Josh awoke with a start. It took him almost a minute to realize that someone was knocking on his door. And they were pretty persistent.
"Mr. Lyman, please open up," he heard a familiar voice. He briefly wondered from where he knew the man while he donned his old bathrobe.
"Coming," he said groggily, casting a quick glance at the watch on his nightstand. It still said 3:30.
He opened up the door and found himself face to face with three Secret Service agents.
"Mr. Lyman, you have to come with us," Liam O'Leary told him.
"Where are we going?" Josh asked, while going back into the room to get fully dressed.
"Sir, we don't have time to discuss things, we don't have time to get dressed. You have to come with us. In this minute."
Josh looked at the man and then nodded; quickly picking up his clothes from yesterday he followed the three agents. A big black car was waiting for them, its engines were running. Josh climbed into the car and after pulling on his trousers, he fell asleep to the monotony of the car rolling on the dark empty streets of the D.C.
He didn't notice that they stopped so Liam O'Leary had to shake him awake. Josh looked around surprised. He had never seen this part of Washington. He glanced down at his watch and saw that it was almost half past four. So they must have traveled approximately an hour.
We are not in Kansas anymore, he thought and then chuckled. However stepping out into the crisp morning air, he had to realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Where are we exactly, and what am I doing here?" he asked then Liam.
"Sir, you'll need your card when you get out. I'm not allowed to accompany you," Liam avoided answering his question.
"What kind of card?" Josh asked, after getting out of the car. But the car drove away without Liam giving him an answer to that question. "What kind of card?" he shouted impatiently.
"Your NSA card, Mr. Lyman," another—though only slightly—familiar voice told him.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Josh asked, turning around to face Agent Truro. They stepped into the building which—Josh was surprised to see—consisted of almost nothing else but corridors seemingly leading to nowhere.
"No, sir," the young man shook his head. "May I see your card?" he asked then again, very politely.
"What if I didn't have it?" Josh asked, opening his briefcase.
"Did Agent O'Leary ask you to bring your briefcase?" Agent Truro asked, reaching out for the card.
"No," Josh shook his head, handing the card over.
"Well, he must have seen you grabbing it; otherwise he would have told you to bring it."
"And isn't this card there to give me directions?" Josh asked, after Agent Truro handed him the card back.
"Well, sir, since you couldn't have been aware of the situation, it was just easier to bring you here," the agent told him with an almost apologetic smile.
"Well, Agent Truro, what is the situation?" Josh asked from the man.
"That is not for me to tell," the agent told him and turned. "Would you follow me, please?"
Josh looked at the back of the agent but then followed him in silence.
"Where are we?" he asked finally, tired of walking the white corridors.
"Not in the D.C. anymore, Mr. Lyman," the young man disclosed.
"That much I gathered. But where exactly?" Josh asked.
"It's not important, Josh," he heard another familiar—although not very friendly—voice.
"I don't know why, but this all is starting to resemble a recent nightmare of mine," Josh stated as he watched Vice President Eric Baker step onto the corridor.
"Josh, come on in! We have been expecting you," the vice president told him with a smile, although the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Yes, sir," Josh said with a nod and followed the vice president into the office behind the door. He saw the almost exact replica of the White House's Situation Room. Josh took a long look around to identify the faces looking up at him. He saw the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the HUD Secretary, the Deputy of the National Security Advisor and the Secretary of the Interior. Those were the civilians. The Vice Chairman of the JSC stood next to Vice President Eric Baker and another four richly decorated military men of high ranks stood around the table. Farthest from him he was also able to recognize the Deputies of the CIA and the FBI.
"What happened?" he asked, turning to Vice Chairman General Michael Tumble.
"The President refused to leave the White House," the general told him.
"Well, I remember that Leo threatened President Bartlet with the Secret Service, so where were they?" Josh asked.
"The President sent them after you, saying that you have the NSA card," the Secretary of the Interior imparted.
Josh heaved a tired sigh and then looked at the vice president.
"What do we know? And what are they doing in the White House?" he asked.
"They are doing whatever is needed to do to keep the country running," the CIA's Deputy Director of Intelligence told him.
"Okay, and what are we doing?" Josh asked them.
"We are doing nothing, son," Vice President Baker told him.
"Nothing? And what are those monitors for?" Josh pointed at the black monitors.
"We don't have an operational link outside, the Department of the Treasury says this is a new site and they are still working on it," the Deputy Director of the FBI said.
Josh's eyes darted to the Secretary of the Treasury and Mike Trattore, looking ashamed, nodded his conformation.
"We have to talk about this once the crisis is over," Josh said. "Okay, let's do something!" he then turned to the vice president.
"Josh, you understood the part that we don't have an operational link to the outside world, didn't you?" the CIA's DDI asked him.
"Yes, Frank, I did understand that, you told me in English and I was here to hear it, but let's be honest…. Okay, how long have you been here?" he asked then no one in particular but rather the group of people surrounding the oval table.
"Well, we have been here for almost half an hour prior to your arrival, Josh," Michael Tumble answered his question.
"And you are still not gone crazy over the fact that you can't do anything in this situation?" Josh asked them, clearly expressing his perplexity.
