Chapter 24

“uhhhh ... ahhhhhh ... Ummmmm...” my response was something very near to that. Then my brain caught up to my mouth. “Mr, Vice President, you know I’m not qualified due to my age, right? I won’t qualify until two presidential elections from now.”

Sam Brownbock must have realized how completely he off-guard he’s caught me, because he laughed to cover my total lack of poise, and continued. “Have no fear of that, Thomas, The Federal Appellate just upheld an age discrimination case in favor of a twenty-eight year old, Montana women who was dropped off the ballot by the Secretary of State due to her age. The media will love to go after your age, while carefully ignoring the Montana case because she’s a woman and the other side. The way the media loves to write about Defense these days gives you a real life edge and the people who matter, want to vote for you and me. That’s how convinced I am that you are the right running mate.

“We need – I need - your youth, your vitality and your integrity. The campaign should be somewhat gentler than in other years because The President has been scandal free, as well as straightforward, strong and decent. I plan to run on those things. They will be my – well, our – platform. One other, very important factor in my decision to bring this to you today is my desire to be way out in front of the D.C. rumor mill. The media wants to spend the next year imagining will be picked to run with me and my eventual opponent.”

He saw me slightly twitch when he said that. “I know. I know. But think about it, Thomas. Who in our party is equipped, experienced, energized and financially set up to win the primaries? One of our media specialists is working out the details on how we will release this to the public, but it will be released in such a way as to get the press talking about the election in terms of who will run against us, instead of who will win the primaries. Money running to other candidates will start to dry up quickly as donors want to run with the winner.

“Come with me, Thomas. We’ll do good things together...” He let up to give me a chance to think about his proposal.

The President didn’t. “Thomas, you have never refused me. The one thing I have counted on since appointing you to DHS was that you would always do what I asked of you.” He paused for dramatic effect and then lowered the boom. “I’m asking now, Thomas. Consider this the ultimate request from me.

“Please listen to us for a moment. We’ve – The Vice President and I – have discussed how to approach the next election. Your name was the first one we put in the discussion. Sam’s – get used to calling the Vice President Sam, by the way – you two will be together a lot from here on out ... anyway, Sam’s thinking and mine is identical. A young, good looking, hard-working, brave, hero of the working guy, is the right man for the second spot on the ticket.”

Hey seemed to be waiting for my reply and I had no choice. They both earned the right to an answer. “Mr. President, I would never consider denying a request for you. If this is what you really want, then count me in, Sir.”

I turned my attention to Sam Brownbock. “Mr. Vice President, it would be my honor to run alongside you next year. It is also my hope and prayer that I don’t do anything so stupid as to cost you the White House, along the way.”

The two smiled like I had just confirmed that Santa Claus was real. Hawk offered me his hand, and by then Sam was on his feet wanting to do the same. “Thomas, you will do this as perfectly as you have run DHS and Defense. Your innate good heart and strong sense of what is right have brought you this moment, and those qualities will help Sam keep the White House in safe hands for the next eight years.” He hugged me then.

Hawk hugged me.

He would never know but the last time Hawk Dryden hugged me I was a young girl, dying of the plague and his adopted daughter. How and for what purpose the universe arranged this intersection in time worried me, because my lives tended to always end badly. There must be some truly important reason for me to be here to die this time, and that was a constant burden to carry.

Sam Brownbock followed Hawk’s hug with one of his own and slapped my arm, saying, “Thomas, YOU WILL call me Sam when we are alone, or with the President, from now on, or I will crown you. Got it?” Hawk took that moment to make his own demand on that subject and we all laughed at my reluctance to use their given names out of respect, even when ordered.

Sam made a date for us to get together for dinner at the Naval Observatory and thrash out a plan for the next few months. His smile said all that was necessary, and I silently prayed that my background, experience, and training would be enough to make his presidency successful.

A thought hit me as Hawk and Sam walked with me to the elevator that would take us back up to the world where I would quickly depart for The Pentagon. The President and Vice President rarely met in close proximity due to security concerns, yet both met with me under the White House as if they didn’t have a care in the world. The big threat board was rather idle that week, which caused me to even more diligent. The threat board was just as empty on September eleventh two-thousand and one. It was even quieter on December Seventh Nineteen - Forty One.