Chapter 21

Sophie was late getting to work the next day. When she arrived, looking as though she had had little or no sleep, she walked through the office area where her staff worked in cubicles, heading for Linda's office.

Her friend and Chief of Staff was in the area, having just given an assignment to one of the staffers. When she saw Sophie, she hurried over, worry lines on her face.

"Soph?" she asked, her voice full of concern, "Have you been crying?"

"He left, Lin," Sophie told her, struggling to hold back her tears. "Ramon left! He blames me for Armando's death!"

"Come on into the office and let's talk about it," Linda told her, looking around as if to assure herself that no one was listening. She ushered Sophie into her office and closed the door.

"How could he do this?" Sophie cried as the door closed. Neither of them saw the looks exchanged by the office workers

When she again appeared before her staff, Sophie's face was a mask, which she kept in place in all her public dealings from then on.

For weeks, whenever anyone asked about Ramon, or enquired about her well-being, Sophie quickly changed the subject. She continued to function, but to the people around her, she appeared mechanical and withdrawn.

People made it a point to tell her when they had news of her husband, that Ramon was seen around town, and that he had a new circle of friends. At these reports, too, Sophie turned stone-faced and refused to comment.

News stories dealing with the President's separation from the First Gentleman were met with sympathy for her and antipathy toward him, but speculation about the causes of the breakup began returning to her as nasty rumors. Finally, Sophie felt that she needed to make a public statement. Instead of a press conference, she agreed to appear on a news talk show where she would have to answer questions from only one source.

"Madame President," the host asked after the introductions were made, "is there any truth to the rumor that you and your husband have separated?"

With carefully chosen words, Sophie replied, her expression carefully controlled, "Ramon and I still love each other very much. There has been some strain on our relationship in the wake of our son's death, and we felt it best to give each other some space."

"This is not a permanent separation, then?"

"I cannot answer that," Sophie replied.

"I do not know if you are aware of it, Madame President," the host said, glancing at the papers before him, "but your husband has been overheard by numerous people making disparaging remarks about you and your Presidency. Would you care to comment."

Again, Sophie chose her words carefully as she answered, "After an event such as the loss of a child, emotions run high. Freedom of speech is written into the Phoenician Constitution, so when those emotions guide him, my husband is free to say whatever he wishes."

"One of the accusations your husband has made," the host continued, referring once again to the paper before him, "is that you deliberately killed your son. Is that accusation the cause of your separation?"

"If my husband truly believes that, he has not said so to me," Sophie replied, her face a mask of stone. "As for the truth of the accusation, one need only refer to the public record. Now, if you'll excuse me, this interview is at an end!"

"Madame President!" the host said to her retreating back, then turned back to the camera and filled the remaining minutes of the scheduled time with a monologue on the rumors flying around Phoenix and Phoenicia regarding the Presidential separation.

As Sophie left the sound stage, she found Linda waiting for her, and practically threw herself into her friend's arms, sobbing, as the television crew looked on.

"Oh, Linda! That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life!"

A few days later, Sophie got a brief call from General Carson.

"The subversives have got a new recruit," he told her without preliminaries.

"Who?"

"Ramon."

Sophie's heart dropped into her stomach, and it took her a few moments to respond. With no emotion in her voice, she told the General, "Keep me posted."

Linda Nguyen, who was in Sophie's office when the call came in saw her expression and asked, "What is it, Soph?"

"Ramon has joined the subversives," Sophie said, trying to choke back the tears as Linda rushed to embrace her.

"It will be all right," her friend told her, but Sophie wasn't to be consoled.

Time marched on and Sophie continued trying to put a brave face on things, but refused to answer any more questions about Ramon or her marriage.

News about her husband came with decreasing frequency as he got more involved with the subversives, and Sophie did her best to put him out of her mind. Her heart was a different matter altogether.

It was almost eight months after the call from General Carson that she received an alert on the SpecOps phone she still carried as a reservist, notifying L9s of a call to action. Shortly after, the phone on her desk rang and General Carson's voice said, "They're moving on Government House tonight. Our agent tells me that Cassius is with them."

Instantly shifting into the mindset that had carried her throughout her military career, Sophie answered, "We'll be ready."

As soon as Carson was off the line, she dialed Linda's extension. When she heard her friend's voice she asked, "You got the alert?"

"Yes."

"Commence execution of plan Alpha Three Echo. I say again: Commence execution of Alpha Three Echo."

"Roger. Commencing Alpha Three Echo."

The line went dead and Sophie strode to the cabinet that, since Orlov's assault on government house, held weapons and gear for the use of the President.

She removed her shirt and donned torso-hugging body armor, then put the shirt back on over it. She tucked a sidearm in the back of her trousers, and taking an assault weapon, closed and locked the cabinet and returned to her desk, slipping the assault weapon into the holster under the desk that had been installed for that purpose.

In each of the offices of Government House, staffers suddenly found themselves facing assault weapons in the hands of other Phoenicians, all in civilian clothing. Well-trained enough to know that dying in futile resistance is not a good military strategy, they allowed themselves to be herded into conference rooms where they were disarmed. A few of their assailants remained to guard them.

Sophie waited, her heart beating a rapid tatoo in her chest as it always did before an anticipated action. Linda entered from her own office and gave her a curt nod, then bent over the desk as if looking at something that Sophie was showing her.

They didn't have long to wait. The tramp of many feet sounded on the stairs, then approached down the hallway. Sophie heard codewords called from the hallway, and answering codewords from traitors among her staff.The door to her office burst open to admit Ramon, followed quickly by three others, all armed, who dispersed themselves to cover the entire room.

Leaping to her feet, Sophie cried, "Ramon! What is the meaning of this? Who are these people?"

From outside the open door, a female voice answered, and Sophie had the nagging feeling that she should know the speaker.

"We are the new government of Phoenicia," the voice said, loudly enough that she could be heard up and down the hallway. "We have come to finish what that idiot Orlov started!"

As she talked, the speaker stepped through the doorway, and all the pieces fell into place for Sophie.

"So, Elizabeth," she said calmly, "you couldn't content yourself with being the wife of a former President of the United States. Where's your son? I'd expect Mark to be tagging along on your apron strings."

Elizabeth Wyndham, wearing military camouflage and leaning on a walking stick, her face flushing with anger, replied heatedly, "My son," she practically spat the word on the floor, "no longer listens to me, thanks to you! But I've found someone else who does, haven't I Ramon?"

"Ramon?" Sophie's voice was stricken.

For his part, Sophie's husband stood stonefaced, not responding to either of them.

"You might as well just surrender, you ridiculous excuse for a Presidential pretender," Elizabeth sneered. "You never had a chance against me, you naive little twit. I've played at politics my whole life, while you've been at it for what? Five years? I didn't want to resort to violence, but you forced my hand when you humiliated Mark, and again when, somehow, you managed to defeat Orlov. But nevermind. By now, my people have rounded up all the members of your staff who aren't loyal to me. I can see in your eyes that you want to try some other heroic move like you did with Orlov, but you don't stand a chance, this time, so just step out from behind that desk and bring your gimpy lap-dog with you. Both of you keep your hands in sight."

Slowly, making no false moves, Sophie and Linda edged around the desk.

When her movement stopped, Sophie dropped her hands and said, "Okay, I think we have all the evidence we need, and this farce has gone on long enough, don't you agree, Ramon?"