West Wing: -- Sam's Secret pt 3
Danny walked into CJ's office. The smell of a story surrounding Sam had tickled his senses. CJ finished filing before turning around to acknowledge Danny, her lips curled slightly downwards in an impatient frown.
"So still nothing about Sam huh?" Danny asked, "There is something funny going on here and I'll find out what it is."
"Give it a rest Danny. Can't a guy take a holiday without having the press breathing down our necks."
Before Danny could reply, Josh and Leo joined them in CJ's office. She was happy to have someone there so that Danny would stop questioning her about Sam.
"CJ the President wants to see us in the Oval Office right away." Leo said.
CJ and Leo left the office but Danny managed to block Josh from leaving with the others. He knew that it would be easier to pump Josh for some information. After all it had been easy to do that the couple of times that Josh had taken control over the Pressroom.
"So what's with the sudden holiday for Sam." Danny decided to start off easy.
"I can't answer that Danny." Josh said, "No comment. Now excuse me I have to see the President."
It had been two and a half weeks since Sam's sudden leave of absence. And had yet to hear a word from him. Toby joined Josh, Leo and CJ in the hallway leading into the Oval Office. Neither of them knew the reason for this summoning and with their work seemingly piling up each day they were not entirely sure that this would have been necessary.
"Thanks for coming." Bartlett said from the couch he was sitting on he stood up, "We've received our first card from Sam."
Everyone waited in anticipation as Bartlett put on his glasses before reading.
"Hello to everyone. I hope this finds you well. I am having a great time in Bali. You'd never believe how good the Nightspots here are. I'll write again soon. PS: Leo kiss Mallory for me." Bartlett read on, "The scenic views make a huge difference from Washington. Have fun you lot and I'll write soon."
Leo smiled. Bartlett thought that the Postcard would take their minds of Sam for the time being. So far everything was working well for the Project and only a select few knew about the operation.
Sam was still bothered by the desert heat. He checked his watch again and he looked down the road as his Border ride was due any minute. There were three marines with him that had successfully posed as part of the weapons inspector team. The thought of this still made his stomach turn, it was hard to figure out how this was going to work out. The Iraq agreement of having some unsupervised inspections made it seem easy. A truck pulled up to one of the quiet streets of Ar Rutbah.
"How far can a zebra run?" The driver said giving the identification code.
"Depends on how fast a zebra can run in the desert." Sam said.
The man reached over the passenger seat and unlocked the door, "Get in." Sam obeyed without thinking twice, "You realise how dangerous this is for me."
Sam nodded, "And you're doing a great service."
The three marines stepped into the back. To avoid suspicion the truck pulled away slowly till the outskirts of town. Then the driver put his foot on the accelerator. Many times Sam checked the passenger side mirror to see if any vehicles following He still couldn't relax even though there was nothing behind them.
With the vast featureless desert landscape it almost seemed like they weren't moving that fast at all. But the speedometer pointed to well into the red. The ride felt rough and they were constantly.
Danny sat in CJ's office. He knew that her break would be ending soon and with Josh's response to his question about Sam he wanted to seek CJ's reaction to it. The desk in the office was cluttered with papers and folders. This made him almost feel sorry for her and it was obvious that to Danny that the workload had increased and in his notebook he had jotted that the main staff was being worked harder, maybe to get their mind occupied. Danny's leg hit the table leg as he moved and some of the papers on the desk slid off the table and landed messily on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Came a familiar impatient voice.
CJ walked in on Danny who was on the floor tidying up the papers and placing them on the desk.
"Oh CJ. I accidentally knocked off the papers on your desk."
"Danny, tell me you weren't snooping." CJ looked cross.
"I wasn't CJ, I wouldn't do that." Danny replied flatly, "Anyway I've come for a reason. Josh, when I asked him about Sam's holiday he said he couldn't comment."
CJ cringed at the thought of Josh near a reporter, "Well we've been teaching Josh on how to handle reporters. He's still learning. Now what'll it take to get you off our backs?"
"A date with me CJ and I'll do anything you ask." Danny smiled.
CJ rolled her eyes, "Danny I'm not that desperate." She said.
"I think you are." Danny said.
"Get out of my office Danny."
Bartlett crawled out of his bed slowly as to not disturb his wife Abigail. That was to no avail, she was disturbed as soon as he moved. Abigail sat on the edge of the bed still wrapped in the blanket.
"Honey what's wrong?" She said. It was always obvious to her when something was bothering him. She took an educated guess, "Is it Sam?" Jed's silence answered the question for her, "Don't look surprised. What's going on?"
"Sam's been sent away and I don't know if he's ok or not." Bartlett said.
"And the others don't know?" Abigail observed, "You can trust them Jed."
"It's not that. Or maybe it is. But the less people to know the better."
