A Time for Patriots

the textbook example of a disgruntled worker,” Ann said. “And a woman to boot. A perfect target for recruitment by a foreign or enemy power.”

“What?” Patrick exclaimed.

“She met a guy in one of her twelve-step meetings that was helping her out, befriending her, hiring her part- time, maybe… maybe something more intimate,” Dobson said hesitantly.

“She said all that too,” Patrick said perturbedly. Dobson paused. “Spit it out, Tim,” he said.

“We’re having… trouble, difficulties, identifying the guy, sir,” Dobson said uncomfortably. “His neighbors and acquaintances have the same story about him: he’s a building contractor, he’s been in the area for years, he’s dependable, he’s a good guy. His license is real. But when we dig one or two levels lower, we start to lose continuity. His Social Security number and his previous addresses on his contractor’s license application don’t correlate.”

“So what are you saying, Tim?” Patrick asked.

“Agent more-than-polite Dobson here is trying to say that your girlfriend’s new boyfriend doesn’t check out, and he thinks he’s a sleeper agent working for the Russian Federal Security Bureau, targeting Cazzotto to get close to you to set you up for a hit,” Vice President Page interjected impatiently. “C’mon, Patrick, wake up and smell the damned coffee. Someone got to your alkie girlfriend for the express purpose of getting close to you . Get with the program, will you? You’re a former Air Force intelligence chief, for Christ’s sake.” She saw Patrick’s eyes flare in indignation, which only egged her on: “Don’t give me that ‘I’m shocked! Shocked!’ expression, McLanahan,” Ann retorted before he could speak. She stuck a finger directly into Patrick’s face. “Don’t try to tell me you didn’t have some suspicions when this woman suddenly turns up on your doorstep after being gone for seven weeks.”

“I thought she was just returning home,” Patrick said. “This is her home, ever since she left the service…”

“Yeah, right — and you thought she was going to come back to the armpit of the world and sit on the porch of your little double-wide trailer in one-hundred-degree desert heat and wait for you to come back from your heroic Civil Air Patrol and Angel Flight West flying missions and snuggle close to her,” Ann retorted. “Can you possibly be that blind or galactically stupid, Patrick? In her mind, Phoenix screwed her, but saved you . That means you screwed her in her twisted crazy fevered head. With that mind-set, she’ll shack up with anyone who wants to get close to you, for whatever reason imaginable. Wake up, damn it. This is serious. Are you paying attention to me, General?”

Patrick didn’t answer, which to Vice President Page meant that he was certainly paying attention. “I invited you to ride with me because, in essence, this is a kidnapping — for both of you gentlemen,” she said. “Battle Mountain is getting too dangerous for you and Brad. I think you’ll both be safer in Washington. The entire District of Columbia is all about counterintelligence and counter-counterintelligence. I think you’d be safer there, no matter how many hoods the Russian Federal Security Bureau sends over. Besides, the president wants to start ramping up the Space Defense Force program again, and he wants you to head that program, be the out-front guy, the face of the entire push for military space. You can’t do that from a base that’s going to be a ghost town in a few months.”

“I don’t like the idea of running from these hit-man goons, Madam Vice President,” Patrick said. He sat back, thought for a few moments, then looked at Brad. “But the most important thing is your safety, son.”

“But what about my friends, my team, the squadron?” Brad asked. “We can’t just disappear. And if I’d be in danger, wouldn’t all my friends be in danger too?”

Dobson looked at the vice president. “He’s right, ma’am,” he said. “Any one of Brad’s friends — maybe even their entire families — could be targets.”

“One problem at a time here, guys,” Ann said irritably. “I don’t mean to scare you, Brad, but it would be an immense blow to the entire nation to lose your father to an assassin’s bullet. I know you’d be missing out on your senior year in high school with your friends, but Mr. Dobson and I feel it would be too dangerous for you to go back. You can enroll in high school in Washington. I know you’re accustomed to military moves, so this shouldn’t be too much of a shock to your system, right?” She didn’t wait for a reply; to Patrick, she said, “In Washington, you’d be working in the White House again as my special adviser for space affairs — unfortunately not a salaried position, but all of your housing would be provided as well as stipends for living expenses.” She looked at him carefully. “I don’t expect you to go back to Battle Mountain, guys. I’ll send some folks to get your things, but you and Brad are coming with me to Washington, today .”

Patrick thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I appreciate the concern, Madam Vice President,” Patrick said, “but Brad is right: if they couldn’t get to me through Brad, they’d try it with someone else. And if we moved to Washington, they’d just start the whole hunt over again, and the FBI and CIA would have to start looking all over again. The whole reason to send me to Battle Mountain in the first place was not just to hide out, but to draw the assassins in to a place where it would be easier to detect their presence. And with all due respect, ma’am, I’m not running out on my friends to save my own neck — especially Gia. She’s in the greatest danger of all next to Brad, and she’s the most vulnerable.”

“You’re insane, General,” Ann said. “You actually think you’re safer in Battle Mountain than in Washington?” She shook her head, then looked at him directly. “I could order you to leave, in the interest of national security.”

“You wouldn’t do that, Ann,” Patrick said. “Besides, you know I’m right.” She didn’t answer him. He smiled at her, which only made her scowl darken. “But I appreciate the try.”

“You’re wrong — I would do that, Patrick, and you know it,” Ann said. She leaned forward toward him. “Let me ask you a direct question, Patrick: this woman, the one that left you many times, the one who shacked up with some guy, the one who is probably leading another hit squad up here to target you — you still care about her?”

“I not only care for her, Ann — I love her,” Patrick replied. “When she first told me about the other guy, I was furious. But she still came back to me. I wasn’t sure if she would stay, but I decided that if she left I’d carry on, and maybe she’d be happier. But now that you’ve told me this guy might be a sleeper, I know he doesn’t really care about her. That just makes me want to help her even more. And if she leaves again anyway… well, Brad and I will deal with that later.”

Ann Page nodded. “You’re a good guy, Patrick,” she said. “You are. Sometimes you’re dumber than a bag of doorknobs and sappier than a maple tree in the fall, but you’re a good guy.”

“Thank you, Madam Vice President.”

“Bite me, McLanahan,” she said with a faint smile. “And you’re still coming to Washington — the president has already ordered it. You’re working for me, in the White House, to spearhead the charge to get the Space Defense Force fully funded, set up, and running. President Phoenix agreed to wait until next summer, after Brad was on his way to college.”

“That sounds fine, Madam Vice President,” Patrick said. “I think I’d enjoy working for you.”

“You’re damned right, you will,” Ann said. “You’re damned right.”

Eight

Be good and you will be lonesome.

— Samuel Clemens

Joint Air Base Battle Mountain

The next evening

“I’m sorry to have to tell you, folks,” Squadron Commander Rob Spara said at the Civil Air Patrol seniors’ squadron meeting, “but the CAP national headquarters is suspending our squadron’s activities until further notice.”

There was a rumble of disbelief and surprise around the conference room. “Why in the hell are they doin’ that, Rob?” Michael Fitzgerald boomed.