Rainbow's End: 'Upper Hand' 6/11
UPPER HAND
Tuesday 11 November 8.00am
"Thanks for letting me take the time off yesterday, Toby." Sam said as he sat in Toby's office. They sat next to each other on the couch. Sam was there to be briefed on the things he had missed the day before.
"You get her home O.K.?"
"Yeah. She wasn't up to much yesterday but she assures me that she will be fine by herself today. The transfusion of cells did seem to help a bit, she picked up some."
"That's good."
"Yeah. She catches bugs so easily now but hopefully this will help improve things, for a little while at least."
"I hope so." Toby nodded.
Alexandra had been ill with increasing frequency in recent days due to the inability of her immune system to cope with the demands that were put upon it. After a particularly nasty infection, Dr. Schumann had insisted that she be admitted into the hospital and given a transfusion of the blood components. Sam had taken the day before (the Monday) off, to collect her from the hospital and take care of her at home; at Toby's insistence, no less. The constant worry for Sam that had accompanied Alex's latest bouts of illness were wearing him down, his own immune system suffering because of his lack of sleep and his failure to take good care of himself.
"The President's still in crisis talks with Delacroix?"
"Yeah. They came up with nothing yesterday, they're at stalemate. Each time the President, Lord John Marbury, Leo, the Ambassador or the Emperor of Timbuktu says anything, Delacroix always comes back with the same "I don't know", "it's not my fault" or "someone's getting it wrong"."
"Ah. Not so good then."
"No." Toby paused. "The President wants to send it to the International Criminal Court in The Hague."
"Just one problem there." Said Sam.
"Yeah, the U.S. won't ratify. Not dissimilar to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty."
"Bet Congress really wish they'd agreed to sign that now."
"I think that's a pretty sure thing. How are you doing?" Toby's sudden change of the subject took Sam a little by surprise.
"Me? I'm fine."
"You look a little run down yourself."
"I'm sure its nothing."
"Take it easy today." Toby instructed. The phone on Toby's desk started to ring.
"Yeah?...O.K. We'll be there in a minute." Toby put the phone down and turned his attention to Sam. "That was Mrs. Landingham; we've being called to the Oval."
"O.K."
X X X
"What are they saying, Mr. President?" asked Josh.
"Well, I think that Leo is currently looking for a window I can throw their President through."
"And when you realise that you can't actually do that, Sir?" C.J. asked.
"I get Toby to do it for me."
"Mr. President." Toby said.
"Seriously, Sir, what do you need?" Josh asked.
"Do you think it would be entirely outside the realms of possibility that Congress will ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty now?"
"Sir, you're not going to try to reintroduce the idea are you?"
"At the moment I don't see what other choice we have C.J. We need to do something now. This situation has exceeded the duration with which I am even remotely contented; it is a threat to international military affairs and if nothing is done it will have disastrous environmental consequences, both to marine life and on our own coastline. It will bring financial problems all along the Pacific Coast. It has the potential to directly affect all the people living in the Pacific Coast vicinity, all the people in the South Pacific and the Manta Rays near Yap. Sam, talk to me about the environment. Who's going to say what?"
"Green radicals aren't gonna be happy; the ecologist factions. They're the ones who could cause the most problems for us. The moderate environmentalists aren't exactly happy, but I think their outrage will be understated as long as we can convince them that the situation is salvageable in some way and will be stopped as fast as we can manage. Most of the population as a whole aren't actually gonna care unless they're from the regions liable to be affected."
"I need specifics, Sam, now that things have progressed from a short term glitch to a long term problem. Get Kim Dryden here, get him to give you a full overview."
"Yes, Sir."
"Get to it now."
"Sir." Sam left the Oval Office while the others remained seated to continue to develop a solution.
"Sir, what do you plan to do; what can the green groups do that you can't?"
"They have international appeal, C.J. It's a universal message and using them may mean that we can excerpt some local influence in France. While they're testing their nukes over here it really doesn't bother them and seen as Congress didn't ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty its one of the best forms of political recourse we can take. Man, I really hate this whole NIMBY attitude they have." The President grumbled.
"You think they'll network?" Josh asked, surprised that the thought had not occurred to him.
"Sir." Toby cleared his throat, "What does Lord Marbury say?"
"He's talking about sticks and carrots again, however with France there is a diminished possibility of using incentives. They do not have the same needs that we relied upon to settle the troop movement in India and Pakistan."
"I'm not convinced the environmental network will be successful. YOU need to take some decisive action and stop this. I think you need to threaten them with the Test Ban Treaty, I think you need to threaten them with The Hague and UN Sanctions and when they still don't do anything, I think you should act. You should follow through on your threats."
"They're a powerful country to have as an ally, Toby."
"Not at the moment Sir, they're not. At the moment they are nothing more than a liability. They are doing nothing for us, they are laughing at us and mocking us and you are trying to stop them by using inconsequential green groups, carrots and sticks, a collection of thoughts that make a consequent and amusing syllogism." Toby smiled to himself under his beard. "By all means, leave Sam on it. Let him think that he's doing something that will help, it'll take the pressure from him a bit and God knows he needs that at the moment but you cannot rely on that tactic, tiptoeing around the outside to try and avoid standing on the grass; its preposterous."
"Toby, we didn't sign the Treaty."
"We didn't, they did. Other countries did. Get Marbury to talk to his people in Britain; they signed. Let them prosecute; let them seek international sanctions."
"Its in our waters this is all happening, Toby, it's us with the problem, the French are still exempt from prosecution Toby." Leo put in. "It's like our war criminals not being subject to international law, we internalised ourselves when we wouldn't sign."
"You have to use political channels Sir. You cannot appear to be faffing around." Toby persisted, adamant that political channels were the appropriate way forward. "You have to talk to Congress, get them to ratify every treaty around if you have to. You cannot allow the French to violate international laws, whether they or us are participant or not."
"Toby..." The Communications Director was becoming more and more irate.
"There are universal standards. There are moral absolutes. Mr. President, think of Kant's Categorical Imperative, think of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill; think of Edmund Burke." Toby stared at the President to bring home his point. The conversation he had with him when they had been considering the lame duck session to ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, over a year ago now, still fresh in his mind. "Didn't Edmund Burke say that a representative owes not just his industry but his judgement and betrays you if he sacrifices his judgement to yours? You were elected Mr. President, you were elected and I was standing ten feet from the Chief Justice when you were sworn in. For you not to act, Sir, is not just betraying yourself and your own beliefs, your party and its members. It is betraying the United States of America."
