The president leaned back in her chair. Her smiled faded, and she fell back into a serious mood.
Weston asked, “Do you know how big of a problem you caused us when you made my marine pilots land their helicopter next to the Memorial of The Five?”
Hail looked confused for a moment before saying, “If I recall correctly, I funded the building of that memorial, yet I had never seen it.”
The president shook her head and said, “That’s not the point, Marshall. You had my pilots land their helicopter in the middle of the Washington Mall which is illegal. Your little stunt was caught on video on a tourist’s cellphone. It made the news, and my administration had to scramble to come up with a plausible explanation for a presidential helicopter landing in the middle of a populated space.”
The president waited for Hail to respond. Hail asked, “And what did you tell them?”
“Since the video ended before you exited the aircraft, we told the press that the helicopter was having a technical problem and needed to set down to sort it out.”
Hail thought that they had provided a great explanation to the public.
Then the president added, “Just so you know, the officers flying the helicopter have been relieved of duty and were dishonorably discharged from the Marines.”
The president’s words hit Hail like a physical punch to his gut.
“That’s not right,” Hail blurted out. “I told them to land the chopper. I pressured them into it.”
“But you see, Marshall. That’s what happens. You push and push and others pay for your actions. You are insulated from all the consequences of your actions. You live on your ships and have safe havens in the poor countries that adore your cheap traveling wave reactors. So, others end up paying for your actions.”
Hail did his best to compose himself, remembering that he was talking to the president of the United States.
He then asked in a calm voice, “Can I please have the names and contact information of those officers?”
Weston was surprised by the question and asked, “Why?”
“Well, if the corps is done with them, then I would like to offer them jobs.”
“And what could military men do for you, Marshall? They fly jets, not drones.”
Hail considered how much he should share with the president, but figured if he didn’t tell her something, he wouldn’t get their names. And those names were important to him because he did pressure those officers to land the chopper in the middle of the Mall so he could see the Memorial of The Five. He could have just allowed them to pick him up at Andrews Air Force base, which for no apparent reason had been renamed Joint Base Andrews. He could have requested the Marine pilots to shuttle him to the White House for his meeting with the president and her staff. Instead, he had selfishly made the officers drop him off next to the new memorial. And that action had apparently cost them their careers and livelihoods; Hail couldn’t accept that. He viewed himself as one of the good guys. He was someone who made people’s lives better. He certainly failed these men, and he fully intended to make it up to them, in whatever capacity he could.
Hail said, “I don’t have many people on my ships who have military backgrounds or experience. At this point, I need their knowledge.” He purposely didn’t disclose why he needed their skillsets, but he hoped his explanation would satisfy the president.
The president ignored Hail’s request and said, “This is what we’ll do, Marshall. I will meet with the CIA, NSA, FBI and General Ford, and we’ll put together another mission for you. Does that sound good?”
Hail smiled and nodded his head. “Yes, that sounds like it would work.”
The president smiled back at Marshall Hail and waited.
Hail volleyed, “What about those officers’ names and contact information?”
The president thought he wore a forced smile. The president just stared at Hail, a wisp of a smile still on her face, but it was fading quickly.
The uncomfortable silence lasted several seconds, until the president said, “OK, have a nice day. Shoo! You can fly away now.”
Hail considered requesting the names again, but it appeared this request was something the president would need to consider. Hail understood that he was not going to get an answer today.
Hail suggested, “Would it be OK if I just flew over there by the door and set down on the ground? I mean, if we’re going to meet soon, then I can just shut the drone down, and when you’re ready to meet, you could just text me.”
“What?” the president asked, not really understanding what Hail was asking.
Hail explained, “I thought it would save me time if I could just park the drone over there, so I didn’t have to fly it out of here and then back again for the meeting.”
“No, Marshall. You can’t just park your drone on White House property.”
“I could just fly it up on the roof if that would work for you? That way, it would be out of the way.”
“That will not work,” the president stated emphatically. “Someone on my staff will e-mail you when the meeting will take place, and then we will conduct our meeting via our encrypted video conference infrastructure. I’m assuming you have the technology aboard your ship to facilitate a video meeting. Thus, there will not be a need to have your drone flying back and forth.”
Hail looked disappointed.
“Are we good with that, Mr. Hail?”
“Marshall,” Hail corrected.
“Are we good with that, Marshall?” the president repeated.
“Well, what type of time frame are we talking about? Later today is good for me,” Hail suggested.
“We will get back to you…when we get back to you,” the president said sternly.
“How about tomorrow? Either that, or I can fly back so we can discuss a time?”
“OK, tomorrow,” the president reluctantly agreed. “Now fly away. Shoo, I have a schedule to keep.”
Hail looked down at something offscreen.
The president assumed Hail was looking down at his flight controls, but nothing happened.
Hail looked upset. He looked back up at Joanna Weston and asked, “You didn’t hit anything with your hand when you were blocking the drone’s signal, did you?”
Hail looked back down and appeared to be pressing buttons and moving controls.
The president looked irritated at the accusation, but she was upset Hail and his drone were still on her table.
“No, I didn’t touch anything on your drone,” she responded derisively.
Hail looked serious, as he diligently tried to get the drone fired up and off the table. “I just don’t know what happened,” he said.
Then a few seconds later, he laughed and said, “Gotcha.”
Even before the words finished leaving his mouth, the drone’s propellers spun up, and the aircraft began to lift off the table.
The president felt like telling Mr. Hail to go to Hell, but twenty seconds later, both the video drone and the falcon flying high above had disappeared.
East China Sea — Aboard the Hail Nucleus
Marshall Hail eased back on his flight control yoke. He wanted to talk with Nolan about the conversation he had with the president. He turned to Alex Knox and asked, “Can you please take over flying Cheap Trick?”
A young man sitting at a flight console on the perimeter of the mission room replied, “No problem, Marshall.”
Hail watched his right monitor until the outside edge of his control icons turned from green to red. A message popped up in the corner of his screen that read, “Cheap Trick has been acquired by Top Gun.” Cheap Trick was the code name for the drone that had been sitting on the table in the White House Rose Garden.