Perspectives: Continuity: 365 part 2 (Second Edition)
*See Authors notes in 365 part 1
*I personally don't speak Yiddish and got words and phrases off of a Yiddish dictionary website I found at
**** Continuity Chapter 2 ***
*** 365 Part 2 ***
December 21, 2007 11:35 AM EST Grand Wailea Resort, Wailea Beach Maui, Hawaii
Seeing as it wasn't even 7 AM local time it shouldn't have been a shock that most of the people milling around the main lobby area of the Grand Wailea had not heard the news of the attacks yet, and even if they had the sight in front of them still would have caused a shocked alertness. No less than 6 police cars, the local police's mobile command center, 3 Navy APCs and nearly a dozen other military communications and command vehicles enveloping the entire front parking area with dozens of heavily armed Marines and Navel troops storming into the lobby or setting up an outer parameter, barricading entrance blocking access from the main road.
"What is the meaning of this, this is private property, you people can't just come in here and invade us like this." Said the senior desk supervisor who had obviously not been listening to the news during her either of the two shifts she had pulled that day. As far as she knew it was a long but otherwise perfectly normal Friday morning and she had another hour and a half till she could go home and forget about all of the rude guests she had had to deal with that night.
"Mam," a weathered looking man in a dress uniform that established him to be an admiral said as he made his way to the front desk, "I take it by your tone you are not aware of what has been happening to our country for the last couple of hours. And since I doubt you'd believe me if I simply told you we were under attack I suggest you turn on a TV and see for your self."
One of the staffers who had heard this ran in to the bar that made up the center of the lobby and turned on one of the televisions which were always tuned in to one of the sports channels. "Fox News can now confirm with the latest bombings of the Luxor Resort and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada and Nathan Eckstein Middle School in Seattle Washington the total number of attacks has reached 137 in less than two hours."
He turned another one on and tuned it to a local channel which was running a feed of fire fighters trying to control the fire of the blazing terminal of Honolulu International Airport in the lower left hand quarter of the screen while the rest of the picture was off of another national news network, "MSNBC has just obtained video footage of the swearing in of now President Berryhill before he was whisked on to his plane where he will remain for several more hours until we are sure the bombings are stopped for those of you just joining our coverage President Russell has been assassinated in the explosion of the mortar attack on the white house earlier this morning that was the first of many devastating attacks on our country this morning."
Tuning another set to CNN showed an elderly bearded man with anger and sadness in his eyes, "The Sultan of Quamar has joined ranks with many of the world leaders in publicly denouncing the attacks on all of his nations national television and radio stations and has vowed to put any an all resources of his nation at the disposal of President Berryhill in bringing about swift and merciless justice to anyone who has even assisted those who have brought about this mornings attacks. We now have reports of bombings in every state including Hawaii and Alaska as well as the US protectorate states of Porto Rico and Guam."
When she could finally bring herself to speak she managed to squeak out, "Are we a target is that why you're here?"
"To be honest with you Mam we just don't know all of what's been targeted or why, but I'm sure your guests will be glad to know that as long as we're here this will be one of the most secure places on the island and we will be here at least until we collect a few of your guests and decide what to do next. Which brings me to my point, you have a couple of guests here Josh & Donna Lyman, I need to know where they are right now also I need for your manager and the head of security to meet with this gentleman to my left we can make this a lot easier on all of us and help us avoid causing any undue stress to any of your guests."
"Admiral!" shouted a young officer who was scanning at a page of photos and pointing at a younger elderly lady in a one-piece swimsuit under a black silk wrap and robe. Her hands were full with a large beach bag and a smiling toddler who was wearing her own swimsuit and a pair of brightly colored water wings who had just stepped off the elevator.
The admiral quickly made his way over to the woman who in turn was surveying the less than festive spectacle that had taken over the well decorated lobby. "Are you Adriana Lyman?"
"Yes I am admiral," she replied coolly, she had suspicions about how this man recognized her by sight and knew her name, none of them pleasant, "May I ask what it is I can do for you?"
"Can you show me some I.D. please we need to verify it is you. Also I was instructed to ask you how your thanksgiving diner went."
