Falcon Down

by Mark Spaid

  “Ambassador?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let me guess, Bangladesh or Paraguay?”

  “No, I was thinking more England.” Valerie was stunned. The most prestigious post for any ambassador is England. You are close to royalty in your treatment and the residence is palatial as well.

  “Me as the ambassador to the Court of St. James?”

  “Yes.”

  “You know this is Valerie Jensen sitting here, your long time enemy,”

  “No, I’d say long-time rival and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “They’d crucify you. It could hurt your chances for re-election.”

  “I know so that’s why we’ll wait until and if I’m elected on my own.”

  “So, I remain out of sight in Michigan for a year then emerge as ambassador to England.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “But wait, then you’ll suffer when you run again.”

  “No, if I win this time I won’t run again. I’ll have five and half years and that’s enough punishment for anyone.”

  “You’d walk away?”

  “Believe me, Valerie, it’s a weight on your shoulders that you can’t imagine unless it’s happened to you.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I felt a small portion of what it must be like for you every day and it’s no picnic.”

  “So, we meet again after I’m inaugurated.”

  “Thanks, Ellen, I mean Madam President.” They shook hands and it was sincere.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The horror that was unleashed on the Blue Ridge Mountains shocked the nation, the world really. It took weeks to dig through the rubble and find all the bodies. It was a grizzly job and some who did it ended up in therapy for what they saw. In the end, thirty-eight thousand people died or were missing and presumed dead. Eighty thousand were injured many seriously. As time passed more and more of the wounded died of radiation poison, internal injuries, blood loss, extended shock and other complications. A huge area of ninety miles in diameter was cordoned off and no admittance was permitted. A memorial was being planned for those who died that day. But the loss still haunted the entire nation because of what it foreshadowed. Nuclear war was not an option and nations needed to find a way to prevent it indefinitely.

  A week after the crisis was over President Lexington scheduled a cabinet meeting. “Please, be seated ladies and gentlemen,” Ellen said as she took her place at the head of the table in the cabinet meeting room.

  “I hope you’re feeling better, Madam President,” Haakon Meisner said.

  “I feel fine and I’m glad to be back in the saddle again…I think,” she said then chuckled. They exchanged glances. “That was a joke. Hey have you all lost your sense of humor?”

  “Ma’am…” Louise Chen started but was cut off by Ellen who slammed her hand on the table. Not hard but enough to gather everyone’s attention.”

  “Ma’am,” Louise said.

  “No, I will not accept these,” Ellen said as she held up six letters.

  “I take it you’re holding letters of resignation,” Marty posed.

  “I am, from Louise, Haakon, Rita, Marcus, Susan and Marty. I don’t know what you’ve heard or what you think but everyone in this room and Valerie Jensen did exactly the right thing by invoking the 25th Amendment. You had no choice and I can say that if one of you had been in my position and I was in the cabinet I wouldn’t have hesitated to vote to appoint an acting President.”

  “Ma’am, there’s considerable sentiment from the public for a complete new cabinet,” Marty said.

  “Well, the public is not President, I am.”

  “Since Valerie resigned and took the blame on herself, we thought it was only fair that we all leave as well.”

  “Well, I don’t. I need all of you at my side and I need your eyes, your ears and your ideas. Sadly, Valerie was a casualty of this thing but I don’t need anyone else to fall on their sword for me or the public. I picked all of you after Amos’ appointees left and I chose you because of your experience and expertise. None of that has changed and I’ll need all the help you can give so, no one is running out on me. Is that clear?” Looks were exchanged all around the table and even a few grins broke out.

  “Yes, Madam President,” Marty said smiling.

  * * *

  After signing the treaty and getting it passed in the Senate, Ellen went to Congress with Gwendolyn Ramzeyer’s name for vice-President. There was opposition but the President would not back down and in the end the Senate confirmed Governor Ramzeyer as vice-President of the United States.

  Trent Wilson recovered from his wounds but lost some mobility in his arm so he had to resign from the secret service. Ellen had him in her office that very day and made him a domestic advisor.

  Johnny Rodriguez recovered fully and was assigned as the head of Presidential security.

  Val Wheaton became head of vice-Presidential security.

  Carmen Hernandez moved on and Bonnie became appointments secretary and still was an assistant to the President.

  Ellen wrote a letter to the mayor and city council of Clarise’s home town. Now, there’s a Clarise Wallace Boulevard in Springfield, Illinois. Ellen went there a month later and dedicated the street and visited Clarise’s parents. When Jozette met with Ellen they were discussing and refining the outline of legislation that Clarise had put forward.

  * * *

  “How is the work coming along, Warren?” Dave asked as they sat around Justin and Belinda’s backyard patio.

  “The usual; I’m losing too much voltage.”

  “I thought you were hooking onto a laser?”

  “I am but there’s still leakage.”

  “Any possible solutions?”

  “None so far and Westinghouse is getting impatient.”

