By the time I turned off the water, another voice came from the kitchen. Ash carried a bundle of clothing to my room and said that Linda had arrived. The mist of her existence had lifted. We had a lot to talk about. A lot to talk about. That phrase showed up attached to the back end of every thought and every person. But now, I had a job to do. I dressed, but my pants were still too large. Ashley had suspenders. How I remembered would come later. I asked. He delivered.
“Hi, Linda. Thanks for helping.”
“I'm glad you're home.”
“We need the portal.” I walked to her and kissed her cheek. She hesitated to come closer, so I took her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
“I like your beard,” she said.
“Thanks. We're going to the school now. When this ends, we should talk.”
“I'd like that. Good luck.”
Ten minutes later, agent Charles and Ashley unloaded the Mustang. Jane called the president, and I stepped into Riverboro High School for the first time in thirteen years. The people I'd asked to hang around huddled in the middle of the hallway, still the pleasant blue-green tint that burst into my conscious memory.
“The planes are up, Fritz,” Jane said.
“Which room should we use?” Ashley asked.
“Yours. I know it works.” I connected the generator and attached the cord to the doorknob. Ash cleared his desk. I took the Summit files from what Ashley had saved, and thumbed through, flipping the pages, rubbing the proposal Jane had written. Everything felt familiar, and at the same time, newborn.
“The substitute's not going to be happy,” Ashley said, as he stacked the books and papers on a student's desk.
“She'll get over it,” said a voice in the doorway. “Welcome back, Fritz.”
“Hi, George. Sorry to do this to you.”
“Truth is … I've kind of missed it, all the action.” Then he laughed. “Lois says welcome home, too.”
While we arranged the files to fetch the foreign leaders, a rising noise announced the president's arrival. In his hand, he held the list and without waiting began to tell me what he'd accomplished.
“Mr. President, first things first. Tony.”
“He sent a picture of where he's at. Here.” I set a paperclip and we left the classroom. I told Ash to open the portal.
“Not this time. This one's your party.” His gentle smile reminded me that I had a lot to thank him for.
I grabbed the doorknob. The tingle vibrated through my fingers, and caressed my arm like an old friend. I pulled the door open and Tony joined the crew. I shook his hand and received his welcome greeting.
“Check everything, Tony. We have a long day coming,” I said. He tossed his jacket and one of Churchill's volumes on the floor, asked for a chair, and started to wiggle all the plugs.
“Next, let's get the general.”
The president handed me another sheet of paper. The group of teachers and staff watched from a distance. Some had never seen the portal in action. Later. I set the portal and General Beech entered the hallway. I asked him if Colonel Mitchell had managed to get his team together. He told me the unit had been continued, so they were together and would be ready by now. He handed a package to Jane, and said, “These are for you, Colonel.” She thanked him and excused herself.
I said, “Next, we'll get Putin. Is he ready?”
“He said to pick him up where we first met him when we captured the stolen nuke.” I found the floor plan quickly and set the portal for Russia. The president and Mel walked across the threshold, while I held the door. The Russian president added to the growing throng.
“Nice to see you again, Mr. Putin,” I said, expecting the scowl he saved for public appearances. Instead, he reached his hand toward mine.
“And you, too, Mr. Fritz.” He grinned. “I do not always say the things I know.”
“It's just Fritz. You don't need to know my full name.” The cabinet members were spread out, but we could gather them later. Only SecState and SecDef were needed here now. He handed me two sheets.
In less than a minute, I'd secured them. I asked Ashley for the time.
“Almost ten.”
“Who next, Fritz?” the president asked. “The leaders are ready when you are.”
“Okay. First, the British, French and German, then Chinese, Japanese and Australian. But this is taking too long.”
Ashley said, “Left, right, center, Fritz. We've done this before.” He removed each from the files. The president handed a sheet to Ashley, one for Australia. He had them for those who hadn't been here before. “Those calls took a little longer.”
“George, take everyone to the conference room,” I said. “Mr. President, Mr. Putin, stay here.”
With three quick openings of the portal, Mel Zack ushered the first group to the conference room, only the German Chancellor not startled. Moments later, sleepy men from the other side of the Pacific joined their European counterparts. The last one to get, the South Korean leader, took a bit longer.
When the president returned with his colleagues, I escorted them to the Summit room to join the rest. I told Ashley to set the White House brochure. I asked for quiet and told them they would be going to the Oval Office next. Their objective was to stop reaction to the missile explosion, bring the new president through the portal, and then make a trip to North Korea as diplomats. When I asked if he had a report on the North Korean leader, the president said he was sleeping.
“We'll be able to pinpoint our arrival when we're ready,” said the president. “Lady and gentlemen, our new president is not aware of the portal. Expect push back, but we'll bring him here. John, Charlie, you'll stay there. General Beech also. Coordinate with your counterparts. Leaders, come with me. If we can't convince him, we'll scare the hell out of him. Mr. Putin, I'm counting on you the most.”
