Kate nodded but said nothing, giving him a hard look. She stood and waited, not taking her eyes of him for a moment. If the Secretary Of State kept her waiting she was going to leave and leave for good. He would have to come to her and come begging if he wanted to see her. No way on earth was she going to put up with this nonsense again.
Mercifully it was only a few seconds until the large double doors were thrown open, "Ms Smith, Cliff Cuthbertson, please come on in."
Kate walked forward quietly, shook his hand slowly, looked into his eyes and felt for him deeply, pushing her ‘self’ into him to get a measure of the man, to know him. She let him have just the most minor glimpse of who she really was then covered it up quickly. She knew it had been noticed instantly. She could see this man was not a flunky nor had he risen above his capabilities. He was shrewd, observant and intelligent.
A moment of humor came to her, ‘if those were his qualities, what was he doing working for the government’ but she kept it inside.
Once in his office the doors were closed. Suddenly she was with him in private as they moved to a large sofa and he gestured for her to be seated which she did. She sat quietly, composed and upright as if sitting still in class. He sat looking at her.
"Ms Smith, have you ever considered a career in the diplomatic service?" he asked deadpan.
She looked at him and could see his humor was subtle most times but this was one of those more 'out there moments', "Never sir, never not once. No patience and totally the wrong aptitude I'm afraid," but she couldn’t help smiling. He was better than she’d thought he would be.
He too smiled, "Excellent! We’re in complete agreement then, it’s nice to start off with an agreement. My assistant has kept me abreast of the circus in getting you here. Was it worth it?"
She looked at him and smiled slightly. "Adversity is good for them and humility is something they’re unused to.” She increased her smile for just a moment. “Sir I think I could grow to like you. A poor start, a lot of games-person ship, a little bombast, a dismal attempt at force, a potpourri of the finest of American statecraft to smoke me out. I salute you sir."
He actually laughed out loud. He was deeply chuckling, "Do you have a license to wear that school uniform? It is very unsporting of you," and beamed.
He was doing well indeed she thought, seeing through so much and putting the pressure, or at least the 'moment' onto her. "Sir that is a real problem, only a few more years left for it. It does work well though doesn't it."
He sat quietly looking at her, she at him, measuring each other. To his credit he didn’t dismiss her by virtue of age, size or sex even though she was waving those in his face and not being subtle about it.
"Sir we’re fencing round the issue here. A few of them. Do you wish to lead off or should I lead?" She relaxed back on the settee a little, showing how comfortable she was.
He was shaking his head in pleasure. "You lead Ms Smith, this is most instructive, especially when I thought this was my own office."
She nodded slowly and deeply in friendly acknowledgment. “First of all sir, at a simplistic level, today’s circus is my way of saying I require a few common courtesies. Forget about patting me down, forget about frisking me and I'll get on well with your security service. A visitor badge is not for me either. You invite me, I am a guest and not a visitor. Next, if you wish to see me, speak with me or any contact at all, just lift the phone and call. I’m good with cell phones. I am at your disposal when I am able. Finally sir I am here to stay whilst I survive. I may not survive but what you have seen in recent times is what you may expect for the remainder of my life. I intend to finish as I have started. I do hope that is not a problem for you."
He sat back, his eyebrows going up a little. "If it is a problem for me, then?"
She shrugged, "Then sir it is your problem," and she said it slowly and plainly with a slight smile.
He was stunned at how brutally blunt she was. "Ms Smith I am struggling to reconcile our relative positions. I am the Secretary of Sate and you are what, fifteen? Still in school and you are treating me and my office quite harshly and to my face." He was not angry, statesmen never got angry. They got 'position' and he was scrabbling for it now. She understood, he could see that from a mile off. She understood all too well. He was thinking of her as ‘The Teflon Schoolgirl’ as nothing stuck to her and she was as slippery as all get out.
"Sir you understand me perfectly then, and, it would be rude to do this behind your back, and pointless too," and she left it at that.
He was almost amused, she was both definite and unbending. He wondered for a brief moment if he was dreaming and this was her office. He disciplined his mind.
"Ms Smith I called General Mgomo to ask him about the merger of his nation and the others into African Unity and the appointment of a prime minister. We talked at length and he gave me many details but one remained clouded in complete secrecy. That is, who their governor is. Do you know?" he saw she looked at him blankly, plain face. No hint of emotion. No hint of knowing, and no hint of not knowing.
"Sir I have no information for you on that."
He instantly knew that it was someone she knew and she was not telling. She hadn’t said she didn’t know, just that she wouldn’t tell him. He just had to ask, "What did you do there? I fail to believe that you had a role in that merger!"
She smiled slightly, "Then I am sure you must be correct sir. I am just a small young schoolgirl of no great import and as you said, you are the Secretary Of State."
He had to give her the point. She used words well, sort of like verbal bondage more than anything, tying him in knots, wrapping him in his own words and pulling them around him. There was only one thing he could do. He put his head back and laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking and he almost needed his handkerchief to dry his eyes. "I believe my counter terror team and security force would not agree and the Secret Service are having words about you. Just a school girl?"
