shooting a bird

The new queen of England was coming out of the palace in full view of her subjects. As soon as she steps out into the bright sunlight Everyone started cheering and shouting at the top of their lungs. She steps of the railing and climbs onto the throne, and pauses briefly to wave to the crowd there to praise her. The people have gotten used to seeing only one throne because she is only the second queen, in recent memory or otherwise, that actually was on the throne alone without a king.
Her face couldn't smile more as she was awed that she had accomplished running the country on the throne without the aid of a male beside her. This is something her mother never liked and thought she should never have been allowed to do. At that moment, as she looked at her adoring people, She remembered the promise she made her mother before she died, and she was driven to keep that promise to her. This was her coronation day, and with the ceremony completed, she had an obligation to greet her loyal subjects and make a brief speech before the coronation could be legal.
She stood there and waved with pride. She turned from left to right and back again as she appreciated all her subjects. She then turned and climbed one last step before reaching the level she had to be on before she could sit on the throne. Then turned to sit as the most powerful ruler this world had ever seen before.
Suddenly, without anybody hearing a sound, her chest exploded covering a part of the crowd. Her body fell, lifeless, into the throne, before the lifeless husk fell forward over the railing and landed on the ground. The crowd and the royal family reacted as they should have. The crowd scurried away in every direction that was possible to get away from the horror of the scene in an attempt to find safety.
The royal family, standing behind the throne as a sign of support in the newest queen to reign, was quickly whisked inside to safety by the crown's security team keeping watch of everybody in the crowd. While down on the ground a wave of police was rushing in from every place they could have trying, in vain, to get control of the situation and make sure everyone is safe.
The whole room watched on the television as the newest queen was eliminated without prejudice, in some quirky version of justice.
In a windowless secure war room in Washington, D.C., a group of Americans watched the same thing the world just did. The room fell instantly silent as no one dared speak. The silence was broken as the red phone, sitting on the oval table rang, no one moved to answer it. Then silence returned just as quickly as the ringing stopped for a few more seconds before the noise hit the room again, just as quickly as before. Every person in the room knew who it was and no one, not even the president, wanted to talk to her. The phone rang and rang once again, and this time a well-dressed woman moved to pick it up.
“Yes,” she said, putting the receiver to her ear,” Fine, put her on.”
After a brief silence, she spoke again,” Stand-by. I'll get him.”
She pushed a button on the phone and the light indicating the line they were on started to blink. She looked at the man sitting beside her.
“It's the Prime minister, Mr. President,” her voice had a ring of seriousness to it,” And she is not happy.”
“I'll bet,” the president said, hanging his head and taking a few deep breaths before taking the handset and putting it to his ear, then looking at the young woman who answered it. Against his better judgment, he gave her a slight nod to her.
With ascertain apprehension, her dainty hand reached out, extending her finger and pushing the button again.
“No,” the president said,” I don't suppose she is.”
The well-dressed man reached out, taking the phone from the aide standing there holding it.
“Hello, Abigail,” he said carefully,” Yes I know this isn't the time for pleasantries. And I...”
Everyone could hear the voice of this woman on the phone through the room, not to a degree they could understand it but her tone was normally very loud, anyway, but now it given the situation, it was even worse.
“The check is now being made,” he continued,” but it looks like all our men are where they are supposed to be, and that is nowhere near your borders or even in the country.”
The woman's voice continued, her voice causes echos that could be heard, but not understood, throughout the room. The President, who was being as patient as he could be, was getting frustrated.
“We are working on it, Abigail,” He raised his voice to a level not heard in a while,” What would you have me do?”
The woman's voice spoke a bit more.
“No!” He insisted,” I'm not going to do that.”
She tried to interrupt him again, this time he didn't allow it.
“Abigail! Enough,” He yelled,” I'm not doing that, and that is final.”
He slammed the phone back down on the cradle causing the table to move a small bit while a few people, around the table, jumped.
“That woman is impossible,” he spoke,” She wants me to take every sniper we have and arrest them and try them all for high treason against the crown.”
“Do you blame her, sir,” one of the uniformed military officers asked.
The President looked at the soldier sitting near him with contempt in his eyes, but said nothing but remained deep in thought about the situation.
“The facts are this, sir,” the officer spoke again and then touched a button and a view screen activated across the room.
“The bullet removed from the body was American made,” the officer continued,” The nest had the markings of an American military Marine sniper unit, and there were American cigarette butts there.”
“I know, Carl,” the president said,” That's all circumstantial evidence. I know our snipers didn't do this.”
“ And we don't either, sir,” said the officer as the rest of the people, even the military and civilian nodded in agreement with him.
“So what do we do about it?” the president asked.
“Prepare.” another marine officer at the table said,” They will be seeking revenge no matter what we tell them.”
“I know,” The president said,” It's their Queen for god sakes.”
The conversation was interrupted by the phone in front of the Marine officer rang, the ring never finished before the officer picked it up.
“Yes!”
He listened to the voice on the other end.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
The answer came quickly but confidently.
“Good,” The Marine smiled, He gently returned the phone to the cradle.
“The check is complete, “ He stated,”All our snipers, past and present are accounted for. I am given the assurance that none of them are anywhere near England.”
“Are you positive, Paul?” the president asked.
“Absolutely.”
The president nodded and reached for the phone, placed it up to his ear.
A young woman's voice came to the line and greeted the president.
“Margaret,” he spoke with a smile in his voice,” get her for me, please.”
“Thank you,” he said after a brief silence.
“Abigail,” he greeted the British Prime Minister,” I have some good news.”
The president stops talking to allow the prime minister to speak.
“Yes, it is,” he said then allowing her to speak again.
“They are all accounted for,” the president said with pride,” Both past and present. No one was anywhere near your country.”
Her voice echoed off the walls in the room, again. So the president touched the volume button to lower the sound, while he intently listened to her rant and rave.
“Right,” he said confidently,” So it seems the problem is not due to us, but whoever did this is in your country, not ours.”
He listened for a few seconds before replacing the handset back in the cradle, again.
The president sat there and put his elbows on the table and rested his forehead in his hands. He took some deep breaths again.
“They are still coming aren't they?” the general asked.
“Yes,” he answered then paused a second, ”They don't believe us. And now they want to hunt down all of our snipers and kill them.”
“Good luck,” the marine snickered,” They will need it.”
“But don't you see it, Paul,” he continued,” This means war. And war means destruction and death of both sides, not just ours. This is the very thing I wanted to avoid.”
The General sighed a bit, then looked at the president,” yes!”
Somewhere on the outskirts of Washington, in a hotel room, a phone rang. A single man walked across the room, turned off the television and picked up the phone and put it to his ear.
“Yes,” he said in a stern formal tone.
He listened to someone speak softly and slowly before he simply said one word,” Understood” and placed the phone back in the cradle.
He then sat down on the bed, burying his head in his hands and taking a few deep breaths.
“Ok, then,” he said as he stood up,” Let's send everyone to hell then.”
He walked over to the closet, retrieving a hard-sided suitcase from the closet, placed it on the bed and opened it. It was empty as he had already, he pressed his ring to a corner of the case and the bottom opened out revealing a few weapons strapped down.
“Let slip the dogs of war,” he said as he smiled a weird smile as he stared into the case.