Bully!
Artemus West knew that President Theodore Roosevelt was a man who travelled to all sorts of places, but up until now, he hadn't expected secret, hidden train tunnels a short distance from Chicago to be on even T.R.'s broad agenda. Yet here T.R. unquestionably was, sitting behind a large desk in a semi-subterranean office far from the White House, beaming at them with his famous grin.
"Ah, Henry! I see our new recruits have done as well as we expected! And without killing anyone, I hope?" The President of the United States craned his neck around, looking past Colonel Longworth and the new arrivals to see if anyone else was joining them. But Agent Hamilton had stayed behind in the observation car to assist with the fallen while Longworth brought Tem, Amanda and Jimmy to see the man they all ultimately reported to.
"No one killed," Colonel Longworth sighed as Roosevelt gestured for them all to take seats in the comfortable chairs arranged in front of the desk. "The suits protect admirably against bullets as they were designed to do. They are less optimal against electricity, but that fellow has become conscious, and Mr. Gordon assures me that my other man should regain his eyesight at some point. Also, I recommended to Hamilton that he have the one kicked by Mr. West checked for internal injuries."
Jimmy had been goggle-eyed at the presence of the actual President of the United States, but blushed and shrank into his chair at Colonel Longworth's words. Amanda's expression was cool and polite – something that Tem recognized as a sign of potential thunderclaps to come. He was feeling more than a little hot under the collar himself.
"We aren't going to apologize for defending ourselves when attacked," Tem said sharply to Longworth, Presidential audience or no.
"Nor should you," Longworth said. "As I tried to explain-" but his words were cut off by a hand Roosevelt held up for silence. The mercurial President's grin had vanished, replaced by a far more somber grimace.
"Hold off, Henry." The President adjusted his pince-nez and frowned. "There are apologies owed here all right, by me. I won't have another man doing my duty." Roosevelt folded his hands together and regarded his young visitors in a serious manner. "I am sorrier than I can say for what you've just been put through on my orders. I am also sorry for your losses. Captain West was a fine, fine man of the bravest and most patriotic sort. I will also say, whether you were aware of it or not, Mr. Gordon, Mrs. West, that I knew both of your parents. I considered them to be among the best people I have ever met, and I have met many. I would have attended their funerals as well if this damned office of mine didn't make me a distraction to the grieving. But that damned office also requires me to do a lot of things that aren't pleasant, and one of them is bringing you here to listen to some things you aren't going to want to hear, for the purpose of asking you to undertake a mission that is dangerous, uncertain in its outcome and that you have every right to refuse. I apologize, and when you are done hearing what I'm going to tell you, I hope you will accept that apology."
Silence filled the room. Whatever he was about to ask of them, how did one turn down the President of the United States?
Roosevelt stood up and paced behind his desk for a moment, rubbing his mustache in thought.
"Hmmphh. Already started out on the wrong foot with you three. Might as well get the worst of it over with." He stopped pacing and turned to face them. "The truth of it is . . . damned bad business . . . we don't believe either of your parents were the intended targets of that hospital explosion. Not the main ones, anyway."
Tem almost stood up in shock at this news himself.
"It didn't have anything to do with my father getting shot . . . ?"
"Oh, it did," T.R. said. "That it did. And what I'm about to tell you, if we continue this conversation, is top secret and very sensitive information. So if you're not prepared to handle more, any of you three, I can have Henry walk you out the door right now and I won't think the lesser of you for it." He paced a bit more to let these words sink in and give them a chance to consider. Not one of the three stood up. Roosevelt nodded appreciatively and turned to face them again. "Here it is. As you know, since the assassination of my predecessor President McKinley, the Secret Service has been going through some changes. More focused on providing personal security, less on the investigative and criminal matters you and your fathers handled."
"Yes . . . ." Tem answered, as Amanda nodded.
"But the need is still there, now more than ever." T.R.'s brow furrowed. "To the outside world, we are at peace and prosperity. No threats we can't handle." The President shook his head and pounded one fist on the desk. "There is rot in the woodwork! A conspiracy, if you will, of secret arms dealings smuggling weapons around the globe. There's money to be made in wars and someone – many someones – mean to make it. We've been aware of its existence for some time, but haven't been able to track down the ringleaders or put a stop to most of their rackets." He sighed a long, sad sigh. "Last week a retired man, one of the best agents the Secret Service ever had, discovered one of those operations all on his own."
