Don't own Chuck
-Chuck and Sarah drove up the I-5 south then took the Fresno highway 41. The drive was long and the Ranger Rover wasn't the most comfortable but once they got past Oakhurst the vehicle paid off. Sam sat in the back looking out the window as Mary sat next to her. Sarah kept track of her in the mirror. Chuck looked over and smiled then he placed his hand on baby walnut Sarah smiled back took his hand and kissed it. The drive looking back was the lull before the storm. After Oakhurst they drove straight on to Wawona hotel. There they met the Secret Service people.
"Here we go there's Scott," said Sarah as Chuck pulled in front of the hotel. Sarah's voice revealed the trepidation she had over this mission.
"Everything will be okay, I got your back and a pretty back it is," said Chuck as he got out and opened the door for Sarah.
"We'll see in a bit when I get as big as a barn. I want to see you say that then," said Sarah as Chuck got his mother then got Sam out.
"You two go ahead the weather's a bit nippy I want to put a jacket on Sam," said Chuck. Sarah didn't argue she had to face her fears and besides she could just shoot him so while Chuck got Sam ready Sarah went up to meet Scott with Mary.
"What did you do bring your whole family to work this morning? My God they start you guys out young," said Scott looking back at Sam. "You know this is work not playschool. This is no place for a kid."
"You take care of yours and let me worry about my daughter. This is my mother-in-law, Agent Mary Bartowski," said Sarah. "Mary this is Scott Burns."
"She failed to say we used to work together when she was with us. Scott Burns," he said as Mary shook it. "Agent? You're whole family is in the CIA? How'd that happen?"
"That's above your paygrade. Where's Dan at? I expected more security here. We just drove up and no one stopped us for an I.D. check."
"We've got cameras and facial recognition up. This is supposed to be a vacation for POTUS so the security has to reflect it. When he choppers in guard posts will be set up. Dan took off for the meet and greet at the airport. We don't need you here so you can go on up to the Ahwahnee hotel and wait for the foreign Presidents to arrive..." Scott started to say as Chuck walked up to him.
"Mom take Sam inside I think she needs to go. We'll be right in after we get done here. Why don't you go to the restaurant and check out the menu," said Chuck as he passed Sam to Mary.
"Come on with your Nana and see if we can find what we need to find. I wonder if they have ice cream."
"Me too," said Sam as she went with her. "I wonder if baby Walnut likes Rocky Road?" Sarah gave Chuck a look and he shrugged his shoulders.
"Chuck, Scott was just telling me we don't need to stay here and that we should go on up to the Ahwahnee hotel," said Sarah. "But I was about to tell him we need to stretch our legs first."
"But I thought the itinerary said we were all supposed to meet here then go to our designated locations. Has that been changed? You could've sent me the change via e-mail."
"Well, I just think with everyone you brought it would probably look better if you'd just go on. POTUS will be bringing his official staff and well you're team if that's what you call it doesn't look that official."
"Excuse me, isn't this supposed to be a secret meeting and the cover is he's supposed to be here on vacation? I don't know but to me what you described doesn't sound like a vacation and any journalist worth their salt won't buy it as much of a vacation either."
"All I'm say is I don't think Dan will be happy," said Scott. "He's meeting all the Presidents then leading the motorcade here. The plan is our President choppers in here as a motorcade takes the foreign heads of state on to Ahwahnee where they will lodge together to give them plenty of opportunity to hammer out a peaceful solution..."
"As long as they don't take that hammer to each other," said Chuck thinking the whole idea was kind of stupid.
"That may be but the talks start tomorrow at White Wolf Lodge. The plan is to run through the day there then return to the hotel for lunch then meet again until we break in the evening."
"Well, I could really care less about what Dan thinks. Right now Scott this is the Carmichael game plan. We're going inside go to the restaurant look at the menu and grab something to eat. Hopefully my mother hasn't ruined my daughter's appetite with ice cream. Then once we've eaten we're going to look around a bit then head out to Ahwahnee by then our colleagues should be here. You can tell Dan when you see him if we don't see him before we leave that we'll be waiting to hear what he wants us to do and any further changes to the itinerary send them in writing. I'd hate for there to be any misunderstandings."
