BooksBarbecue
Back Balance of Power
Chapters (53)
  1. BALANCE OF POWER
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. About The Creators
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY

"Thank you," the President said. "There seem to be three entirely separate factions running Spain at the moment. According to Ambassador Abril-who has always been very frank with me-the representatives in parliament are working their districts very hard, asking them to stay out of the fighting and to continue doing their jobs. They're promising the people anything in exchange for their support after the crisis. They're hoping to come out of this with blocs of voters to use as leverage in forming a new government."

"You mean, forming a new government within the present system?" Lanning asked. "Or are they talking about creating a new government with a different system?"

"I'm getting to that," the President said. "The prime minister has virtually no support-in the parliament or among the people. He's expected to resign within a day or two. Abril says that the king, who is at his residence in Barcelona, will be able to count on the support of the church and most of the population apart from the Castilians."

"Which is somewhat less than a majority," Burkow pointed out.

"About forty-five percent of the people," the President said. "Which puts the king in a very shaky position. We're told that his palace in Madrid is thick with soldiers, though no one's sure whether the troops are there to protect the place or to keep him from coming back."

"Or both," Lanning remarked. "Just like the Winter Palace when Czar Nicholas was forced to abdicate."

"Quite possibly," the President said. "But it gets worse. Paul-Bob Herbert and Mike Rodgers have sent over the latest data on the military. You want to address that?"

Hood folded his hands on the table. "There's a general who appears to be running this show-Rafael Amadori. According to our intelligence, he orchestrated the destruction of the yacht in the Bay of Biscay, which killed several leading businessmen who were also planning to bring down the government. He also appears to have been responsible for the death of Deputy Serrador. That's the man who my political chief Martha Mackall was on her way to see when she was killed this morning." Hood's voice dropped along with his eyes. "We have reason to believe that Serrador set her up with the help of the party on the yacht."