Chapter 37

It was 4:00 Wednesday morning. President Lehrer had just gotten to sleep about three and a half hours earlier, after long and exhausting meetings with her economic and national security advisers. She was now prepared to end the bank holiday and to reopen the stock markets effective that morning. She and her advisers prayed that the actions she had taken establishing the U.S.O.P. and temporarily nationalizing the banks would stabilize the economic situation. They would be monitoring the situation very carefully.

The President was having another nightmare. She awoke calling out, "No, they can't be doing that! No!"

Steve Stone, who was asleep beside her, woke with a start. "What's the matter, hon?"

"Oh, Steve," she sobbed. "I just had another nightmare. I dreamed that Makhtol had gotten control of Kazakhstan's nuclear weapons and he used them against us! Oh, it was horrible! I dreamed that he destroyed New York, Paris and Geneva! The devastation was unbelievable! I then had to decide whether to use our nuclear weapons against him. Oh, Steve, it was terrible!"

"Calm down, dear. It was just a nightmare. It doesn't mean that it's going to happen. It was just a dream."

"I know, but remember I told you about the nightmare I had that showed the Capitol burning and someone running around saying, 'they're all dead! You're now the President!'? That happened about three weeks before the Capitol bombing. Oh, God, Steve, I hope this one doesn't come true too. What will we do if it does?"

"Kathy, I don't know. Why don't you come over here and let me hold you and try to get back to sleep? You've got a big day ahead of you."

"They're all big days," answered the President as she moved over to cuddle with her fiancé.

"Yes, but we have to take them one day at a time and hope like hell we get through them. Come on, try to get back to sleep."

About a half hour later, the President finally managed to fall into a restless sleep.

Kathy woke up again about 7:15, and Steve helped her wash and get dressed. They listened to the news while they got ready to face the day, paying particular attention to how the dollar was doing in the overseas markets. The dollar had finally begun to stabilize in the overseas markets after Jim Courie had raised the Fed Funds Rate once the financing was all set up for the U.S.O.P. plan. The overseas stock markets had also begun to stabilize, actually beginning to regain a small part of what they had lost when the panic had hit, as investors began looking for bargains. In the aftermath of the crash, there were plenty of bargains to be had. The President prayed that the same thing would happen once the U.S. markets opened in a couple of hours.

When she listened to the international news, the President heard more details about the terrorist attacks that had occurred the day before where the Spanish King and Prime Minister were assassinated in a daring daylight attack on the Royal Palace, where the largest refinery in Europe was attacked in Rotterdam, the Palermo City Hall had been heavily damaged by a truck bomb, where a ship blew up in Marseilles, and Egypt was rocked by a dozen different terrorist attacks.

There were also reports of heavy fighting in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Turkmenia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The governments of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenia were reported to be in imminent danger of falling, with the government of Kazakhstan not faring much better. Russia was reported to be moving massive forces into the region, but there were doubts about whether they would arrive in time.

The President began reading her briefing materials that had been left in her study as Steve wheeled her to the family dining room for breakfast. What she read regarding the war did not help put her in a better frame of mind. Satellite photos showed a massive build up of troops along Turkey's borders with Azerbaijan, Syria, Iraq and Iran. NATO troops were also gathering in Turkey, but her analysts did not know if they would have enough troops there to withstand a massive invasion such as what Makhtol appeared to have in mind. The allies were in a race with time and it was unclear whether the allies would beat the clock.

Other satellite photographs were showing troops gathering in Tunisia and Morocco. C.I.A. analysts felt that the troops in Morocco were preparing for an invasion of Spain, but they weren't sure what the troops in Tunisia were doing. Electronic intercepts of radio traffic failed to shed light on the motives of the troops gathering in Tunisia either.

Reports from the massive bombing runs that were being conducted around the clock by the U.S., Russian and allied aircraft were more encouraging. These reports showed that progress was being made against some of the command and control facilities in Iran, as well as against some of their military and energy producing targets. It was unclear yet how much more aerial bombardment would have to be done before an invasion of Iran could be made. The U.S. and Russians had come to an agreement regarding the outstanding issues concerning joint actions against the Iranians, and the two countries were now consulting about when the action should begin. So far, it looked as if it would be at least another month before the Iranian defenses would be softened up enough to start the ground war.

