Chapter 573: The Meeting In The Oval Office

After giving the order for those the people she needs to be summoned, President Marsh waited anxiously. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The piece caught her sight and she shivered, quickly turning her attention to the door.

As she waited, she realised that throughout her conversation with Liam, he never referred to her with her name, and she also can’t remember him referring to her with her position.

She wondered what the reason could possibly be and what it meant. But someone in her position and experience understood what it meant, which was that the office she held was completely irrelevant to him.

Unintentionally, the sight of Liam’s eyes that looked like they were filled with stars flashed across her mind and she shook her head immediately, deciding not to think about the meeting anymore.

The four individuals she summoned, arrived within twenty minutes of each other.

Secretary of Defense Harold Briggs came first. He had been in the building for a meeting that hadn’t yet concluded and had left it mid-sentence when the summons came through, still carrying his briefing folder.

FBI Director Carol Reeves came second, with a neutral expression on her face.

CIA Director Frank Calloway came third. He had been in his car when the call reached him and had turned around without asking why. This was especially so with the ongoing clinical trial.

Chief Justice Eleanor Vance came last, eleven minutes after the others. The fact that a sitting Chief Justice had been summoned to the Oval Office with no advance notice and no stated reason was something none of them had quite finished processing when she walked in.

They found President Marsh already seated behind her desk, which was unusual as she typically stood to receive them.

They took their positions without being directed. Briggs to the left. Calloway beside him. Reeves and Vance on the sofa facing the desk.

Nobody asked what this was about but they observed the atmosphere in the room. And it was a little tense, which didn’t surprise them but only made them even more curious.

Marsh looked at each of them, then she placed a document folder on the desk and slid it to the edge.

"Read it," she said.

Briggs reached it first. He read the first page, turned to the second, and passed it to Calloway without speaking.

Calloway read it too, showing no surprise or change in expression, before he passed it to Reeves.

Reeves read it and her jaw tightened once. Then passed it to Vance.

Vance read slowly and professionally, interpreting every single words in the document legally. When she finished she set the folder beside her and looked at the President.

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

"A source I’m not disclosing," Marsh said.

"The level of documentation here—" Calloway began.

"Is not your concern right now," Marsh said. "What’s in those files is."

Calloway closed his mouth. He had worked for three administrations and he recognized the tone she was using, which said that it was not negotiable.

"These individuals," Briggs said, still looking at the folder. "Several of them have congressional relationships. Defense contracts. This is going to—"

"I know what it’s going to do," Marsh said. "That’s not the conversation we’re having."

Briggs looked up at her and something in her face made him set the folder down.

"Here is what I need from each of you," Marsh said. "Carol — the most documented cases in those files. The ones where what’s in there can be independently corroborated within hours. I want charges filed on those cases first."

Reeves looked at the folder. She had already been calculating. "Six names. Possibly eight. In what timeframe?"

"Seventy hours."

The room went quiet immediately, as they processed the absurdity of what the President had just said.

"Seventy hours," Reeves repeated.

"From now," Marsh said.

"That’s not—" Briggs started.

"I know it isn’t standard but run it at maximum speed within legal bounds. That’s what I’m asking.," Marsh said.

Reeves looked at the folder again. "If half of what’s documented here holds under independent verification, the charges write themselves. The problem is simultaneous contact. If any of them get wind of it before we move on all of them—"

"Then contact them simultaneously," Marsh said.

Reeves looked at her steadily. "That requires coordination across multiple field offices, multiple jurisdictions, and—"

"Carol."

Reeves stopped. She could see how serious the President was and that she wasn’t going to back down no matter what she says.

"Seventy hours," Marsh said again, quietly. "I need you to find a way."

Reeves nodded once. "I’ll need everything in those files digitized and distributed to the relevant field offices within the hour."

"Done," Marsh said.