The newly-formed invasion force gathered outside Ashley's classroom door. Jane had morphed into Lt. Colonel Barclay, and received instructions from the general. Colonel Mitchell and his team would destroy the missiles and nukes. She had the location maps in a folder. General Beech told her to contact the colonel and while they were waking up the Dear Leader, the team would enter North Korea.
“Can you keep the portal closed that long?” she asked.
“I'll take care of it, Colonel Barclay,” I said. “Mr. President, are you ready?” When he nodded, I pulled the door open.
First one through, the president startled his successor. With an unexpected group of leaders and former Cabinet secretaries, his intense confusion galloped across his crimson complexion.
“What are you doing here? I didn't have meetings today.”
Putin stepped forward. “Mr. President, we are here to advise you how to handle the North Korean situation.”
“I didn't know you were in Washington. Looks like the fake media was asleep on the job.”
“Not quite on the mark,” said the president. “You are about to learn just how precarious the world can be.”
“What are you talking about?” the new president said, his orange hair falling out of place.
The rectangle glowed behind the visitors. “When I announced during the campaign that we could time travel, everyone thought me either kidding or nuts.” He glanced at his wrist. “Less than half an hour ago, Mr. Putin was in Moscow and these folks were all at home.”
“Don't you know I have a crisis. I want you to go away. Now.”
“Mr. President,” said Putin, “we all have the same crisis. We are here to help you. We wish you to join us to plan what needs to be done.”
“I won. I'm the president now. I don't want your help.” His shouting brought secret service agents through his door. Mel Zack stepped in front.
“Mr. President, is everything okay?” Bill Sharp saw the dignitaries and Mel Zack. “Hi, Mel. So, the portal again?”
“Hi, Bill. Yup.”
The new president scowled. “Agent Sharp, you knew about this?”
“Not thi
s meeting, sir. But I swore an oath to protect the portal.”
“Bill, we're asking the president to come with us,” said his former boss. “We're going to end this threat now.”
“Sharp, you're fired.” The crowd laughed.
Putin sat down in front of the Resolute Desk, his smile vanished. “Mr. President, you are the only one in this room who can officially stop American action. You are also the only one here who doesn't know what is about to happen. If you come with us, you will be the negotiator who brings peace. If you do not, we will, without you, and you will never know how we persuaded Mr. Kim. But more, you will, for the remainder of your life, be unable to mention our visit. If you say time travel, your Congress will remove you, as insane and unable to perform your duties. You have ten seconds to decide.” He pushed up his sleeve.
“Are you threatening me?”
“Seven, six, five…”
“Okay, okay. I'll go with you.”
The president said that some of them would remain and asked that the new Secretaries of State and Defense come to the Oval Office. “And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Charlie, John and General Beech will fill them in.”
“I'll have my secretary call.” He picked up the phone.
“Don't,” said the president. “You make the calls. None of your staff or your family has clearance. You can decide later if you want to include them. Time is wasting.”
The new president scowled at his uninvited visitors. He removed a list of phone numbers from his desk, picked up the phone, and placed the calls himself. When he stood, the group began to move toward the fluorescent rectangle by the Oval Office door.
“What is that thing?”
“You'll see in a minute,” Putin said.
“I have to tell someone I'm leaving.”
“That is not necessary. Come with us now.”
“Bill, you come too,” said the president.
* * *
I DIRECTED EVERYONE down the hall. The final arrivals, the former president, the new president, and Putin, stopped in the middle of the hallway. The new president asked where they were.
“That's not important now. North Korea is,” said the president.
“Mr. President, while you were gone, Ashley and I brought most of the others from the Summit through. They're waiting for you.”
“Here's the floor plan for Kim. His bedroom. It's just past midnight in Pyongyang. Get the colonel started, and then come join us.” Major Barclay exited the room, leading the teachers and school staff.
I'd been away from this activity for years. Strangely, what to do flooded back to me. I welcomed Colonel Mitchell and Major Dolan as their men poured through into the school and took their places on both sides of the hall, as images of many other times leapt from memory.
“Fritz,” Ash said, “the president wants you.”
Surrounding me, my colleagues, fellow teachers for many years, quietly watched, and as I walked down the hall, each patted my arm, or softly welcomed me home.
As I opened the door, argument assaulted me. The president waved me over. The room hadn't changed. The round conference table elevated two steps up, the white panels which housed the video screens, the walkway around the perimeter, still the same.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this man discovered the portal. Our adventures together have been numerous, as some of you know. You may recall the surprise ending to Naria's nuclear program. Or the attack on the White House during the Summit last spring. None of the leaders were hurt because we were in here. And you will recall the attack in Palestine at the opening of the development project. We escaped catastrophe through the portal. In addition, we have the ability to travel back in time. Today, we intend to visit Mr. Kim. Our people on the ground have informed us that he has gone to bed, after a day of celebration. We have also discovered the locations of their missile storage and where they have hidden their nuclear arsenal. The explosion over Hawaii was due to a malfunction of the guidance system. The North Korean military has already made their report. So the celebration acted as a cover. But we must consider the range the missile traveled with a payload. That's what we must stop.”
