The Convention of States Impeached the President of the United States and helped select a new President to replace him. The current President refused to leave the White House, so the Commandant of the Marine Corps called the Director of the Secret Service to the discuss the matter. That call resulted in a quick and non-violent transfer of the current President out of the White House by his own guards. He did not even realize what was happening until it was all over and the new President was sitting in his chair. The Commandant also called the Capitol Police Chief when the Impeached Senators and Representatives declined to leave their offices. The Capitol Police Chief was less cooperative than the Secret Service. He refused to accept that the Convention of States or its rulings had any legitimacy and promised his department would resist any attempt to enforce them. Not all of them did, in fact, follow his orders, but most did. And that trend crossed all major departments and agencies of the Federal government. Some department or agency heads followed the old President and Congress, while others accepted the new government, and most of their people followed the leaders. It became a most confusing situation for a time.
“I’ve got your back, John,” Cassie said.
His displays flashed with recommendations and target locks.
“Never doubted it for a second,” Christensen said and sprang back to his feet. He lined the rifle in his right hand up on one enemy quad, waited a moment for the display to flash a target lock, and pulled the trigger. The secondary barrel glowed with electromagnetic energy for an instant before spitting out a single high explosive round that shot across the Martian landscape faster than the speed of sound. The kinetic energy alone was enough to breach the armor of anything but the heaviest enemy tanks. He would have needed a proper armor-piercing warhead to take one of them out, but the unarmored quad and its rider were an entirely different matter. It was akin to beating a piñata with a sledgehammer.
The other quads opened fire and rounds bounced off his armor or sent showers of red Martian dirt into the air all around him.
Christensen rode the recoil and turned away from the exploding quad. He stepped up onto the rim of the small crater, bringing the heavy rifle in his left hand to aim at another target. He pulled that trigger, kinetic energy flashed, and his second target exploded. He rode the recoil once more and brought the first rifle down on a third target. A stream of enemy rounds smashed into it and sparks filled his view. Powerful electromagnetic coils crackled their energy all over the Martian landscape. His display flashed red warning signs as the rifle fried itself to death in his hand.
***
The Martian Affair is available at the following retailers
We were alone in 2080. It was a new age of space exploration that would forever change humanity. Our probes traveled to every planet in the system, and manned missions blanketed the inner system. Our permanent colonies in Earth orbit, on Luna, and Mars pointed us to a new future in the stars.
Then an unknown objected entered Martian space, crashed through a Chinese satellite, and impacted on the Martian surface. Official reports called it a random piece of space junk. Conspiracy theorists claimed it was everything from a precursor to alien invasion to an embarrassing industrial accident.
Time marched on, and a legion of questions about the incident were never answered. Mars became a booming center of new industry, and eventually a comfortable home for humanity as we terraformed the surface. We forgot about the incident entirely as the years turned into decades and then centuries.
But now we know the truth, thanks to the recently declassified diaries of the man who watched that object arrive with his naked eyes. His name is Sergeant John Christensen, United States Marines Corps. This is his story.
***
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Two weeks ago, during the Democrat Convention, there was no violence in our streets worth talking about. But the Covid-19 epidemic was so terrifying that every speech was phoned in over the internet, and even when fully socially distanced masks were worn like a ward against the plague at nearly all times.
One week ago, during the Republican Convention, the epidemic of violence, destruction, and murder in our streets was the greatest threat to our Republic. The Chinese Virus was rarely talked about, unless blaming China for attacking us, many speeches were conducted live from inside a socially distanced convention center, and masks were rarely seen, even when people were not socially distancing themselves.
It is amazing how different the world is today, all seemingly based on the political beliefs we have. The things we fear are different. The causes and people we support. And often, we do not seem to recognize what the other side fears at all.
That is not a recipe for working together to either Make America Great Again or to Build Back Better…
There were many irregularities with the Convention of States that convened during the Second Great Depression, and they would breed lawsuits for decades. The one their whole enterprise hung on was their choice of President. Only one other man would have been a more powerful choice, but the previous President declined to leave his new position as the Governor of Texas. The former Vice President was unable to decline the offer when it was made, because John Jefferson Freemon was a “guest” of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Convention of States ordered his release, and the current President who had led the Impeachment processes against both men ordered another charge of treason added to the others. The Marine Corps followed their legal orders. It was their mission to protect the President of the United States of America. Their march to the Bureau of Prisons’ Central Office, in full ceremonial regalia, was featured live on every remaining network feed. The Marine Barracks Chaplain swore Freemon into the office of Presidency live on C-Span, directly from his makeshift cell. The Marine Band played as he stepped out into the sunlight on a street secured by thousands of their Marine Corps brethren. It was a great spectacle that was forever preserved on video for future generations to see.

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