CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

 

Three hours later

February 13 — 6:35 A.M. EDT

Friday early morning
White House, Washington DC

 

Alex nodded to the guard at the gate. Trece drove toward to the front of the White House. They waited for the rest of the team in the second SUV. They entered the White House as a team. Under Joseph’s instruction, the team was prepped to look tough, cool, and distant. Wearing their Ray Ban dark glasses, they stood at attention in one long line. The President entered with the Vice President and the Secretary of State. A bevy of aides followed them into the room.

“Is this the team?” the President asked.

“Yes sir,” the team called.

The President laughed. Alex took one step forward.

“Major Walter, Petty Officer Carmichael,” Alex said.

Joseph and Leena stepped forward. Joseph held out a folder.

“The information we discussed yesterday,” Alex said.

The President took the folder from Joseph. He opened the folder and raised an eyebrow at what he saw.

“You may proceed,” he said.

“Yes sir,” the team called.

Joseph and Leena stepped back into line.

“Chief Tubman?” Alex asked.

Royce stepped forward.

“Under Major Walter's direct supervision, Chief Tubman will be your liaison with the team,” Alex said.

“My office has yet to assign a person,” the President said. “But we will.”

Royce stepped back into the line.

“Sir thank you sir,” the team called.

“Which one of you is the Jakker?” the President asked.

Zack stepped forward.

“You sir, are a wild man,” the President said. “Any chance you might join my team?”

“No sir,” Zack said. “The Jakker flies the Fey.”

The President laughed. Zack stepped back.

“An integrated team,” the President said. “Men, women… Who here is Army?”

Trece, White Boy, Alex, Joseph, Troy, and Matthew stepped forward.

“Thank you,” the President said.

They stepped back into the line.

“Who here is Navy?” the President asked.

Leena, Vince, and Royce stepped forward.

“Thank you,” the President said.

Vince, Leena, and Royce stepped back into the line.

“Do we have any Marines?”

MJ and Margaret stepped forward.

“What’s your name?” the President asked MJ.

“Sergeant Michael Scully, Jr., sir,” Margaret said.

“He doesn’t speak?” the President asked.

“TBI sir,” Margaret said. “Lost his capacity to speak with Presidents when he left his leg in Iraq, sir.”

“Sergeant Scully, you’re wearing an Army uniform,” the President said.

“He’s transitioning to the Marines, sir,” Margaret said.

“Thank you,” the President said.

MJ and Margaret stepped back into the line.

“Are there any Homeland Security agents here?” the President asked.

Alex and Raz stepped forward.

“Thank you,” the President said.

They stepped back into the line.

“Who of you have been wounded in battle?” the President asked.

Alex, MJ, and Vince stepped forward.

“Thank you,” the President said.

They stepped back into the line.

“Have any of you been held hostage?” the President asked.

Matthew and Vince stepped forward.

“Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves, it’s my understanding that you, Captain Ramirez, and Captain Blanco were kidnapped,” the President said.

Alex, Trece, and White Boy stepped forward.

“That’s better,” the President said. “Thank you.”

They stepped back into the line.

“I’m looking at the first truly integrated military team. Men, women, Army, Navy, Marines, every race… you are the future of the US military.”

“Yes sir,” the team called.

“Does anyone have anything else?” the President asked the people with him. They shook their heads. “Carry on.”

The team did an about face and marched toward the door.

“Oh, Fey? Uh, Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves?”

Alex turned to find the Secretary of State behind her.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you would leave,” she said. “Nice to see you, Alex.”

“You as well,” Alex said to one of her mother’s dearest friends. “How can I be of service, ma’am?”

“I’ve received a number of telephone calls regarding your team,” she said. Her blue eyes danced with laughter. “You’re quite a sensation!”

“Yes ma’am,” Alex said.

“My office would like to be in the loop with your work,” she said.

“Yes ma’am,” Alex said.

“We’ll workout the details later?” she asked.

“As you wish,” Alex said.

The Secretary of State laughed.

“I love the Fey act, Alex,” she said. “Go. Be amazing.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Alex did an about face. She jogged to the doorway where she met Trece. They were in the SUVs and out of the White House grounds before an excited cheer went up. They had passed the final hoop. They were a funded and functioning team.

FFFFF

One hour later

February 13 — 8:15 A.M. EDT
Friday morning
Pentagon, Washington DC

 

“What did they say?” the Admiral asked.

After a brief interview by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Alex and Joseph sat in front of the Admiral in charge of Special Forces. The Admiral paced back and forth behind his desk while he listened to their report.

“They said they would take care of it,” Alex said.

“And what do we think that means?”

“You deal with them a lot more than I do,” Alex said. “What do you think it means?”

“What did the President say?”

“Specifically?” Joseph asked. “You may proceed.”

“He approved of taking this matter to the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” the Admiral said.

“Yes, sir,” Joseph said.

“Not everyone is ready for the world to change,” the Admiral said. “There are many, many men who believe a woman’s duty is to fulfill his needs.”

“Sir, the military effectively changed when you allowed women to train for front line positions,” Alex said.

“And allowed you to continue as a Green Beret,” he said. “I’ve heard that more than once.”