Ah, Leo had something to do with all this. Adriana relaxed as she handed Sarah off to one of the admiral's aides and reached into her bag to get out her drivers license. She didn't know what was going on yet or how bad things were to bring about the current show of force, but she knew some one was looking out for their interests as long as Leo was involved. "Here you go admiral, and you can tell Leo McGarry for me that if he thinks I am ever going to try and eat another burnt bird, because he puts Margaret in charge of another holiday meal he is sadly mistaken. And when I next come out to Chicago I am collecting that diner at Bergof's he bribed us with to be quiet about it."
"Thank You mam, first I must ask you if you know where your son and daughter in law are."
"They went for a pre dawn snorkel off of the beach here. They left with a dive master from the hotel they have an office down by the lower pool and could probably tell you exactly where they were going. May I ask what this is about?"
One of the admiral's aides took off running for the pool followed by 2 marines. "Mam, My name is Admiral Grey and as you probably have guessed Leo McGarry insisted that we made sure you and your family were safe and secure. President Berryhill has dispatched a plane with his aide to collect you and your family. I'm the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Allied Forces and I'm not even privy to why the additional security. I'm not aware of what your clearance level is, but I assure you someone will fill you in on all you need to know. I can only assure you that while you are with us you and your family will be as safe as we can make you. Now if you would like to come with me my men are under instructions to patch you through directly to Mr. McGarry aboard Air Force One as soon as we found you."
"Wait a minute first of all you mean Vice President Berryhill and Leo McGarry has advanced liver cancer what is he doing out of bed, much less Air Force One?"
"Mam I'm sure he can explain in greater detail but it is now President Berryhill and Leo McGarry is a trusted advisor and old friend of the President's. He is currently offering his council and assistance to the President in handling the current crisis."
"What's going on? What happened to President Russell? My son hasn't worked for the white house for several months. What does this have to do with him? I don't think he is going to be to happy to be called back."
"Mam, the country is under attack by an unknown entity, and President Russell was one of the first casualties. As far as your son, he is a brilliant man who has facilitated the successful resolution to many problems for his country and is a valuable asset. We are here to ensure is protected from harm and facilitate a dialogue between him and the President. If he decides to participate in this administration's efforts to restore the government and the country as a whole recover, then we are to offer any assistance we can. But here is Mr. McGarry. I think he can explain all of this better."
"Don't let my son hear you call him brilliant, sailor." She said to the Admiral as she took the handset from the communications operator. "Hello? Leo?" Adriana said in to the handset of the secure satellite phone, keeping a watchful eye on the group of troops who had apparently been assigned to her granddaughter as a few of them started playing an impromptu game of tag with her, while others had formed perimeter around the game looking out for possible threats. In a way it was a blessing that Sarah spent so much time at the white house. To her it was no big deal to be surrounded by soldiers she was used to having big playmates in camouflage. She didn't see that something was terribly wrong.
"Bess is that you?" came a tired voice that was almost impossible to place with Leo McGarry unless you had been keeping pretty close tabs on his decline like she had. He called her Bess a pet name that came about after one to many bridge games ending with her and Noah soundly beating Leo and Jenny. Noah had once quipped don't mess with my wife she's as strong as Bess Truman and twice as smart. Some how the nick name stuck with the old friends and Leo and Jenny still called her Bess when it was just them and they were being casual.
"Rex you old dog you, I here you're flying in some of your old circles again. Care to explain yourself." Joanie went through a phase when she was five where she desperately wanted a puppy, when she heard Noah to his friend Mr. McGarry as Leo, she remarked that Leo would be an excellent name for a puppy, but then again so would Rex. Thus giving birth to the nickname Leo bore in equally casual situations. This not being one of those situations but she figured that either Leo was trying to make sure it was really her or that the pain was making it difficult to speak. Either way it was a good idea to humor him and it was a family tradition to keep a sense of wit and humor in even the heaviest of conversations.
"Chris was visiting me when the attacks started they went for him and Bob first off. Chris is keeping me around as a sounding board until reinforcements show up. Most of his staff was taken out when they bombed his hotel. Bess I don't know what you've heard but its bad 143 bombings on United States soil, another 26 attempts have been stopped before they were able to pull them off. Key positions like the FBI headquarters and the Pentagon have been badly damaged. Bob Russell was killed when a mortar hit the white house. If it weren't for Chris making an unscheduled trip this morning you would have had to go down 8 places in the line of secession to find the next survivor. They're hitting airports, schools, hotels, bridges, power plants; they even hit a couple of prisons. They have good intel and they know how to hurt us. Our best guess is we haven't seen any where near the end of the violence today."