"Toby..." Josh warned.
"You think I should go on the offensive, Toby?" The President cut Josh off, intrigued by Toby's aggressive approach.
"Yes Sir, I do." The President seemed to consider this. "I know my input on foreign policy has no legitimacy, I do not claim to be an expert, but I know politics, Mr. President, and this is a political problem."
"Toby, talk to Andi."
"Mr. President?"
"Talk to Congresswoman Wyatt. Find out what she has to say, what her committee has to say. Get back to me by lunchtime."
"Yes, Sir."
"We meet back here at 12.30." The President said decisively. This was the instruction that signalled to the Senior Staff members in the room that the meeting was over and it was time to leave. Toby stayed behind momentarily and walked up to the President and Leo.
"Thank you Sir."
"Just make it work, Toby." The President said. Toby nodded and left the room. "Please Toby, make it work." The President added quietly afterwards, catching Leo's eye; the Chief of Staff looked grim, he too hoped it worked; they were rapidly running out of options and to further add to his frustrations, the missile defence shield was still not working.
X X X
"Keep 'em jumping right on cue your clientele."
"See that things progress as planned."
"Make 'em lift their eyes to you"
You taught me well
"Gotta keep the upper hand."
(Excerpt from 'The Upper Hand' from the musical 'The Fix' 1997, by John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe).
X X X
C.J. and Josh were waiting for Toby outside the Oval Office. They looked as if they were ready for confrontation, particularly Josh.
"What do you think you were doing in there?"
"I am a Senior Political Advisor to the President, Josh. I was advising him."
"This is foreign policy, Toby. We stay out of it." C.J. admonished.
"Not this time, no we don't. This has local repercussions to States on our Western Coast, to Hawaii, it was reported by our Ambassador; that makes it a domestic concern." They began walking back to the Communications Bullpen.
"And you really think its wise leaving Sam to carry on with some exercise that's useless?" Josh came in again.
"I only said that I THOUGHT it may be useless Josh. I don't think it would work in the context the President was hoping for, it's true but we may gain some valuable information that we can use to cajole the Congressmen who are sitting on the fence. The environmental lobby can have astronomical powers over the careers of some of them; we have to hit people where it hurts and this may be the way to do it."
"Yet you said it was unimportant, that's why you wanted Sam left on it. You're not making any sense, Toby."
"I'm saying we may glean something useful from it but its not going to threaten our agenda if Sam screws it up. His head's not back in the game after the weekend he's had, most of which he told me he spent at the hospital. It'll ease him in, it's something he's good at and he knows about; if this tack is going to work he's the one to do it. If nothing useful comes up we've still got fallbacks."
"Is he O.K. Toby – Sam?" C.J. asked. "I didn't know that he spent the weekend at the hospital, is Alex all right? I thought that she wasn't feeling so good yesterday, which was why he didn't come in."
"She had a transfusion of some blood thing." Toby said vaguely as they all walked into his office. No sooner had the Communications Director walked into his office he turned around and walked out again. "Ginger, you getting Kim Dryden for Sam?"
"Yeah. He'll be down in a half hour."
"Can you get Congresswoman Wyatt over here now?"
"Sure, anything else?"
"No. Thank you." Toby retreated back into his office and sat himself down behind his desk. Josh was sitting on the sofa nervously running his hands through his hair while C.J. was leaning against his shelving unit, perched on the edge of the sideboard that protruded beyond the width of the shelves.
"Is she O.K., though, Toby? I mean, it's not...the end, is it?" C.J. asked concerned.
"Not yet. I know that she's been sick a lot lately but Sam said the transfusion had helped."
"Is he O.K?" C.J. questioned.
"Look at him, C.J." Toby said. "Does he look O.K. to you? He's barely coping."
"He says he's doing fine." Josh said.
"And how many times have we known that what Sam says and what Sam actually means don't coincide?" Toby returned. "He's tired, he can't sleep for worry. He knows that the end is coming and he thinks that it won't be long..."
"He told you all that?" Josh asked flabbergasted. "He's not told me anything."
"He's not told me that Josh but you can tell things by looking at him and by what he says and the way he says it. If you ask him a direct question on her condition he will give you a full scientific definition of what something means but he will not personalise. He won't add feelings. You ask if someone's O.K. he tells you that everything's under control. They're sins of omission. He tries to divert listener attention; he's a speechwriter and a lawyer, Josh, he has had many opportunities to perfect his skills of obfuscation."
"I never thought." Josh bowed his head.
"I don't think he's been taking proper care of himself." C.J. added quietly. "I think he's living on coffee and nervous energy and any type of food as long as it can be done in no more than two minutes in a microwave or with boiling water."
"Sam's the poster boy for healthy living, C.J., also nuts for dental hygiene." C.J. glared at Josh for the latter part of that comment. She did not find it in the least bit amusing.
"I'll keep my eye on him." Toby promised.
"You want I should talk to him?" Josh asked, eager to make amends for his ignorance as to his friend's condition.
"Leave it to Toby to watch. If he wants to talk to you, Josh, I'm sure he will. If you go in there all guns blazing trying to force something out of him, he'll be reluctant to come to any of us in the future."
"We can't risk that, Josh. Not when the inevitable happens. He'll need you then. We have to trust him."
"What happens if something happens to him, Toby? I mean, if he's not taking proper care of himself."
"Then we intervene. We take charge whether he likes it or not."
"I think instead of trying to force him to talk at the minute; we need to trust him." C.J. added. "I know that your talking to him before when he had found out did him good but things are different now. Things have moved onto the next stage. Let Toby keep his eye on him, play things as if all was normal, keep him engaged."
"Sure." Josh said doubtfully.
X X X
Kim Dryden entered Sam's office. He was a tall man, approximately six foot five. He was only in his twenties but a great mind on environmental matters and had proven his worth to the White House on numerous occasions. As such he was well acquainted with Sam and their shared interest in environmental policies was only one of the reasons that meant they enjoyed each others company, not only within the work environment but on a social level too.
