would be in attendance for the oath of office on the West Portico of the Capitol: several former defense secretaries and chiefs of staff, plus former vice president Les Busick and former presidents Thomas Thorn and Kevin Martindale and their families. After they greeted each other, they proceeded across the Rotunda to the West Portico.
Ann embraced Ken one last time before she walked out. “I’m so scared,” she admitted as they embraced.
“I am, too, Ann,” Ken said. “But we’re it now.”
She stepped back and smiled. “Damn right we are, Mr. President,” she said. “Damn right.”
Phoenix took his wife’s and son’s hands while his wife held their daughter’s, and they waited for their cue to emerge onto the West Portico. They could hear the roaring crowd outside and feel the unusual January warmth through the doors.
Holy God help me, he thought as he smiled at the sunshine and listened to the cheering crowd…I’m it.
HENDERSON, NEVADA
THAT SAME TIME
Patrick McLanahan put his arm around Gia, and she snuggled closer to him-until he tightened his arm too much across her back, causing her to wince in pain. “Sorry, sweetie,” he said. “Didn’t mean it. Still sore, huh?”
“That’s okay, lover,” Gia Cazzotta said. She snuggled closer, and he kept his arm safely on the back of the couch. Patrick’s son, Bradley, looked over at his dad’s girlfriend in concern. “That was Ken?”
“Yes.” They were watching the inauguration of Kenneth Phoenix on television from McLanahan’s condo south of Las Vegas. “He still wants me in Washington.”
“You just talked with the new president, Dad?” Bradley asked.
“Yep.”
“Cool.”
“He wants to talk about going back to Washington, Brad,” Patrick said. “How about it? Feel like going back to Washington again for a while?”
“I don’t know, Dad,” Bradley said. “I’ll be on the varsity squad next year, and…and…”
“You forgot about Heather, Dad,” Gia reminded him with a smile.
“Who?”
“Dad…”
“The cheerleader?”
“No!”
“That was last month, Patrick,” Gia said.
“She’s my lab partner,” Bradley said. “We’re building that telescope. Remember? Can we leave after the school year’s out?”
“We’ll talk about it,” Patrick said.
At that moment Central Intelligence Agency senior scientific programs analyst Timothy Dobson came into the room, his face wearing a smile but his body language saying otherwise. “Hey, Timothy,” Gia greeted him, “come to watch the inauguration with us?”
“Sure,” Dobson said.
But Patrick studied his face and immediately got up and walked him into the kitchen. “What’s up, Tim?” he asked.
“The FBI picked up on another team that came through McCarran International today,” the CIA assistant director said in a low voice. “Both Ukrainian nationals. Registered in the consulate as employment and training consultants for the Ukrainian government, but verified by the CIA as Russian Federal Security Bureau agents. It’s the second team to come through this area in a week.” Patrick looked over at his son with Gia, enjoying the pageantry of a presidential inauguration. “I’m sorry, General, but the Agency says it’s a high probability you’ve been targeted by the FSB. We’ve got to relocate you.”
“When?”
Dobson took in a long breath, then let it out quickly and said, “Yesterday, sir.” He saw Patrick’s shoulders slump. “President Phoenix has been advised, and he’d be as pleased as punch if you came back to the Washington area. President Martindale wants to meet with you, too. He says he’ll set you up any way you want.”
Now Patrick realized what Phoenix had meant by “I have a feeling you’ll be back soon”-he’d already had the briefing and was suggesting an alternate home. As much as Patrick thought he knew the inner workings of Washington, he reminded himself, he found he actually knew very, very little.
Just as Ann Page was beginning to recite the oath of office, Patrick came back into the living room and pressed the “MUTE” button on the TV remote. Gia and Bradley turned to him, but they both looked at his worried face and didn’t say a word.
“We have to talk about the move, guys,” Patrick McLanahan said somberly. “We have to talk.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A major source of information on living and working in space was from the book Sky Walking (New York: Smithsonian Books, 2006), written by four-time Shuttle mission specialist, fellow B-52 veteran, Fox News space commentator, and friend Thomas D. Jones. Thanks for your great work, TJ.
As always, the mistakes are all mine.
Your comments are welcome at [email protected]! I read all e-mails and respond to as many as I can. Please visit my Web site at www.AirBattleForce.com for the latest info on my novels, upcoming interviews and events, and my occasional rants about flying, geopolitics, foreign affairs, and almost everything else under the stars!
About the Author
DALE BROWN is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, starting with Flight of the Old Dog in 1987. A former U.S. Air Force captain, he often flies his own plane over the skies of the United States.
