Operation Rock of Ages: Exodus

ORA: Exodus Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

The reporter signed off feeling pretty good about the interview. She was a bit upset with herself for not getting Mrs. Namir to make a mistake or rattle her into giving away information she could use, but she still had the enviable position of being the one honored with the interview. She could already see talk shows and sound bites with her name attached to the interview. Janice Stillwell at CNN could eat her shorts, she thought with a grin.

She was going to be all over YouTube and social media. She pulled her mic off quickly. She was hoping to see Mrs. Namir out in the hall before they put her back on the chopper. Maybe she could ask to fly with her to her new home to get pictures. They seemed to be getting along so well that there was hope.

She started into the hallway and ran right into a secret serviceman's chest. "Your presence has been requested by the President. Please follow me," the man said. His words said "requested" and "please" but the tone of his voice said "demanded" and "do it now."

She was shown into an office a few doors down. It was set up much the way the office she had just been sitting in looked. 'I bet this is where she had been', she thought to herself.

She looked across the room and saw the President sitting at a desk looking quite irate. He didn't greet her, like he normally would, but said two words, "Explain yourself." That's it. She knew she was in trouble.

She tried to act innocent. Asked him what he meant, she thought the interview went great. He shook his head and kept staring at her with a very upset look on his face. "Explain yourself!" he said again, with more force. She thought quickly, nothing went wrong in the interview. She did ad lib a few of the questions but they were what any reporter would ask.

"I know I didn't stick to the script, but they seemed like normal questions to ask, sir." She added the "sir" mainly because she knew he didn't like it. He kept staring at her intently. He couldn't know about the phone call she received minutes before the interview, could he? She started to fidget.

"Last chance! Explain yourself NOW, and maybe ... just maybe, you can keep your seat in the press box!" the President said angrily.

'Oh, God, he knew!' she thought in panic. Her fidgeting got worse. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say," she said.

"Tell me who it was. Tell me why. Tell me the truth!" he said.

"Fine," she said in a half snarl, angry that she had been backed into a corner. "Someone from your competitor's campaign called me and asked me to do my best to trip up Mrs. Namir and rattle her. They wanted to see if they could get a detail or two about where she was staying. I was promised the Press Secretary position when she came into power." She sat back in a huff.

"So you believed that a job position was worth more than the health and safety of others?" he spoke in a voice more angry than she had ever heard.

"Yes, I mean no. I mean that if she had let out some detail I knew you would move her again. I knew she would be safe. They were just testing me. I didn't think it would be a big deal," she said, defending herself indignantly. "Seriously."

"You can leave now. You say one word about this meeting, just one and I find out, you are through. Do you understand? You better ride out this moment of fame while you can. It will be the last one you will get from this White House," the President said.

"Yes, Mr. President. I understand." She had stopped fidgeting. She froze in place. She tried to think of where she had gone wrong so quickly and how to fix it. "The man on the phone was Mr. Perwin, if that helps you at all," she said hopefully. Maybe that would put her back in his good graces. He glared at her and waved a hand dismissing her. Part of her wanted to be upset at how she was dismissed, but she was just glad to be leaving.