Rachel continued. “There’s a new wrinkle to the proposal, Mr…. Bill. It was discussed today, actually. John Harford, president of SI, testified before our committee in closed session, and while I can’t divulge the content of that meeting, I can say he proposed that SI demonstrate some of the security measures live, in a multi-city pilot program. He suggested that they implement the program in two or three local areas, cities with a large military presence and therefore potential targets. He said some of these attacks have been directed at such places because it heightens the public’s perception that even our military can’t protect itself. Several people who were shot, as you know, were soldiers or civilian contractors working on military bases. They’ve even killed two CIA analysts while they were driving to work in Langley. Harford suggested a pilot program in San Antonio, Colorado Springs, and the environs of Washington D.C.”
“What is he proposing, Rachel?” Pug asked.
“Marked and unmarked vehicles, aerial drones with visual-but not attack-capability, mobile command and control vehicles in semi-articulated trucks, uniformed and armed guards in the malls, at public sporting events, and a list of smaller measures,” she replied. “The committee reacted very favorably.”
“I guess we can be grateful he didn’t ask for Hellfire missiles on the drones. Who else testified?” the president asked.
“General Wainscott, Army Deputy Chief of Staff, who recommended approval of the proposal. He’s the one who wrote the Army’s position paper on the inability of National Guard troops to meet this kind of domestic police challenge, constitutionally and manpower-wise. At least, on a long-term basis.”
The president made a note on a small pad by the side of his chair. “Pug, does Secretary Austin have a position on this SI proposal?”
“Sir, as a career military man, General Austin can see merit to much of what is proposed, but he drew a clear distinction between governing an occupied country after a war and governing a democracy within our domestic borders. Security measures for the former are not conducive to the freedoms inherent in the latter. He said this is more than the proverbial slippery slope. He thinks implementation of such a program will never be able to be reversed. If we add legislative revision to the measures undertaken, essentially suspending constitutional rights, the Constitution will die a natural death, or so he thinks, and will never be recovered. I would suggest you speak with him yourself, sir. For all the protection it might afford, the measures proposed will curtail innocent citizens from enjoying their freedoms.”
“I understand,” President Snow said, nodding and making another note. “I think I need to have another meeting with Admiral Barrington, Secreta ry Austin, yourself, and a couple of the House and Senate leaders, and perhaps even Senator Culpepper, to draw the old fox out. Rachel, when is your committee’s next meeting?”
“Day after tomorrow, Mr. President.”
Snow smiled, stood up and stretched his arms above his head. “I think perhaps I should consider a joint House and Senate fact-finding committee, with a couple of military minds and even Homeland Security personnel assigned to participate. I see two people who could serve and have my full confidence,” he said, smiling at both Rachel and Pug.
“Mr. President-” Rachel began when the president raised his hand to stop her.
“No, Senator, I think it’s a good idea, and I’ll request implementation this week. But now that we’ve reverted to ‘Mr. President,’ I think it’s time for a snow cone and to see if Far World is any safer than Earth. You both coming downstairs with me?”
Rachel and Pug rose from their chairs, Rachel speaking first. “Mr. President, I have an early meeting on the Hill in the morning. If I might beg off, I came here straight from the office tonight, so I think I’ll catch a taxi and head home. I have to read the background material before closing my eyes tonight, although the stimulating reading material in this farm subsidy package might just accomplish both objectives.”
“I’m heading toward Reston, Rachel. May I offer you a ride home?” Pug said.
Rachel thought for a moment, gathered her purse, and replied. “I live near Mclean, just off the George Washington Parkway, so not too far away. I appreciate the offer, Pug, and I’ll take you up on it.”
The president headed for the door. “Well, then, thank you both for coming tonight. I hope we get a chance to do it again,” he said.
As they exited the room, Rachel in the lead, President Snow winked at Pug and whispered in his ear. “I’ll tell Helen she can be proud of you. No motherly interference necessary.”
Twenty minutes later, pulling off the Parkway toward Rachel’s home, general discussion about Pug’s brother’s and younger sister having filled the journey, Pug stared at Rachel for several long moments as they waited at an intersection.
“Maybe we could do this sometime on our own, have dinner, I mean, without chaperones.”
Rachel didn’t respond immediately, reaching in her purse for her cell phone. She keyed a Speed Dial number and then closed the phone. The stop light had turned green and Pug was underway again.
“Just turning on my house lights and the outside security lights,” she said.
“Wow, a high-tech woman.”
“No, just a single woman living alone in a dangerous city,” she said. “Besides, America is under attack, or haven’t you heard? Turn left at the next light, then right on Patrick Henry Lane. Third house on the right.”
Pug followed as directed and pulled up in Rachel’s driveway, shutting off his engine. “Beautiful view of the Potomac,” he said, admiring her home. “About that dinner on our own sometime,” he repeated.
Rachel turned to face him and leaned against the car door, her face intense, focused on his, but her eyes warm and inviting.
“I don’t think we should go down that road.”
“What road?” Pug replied.
A slight grin crossed Rachel’s face, but she didn’t immediately respond, causing Pug to anxiously shift in his seat. “We’re not twenty-two-year-old college students, Pug. You know what road I’m talking about, so drop the gamesmanship, please.”
He laughed softly, nodding his head. “Okay, consider me duly chastened. May I ask why not? Is there someone you’re currently dating?”
She ignored the second question. “I like you, Pug. That’s why not.”
“Reverse logic?”
“Not at all. Basic female logic. I do like you. I really like you, and I can see that you like me. I could say I don’t date younger men,” she said, a broader smile crossing her face.
“Forty-two and forty-four does not place me in the category of a Toy Boy,” he said.
Rachel laughed out loud. “I guess not. It would appear that we’ve both done our homework on the other’s biography. And it’s forty- three, not forty-four.”
“Guilty again. I looked up Senator Rachel Ann McKenzie’s congressional stats and life history. I’m assuming you’ve done the same. But am I entitled to any other explanation? I mean, let’s face it. Two single people our age, both educated, both involved in government, favorable toward the military, involved in similar political issues-at least, at present. What are the odds that we could find someone else who had the same values, same interests, card-carrying conservatives, so to speak.”
“Very low odds, I would say, Pug.”
“And you say you like me.”
“Yes, I do, and that is exactly why I don’t want to go down this road.”
Pug shook his head. “You told the president that the Senate confused you. I can only imagine what you do to them,” he responded.
Again, silence for several moments. Then, “Okay, here it is in a nutshell, General Connor. My father was an Air Force pilot who was killed in aerial combat in Vietnam before my second birthday. My husband was a National Guard company commander and was killed, also in combat, in Afghanistan just over five years ago. Now, I’ve just met another military guy who is a Marine general with an outstanding combat record with a Bronze Star and a Navy Cross for covert actions that are not public information. While that makes you a brave and competent officer, a leader of men from your peer’s perspective, and the nation has expressed its gratitude, it makes you a poor risk for a romantic relationship with a woman who has more than paid her dues to America. Is that clear enough?”
Pug stared into Rachel’s eyes, holding his tongue, absorbing the rhetoric she had just delivered. She had succinctly confirmed everything General Austin had told him that day in the Capitol. Her face was stoic and her demeanor quite serious.
