CHAPTER 2

“Oh Jesus,” he mumbled as he reached down in his desk drawer and looked for the little bottle of reddish liquid. Not long after, he had his free hand stuck in his mouth and doing what he realized he probably should not be. Before he could get his hand out of his drawer, or removed the hand from his mouth, Bob Isaacs looked to his open office door and saw a particular someone standing there. She had on a cute little red business suit, had curly black hair, and an incredibly stupid smile on her perky little face. Then Bob realized how he probably looked to her.

Alicia Devon walked into the office and kept her smile as she said, “you know Bob, you should really think about seeing a dentist.”

Bob went from his tooth in pain pose, to a more business like one, as he said, “thank you Alicia, you are correct. I should definitely think about it. Was there something you or the old man needed right now?”

Alicia laid a file on Bob’s desk and waited for him to look at it which, Bob did quickly scan. Then he closed it, wondered why it was marked classified, and then asked, “what the hell does this have to do with anything?”

Alicia only shrugged, “I have no clue. Dad didn’t tell me and I didn’t ask.” She then added, “you know, I think that’s one of the perks that my father really likes. When you’re in the oval office you have plenty of distractions that allow you ample excuses for ignoring people. Even your own daughter. He does that every time I ask him stuff like,

‘what is this all about?’ You know?”

Bob grumbled under his breath as he fumbled around with his throbbing tooth and started doing his own share of ignoring when it looked like Alicia was not going to leave. She was pretending to notice one of the potted plants hanging by the window, something that Bob did not put there, nor did he ever pay attention to. Bob finally just had to say, “what?”

“Oh nothing,” Alicia replied. “I was just admiring your plant. I need one for my office.”

That was something that, as Bob learned, nobody around here seemed to know where to put. Technically speaking, she was the First Daughter but, the president was a widower. Traditionally speaking, that kind of got Alicia automatically promoted in the White House pecking order, to that of First Lady. That job, neither elected or even paid, usually involved duties that covered everything from directing preparations for state dinners to handling relations between the White House and an endless list of charity organizations. In other words, the First Lady was, more often than not, the First Fund Raiser. That was not the case with Alicia Devon.

The girl had been one of three main people who directed Devon’s election campaign, just over a year ago. That made her important in her own right. Bob had been in the White House for less than six months but, he quickly found that it was not just one thing. You had the permanent White House Staff, and those were the guys who really ran things around here, and made sure the place didn’t fall down. You had the political people and those were the guys that most people, outside the White House, knew and assumed ran everything. Usually they got called the White House staff but, in reality they were the administration staff. Then, finally, you had the Presidents guys. They were the people he brought with him from his elections and former offices. Bob likened it to having three different businesses, selling three different products, out of only one store front.

While Alicia held no real title beyond the almost unofficial one of “First Daughter,” she didn’t need one and that was in a town where having titles meant everything. Inside the beltway, you could be a billionaire, walk into a party, and if you weren’t a director of this or secretary of that, you were ignored. Alicia was probably the exception to that rule. Bill Devon, her father, had an official Chief of Staff and that was usually the guy that told you if you could talk to the big guy or not.

In the Devon administration, as Bob found out, that guy didn’t mean jack shit. If you wanted face time with the old man, you went to Alicia. If you also needed something done around the office, you went to Alicia. If you wanted to know where a cabinet secretary was, you went to Alicia. She had her finger in all three camps here and that made her powerful in her own right. What that meant was, about the only guy around here who could successfully ignore her was, obviously, her father. Bob sure as hell did not have that kind of clout.

“All right Alicia,” Bob deflated, “what is it this time?”

Alicia almost laughed at the Army General, “you really don’t like being here, do you?”

“Now that you mention it,” Bob replied, “not really. I was doing something useful out at Fort Reilly. The job I was actually trained for.” Bob did not bother to mention it was also the job that people had bled to put him in. This job here, he could only shrug, “National Security Advisor, I don’t even know what that means? Why do we even have this position?”

The way this General pouted always made Alicia laugh. She did so this time and pointed to his computer monitor, “I take it you haven’t been online lately?”

Bob wondered what that was about and said, “the porno wasn’t mine.”

“What por…” Alicia stopped herself and hoped it was a joke, “no I mean have you read any articles lately? You may not like being here and, guess what, there are quite a few others who agree with you. They’re calling you the Elf Czar.”

Bob sunk in his chair and slapped his forehead. Of all the names to get stuck with, that one was one he could live without. Then he saw the bright side, “does this mean I can get back to being a soldier again?”

Alicia acted as if she were mulling that one over, “nope. Dad wants you right where you are.”

“Shit,” Bob replied before thinking of something, “what if I go cuss in front the TV camera’s?”

Alicia kept that silly smile but, sounded very serious when she said, “that will not get you fired but, I will cut your balls off, clear on that?” Then Alicia looked around like she was expecting to see something, “where’s your sidekick? I almost never see you two apart. You know, you guys spend so much time together, there are rumors flying around that you’re gay.”

