court by President Bartlett.