With the White House Chief of Staff and Mrs. Dawson by his side, President Harwell began to wonder what had been keeping his running mate for so long. More than two hours had passed since Vice President Sutherland was ordered to report to the oval office with Senator Pearson in tow as soon as possible, and there had been no contact from either man. Even though Washington D.C. can have difficult traffic at times just like any other major city in America, a motorcade transporting high level elected officials was immune to such inconveniences. The two men should have been standing in front of the President by now, and their absence made an already fatigued and overwrought Jordan Harwell more disagreeable than usual.

Turning to Mrs. Dawson, he said gruffly, “Give his office at the capitol another call please.”

As she left the room to place the call, Christopher Westin who had entered the oval office in a state of shock while the President was first hearing of the declaration commented, “This is not normal for the Vice President to be so inconsiderate of you.”

“That’s true Chris, but these are not what one would call normal times.”

“Even so sir, he should have communicated with you at some point during the past two hours.”

Fully aware of that obvious fact, and now short on patience, President Harwell replied, “Well that can’t be changed now can it? However, with everything else going on during the last five weeks and the bombshell of two hours ago, I will reprioritize my thinking and speak with the Vice President about your perceived inconsideration of me. Will that make you feel better?”

The Chief of Staff had no reply, and silence fell over the room as he felt nothing could be said in the current moment to ease the tension. Then Mrs. Dawson returned to say, “Mr. President, I’m told that the Vice President is in route to you now.”

“Thank you Mrs. Dawson.”

As if on cue, Vice President Sutherland strode into the oval office a moment later, but he was alone. Throughout much of the two hours he had been involved with some investigating at the Capitol Building, and what he discovered was not good news. With trepidation in his voice the man out of nothing more than force of habit said, “Good evening Mr. President. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Now with sarcasm entering the mix of frustration and anger, President Harwell replied, “Now what could possibly be good about this evening Mr. Vice President? And where is Senator Pearson? I instructed you to bring him to this office with you.”

“Yes sir, I know you did, but he can’t be located.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sir, his offices have been completely emptied out with the exception of the furniture and what was nailed down. The same goes for Senator Walker and every member from the House representing Texas. Everything is gone sir, and they all scattered like the wind.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, you must be mistaken.”

“Pardon me sir, but I’m not mistaken. Senator Pearson is gone from the hill, and neither I nor any of my sources can locate him. He and the others probably vanished to avoid an inquisition.”

“An inquisition, is that what you think he was going to face?”

“Well being ordered to bring him here certainly gives that impression sir.”

“And you think that is improper?”

“I didn’t say that sir.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m attempting to understand why you wanted me to bring him here sir.”

“I wanted to talk some sense into the man of course, why else?”

“So you thought that you could somehow change his mind about the Texas declaration? That makes no sense to even try sir, as this is a serious move on their part that could not have been taken lightly. No sir. You can’t view the intent of Texas as something that was just conjured up within the last few hours of today. I doubt that you, me, or anyone else, would have the power to change their mind.”

Infuriated that his underling would speak so candidly while in the presence of others, President Harwell began to clinch and unclench his left hand. Then he replied, “Well that may be Mr. Vice President, but I do have the power to attempt it. Now remember this. Don’t be condescending or impertinent towards me in this office ever again. Is that clear?”

“So am I to understand that having a viewpoint somehow different from yours is deemed to be impertinent Mr. President?”

“In this case yes, and don’t ever do so again or I will find myself another running mate for the next election. There is no way that this nation is going to lose one of its states under my watch. Is that understood?”

Not wanting to further aggravate the man, he replied, “Yes sir, perfectly.”

“Good! Now I don’t care what resources you need to tap into, legal or otherwise, but I want Senator Pearson in this office as soon as possible!”

Vice President Sutherland stood in momentary disbelief to what had been said. Was his boss truly concerned over the welfare of the nation, or how a fracturing of it during his administration would paint him in the history books? Suddenly the Vice President realized that there was a huge question beyond those of the war with Syria and the Texas declaration for him to personally consider. Did he want to be Jordan Harwell’s running mate again in the re-election campaign of 2028, or did he want to make his own bid for President against the man? Pushing the thought aside for the moment he then responded, “Yes sir Mr. President. I understand and will bring Senator Pearson here to converse with you. Now will there be anything else sir?”

“No, just find him!”

Agent Bishop stood silent less than twenty feet away throughout the entire exchange, and continued to do so after the Vice President had left the oval. He had not been asked for any insight during the evening, nor did he feel this was the proper time to step forward and offer it. What he did find intriguing was one specific comment that the Vice President had made while the President was too enraged to absorb it. Texas just didn’t conjure up their intent during the previous few hours.