Bob perked up again, “will that get me fired?”

“Wrong political party Bob,” Alicia told him. Then she got to thinking about it, “hmm, might actually help in some polls.”

“Don’t you dare,” Bob told her, knowing what she was thinking.

Now Alicia really had a smile on her face. She skipped to the door and said, “see you at the ten AM.” Then she stopped before leaving and turned back around with a serious look, “oh, and Bob, I know how to cuss too. Let me prove it to you. Go see the fucking dentist, that’s an order.”

Bob stood up and yelled out the door, “and while you’re at it Alicia, stop sounding like my ex wife!”

A cute little distant voice echoed down the hall, “who do you think told me about your tooth?”

When ten o’clock rolled around, Bob walked past the security and entered the Oval Office. Bob had one of those little lapel pins that got you access to everything in the White House and even that did not stop him from being searched when he came down here to the West Wing. About all the pin really did, was mean that the Secret Service said, “sir,” a lot when they were feeling you up. Bob so wanted out of this place.

There was a little trey of brunch sandwiches sitting between the couch’s of the Oval Office. Bob stayed away from them and, unfortunately, he had to stay away from the coffee too. The heat and cold were bothering him at the moment but, not as much as his ex-wife, who was also in the room. They had been separated for years, ever since they packed their daughter off to college, and it was only after Mary moved from the CIA to the White House that she had finally filed for divorce. Now she was going by her maiden name of Moore, even though, as Bob had noticed, she’d been putting that name on intelligence reports for years.

The other thing that Mary was doing, right now at least, was talking and laughing with Alicia Devon. They both gave cute little smiles and waives at Bob who only groaned as he smiled and waived back. Fortunately, one of the others from this small gathering, offered the opportunity for a distraction.

The man shook Bob’s hand and said, “I’m George Lasky, General. I heard a great deal about your exploits in Feyland from last year.”

Bob kind of wondered what this guy was doing here and, more important, who the hell was he? Bob knew what this meeting was about and had to wonder what this Lasky did, so, he mentioned, “you’re going to have to forgive me Mister Lasky. I’m kind of new around this place and I haven’t learned everybody yet. What do you do around here?”

Lasky laughed that off, “oh don’t worry, General, you didn’t forget me. I’m not with the White House, I’m kind of a consultant.”

“Good to know,” Bob replied and then the meeting began as Bill Devon got everyone’s attention.

The President had been on the phone while his advisors mingled and now he walked around to the front of his desk and leaned on it with crossed arms. Devon then tossed a thumb over his shoulder at the phone and said, “I just spent an hour and a half talking with Senator Washburn. He let me know, with zero degree of error, that the Senate is going to pass Bill One One Three Eight. I think we all know that this very well might kick things around some.”

Alicia spoke up, “yeah but, they still have to send it to the joint committee, don’t they?”

That was the group of lawyers up on Congressional Hill that pounded out the differences between House Bill and Senate Bill. Once they had something that was uniform enough to become a law, the next step was the very step that they all sat in right now, the Oval Office. That usually took a while but, in this case, as the President pointed out, “if what I was told is true then, that’s already happened. Washburn was talking about having it on my desk before the weekend.”

Again, Alicia was the one to speak and she was frustrated, “oh god that’s going to put us in a position.”

Bill nodded to his daughter, “yeah and they know it too.”

The Secretary of the Interior was a guy that Bob wondered about because, as near as he could figure, Doctor David Kent had nothing to do with anything involving Foreign Affairs. Despite this, Bob saw the guy at all the meetings about dealing with the Elves. The only thing that Bob really knew about the guy was that he was some college professor from an all African-American university down in Alabama. Past this little bit of information, Bob was lost.

Even so, Bob reasoned, Kent sounded pretty educated when it came to a place he had never been, that being the Feyland Empire. Bob wrote it off to the man’s academic skills, mainly one of reading and, specifically, reading every report that came out of Elf Town. In this case, when he spoke, it seemed as if he were not talking about the usual subject of these meetings, “is that such a bad thing? I mean, respectfully Mister President, if this substance is as dangerous as they say, why are we against this bill?”

“Officially,” Bill Devon replied, “we’re not against it. When they shuffle that bill over here I’m not going to have any choice but to sign it.”

Rose Atwater, who held Bill Devon’s old job as the Secretary of State, spoke up, “this Fairy Dust, as they’re calling it, generates a great deal of revenue for Feyland. Until we finish with all the details of trade with them, I’m afraid it might cause a problem there.”

“Excuse me,” Bob said abruptly.

Everyone stopped talking and Mary gave her ex an evil stare. Bob also noted that Alicia did as well. The President did not. He simply filled the silence and said, “you had a thought on the matter, Bob?”