He was not quite as you would expect someone who works in close contact with White House to be, with his funky, spiky hair cut that looked like he had just been plugged in to an electric socket. His brown eyes were warm and inviting and his calm nature shone through, bringing with it a tendency to bring the best out in the people he met.
"Sam. Good to see you." The two men shook hands, Kim smiling warmly at the Deputy Communications Director and resting his free hand on the top of Sam's right arm, a gesture of comfort and support.
"Kim!"
"How are you?"
"I'm getting by."
"And Lexie?"
"She's doing O.K. She had a transfusion over the weekend and that seems to have done some good. She came home from the hospital yesterday so I had the day off; now I'm trying frantically to catch up." Sam indicated the vast array of papers spread around his office, at which Kim smiled.
"It's a tough break man. You two are so good together."
"Just my damn luck, you mean. They're either call girls or have some connection to Leo McGarry. His ex-wife has never let me forget about the time I flirted with her at a party fundraiser. I thought I was home-free with this one. I guess that shows you what I know!"
"Yeah." Kim nodded. "So, what did you need?"
"The President's asked to be briefed on the political repercussions the nuke thing could have as far as the environmentalists and the ecologists are concerned."
"He does actually know the environmental repercussions?"
"Yeah. We had that meeting a couple months ago. He now wants specific reaction. Thought he could use it to boost international concern and try to provoke some reaction from France; try to get them to sort this thing out internally."
"You want the reaction of the factions then?" Kim grinned, proud of his rhyme, (well, almost).
"I do."
"Right then. Let's start."
X X X
Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt walked into her ex-husbands office, her manner all business-like and efficient in her dark grey skirt suit and lilac blouse. Her long red hair was tied back neatly in a pony tail that reached down her back.
"Toby." She greeted.
"Andrea." Toby nervously went up to Andi and kissed her on the cheek. "Take a seat. Have a Danish." Andi sat down on Toby's sofa and put her briefcase up onto the seat beside her.
"Toby, just put my mind at rest," Toby looked blank, unaware of what she meant. "I heard a rumour a few months back, that you had been eating salad."
"I can assure you that that is most certainly not true. There is no way that a bowl of weeds can constitute a proper meal."
"Good." She inclined her head to the office next door. "How's Sam doing?"
"It's hard for the kid. For both of them. I think he's managing. I'm keeping my eye on him."
"Good. You owe him that."
"I do." Toby paused a moment. He sat down on the chair at the end of the sofa where Andi was sitting. "I've been meaning to say this for a while."
"Say what, Toby? Seriously, if it's about the salad, I don't..."
"No. It's not about the, well, it's not about that." Toby cleared his throat and nervously ran his hand over his head while his free hand rested on his hip. "I wanted to thank you."
"You wanted to thank me? For what?"
"Putting me on the benefit committee for the Child Leukaemia Foundation. I know I seemed..."
"Pissed?" Andi suggested, Toby felt the need to amend her.
"Not at all happy about it at first but..."
"It's O.K. Toby."
"I mean, I know that it won't do anything to help Alexandra now but if there's some difference that can be made, well...that can only be a good thing, right?"
"You exorcising some demons there Toby?"
"I think I may be."
"Well, that's very unlike you. Usually you're locking things up in your head. Is this a new you?"
"I really shouldn't think so, no."
"Well, that's a relief." Turning her mind to business Andrea began, "So what did you want to talk to me about? Not just that, surely."
"No. The President has asked me to talk to you on behalf of your committee as regards the nuclear fiasco in the Federated States of Micronesia and near our own distant shores, in the oceans near Hawaii."
"Do you know what he should do about that?" Andi then carried on, not waiting long enough to give Toby the opportunity to answer. "He should aim to sue them under every international piece of legislation he possibly can, whether we're a party to it or not. He should talk to Congress about the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. He should be aggressive. If the French think that they can get away with nothing formal being done against them, they'll carry on. You can't keep on crying about the poor Manta Rays and the effects on the environment. The French don't care. It's not in their back yard. You have to hit them where it hurts; widespread sanctions, threaten their international status."
"Really? And this is what your whole committee thinks?"
"Something has to be done Toby."
"Does this not contradict everything that the Ethics Committee stands for?"
"Probably." Andi paused a moment and turned to ex-husband suspiciously. "You want the President to take affirmative action. Don't you?"
"I do."
"And he wants to know whether we'll object?"
"Yes. Will you?"
"Are you going to be killing people, harming people in anyway, threatening people?"
"None of the above directly."
"You can't threaten people who break the law, Toby. You take action and sanction them. You're not going to war over this. You're not harming people, you're helping. We don't need to know that every single nuclear weapon in the French arsenal is capable of decimating innocent life, that only one can do that should be enough, ample in fact."
"You're not going to object?"
"Go tell him." Andi nodded standing up and snagging a Danish from the plate in front of her. "You got cinnamon?"
"I did."
"You got my favourite."
"I did." Andi gave him another peck on the cheek and went to leave, her Danish in hand. Toby walked her to the lobby and was left standing alone, smiling to himself.
X X X
At 12.25pm Toby stuck his head around the door to Sam's office.
"What time did you finish with Kim?" Sam looked brighter than he had earlier, this environmental thing had really sparked his interest, Toby could see that. It really was his thing and although Sam still looked tired and drawn there was a faint sparkle in his eye and Toby could also tell that there was a fiery passion in his heart.
"About 10 minutes ago."
"Did it go O.K.?"
"Yeah. It was good."
"O.K. We're in the Oval now. We're reporting back to the President at 12.30pm sharp."
"Can I walk with you?" Toby seemed surprised by Sam's request and nodded his consent.
"Sure. So you're all suited up for this?"
"I am."
"Good."
They walked together to the Oval Office and Charlie waved them straight through. C.J. and Josh were already sitting in there next to each other on one of the sofas. The President and Leo assumed their usual positions in the wing-back chairs, so Toby and Sam sat down on the second sofa.
"What have you got for me, Sam?" asked the President.
"We have quite a lot, Sir, as far as the different groups go. As I said earlier, the ones to watch out for are the ecologists."
"Etymology Josh?"
"Do we really have time for this, Sir?" Toby asked. He could not believe that the President was going to waste everybody's precious time on inane trivia.