"We'd hate that too. Well according to the schedule you can do whatever you want today. We really won't need you until tomorrow morning when the first talks begin. I'm afraid we were tight on space so we only booked you one double room."
"I'm sure you are but we'll make do. Now if you don't mind," said Chuck. He put out his arm then took Sarah inside.
"Do you believe what he said about the room?
"Not a word, do you know there are one hundred twenty-three rooms at the Ahwahnee and when Hannah called last night they had plenty. I had her booked us four under Carmichael Industries."
"So the SOB lied to us. You should've told him Chuck. I so want to knock him off his high horse you can't imagine."
"I know you do but he'll just blame it on a secretary who made a mistake. The man never talks in the first person he's always saying 'we' or 'he or she said' so he never risks getting his hand smacked. He almost did it when he tried to get rid of us quickly ducking behind Dan."
"The man is a slimy scumbag and one of these days he's going to get his. I just hope I'm there to see it."
"That goes without saying but he's clever. Don't think yours isn't the first career he's ruined. I have a feeling if we look at his career progression in the Secret Service it was paved over the graves of other better agents. But we're not here for him."
"I know you don't need to remind me. It's just when I see him smiling at me I want to punch him in the face."
"Who knows you might just get your chance before we're done here. The restaurant is over there are you up to eating something? I really only want a cup of coffee I'm not that hungry but I wasn't going to let Scott know that."
"The idea of the ice cream sounded appealing and as far as I can tell at this stage Walnut likes Rocky Road. Chuck, we've got to come up with another name. Walnut isn't the size of a walnut anymore and no before you say anything about watermelon."
"How about cantaloupe," he said as he held and kissed her.
"I hate you sometimes but right now I love you," she said as she kissed him back. "It's a good thing you're holding me because otherwise I might have to punch you."
"Then I shouldn't let you go."
"Never let me go."
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The Presidents landed in LAX and there was a little ceremony at the airport where the three Presidents shook hands. There were a lot of smiles for the cameras then the U.S. President showed the two visiting Presidents how to putt. However, this time he wasn't taking any chances missing. The ball had a metal plate embedded in it and in the bottom of the cup was a magnet so all he needed to do was to get the ball close.
"I'm flying up by Air Force chopper maybe you two would like to come along with me? President Chien, President Shinagawa the choice is up to you but it's a long drive and we knock a few balls around the green while we wait for everyone else to arrive."
"No, I need to stay with my people. What kind of leader abandons his comrades to the temptations of American capitalism to play an elitist sport," said the Chinese president. The U.S. President tried to play it off but he thought Chien was more than a little rude.
"If my esteemed colleague doesn't want to fly then neither do I. I do appreciate your kind offer but the trip up will allow us to work out any last minute kinks." With that the presidents shook hands then boarded. The U.S. President left by helicopter. He was quiet until they took off and started heading north.
"What was all that political propaganda back there," asked the President as they took to the air but the Secret Service Chief just shrugged his shoulders. "I was just trying to be nice and I get that load of crap thrown at me."
"I guess that's the way they were brought up over there. Sir you do have to admit that with the Green fees and country clubs... well, golf isn't a poor man's sport."
"Remember when I told you I didn't need you to always be my 'yes' man well now isn't the time to change."
"Sir, I'm afraid you put President Chien in an embarrassing situation," said General Beckman sitting across with the Secretary of State and his Chief of Staff. "What you just said isn't what happened. President Chien was involved in assassination attempt. Members of his own party downed his helicopter with his family on board. Some sources say that was the end of his marriage. You see his wife never fully recovered and although on paper he's divorced she's been a patient in a psychiatric hospital since. There was severe brain damage and since then the man has never set foot in a helicopter."
"That bit of trivia would've been nice to know before I stuck my foot in my mouth. Why wasn't I told? We had time to put the magic act together but no one briefed me on what was important?"
"Sir that was in my briefing notes that I sent up the chain and I would've stopped you had I been there but your people told me I was to stay on the bird."
"We didn't want to send the wrong message," said the Secretary of State, "and talking with Jim and Bob well we decided..."