"What does all this have to do with me? Is Josh a target?"
"Better than even money says he is… Bess they hit the farm in Manchester half an hour ago. Thankfully Abby had already reported to her hospital to handle any additional emergencies that came in. But Jed… Jed is in critical condition. They don't think it's likely he'll make it through the day. My house was hit 45 minutes ago, minutes after the secret service got us out of there. Epcot center was hit earlier today. That's where the Zeiglers were scheduled to be this morning, and we still haven't been able to reach them. Somebody is trying to cripple us today and we can't just sit by and let this happen. We have to come back strong and show the world that America can't by a couple of thugs with big toys."
"Oh my god! Leo… Leo you're going to try and bring him back in, aren't you?"
"We need him Bess. The country needs someone like him at the helm. I can't be there for this one Bess, and Andrea is just not ready yet. Even if she were, she still is no Josh Lyman. I wish it were different, but his country will be asking him to serve."
"No Leo, you are asking him to serve. Most of the country only remembers him as the guy who got shot and then married his secretary a few years later.
" Ok I'm asking him to serve, them to serve. Jed or Noah would have asked him if they were in my place right now. We need them, both of them."
"He was almost killed the last time and now he has a family to think about."
"What would Noah say right now? Right now, knowing what this country is going through today and what it's going to take to rebuild. If I could do it, I would, believe me I would. I'm going to do everything I can do to lessen the burden on him. Until my last breath I will back him up. It is now my mission in life to set him up, and take care of him in every way possible. Christopher Berryhill is a good man and an honorable man and he is taking the reins under the worst of circumstances. He needs a team who is can play this hand and win. It's not just him that's going to be tagged to come back he is going to have a team he can work with, so I'm going to help him bring in the best people I can get. Adriana I'm sending him Margaret to work as his assistant. She is already on a plane out there on her way to pick you all up. And right after I talk to Josh she is going to receive a message from me outlining that this is a permanent reassignment."
"Margaret leaving your side? Willingly? It's really that bad?"
"Worse."
"Wow, okay, but what about you?"
"Well seeing as I don't have a house anymore I figure I'll take my old room back at the Watergate. It will give me a chance to spend some time with Mallory before she moves to California, (if that still happens), and I will be able to pitch in here and lend a hand where I can."
"No what are you going to do for an assistant? She runs your life. What are you going to do with out her? And it's not like she's going to go without a fight. She'll never leave you without someone to take care of you."
"Well I guess there is now a position open for someone I can trust and who is willing to move to D.C. for a few months. They would work part time keeping me organized and replacing the nurses as I fire them. It doesn't pay a whole lot but it comes with a security clearance so that they can stay in the loop and actually talk to their family members about the stuff they are working on, and White House access so they could see those loved ones. Who ever took the position would have time to spend with any children in they're lives such as grand children. Especially if that child has parents with big important jobs and can't spend as much time with them as they like. Of course who ever did take the job would have to bring said child over frequently especially on my trips to the White House or around the country with the senior staff. Probably most importantly it would have to be someone that can stand up to Margaret and who she trusts. Because she is going to try and do both jobs and we both know that this move is the best thing for her, the best thing for all of them. I mean it's not like he's going to be able to get his old assistant to take the same position again. Rumor has it he wouldn't want her as a secretary any more, she ended up sleeping with her last boss, and I hear there is a position open for a deputy chief of staff, which he might think would be a better fit for someone with her abilities."
"Sounds an awful lot like a job offer there Rex, I don't know if you can afford me. What's more how did you get Margaret to agree to a career change? She was quite happy working for her last boss and this new guy has a reputation for being tough on secretaries. You're going to offer DCOS really? How did you convince Berryhill to go for all of this?."