When it had become apparent that Makhtol was preparing to invade Turkey, a member of N.A.T.O., the various governments in Europe began mobilizing their armed forces, calling up reservists, and preparing for war. Whether it would be in time to save Turkey, was still a matter of conjecture.

China too had begun mobilizing troops along the southwestern borders in response to the widespread fighting there. After a great deal of persuasion, President Lehrer had finally been able to talk Chinese Premier Chou Chau Ping into going along with the U.N. resolution condemning Iran and authorizing a multi-national force to be used against Makhtol. Now that the Chinese were afraid that the fighting might spill over their borders, they had just agreed to supply nearly 100,000 troops for the multi-national force and would attack from the east. This was the best news the President heard so far that morning.

She and Steve sat down for breakfast and quietly ate while the President continued reading her briefing materials. After they finished, Steve wheeled her to the Oval Office, and then went back to the residence to get some other things done.

Steve had received a strange letter the previous day from a man who claimed to be his father, and he wanted to investigate this further. The man was in his late fifties and seemed to know some things about Steve that as far as he knew had not been in the papers. Maybe, just maybe, this was Steve's long lost father, who had walked out on him and his mother when Steve was just five years old. Steve hadn't said anything to Kathy about it yet, knowing how much she had on her mind. He decided he would look into it more before he told her about it. After all, it could just be some nut who wanted some attention. Being in the White House and in the public eye, he knew would attract some strange characters.

Steve reread the letter. He thought about what was in it. He remembered an aunt that he had on his father's side with whom his mother had kept in touch from time to time over the years. Steve had not seen or spoken with her in years, and wasn't even sure where she might be or if she was even alive. His mother had given him her old photo albums and a few letters she had kept over the years, including several from his Aunt Peggy. Steve had kept them at Kathy's house when he went to Mexico, and the movers had brought them along when they moved Kathy into the White House.

He went to the trunk in which he kept them, opened it up, and began looking at the albums. Steve looked through one of the old albums and came across some pictures of his parents together with a very attractive woman, who appeared to be a few years older than the smiling couple, next to them. He pulled the photo from the album and read what was written on the back, "John, Mary and Peggy. March, 1967."

"My God," Steve thought, "that was only a few months before I was born!" He replaced the picture in the album and looked at another one, this one of a baby being held by this same woman. He pulled this one out and read "Steve, age 6 months, being held by Aunt Peggy." He replaced the photo and continued to page through the album. He came across some old letters, which he began to read. In these letters, he learned some more things about his background, including who some of his relatives were. Most of them had been scattered around the country, which is why he had never met most of them. With his mother struggling just to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, they couldn't afford to go all over tracking down lost relatives. He found out in a letter from his Aunt Peggy to his mother, written when Steve was about nine years old, that Steve's father had moved out to California in order to try to start a new life.

Through this letter, and another that his aunt had written when Steve was in his mid-teens, Steve found out that his father had started out as a janitor in an aerospace company, and had then gone to school at night, earned his G.E.D., then went to U.C.L.A. at night, finally earning his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in eight years.

In the last letter that Peggy had written to Steve's mother before she died, Steve learned more about what had happened to his father. After graduation, John Stone moved up to Silicon Valley, where he got in on the ground floor with a new computer manufacturer. John Stone lived hand to mouth for a couple of years while he and five other young engineers worked day and night in order to make the breakthrough they would need to compete in and survive in the market. Finally, after four years, they made a breakthrough in storage devices that made them more efficient at lower costs.

John Stone became a millionaire almost overnight, but when he went to Philadelphia to try to contact his son, he found that the address his sister had given him was an old one. He walked around the neighborhood, asking neighbors if anyone knew where she had moved to. Finally, after two full days, someone remembered where she had moved, and provided John with the information. John then went to find the last house she lived in for the last four months before she died.

John went to the street where his ex-wife and son had lived. He went to the door, filled with anticipation and wondering how his son would react to his father suddenly being in his life again after so many years. Nervously, John knocked on the door. The door opened, and a strange woman was standing there, holding a small baby in her arm.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, please. I'm looking for Mary and Steve Stone. I was told they had lived here."

"There's no one here by either of those names. They may have lived here before I did. I've been here about seven or eight months. You might want to ask one of the other neighbors who's been here longer than me."

John was dejected. "Thank you. I'll do that. I'm sorry to have bothered you." So close, and yet so far.

John knocked on the doors of several of the neighbors in the apartment building. The first three had no answer. The third was answered by a fragile looking, little old lady.

