Chapter Seven - part ten

    They had walked out of the building and gotten into a car. A few minutes later they arrived at a hanger, a hanger filled with people. James followed as General Kendrick marched in and took a position behind a podium in front of the group. James stood slightly to one side as Kendrick began to speak. James was already relatively sure of what was about to happen. Kendrick wasted little time with words of recognition for James. He simply informed everyone that James was headed to Washington D.C. to assume command of all operations nationwide. James was a bit startled when Kendrick pinned him as a Major General though. He had expected to hear the announcement about his new orders not get a huge promotion at the same time! Still that had been what the President had promised him or maybe threatened him with when this had started. Once the ceremony was over James had only a few moments to talk with his friends and comrades before he was hustled away again. This time it was for a staff meeting with General Kendrick in charge this time. James spent a very quick couple of hours turning over the command to the others. Kendrick had been stunned when James had told Hodges to start prepping for activation of their plans for the rest of the country. He had expected James to leave Hodges in charge. James had other plans for who should take his place on the west coast though. That job would fall to Brigadier General Holt. She hadn't been directly involved in the command, but she had been heavily involved in a lot of the logistics of the overall operation. She knew where the current operations were at now and what they needed to do to get where James wanted them to go next. There were a few others who could have taken the job, but James wanted her to be the one. That would take a few days, but he already had people in place to handle things until she arrived to take over everything.

   In just four short hours the world had been turned upside down and inside out for James. He was no longer Colonel James Cooper. He was Major General James Cooper and he was now in charge of the effort to secure and stabilize the entire nation, from coast to coast! He was even being forced to leave his own jet behind for the time being. General Kendrick assured him that he would see it delivered to him once he had things in order. James wasn't sure he would ever see his jet again, especially if he had to get things in order first. He also wasn't sure how well he was going to handle relocating to Washington D.C. and dealing with all of the politics he had worked so hard to avoid up until now. At least for a few days he would be working more or less without any major interference; mostly thanks to the plans that he and Hodges had already worked out for the rest of the nation. Those plans would give him a jump start, but once those things were started in motion they would no longer be able to avoid working around and with the politicians. James was certain that he couldn't have accomplished as much as he had if he had been dealing with politics too. Now he would have to find ways to make things happen while dealing with the politics of things at the same time.

   That would all begin immediately when he arrived in Washington, because his first order of business was a meeting with the President, his cabinet, and the current military leaders of the operation east of the Mississippi. And while James might be wearing two stars now, there was little doubt that he would still be among the lowest ranking officers present at that meeting; and even those who held no rank would consider him to be under them. James had been expecting this for some time. He hadn't been sure how things would go at first when the deadline had past, but as the days continued to add up he had become more certain of the outcome. It was quick and easy to get your career derailed in the military, but it took a lot longer to move forward and even longer still to move upward. He spent most of the first part of the flight listening to Kendrick tell him about the people he would soon be dealing with on a regular basis. The remainder of the flight James spent sitting alone with his head bowed, in silent prayer. A few minutes of prayer seemed like the best possible use of his time before he arrived in Washington. That was a place where God and prayer were often forgotten these days. James wasn't sure what God had in mind for him now, but whatever it was James knew that the Lord would be there with him... and that was more than enough for James.

   They arrived in D.C. and James was quickly escorted to the White House, actually to the secure bunker below it. He had been provided with a new uniform on the plane and had changed just before they landed. Kendrick said he wanted James looking his very best for this first meeting. It seemed that General Kendrick was at least as nervous about this meeting as James was, maybe more so. When they stepped into the room full of high ranking officers and officials it suddenly fell silent. The sudden silence made the President turn from the conversation he was in to see what had happened. When he saw them he smiled and walked across to greet them. He returned their salutes and extended his hand as he spoke. "You made very good time, Pete. I really wasn't expecting you until much later in the day. I was certain it would take at least a full day before command could be turned over smoothly... I hope you didn't rush him into moving too fast! I would hate to see a problem develop there, especially now."

  The President had turned to shake hands with James before he was even finished speaking to Kendrick. As James took his hand in a firm grip; he spoke in answer to the concerns the President had just voiced. "Sir, it is an honor to meet you in person. I can assure you that while I was rushed, things are in very good hands and there will be no unexpected problems simply because of my absence." The smile on the President's face faded as he held James hand while James was speaking. He studied James while holding that grip for a long moment after they had stopped shaking hands. As he finally released his grip the President spoke again. His voice was no longer cheerful and full of excitement. It was more somber and thoughtful now. "I must say you look even younger in person than you do on video, but you certainly have the same sort of powerful presence... perhaps even more so in person." The smile suddenly was back on his face as he continued to talk. "I see now that I shouldn't have expected less than a prompt response from you. You are always prepared to act quickly, even if you have no way of knowing in advance what you may have to do."

   The President turned away and moved to take a seat at the huge round table in the center of the room as he spoke to everyone. "Well it seems everyone is here now, so I see no reason to delay this any longer. Please be seated and I will explain exactly what I expect from all of you." Once everyone was seated the President made his dissatisfaction with the current results of the efforts being made along the east coast known. He also pointedly made it very clear how impressive the results had been along the west coast. More than once someone had tried to speak up and each time they were silenced with hard looks and harder words. The lecture, and it was at least that if not an outright tirade, lasted nearly thirty minutes. Then the President stopped for a brief moment to study everyone around the table before continuing. "Now I know many, maybe most, of you believe that Col... Major General Cooper is too young to be in charge of an operation this size. Well let me remind you one last time that regardless of what you may think; this young man has proven himself very capable of handling things! He alone has been responsible for the same sort of operations that many of you have shared responsibilities for, and he has made those operations work smoothly and efficiently. Furthermore he has done it over an area of nearly twice the size of what all of you have been unable to manage! That is why I have promoted him and brought him here. He will be assuming full command of all operations east of the Mississippi and he will choose the people responsible for taking over his duties west of the Mississippi. I will have your full support on this or I will have your resignations! His success at this mission is too critical for me to allow petty bickering to ruin it! Like it or not Major General James Andrew Cooper is now in charge of things and he will have your full support and cooperation! Do any of you have something to say before I turn this meeting over to him?"