"Well I think we just did, don't you and the message reads I'm an idiot. Or was that the intended message? Because if that was well... then you succeeded quite well."
"No sir of course not, we'd never want to do that... well I think President Chien didn't think anything about it."
"I hope not the last thing we need is for us to offend him. I just hope I was the only one who got embarrassed. I wouldn't want to offend either one of them not now that we need them to work together. They can get mad at me but I need them to work together. Their daughters seemed awfully friendly for two people who just met." The General noticed that too and as soon a she could she wanted to give the team a head's up.
Back in the motorcade heading north on the I-5 South…..
The Japanese President was talking to his aid about the scene at the airport while his daughter was sitting in the back looking at her watch. Daichi caught her and gave her a look but she shook her head no. They were halfway to Fresno now and Shinagawa was still going on about Chien.
"I swear, why couldn't he just come out and say he was afraid to ride in the helicopter instead of reciting party line. I hope this isn't a prelude to what we have to expect for these negotiations. If so we aren't going to get very far."
"Father, maybe it was just too painful for him to talk about it. The same way it is for you when I ask you about Mom. In a certain sense he lost his wife in that accident the way you lost mom to her disease."
"Did we pick up a stranger at the airport and leave my Aiko, because the person speaking in the back doesn't sound like her. Since when did you start following the world of politics? I thought you told me you hated it…"
"I haven't changed my mind about it but that doesn't mean I can't read. Aren't you the one who told me ignorance and wisdom seldom go hand in hand," said Aiko as she looked at her watch. It was time to change the topic. "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm getting hungry. Can we radio and ask them to pull over. We could try something American since we're here."
Just then they received a radio call from the lead vehicle telling them the Chinese wanted to pull over to grab something to eat and if they agreed.
"Answer them okay," said Shinagawa. "Aiko seems you're also telepathic. You know more about this place then I do is there some place you'd like to try?"
"There is a place called In-N-Out that I've heard about from some friends on Facebook. They told me that if I got the chance I should try it. They are supposed to have great strawberry milkshakes."
"You know strawberry is my favorite. So you and your friends on Facebook hum... I swear one of these days I'm going to want to see who these people are you spend so much time chatting to. We used to talk to people back in my backs and you saw the person in front of you."
"And you used to walk to school in the snow up hill both ways. You didn't have e-mail you had hammers and chisels."
"Funny, very funny, but after the war my father had nothing and everything we have he and I built. That's why we're here so that you and your Facebook friends never have to experience that."
"Sir the Chinese President proposed In-N-Out too so that's where we'll be stopping," said the man riding shotgun.
"Strange that he should suggest the same place you wanted. I wonder if his daughter doesn't have the same friends as you on Facebook.
"I guess it's possible or it could be like you said before that I'm telepathic."
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After having an expensive lunch Chuck and Sarah walked around with Sam. It was just a little past noon and it just seemed like it wasn't going to warm up. They made a quick check of the perimeter but everything seemed okay. Chuck was looking in particular for the man they had a visual confirmation on from the pier but there didn't seem to be anyone suspicious so they decided to move on. Chuck told Scott they were going after he got everyone loaded.
"Tell Dan when you talk to him that if he needs us we'll be at the Ahwahnee," said Chuck. "I expect to hear from him this evening."
"The Chief is coming or that's the latest word I got. He's supposed to be on the chopper with the President along with your General. Dan is riding in the motorcade with the Presidents. The last word I got from them was they stopped for a bite to eat at an In-N-Out around Fresno."
"Someone knows their hamburgers. I'd like to see the two presidents eating animal style fries with their fingers. This has got to be someone's idea of a practical joke."
Chuck went back to the Ranger Rover laughing and told them what he found out. They all laughed except for Sam who wasn't sure why everyone was laughing over eating with your hand. Then they pulled out and proceeded up Wawona Road to Yosemite Valley. As soon as he pulled out of the Wawona hotel parking lot his phone rang. It was Morgan so he put it on speaker so he could drive.
"Morgan, I'm glad you called. I've got you on speaker we were wondering where you guys were. You ought to almost be here by now."
