“A special mission. Sound’s interesting. What’ve you got.”

“Our activity in Iran is stepping up. I have been informed that to get the ball rolling towards a full democratic revolution, a few hurdles need to be removed.”

“Do these hurdles happen to have made in Russia stamped all over them?”

Bush laughs a deep guffaw. He likes it when his team players know the lay of the land. Two reactors have almost completed construction and one is already reported to be refining Uranium for nuclear weapons.

“Yes. I want to send in SDAI to take those things out. Even a few shipments of refined Uranium will fund Iran’s weapons program and give the whole region an ugly-stick facelift. The clerics are sending in terrorists to attack our boys in Iraq and they would just love to be able to sweep Iraq into the fundamentalist hellhole bloc to replace Afghanistan.”

“What sort of volume level are we talking about?”

“Oh this is going to be getting pretty noisy. But I want SDAI’s missions to be conducted at a low volume level.”

A low volume level is understood to mean a completely clandestine operation by unidentified and untagged personnel. No one from the US officially comes in to save you if you’re captured. However SDAI has a policy of going after our own, often using a combination of European craft and weaponry which could belong to a whole host of weapon buying nations.

“Pardon my curiousity and if I‘m out of line just tell me so - but when are you going to publicly reveal the caches of WMD we secured in Iraq? Surely you‘re taking unnecessary heat while concealing the discoveries.”

“If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. - well I can take the heat. Revealing the caches will be done on my timetable.”

I debate whether I should discuss political decisions with the President. It’s not my job. It only always complicates our relationship but I decide to give him an earful anyway.

“You didn’t ask me, but I will give you my advice for what it’s worth. Don’t wait too long. You already have the democrats hanging out to dry on this issue once the data is declassified. Kerry, Dean…they’ve all taken the bait. Also… if you need us, we can “re-discover” several sites for public consumption in late July or even August. I know you‘ll listen to Rove far more than me on this issue and Rove and I have our disagreements, but I can give you a better outside the beltway gut feel. I‘d wait absolutely no longer than August.”

“You’re absolutely right… I didn’t ask for your advice.”

I laugh and he smiles. He might as well be wearing a “Rove has been here” sticker on his suit lapel. So few people who know the truth get to have an opinion on the WMD disclosure and I’ll hope that mine makes a small dent. It’s not that I dislike Rove, for he’s a savvy manipulator. However after last election’s total devastation of the democrats, in large part due to Rove’s strategy, has made the man cocky and I know, all too well, that cocky on the battlefield is dangerous.

If he were his dad right now he’d be giving me his innermost feelings and laying out the logic of his decisions. But he holds those thoughts back and he knows I know he’s holding back. Presidential prerogative - discussion ended. I liked him better when Karen Hughes was at his elbow. She was good for Bush the President, but even better for Bush the man. A lot has happened since May of 2002 and Bush seems to be hardened somewhat by the recent 24/7 media attacks. I halfway expect Rove to pop out one of the antechambers here in Atlantis to give me my orders. Thoughts start drifting into my head. Where’s Cheney? How is Powell weathering the decision to withhold disclosure? What’s Rumsfeld’s take on the matter? Should I organize a small get together or meet with them individually to find out the undercurrents?

So much is at stake and in the back of my mind is forming other thoughts. What will happen if he chooses not to disclose the WMD confiscated? What is his motivation? Is it to lull North Korea and Iran into overconfidence? Is it to smoke out any potential leaks in the compartmentalized food chain prior to election time? How would such a decision affect the upcoming Iran missions? Would those missions also be kept under wraps?

I understand better than anyone the need for secrecy, but I question who is behind the policy. Perhaps it is not Rove at all. Perhaps there are other individuals who are linked to those WMD for whom Bush is using disclosure as a perpetual sword of Damocles?

“Tech1 you listening?”

“Pardon me, Mr. President I was lost in thought for a moment.”

“Never mind. Here.”

The president reaches onto the desk and hands me one of those special disks only a few machines can read. It utilizes a tenth generation Fortezza type code base which encrypts better than anything out there at the moment. The disk is amazingly small, almost exactly the size and weight of a quarter, and in my mind I quickly wonder if the gumball machines at the supermarkets would accept it - and if so - would the clerks who open it throw it away like some worthless slug instead of realizing the thousands of dollars employed into creating each such disk?

“All the missions and necessary information, contacts, etc. are on the disk. I probably wont see you or have contact with you until you return…so good luck.”

“Thank you Mr. President. As always we’ll do our very best.”

I lock my eyes with his as I shake his hand. His soul windows are wide open - as are mine. My eyes convey the seriousness of the whole affair and how important what we do here is to human affairs and perhaps even the future of the world as we know it. The message is matched in his eyes and I can see he can read my concern.

“I know…and Tech1, I am counting on it… and grateful for it.”

In his eyes his real self is peeking out from underneath the mantle of Presidential prerogative. Whatever his reasons for holding back will be revealed in time and I leave his office with a clear intent to shorten the length of that time as much as is humanly possible. I place the disk in one of my flight suit pockets and zip it up.

Tech7 is absorbed in thought sitting in a chair and a welcome sight as I open the door. I realize at once how comfortable and confident she makes me feel. It is the image of her in thoughtful repose before she realized I was standing there that is captured in an instant in my mind’s eye and another glimpse of the true person.

“Are we leaving so soon?”

“Yep. Mission accomplished. Let’s fly.”