Chapter 51

“Mr. President. President Dryden is on two.” Stacy didn’t need long to make her magic. I needed to give her a kiss and hug, or two...

“Mr. President?” I loved how these conversations would go, but I had no time to do anything but hit him with the facts. “Are you free to spend a few days with me at an undisclosed location? We have a bit of situation and I want your expertise, input and assistance, if you don’t mind, Sir.”

“Mr. President ... I am happy to offer you whatever I have that you might need. I take it, under the circumstances, you are providing transport?” He sounded happy to be asked.

“Yes, Mr. President. I will have the Secret Service and the Air Force get you moved to be with me as fast as humanly possible. Please plan to be away a few days at least, Sir.”

“No problem, Mr. President. I am at your disposal. I’ll wait for news and go with the flow. See you soon, Thomas.” He WAS happy.

“Stacy. You heard that. I need his help. Can you find someone at the Pentagon to move him wherever we are going, please?” My smile was proof that I knew just how to thank her for her diligence and loyalty.

Turning back to the Pentagon feed and making my microphone live, I said, “Generals. What news do you have for me?”

There was news, but not much detail. It went as follows:

Israel was standing still, but making loud noise about her right to respond if attacked. I wouldn’t have that any other way.

India was offended, but India is always offended. Somehow they’d have to suck it up and survive the invented slights.

Iran was dead quiet. They had been through the wringer one time too many and did not want to be accused of causing the nuclear event.

Afghanistan was ignoring our attempts to communicate, which meant, in my opinion, that they sponsored or approved of who sponsored the event. Someone was going to thump them really had for this.

Agriculture contributed a bit of news. It seemed like everyone else was willing to pitch in and help, but not until the situation was stable enough to insure that there wouldn’t be another explosion. I was expecting that. At least we had promises of humanitarian assistance and the use of bases and airports to move supplies and personnel into place.

When I looked at my watch, I discovered that it was very late and that led me to the realization that I was very tired. “Stacy. I need to rest. Can you bring whatever you need and use my office for the time being? I don’t want to come back and forth all night and I really don’t want you far away from me, in case things go south.” She saw the look in my eyes and shivered just a hair, before assuring me that my office had everything she would need to keep me in the loop all night. I had something I wanted to keep in her and Jennifer all night, but I was truly exhausted and doubted that I could get, forget about keeping, an erection.

Sleep hit me like a freight train and I awoke to the sound of the bedside phone humming instead of ringing. As I picked up the handset I could see that it was three-twenty four A.M. That gave me a shiver of fear.

“Mr. President, I have the Secretary of Defense on the line...” She connected me immediately.

“Sorry to wake you, Mr. President, but there has been another explosion in Pakistan. This one was by way of a missile and was not nuclear. However, it appears to have come from an area of Afghanistan where terror activity is known to be quite common.

“From the intelligence we gathered from the launch, flight characteristics and explosive bloom, it seems the missile was an altered SCUD that probably went missing during the Afghan hostilities. The area of impact is located approximately forty miles east of the nuclear event and the device appears to have been loaded to burn everyone and everything within its effective area.

“We are developing more information but that is all we can tell you at this time, Sir.” He paused to give me time to think.

“Mr. Secretary, can you determine the precise location of the launch?”

“Oh, yes, Sir. We can give it to you within two feet and be right on the money.”

“Then destroy everything around the launch site. Get some photos from our birds and see if you can pinpoint movement, direction of travel and size of the force, then wipe them out. We do not need survivors to question. We need to show the Afghan people that we will kill anyone contributing to war in the middle-east.” I hung up after hearing him repeat back my orders.

It took surprisingly little time to fall back to sleep and the rest did me some good, because I woke up erect and needy. The closest orifice to me belonged to Jennifer and she groaned when she felt my tongue inside of her. Her groan turned to moans and she came just as I slid home and continued to come until I finished a few minutes later.

Wake up sex is so good for the heart, you know...

The next time the phone rang it was Stacy. She had slipped out and started the day for me. Her message was short and sweet. “Mr. President. President Dryden will be arriving in just a few minutes. Do you wish to be out to greet him, Sir?” I could hear the smile on her face. This three way might be a working thing for us.

“Thank you Stacy. How much time do I have?”

“The plane should taxi up to the entrance in about twenty-five minutes, Sir.” She was still smiling. I could hear it on her face.

“Then I better get moving.”

In the shower I had time to think. Hawk would help me deal with the Afghan problem. He would also be a huge help with things at State. His background was Defense, but his talents are all over the board. I needed him to shake things up at State more than I needed him in the desert.

Hard decisions need a hot breakfast. When I stepped out of the shower, I saw that Stacy had delivered just that. She outdid herself getting the military to cater to my erratic appetite. Maybe she should be Vice President, Hawk should take over at State and I could reach back into the past and appoint Shane to Agriculture.

Those didn’t look like bad options...

Hawk stormed off the Air Force G-Six-fifty that Stacy sent for him. He looked rested and energetic. It wouldn’t take long to wipe those looks off of his face at the pace things happen at our level. His detail tried valiantly to move him their way, but his energy and determination killed any chance of that. We embraced and he hugged me a second time.

Someone was so glad to be back in the game that it made my decision easy.

“Mr. President. Thank you for coming. I want you to be the new Vice President.” Before he could react, I continued talking. “And I need you to run State for me. Things are off the rail there. How about it? We can hold a press conference, update the Pakistan problem and announce you as my choice to replace me as Vice President?”