Chapter 30

After dealing with the Jason thing, I needed time away from DC. The strain of finding out someone so close to the President had sold him out, and gotten over fifty good, hardworking, people killed, was way too much to just deal with. I needed time to process all the details, all the events, all the times I should have caught on that something was wrong, but didn't.

Without really giving it much thought, I followed through on my original plan to spend a week in Branson. Time with my family would be a great cathartic right then.

Without my regular ride, I informed the Secret Service I would be content with one of the G6500's in the fleet, and had no need for the jumbo jet the foreseeable future.

They took it like they took everything else. Lots of hand wringing, attempts to convince me that I just couldn't exist without all the puffery, and Ken Stanton even made a run at me himself. "Ken," I told him. "I'm not real big on needing to prove that I have the biggest you-know in the room. Until the Air Force retires the President's existing jet, let me deal with one of the small jets and save the taxpayers some time and money."

He said, "Well. That's a good answer. Not great - but good enough," and gave up.

When I hopped out at the National Guard base in Springfield for a week-long respite, it felt a little like what a convict must feel when being released from prison. My chopper was ready to go, and we were at the house by the lake within a few minutes.

Benjamin came barreling across the lawn when the rotors stopped spinning, and we spent some time on the grass enjoying a hug, or three. I saw my ladies, waiting patiently on the back porch. Our home was fairly secure, in part because our home faced a part of the lake where I owned all the property on the opposite shore, a half mile in each direction. That cut down on anyone peeping at us. The Secret Service, supplemented by a squad of specialists provided by DOD, kept the land across the lake clear of trespassers, and other problems.

The week flew by. Each morning Rick arranged all the necessary briefings. We worked on follow up with those who killed my team and blew up Air Force Two. Jack frequently reported on progress, as various extremists disappeared without a trace, and huge fortunes went suddenly missing. They were always fortunes belonging to people who funded terror for some, unknown reason.

The survivors of my team discovered large sums of untraceable money in their bank accounts. College scholarships were hastily awarded, mortgages were paid off, and some people found the local car dealership willing to trade even up for a much nicer new car, and pay off any loan balance in the process.

We took care of those families with the money we liberated. The Muslim extremists were funding our campaign to eradicate them and had no idea where all trouble coming from.

Charles stayed in touch, but our schedules were such that we almost never saw each other. I did whatever he asked of me, without complaint. His first term was going to be a very positive experience for America.

After my short stay in Branson, I received an invitation to Camp David to spend a long week with Charles and hammer out the agenda for the coming year. Marine Two delivered me on a Friday evening, and I was put up in one of the cabins situated on the property. I took Benjamin along for company, and because he needed time with his dad.

I needed time with my boy, too.

He loved hiking with me on trails carefully groomed by soldiers for our use, and chasing the occasional squirrel that crossed our path. Benjamin loved being outdoors with me, knowing he was safe and loved. The fear left over from his prior abandonment stayed with him, and he stayed near me even when chasing squirrels.

He seemed to enjoy the company of the agents that accompanied us, but that lasted only a short time, and then he wanted to be with me. Truth be told, I needed him as much as he needed me, and we both knew it.

Charles chose to work on a different piece of his administration on a firm schedule. Each morning I found a typed agenda highlighting different departments at different times, so I could be ready to work at the appropriate time.

Working on an agenda for the Department of State was a hard pull, because so much was happening around the world, and much of our time was spent trying to forecast where trouble was going to occur.

Defense was surprisingly easy. The budgets were huge, and paring them down was daunting but rewarding. The Generals on the Joint Chiefs provided great briefing material, and Rick's hackers snuck in and got me the down and dirty info, so we could compare the two and see how much we were being stroked.

Treasury was a lay down. We spent about five minutes on it.

EPA was going to be a lot easier because Charles had a deal with the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader to radically reduce their funding, cut out whole departments, and reassign scads of excess government employees. The new Secretary was a hard-nosed businesswoman, who had no patience for waste, abuse, or dishonesty. It was a new day over there, because the new leadership team actually thought about what they were doing, instead of simply spending their days enlarging EPA's power.

Agriculture was interesting because of how much of the government is hidden in its budget. When I saw the real size of Ag, I suggested a zero based budget for them, and make each manger PROVE they needed the existing funding, instead of getting hung up discussing if they needed the increase. Charles liked it enough to order it, and we moved on. It about blew their minds when they discovered they had to prove they needed each and every employee, expense, and budget item.

The rest were less, or more but always an educational experience.

There were literally, hundreds of open Federal Judgeships. Charles asked me to chair a committee to recommend replacements, and I suggested we redesign the Federal Court system to better reflect need, as opposed to simply maintaining the existing courts. I had a brief written to highlight my suggestions and Charles took it to bed with him that night and pronounced it the new course the next morning.