Page 16 of Booked for Theft

“This entire plan sucks. How are we going to work around the cell?”

“We’re going to work with the cell as normal and use the cell as a front for our thefts,” Bradley informed me. “Meridian will be getting intel as she can from the allowed routes. We now know she’s on one of those lists, and she will be our comparison point. We also know we cannot leak what is given to Meridian; that’s an obvious and lethal trap. But what we can do is use what Meridian is given as a foundation point for learning what we need to steal. We’ll compare against what Senator Thaddens has given us to what she acquires. We’ll take a closer look at the documents she hasn’t gotten, the stance she’s been assigned, and go from there. It’s not much of a plan, but it’s better than no plan at all.”

That I could agree with. “All right. We’ll have to put our heads together and figure out how much involvement they’ll have. And this whole candidacy thing is absolute nonsense, and I will not be acting should anyone ask me if I want to become the President of the United States. The answer will be a very heartfelt no. But I will, depending on what else we learn from Senator Thaddens, potentially position myself in such a way where people might be encouraged to vote for me. I will do this through continuing to promote libraries, of course.”

“Of course. You’re going to do a hostile takeover of the Library of Congress given a single chance.”

I sucked in a breath. “The Library of Congress might still be intact, Bradley.”

He raised a brow at me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the government has done an excellent job of purging information they don’t want to be spread in textbooks and similar. The books within the Library of Congress might still be intact—they might have copies of the history books before they were overwritten.” The thought of stealing from the Library of Congress enthused me. “If we can spread the true history of the United States, the principles it was built upon, and how checks and balances should work, we might be able to get a revolution started that way. Without civil war—especially if we educate people about the consequences of the Civil War. We don’t want a divided United States. We want a united one. And the United States was born from the colonists rebelling against a government rather than each other.”

That much of our history hadn’t been erased, although I doubted it was as widespread knowledge as I’d like.

I’d learned from being a librarian and assisting politicians with their research of the past.

Most lacked that advantage.

“And as long as the government can keep us divided, they win,” Bradley muttered before stabbing another piece of chicken and shoving it in his mouth.

I hunted for another piece of potato, scowling when I discovered I’d vanquished my starchy foe. I heaved a sigh and went for a piece of meat instead. I determined he’d gotten me succulent pieces of lamb, and the meat partnered well with the heat. Once I’d lit my taste buds on fire, I said, “Do you think this might work?”

“I think most Americans are going to be so desperate for change they’re going to turn to the first person that might get it for them. Right or wrong won’t matter as long as they benefit. That’s how we got into this situation in the first place. The government convinced a bunch of people that the freedom of making our own choices should be taken away as long as their supporters agreed with that choice.”

The truth of his statement hurt enough I sighed. “This is truly not an ideal situation, is it?”

“It’s really not. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that what is good for us isn’t good for our country—and what is good for our country really might not be good for us.”

I took the time to think about his words, and I realized he made an excellent point. If we cooperated with Senator Thaddens, we would sacrifice our lives, goals, and plans for the sake of the people. We would be forced to move away, for at least four years, to a home that wasn’t ours, under constant surveillance.

We would be the least free people in the country, and we would choose to do the work for the sake of others.

We would sacrifice in life rather than in death, and we would do it for the sake of our family, our friends, and our people.

I wondered if President Castillo understood the concept of sacrifice—at least of himself. I held no doubt in my mind he practiced sacrificing others, likely on a daily basis. That circled back to the problem of the bodies we’d surely find while searching for the truth behind what the government did, why it did it, and what those in power hoped to accomplish.

“It won’t be forever,” I reminded him. “It’s only four years.”

“Knowing you, it’ll be eight, and as they’re already working to overturn the term limits for the presidency, it might end up being a lifetime position. And when a good person in power is there for life, the people benefit. The problem is when the bad people secure that power.”

“My first act, should such misfortune fall upon me, is to make certain that term limits are fully restored—and that all positions in government are limited. No longer than four years per term, no more than two terms. If elections weren’t so disruptive, I’d suggest two terms of two years each.”

“Well, if election cycles were limited to no more than thirty days, two year terms wouldn’t be a big issue. The problem is, right now, it’s two years of election campaigns for a four year term.”

“Seriously,” I muttered. “And I shouldn’t even be in the running for this. I’ve missed more than half of the campaign. Not only did I miss more than half of the campaign, the politicians have been using my missing and presumed dead body as their plaything.”

Bradley scowled. “They were not doing anything to your body.”

I grinned at his jealous tone, saluted him with a piece of my lamb, and nodded at the laptop. “Let’s see what Senator Thaddens thinks we, of all people, can do to fix the United States. Because honestly, I think that even hoping I might get elected is a pipe dream, a pipe dream that we will not discuss with anyone else, not even your mother.”

“If she asks, I’ll tell her it’s a crazy idea. You like being a librarian. You don’t want to be the President of the United States.”

“You’re right. I don’t. And however much I hate admitting it, I fear that’s the reason this might work.”

Senator Thaddens apologized several times for the burden he put upon me—and upon Bradley. He began with the dreaded engagement party, something that would be critical for my unwanted campaign efforts. According to him, a unicorn was more likely to be voted in as the President of the United States than a single woman. However, an engaged woman marrying into a prestigious house was another matter altogether. And while I was a heroine in the eyes of the people, Bradley was respected by those in power. Where I wouldn’t have the standing required for my quiet campaign, he did. Not only did my fiancé have the standing, his family had the expected wealth.

I benefited from his reputation and position.