"If you want the job it's yours. As for getting Dona the promotion it was easy, they're a team and its time Chris now understands that. Someone might have hinted since he putting his own career on hold so that she could have one of her own opportunities, then it would probably be in a perspective employer's best interest to arrange for that. As for Margaret, I haven't told her that this was a permanent career change yet. I hinted and I think it will finally sink in about halfway across the pacific, where she will attempt to turn the plane around. But I think she will eventually see that it is where she is needed, especially after my note. It will help knowing there is somebody competent looking after me. If all else fails she is going to receive a healthy bump in pay grade as soon as the paperwork goes through. If somebody wants to mention that a few dozen times that might help. To be honest I don't have much time left and I want to make sure she is taken care of before I go. She needs to move on with her life, and having someone to look after will help her cope when I go. If she still has problems with that I'll have my new assistant talk her into it."
"Sound pretty confident there Rex."
"Yeah well I figured you couldn't say no to more time with Sarah and I have more than enough money to pay whatever exurbanite fee you would name to try and deter me. As far as the rest, these are some of the most honorable, passionate people I know. Give them enough time and a nudge in the right direction and they will make the right choice, as hard as it is. The person I'm most worried about being able to convince is Josh and unfortunately he's the ball game."
"Well as your new assistant I will do what I can on my end, unfortunately I think you're right. It has to be his decision to stay. It won't take much to get him to help a little, but if you want him to lead then you need to let him decide that for himself. Whatever he decides he is going to have to talk with Dona before he'll say anything, which actually works in your favor. Depending on how bad today gets you might have a chance. Let me talk it over with Admiral Grey see if we can come up with anything, I'm assuming the security clearance thing starts immediately."
"The president will sign the papers within the hour. Let me talk to Grey and take care of our boy."
"All right and you take care of your self and your charge. It will probably be several hours before you will be able to land. Take a nap at some point. This transition is going to take all of us including you. Don't die on us the first day, or I'll have Margaret Fed-Ex your remains to the Guadalajara school of medicine for derelicts. We've had too many losses today already." Then speaking out to the Admiral who was busy directing his men nearby: "Hey, Sailor boy, telephone."
As she handed the phone to Admiral Grey, Adriana Lyman surveyed the scene in front of her. Her three year old granddaughter (who was still wearing her swimsuit and water wings) was running around laughing and chasing a young soldier who was obviously forcing himself to smile and be silly. They were surrounded by several other soldiers and police officers all of whom visibly wore the strain of this day already exhausted despite the early hour. Past them was an ornately decorated five star hotel lobby all trimmed out for Christmas and prominently displaying a six foot menorah. Only yesterday had been filled with relaxed tourists wondering through to the shops or the pools. Today it was filled with marines and nervous people timidly eying the soldiers as they gathered around the TVs or rushed off to find their loved ones. Past the lobby she could barely make out the ocean where she saw at least one coast guard cutter and a huge navy patrol boat. As she stood there in her swimsuit surrounded by troops she was moved to offer a prayer for her family, her loved ones and friends, and for the families of those who had and would lose somebody today. She thought to add her country into her prayers, after all for all intensive purposes was at war, (even though they did not yet know against who), but she couldn't bring herself to complete that thought. She knew that some prayers are better answered by one own actions, so instead she prayed that she have the fortitude to live with her decision, that the people who answered today's call made it through to the other end of this more or less in tact. She prayed that her son who had already given more that one should be asked to give, not be a chamoole see this as the mutek mitzvah of a mentsh kemfer.
December 21, 2007 11:55 AM EST Ocean off of the Grand Wailea Resort, Wailea Beach Maui, Hawaii
This was one of those times when Donna couldn't believe how her life had turned out. Swimming out along the reef for a predawn snorkel, she reflected on just how fortunate she has been. First having the strength to leave a bad situation and everything she had known, to go volunteer for a black horse presidential candidate half a continent away. Then some how ending up working in the white house and having her voice be heard, despite only having a high school education. The man she loves surviving a traumatic event and eventually marrying her. Finishing her bachelor's degree and giving birth to her daughter Sarah then ending her tenure at the white house as deputy chief of staff in charge of strategic planning and legislative affairs. Completeing her graduate work in record time while Josh stayed home with their daughter before leaving for this extended vacation in Hawaii. Josh surprised her at graduation with not only a month at one of Maui's finest resorts, but by bringing his mom along to baby sit Sarah. They have had time to do things on their own like learn to scuba dive. Better still, he was flying all of her family out to celebrate Christmas in Hawaii with them. He said this was his way of trying to make up for all of those Christmases she had missed during the Bartlett administration. Probably what got her most was the man's total devotion to her and the family they had created, turning down several offers to work at a high level in this administration so that she could finish school and so that he could spend time with Sarah.
