There was a pregnant pause as Jeffrey waited for him to say more. Jeffrey was caught off guard when he changed the subject completely.
“How’d you like to go on a national war-bond drive?”
Jeffrey was crestfallen, and knew it showed. “Sir, I’d rather get back to my ship.”
“Haven’t had enough of nuclear torpedoes and SEAL raids for now? Don’t want some nice long stateside R and R, meet movie stars and famous talk-show hosts?”
“Very respectfully, sir, my answer is negative on both counts. I need to get back to my ship.”
The president smiled. “Good. I wanted to hear you say it…. Although the offer was genuine. You’ve more than earned a break.”
“Sir, is there anything else you need from me?”
The president chuckled. “That’s just like you, Jeffrey Fuller. Usually people connive to get as much of my time as they can. You dare to try to be the first to end the conversation.”
“Sir?”
“Look, son. Nobody gets the Medal of Honor without coming under a lot of scrutiny. Congress won’t approve the award for just anybody. I read your file. You’re considered highly talented, and driven, but with some important rough edges.”
Jeffrey sat back defensively.
“Don’t bristle. If you can’t look at your own strengths and weaknesses with cold-blooded accuracy, you’ll never go as far as you might in life.”
Jeffrey hesitated. “I think that’s good advice, sir.”
“I wanted the chance to talk to you candidly, Captain. Last month, far away in your ship, you saved me here from having to push the button…. I honestly think that for every one of those harrowing twenty-four hours, me in a flying command post waiting in dread for each tick of the clock, and you down in your submarine at the sharp tip of the spear, we have to have been the two most lonely people on the planet…. And besides, I’ve given too many Medals of Honor in this war posthumously. I’ve seen too many widows and orphans and grieving parents look at a velvet box with a chunk of bronze in it and ask me why their son or daughter had to die. Frankly, it’s very refreshing to get to speak to one of the Medal’s recipients while he’s still alive.”
“I never thought of it like that,” Jeffrey said.
“I’m not surprised you didn’t. Seeing things from the other person’s point of view is not one of your strong points.”
“Sir?” Jeffrey bristled again.
The president waved a reassuring hand. “Unless that other person is an enemy submarine captain. Then you seem to be able to get inside his head remarkably well.”
“You make it sound like I’ve got some form of ‘tunnel intelligence.’”
“You said it, not me…. Just a bit of implied friendly advice. Take it to heart. Remember, as a four-star general I had three-stars, and even other four-stars, reporting to me. You still have a long way to go to be playing in that league.”
“Sir, I didn’t request this interview.”
“No, I did. For a reason. Would you like to know what it is?”
“Respectfully, Mr. President, yes, I would.”
“This year, 2012, is a presidential election year. This November, the people will go to the polls to decide who they want to have running the country. Since it’s highly unlikely the war will be over by then, and assuming the world has not yet turned into a radioactive wasteland altogether, basically the people will be voting on what they think of the job I’ve done as the country’s commander in chief.”
Jeffrey squirmed. “I’m not really into politics, sir.”
“I know. You’ve got a reputation for that in navy circles. Which is good… up to a point. But you have to realize that every general or admiral is in part a politician… or at least they need to be able to understand and work with politicians well. The interplay between Pentagon and Congress and White House is always a delicate one. It’s a rather energy-intensive process. Personal energy and doggedness, keeping things running smoothly, without too much animosity or strife.”
“Yes.”
The president hunched forward. “I need your support in the next election.”
Jeffrey was flabbergasted. He shook his head, “Sir, I don’t think I can continue this discussion. I think, I mean… I think it might even be unconstitutional, for an officer on active duty to endorse a particular candidate.”
The president stared at Jeffrey, raised his eyebrows again, and then laughed. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”
Jeffrey felt himself blushing.
“No. Don’t feel bad. I’m glad to see you’re not an opportunist. You don’t have an inflated view of your place in the world.”
“I try not to, anyway,” Jeffrey said.
“The best way you can help me is to help your country…. Do you feel ready for another war patrol, immediately?”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“I mean really immediately. Like getting under way tonight.”
So a major crisis is definitely on. That’s why all those submarine admirals were acting all stirred up.
Jeffrey ran a quick mental tally of the status of his ship. “If we can load what we need and get out of dry dock on such short notice. Yes.”
“You did it once before. I mean do you, personally, with whatever scars you bear inside from what you’ve been through in combat lately, feel ready this very instant for more?”
Jeffrey nodded. His adrenaline was pumping now. This type of challenge he liked.
The president stood and walked to an easel, picking up a marker pen and pulling off its cap. “Remember easels?” he said.
“They’re a bit old-fashioned, sir.”
“Sometimes I like to be an old-fashioned guy…. I gave many a briefing using marker pen and paper, back when I was in your pay grade, an ambitious young officer myself…. Are you an ambitious person, Captain?”
Jeffrey was taken aback again by the president’s change of subject. “Yes. I have to say I am.”
“Good. Because your next mission task is very ambitious. I wouldn’t want to think you weren’t up to it.”
Jeffrey decided to hold his tongue.
“The better you understand what’s involved, the better you’ll do your job and be able to motivate your people.” The president began drawing squiggly curves along both sides of the blank page on the big pad on the easel. He tapped points on the curve on the left.
“The U.S., Canada, Mexico,” he said. “All Allies… Central America, mostly neutral so far, except for our friend Costa Rica, which is too bad because Panama won’t let our warships use the canal. South America, also mostly neutral, except for Venezuela and Chile, at opposite ends of the continent from each other.”
Jeffrey nodded. The U.S. received a lot of oil and natural gas from Venezuela, shipped through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
The president pointed to the right side of the easel chart and worked his way down the page. “The UK, Occupied Europe. The Afrika Corps’ big holdings, our Central African pocket, and the Boers down here.”
“Yes.” Jeffrey nodded. Libya was a nuclear no-man’s-land since the Germans had nuked Tripoli — without real provocation — at the war’s outbreak. Egypt and Jordan were protected from Axis incursions by Israel’s small but potent nuclear umbrella. Most other Middle Eastern nations were neutral, as was every country in Asia.