She smiled just a fleeting smile, "I believe we have a new Director of the CIA. Seems like a nice gentleman," she ventured.
Yet again he felt disoriented, she’d disoriented him time and again so far. He sat and listened and let his mind wander by itself for a moment, then it occurred to him. "You know him?" She must have from that comment.
She shook her head, "No sir, just met him the once but he seems like a nice thoughtful man."
He heard that and wondered how anyone like her would meet the new director of the CIA. He had only seen him briefly as he hadn’t been in office long. The man he replaced was a buffoon though which had been an open secret, sort of like the bogey man you could frighten people with. "The man he replaced?" he asked wondering at her access.
She shrugged shook her head slowly, "I met him twice. We did not get along. Christmas cards will not be exchanged."
He heard that and let it filter in and then he kept on chuckling, "Ms Smith you've told me very little and quite a lot if I let my brain take it in. Is that what’s happening?"
She smiled that quiet smile he was getting used to, locked his eyes in hers and nodded slowly. He was thinking this was a snake and mongoose tussle, and he was the snake.
"Sir I do believe we might get along well. How long did you spend in Africa trying to resolve the problem there, if I may ask please?"
He shrugged again she changed the topic, "A fortnight shuttling between the three countries and our embassy. It was a thankless and tiring time. Probably one of the worst times of my life in recent years."
She nodded slowly as if understanding. "Your staff may think I was horrid here, but trust me, that pales into insignificance compared to how I behaved in Africa. I spent three days in total. Quite frankly sir I am the sort of person I would not want as a friend when the mood takes me."
He sat and let that filter in. Statesmanship should never be fast, it should be clear and concise and it should be carefully thought out. "Three days? Just three days?"
She nodded slowly
not taking his eyes from hers. That moment when they shook hands came back to him, the way it felt like she’d looked into his soul, that electric shock moment, and still it was happening. She was dominating him.
He could only ask, "How?"
She shook her head, "Sir, I am sorry but no information for you there, it only works for me."
He was not pleased. She’d pulled the rug out from under his feet again.
"You said for as long as you survive. What does that mean?" It had seemed odd at the time.
She looked sharply into his eyes. "Sir I am a private citizen and to put a fine point on it, I get around. I will continue to get around and I shall continue to do things as it pleases me, and others.” She flashed a smile that evaporated just as quickly. “You have some choices to make. Some very special choices."
He looked at her almost boggle eyed. "You claim much. Why or what should I decide."
She nodded. "Sir I am fifteen and still growing. In a few years I expect to be much stronger. I expect in that time also to have visited a number of places, a number of people and to have achieved." She left it at that.
If she was stronger then, he felt a moment of worry. She was stronger than hell right now. Then, ‘Achieved what’ he wondered. "You said survive?" That felt the most out of place.
She responded, "Sir sometimes I hurt like I am in a furnace, at other times there is a disorientation. That is part of my growth. My first time of this nearly killed me but it makes me what I am. Also, I may be challenged and killed. You know of the attempts recently?"
His mouth was open, "Attempts? I was not aware, who?"
She looked even more hard, even more direct. "Sir two men with sub-machine guns sprayed me on my way to school, then the next day three men with a sniper rifle shot at me again in the park. Plus three men tried to kidnap my mother. I had a nasty incident with a Chinese national martial artist attacking me."
He sat back in surprise. "Yet you lived obviously. Is this true?"
She had a slightly twisted smile, "Sir contact the Director of the FBI please. He shall confirm. He has agents watching me like a hawk trying to work out what I do. So far I permit them."
He was shaking his head. "The FBI, you permit them? What of the people who attacked you?”
She didn’t flinch for a moment, "They did not survive the experience. Sir your counter terror team and your security service fail to impress me at all as a credible risk to me." She shrugged. "Why should I care about them, shouting and waving their guns around is rather rude?”
Then she looked at him hard, “Three days!" She held up three fingers rubbing it in.
He understood the reference. His time of weeks and nil result, her time of three days and the resolution in Africa if he believed that.
He had to ask, "Ms Smith you obviously, it appears to me now, could have avoided this meeting and it is obvious now to me you are using this for your own purposes. You've kept me off balance and darted everywhere without a plan. Why?"
She smiled thinly. "Very well sir, let us find out if we can work together. We shall go there now. Sir would you mind calling down to security and ask if they have any images or video of me please?"
This was yet another ruse to divert him he thought.
"Sir, honestly, I'll get you there, one step at a time please. Oh. There really is a plan."
He took it on faith. He’d been led down the garden path pretty badly already. After a somewhat strange phone call down to security he sat back down. "Ms Smith, it seems our CCTV failed, you remain incognito."
She nodded slowly keeping his eyes firmly fixed, "That sir is part of the deal. I require anonymity. Watch," as she flicked her hand and his eyes very nearly did leave his head.
"You Are Kidding Me," was all he could say emphasizing every single word.
