D3 “I’m not going!” screamed young Scott.
“Chrissie?” asked his mother.
“Yes,” said the young man as Bill
struggled not to tell him as he thought, “You don’t cross the President of the United States.”
“Are you in love?” asked Scott’s
mother.
“Yes,” said the boy without
hesitation.
“Then we have a problem,” said she to
Bill.
“The boy’s too young to be in love,”
resounded Bill.
“We were two years older than he is
now, remember?”
“Two years is a long time,” wailed
Bill knowing he had lost.
“We have to tell him.”
Meanwhile at the New York Times David Crookes comes out of the
Chairman’s Office with a heavy satchel in hand.
It contains 24 pounds of gold, in one ounce bars, $1 million. He is accompanied by two big, thug-looking
men.
Filbert Fogstern, Ph.D. has packed everything he and his wife
could stuff into their Ford SUV. Filbert
has long been an environmentalist, Sierra Club member and had all the fancy
camping gear one could buy for all the well publicized outings he could stage for
“Save Our Planet,” meetings. Jill is a
new York Jewish girl about as useful on a camping trip as a pair of patent leather
pumps, but she has taken this very well having faith in Filbert. He told her
they would come back to her closets after this was all over and that the trip
is just a safety precaution. She thinks
they are going to a resort in the Caribbean. In spite of being a Christian boy Filbert has
learned how to be a good Jewish husband, “You lie to her, already,” he
congratulates himself on the quickly concocted story.
When they arrive at the airbase he stops just outside the gate
seeing David Crookes standing with two men, satchel in hand. Filbert passes him a Manila
envelope and with a few words of assurance on both sides takes the satchel in
hand shakes hands with David saying, “Not a word until Friday morning, OK?”
“Agreed,” says Crookes.
Filbert returns to the SUV.
“What is that?” asks Jill.
“Something very important to us, but forget it for now.”
“Isn’t that David Crookes?” Charlotte
asks.
“Yes.”
“What did you give him?”
“Enough,” Filbert says firmly.
It is the first time he has spoken to her in that tone and she is taken
aback, but does not argue, “Filly is in charge,” and it reassures her.
They disappear into the facility.
Meanwhile, Layton Panola is in a small office with General Winston
Droves, officially the Pentagon Director of Toilet Paper Purchasing, but in
fact in charge of “black” projects.
“Look Winnie, don’t give me any shit I know you’ve got a massive
underground facility in Area 51 because I paid for it, OK?”
“Well, I uh…”
“Now I want to take my family there as soon as possible, like in a
few days and don’t ask me why because I cannot tell you,” and Layton settled
into the slow stare for which he was famous.
In a minute the General caved.
“OK,” he said, “have them all at the military terminal at
Washington National tomorrow morning at 9 AM and we’ll take you there, but I
really.”
“Don’t ask,” said Layton
as he stood up to leave.
Back at the Daniels home Scott has been told the world is supposed
to end and his firm answer is, “Then I want to be here with Chrissie when it
happens.”
“Don’t you understand that we may be able to survive if we get to Perth, Australia?”
“That’s a maybe,” the young man responds.
“He’s right,” says Sylvia.
Billy feels like it is always “Two against one; the boy and his
mother against me! He takes after her,”
but this is an emergency that has brought utter clarity to his mind. “Knowing you are going to be hanged focuses
the mind wonderfully,” he remembers from the old English film “Kind Hearts and
Coronets.”
“Would she come with us?” Bill asks and he sees that Sylvia likes
the idea.
“I don’t know,” says Scott.
“Well, let’s find out,” says Bill as he stands.
“Right now?”
“We do not have a lot of time,” says Bill, “Let’s talk to her
parents. I’ll tell them I’m going on a
special mission for the President and that my family is welcome, it will only
be for a week. Your mother and I will
chaperone. It will be a wonderful trip
for Chrissie. If it doesn’t happen we’ll
come back and if it does we’ll survive.”
“What about them?” the young man asks.
“Son,” says father to son, “This is
the way the world works. We can only
save ourselves and the ones we love,” as he grips his shoulder firmly. The young man nods passing over the line from
boy to man.
They go to the family Lincoln and drive to
the young lady’s home.
“Hi,” says Billy as Chrissie’s mother
answers the door. “I’m sorry to be so
abrupt, but we need to talk.” Without a
word she ushers them in and points to the living room and seats surrounding a
coffee table.
“Is your husband available?”
“I’ll get him,” she says and leaves
the room.
Chrissie enters wide-eyed saying,
“Hi,” with a quizzical look. She joins
Scott on the love seat as her father enters in gardening attire.
“Pardon me,” he begins and Billy jumps
in with a “Pardon me, but the President is sending me on a special mission to Australia and
for cover he wants it to look like a family trip. I’ll be carrying a diplomatic pouch so we’ll
get First Class treatment all the way.
He insisted I take Scotty and he won’t go unless Chrissie comes. They aren’t children any more and she is
welcome. It’ll be 100% chaperoned and a
trip of a lifetime for all of us.”
Chrissie exclaims, her dad looks at
his wife and her eyelids rise with a “yes” and he says, “OK with us,” and the
girl jumps up to kiss her dad. Sylvia
looks at Billy with new respect thinking, “What a bullshitter,” and then
thinks, “I wonder how many lies he’s told me?”