Calloway had been quiet since his attempt at a question had been redirected. He looked at the folder in Reeves’s hands. "The source. The comprehensiveness of this documentation. Financial records going back years, private communications, specific figures — this didn’t come from standard collection."

"No," Marsh said.

"Which means someone with access significantly beyond what any known intelligence infrastructure—"

"Frank," Marsh said. "The source is secure. The material is verified. That’s what I can tell you and that’s what you need to operate on."

Calloway looked at her for a long moment. He had spent at least two decades reading rooms and the room he was reading now told him something had happened that he was not going to be told about. He filed that and moved on, because that was what the situation required.

"The individuals on this list," Briggs said. "When the arrests happen, some of them are going to lawyer up immediately. Congressional allies are going to make noise. The press—"

"Let them," Marsh said. "The documentation will hold. When it does, the noise stops."

Briggs looked at her. "You’re certain of that."

"I am," she said, with certainty.

She had to be certain because her life depends on everything working out.

Vance had been quiet since her initial question was deflected. She set the folder down carefully. "I want to state clearly that nothing discussed in this room constitutes judicial instruction. The courts will move at the speed the evidence and process permit."

"I’m not asking for judicial instruction, Eleanor," Marsh said. "I’m telling you what’s coming so you’re not surprised when it arrives on your docket."

Vance considered this, realised that it was a reasonable distinction and she nodded.

"One more thing," Marsh said. She looked at all four of them. "This conversation doesn’t leave this room. The source doesn’t get discussed. The timeline doesn’t get discussed. When people ask — and they will ask — the answer is that credible intelligence was received and acted upon. That’s all."

Nobody pushed back on it. The room had conformed to her demands and that demand was that pushing back was not the available option.

Reeves was already reaching for her phone before she had fully stood.

"Seventy hours," Marsh said once more, as they rose.

It was both a reminder and the closing of the conversation.

They filed out.

Marsh sat alone in the Oval Office.

She looked at the desk in front of her, then she picked up her pen and began writing the first of several calls she would need to make before the hour was out.

***

Quite a few things had happened over the past month, after Liam’s breakthrough and the departure of the staff for the Base.

After his breakthrough, Liam had mostly spend his time training but it had been light at first.

But he decided to be more serious with the training in the second week, since he would be meeting with a Primordial in the near future.

He felt that the fast he increases his strength, while also laying a solid foundation, the better.

He was naturally aware of the fact that no matter how much stronger he becomes, unless he becomes a Primordial himself or any being stronger than Tiamat, he won’t be able to protect himself as he want.

He training had mostly consisted of him improving his proficiency in the usage of the techniques he had learned from his battle against the experts of Devouring Petal Pavillion.

He chose not to learn a new technique because learning more will only become a disadvantage to him in the future, if he doesn’t learn how to utilise them properly.

He also trained his telekinesis and it was now much more stronger than before. He can now create two levels of telekinetic field, one to fully cover his body like an armour and another sphere that spreads out in a 150 metres radius around him.

The 150 metres radius telekinetic field has enough strength to stop multiple armour piercing rounds without ease. And the armour like field can stop even anti tank guided weapons.

This information, Liam got from multiple tests.

The size of things he can lift with his telekinesis has increased to about a ton and he can do it effortlessly.

But that was just the base of what he would be able do with just his telekinesis, as after his breakthrough to the Transcendent Stage, his strength had grown so immeasurable that he can’t estimate it anymore.

He can now move across the world at great speed that the world narrows to a point for him.

Liam wasn’t the only one making improvements as the three clones were all now at the Transcendent Stage.

The clone in the cultivation had started making name for itself, further establishing the title of the Mad Demon God.

The clone in the magic universe had finally met up with Bethan and Rikilda but that only happened two weeks ago.

They immediately knew that it was a clone, which hasn’t surprised Liam, and they didn’t take offense, as they had started interacting with the clone like they would with him.

Liam had been receiving feedback from the two clones, so he knew where they were and what exactly they were doing. And they were doing just as instructed.