His side wall in front of him was replaced with what looked like a video of the Presidents helicopter landing on a dusty area. As he watched the doors were thrown open then a marine honor guard formed. A few seconds later a somewhat squat and obviously senior marine stepped down and waited. Then he saw Kate herself step down wearing a wide sun hat, black slacks with a white shirt looking both restrained and yet in control. As he watched the sound came up and he could hear everything. He saw Kate put her hand out to take the marines' arm then they walked forward. He was touched by how small and yet in control she looked. It was obvious this was all for her benefit.
He watched her meet General Mgomo, and he cringed when she derided, abused and 'dealt' with him.
He also cringed when he heard her talk about others attempting to resolve the same crisis and he felt anger at her references. When the video changed to the generals office and her continuing to dominate and push the general it faded out then the wall returned to its rightful place on the side of the room.
"Sir that is enough. As you can see I was quite definite with him but it was repaid with respect then results. The General and I have come to an agreement. The remainder of my time there was spent in a similar mode and method." She stopped and in the silence he was considering what he’d seen.
It was remarkable. "You truly are fifteen?" he asked.
She ignored that, and that seemed to be her way, "Sir I have a task for you," and he noticed she did not say please or phrase it more diplomatically or allude to it. Just right out on the table in plain view, "There is no point sugar coating it sir, it is a task." She seemed to read his mind and go straight to where he was heading.
"I could ask how that video was taken and then the way it was replayed and you wouldn’t tell me?" but she just smiled at that. "So perhaps you might tell me what this task is and why should I do it? It feels strange for you to ask me. Here. In my office."
She moved her head from side to side as if deciding how to answer. "Sir you keep coming back to this being your office as if it lends credibility. Never mind. I am fifteen and I did that in three days. Do you honestly think that will be the only such thing to happen? Will the President ask me to intercede in future when such tasks look difficult? Plus there shall be other tasks I shall undertake for the President that I shall do and they shall all seem to come out of nowhere. I need a support infrastructure and one of their main roles is to make me invisible. You sir could be a key player."
He laughed out loud. "You presume so much it is incredible."
She beamed. "Excellent sir. I'll take that as a maybe. One or two things you might like to consider. If you decline and news of me gets out, what will your role be seen as then? Next, I am entirely capable of defending myself. The new man at the CIA and I work well together."
She placed only very slight emphasis on the word 'new' and he grasped that instantly. Had she seen to the removal of the previous buffoon?
He now thought it possible.
She nodded, "Yes sir, I did,” answering his un-asked question, anticipating him yet again. He felt yet again unsettled at her ability to read him.
“You used him as a tool, as the alternative, cut him loose as the unpleasant option. Well now you have a far more efficient person to replace him.” There was a small delay. Then, “Me," she said into the silence very quietly. That was the most frightening moment so far, it hinted at her abilities and also that she knew of what he’d done in the past. It was an insightful observation.
"Everything up to now has been for this question! I thought you were just rambling and leading me a merry chase."
Then he thought, "China?"
Shrugged as if it were old news, "They sent the killers. I punished them. They were not happy so I punished them some more till they apologized with the brooch to my mother at the ball then I manipulated their perceptions shamelessly."
He was shaking his head in disbelief, "No, no, no, you can’t do that!"
He looked at her and it kept coming back, "The new CIA man, what happened to the old one?" That was something he didn’t know much about.
She shrugged. "He is irrelevant. He rejected my offer, he challenged me, he was a
corrupt bombastic cretin and I called him a fool to his face when he resigned in front of the President. The mark of a fool is someone who tries the same thing time and again and it fails each time. He was a consummate fool."
"Ms Smith you sound more and more incredible. How am I to believe this?"
She shrugged, "You are still seeing the school uniform." Then she waited a second. "I tell you what sir. I shall be undertaking a new task soon and I shall advise you early then we shall together watch the President grab the glory afterward and you may question me and we shall see how it pans out. How is that for an offer? Oh. As I said. I have one other small but significant task for you but that can wait till you accept just who I really am."
He just could not help it, "You presume so much."
She came back with, "Why don't you call on Ambassador Seminov. Charming man, wonderful sense of humor and very accommodating, just like your good self. Always a pleasure to be around."
He looked at her and wondered why and how on earth she managed to pull the rug from under his feet time and again. She changed the direction so completely and each time it came back and bit him or had some relevance later as if she was setting him up for a fall. He knew ambassador Seminov well, or until that moment thought he did. He was none of those things most of the time. There was only one option.
"You've done a deal with him!"
She was completely bland and blank faced. "Sir! I am just an insignificant schoolgirl. How could that possibly happen and if it did, hypothetically speaking, why would I discuss that with someone who was not on the team?"
He sat for a few moments and realized she was so far ahead he was never ever going to get on top of this meeting. "Do people scream after an hour with you?" He just had to lighten up the moment.
"Sir if I don't like them it only takes a very brief moment I can promise you and screaming is the least of what happens. Your secret service found that out," she said blandly, then she grinned. "It is so wearing, bullying people to get what I want but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. Some days I can't wait till I'm older and stronger." She sat deadpan.
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