“Why don't I know any of this?” shouted the current president. “And why haven't I been told about this portal thing?”
The president began to answer, but I stopped him. “You don't know because I didn't want you to know. You're here now because you've got the country fearing a nuclear attack, and every major military throughout the globe is preparing for war. You don't know that because you don't believe your own intelligence agencies. You tweeted that this morning.”
“Who are you? And where are we?”
I answered. “You don't need to know. You've been given a gift here. The opportunity is yours to ratchet down the fear, and to protect the world from holocaust.”
“We need to go,” said the president. “Mr. President, are you coming?”
“Where?”
Groans and rolled eyes filled the room.
The president said, “Our next stop will be Mr. Kim's bedroom. If we succeed, the North Koreans will be joining the community of nations. If not, they will wonder where he went.” The president's head nod sent me down the hall.
At Ashley's classroom door, I asked the colonel for the maps he would use for his mission. He handed me a folder. I called Ashley over.
“We're going to do this together. I'm going with the president. I'll step out if Kim resists, and then you need to move fast. When you go, the portal will be closed for our exit.”
“The first groups are already inside. The rest go when you're in. Then I'll reconnect the portal to you.”
With the leaders gathered behind me, I told the colonel to keep some men right at their entry point. The fluorescence would vanish when we came back.
The president said, “Take out one site first. We should be back before you'll need to do more. Wait for us. Good luck.”
I set the paperclip. The president said the intel was perfect. An agent was guarding Kim's door. I patted Ash's arm and he pulled. As quietly as possible, the leaders of the world entered the bedroom of the sleeping North Korean leader. A nightlight provided enough illumination to avoid mishap. When I stepped in, Ashley softly closed the door behind us. I opened the bedroom door, and the guard, who would serve as a decoy, came in.
At the president's signal, I turned on the lights. Kim jumped up ready to yell, until he saw the Chinese president, who told him to be quiet and listen. From the rear, a translation flowed through the crowd surrounding the bed.
The new president said, “It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Kim.”
The Chinese leader said, in English, “We know you speak and understand English. We are here to invite you to join us. We wish to put an end to North Korea's isolation in the world community.”
The president said, “We wish to introduce you to a technique we have discovered which has allowed us all to be here. Will you come with us?”
Kim sat still, his anger shifting from face to face. “My guard will have called soldiers by now. You will be prisoners.”
The guard spoke from the rear. He said he had been surprised. No soldiers were coming.
“So you see, Mr. Kim, you have the choice of coming with us and finding a road leading to an end to our disputes, or never knowing when your sleep will be disturbed again.” The president's warning kept Kim from responding. “You made a mistake today. You attacked the United States and celebrated. You made no attempt to warn us, provided no information that your attack was a technology failure. You have declared war.”
“It was a mistake,” Kim shouted. “The operators are in prison already.”
The current president said, “The rest of the world interprets your action as a surprise attack on Hawaii. My advisers woke me when they detected the missile launch. We won't put up with that. So I am trying to save you. I said I'd invite you to my country. You should come now. We'll have a nice talk.”
The Chinese president said, �
��You have only this chance to make yourself a great leader, like your father.”
Stepping forward, President Putin sat on the bed next to Kim. “We do not intend to harm you. But our patience is limited, and our time is short. Join us now and see what the rest of us know. You have ten seconds.” Repeating his earlier action, he put his watch in Kim's sightline and counted backward. When he reached 'seven,' the rest added their voices. At three, Kim said, “I will come. Let me dress.”
A pair of pants, a shirt and expensive sneakers were passed from the back and dropped in Kim's lap. Putin told him to bring his clothes with him.
When we emerged in the hallway, I held the door. The leaders returned to the conference room between two lines of soldiers.
Trailing the others, Putin said to the president, “He is a bully—your word. I would not be so forgiving.”
“Yet, you convinced him. Now he will see what the collective influence of the world can do, just as you have. He'll know what we can do and what we will do.” The president signaled for the colonel to begin.
I told Ash to start, as the soldiers lined up for their mission. Jane's voice rang out, “Let's go.” I watched Ashley as Jane led her team into the dark night of battle.
As the leaders took seats, the president told Kim to follow him. “Major Dolan, would you escort Mr. Kim to the bathroom, so he can dress?” While Kim was absent, he said, “On the screen behind me is a satellite picture over eastern Asia. I expect when Mr. Kim returns, we will show him the first detonation. We are prepared to finish his nuclear program if he objects.”
The South Korean president asked, “Mr. President, what about us?”
“An alert has been sent to your people. I believe a message from Mr. Kim, broadcast from here, will shut down his military. If not, we'll show him this.” A series of low-angle photos of short-range missiles, from Russia, China, Japan and Australia flashed across the screen. Shocked looks passed over the faces of the Russian and Chinese leaders. “Yeah, we know where they are. And we know you're ready to launch. That doesn't include our submarines.”
The Portal At The End Of The Storm (Quantum Touch Book 6) Page 33