"We have another taker; Toby etymology?" Toby groaned but his displeasure did not prevent him from answering.
"Oecology. Coined by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel in 1873 and it covered new frontiers of scientific research."
"Thank you. Talk to me, Sam."
"Advocates of biodiversity shouldn't be too much of a problem, they won't be thrilled but we shouldn't get much political comeback as their tenets are not affected. Supporters of Gaia on the other hand will not be quite so easy to placate. Their holistic approach is not opposed to killing off any species that threatens the survival of other organisms, I think political reaction will be nothing to them. They're potentially a very dangerous group for us."
"You should stop reading Tom Clancy, Sam." Said Josh.
"'Rainbow Six' was a good book." Sam defended.
"Yes, I found that it made a particularly useful doorstop." Josh said referring to the book's hefty proportions.
"Josh." Leo warned from his vantage point on the chair. "Carry on Sam."
"Kim reckons that the rationalists should be O.K. being, you know, rational and as long as we're seen to be doing something to prevent it they shouldn't react that strongly. The eco-socialists are more concerned that we use 617 times more energy than Ethiopians and fighting about class's influence on ecology and the environment. There's no real political threat there other than the usual. Eco-feminists will enjoy blaming the men while the women are the natural defenders of the environment, so on the bright side, if there is any comeback C.J. will be fine."
"Can't argue with that one." Said C.J.
"The eco-nationalists are drawing on Chernobyl, so no doubt they'll be saying 'I told you so' along with the anti-nuclear protesters. These could be more problematic though, because of their affiliation with indigenous persons and there are many natives of the Federated States of Micronesia who are potentially in danger. Post-Marxist Eco-Feminists..."
"Excuse me?" Leo interrupted.
"Now you're just making these up, Sam." Josh scoffed.
"No, he's not." Said the President, an expert on all things of this sort. "A key advocate is Ariel Salleh and it focuses on meta-industrial workers, for example housewives, peasants and indigenous people. It also challenges Marxist class dogmas and takes a political economy approach; they look for commonalities between eco-feminists and the struggles of indigenous peoples. That right Sam?"
"Absolutely Mr. President." Sam confirmed.
"As if there's any doubt about that!" Josh muttered to C.J.
"They could be a concern for the same reason as the eco-nationalists, but the feminism thing shouldn't cause any problems. Conservationists will be bothered about the Manta Rays, but we could buy them off politically if we could guarantee a safe area for some of the endangered wildlife. Eco- socialists shouldn't be a problem either as long as people are not at such a high risk as animals, their anthropocentrism covers that and if we can convince them that we have a pragmatic solution, we're fine. Supporters of Deep Ecology may cause a political ruckus because of their holistic beliefs but I think the fact that they believe the eco-sphere is closely related to God will succeed in preventing some of the retributive action they could attempt, but I am worried by the fact that they call for drastic change to recognise the intrinsic attitudes of all species; I'm thinking about the Manta Rays here. As far as the groups themselves are concerned, Kim says we should be aware of the movements of Earth First and Direct Action; there is the potential for environmental terrorism and I think we can all agree that we don't want a repeat performance of what happened to the ski resort in Colorado." Sam took a deep breath as he finished.
"That it?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good work." Bartlet turned his attention to the Communications Director. "Toby, what have you got for me?"
"Andi says it's a go, Sir!"
"You're kidding me?"
"I am not."
"I would have thought that the Ethics Committee would have objections on all sorts of fronts."
"Andi says that we're fine Sir. She'll make sure we are."
"There'll be no comeback from them?"
"None at all."
"Excellent, Toby." The President looked around the room. "We're taking an affirmative action approach. All the lawyers in the room raise your hands." The Senior Staff looked around at one another bemused. "Those of you who have graduated from law school, do not fear for your time will not be wasted. You will all spend the rest of the day sifting through Treaties and international laws and find all the breaches and exemptions you can. Josh, can you run the war room for this in the Roosevelt Room. Get all the lawyers you can find on this, would you please."
"Yes Sir. Sam, Toby, you join him when you've given C.J. a line for the Press. Don't tell them we're going for the jugular. Tell them we're examining our options for further ways to react."
"Yes Sir." Both of the Communications Staffers said.
"Keep the lid on this C.J." said Leo.
"Yes, sir." They sat there for a moment.
"Well, go do it." The President said. He was greeted by a bustle of action as each of the Senior Staff jumped up once more and set about preparing press statements and preparing the war room.
X X X
Josh had Donna call in Ainsley Hayes from the Counsel's Office and also dragged in Ed and Larry, who could always be relied upon, even if no one could tell which one of them was which. They sat around the long table in the Roosevelt Room with open files strewn all over and yellow legal pads and ball point pens at hand to jot down any thing that may be useful.
Josh did his best overseeing; grateful that he could use it as a reprieve from actually doing the work that whole heartedly. He simply picked up the odd file for show then stood looking over everyone else's shoulders to make sure they weren't 'missing anything'.
There was a pot of coffee on the side that was rapidly being consumed and the plate of muffins Josh had cajoled Donna into getting for him was diminishing rapidly, thanks to Ainsley's insatiable hunger for confectionary.
Sam and Toby walked in to find heads bent over the papers. They sat themselves down and Josh siphoned off an unexamined set of papers for each of them to go through, about which Toby was obviously underwhelmed.
"Hey Sam."
"Ainsley."
"And I would like to say to you, Toby: Hello."
"Ainsley. Does anyone have anything yet?" Ed and Larry both raised their legal pads, full of their jottings to show him.
"I do. I have many things that I have found out and written down for you on my paper. My piece of paper that I was given when I arrived in here today, by Josh."
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk funny?" Toby said.
"I have had that conversation, indeed I have had that conversation on many an occasion."
"O.K." Toby said, wishing he had never mentioned it.
"Guys, I don't want to be pushy but can we get on please. This is an important thing and it's gotta be done." Toby raised his eyes to glare at Josh while Josh in turn averted his attention, not wanting to risk a confrontation with the Communications Director who was far more practiced in these things than he.
After a couple hours of searching, all the pieces of paper had been dredged through culminating in a particularly lengthy compilation of everyone's lists. Proud of their work, Sam and Toby went along with Josh to take the final version along to Leo who would then work through it with Oliver Babish, the White House Counsel and then give it to the President so that the affirmative action could begin.