“Yes sir,” she said. “It’s only a matter of time before women are SEALs and Green Berets.”

“I know that. You know that,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before the Delta Team requires women Green Berets. Although there just aren’t a lot of women who’ve trained to be Green Berets from the time they were five years old.”

“And are mono-zygotic male-female twins,” Alex said.

“Yes, and have a high testosterone count,” he laughed. “How is Max?”

“He’s well, sir,” she said. “But you know we’re not conjoined.”

“Conjoined?”

“He’s not my testosterone count,” she said.

The Admiral laughed and returned to pacing.

“What does Petty Officer Carmichael want?” he asked.

“Return of rank, child support. She’s basically destitute,” Joseph said. “She’d like an admission of guilt and full court martial, but she expects much less.”

“I’d want much more,” the Admiral said. “Those satellite photos are unaltered?”

“Yes sir,” Joseph said. “We have confirmation from the FBI photo lab.”

“Damning evidence,” the Admiral said.

“Sir, we can’t do anything about secret groups of misogynistic Fey hating wackos,” Alex said. “We can’t do anything about the Cee Cee Joiners of the world. We can’t do anything about some nut job that disappeared from Leavenworth. We can’t even do anything about military contractors. But sir, this is one of our own.”

“Yes, this is one of our own,” he said. “I can restore her rank. We’ll release his DNA profile to Social Services and let them work it out.”

“Thank you sir,” Alex said.

“I can’t promise anything will happen to him,” he said.

“The least you can do is make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else,” Alex said.

“Taken care of. Yesterday,” he said.

“Permanently?” Joseph asked.

“Yes, he’ll spend the rest of his career away from females,” the Admiral said. “We assigned him to work SEAL training.”

“Sounds like a promotion,” Joseph said.

“He’s going to handle supplies,” the Admiral said. “It’s close to the shittiest job in the Navy. We expect he’ll retire.”

“Thank you, sir,” Alex said.

“Ok, here’s what I don’t get. How did she get pregnant?” he asked. “If she hadn’t become pregnant, we wouldn’t know about any of this.”

“Yes sir,” Alex said.

“Aren’t all of our women on something so they don’t get pregnant?”

“She’s a lesbian, sir,” Joseph said. “Her periods were irregular. Her medic deemed fertility management unnecessary. She was at zero pregnancy risk.”

The Admiral nodded.

“Next item?” the Admiral asked.

“Scully will begin Marine basic training next week,” Alex said.

“Between you and me? I don’t have any idea how you pulled that off,” the Admiral said. “You plucked a talented Special Forces medic practically from his hospital bed. Now he’s going to take basic Marine training? The Marines are peachy about it.”

“They get a medic, sir,” Alex said.

“And the Army?”

“They classified Sergeant Scully as unable to perform due to his brain injury,” Joseph said.

“Yes, fuck them,” the Admiral said. “I have to meet this Margaret Peaches. I’ve heard the President talking about this tiny woman who spoke for her massive red headed partner. Is she really the grandchild of a Navajo code talker?”

“Yes sir,” Alex said. “Would you like to review the rest of the men?”

“We did that last year. I’m sure Mac Clenaghan, Rasmussen, Olivas, Ramirez, Blanco, and Hutchins are still the best of the best,” the Admiral said. “Did the President actually ask Jakkman to fly for him?”

“Yes sir,” Alex said.

“And he said?”

“The Jakker flies the Fey,” Alex, Joseph, and the Admiral said together.

They laughed. The Admiral shook his head at her impetuous team.

“Alexandra,” the Admiral said. “You have assembled a better team than I could have ever expected. I’m impressed.”

“But?” Alex asked.

“You need another medic and you need another DHS.”

“Sir, we have two DHS agents,” Joseph said.

“This is not up for debate,” the Admiral said. “The Lieutenant Colonel is DHS and Army. You need one more. Don’t make long faces. You can always take someone from the Coast Guard. How about the Secret Service? You cemented their love for you when you appeared in front of the President with a ceramic handgun.”

“I gave them the handgun,” Alex said. “What do they have to complain about?”

The Admiral laughed.

“We will add at least one additional member, sir,” Joseph said.

“Yes, you will,” he said. “Now, I’d like to see my team.”

“Your team, sir?” Joseph asked.

“I envisioned this team,” he said. “It’s my team.”

“They are ready and waiting your review,” Alex said.

“See Walter,” the Admiral laughed. “My review.”

“That’s why she’s a Lieutenant Colonel,” Joseph said.

“Among other things,” the Admiral walked to his door. “Ever been lost in Afghanistan?”

“Yes sir, I have,” Joseph said.

“That’s right,” the Admiral laughed. “You were there before Fey maps.”

“I was there when the first map was created,” Joseph laughed.

“That’s a memory for the History Channel,” the Admiral said.

Joseph laughed.

“Ok, Fey, show me your team,” the Admiral said.

Alex and Joseph followed him out of the office and into the hall.

“Attention,” Matthew called.

The Fey Team snapped to attention. And the Admiral laughed.

“I love the glasses,” he said to Alex.

With a nod to Alex, he went to meet the team.

F