"My God." Abigail said smiling, "You really care for him don't you?"
Bartlett stretched before going back to bed and held her tightly, "He's like the son I never had. And now when I think about it, I may have made the wrong decision."
Abigail hugged him back and kissed him on the neck, "I'm sure you did the right thing honey. I'm positive you did."
Sam and his team had just crossed the borders. Fortunately a small border patrol had been occupied with group of natives who were causing a disturbance with some sought of demonstration over something. He guessed that perhaps the hard part of the journey was over.
At Tanf was their next destination, it was there that Sam would call the person who he had all his prepared speeches for the Pentagon. Then from At Tanf they were to drive south almost parallel with the Syria, Jordan borders. That also seemed almost dangerous but it was the easiest route for them to take.
The Secretary of Defence pulled the speech out from a fax machine before entering the Pentagon pressroom. First he scanned it, memorising key points. He walked to the end of the podium just in front of the Pentagon picture on the back curtain. A few camera flashes went off before he had a chance to begin.
"Ladies and Gentleman of the press core. I first of would like to thank you for showing up to this hastily prepared report." He cleared his throat, "If you can just bare with me please. There are times in every administration when they have to stick their best foot forward and other times they just have to rush head on. Trying to prevent terrorism is not an easy matter the road is rough. But the goal in the end must be reached and in the end it will be reached. On the road to this goal are others that must be reached. Some have and some haven't, we've already reached one of those goals by putting our best foot forward and shown that we will not stand down. The main goal even at a distance is still the focus. People of America, you've seen the best and you've seen the worst. It's time for the best again. Thank you."
The Secretary of Defence nodded and smiled as he left the Briefing room.
Bartlett was watching the television in his private study as the Secretary of Defence read that report. He breathed with release and took another drink of water that report had told him that so far Sam was safe and where he was suppose to be. Bartlett switched off the television since lunch was almost upon him.
Mrs Landingham noticed the smile on the President as soon as he walked out of the Oval Office.
"Good news Mister President sir?" She asked.
"Yes Mrs Landingham. You know what? I think I deserve a cookie." Bartlett said.
"No sir. Whatever you've done, I haven't heard about it." She replied.
"Oh come on. Just one."
"Enjoy your lunch Mister President."
Next chapter: The President's in a good mood. Something terrible happens which causes all the senior staff to put things into perspective. Stay tuned for "Lives Twist"
Danny walked into CJ's office. The smell of a story surrounding Sam had tickled his senses. CJ finished filing before turning around to acknowledge Danny, her lips curled slightly downwards in an impatient frown.
"So still nothing about Sam huh?" Danny asked, "There is something funny going on here and I'll find out what it is."
"Give it a rest Danny. Can't a guy take a holiday without having the press breathing down our necks."
Before Danny could reply, Josh and Leo joined them in CJ's office. She was happy to have someone there so that Danny would stop questioning her about Sam.
"CJ the President wants to see us in the Oval Office right away." Leo said.
CJ and Leo left the office but Danny managed to block Josh from leaving with the others. He knew that it would be easier to pump Josh for some information. After all it had been easy to do that the couple of times that Josh had taken control over the Pressroom.
"So what's with the sudden holiday for Sam." Danny decided to start off easy.
"I can't answer that Danny." Josh said, "No comment. Now excuse me I have to see the President."
It had been two and a half weeks since Sam's sudden leave of absence. And had yet to hear a word from him. Toby joined Josh, Leo and CJ in the hallway leading into the Oval Office. Neither of them knew the reason for this summoning and with their work seemingly piling up each day they were not entirely sure that this would have been necessary.
"Thanks for coming." Bartlett said from the couch he was sitting on he stood up, "We've received our first card from Sam."
Everyone waited in anticipation as Bartlett put on his glasses before reading.
"Hello to everyone. I hope this finds you well. I am having a great time in Bali. You'd never believe how good the Nightspots here are. I'll write again soon. PS: Leo kiss Mallory for me." Bartlett read on, "The scenic views make a huge difference from Washington. Have fun you lot and I'll write soon."
Leo smiled. Bartlett thought that the Postcard would take their minds of Sam for the time being. So far everything was working well for the Project and only a select few knew about the operation.
Sam was still bothered by the desert heat. He checked his watch again and he looked down the road as his Border ride was due any minute. There were three marines with him that had successfully posed as part of the weapons inspector team. The thought of this still made his stomach turn, it was hard to figure out how this was going to work out. The Iraq agreement of having some unsupervised inspections made it seem easy. A truck pulled up to one of the quiet streets of Ar Rutbah.
"How far can a zebra run?" The driver said giving the identification code.
"Depends on how fast a zebra can run in the desert." Sam said.
