The stage manager stood before one of the cameras listening to the control truck directions and said.
“That’s a wrap folks.”
The entire studio audience broke out in wild applause, Sandi rushed to the stage, kissing him on the cheek, telling him how proud of him she was.
“I did okay then?” Alex joked.
Curt, Cynthia, Liz, agents Somers and Evans, and Commander Morris joined Alex on stage to congratulate him on a great performance. All the anchors moved forward to shake his hand and to comment on his responses. How well thought out, yet fiery and to the point. He didn’t dodge one single question, and the fact that he didn’t know the questions beforehand made it even more amazing how coolly he responded.
George Neff asked Alex why he didn’t let the equipment stay here and have a monthly or weekly broadcast like Torrance is having every Wednesday. Alex pondered for a moment.
“George you may have something there, the American people need to hear both sides of this argument, so they can make informed decisions. Why don’t we do this, I’ll have a weekly televised news conference on Thursday evenings, that way I can comment on Torrance’s remarks from the night before. I can’t give one network the shot, it’ll need to be similar to this broadcast, but it doesn’t have to be worldwide.”
“Holy cow,” as Neff turned to the other anchors, “Did you just hear that?”
Network executives crowded the stage to commit their networks to the broadcasts; they began advising Alex that they could have contracts drawn up tomorrow for his signature.
“Gentlemen, you need no contracts, I am a man of my words, and we will have a televised news conference every Thursday at seven p.m. for the next several weeks, after that we’ll see if all involved want to continue.”
“Well General since we didn’t ask you about Torrance’s tax plan during the questioning session, what did you think of it, the flat tax I mean,” Carol Downey inquired.
“I’m in favor of a flat tax, but I would step up with two more rate tiers, a twenty-five per cent rate on incomes exceeding $500,000, and a thirty-five per cent rate on incomes exceeding one million dollars. Keep all deductions on the books to lower your income, but no one will pay less than fifteen per cent of their gross income. I think that is more progressive and fairer to lower income individuals.”
“Can I quote you?” she asked.
“Carol, you haven’t had a chance to get to know me yet, when I speak you may always quote me; otherwise, I will have ‘no comment’.”
“This is a reporter’s dream, we may have to move a new team out here just to cover the General,” Lester Keller commented.
“I can guarantee our network in New York is working on that as we speak,” Tom Azner said.
“General, I know you want to get back to work, but may I just say that your signoff to the world where you wished each person’s God bless them was one of the most politically correct statements I’ve ever heard, and you say you have no political aspirations,” George Neff noted.
“You’re right I don’t, and I do need to get back to work now George. We’ll secure your equipment here at the media center, and you can leave the master control truck parked where it is, but you guys have to get off my base so we can get some work done.” Alex walked away with his arm around Sandi.
Carol Downey remarked that Dr. Chenowith appeared to be more than General Hanken’s Chief of Staff. Alex and Sandi’s relationship became a sort of model for the cast of characters surrounding them and in time those other relationships would flourish and reveal themselves.
Chapter 8
The Group Aligns Itself
By three-thirty that afternoon all the turmoil had subsided and the network people were gone. Morris came into Alex’s office and reported all incoming personnel had been accounted for as they exited the front gate. Morris placed a Marine guard at the door of the media center with the master truck trailer parked next to the center. Alex thanked him for an outstanding job; everything went very smoothly he thought. Ted Jeffers walked in and said.
“Well Alex, on a scale of one to ten, I gave you a thirty-five on the interviews, I mean you nailed it my friend. You should hear the commentators back in their network newsrooms; they have christened you as the second coming.”
“Thanks Ted, now we have to get busy and earn our pay, by the way did you get your cash advance for running around money?”
“Yes, and thank you, I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“When will I be able to bring my wife out here?”
“Tell you what; have her book a flight to Seattle, then take a taxi to McChord. I will have a staff jet pick her up and fly her here; I want this on the QT Ted.”
“Absolutely, no one, not even the kids will know where she is headed, and thanks again.”
Alex began to consider how they should approach analyzing the Cal Tech backup tapes they’d retrieved from Brigham Young University. Curt knew computers and communications but this might go far beyond his skills. Alex needed those FBI tech people Ted was bringing in from the DC office; hopefully they could get it kick started when they arrived the next day. Sandi, Cynthia, and Liz were resting after a long day of intense activity. Elena, Andrade, and Curt were in the den watching television to gauge reaction to Alex’s interview. Morris, Somers, and Evans went to the firing range to brush up on their pistol skills.
Alex pushed back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. The last six months had flown by so quickly, so many things had changed in his life, and there were times when he didn’t think he was up to it. On several occasions he second-guessed himself, he remembered those moments of self-doubt, how they haunted him day and night, only to have his first instinct turn out to be right all along. He had finally learned to trust his own judgment, and now with this extended family of FBI, Navy Seals, and Russian spies, truly talented people surrounded him, he could let them run with the ball; after all, that is what they wanted to do. He still anguished over Admiral Torrance, he wished he could somehow rescue him from that fateful decision, but his fate was already sealed; he would hang with the rest of them.
Elena became bored with the news reports, but was interested in how Alex would react to the various news reports. She stuck her head in his office. Alex motioned her to come in and have a seat.
“General, you are being portrayed as some kind of messiah, the US news media is falling all over itself to praise you, how do you feel?”
“Honestly, I don’t feel any different than I did yesterday Elena, I am so focused on uncovering these people and bringing this to an end, I really haven’t had time to dwell on anything else for any measurable length of time.”
“General, you realize that these traitors are going to try and have you killed, you are a direct threat to them. And your popularity will undermine their ability to sway the American people to their way of thinking. You need to think about another secret location from where you can command activities. These Thursday press conferences are dangerous, too many people know exactly where you are at a given time; a Predator could be programmed to drop a bomb on the media center. One of the technicians could be compromised and walk in with sarin gas pellets in his intestines undetected by conventional means. I’m reminded about the story of Duke Charles of Lorraine; he was a famous Austrian military man in the sixteen hundreds. He was assassinated with a wig by one of his servants who had been bribed.”
“Elena that is why you’re here,