She had the impression that there were more offers than she knew about and most of the offers that she knew about she found out about them from outside sources and Josh never mentioned them unless she asked about them. His vague answers gave her the impression he was intentionally avoiding discussing the issue. But outside of his reluctance to discuss working at the White House again, he had always been open, honest and giving with her. She also knew that part of why he turned them down had to do with the stuff that happened when Russell first took office as Vice president, and during the campaign, and that he still couldn't talk about that without getting upset, so it was probably for the best. He was very vocal about how their marriage was a partnership and since he had already had a long and successful career that she had supported him through it was his turn to do the same for her, knowing that he could get a good job wherever they ended up even if it meant giving up a chance to frame the next 8 year of this countries future.
Then she noticed the lights. 8 of them all moving in towards them from further out in the ocean, 4 more were coming in from the left. Josh noticed them to and immediately swam to put himself between the lights and his wife. Their guide and the 3 other people on this outing all turned to the lights as well. This was not part of the tour. As the lights came closer it became clear that these were dive sleds each dragging or carrying two divers. When the divers got to the tour group they stopped and started pointing to the U.S. Navy labels on their wetsuits and sleds, and communicated to the group that they were to close ranks and keep their heads above the surface so they could hear instructions. The dive master an ex-navy guy himself started to encourage the group to do as instructed and complied himself. When they actually looked out around the surface Josh and Dona could barely recognize that they were in the same waters, 1 navel patrol boat and three coast guard cutters were patrolling the waters out in front of the hotels. The Coast Guard Cutters docking with the boats that were moored out in front of the Grand Wailea, further out in the ocean a large navy submarine surfaced making it evident where the majority of divers had come from. On the beach they could see armed Marines pouring out of the hotel trying to set up a secure beach head. What wasn't clear was why this was happening. Surely out in front of a bunch of hotels was not a good place to lead joint exercises especially the week before Christmas.
A circle of Navy divers had surrounded the group and checked in to confirm that they had found a group that matched the description of the one they were looking for, and received an update about the situation developing on one of the yachts in front of the objective's hotel. A small inflatable launch came towards them from the shore and when it arrived, the ranking officer aboard addressed the group of surprisingly calm tourists that they had essentially detained, directing his comments primarily to that couple that closely matched the objectives of this mission. "Ladies and Gentleman I apologize for disrupting your morning My Name is Commander Laurence Davis and I am with the United States Navy. It is very important that I find Josh and Dona Lyman. Are they in this group?"
"I'm Josh Lyman." The man of the identified couple confirmed. "And I'm Donna. What's going on Commander?" asked the young blonde telling him more about his new charges.
"Just a second mam. Who is the Dive Master of this tour?"
"That would be me, sir" the guide said concerned about the safety of his guests, he had taken the Lymans out for several dives and snorkeling trips during their stay here and it seemed hard for him to believe that they were the kind of people who were dangerous enough to be apprehended in such a dramatic fashion, in fact Mr. Lyman had always been a respectful guest, a quick learner, and most importantly a big tipper. "Is there a problem here?"
"Ok son here is the deal, there are some safety concerns at your original launch site so you and the rest of your guests are going to continue your tour until one of your escorts directs you to deviate course and then the United States Coast Guard is going to add something very special to your tour this morning, you and each of your guests will be given a personal guided tour of the United States Coast Guard Cutter Kittiwake before being returning to your hotel. Each of your guests has been cleared for the bonus tour, do you think they will have any trouble with the extra challenge."
"Mrs. Hoffman over here will require some assistance getting aboard sir, but other than that shouldn't be a problem. Sir if I may ask, you keep saying the rest of my guests are the Lymans being detained for something they did wrong?"