"Yes, What do you want?"

"I'm looking for a woman and her son who used to live in one of the other apartments here. Can you help me?"

"Are you with the police? Have they done anything wrong? Is the boy in some sort of trouble?"

"No, to your first question and I really hope not to the other two. I'm the boy's father and I haven't seen him since he was real small. I feel real bad about not having been there for him, and I want to see him."

The woman checked John out more closely, then opened the door and invited him in.

"I'm John Stone," he said, introducing himself to the old widow.

"I'm Mrs. DiGiovanni," answered the woman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I was told that my ex-wife Mary Stone, and my son Steve lived in apartment C-3, but when I went there, a woman answered the door and said there was no-one there by those names. I'm trying to find out where they moved to. It's very important that I find them."

The old woman sat back and thought for a moment. "Do you have any pictures of them that I could see? That might help me remember."

John pulled two old photos out of his wallet, one of him holding Steve shortly before he left, and one of John, Mary and Steve when Steve was a toddler. He handed the pictures to Mrs. DiGiovanni, and asked her if either of the people looked familiar.

She studied the old pictures for a moment. "Yes, yes, I think they do. The boy is a spitting image of you when you were younger, but he's a lot taller than you. He's over six feet tall."

She looked at the photo of the whole family for a moment or two. "Yes, I think it was her. She looked a lot older when I had last seen her, but I do think it was her. A sad story, a really sad story," she said very quietly.

"A sad story? What happened to them?" asked John desperately.

"Well, she died of cancer, oh I guess about eight or nine months ago. The boy moved in with this woman and her family. Let's see, now. I think she was a teacher. Oh, what was her name?"

"My God! Mary is dead!?"

"Yes. She had a real tough life, working two jobs to provide for her and the boy. Toward the end, the boy had dropped out of school and was working in construction to try to help his mother. It was real sad when she died. The boy was devastated. He took his mother's death real badly."

"What happened to him? Do you have any idea of where he's living? You mentioned that he was living with a woman and her family. Do you have any idea who she is or what her name is or where she might live?"

She thought for a moment. "No, I'm afraid I can't remember. I'm very sorry I can't help you any more."

"Do you know of anyone around here who might have any idea where Steve is?"

"No. I don't think they were real outgoing people and they were only here for a few months before she died. You can ask some of the other neighbors, but I don't know if you'll be able to find out anything more. I'm very sorry I can't help you any more."

He pulled out a business card from his pocket and wrote down his home address and phone number and the phone number of the hotel where he was staying on the card, and then handed it to her.

"Mrs. DiGiovanni, I appreciate the help you've given me. If you happen to remember anything else, or are talking with anyone else who happens to know anything about where Steve might be, please call me collect. I will be staying here for another week, so maybe something will turn up. I'll also talk to some of the other neighbors to see if any of them know anything. Between the two of us, maybe we'll turn up something."

"Oh, Mr. Stone, I hope so. I'll talk to the neighbors and see what we find out."

"Oh, by the way, could you tell me which of the neighbors were here when Mary and Steve were here?"

She then wrote down which apartments had people that were living there at the time in question. John then thanked her, and proceeded on his quest, disappointed and depressed about the news he had learned.

After a fruitless week of talking with his ex-wife's old neighbors, and checking out records in City Hall, a very disappointed John Stone, packed up and headed back to California. He had no better idea of where his son was living, and he desperately wanted to find him. That however, would have to wait for a few more years, until John Stone heard about his son on the news and read about him in the newspapers.

The banks and the stock markets opened that morning, with commentators nervously wondering what would happen. The Dow Jones opened at 1133.28, having dropped over 650 points in the last trading day before the markets were closed. Many people would be watching the situation very, very closely to see what effect the Fed's higher interest rates and the President's new program would have, and whether it would help stabilize the markets.

At 9:00, the President was in the Oval Office, watching CNN and the Financial Channel, while listening to news reports on the radio to find out if there was a reappearance of the massive bank runs that had caused her to declare a bank holiday. The banks appeared busier than usual, but that was to be expected after being closed for two days. So far there didn't appear to be any massive runs or moves to withdraw large sums of money, and in fact the new higher interest rates were causing a few people to re deposit some of the money they had withdrawn the previous week. Unfortunately, the pre-takeover level of deposits would not be reached for another year and a half, as many people were still leery of banks, even with the temporary government takeover.