UPPER HAND
Tuesday 11 November 8.00am
"Thanks for letting me take the time off yesterday, Toby." Sam said as he sat in Toby's office. They sat next to each other on the couch. Sam was there to be briefed on the things he had missed the day before.
"You get her home O.K.?"
"Yeah. She wasn't up to much yesterday but she assures me that she will be fine by herself today. The transfusion of cells did seem to help a bit, she picked up some."
"That's good."
"Yeah. She catches bugs so easily now but hopefully this will help improve things, for a little while at least."
"I hope so." Toby nodded.
Alexandra had been ill with increasing frequency in recent days due to the inability of her immune system to cope with the demands that were put upon it. After a particularly nasty infection, Dr. Schumann had insisted that she be admitted into the hospital and given a transfusion of the blood components. Sam had taken the day before (the Monday) off, to collect her from the hospital and take care of her at home; at Toby's insistence, no less. The constant worry for Sam that had accompanied Alex's latest bouts of illness were wearing him down, his own immune system suffering because of his lack of sleep and his failure to take good care of himself.
"The President's still in crisis talks with Delacroix?"
"Yeah. They came up with nothing yesterday, they're at stalemate. Each time the President, Lord John Marbury, Leo, the Ambassador or the Emperor of Timbuktu says anything, Delacroix always comes back with the same "I don't know", "it's not my fault" or "someone's getting it wrong"."
"Ah. Not so good then."
"No." Toby paused. "The President wants to send it to the International Criminal Court in The Hague."
"Just one problem there." Said Sam.
"Yeah, the U.S. won't ratify. Not dissimilar to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty."
"Bet Congress really wish they'd agreed to sign that now."
"I think that's a pretty sure thing. How are you doing?" Toby's sudden change of the subject took Sam a little by surprise.
"Me? I'm fine."
"You look a little run down yourself."
"I'm sure its nothing."
"Take it easy today." Toby instructed. The phone on Toby's desk started to ring.
"Yeah?...O.K. We'll be there in a minute." Toby put the phone down and turned his attention to Sam. "That was Mrs. Landingham; we've being called to the Oval."
"O.K."
X X X
"What are they saying, Mr. President?" asked Josh.
"Well, I think that Leo is currently looking for a window I can throw their President through."
"And when you realise that you can't actually do that, Sir?" C.J. asked.
"I get Toby to do it for me."
"Mr. President." Toby said.
"Seriously, Sir, what do you need?" Josh asked.
"Do you think it would be entirely outside the realms of possibility that Congress will ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty now?"
"Sir, you're not going to try to reintroduce the idea are you?"
"At the moment I don't see what other choice we have C.J. We need to do something now. This situation has exceeded the duration with which I am even remotely contented; it is a threat to international military affairs and if nothing is done it will have disastrous environmental consequences, both to marine life and on our own coastline. It will bring financial problems all along the Pacific Coast. It has the potential to directly affect all the people living in the Pacific Coast vicinity, all the people in the South Pacific and the Manta Rays near Yap. Sam, talk to me about the environment. Who's going to say what?"
"Green radicals aren't gonna be happy; the ecologist factions. They're the ones who could cause the most problems for us. The moderate environmentalists aren't exactly happy, but I think their outrage will be understated as long as we can convince them that the situation is salvageable in some way and will be stopped as fast as we can manage. Most of the population as a whole aren't actually gonna care unless they're from the regions liable to be affected."
"I need specifics, Sam, now that things have progressed from a short term glitch to a long term problem. Get Kim Dryden here, get him to give you a full overview."
"Yes, Sir."
"Get to it now."
"Sir." Sam left the Oval Office while the others remained seated to continue to develop a solution.
"Sir, what do you plan to do; what can the green groups do that you can't?"
"They have international appeal, C.J. It's a universal message and using them may mean that we can excerpt some local influence in France. While they're testing their nukes over here it really doesn't bother them and seen as Congress didn't ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty its one of the best forms of political recourse we can take. Man, I really hate this whole NIMBY attitude they have." The President grumbled.
"You think they'll network?" Josh asked, surprised that the thought had not occurred to him.
"Sir." Toby cleared his throat, "What does Lord Marbury say?"
"He's talking about sticks and carrots again, however with France there is a diminished possibility of using incentives. They do not have the same needs that we relied upon to settle the troop movement in India and Pakistan."
"I'm not convinced the environmental network will be successful. YOU need to take some decisive action and stop this. I think you need to threaten them with the Test Ban Treaty, I think you need to threaten them with The Hague and UN Sanctions and when they still don't do anything, I think you should act. You should follow through on your threats."
"They're a powerful country to have as an ally, Toby."
"Not at the moment Sir, they're not. At the moment they are nothing more than a liability. They are doing nothing for us, they are laughing at us and mocking us and you are trying to stop them by using inconsequential green groups, carrots and sticks, a collection of thoughts that make a consequent and amusing syllogism." Toby smiled to himself under his beard. "By all means, leave Sam on it. Let him think that he's doing something that will help, it'll take the pressure from him a bit and God knows he needs that at the moment but you cannot rely on that tactic, tiptoeing around the outside to try and avoid standing on the grass; its preposterous."
"Toby, we didn't sign the Treaty."
"We didn't, they did. Other countries did. Get Marbury to talk to his people in Britain; they signed. Let them prosecute; let them seek international sanctions."
"Its in our waters this is all happening, Toby, it's us with the problem, the French are still exempt from prosecution Toby." Leo put in. "It's like our war criminals not being subject to international law, we internalised ourselves when we wouldn't sign."
"You have to use political channels Sir. You cannot appear to be faffing around." Toby persisted, adamant that political channels were the appropriate way forward. "You have to talk to Congress, get them to ratify every treaty around if you have to. You cannot allow the French to violate international laws, whether they or us are participant or not."
"Toby..." The Communications Director was becoming more and more irate.
"There are universal standards. There are moral absolutes. Mr. President, think of Kant's Categorical Imperative, think of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill; think of Edmund Burke." Toby stared at the President to bring home his point. The conversation he had with him when they had been considering the lame duck session to ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, over a year ago now, still fresh in his mind. "Didn't Edmund Burke say that a representative owes not just his industry but his judgement and betrays you if he sacrifices his judgement to yours? You were elected Mr. President, you were elected and I was standing ten feet from the Chief Justice when you were sworn in. For you not to act, Sir, is not just betraying yourself and your own beliefs, your party and its members. It is betraying the United States of America."
