CHAPTER 39

   David looked down at his watch and was not so happy about what time it was. He did realize that the plane, sitting over at Reagan, was specifically just for him. It would not leave until he got there but, what waited for him at his destination was an entirely different matter. Still, what choice did he have? The president wanted to see him and while David thought that he might make an excuse, how could he? David had been the one trying to get face time with the man, in the first place. David had not been around Washington to understand the ins and outs but, being rude was just being rude. You did not do that to your boss no matter where you were.
Mary had told David to wait in her office and, so, here he sat. After he saw the circus that was going on around the White House, this morning, he could understand why Mary told him this. David had thought it was a circus last night when they had the state dinner for the new Camelonian ambassador, where, the president told the world that there was such a thing as a Camelonian. The frenzy of the past evening was nothing compared to today. The White House was swamped with hungry reporters and, if David understood correctly, they were also being paid a visit by the Chinese ambassador. There also seemed to be a dozen things going on that David had no clue about. That was why he was happy to hide out and simply watch television.
The set was already on when David entered the empty office. He had no idea where Mary was but, was sure she would show up eventually. Naturally, the television was on an all news channel and after hearing only a few minutes, David realized that it was not just the White House that had a circus on its hands. The entire world seemed to have developed three rings overnight. David just did not understand it. People had not gotten this worked up over the elves when they went public. Why should a group of humans, who for all practical purposes were from Earth, be such a shock? David could not see it but, he was apparently in the minority here.
One reporter, on the screen, was standing in front of a small office building that the little scroll bar said was in Cardiff, Wales. The woman was obviously live because she was having a conversation with the anchor desk in New York. She pointed to the building behind her and said, "this building houses a very small office belonging to a once obscure organization whose primary purpose is Welsh independence from Great Britain. I was in there earlier and they only have three employees. Their phones are ringing off the hook and I was told that they are being swamped with people wanting to know how to join. Now, we checked around and this group seems to have no affiliation with any larger organizations. They seem to have very little money and, in fact, up till last year their group operated out of one of their basements. That all seems to be changing now."
The anchor desk returned to the screen and the woman behind it said, "thank you for that report Jamie. We have been told that some demonstrations are being planned for next week. This revelation, from the White House, that took the world by surprise last night, is being felt far beyond the island of Britain. Earlier today, on This Morning America, our own Tom Hartman talked with the Reverend Emmet Shoals, as some of you may have heard, is an outspoken critic of the Feyland Empire.”
David mumbled to himself, "I wonder when this guy is going to show up with his pointed bed sheets."
Shoals face filled the screen and he talked in a serious and deliberate but, charming, manner. He sounded heartfelt as if he were giving a warning, "if these people have been living among us for, centuries even, then why have they not come forward until now? They obviously have known that the Dell was there all along. They have obviously kept that a secret from us and that begs the question, what else are they not telling us? More important, the real question on my mind is, what has our own government been holding back. Isn't it obvious that President Devon did not just find out about these people last night?"
The prerecorded image switched back to the anchor desk and this time the shot was from further out showing both of the anchors. The guy sitting behind the desk commented, "indeed. I tell you Jan, the question running through my mind is how could these people have been here for so long and nobody knows who any of them are?”
This question proved to be a set up as the woman replied, "well that is not entirely true as we have discovered. As it turns out, the woman who was named as their ambassador to the United States, and United Nations, is someone that many in our profession is very familiar with. Her name is Carol Somerset and she is an ad agency executive who runs a media consulting firm right here in Manhattan."
A silent and subdued voice told David, "oh I think they know her a lot better than they even want to admit. I sure know that feeling."
David looked back at Alicia Devon and was surprised to see that she had slipped in on him. He pointed to the picture of Carol on the screen and asked with a certain concern in his voice, "she was the one with you in the car wasn't she?"
Even if Alicia said she was fine, David could see that a certain spark in her eyes was gone. She still looked quite pale and her expressions were often blank, as was the case now. Still, she tried to sound normal as she nodded her head in the affirmative and said, "yep.” Then she nodded to the hall and said, "come on, dad's ready for you and he's got a full plate today."
As they walked for the Oval Office, David tried to lighten the mood by asking, "you seem to have enjoyed yourself well enough last night. I hope you're getting better."
The one thing that was bothering Alicia, the most, was people telling her that very thing all of the time. Still, she handled it diplomatically and understood that they had the best intentions, only, they really had no idea what to say. Alicia supposed she could not blame them because she did not know what to say either. When they reached the door, to the inner office, Alicia simply opened it up and invited David in. She did not bother to join him since she knew her father would run her out anyway. Instead, she ducked into an empty office and pulled out her phone. The person on the other end of her call seemed surprised and she just pleasantly said, “oh this is the White House. You'd be surprised about the phone numbers we can find here. Didn't think I would call did you?"
