The Winter War

Chapter 6

USS Andromeda

Anticosti Island

“He’s late,” Wheeler growled through clenched teeth. “There is a very limited amount of space on this ship, so what the hell can Thomas be doing to make himself so late?”

“Meeting with the First Lady? Burbank offered. He looked down and shuffled his papers again, still waiting for the President to arrive for the meeting. Two hours had passed and all that had been accomplished was three pots of bad coffee and Wheeler’s annoyance growing to the point that he was going to need a dentist if he ground his teeth any more.

“The First Lady has no reason to meet with him,” Wheeler said.

“Secretary of Booty Calls?”

Wheeler turned his head to Burbank, face red and jaw clenched. Richard was fully prepared to get a full salvo from the Secretary of Defense, whose uniform was still neatly pressed, but instead Wheeler surprised everyone by smiling then breaking into a full laugh. He threw his head back and laughed, his burly chest rising and falling with each guffaw. Burbank heard that he goes down to the exercise room from time to time and puts all of the younger sailors to shame; and judging from the muscles barely contained by his uniform he didn’t doubt it.

Then, the hatch opened and Thomas Garrett stepped into the Secured Information Room, a non-descript room barely large enough to hold the table at which they sat, a table with a coffee pot, and a pair of cheap desks from the ships information officer and his aide. The Presidents suit was the exact opposite of Wheelers, wrinkled, misaligned. His physical appearance was just as bad, his eyes were sunken, face half shaved, and the rest of his body frail from malnourishment.

“Sorry I’m late,” He apologized, taking his seat. “I was talking to Armand Cousteau. The French are in a very bad position. And while the Germans are able to help, the French Prime Minister doesn’t want the first Wehrmacht soldier to cross into France.”

“For good reason, too,” Lovett chimed in, smug and relaxed as ever. “First they help out, then they take over. They’ve tried twice before, succeeded once.”

            “Old grudges have no place in this war, Will,” Garrett said wearily. “Either we all work together or we all fall together. Armand doesn’t seem to understand that.”

            “What about Medvedev and the Chinese?” Burbank asked, trying to postpone what he had to do, the whole reason for their meeting and what he had been preparing for since they uncovered the true identity of Johannes Vanderburgh.

            In response, Garrett sighed deeply and covered his face. “Don’t get me started on them. With armies moving back and forth lines accidently get crossed. Medvedev takes an accident as an invasion and the Chinese do the same. Those two are at each other’s throats so tightly that I’m afraid when the Druidth are beat they’ll go after each other. I’m supposed to be the President of America, not the fucking Free Worlds nanny.”

            Wheeler opened his file. “Well I suppose it’s a bad time to tell you that Egypt has fallen.”