David Golemon - Legacy

Compton reached for a cup of coffee that was an hour old as he wondered about the reasoning behind the delay concerning the questioning of Rawlins. He knew there was no direct evidence of his involvement outside of what Jack had uncovered in Germany and he knew that theory alone wasn’t even a cold gun, much less a smoking one, but still it was certain in Niles’s thinking that it did warrant at least talking to the arrogant bastard. That alone might persuade him to cease whatever illegal activities he had planned. Thus far only McCabe had been listed as a suspect. Niles took a drink of the cold coffee and grimaced, then placed the cup and the file down in frustration over his inability to call and check on the status of the president. His phone buzzed as one of his assistants called from the outer office. Niles swallowed and tried his best to check his nerves, then he reached for the intercom.

“Yes,” he said.

“Sir, Alice Hamilton is on line one.”

“Thank you,” Niles said and picked up the phone. “Alice, is the senator all right?”

“Niles, with all that’s going on right now, it’s thoughtful of you to ask-and, yes, he’s doing as well as can be expected. That’s why I’m calling at such a horrible time. He wanted me to say he was sorry, as I am, about what happened. We know you and the president are close.”

“Thank you, but I wish you wouldn’t worry about me. You have more than enough to occupy your mind right now. Take care of him, I just couldn’t face-” Niles started to say the deaths of two dear friends at one time, but checked himself. “-well, you know.”

“I do, and we will. One thing I want to ask of you before I let you go. I know you have more of a full plate than ever before, especially with the space launch tonight on both coasts, but could you let us know where Jack is?”

“Jack? Why, he’s in Ecuador. I think you know where.”

“That’s what Garrison suspected.”

“Hey, wait a minute, he’s not thinking anything foolish is he? I mean, even using what little strength he has thinking about helping the colonel, well, it’s out of the question. You tell him I said to stop thinking for once in his life and rest.”

“You, more than anyone, know better than that. That would be like telling the current director of the Event Group to stop, slow down, and relax, especially with people he commands standing on dangerous ground or heading into harm’s way.”

For the first time in hours, Niles had to smile. His lips trembled as he placed a hand on his forehead and rubbed. He took the briefest of moments to gather his composure until he found he could trust his voice again.

“Okay, Jack’s with a German commando team in Ecuador. He’s in the process of getting Captain Everett out of jail, and then he will continue his mission to find what Columbus is truly all about.”

“Thank you, dear. Now you go do that magic stuff you always do so well.”

“Listen, Alice, you take care of that-”

Compton found he was speaking to an empty line as Alice had hung up. He placed the phone alongside his head and lowered his eyes to the desktop. He was about to hang the phone up when the intercom buzzed again, making him jump. He wanted to throw the phone across the room.

“Yes,” he said, far louder than he intended to.

“Sir, priority video communication.”

“What?” he said, shocked, as the only priority VIDCOM would come from the president. He slammed the phone down and hit a switch on his desktop. The video monitor slid out of the mahogany top. The screen went from blue to the presidential seal. Niles swallowed and then stood so fast that his chair slid back and slammed into the wall. The next face he saw was bandaged on the left side, and there was a swelling to his jaw and his left eye was blackened and nearly swollen shut-but it was the president of the United States staring at him.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Niles looked away for the briefest of moments. He then smiled and with his eyes welling up he faced his old friend.

“I’m still not sure I’m not seeing a ghost. It looks like you’ve been cruising South Beach after midnight.”

The president laughed and then stopped as suddenly as he started. “Ouch, don’t make me laugh. The doctor says I have a hairline fracture of the jaw.”

Niles did laugh. “That will undoubtedly make the first lady extremely happy.”

“She is. Now listen, baldy, I haven’t a lot of time. It seems they all want to parade me in front of the hospital window to prove I’m not among the deceased. Collins, is he all right and in Ecuador?”

“Yes, sir, he is on the ground and they’re cooking something up to get Captain Everett. Then they plan on getting into that old mine.”

“It doesn’t look like it will be in time to stop these space shots. We have to go through with this because we can’t allow anything from the surface of the Moon to fall into China’s hands, or at least the current Chinese government. The Western powers need the technology up there. Niles, as a friend, tell me we’re not sending these people off on a mission that’s doomed from the start.”

Niles paused and then looked deeply into the small monitor.

“The best engineers in the world say this mission has a better than seventy percent chance of succeeding. The variables, however, have changed since the planning stages. In case you hadn’t noticed, there are some individuals out there with a different agenda.”

The president touched the side of his head and jaw. “I have come to that realization, ass.”

“I’m positive this maniac that’s been blasting you on his broadcasts is behind all of these assaults on launches. He’s behind the theft of Columbus and the attempt to kill you. He’s not going to stop until we stop him. Arrest the son of a bitch. Maybe this McCabe will see that he’s not going to be paid for his services and stop before he shoots down more good people.”

“Thanks, baldy, I needed to hear it from your mouth. I’ve already instructed the FBI to take him in. Now go relax and see if we can get some people back to the Moon.”

Niles found that all he could do was nod his head. The picture on the screen went back to blue as he removed his glasses. He reached back and retrieved his chair. He sat down hard and placed his hands over his eyes. He sat up and took a deep breath, then made a decision. He would take the president’s advice for once. He stood and walked from the office. His mood had shifted dramatically in the past minute as he strode to the elevator. He called out to his four assistants.

“I’ll be in Las Vegas. I’m going to watch the space launches with Dr. Pollock. I won’t be back tonight. Patch all calls concerning the launch and Colonel Collins through to my cell phone.”

The assistants watched their director leave the office and were glad to see the fire back in his eyes and the confidence back in his gait.

The phone was brought in while the president was being poked and prodded by three different physicians. Two of them he was sure were not even out of medical school yet. He had already made an appearance at the window, closely hemmed in by no fewer than six Secret Service agents, and then had made a sorrowful call to the families of the agents who had lost their lives in the attack, and to the widow of his national security advisor. Now he was about to do something he never thought he would do-make a plea for sanity to the chairman of the People’s Republic of China.

“Mr. Chairman,” the president said once the connection had been made. He looked over at the secretary of state, who was listening in with the official interpreter. The secretary waited for the chairman to speak to verify it was truly he on the phone.