traffic to the sidewalk and began walking. Others were doing the same, but many of them weren’t walking; they were running. Mary began to wish she had worn sensible shoes rather than the three inch heels on her feet. Moments later she quit worrying about her shoes. A crazed mob of blacks burst from a side street, plainly intent on violence toward any white person they saw. Mary kicked off her shoes and began running for her life. She made it two blocks before she plowed headlong into another gang emerging from the shattered doors of a liquor store they had been looting. Cries of ferocious triumph and elated epithets came from the looters as they surrounded her. Hands grabbed at her clothing and ripped her purse away. Other hands yanked at her hair and grubbed at her breasts.
“I’m a scientist! I’m trying to help you!” Mary pleaded over and over, but it did her no good. She was dragged kicking and screaming back into the store. Before long she was crying, then begging for mercy.
Shortly after that she began wishing for death, so the pain and degradation would be over with. Her wish was granted, but not before her abused body became almost unrecognizable.
“I still can’t believe she’s gone,” June said to Doug when she called him. It was Wednesday evening but she was still at work. “My God, what a horrible way to die.”
“June, at the risk of sounding blase about it, we’re going to see more and more incidents like the one that Mary Hedgrade got caught up in. I feel horrible about it, even though I didn’t know her that well. Damn it to hell, the president should have activated the National Guard unit there or brought in some army troops to help maintain order. He knows damn well what the proportion of black residents in the capitol is and how they would react. Damn politics!”
“She was… I guess I knew her a little better than you, since my job brought me into contact with her now and then. She’s…” There was an interval of silence while Doug waited for her to begin speaking again. He knew she was trying to get her voice under control. Presently she resumed. “She was the Director for a long time, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, she was practically an institution here. Well, I guess that takes care of our plans for tonight, doesn’t it?”
“I’m sorry, Doug. I was looking forward to it, but God knows what time I’ll get away. Amelia is in conference right now. This isn’t for publication, but I think she may be nominated for Mary’s spot.”
“If anyone deserves it, Amelia does. Look, I know you must be busy. Call me later if you get some time.”
“I will. And we’ll get together Saturday if nothing else happens.”
Doug gave a short, mirthless chuckle. “No telling what things will be like by then, but unless you hear differently, I’m still free.”
“Me, too. So far. ‘Bye, Doug. Take care.”
“You, too. Don’t leave the complex unless I can be with you. Okay?’
“I won’t, you can bet on that!”
“I really didn’t want this,” Amelia said, talking as much to herself as to June. She was cleaning out her desk and sorting through items accumulated over the years, some she had completely forgotten about.
“I’d much rather stay in field work than go completely into administration. It’s so damned boring and politics- ridden.”
“Can’t you have refused?” June asked, pulling the drawstrings closed on one bag of discarded bric-a-brac from Amelia’s desk then shaking out another.
“It’s kind of hard to turn down a direct request from the president.” Amelia peeled off her knee length white lab coat and stared at it for a moment. “Guess I won’t be needing this anymore.” She folded it into a neat bundle then looked at June and managed a wry grin. “Don’t mind me, I’m just talking to myself.”
“That’s all right, Amelia. Or should I address you as Madame Director?”
“Oh, Lord, June—let’s not have any of that! And while I’m on the subject, do you want to come along with me? I’m going to need an assistant I’m comfortable with. Think before you say yes. It’s going to be a pluperfect headache, I can tell you that.”
June knew this would come up. Like Amelia, she wasn’t ready to get completely away from field work, but also like her, felt an obligation to serve where she could be the most useful. Reluctantly, she nodded.
“I guess if you can stand it, I can. I just hope it doesn’t take up all of our time.”
Amelia smiled knowingly. “Well, regardless, I insisted on having a full week to wind up affairs in this office before taking over the job. You can have the weekend off, just like you planned. Enjoy it, because it may be the last one for a while.”
June wondered why she was blushing. It wasn’t a crime to date a man, not after two years of being a widow. Maybe it was because she was seriously considering turning it into more than a mere date.
President Marshall was relaxing. He had just finished with his last appointment of the morning and was having his lunch and preparing for a short nap, his unvarying noon routine. His feet were propped on his desk in the Oval Office while he munched on a sandwich. He liked to eat in the office; it saved time and was conducive to thinking. He had made it very plain that he wasn’t to be disturbed during his lunch hour for anything less than a nuclear war, the Rapture or an alien invasion.
The lone secret service agent who always stood unobtrusively against the wall behind the president stayed out of his line of sight. He used text messaging and a vibration alert for his phone to avoid distracting him. Suddenly the agent felt his phone vibrate. He held it up to read the message. Only his training kept him from avoiding panic.
“Mr. President! Get up, sir! Danger One!”
Danger one was the code for a possible attempt on the president’s life. Marshall’s feet hit the floor with a thump just as two more agents burst into the oval office. Before he could get his mind in order the agents had him by the arms, one on each side, and were hustling him away.
“Hey! What—”
“No time, sir! The White House is about to be overrun! You have to get away!”
“Overrun? Who—goddamnit, where’s the army? Where’s the guards? Do something!”
Neither of the agents answered. They hurried the president along, following two more agents toward the safe room beneath the White House. The two in front were carrying on a conversation on their phones, trying to keep ahead of the threat.
By the time the elevator door closed behind them, Lurline Tedd, Chief of Staff for the White House, was by his side. As soon as the president saw her, he began to calm down. Lurline wouldn’t let anything happen to him; she was always on top of whatever crisis might be threatening.
“Lurline, what is it?” He asked, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.
“The demonstrations got out of hand, then they were joined by half the blacks in the city. The guards had to open fire, and that only enraged them. I’ve got General Newman bringing in a paratroop division to restore order,” Lurline said in her even, matter of fact voice. No one had ever seen her out of control, not even for a second.
“Maybe we better stay away until this virus thing gets cleared up.”
“You can’t, Mr. President. What would the world think if you couldn’t run the country from your own capitol? Don’t worry, the paratroops will be here soon; they were already on alert. And I want that damn political advisor of yours fired for allowing the demonstration to be held in the first place. It was a stupid decision.”
Even if Lurline was unflappable, President Marshall thought she looked more worried than he had ever seen her. Just as the elevator doors opened to let them out a rumble was felt vibrating the building from somewhere above. “What was that? Are they using explosives?”
“RPG, probably,” one of the agents remarked, drawing glares from his superior and Lurline both.
“Don’t worry, we’ll contain them, sir,” the senior secret service agent tried to assure his boss. But Marshall thought he looked worried, too.
“How many of them are there? How did they get so close to the White House? Damn it, this shouldn’t be allowed to happen!”
No one answered him. Instead, he was urged along until they arrived at the “bunker”, as the secure room was called. It was self contained but had an underground passage that led out of the White House and to several