Inside the Oval Office, David found that his private meeting was not so private. The president was standing in front of his desk on the phone which was not so uncommon. There was a host of people in the office who were trying to get his attention, or, doing various things. It took a good 20 minutes before Devon finally managed to work the number of people down to the point where he could shoo them out the door. Once he had David alone he went behind his desk and did what presidents most commonly do but, are not so famous for, that being multitasking. The president sounded quite sincere when he told David, "I do apologize, I know you've got a plane to catch but, this couldn't wait."
David sounded a bit nervous as he replied, "I see things are busy around here today, Mister President, and what I wanted to talk to you about needs to be at length, so, if we could...”
Devon looked up and pushed his paperwork aside as he told his Secretary of the Interior, "I know all about that. That's not why I called you over here."
"I see," David replied with a slightly bitter undertone that he was sure betrayed exactly how nervous he was. He then cleared his throat and with a bit more resolution stated, "then if I had to guess, this might have something to do with the company I kept at dinner last night."
Devon actually cracked a smile. He almost laughed. Then he gave David his undivided attention and said, "well since you want to bring that up. Now that you mention it, somebody did tell me you were sitting with a couple of ministers from back home." What surprised David was the fact that Bill did not seem to know the nature of the conversation but, once David brought that up the president replied, "you're right. I have no idea what you three talked about. Let me take a guess though. One of them, and I'm guessing it was Carver, or maybe even both for that matter, tried to convince you to jump ship."
David licked his lips and looked to the floor before looking back at his boss and then telling him, "well, as a matter of fact, that subject did come up."
Devon still seemed amused as he sat down and made himself comfortable before saying, "you know what the funny thing here is David? Of all the jokers on my cabinet, if you gave me a reason for wanting to quit, you would probably be the only one that I didn't think was making an excuse. And as I recall, you told me more than once that you really didn't want to be here. The funny part is, that's exactly why I want you."
That was not something David understood but, he accepted it anyway. The truth was he had no plans on resigning but, had somehow thought that, he was on the verge of getting fired. It was not like he had really done anything since he had been on the cabinet and, as near as he could tell, the people in this town were chewing him up and spitting him out on a routine basis. He had not even had many dealings with the elves and, as he had always understood it, that was his primary reason for being here.
It seemed as if the president could read his mind. Bill Devon still seemed amused but was a tad bit more serious as he told David, "in case you were wondering, yes, we still need your around the zoo. In fact that's why you're standing here right now, of course, that is unless you decided to take Carver up on his offer?” Again, David showed his confusion and it caused the president to laugh. Bill told the man, "of course he made you an offer. People might make speeches and encourage you to do the right thing in the movies but, this is the real world. That's not to mention the fact that I know Carver is getting cozy with Emmet Shoals. In case you need a translation for that, getting cozy means Carver is giving the man money."
Bill could see the man still did not get it. There was also no point in trying to explain it to him, at this time, and Bill almost felt like it would make the man dirty where he seemed so virtuous right now. The fact was that someone was going after Bill's cabinet and a move on what was seen as the weakest link only made sense. It seemed to have failed but, Bill still played his card in anyway, "I had a little conversation with Senator Washburn last night. I think he's ready to jump on board." David almost said something but fell short with his words so the president clarified with, "the new cabinet position, the Department of Inter Species Affairs, you know that thing we've been waiting for?"
At first David looked to be thrilled but then he slipped right back into confusion with, "but I thought Washburn was in the other party? It seemed to me he would be the last guy to sign off."
"You know the funny thing David," the president replied, "this is one of those times where I can't fault you for not knowing about politics. The truth of the matter is, the further we get into this business the more I'm realizing that I have to go back to first grade as well. It is starting to look like our Fey buddies, and now the Camelonians, are starting to do more than just change the physics books. It is really becoming clear that the the old two-party system, that we used to all know and loathe, is not going to be with us much longer."
The confusion went to just plain shock on David's face, "I don't get it. How is that possible?"
The president looked out the window and almost laughed even if he really wanted to cry, "I have no clue how." Then he looked back to David and said, "but I do know why. I don't expect much change before the next midterm elections but, two years after that, when this office here is up for grabs again, we're going to be in a whole new ballgame. It's not going to be Democrats and Republicans anymore. It's not going to be hawks and doves. It's not even going to be conservatives and liberals."
David sounded very earnest as he asked, "then what?"
After mulling it over for a second the president earnestly replied, "it's going to be about the people who like the elves and the people who don't." As David lapsed into deep thought and said nothing in return, the president took the opportunity to point out, "that's what our buddy Emmet Shoals saw and none of the rest of us did. He staked his claim ahead of everybody else and now he's in the picture perfect position to use it.”