"Well, Josh, what do you suggest we do?" Vice President Eric Baker asked him.
"You do have cell phones, right?" Josh retorted, hearing the mocking in the vice president's voice.
"They don't work here," Mike Trattore said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Cell phones don't work here?" Josh uttered the question in a high pitched voice.
"Okay, Josh, you know that you sound ridiculous when you do that," his friend Mike Casper told him.
"Yeah, I know that, and you all know what it means when I do that," he looked around, flashing a smile at Deputy Advisor for National Security Romana Gutierrez.
"Yes, Josh, we know. It means that you need someone to talk to you, but we don't have Donna here, so settle down," the Vice Chairman General Tumble told him.
"Okay, I really have to do something now," Josh told them.
"You can join us waiting, Josh," Romana Gutierrez offered him.
"Is there another room I can wait?" Josh asked them.
"Why don't you want to wait here with us, son?" the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs asked him.
"'Cause if this is all over and we return to reality I still have to work with you all," Josh told him and then stepped out of the room. He greeted the two Secret Service agents who stood outside and asked them to point him to the mess.
"Left, right and then right again, sir," the agents answered in unison.
Josh stepped into the mess and was clearly surprised to see that it wasn't empty. He knew these faces from various balls and ceremonial gatherings in the D.C.
"What's going on, Josh? Why don't they tell us anything?" Mrs. Baker asked him, after Josh greeted the assembled women and children.
"Well, I don't know either so that's why they are not telling anything. All I know that the agents woke me up in the middle of the night and then drove me here," Josh said, trying to send a reassuring smile towards the older woman. "Is everyone alright?" he asked then.
"Yes, Josh, thank you," Mrs. Tumble told him.
Josh looked around and noticed how tired the kids looked. He stepped outside where the door was flanked with two agents.
"Are there any rooms for kids in this complex? Someplace to crash?" Josh asked the two female agents.
"Yes, sir," Agent Hailey Roth told him.
"Would you call someone to lead them there?" Josh inquired and Agent Roth nodded. She used her earpiece and microphones to summon someone and five minutes later the children and their mothers left the mess, leaving Josh with five women and a man.
"I'm glad you could convince Dorothy to go with them," Mrs. Tumble said, referring to the wife of the vice president. "I know it must be hard on her, but she was driving us crazy here."
"Where is the First Lady? Isn't she supposed to be here?" Luis Gutierrez asked him.
"She is in Boston, I think," Josh told him.
"You think? You don't know where your fiancée is?" Mrs. Tumble asked him in disbelief.
"I don't really have the capacity to keep their schedule in my head all the time. As long as she calls me every night and assures me that she is still in love with me I don't really care. I think they are in Boston, but they can be in Philly for what I know. I'm only sure that they are supposed to come home this morning. And I can only hope that they are both in a secure facility in Boston. What my concern is where the Santos kids are," Josh said, after rubbing his eyes. He was concerned about Donna's whereabouts but what good would it bring if he would panic?
As if on cue, two Secret Service agents stepped into the room, each holding a sleeping kid in their hands.
"They were staying with their grandparents," the agent whispered to Josh.
"And where are they?" Josh asked back.
"They refused to leave," the agent replied.
"Okay, Mrs. Tumble, could you please…?" Josh turned to the wife of the Vice Chairman of the JCS.
"Of course, Josh, follow me, please," she told to the two agents.
"I really have to speak to someone or else I go crazy," Josh grumbled.
"Chill it, Josh!" he heard a voice behind him; he turned on his heels to face a Secret Service agent.
"You're talking to me?" he asked surprised.
"Wait a minute, sir," the agent said, stopping Josh with a raised hand. "Chill it, Josh!" he repeated then.
"Well, I've heard you before, but—" Josh wanted to protest but was interrupted.
"Excuse me, sir, I have the president. He said I should tell you to chill it."
"You have the President there?" Josh asked excited at the idea that he can, at last, do something. "Tell him his kids are safe and tucked in."
"He knows that, sir," the agent told Josh.
"Just tell him, would ya, please?" Josh got impatient.
"He says thank you," the agent replied after a minute.
"Can I talk to him?" Josh asked, seeing that that way it will take hours before he gets the answers.
"No, sir, according to the security procedure…" the agent wanted to say but was cut off.
"Oh for cryin' out loud! Screw the regulations! You have the President there," Josh shouted.
"Actually, sir, I have a chain of people and at the end of the chain there is the President," the agent told him coolly.
"Okay, tell him I want to go back to Washington," Josh said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"No, Josh," came the answer almost a minute later. "You have to stay there; you have to advise the Vice President and the other members of the Cabinet."
"Sir, with all due respect, the Vice President has his own Chief of Staff," Josh pointed out.
"Who is not here," the agent informed him almost immediately. "I'll tell Helen that the kids are okay. Thank you, Josh. I hope we'll see you soon," he then relayed President Santos' words to Josh.
"Sir!" Josh shouted as if the President could hear him.
"No use, sir, the presidential detail shut us out," the agent said.
"How did this chain work? I thought if cell phones don't work here…" Josh trailed off.
"Yeah, but we've an outpost in front of the building; their earpieces are picking up signals from the outside world, and they are in touch with us."