Chapter Eight - part ten

    When James reported back to D.C. the President was still out for the holiday. It was the first day of December before he returned. The first thing he did upon his return was to summons James to the Oval office. James was ready. When he arrived the President greeted him with coolness. James wasn't too shocked to see the Chief of Staff sitting on one side of the room. The President wasted no time once the greetings were over and they were both seated. He asked the question that James knew he would be asked. "Well, I see no point in small talk. We all know why you are here. So I will just ask. Have you come to terms with my decision not to lift martial law? Can you continue to command this operation and let it go until I decide it is time to lift it?"

   James never hesitated. "Sir, I cannot. I have thought and prayed about it constantly since we last spoke. I know in my heart I cannot continue this duty for you. Sir, when we last spoke you asked me who I served. I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution. That oath puts me under your command. I serve my duty and my nation at your command and your pleasure, Sir." Now James hesitated a brief moment before he continued. "Sir, I ended my oath with the words 'So help me God.' I want you to know that I meant those words. It has been with God's help that I have served this duty. I want to continue to serve and protect my nation, but I cannot do that as you have commanded me to and also serve my God. Sir, while I have served my duty to the oath I swore; I have a greater duty that I must serve first. That is my duty to God. You ask who I serve. I serve God." James stood up and taking a deep breath he continued in a firmer tone of voice. "I can no longer fulfill my duty to you as my Commander and Chief and to my God at the same time. Unless you are prepared to lift martial law in the near future I feel that I would also be failing in my oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States as well. Respectfully Sir, I ask that you accept my resignation at this time as an officer in the United States Air Force." James remained standing at attention. He knew that this would likely be the end of his career, but that didn't matter. What mattered was who he had chosen to serve first in his life. James would serve God first. The Lord Jesus had bought and paid the price for that service with his own blood. James wouldn't turn away from or forget that sacrifice. This was a small sacrifice to offer in return for the far greater one Jesus had made for all men.

   James remained standing at attention, waiting for the hammer to fall. The President hadn't seemed surprised or even upset. In fact he had remained very calm through it all. Now he sat there just looking up at James for a long time. Finally after several very long minutes he began to nod his head. When he spoke his voice was softer and less forceful than it had been at the start of this meeting. "I can't say this is a surprise to me. I too have done a lot of thinking about this since we last spoke. But I have more questions for you. What do you plan to do if I accept your resignation? What do you plan to tell the press, because they will ask you why you have resigned? I need to know, because if you say to them what you just said to me it could be a real problem not only for me, but also this nation."

    James didn't hesitate on this either. He had expected these questions and in fact had given them far more though that his actual decision. How he handled this could easily determine how things went for his nation. "Sir, I plan to simply say that I have resigned my commission and will no longer be in command of these operations. My only explanation will be that I must first serve my God and that I can no longer continue in this command and do that. I won't explain further than that and I have already spoken with my staff about it. They won't have any comment at all. I don't wish this to be a source of problems for anyone. That may not stop all the problems, but it should keep them to a minimum, Sir." James remained at attention even as he had answered those questions.

    Once more the President sat and studied James for a few moments. Finally he came to his feet and spoke. "I will accept your resignation conditionally; first that you hold the normal weekly press conference and make the announcement of it there. And second that you recommend your replacement. Unless you agree to both of those conditions I won't accept your resignation. I will instead pull you from the command and stick you in the deepest darkest office I can find until you are forgotten." James hadn't expected this to happen or either of those conditions. He had expected to be pulled from command; to be buried somewhere and forgotten, until he could resign unnoticed. He certainly hadn't expected to be asked to pick his replacement. Still it was no problem at all to do both of the things he had been asked to do.

   James answer wasn't too slow in coming. "Sir, I can do both of those things. Thank you for the opportunity to leave my command honorably. I recommend that you give this command to General Hodges. I further recommend that you reinstate him as your Joint Chief. Sir, he has been critical to the success of this operation. He knows it better than I do and the men will follow him without question. I have spoken with him and he is ready to follow your command and leave the lifting of martial law to your pleasure. I think that he can better serve you and the nation than I can at this time. Thank you again for giving me this clear path out. I hadn't expected or hoped for anything this agreeable. I had expected to be buried and forgotten. To me that seemed to be the wisest choice you could have made about this."

       The President actually smiled now as he spoke. "You are welcome. I think both I and the country owe you at least this much. You are truly an honorable and faithful man. Take care of the transfer of command and the announcement. I will expect your letter of resignation on my desk by the end of the day. You are dismissed." The President actually smiled even more as he suddenly extended his hand to James. "I wish you well on whatever path you follow now. You have done a great deal of good for a great number of people during your time of service. I hope that you can continue that as a civilian... Mr. Cooper!" James suddenly found he was smiling back at the President as he took his hand in a firm handshake and replied. "Thank you again, Sir. I am sure that I will do well as long as I follow the path my God puts before me. I wish you and this nation all the best. I will be praying for you and it." With that James turned and left the room.

   The President remained standing as he watched James leave and close the door behind him. Only then did he resume his seat. Now he spoke to the other man who had just witnessed all of this; his Chief of Staff. "Well what do you think? Did I do the right thing?" The man was still watching the door James had walked out of. He slowly lowered his head. After a moment he turned to face the President as he spoke. "I don't know. You know that I have been convinced that he was going to be real trouble over this martial law issue from the start of this. You also know that I think you need to hold the nation under martial law until you can be certain of maintaining control. But now I just don't know about any of this. Maybe he was right. Maybe it is time to lift it." Then he shook himself and his voice returned to the firm confident tone he normally used. "I do know this much. I know that he isn't done yet. You haven't seen or heard the last of that young man, no matter what happens! I am afraid that all you have done is to remove the chains that had bound him. He is now free to take any path he wants. He may now become something even greater than he has been to the people of this nation. He was a part of the system they feared and hated, but he still won their trust and their hearts. Now he really is one of them... what will they give him now?" The President made no reply. He just smiled.