"Toby..." Josh warned.
"You think I should go on the offensive, Toby?" The President cut Josh off, intrigued by Toby's aggressive approach.
"Yes Sir, I do." The President seemed to consider this. "I know my input on foreign policy has no legitimacy, I do not claim to be an expert, but I know politics, Mr. President, and this is a political problem."
"Toby, talk to Andi."
"Mr. President?"
"Talk to Congresswoman Wyatt. Find out what she has to say, what her committee has to say. Get back to me by lunchtime."
"Yes, Sir."
"We meet back here at 12.30." The President said decisively. This was the instruction that signalled to the Senior Staff members in the room that the meeting was over and it was time to leave. Toby stayed behind momentarily and walked up to the President and Leo.
"Thank you Sir."
"Just make it work, Toby." The President said. Toby nodded and left the room. "Please Toby, make it work." The President added quietly afterwards, catching Leo's eye; the Chief of Staff looked grim, he too hoped it worked; they were rapidly running out of options and to further add to his frustrations, the missile defence shield was still not working.
X X X
"Keep 'em jumping right on cue your clientele."
"See that things progress as planned."
"Make 'em lift their eyes to you"
You taught me well
"Gotta keep the upper hand."
(Excerpt from 'The Upper Hand' from the musical 'The Fix' 1997, by John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe).
X X X
C.J. and Josh were waiting for Toby outside the Oval Office. They looked as if they were ready for confrontation, particularly Josh.
"What do you think you were doing in there?"
"I am a Senior Political Advisor to the President, Josh. I was advising him."
"This is foreign policy, Toby. We stay out of it." C.J. admonished.
"Not this time, no we don't. This has local repercussions to States on our Western Coast, to Hawaii, it was reported by our Ambassador; that makes it a domestic concern." They began walking back to the Communications Bullpen.
"And you really think its wise leaving Sam to carry on with some exercise that's useless?" Josh came in again.
"I only said that I THOUGHT it may be useless Josh. I don't think it would work in the context the President was hoping for, it's true but we may gain some valuable information that we can use to cajole the Congressmen who are sitting on the fence. The environmental lobby can have astronomical powers over the careers of some of them; we have to hit people where it hurts and this may be the way to do it."
"Yet you said it was unimportant, that's why you wanted Sam left on it. You're not making any sense, Toby."
"I'm saying we may glean something useful from it but its not going to threaten our agenda if Sam screws it up. His head's not back in the game after the weekend he's had, most of which he told me he spent at the hospital. It'll ease him in, it's something he's good at and he knows about; if this tack is going to work he's the one to do it. If nothing useful comes up we've still got fallbacks."
"Is he O.K. Toby – Sam?" C.J. asked. "I didn't know that he spent the weekend at the hospital, is Alex all right? I thought that she wasn't feeling so good yesterday, which was why he didn't come in."
"She had a transfusion of some blood thing." Toby said vaguely as they all walked into his office. No sooner had the Communications Director walked into his office he turned around and walked out again. "Ginger, you getting Kim Dryden for Sam?"
"Yeah. He'll be down in a half hour."
"Can you get Congresswoman Wyatt over here now?"
"Sure, anything else?"
"No. Thank you." Toby retreated back into his office and sat himself down behind his desk. Josh was sitting on the sofa nervously running his hands through his hair while C.J. was leaning against his shelving unit, perched on the edge of the sideboard that protruded beyond the width of the shelves.
"Is she O.K., though, Toby? I mean, it's not...the end, is it?" C.J. asked concerned.
"Not yet. I know that she's been sick a lot lately but Sam said the transfusion had helped."
"Is he O.K?" C.J. questioned.
"Look at him, C.J." Toby said. "Does he look O.K. to you? He's barely coping."
"He says he's doing fine." Josh said.
"And how many times have we known that what Sam says and what Sam actually means don't coincide?" Toby returned. "He's tired, he can't sleep for worry. He knows that the end is coming and he thinks that it won't be long..."
"He told you all that?" Josh asked flabbergasted. "He's not told me anything."
"He's not told me that Josh but you can tell things by looking at him and by what he says and the way he says it. If you ask him a direct question on her condition he will give you a full scientific definition of what something means but he will not personalise. He won't add feelings. You ask if someone's O.K. he tells you that everything's under control. They're sins of omission. He tries to divert listener attention; he's a speechwriter and a lawyer, Josh, he has had many opportunities to perfect his skills of obfuscation."
"I never thought." Josh bowed his head.
"I don't think he's been taking proper care of himself." C.J. added quietly. "I think he's living on coffee and nervous energy and any type of food as long as it can be done in no more than two minutes in a microwave or with boiling water."
"Sam's the poster boy for healthy living, C.J., also nuts for dental hygiene." C.J. glared at Josh for the latter part of that comment. She did not find it in the least bit amusing.
"I'll keep my eye on him." Toby promised.
"You want I should talk to him?" Josh asked, eager to make amends for his ignorance as to his friend's condition.
"Leave it to Toby to watch. If he wants to talk to you, Josh, I'm sure he will. If you go in there all guns blazing trying to force something out of him, he'll be reluctant to come to any of us in the future."
"We can't risk that, Josh. Not when the inevitable happens. He'll need you then. We have to trust him."
"What happens if something happens to him, Toby? I mean, if he's not taking proper care of himself."
"Then we intervene. We take charge whether he likes it or not."
"I think instead of trying to force him to talk at the minute; we need to trust him." C.J. added. "I know that your talking to him before when he had found out did him good but things are different now. Things have moved onto the next stage. Let Toby keep his eye on him, play things as if all was normal, keep him engaged."
"Sure." Josh said doubtfully.
X X X
Kim Dryden entered Sam's office. He was a tall man, approximately six foot five. He was only in his twenties but a great mind on environmental matters and had proven his worth to the White House on numerous occasions. As such he was well acquainted with Sam and their shared interest in environmental policies was only one of the reasons that meant they enjoyed each others company, not only within the work environment but on a social level too.