  “Are they going to drop their sponsorship?”

  “Maybe but I’m not crushed by that. IU has offered me a tenured position to study whatever I want.”

  “How’d that happen?”

  “I wrote a paper last fall and it was a big hit with the string theory people.”

  “String theory, kind of nebulous isn’t it?” Dave asked.

  “It’s darn near non-existent but I guess they want to stay even with Purdue and MIT.”

  “Can you?”

  “Stay even with those two places? I doubt it but I can give it a good try. I like experimental work but theory is nice too.”

  “And he’ll be at home where he belongs,” Ariel said.

  “Yes, and I like that. Since I was shot, I haven’t returned to the desert.”

  “Any regrets?”

  “No, being with Ariel is my favorite thing in the world and I mean that.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Dave said. As it turned out even though Warren was in demand for a professor’s spot at many universities, an anonymous gift to Indiana University of three million dollars to upgrade their physics lab may have played into the job offer for Warren. Where did the money come from? Well, that’s not important.

  * * *

  “Well, Little Wolf, what have you decided about the President’s offer?” Will asked.

  “I’m still mulling it over.”

  “He shouldn’t be mulling it at all. It’ll be a great boon to his career and he’s crazy if he turns her down,” Julieta stated clearly standing with hands on hips.

  “Well, I guess we know where your wife stands,” Lexi said.

  “Yes, she’s all for me taking it but I hate to desert Lionel.”

  “I saw him last week and he said if you don’t take it, he may fire you,” Justin said.

  “He said that?” Little Wolf asked.

  “Not exactly but he wants you to take the job, Little Wolf. We all do but there’s only one opinion that counts,” Justin replied.

  “I know and I’m leaning that way.”

  “Good,” Julieta said then sat next to her husband and kissed his cheek.

  “Jo, how did the mee
ting go with the President?” Lexi asked.

  “Very well; we had a great time. The Whitehouse is always buzzing so we went to Camp David. Bonnie came along and we discussed ideas for legislation to help women. It was a good feeling.”

  “Did she offer you a job in her administration?” Will asked.

  “Well, as a matter of fact, she did.”

  “What? You didn’t say anything about that,” Justin said.

  “I don’t tell you everything, Justin.”

  “You’re probably better off that way.”

  “Yeah, because he’d just tell everyone,” Belinda said.

  “Says the Queen of Blab,” Justin posed.

  “I don’t blab.”

  “Honey, I love you but you can’t keep a secret from the kitchen to the living room,” Lexi said. There was laughter and even Belinda grinned.

  “Well, maybe I do blab sometimes.”

  “We’ll accept that and move on from there,” Lexi said.

  “Tatiana, has your arm healed?” Will asked.

  “Yes, perfectly. The bullet missed the bone and was almost all the way through. The doctor said it didn’t do much tumbling. I was lucky.”

  “Are the girls ready for college?” Lexi asked.

  “That’s all they talk about.”

  “Are they staying on campus?” Will asked.

  “Yes, it’s a long drive and I don’t want them out on the road. Dave wasn’t happy. He wants his baby girls next to him on the couch every night.”

  “Those days are gone, I guess,” Lexi said.

  “They are and I’m not quite the basket case that Tatiana thinks I am. Though I probably will be when we drop them off on that horrible weekend?” Tatiana looked at Jozette and smiled.

  “It’ll be like kindergarten all over again,” Tatiana quipped.

  “I love my girls is that so bad?”

  “It’s not bad at all and the girls are lucky to have you and Tatiana,” Lexi said.

  “I’ll miss them too. The house will be quiet and kind of lonely for a while.”

  “Now, the girls going here to IU are staying at home, aren’t they?” Dave asked.

  “They are; Darcy, Jessica and Dixie had a triple reserved but then they said they wanted to stay at home and we didn’t complain,” Lexi said with a smile.

  “Will they drive?” Dave asked.

  “No, there’s a bus two blocks from here that goes to campus,” Jozette said. “They all three have a night class together but either Andy, Justin, Lexi or myself will drop them off and pick them up.”

  “What did they think of that?”

  “Not much at first but we weren’t going to budge and actually in time they realized it’d be nice having a ride just outside the door to the building,” Will answered.

  “Hey, Dixie come here for a minute,” Tatiana said.

  “Yes.”

  “Sit on my lap.” They all liked Tatiana; she was kind of a second mother. “I here you’re taking a night class but you have a ride there and back home.”

  “Yes, our parents will take us and pick us up.”

  “What do you think of that?”

  “Well, Jess wanted to be free and go on the bus but it’s at night and I wasn’t too anxious to do that. Besides, if Daddy picks us up, I can always get him to take us to the ice cream store. He can’t tell me no.” She whispered the last part in Tatiana’s ear.

  “I see, well, have fun with that and good luck this fall to Jessica, Darcy and Paulita too,” she said and they nodded. Dixie got up and she, Jessica, Dixie, Paulita and Zara went somewhere away from the adults. Actually, all of them were adults except Zara but the parents were the “old” adults.