The man reached over the passenger seat and unlocked the door, "Get in." Sam obeyed without thinking twice, "You realise how dangerous this is for me."
Sam nodded, "And you're doing a great service."
The three marines stepped into the back. To avoid suspicion the truck pulled away slowly till the outskirts of town. Then the driver put his foot on the accelerator. Many times Sam checked the passenger side mirror to see if any vehicles following He still couldn't relax even though there was nothing behind them.
With the vast featureless desert landscape it almost seemed like they weren't moving that fast at all. But the speedometer pointed to well into the red. The ride felt rough and they were constantly.
Danny sat in CJ's office. He knew that her break would be ending soon and with Josh's response to his question about Sam he wanted to seek CJ's reaction to it. The desk in the office was cluttered with papers and folders. This made him almost feel sorry for her and it was obvious that to Danny that the workload had increased and in his notebook he had jotted that the main staff was being worked harder, maybe to get their mind occupied. Danny's leg hit the table leg as he moved and some of the papers on the desk slid off the table and landed messily on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Came a familiar impatient voice.
CJ walked in on Danny who was on the floor tidying up the papers and placing them on the desk.
"Oh CJ. I accidentally knocked off the papers on your desk."
"Danny, tell me you weren't snooping." CJ looked cross.
"I wasn't CJ, I wouldn't do that." Danny replied flatly, "Anyway I've come for a reason. Josh, when I asked him about Sam's holiday he said he couldn't comment."
CJ cringed at the thought of Josh near a reporter, "Well we've been teaching Josh on how to handle reporters. He's still learning. Now what'll it take to get you off our backs?"
"A date with me CJ and I'll do anything you ask." Danny smiled.
CJ rolled her eyes, "Danny I'm not that desperate." She said.
"I think you are." Danny said.
"Get out of my office Danny."
Bartlett crawled out of his bed slowly as to not disturb his wife Abigail. That was to no avail, she was disturbed as soon as he moved. Abigail sat on the edge of the bed still wrapped in the blanket.
"Honey what's wrong?" She said. It was always obvious to her when something was bothering him. She took an educated guess, "Is it Sam?" Jed's silence answered the question for her, "Don't look surprised. What's going on?"
"Sam's been sent away and I don't know if he's ok or not." Bartlett said.
"And the others don't know?" Abigail observed, "You can trust them Jed."
"It's not that. Or maybe it is. But the less people to know the better."
"My God." Abigail said smiling, "You really care for him don't you?"
Bartlett stretched before going back to bed and held her tightly, "He's like the son I never had. And now when I think about it, I may have made the wrong decision."
Abigail hugged him back and kissed him on the neck, "I'm sure you did the right thing honey. I'm positive you did."
Sam and his team had just crossed the borders. Fortunately a small border patrol had been occupied with group of natives who were causing a disturbance with some sought of demonstration over something. He guessed that perhaps the hard part of the journey was over.
At Tanf was their next destination, it was there that Sam would call the person who he had all his prepared speeches for the Pentagon. Then from At Tanf they were to drive south almost parallel with the Syria, Jordan borders. That also seemed almost dangerous but it was the easiest route for them to take.
The Secretary of Defence pulled the speech out from a fax machine before entering the Pentagon pressroom. First he scanned it, memorising key points. He walked to the end of the podium just in front of the Pentagon picture on the back curtain. A few camera flashes went off before he had a chance to begin.
"Ladies and Gentleman of the press core. I first of would like to thank you for showing up to this hastily prepared report." He cleared his throat, "If you can just bare with me please. There are times in every administration when they have to stick their best foot forward and other times they just have to rush head on. Trying to prevent terrorism is not an easy matter the road is rough. But the goal in the end must be reached and in the end it will be reached. On the road to this goal are others that must be reached. Some have and some haven't, we've already reached one of those goals by putting our best foot forward and shown that we will not stand down. The main goal even at a distance is still the focus. People of America, you've seen the best and you've seen the worst. It's time for the best again. Thank you."
The Secretary of Defence nodded and smiled as he left the Briefing room.
Bartlett was watching the television in his private study as the Secretary of Defence read that report. He breathed with release and took another drink of water that report had told him that so far Sam was safe and where he was suppose to be. Bartlett switched off the television since lunch was almost upon him.
Mrs Landingham noticed the smile on the President as soon as he walked out of the Oval Office.
"Good news Mister President sir?" She asked.
"Yes Mrs Landingham. You know what? I think I deserve a cookie." Bartlett said.
"No sir. Whatever you've done, I haven't heard about it." She replied.
"Oh come on. Just one."
"Enjoy your lunch Mister President."
Next chapter: The President's in a good mood. Something terrible happens which causes all the senior staff to put things into perspective. Stay tuned for "Lives Twist"
