I Minus 72 (33 page)

“Aw, Damn! Again?” he said and turned
around, heading into the cabin to put some clothes on. By the time
he had reappeared, dressed, on the back porch, the rotors had
stopped moving and two people were exiting the chopper. Like the
chopper, they were backlit so Grant couldn’t tell exactly who they
were.

“Good morning Mr. President,” Grant said,
finally recognizing the chopper and the man approaching his porch.
At that point, Sam stepped up next to the President. He noticed
that she now wore an officer’s uniform and had shiny new gold bars
on her shoulders.

“Good morning, Colonel,” the President said
warmly.

“Uh, sir, may I ask why you’re here? Oh,
sorry, please come up on the porch and have a seat. Would you like
some day-old coffee? I could brew a new pot—won’t take but a few
minutes.” For some reason that he couldn’t pinpoint, Grant was a
little nervous. He and Sam exchanged a quick glance but he couldn’t
read her expression.

The President smiled and said, “Don’t worry
about it. I’ve had plenty already.” He held up a rolled up paper
he’d been holding in his hand and said, “Grant, I’m here to
officially thank you for the outstanding work you did to prevent
the assassin from exploding the device. It would have killed all
the leadership of the United States, me included. Your country owes
you a debt and so do I. As of this minute you are promoted to
Brigadier General. Also, although the details of what happened and
your involvement will remain classified forever, I do want to
present you with a Presidential Certificate of Merit.”

The President handed the paper to Grant who
unrolled it. It read:

Presented to

Brigadier General Grant Thurmond, USAF,
For

OUTSTANDING MERITORIOUS
SERVICE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF INTELLIGENCE DUTIES IN SUPPORT
OF
OPERATION I MINUS 72
. YOUR GREAT ZEAL, DEVOTION, INITIATIVE, EXUBERANCE AND
PROFESSIONALISM WERE INSTRUMENTAL AND CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO
THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ALL OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES. YOUR OUTSTANDING
ACHIEVEMENT REFLECTS GREAT CREDIT UPON YOURSELF, THE DEFENSE
INTELLIGENCE ACENCY AND YOUR COUNTRY.

Signed by Theodore Roosevelt Mason

President of the United States

He couldn’t help chuckling. No one could
write superlatives like the government, particularly when it came
to DOD awards.

“Mr. President, I’m honored. I’m just
thankful it turned out as well as it did. I’m sorry it took until
the last second to be resolved.” Grant turned his head to look at
Sam. “And congratulations on your well-deserved promotion,
Sam.”

“Thank you Col . . . , sorry, I mean
General.” She smiled and continued, “The President was kind enough
to promote me, too. And congratulations on your promotion. You’re
going—”

The President interrupted,
“Grant, there’s something else I need to talk with you about. I’m
creating a new position of special intelligence assistant to the
President. I want you in that job. It will involve extremely
sensitive special assignments that you and I know are needed, but,
because of their sensitivity, we don’t want anyone else to know
about. As a result of recent events, we’ve taken a close look at
the internals of all our intelligence agencies and have identified
several moles, both past and present. One of them was discovered in
the department I worked in at DIA. We now think that’s how your
network was compromised. I just don’t trust these old line agencies
and, as President, I
need
someone I can trust.”

“Will this position report directly to the
DNI or be part of DIA?” Grant asked.

The President shook his head. “Neither. It’s
too sensitive. This position will report directly to me and be
accountable to no one but me. I’m not exactly sure what the
assignments will be, but they’ll be somewhat like the one you just
completed. Be honest, you didn’t really need to be part of DIA for
you to be successful, did you?”

Thurmond smiled. “No, Mr. President, I
didn’t. If anything, they got in the way,” he paused. “But I’m
retired now and I’m not sure I want to go back to Washington full
time.”

The President reached out to shake Grant’s
hand. “Grant, you don’t have to make the decision right now. Take
your time. The position was written for you and, until you let me
know one way or another, I won’t be looking for anyone else to fill
it, even if that takes a couple of months. So take the time you
need. Be sure of your answer. Remember Grant, your country needs
you now more than ever. Well, I’ve got to get back to Washington.”
He turned to head back to the chopper. “Coming Lieutenant?” he said
over his shoulder.

Sam glanced first at Grant, and then looked
at the President. “Uh, Mr. President, I think I’ll find my own way
back. With the . . . General’s permission, I’d like to hang around
here for a while.”

The President smiled and
nodded. Without a word he turned and walked back to the
helicopter.
Whup
,
whup
,
whup
,
whup
. .
. and then it was silent.

Standing on the porch, they watched the
helicopter until it disappeared. Then, finding each other’s hands,
they wordlessly turned and walked inside.

Don Tompkins grew up in central Illinois, graduating
from Bloomington High School. He spent over ten years in the U.S.
Navy, serving most of that time in various intelligence assignments
at both the Headquarters of the Atlantic Forces and the
Headquarters of the Pacific Forces. While in the Navy, Don earned,
among others, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Joint Service
Commendation Medal. He was also awarded a Certificate of Merit for
Intelligence duties while at the Pacific Command. After leaving the
Navy, Don had a successful career in the corporate world as a
senior executive.

I minus 72 is Don’s first novel. He is hard at work
writing the sequel, which will feature the same team as his first,
but in a more contemporary setting.

Don graduated from Chaminade University of Honolulu.
He and his wife, Kelly, reside with their black pug, Cricket, in a
suburb of Grand Rapids, Michigan.