Read State of Emergency: Jack Emery 2 for Free Online Page A

sometimes, foul-tasting medicine was needed to fix the body. Occasionally, a President was forced to face this fact.
    Morris shifted her gaze and stared straight down the cameras. “Prior to entering this room, I signed orders declaring a state of emergency across America and executed a number of executive orders pertaining to our government, legal system, economy, media and critical infrastructure. The current situation necessitates this action and I don’t take this step lightly. Actually, please come up here and join me, Richard.”
    Richard was surprised at the invitation, but composed himself quickly. He stood and walked to the front of the Briefing Room, going over their conversation from the previous night in his head. They’d discussed the mobilization of the State Guard and the extra options Richard had hinted at in the NSC meeting. He’d told her about a number of long standing executive orders that were on the books, ready to be activated in an emergency but an afterthought to nearly everyone in America. Nearly.
    In the time it took him to reach the President, she had given the assembled media the highlights of his career. He was surprised with how gushing she was in her praise, but perhaps shouldn’t have been, given he offered her a life raft to save her administration. The advisors she’d hand picked to be part of her inner circle had failed so she’d turned to him, a career bureaucrat with decades of service to a half-dozen presidents. He smiled. If he was her chance at absolution, she was the key to his legacy. If she could be persuaded.
    “Thank you, Madam President.” He stood beside Morris, adjusting his eyes to the lights and mentally preparing – for the first time – for the spotlight. “Good morning.”
    Morris smiled. “Richard is a colleague and friend with immense experience in disaster management. Commencing immediately, he’s in charge of a coordinated response to these attacks. He’s in charge of the basics – transportation, power supply, food distribution – as well as security and the investigation.”
    The assembled members of the press corps looked up from their notepads and tablets and just stared. Every set of eyes bored into him like a drill, as the realization of what they were witnessing sank in. He’d never actively sought the limelight, but to achieve his goals it was a necessary next step. Others had proven incapable of such responsibility, but he was up to the job.
    Hands shot into the air and questions started to fly. Richard looked to the President, who smiled slightly and waited. She’d done this before. It was a process that Richard didn’t quite understand, but it seemed to work. Morris waited patiently for the initial boilover to calm down to a low simmer before one journalist drowned out the others. Morris pointed to the man.
    “Tim Gossinge, Washington Post . Madam President, you’re handing over the reins to FEMA? How will it work and why are you taking action of such severity?”
    The President smiled. “Thanks, Tim. The orders that allow me to place much of the administration of our country under the control of FEMA have been on the books for years. After much thought, I’ve decided that we need a new approach. We need everyone singing from the same sheet, and Richard is the finest conductor in the country. All arms of federal and state government will report to him.”
    Richard swallowed, shifted forward slightly and waited for the President’s nod to speak. “If I could just add, coordinating all parts of our campaign against these terrorists will take a huge effort – from security to first response to disaster relief to investigation to arrest to prosecution. FEMA’s involvement will get everyone pointed in the same direction and, when that happens, we can’t be stopped.”
    Gossinge persisted. “That doesn’t explain the need to take over things completely unrelated to the attacks though, does it?”
    Morris frowned. “Come on, Tim,