“Yeah,” Bob replied, “I just got a question, I guess. Are we sure this is financing Feyland or our other interested party?”

Rose looked at him, “you mean the Camelonians? King Arthur’s folks?” She was not kidding about the ‘King Arthur’ jibe either. The guy who seemed to be the most powerful in that organization really was named Arthur Cavendish and, over at state, they had been referring too him by that nickname for some time now.

“Um yeah,” Bob replied and then added, “or, as I like to call them, the drug running, thug, terrorist organization formerly known as the Knights of the Round Table.”

Several little snipping arguments began to break out and the President put a stop to it as he said, “look, at this point, realistically speaking, is there much difference between them and the elves? I think it’s pretty obvious that, so far, we haven’t been able to deal with the one, without having to deal with the other. Am I right about that?”

Atwater replied, “that’s about the size of it Bill. Now that everybody knows about their little inter dimensional doorway, it’s the only way they can hold on to what they’ve got. They dig in, rap themselves in the Feyland Flag, make their issues elf issues, and then we can’t touch them.”

Bob raised his hand and the President nodded to him. So Bob said, “you know, I’m the National Security Advisor and, so, the way I kind of got that figured is, it means I’m supposed to concern myself with National Security, and then advise. Right?”

The President almost laughed and, did have a smile on his face when he replied, “that stands to reason Bob. What are you trying to say here?”

“Just this Mister President,” Bob then looked to Rose and said, “are you fucking stupid woman? These guys have been hiding behind the coat tails of the British Empire for going on a millennium, before that the Roman Empire, they’ve been around a really long time. They have so thoroughly penetrated the British Government that we can’t even talk straight with them anymore because they’re on our terrorist watch list!”

Before Rose could bite back, Devon spoke up and asked, “what are you saying Bob?”

“I’m a military man Mister President,” Bob replied. “I assume that’s why you wanted me here. So I’ll give you a military evaluation. When this gets out, and it’s a sure thing that Prime Minister Thayer already knows that the Brits are not going stand for it. They’ll do what it takes to bring these people down.”

Rose was confused as well as insulted when she replied, “so your expert opinion is the obvious, that they’ll try and remove these people. Let me quote Secretary Kent over there, is that really a bad thing?”

Bob slapped his forehead and shot back, “speaking as the only guy in this room that got trapped over there, the last time some jackass decided to stop up Coven Hill, yes. We don’t just have a few hundred soldiers over there anymore, doing some lame experiment in military logistics. We’re fighting a real war now. We’ve got an entire division there. If Britain goes then they’re cut off and look what happened the last time our troops got stuck like that.”

Secretary Kent asked, “do you really think it would be that bad, I mean if the British moved on the Knights of the Society?”

Bill Devon was serious but lightly amused by his man Kent. He had to say, “leave it to the academic to get their name right. I still got to repeat his question though, General. How would they stop the British if that happened?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Bob saw Mary’s face and she almost looked embarrassed. Bob flinched his brows at her and wondered why she would not step up and help him here. Bob finally just had to say it, “guys, they’re everywhere. They’ve managed to survive for how long? You don’t think that King Arthur doesn’t have a plan for this? If they think for one second that their existence is going to wind up in the spot light, or if the British are going to move on them, they won’t wait for it to happen. They’ll start a war and blame it on somebody else. Something that’ll keep their name out of it.”

There was silence in the room. Finally, Rose Atwater broke it and said, “god Bob, I hope you’re just a paranoid whack job.”

Bill Devon took control of the meeting once more and said, “all right guys. We got other problems right now. Washburn told me that we might have a small hole here. I’m guessing that’s what he is really after. I still don’t know if he’s a hawk or a dove, with his son getting killed that’s hard to say but, like I was saying, it concerns the military spending bill and the war. So let’s go over that, shall we….”

When the meeting broke up, the President asked Mary to remain behind. Alicia stayed as well and Bill had to tell her to leave. She pouted but, did what her father asked. Then Bill looked to Mary and said, “he’s right, you know that? I mean your ex…”

Mary did not appear to want to admit it. She did ask, “how did he see that coming and we missed it? He didn’t even see my divorce papers coming?”

“Well,” the President continued in his subdued tone, “we’re going to have to deal with it Mary. We can’t fight a war in Feyland and Britain. The way public opinion is running right now, we can barely fight one. Two is out of the question.”

Mary looked at him firmly and said, “why don’t you talk to Thayer?”

“What good would that do,” Bill waived it off and sat down in his chair, “there is nothing that we could offer him that would get him out of this mess. If those round table guys wind up going public, I mean really public, and it’s going to happen sooner or later, Thayer isn’t going to have any choice. Do you really think the British people would let him do anything but, go after these guys. The worse part is, it’s clear that King Arthur knows this, so, again, your ex is right.”

Mary was lost, “what do we do Bill?”

What could Bill say, he did not have an answer. All he could do, right now, was say, “find me some options.”