  “I suppose she said when Andy picks them up, they can get him to do anything they want,” Jozette said.

  “Perhaps,” Tatiana said.

  “Andy can’t say no to Dixie.”

  “I’ve seen that. The twins can get Dave to do anything. He has no backbone around those two girls.”

  “Well, it’s hard to argue with a father who loves his children and children who love their father,” Jozette remarked.

  “No, I wouldn’t trade him for anything,” Tatiana said.

  “Mine either,” Jozette said.

  “Hey, Belinda, I heard that you missed your chance to advise the President on her fashion choices,” Will said.

  “Not exactly.”

  “What does that mean?” Jozette asked.

  “I received a certified letter last week inviting me to the Whitehouse in two weeks to do a makeover on President Lexington,” Belinda said as she threw her head back and grinned.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Jozette asked.

  “You didn’t tell me about going there to discuss women’s issues.”

  “Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, so we’re even.”

  “Now, my question as usual is what’re we going to do the next time that will put our lives in danger?” Andy said.

  “Do we have to do something dangerous?” Belinda asked.

  “We never start out that way, but in the end, it’s always touch and go. I keep saying let’s go to King’s Island or Disneyworld,” Andy said.

  “Dave, is something wrong?” Justin asked. Dave had just finished reading a text and was lost in thought somewhere.

  “Dave, Justin is talking to you,” Tatiana said as she nudged her husband.

  “What, oh, I’m sorry, Justin…deep in thought I guess.”

  “Do we dare ask what you were thinking about?” Jozette interjected. Dave looked at everyone and they were all interested as they could see that something was bothering Dave.

  “I’m sorry but I can’t say anything right now.” Then he got up and walked away reading his phone.

  “What’s wrong, Tatiana?” Lexi asked.

  “I don’t know; he rarely locks people out, especially me. I’ll ask him tonight when we’re alone.” The party broke up and Dave and Tatiana were in the guest bedroom at Belinda and Justin’s house. Tatiana was ready for bed and Dave was sitting on the bed with his arms folded and his chin resting on his hand. “Dave is everything alright?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know or you won’t tell me.”

  “No, if I knew I’d tell you. You must know that by now. I don’t keep secrets from you.”

  “What about the plane ride on the way to Australia?”

  “Yes, I did and I was wrong. I knew you wouldn’t say anything but I was afraid you might take Belinda into your confidence and she can’t keep quiet.” Tatiana gave Dave the look he got when he said anything unflattering about Belinda. “Okay, I know the rule on Belinda and I love her too but you have to admit she can’t keep a secret. Even Lexi said that tonight.”

  “Well, okay, I guess you’re right.”

  “When I know anything for sure, I’ll tell you.”

  “Can you tell me what it’s about?”

  “I don’t know yet. An old friend texted me about a problem he’s having but he didn’t elaborate. I asked for clarification but he won’t tell me. All he said was that he was afraid for himself and his family.”

  “He’s a physicist, doesn’t he just push numbers around like you do?” She liked to tease Dave and he was used to it.

  “You’re very funny,” he said smiling. “But I think you’re right, what could he do that would put his life or his family in danger?”

  “When will you know?”

  “He told me to meet him this Wednesday at a café in Pittsburgh. I’m supposed to wear a disguise and meet him in the back corner of this place.”

  “I’m not sure I like this idea.”

  “Well, it’s in broad daylight so, I guess it’ll be okay.”

  * * *

  “It was not okay and what his friend had to tell him scared Dave to his bones. It would set the world on a path to destruction and the group would face a crisis that would pale the ones they had faced before.”

  EPILOGUE
<
br />   In the next book Dave receives information from a fellow physicist that a group of latter-day Nazis, direct descendants of the Nazis who surrounded Adolph Hitler, are on the brink of discovering one of Nikola Tesla’s lost secrets. It’s a secret that could lead to the development of a series of things that would place the world as it is now in grave danger. If they find the answers, they are looking for then these children of Hitler would be in a position to take over the world and rule it in their own maniacal fashion. These fanatics will stop at nothing to achieve their aims and they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way. Dave’s friend is being forced to complete the work that Tesla started and find the solution to the Unified Field Theory. If he is successful then the Nazis will have the path to Time Travel, Teleportation and a Particle Beam weapon that could reach anywhere on Earth in seconds and obliterate anything in its path.

  Once the Nazis find out about Dave and his work in electromagnetism, then he and his family are in danger and by association, the entire group. Justin, Belinda, Andy, Jozette, Will, Lexi, Little Wolf, Julieta, Warren, Ariel and all of the kids. As Andy is fond of saying; we start out on vacation and end up fighting for our lives every time. The adventure continues as my characters fight to save their lives and the world from Hitler’s spawn. Read The Eve of Abounding Wickedness to find out what happens.