“Sir. I appreciate the confidence, but Homeland Security is my first obligation. I don’t see how I could do that and be effective,” Raymond replied.
“Rearrange your staff. Promote your most trusted station head to Assistant Director. That would free you up. Raymond, I don’t want this knowledge to go any further. I know it’s not the nicest thing I have done, but I feel it is the right direction under the circumstances. I have faith in you and you can be assured that the full power of this office will stand behind you one hundred percent.”
There was nothing to discuss really. The President had made up his mind. He had made the hard decision and now it would fall on Eller’s shoulders to find a way of working with General Devin. That in itself would be a monumental challenge.
“As you wish sir, I will make the necessary changes. I will need your assistance in keeping the Homeland Security out of unnecessary congressional hearings. I will also have to have additional funding for the new Assistant Director. It was probably something we needed anyway. I was just trying to keep our overhead down.”
“Excellent. Thank you Raymond. I am grateful for your acceptance of these additional responsibilities,” he said.
“Well sir, it’s damned hard to say no to the President of the United States. My only real concern is General Devin. You will have to make it absolutely clear that I am acting on your behalf and that he is to grant me full access to every project. I will want to make a visit to see firsthand what is going on. Not just a ‘hi, here I am. I want to poke around, talk to staff and the scientists and anyone else I run across. No restrictions.”
“I will personally both articulate it verbally and put into writing those exact orders,” the President said.
“When do you want me to start?”
“Just as quickly as you can make the arrangement to hand off some of your Homeland responsibilities. The sooner the better. I want to know what is actually going on. I hope the information we are getting is wrong, but I can’t take the chance,” the President said.
“I agree. Just one more question.”
“Sure. Fire away.”
“Do we have captured UFOs and aliens working at S-4?”
The President smiled and said, “You don’t know this but I was able to sneak away for a few hours to visit S-4. Hold on to your jaw because it will drop to the floor when you see everything we have out there. Now we have to find out if Devin is keeping other things from this office. The sooner you can answer that question the better for all of us,” the President said.
Sarah was in her office when Eller returned from his meeting with the President at the White House. She was going over progress files on outstanding cases from her district. Her office was directly on the corner so she had two windows. If she looked just right she could see the Washington Monument.
She had managed to transform the room from a dull government office to one that was surprisingly comfortable and pleasant. Tasteful prints were hung on two of the walls and there were fresh flowers in attractive vases placed in different locations. A handsome rug was positioned in front of her desk and the two leather side chairs matched her desk chair. A credenza with smoked glass doors was directly behind her desk. Several pictures of her with various relatives and friends sat on top. The desk had an oversized top and was polished to a mirror like gleam. A leather ink blotter and a small crystal encased clock were all that she normally kept on her desk.
Today was different. Files were placed in stacks on the top of the credenza and her desk. Once a month Sarah would pull out all of the active files and review them. It was daunting work but she knew it was the key to her success. She never wanted to be caught off guard if asked a question about a particular case and this system worked best for her. She was reading one of the files and making notes on a yellow legal pad when her phone rang.
She reluctantly put down the file and answered, “Sara Steel, Homeland Security, how may I help you?”
“Sorry Sarah, its Raymond. Your secretary warned me that you were reviewing case files and I know you hate to be interrupted when you working on files, but something has come up that I would like to discuss with you.”
“No problem. I was thinking of giving it a rest for a while anyway. I haven’t eaten yet and I was contemplating running down to Stan’s Deli,” she said.
“Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll tag along. I could use a good pastrami on rye and a big fat dill pickle.”
“Great. I’ll run to the ladies room and then I’ll stop by your office.”
“Okay I’ll be ready whenever you are.”
This was only the second time she had ever talked to the director outside of the office. She was certainly curious. Then again, maybe she was making too much out of it. It could be that the guy was just as hungry as she was.
