God of War: Part 14


Lynn Jepsen


I am torn between a desire to catch the next flight to my mother's house,
and the need to contribute something to this. I couldn't keep Sam from
giving the speech. I missed something somewhere on the whole wrath thing,
and right now, I'm terrified to the core. Unfortunately, there's no time
for any of that. I took over Josh's office. It was the only way to stay
close to Sam and still have room to work. It was also the first phone I
grabbed when I started this horrible game of phone-tag. At this point, I
realize I'm dragging people out of bed, and I don't care. It's been
twelve hours since anyone saw Josh. His deputy is in the hospital.
Needless to say that leaves us with an organizational nightmare.

Everytime I glance around the room, my throat swells shut. When did Josh
hang pictures in here? And, more importantly, when did this office take
on his personality? During those first few months, we used to joke that
this would always be Leo's office in spirit. That stopped. I just can't
remember when Trapped on hold, I cradle the phone against my shoulder to
lift a framed snapshot off the desk. Josh and Sam are standing with their
arms around each other's shoulders. It's in front of that tiny house Josh
and rented in Georgetown years ago, and I'm certain I'm the one that
snapped it.

CJ has taken up station at Rachel's desk. Somewhere along the line, she
stepped up and started delegating, which, by the way, I'm grateful for.
I'm slightly out of my league here. I advise my husband. I yell at my
best friend. I stay connected to old friends, and I deal with things with
I need to. I do not run the White House, no matter what the Republicans
say. That's why CJ is barking at people, and I'm playing phone-tag.

Rachel drops a file on top of Josh's desk, and sinks into a chair, head
in her hands. "I should have noticed when he was late. That's my job."
Rae, don't do this right now. We've got things to do. It takes her a
moment, and it takes me one too. Right there, she was a little girl
playing in our old house, running through the attic, and dragging her
sister with her. I blink and she's a twenty-one year old assistant to the
White House Chief of Staff.

Rachel, could you get me Toby and Carol? She doesn't quite look up, but
she rises, smoothes down her skirt, takes a deep breath, and disappears
out the door. Then the hold I'm trapped on ends, and I hear the voice of
Talia Zeta on the phone. Behind every great man.... I'm just sort of
hoping she's less of a hawk.

*

"Back door diplomacy...." Toby, don't even get started. "Back door
diplomacy is bad. We can't show our hand too early." Toby, not only do we
not have anything higher than a pair of threes, we're out of chips to
bet. Get over it, and get in here. He's still grumbling when CJ latches
on to his arm and hauls his ass into Josh's office, closing the door, and
leaning against it. Everyone looks at me, and I turn to look at CJ. I'm
reiterating, this really isn't my show. "Okay, here's the deal. No one's
seen Josh since he left for a meeting at the British embassy that no one
but Rachel, Lisa, and Sam knew he was going to."

This is my cue. The State Department has a source. He claims that The
Wrath of God kidnapped Josh in an attempt to force our hand. They want us
to declare war on Palestine because then Israel would side with us, and
the rest of the Middle East would side with them.

"Why would intelligent sovereign leaders declare war against us?" Diana
wrings her hands a little as she asks the question. This is going to be
hard on her. The United States does not negotiate with terrorists, and
I'm not projecting a good outcome here. Toby crosses his arm and sighs as
he answers her. "Religion. Arabs and Jews aren't bosom buddies." She
lifts her head then, and starts to say, but Josh is Jewish, but her voice
freezes up halfway through the sentence, and her lips move silently as
her head drops down again.

I'm sitting on Josh's desk, and Rachel moves around behind it, until
she's standing beside me. I feel her squeeze my arm, and I nod to CJ.
"Now, the thing is this. If three nuclear powers, including Israel, the
US, and Iraq, declare war on each other, and drag an entire region with
them, it won't be long until things escalate, and then we have WWIII on
our hands." Ramon nods, Toby growls, and Diana sniffles. Carol shakes her
head then, and glances at her watch. There's another briefing coming up,
and we need a strategy. That's next on the agenda.

"We need to figure out where things will fall. Lisa's been talking to
some people. Lord Marbury has been on the phone with London all night.
We're trying to line up some things. Ramon, why don't you make the rounds
- feel out the military attaches at the embassies. Talk to whoever will
talk to you." He nods then, and starts jotting down some things on a
legal pad. He moves behind me to use Josh's phone.

"Carol, how's the press doing?" She glances at CJ, and I feel like
there's an unspoken conversation going on before she starts talking. "No
one's picked up on Josh's absence yet, but they're going to pretty soon.
We're considering dragging Congress in at midnight to authorize a
declaration of war, and the Chief of Staff is in hiding. Not exactly
typical, especially considering the shooting. Helen keeps asking if Josh
was shot, and Bob wants to know if it's a PTSD thing." CJ and Toby both
start talking at once and I jump in. Talk about the speech. Let's talk
about how, when we tried to defend the First Amendment, we got shot at.
Make it the event. Focus people on Lily. Put Sam on camera for thirty
seconds. Let's reassure people. "What about....." Tell them we're
exploring diplomatic options. "Okay. I've got to go do my thing then."

Ramon follows Carol out the door, and CJ raises an eyebrow in my
direction. "Toby, could you...." She inclines her head towards the Oval
Office, and he grumbles something about being a babysitter. He goes in,
and he'll talk Sam down off the walls, get him to take all his drugs, and
prep him to go in front of the press.

When the door closes, CJ sits down in front of me in Josh's guest chair,
and looks up. Being taller than CJ is quiet an experience. "You talked to
his wife." Yeah. She's petrified. She's got a daughter Elle's age, and
another who's six months. She's absolutely petrified. We have a secure
line to contact them if necessary. "What about Josh?" Diana moves in
closer and I shrug. I don't know.

"Okay, well, if we're going to come up with something, let's do it now."

God of War: Part 15

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