Ancients

She patted Niles on the shoulder. 'Well, it may cost us some budget money, but he can't close us down. Just keep that in mind.' She smiled and turned toward the president as he spoke in quiet tones on the phone. Then she looked at Niles. 'You seem to be taking this rather calmly, Niles. Are you forgetting to tell me something about you and our new commander in chief?'

Niles pushed his glasses back up to their proper resting place on his nose and then looked at Alice curiously.

'Forgetting something? No, I don't believe so.'

The president hung up the phone and started to turn to them. Alice was looking at Niles with even more curiosity. She knew him well enough that she thought he wasn't being totally honest with her.

'Mr. Director, I'm afraid I have to cut this meeting short.' He looked at the enclosure and then half smiled. 'Even though I must say you have indeed piqued my imagination, the real world is intruding on us. The North Koreans are still rattling their sabers and now we have a serious incident at the Iran-Iraq border. It seems an earthquake caused a lot of deaths.'

'Sorry to hear that, sir. We can continue when you have more time.'

A frown crossed the president's face. 'I can tell you're not used to being challenged on budgetary matters, Doctor. I assure you I just don't start axing programs and budgets without due consideration.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Ms. Hamilton, it's been a rare pleasure to meet a lady of your ... your--'

'Years, Mr. President?' she finished for him while batting her lovely eyes.

'Well, I was going to say quality. But if Dr. Compton has the smarts to keep someone like you way past mandatory retirement without anyone catching on, well, maybe you folks deserve the benefit of the doubt.' The president turned to Niles and held out his hand. 'Until we have more time, Mr. Director.'

Alice watched their eyes meet and became aware of a momentary softness there that had not been evident before.

Niles watched Alice lead the president to the secure elevator, where he would meet his Secret Service escort, and frowned. He wanted to tell Alice and a few of the others about the president and himself, but he didn't know for sure what the man wanted everyone to know just yet. He decided that since the president hadn't said anything, he would play it close to the vest for now.

The presidential helicopter was waiting just inside the ancient-looking hangar. The staged dilapidation kept prying eyes from paying too much attention to gate number one of the Event Group complex. As the five-bladed rotor started to turn, the president frowned at the folder just given him by his chief of staff, Daniel Harding.

'Do we know just how much armor loss we're looking at?'

'No, sir. With the earthquake damage it's still a mess over there. The Iraqis are claiming to have lost forty percent of their ready divisions in the disaster. CIA reports that Iran has lost a like number. The quake hit at just the right area and the ayatollah is saying it's a divine sign that the end is near and that disarmament is the only option, starting with Iraq of course.'

'Well, I wouldn't be crying over that, but how about unilaterally first,' the president said as the huge marine helicopter eased out of the mysterious hangar of the Event Group. 'Might make the world a sight happier.'

'Indeed,' the chief of staff said. 'Now, that damn Kim Jong Il is a different story. He's claiming he has evidence of offshore tampering by South Korea that caused this earthquake and tsunami against the People's Army. He says it was underwater drilling that sparked the episode.'

'Has he completely lost his mind? The South Koreans manipulated a seismic event by drilling for oil?'

'He claims to have evidence that shows naval elements and aircraft in international waters doing the foul deed. Even the Chinese are looking at him like he just fell out of the idiot tree and hit every branch on the way down.'

'Well, get UN Ambassador Williams on it and tell him to find out what he can through unofficial channels. I don't want the State Department to officially give this story any credibility, understood?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Listen, also get Nathan Samuels to the White House. I want to know from my science adviser just how natural two quakes of this size almost half a world away can be separate natural events. I want an answer to tell the press when this idiot Kim Jong Il's statements hit the newswires.'

Alice rode with Niles Compton on the elevator up to level seven. At first, the director was content to stare at the numbers as they rose. Then without turning he said, 'I want a detailed report on all the field teams that may or may not have been affected by these quakes. Any team, no matter who they're attached to, gets removed if there's the slightest danger. We don't need anyone getting hurt while the president mulls over our value.'

Alice was silent as she wrote his instructions in her small notepad. When she was done, she saw Niles remove his glasses and rub the bridge of his nose in worry.

'Everyone is out and safe.'

Niles half turned and replaced his glasses. 'Excuse me?'

'The Ethiopian field team--they're safe and should be home in about twelve more hours. Our wandering vacationers are with them.'

Alice saw the director relax. He nodded as the real reason for his inquiry into the field teams had been answered.

'Are you angry with Jack?' Alice asked, looking at her notepad.

The elevator stopped and Niles waited for Alice to exit before following. He walked straight to his large office, which had the Group's motto above the door in gold letters: THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO FORGET THE PAST, ARE CONDEMNED TO RELIVE IT. He gestured for Alice to close the large double doors behind her.

The office was spacious and dominated by thirty small-screen monitors that could be tuned to any science department or vault on any of the seventy-five sublevels of the complex. In the center of these monitors that were situated on the wall in the circular office was one large monitor that was currently tuned to the dilapidated hangar designated gate one. It was empty, meaning that the president had safely lifted off. He went to the credenza and poured himself a glass of water, then sat behind his large desk.

'You asked if I was angry at Jack.'

'Yes,' she said as she sat down in a chair beside the desk.

'Not as much angry as I am worried.' He took a sip of his water and rifled through some papers on his desk. He found what he was looking for and pushed the paper to Alice. 'I requested that Jack be here for the briefing of the new president; he instead requested leave for himself, Everett, and Ryan.'

'You granted the leave.'

'How could I say no after what Jack has done for this Group in the past two years?'

'Then why are you worried?' Alice asked as she laid down the memo.

'He takes too many chances sometimes.'

Alice smiled and looked at her boss. She knew that Niles from time to time overthought a situation, and she was duty-bound to ease his mind. Jack Collins was the very best at what he did. His army record was unparalleled in achievement. The only mark against him was his battle with the Pentagon over policy, which had eventually led him to be transferred to the Group.

Carl Everett was Jack's equal in many ways, with the exception of his heart. Everett was the one to whom Jack turned for the harder things involved with his new command. Such as how to handle people.

'Jack doesn't have a death wish, Niles, if that's what you're thinking. What he does have is an overwhelming commitment to do what is right. He was restrained for so many years in his duties with the army. The inability to do the right thing instead of what policy dictated he do. You gave him the freedom he needed to act when you brought him here. Bad people were hurting us in the field and Jack stopped that after you gave him a free hand, and I must say it was the smartest order you could ever have given a man like Colonel Collins.'

Niles placed the glass down and then looked at Alice and nodded. 'Do I always overlook the obvious?'

'Jack's not growing bored. He wanted to be there to give Will Mendenhall his new second-lieutenant's bar. He's proud of Will, you know that. A fishing vacation was only an excuse.'

'He goes fishing and thwarts an attack on innocent students. Taking chances is a bad habit I want him to break.'

'If he breaks that habit, we go back to losing field personnel. It's still an ugly world out there, Niles, and Jack just happens to know how to deal with it.'