He was not quite as you would expect someone who works in close contact with White House to be, with his funky, spiky hair cut that looked like he had just been plugged in to an electric socket. His brown eyes were warm and inviting and his calm nature shone through, bringing with it a tendency to bring the best out in the people he met.
"Sam. Good to see you." The two men shook hands, Kim smiling warmly at the Deputy Communications Director and resting his free hand on the top of Sam's right arm, a gesture of comfort and support.
"Kim!"
"How are you?"
"I'm getting by."
"And Lexie?"
"She's doing O.K. She had a transfusion over the weekend and that seems to have done some good. She came home from the hospital yesterday so I had the day off; now I'm trying frantically to catch up." Sam indicated the vast array of papers spread around his office, at which Kim smiled.
"It's a tough break man. You two are so good together."
"Just my damn luck, you mean. They're either call girls or have some connection to Leo McGarry. His ex-wife has never let me forget about the time I flirted with her at a party fundraiser. I thought I was home-free with this one. I guess that shows you what I know!"
"Yeah." Kim nodded. "So, what did you need?"
"The President's asked to be briefed on the political repercussions the nuke thing could have as far as the environmentalists and the ecologists are concerned."
"He does actually know the environmental repercussions?"
"Yeah. We had that meeting a couple months ago. He now wants specific reaction. Thought he could use it to boost international concern and try to provoke some reaction from France; try to get them to sort this thing out internally."
"You want the reaction of the factions then?" Kim grinned, proud of his rhyme, (well, almost).
"I do."
"Right then. Let's start."
X X X
Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt walked into her ex-husbands office, her manner all business-like and efficient in her dark grey skirt suit and lilac blouse. Her long red hair was tied back neatly in a pony tail that reached down her back.
"Toby." She greeted.
"Andrea." Toby nervously went up to Andi and kissed her on the cheek. "Take a seat. Have a Danish." Andi sat down on Toby's sofa and put her briefcase up onto the seat beside her.
"Toby, just put my mind at rest," Toby looked blank, unaware of what she meant. "I heard a rumour a few months back, that you had been eating salad."
"I can assure you that that is most certainly not true. There is no way that a bowl of weeds can constitute a proper meal."
"Good." She inclined her head to the office next door. "How's Sam doing?"
"It's hard for the kid. For both of them. I think he's managing. I'm keeping my eye on him."
"Good. You owe him that."
"I do." Toby paused a moment. He sat down on the chair at the end of the sofa where Andi was sitting. "I've been meaning to say this for a while."
"Say what, Toby? Seriously, if it's about the salad, I don't..."
"No. It's not about the, well, it's not about that." Toby cleared his throat and nervously ran his hand over his head while his free hand rested on his hip. "I wanted to thank you."
"You wanted to thank me? For what?"
"Putting me on the benefit committee for the Child Leukaemia Foundation. I know I seemed..."
"Pissed?" Andi suggested, Toby felt the need to amend her.
"Not at all happy about it at first but..."
"It's O.K. Toby."
"I mean, I know that it won't do anything to help Alexandra now but if there's some difference that can be made, well...that can only be a good thing, right?"
"You exorcising some demons there Toby?"
"I think I may be."
"Well, that's very unlike you. Usually you're locking things up in your head. Is this a new you?"
"I really shouldn't think so, no."
"Well, that's a relief." Turning her mind to business Andrea began, "So what did you want to talk to me about? Not just that, surely."
"No. The President has asked me to talk to you on behalf of your committee as regards the nuclear fiasco in the Federated States of Micronesia and near our own distant shores, in the oceans near Hawaii."
"Do you know what he should do about that?" Andi then carried on, not waiting long enough to give Toby the opportunity to answer. "He should aim to sue them under every international piece of legislation he possibly can, whether we're a party to it or not. He should talk to Congress about the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. He should be aggressive. If the French think that they can get away with nothing formal being done against them, they'll carry on. You can't keep on crying about the poor Manta Rays and the effects on the environment. The French don't care. It's not in their back yard. You have to hit them where it hurts; widespread sanctions, threaten their international status."
"Really? And this is what your whole committee thinks?"
"Something has to be done Toby."
"Does this not contradict everything that the Ethics Committee stands for?"
"Probably." Andi paused a moment and turned to ex-husband suspiciously. "You want the President to take affirmative action. Don't you?"
"I do."
"And he wants to know whether we'll object?"
"Yes. Will you?"
"Are you going to be killing people, harming people in anyway, threatening people?"
"None of the above directly."
"You can't threaten people who break the law, Toby. You take action and sanction them. You're not going to war over this. You're not harming people, you're helping. We don't need to know that every single nuclear weapon in the French arsenal is capable of decimating innocent life, that only one can do that should be enough, ample in fact."
"You're not going to object?"
"Go tell him." Andi nodded standing up and snagging a Danish from the plate in front of her. "You got cinnamon?"
"I did."
"You got my favourite."
"I did." Andi gave him another peck on the cheek and went to leave, her Danish in hand. Toby walked her to the lobby and was left standing alone, smiling to himself.
X X X
At 12.25pm Toby stuck his head around the door to Sam's office.
"What time did you finish with Kim?" Sam looked brighter than he had earlier, this environmental thing had really sparked his interest, Toby could see that. It really was his thing and although Sam still looked tired and drawn there was a faint sparkle in his eye and Toby could also tell that there was a fiery passion in his heart.
"About 10 minutes ago."
"Did it go O.K.?"
"Yeah. It was good."
"O.K. We're in the Oval now. We're reporting back to the President at 12.30pm sharp."
"Can I walk with you?" Toby seemed surprised by Sam's request and nodded his consent.
"Sure. So you're all suited up for this?"
"I am."
"Good."
They walked together to the Oval Office and Charlie waved them straight through. C.J. and Josh were already sitting in there next to each other on one of the sofas. The President and Leo assumed their usual positions in the wing-back chairs, so Toby and Sam sat down on the second sofa.
"What have you got for me, Sam?" asked the President.
"We have quite a lot, Sir, as far as the different groups go. As I said earlier, the ones to watch out for are the ecologists."
"Etymology Josh?"
"Do we really have time for this, Sir?" Toby asked. He could not believe that the President was going to waste everybody's precious time on inane trivia.
"We have another taker; Toby etymology?" Toby groaned but his displeasure did not prevent him from answering.