"Dad . . . ."
Roosevelt nodded and sat down heavily behind his desk once more.
"We can't know," T.R. said softly, "how he found 'em. Like you, we never got the chance to ask him. But Jim West found a nest of those vipers right in Chicago and did something about it. Set the nest on fire and exploded half their blasted arsenal."
Yes, Tem thought. That sounded like his father all right.
"Too much for him to do on his own," the President continued. "You know some of the rest. He was brought to the hospital with the bullet hole and his heart half off too – not expected to live. Unfortunately, about a dozen of the vipers he stomped were brought to the same hospital and placed under guard." T.R. frowned. "Same floor of the hospital as your father."
Vipers, the President called them. Snakes after all.
Tem's mouth was suddenly too dry to speak, but Amanda's was not.
"You think the bombs were intended to kill them," she stated rather than asked.
Roosevelt nodded again.
"Killed before we could find out anything more from them, along with a lot of other lives lost, including your loved ones." The President lowered his eyes. "Not nearly as many as might have been killed if Jim West hadn't found that weapons warehouse and put a stop to it. Not much consolation to you, I'm afraid."
Again he gave them a few moments to digest what he was saying. Unlike what they had all been thinking at the funeral, this made real and terrible sense. Tem's father had done the right thing, but that had put him and Aunt Lily in the wrong place at the wrong time, killed for coincident purposes.
"So." Roosevelt harrumphed and sat forward. "Now you know. So what are we going to do about it? I hope you are wondering, because that was the reason for the little test we gave you."
"You called us recruits," Tem said, finding his voice again. "Recruits for what?"
This time the President turned to Colonel Longworth, prepared to let him take his own turn speaking once more.
"For a special branch of the Secret Service," the Colonel told them, "a Secret Secret Service, if you will, one that carries on the important work that agents like your fathers were doing instead of being shifted to specialized guard duty. As the President said, the need is still great, but we cannot make that need public. It has been our intention for some time to enlist you in this cause, but as I also said back in the tunnel, Captain West's death has forced us to advance our schedule. You already are involved, whether you want to be or not. We have a shared interest in bringing to justice the murderers who took your parents' lives. The Secret Service needs its Wests and Gordons. By virtue of your unique family history, you three have been given access to knowledge, skills and training that none of our other agents have. You have all been working for us for some time now-"
Amanda looked over toward her brother and opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again in shock as Jimmy shrank back in his chair with an obvious look of guilt written all over his features.
Uh oh, Tem thought. The cat is really out of the bag now! Then he realized his wife was scrutinizing him as well and did a little inward shrinking himself. He hoped that wherever they were sent to sleep tonight, the couches and floors were comfortable, because he had a sudden feeling he was going to wind up on one or the other. Well, she had to find out sometime . . . .
Colonel Longworth paused as he saw the silent conversation their faces were having and realized too late his indiscretion. T.R. coughed loudly and went to bat in his place.
"And you have passed the test we set up for you! Bully!" He cracked a trace of his famous grin again. "You'll need time to consider, of course, but there isn't much to spare." He waggled a finger at them. "Henry, I believe you made the arrangements?"
"Ah, yes," the Colonel said, recovering from his momentary embarrassment. "Provided you are still willing to come to Washington and learn more of what we had in mind for you, you will find that the train you were on is delayed temporarily along a side railing just a little ways up the track, where it will be getting a new observation car attached." He spread his hands out in another gesture of apology. "An observation car that we hope you will agree to be on. If not, we can arrange to have your bags taken off and provide you with alternate means of transportation. It is my sincerest . . . ."
"And mine too," T.R. added for good measure.
". . . . hope that you will continue on and agree to our assignment for you. The Secret Service needs you. Our country needs you. Our world."
Glad they aren't putting any pressure on us, Tem thought drily.
"No more surprises on the journey?" Jimmy asked, still keeping a wary eye on his sister, who was looking exceptionally controlled and polite.
"Not from us," Colonel Longworth said. It wasn't the greatest reassurance he could have given them, but it was an honest one.
One by one, they all nodded agreement.
"Bully!" Roosevelt roared again, and his smile returned in full. He stepped out from behind the desk and gave every one of them, including Amanda, a hearty handshake. He gave Tem and Jimmy an encouraging slap on the back as well, with enough force to nearly knock Jimmy over. "Henry, get these three to Washington on the double! I believe they have another train to catch!"