Week 9 - UDC 10 - Washington Shenanigans...

41. Per Se

They were well into hour three of getting the documents in order when Gilbert noticed something across three different pieces of the puzzle and had to stop and look, really look, at them. "Idiopathic heart condition complicated by thrombophlebitis?"

Charlie frowned. "What part of the file is that?"

"Dependent medical records and the autopsy report," Gilbert answered as he read, then shook his head and reached for the phone. "You mind if I call someone? I need a medical opinion."

"Go ahead," she told him and shared glances with Sundown and Chipper, who both shrugged.

Gilbert arranged the two files side by side while he waited for someone on the other end to pick up, then smiled when they did. "Uncle Will? Put Aunt Becca on. I have questions and not enough knowledge. Thank you." A pause, and then he surprised all three of them by holding an entire conversation in rapid-fire Romanian.

Eventually, he hung up and frowned down at the file on the right. "Huh. Not idiopathic, then. Acquired."

"You speak Romanian?" Chipper asked after a long silence.

"Either I learned to speak it, or I'd have gotten lost all the time when Aunt Hazel and Aunt Becca were excited." He glanced up at them, motioned to the files. "It's not important in the scheme of things for what we're doing here, but Aunt Becca thinks that there easily could have been a contributing factor, given that the subject of this file was hospitalized for two weeks in June of '68 with classic symptoms of Toxic Shock Syndrome." Charlie stared at him and he showed her the dependent medical file. "They don't say why or how she came to be in toxic shock, just that she was."

42. Ad Hoc

The Admiral glanced up to find that recent transfer from the Brooklyn Navy Yard at his office door with a blonde woman and two line officers behind her in their summer whites. "Are we conducting tours to my office, Officer Nettleton?"

"No, Sir," Nettleton told him sincerely. "Permission to enter?"

"Granted." They entered and one of the line officers shut the door. "What are we in need of privacy of?"

Officer Nettleton placed a thick folder on his desk with a wince. "This is going to open up a can of worms that the State Department and the CIA are, were, involved in, Sir. I got it organized on behalf of Miss Blackwood, and got access to a few things to answer questions, but I'm a Lieutenant Commander. I can only do so much."

The Admiral opened the packet, read a few pages, blanched, and closed it again. "Oh. That definitely is a can of worms."

"Gilbert said as much," Miss Blackwood said, tone apologetic. "And I'm sorry in advance."

The Admiral looked behind her at the line officers, whom he was just now realizing were wearing aviator and flight officer wings. "How are you two involved in this?"

"We served with Mitchell's son, Sir," one of them responded. "In Miramar."

He nodded and then considered the file. It was a can of worms, all right. One that needed opening.

43. Vice Versa

The CIA Director wanted to ignore the FOIA on his desk and would have, had it not been attached to a trove of other details in the file. He was intrigued by how far-reaching and inclusive the file was, and he didn't often see the after-affect of things in this way. If he ignored it, he could say he never saw it, could save face if anyone actually ventured to ask. It was the political game, after all. But if he didn't, would they be able to absorb what came next? What did come next, in this situation?

Deciding to be a rebel, he called his assistant into his office and handed over the paperwork, a seal of approval on the FOIA request. "And Hayden?"

"Sir?"

"See to this personally."

A pause. "Yes Sir."

44. De Facto

The Secretary of State studied the Freedom of Information Act request for long minutes, wondering why anyone would want to know about an eighteen year old incident involving an AWOL, MIA Naval Aviator with the reputation that this one had, even now in the echoes and the whispers in the halls of power. Why go about it in this way? Unless...

An hour of research later, the Secretary was dumbfounded at what had been sealed by predecessors in the name of the political game in Southeast Asia.

45. Et Cetera

Sitting on the desk of the Secretary of the Navy when he arrived that morning were three files. One from the CIA Director's office, one from the State Department, and the third from the Judge Advocate General's office, which contained more personal information on the subject matter than the first two. All three files were about the same thing, and he frowned in thought before tapping the intercom button to the outer office. "Sandy? Set up a meeting with the President for me."

The President would be intrigued.