General Thomson realizing where the President was going with his argument, grew silent, “Sir…”
Verne without missing a beat then asked, “And what else I ask you—upon what other criteria do you base your decision general?”
Thomson didn’t like the way that Verne kept calling him “general” after every single inquiry he made. Verne’s questions felt like hand grenades lobbed in his direction, and the utterance of general at the end of them was like the pin being pulled from the bomb before the explosion.
Thomson struggled to answer, “Well sir—the only other thing is. Some of the team members assigned to this case just tend to play a little too rough…”
Verne Landers eyes widened as he raised his voice, “They play a little too rough? Did I just hear you correctly general?”
Thomson suddenly wishing he could take back his own words, had no choice but to admit, “Yes—yes you did.”
The reaction Landers had next caught Thomson completely off guard, as he broke into uproarious laughter. After a moment he stopped and muttered to his chief of staff seated next to him, “What a freaking moron… I can’t believe this guy… I really can’t…”
Even though Thomson knew that Verne Landers was talking about him, he wasn’t sure how to respond to his vague, almost inaudible mutterings so he had no choice but to remain uncomfortably silent until Landers brought on a more direct attack.
Landers cleared his throat and looked the General right in the eyes as he remarked, “Let me get this straight general. Do you penalize your troops for being too rough?”
The General seeing where the President was going, tried to backpedal, “Uh—that’s not what I mean sir... I’m talking about when it comes to operating in civilian centers…”
President Verne Landers wasn’t listening however as he steamrolled ahead, “You don’t want them to be rough and hard—you like the softer approach I take it?”
Verne snorted, “What about your troops on the battlefield? Maybe this pertains to them too.”
Looking over to his Chief of Staff, seated on his right, the President sarcastically quipped, “He wants a softer approach!”
President Verne Landers then offered, “I know! Perhaps the next time you send a division to Iraq you could replace their guns with flowers and chocolates, and outfit their humvees with murals of puppy dogs instead of camouflage.”
Thomson seeing his professional life flash before his eyes, tried again to explain, “With all due respect sir, I think you are misunderstanding me…”
Verne raising up in his chair rebutted him, “Oh no. I think I understand you loud and clear general.”
Before Thomson could even get a word in, he challenged him, “I understand that you have a crack group of veteran counter terrorism agents—good people—who have risked their lives on several occasions to foil terror plots and you want to put them out to pasture when we need them most.”
Verne stared down General Thomson as he bluntly asked, “Just what are you trying to do here—you nitwit?”
The General not at all used to being talked down to like this, visibly flinched, as he protested “But Mr. President!”
President Landers was relentless however, as he suggested, “What’s really going on here Thomson? Do you have some friends you want to give positions to? Are you doing this to please a meddling wife or girlfriend? Or is it all simply old-fashioned nepotism at work?”
Landers raised an eyebrow, “Is that it? Do you have a son or daughter you want to promote into a cushy role somewhere? Is that why your cleaning house like this? Or is it just some kind of petty personal vendetta run amuck?”
Thomson remembering Mason’s own stinging rebuke, struggled to reply, “No! It’s none of those!”
Landers then erupted, “Well regardless of your faulty reasoning process—I’m telling you right now that there is no way in hell I’m starting over when it comes to methods and personnel in counter terrorism at this critical point in my presidency “
Landers proclaimed, “If it ain’t broke general, then I certainly don’t expect you to try and fix it!” Things were working out just fine before, so whoever it is that you thought to dismiss you better bring them right back. And don’t even talk to me until you do so.”
Thomson realizing the humiliation he was about to undergo crawling back to the Onyx team members, felt his stomach churn, as he weakly muttered, “Sir…”
Landers only response left was to shout, “Now go! Get out of my face!”
As a stunned Thomson turned around and crept out of the President’s Pentagon office, he could clearly hear Verne’s young chief of staff quote what had been a catch phrase during the then Senator Verne Landers campaign.
Verne was known for frequently burning down his enemies, but instead of saying “Feel the burn.” It became common parlance to shout in triumph over the political opponents he had decimated, “Feel the Verne!” Just as the chief of staff could be heard joyfully proclaiming as Thomson shut the door behind him.
Epilogue
Weathering the Storm
During his time off from Onyx, Mason was able to catch up with Raina like never before. She had told him that his suspension was a blessing in disguise and now he truly believed that to be the case. The rest of the summer consisted of a routine that Mason wasn’t at all used to, but one that he sorely needed all the same. His days were filled with walks on the beach and his nights consisted of relaxing dinners with Raina at his side.
Mason used to believe that he needed the adrenaline and intensity of energy that went along with participating in high risk missions. But the past few weeks he had learned to purposefully go at a slower pace and he felt the better for it. Clara meanwhile was finishing up her summer session, and promising to come back home to visit with him as soon as she was finished.
Mason viewed this as the perfect time to get Raina and Clara better acquainted. They already liked each