" Not at all Sergeant, the President of the United States has personally asked us to see if they would be able to offer some assistance dealing with some of the problems happening on the mainland. Any more than that, you will see in the news as you need to know it. You will all be briefed in further detail on the Kittiwake. Now I understand that they are using all of their own equipment, and have prepaid for the tour so there is no reason that they need to accompany you back to the dive shop. Is that correct?"
"Well actually sir," came a much more relaxed voice after knowing that a couple of his favorite customers were not in any trouble, but was still trying to wrap her mind around the concept that they were friends of the President. "Mrs. Lyman broke her goggles during a dive yesterday when she got smacked by a sea turtle yesterday because she got to close to it. No need to worry about it though, they have been such good customers I'll cover any charges for their replacement. However the Lymans left most of their new dive equipment at the shop because they had planed several other excursions for the next couple of weeks."
"Ok, when you get back your first task is going to be to locate their gear and prepare it for transport. One of your escorts will help you by providing luggage for said equipment, as well as compensating you with a large gratuity. Are there any questions, from any of you?"
4 heads dumbly shook their heads signaling that there in fact were no questions that anyone was willing to voice.
"Very well, You will be escorted by a few officers for the remainder of your tour this morning, please try and enjoy the rest of your tour and remember that as long as you are with these officers you are perfectly safe. Bye bye now."
"Ok People, My name is Lieutenant Tran if you will all put your goggles and masks back on and follow me we are all going to continue exploring this beautiful natural reef in this early light if you have any trouble keeping up please signal one of my men or your dive master and we will either slow down or give you assistance. Ok everybody ready? Great, let's go."
Josh watched as the tour group all quickly swam away with half a dozen new friends, and then turned his focus back to the man who was taking credit for disrupting his vacation in such an urgent and visible fashion. "Ok Commander you want to explain what could have prompted Russell to pull something like this. I don't work for the White House anymore. We don't work for the White House anymore. And its one thing to disrupt a private citizens personal vacation for say a national security reason, but what in gods name so important that it couldn't wait till we were, say I don't know, on dry land? And what do you mean security issues with the beach it looks like you have a company of Marines out their scaring the tourists."
Commander Davis chose not to answer because he was allowing the group to get further away as well as communicating with his CO and directly with CINCPAC Admiral Grey. He was only slightly surprised to see the legendary Lyman Attitude flare up had been so mild, finished getting his unique instructions from Admiral Grey and the all clear from the coast guard before responding to the understandably upset man treading water in front of him. "Sir I need to verify that you are indeed Joshua and Donnatella Lyman as obviously neither of you are carrying Identification. Perhaps there is something you might remember from a Christmas card that might help us verify who you are?"
Leo! Josh remembered that Leo had tried to give him a NSA card three times before he finally took it. What finally made him reconsider is when Leo had brought him, CJ, Toby, and Dona all in to his office and handed each of them a hallmark Christmas Card inscribed with the words "peace on earth goodwill towards men" (ok well on CJ's and Donna's the word men had been crossed out and the word all had been hand written in everyone above it but that's not the point) each card came with a NSA card enclosed in it. Truly a touching gesture of personal care towards his staff even though he ended up retiring less than three months later. "Yes Commander my NSA card number is NJ2-3YL6-SDA. My watchword is red-lights."
"Confirmed and you mam?"
"Yes Commander it has been a while since I looked at it, but I believe my card number is DM8-X73U-JLS, and that word they told me to give the signals office if I had to confirm who I was on the phone was valuable.
"Confirmed. As to your first question it was President Berryhill who ordered the abundant security measures. Before you go off about how bad it looks, I am supposed to offer you a choice we can either escort you to that Bayliner over there and you can physically assault the three terrorists who were planning on launching a Mortar Attack on your hotel. Only one of the 34 attacks we have been able to stop today or we can escort you back to shore and hug your daughter and mother who are now perfectly safe and hear directly from Admiral Grey the other 152 reasons why we are here."
Josh stopped dumbstruck and just looked at the officer, occasionally opening his mouth and then closing it with out saying anything for almost a full minute as he processed the information he just received before he was actually able to speak. When he regained his composure enough to talk he said: "I think going to shore right now sounds like the best course of action but something in your voice tells me I'm going to want to keep that physical assault option open for a bit."
"Ok sir, if you and your wife would like to come aboard here we'll take you to see Admiral Grey."