The China Marker

"Mr. President, thank you for seeing me on such short notice." The President noted the solemn tone his visitor took.

"No problem, Bill. You told Mabel it was extremely important."

The visitor stood frowning for a moment, as though he didn't want to be here. Or at least not with the news he held.

"Yes, sir, it is. Extremely."

"Sit."

"Thank you, sir."

Bill sat opposite the desk which sat in front of the huge window. He had always found this view comforting. But not today.

"So what has you so upset?"

Bill took a moment to gather his will before speaking. He knew this was not going to go well.

"Well, Mr. President," he began. "I have word from some close sources that the Chinese are about to make a huge announcement. As you know, we leveraged a lot of debt to try and buttress the economy at the start of your term. And the Chinese took on a lot of our debt in those early days. And as you know the dollar is nearly devastated in the world economy."

The President did not like where this conversation was going. He certainly did not want to be reminded of the disastrous effects of those early decisions. Many he had laid on the doorstep of the previous administration. But that tact did not work well for long with the American people. Unemployment did not abate, hyper inflation soon followed and it was being blamed on him, even by the once friendly mainstream media.

"Go on, Bill. Just tell me what is going on."

"Well, Mr. President," Bill continued. "My sources have told me that China is set to announce that they are calling in their markers."

"What?!" The President stood up in his chair and leaned across the desk. "They can't do that! We had an agreement!"

"In principle, yes sir. But they are going to do it nonetheless."

"We can't survive that," the President said, much quieter as he sat back down, a sick feeling creeping into his gut. "This cannot be happening."

"That's not the real problem, sir. There's more."

"What? What could be worse than bankrupting this country?"

"They are going to offer you a solution." Bill paused, because here came the truly distasteful part. "They are going to propose a compromise. They will wipe 50% of the debt and continue to carry the other half."

"Why? What do they really want?

"Military bases." There he said it.

"Which ones," the President asked, suddenly feeling very tired.

"New ones, sir. Here in the United States."

"Here on U.S. soil?" the President asked incredulous.

"Yes, sir. I am afraid so."

The President sat back and rubbed his forehead. This was definitely not what he had signed on for when he had agreed to run. You'll bring a change to Washington, they told him. People will love you, it will be historic, they had enticed him. Now is the time for our party to make the sweeping changes we all know is best for America, they assured him. But this, this plundering f the future, this mind boggling debt to foreign powers, this shrinkage of American power and popularity overseas . . . this was not what they had promised, not what he had envisioned.

But now, this latest insult, well, this was not how he had imagined himself going down in the history books for.

"What else can we do," the President said with resignation in his voice. "But this is not going to sit well with the people."

"No sir, it will not." And that was the understatement of all time.