"Oecology. Coined by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel in 1873 and it covered new frontiers of scientific research."
"Thank you. Talk to me, Sam."
"Advocates of biodiversity shouldn't be too much of a problem, they won't be thrilled but we shouldn't get much political comeback as their tenets are not affected. Supporters of Gaia on the other hand will not be quite so easy to placate. Their holistic approach is not opposed to killing off any species that threatens the survival of other organisms, I think political reaction will be nothing to them. They're potentially a very dangerous group for us."
"You should stop reading Tom Clancy, Sam." Said Josh.
"'Rainbow Six' was a good book." Sam defended.
"Yes, I found that it made a particularly useful doorstop." Josh said referring to the book's hefty proportions.
"Josh." Leo warned from his vantage point on the chair. "Carry on Sam."
"Kim reckons that the rationalists should be O.K. being, you know, rational and as long as we're seen to be doing something to prevent it they shouldn't react that strongly. The eco-socialists are more concerned that we use 617 times more energy than Ethiopians and fighting about class's influence on ecology and the environment. There's no real political threat there other than the usual. Eco-feminists will enjoy blaming the men while the women are the natural defenders of the environment, so on the bright side, if there is any comeback C.J. will be fine."
"Can't argue with that one." Said C.J.
"The eco-nationalists are drawing on Chernobyl, so no doubt they'll be saying 'I told you so' along with the anti-nuclear protesters. These could be more problematic though, because of their affiliation with indigenous persons and there are many natives of the Federated States of Micronesia who are potentially in danger. Post-Marxist Eco-Feminists..."
"Excuse me?" Leo interrupted.
"Now you're just making these up, Sam." Josh scoffed.
"No, he's not." Said the President, an expert on all things of this sort. "A key advocate is Ariel Salleh and it focuses on meta-industrial workers, for example housewives, peasants and indigenous people. It also challenges Marxist class dogmas and takes a political economy approach; they look for commonalities between eco-feminists and the struggles of indigenous peoples. That right Sam?"
"Absolutely Mr. President." Sam confirmed.
"As if there's any doubt about that!" Josh muttered to C.J.
"They could be a concern for the same reason as the eco-nationalists, but the feminism thing shouldn't cause any problems. Conservationists will be bothered about the Manta Rays, but we could buy them off politically if we could guarantee a safe area for some of the endangered wildlife. Eco- socialists shouldn't be a problem either as long as people are not at such a high risk as animals, their anthropocentrism covers that and if we can convince them that we have a pragmatic solution, we're fine. Supporters of Deep Ecology may cause a political ruckus because of their holistic beliefs but I think the fact that they believe the eco-sphere is closely related to God will succeed in preventing some of the retributive action they could attempt, but I am worried by the fact that they call for drastic change to recognise the intrinsic attitudes of all species; I'm thinking about the Manta Rays here. As far as the groups themselves are concerned, Kim says we should be aware of the movements of Earth First and Direct Action; there is the potential for environmental terrorism and I think we can all agree that we don't want a repeat performance of what happened to the ski resort in Colorado." Sam took a deep breath as he finished.
"That it?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good work." Bartlet turned his attention to the Communications Director. "Toby, what have you got for me?"
"Andi says it's a go, Sir!"
"You're kidding me?"
"I am not."
"I would have thought that the Ethics Committee would have objections on all sorts of fronts."
"Andi says that we're fine Sir. She'll make sure we are."
"There'll be no comeback from them?"
"None at all."
"Excellent, Toby." The President looked around the room. "We're taking an affirmative action approach. All the lawyers in the room raise your hands." The Senior Staff looked around at one another bemused. "Those of you who have graduated from law school, do not fear for your time will not be wasted. You will all spend the rest of the day sifting through Treaties and international laws and find all the breaches and exemptions you can. Josh, can you run the war room for this in the Roosevelt Room. Get all the lawyers you can find on this, would you please."
"Yes Sir. Sam, Toby, you join him when you've given C.J. a line for the Press. Don't tell them we're going for the jugular. Tell them we're examining our options for further ways to react."
"Yes Sir." Both of the Communications Staffers said.
"Keep the lid on this C.J." said Leo.
"Yes, sir." They sat there for a moment.
"Well, go do it." The President said. He was greeted by a bustle of action as each of the Senior Staff jumped up once more and set about preparing press statements and preparing the war room.
X X X
Josh had Donna call in Ainsley Hayes from the Counsel's Office and also dragged in Ed and Larry, who could always be relied upon, even if no one could tell which one of them was which. They sat around the long table in the Roosevelt Room with open files strewn all over and yellow legal pads and ball point pens at hand to jot down any thing that may be useful.
Josh did his best overseeing; grateful that he could use it as a reprieve from actually doing the work that whole heartedly. He simply picked up the odd file for show then stood looking over everyone else's shoulders to make sure they weren't 'missing anything'.
There was a pot of coffee on the side that was rapidly being consumed and the plate of muffins Josh had cajoled Donna into getting for him was diminishing rapidly, thanks to Ainsley's insatiable hunger for confectionary.
Sam and Toby walked in to find heads bent over the papers. They sat themselves down and Josh siphoned off an unexamined set of papers for each of them to go through, about which Toby was obviously underwhelmed.
"Hey Sam."
"Ainsley."
"And I would like to say to you, Toby: Hello."
"Ainsley. Does anyone have anything yet?" Ed and Larry both raised their legal pads, full of their jottings to show him.
"I do. I have many things that I have found out and written down for you on my paper. My piece of paper that I was given when I arrived in here today, by Josh."
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk funny?" Toby said.
"I have had that conversation, indeed I have had that conversation on many an occasion."
"O.K." Toby said, wishing he had never mentioned it.
"Guys, I don't want to be pushy but can we get on please. This is an important thing and it's gotta be done." Toby raised his eyes to glare at Josh while Josh in turn averted his attention, not wanting to risk a confrontation with the Communications Director who was far more practiced in these things than he.
After a couple hours of searching, all the pieces of paper had been dredged through culminating in a particularly lengthy compilation of everyone's lists. Proud of their work, Sam and Toby went along with Josh to take the final version along to Leo who would then work through it with Oliver Babish, the White House Counsel and then give it to the President so that the affirmative action could begin.