"Yes we should be but we're not," said Casey. "Someone just can't get his act together in the morning. I swear Morgan, one of these days Houston will be tracking you after I launch you into outer space."
"Dad, I told you he had a good reason today," said Alex. "Chuck, Morgan saw something on television this morning. And contrary to popular opinion it wasn't Sesame Street..."
"I was just making a point," added Casey. "But come to think about it Trolls should be at home in trash cans."
"Okay guys," said Sarah trying to call everyone to order. "We hear you but where are you at and what did Morgan see on TV."
"We're on the forty-one just past Oakhurst almost entering the park," said Casey, "which means it will be about another two before we're there and set up."
"Okay we're going to the hotel then we'll meet you when you get here. I'll help you set up and hopefully by then maybe we'll have a clearer picture about what's going on. Morgan, now what did you see on TV?"
"Jason Wang, Dude, I saw Jason Wang on TV. Can you believe that? He was at some fancy car show they held down on Rodeo drive at one of those ritzy auto salons as they're called. But they're just used cars why anyone would want to spend that much money for a used car..."
"Like a Delorean DMC-12 or a 1969 Dodge Charger hey Morgan and didn't you and Anna have a big fight over the Delorean?"
"That was different," said Morgan as he tried to change the topic. "Anyway I thought Wang was supposed to be in prison."
"I did too little buddy. Did anyone check his criminal record to see why he's out walking around and not still locked up?"
"Because someone was late and we had to get on the road," said Casey. Chuck could hear him grunt through his phone.
"I go this," said Sarah as she took out her tablet logged into the CIA deep data base. "Hum seems Jason Wang was released when an officer of the court came forward and testified that Wang was working for him as an undercover informant. The courts immediately released him and he left the country."
"It looks like he's back in country and here now. It kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it? I wonder if Anna knows."
"I don't know Sweetie but remember that officer of the court do you want to guess who it was. You'll never get it in a million years."
"Do we know him or her?" asked Chuck and Sarah nodded her head. "Well it wasn't any of us, right or did someone forge my signature?"
"No you're cold but yes we know him or I should say I know what a big jerk he is. Now I understand a little more about why they did what they did to me. It was an agent Scott Burns. The man is crooked and slimy."
"We don't know that for sure although it would make putting his pants on easier. Listen, for all we know Jason might have been his informant so we keep this intel to ourselves for the time being. Right now we need to look around the Ahwahnee for Yu Dung then the rest of his hit team. Casey, call us when you get to Yosemite Valley."
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Wei and Hito sat in a camper in the North Pines camp grounds. They hovered over a map in the center of the table ticking off all the locations where they planted people. Now after everyone was in place they just needed Big Brother to call with the final go ahead. Then as they were talking Wei's phone rang it was him, Kyodai-the Big Brother.
"It's him," said Wei as he put the call on speaker. "Hito is here with me. We're just waiting for you everything in place we just need for our two targets to arrive then we can move."
"Roger that, word has it they'll be at your location soon so I want you to be ready. I should be there momentarily. Once I'm in I can give you the final briefing then we can grab our targets and run. This treaty will never be signed and we'll be very wealthy people."
"We like the sound of that. Do you want us to send anyone to meet you and escort you in? Those Lotuses are out there somewhere?"
"No too many people would put me in the eye. No, it's best if I come alone. I'm driving in on the forty-one around Fish Camp just make sure everything is ready by the time I get there. When I say jump we need to jump. If you don't have any further questions, I'll see you soon."
With that Jason hung up and continued driving, smiling and singing. If what he'd just set in motion succeeded nothing would stand in his way.
Not far away from North Pines camping two girls sat in a steamed up car with a receiver for a GLG-20. They listened in on the phone conversation between Jason and his two cohorts.
"Anna you look strange, you know if you want to sit this one out I can understand. You heard him he's coming alone so this will be a piece of cake. I can take him then question him. You don't have to be there if you don't want to be."
"No that's not it I don't know. He's been elusive since he got here then he accidently gets caught on TV then he calls the camper and they put him on speaker where anyone could listen in. Tell me I'm just being paranoid."
"You're just being paranoid. We could ask Chuck to come along if that would make you feel better."
"No... No, you're right we can do this on our own."
