The Bear

The White House 14:30 h

Mary Higgins lifted the phone and gave her standard answer.

“White House Chief of Staff’s office. How may I help you?”

“Mary? This is General Scott from DOD. Is Marty in? It’s really important.”

“Yes General. He just returned from a luncheon. I’ll get him for you.” She punched a single button, putting the line on hold. ‘It’s always important’, she thought to herself. ‘Wonder what would happen if it was really, really important’. Another button connected her to the president’s chief of staff’s desk. “Mr. Powell? General Scott is on line four.”

“General Scott. What can I do for you today?”

“Big trouble, Martin.”

“Really!” The words made Martin Powell sit up straight in his chair. Fitzroy Scott was not one to mince words. Trouble meant real trouble. “What’s happening?”

“One of our fighters tangled with a Russian bomber over our airspace. Both went down.”

“What the … “ The chief of staff cleared his throat, nearly choking on the news. “You don’t mince words, General. Where did it happen?”

“Over Alaska. They were directly over the coastline when they tangled up.”

“How the hell does one of our pilots hit a Backfire bomber?” Marty Powell leaned forward on his desk, his forehead coming to rest in his palm. “Those things should have been put out of their misery years ago. Do you mean they actually hit each other?”

“Not exactly, sir. It was a Blackjack bomber. We’re still investigating exactly what happened.”

“Holy crap. That’s the newer one. That means they weren’t just playing around.”

“I’m afraid not, at least that’s the same thing I’m thinking. I don’t have all the answers yet.”

“Let me know as soon as you do, General.” He leaned back into his padded office chair again, rubbing his closed eyes. “I can’t put this off. Facts or not, I have to tell the president.”

“I understand, sir. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Damn. How the hell does this happen?” Marty said to himself as he slowly lowered the phone. Martin Powell, a straight-talking southerner, almost a throwback to the Johnson era, crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair. He let his head fall back as he looked at the white drop ceiling in his office. “Why now?” He hit yet another button on his phone. “Mary? Where is the president?”

“Just a moment, let me see.” Mary Higgins, a longtime government worker leafed through her appointment book. She had a section specifically for the president. She resisted keeping it on her computer, a security issue as far as she was concerned. Systems could be hacked. It would take an army to pry that appointment book away from her. It was safer than a still in the backwoods of Kentucky. In reality it took only seconds for her to find his itinerary, but it seemed forever to the chief of staff. “He’s in a meeting with Treasury right now. They should be done in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you,” he said, and the line went dead.

“Hmm, it must have actually been important,” she said to herself.

The door to Martin Powell’s office opened seconds later. Her boss just stood there looking at her. She spun in her chair and faced him.

“Where is that meeting?”

“Here in the White House, Cabinet Room.”

“Thanks.”

“Something wrong? You don’t look so good.”

His silence was all the answer she needed. He went back to his desk and pulled his suit coat off the back of his chair and held it up. He just looked at it.

“Put it on.” He spun at the sound of Mary’s voice. “You always wear one. If you leave it off and go running through the building, people will think something is wrong and you’ll have lots of chatter bouncing off the walls. Nobody needs to know anything yet.” She walked up to him as he slid his arms through the sleeves. She reached up and straightened his tie, just a bit. “There. You don’t want it too straight. It might look like you’re taking the day off.” She gently patted him on his chest, feeling the rich wool beneath her fingertips.

“I’ll be back.” He was out the door in a flash.

“Wouldn’t have thought an old coot like that could move so well,” she wondered aloud as she leaned against the mahogany credenza.