Chapter 2
by Dan Kirk
"This is my second Do Over, gentlemen, so please excuse me if I sound a little bored about some things." I said to the six gentlemen arrayed around the table. We were at a CIA safe house in rural Virginia, actually sitting in the house's dining room around a regular table. Four of them were in uniform: three two-star generals and a two-star Admiral representing each branch of the military. Another man wearing a suit was an Assistant Secretary of Defense while the last man was William Blakely, a senior CIA manager.
We'd arrived here yesterday after a military flight across country. Dad had been taken to a room where he was asked a bunch of questions that not only reinforced the cover story he'd been given, but gave them an idea of whether I'd suddenly changed in how I behaved. Meanwhile, I'd been questioned by Mr. Jamison and two other CIA analysts, mostly in an effort to establish my legitimacy. When we finished shortly after midnight, I was released to a room for sleep, and then they woke me at eight this morning. These men had arrived shortly after breakfast and had been briefed by Mr. Jamison. The previous day's interviews had been taped, and they were shown the highlights of that, so I didn't have to start from scratch.
"I would imagine that time travel would never get old." Assistant Secretary Barnes said with a chuckle. I smiled in his direction.
"When you haven't heard an original piece of music or a new movie in the last twenty-odd years, and when you've done interviews like this before and gotten the same type of questions, I'm pretty sure you'd get bored, Mr. Barnes." I retorted while keeping the smile on my face. "The first Do Over was exciting in a lot of ways, and presented me with several opportunities to improve my life. I took those opportunities and had a very comfortable life by the time events happened to make another Do Over necessary. Gentlemen, I'd achieved the rank of Captain in the Naval Reserves, I co-owned one of the biggest movie theater chains in the nation, I'd commanded men in two different wars, and was a millionaire in a very happy, stable relationship. Now, I'm twelve years old, for the third time, and get to look forward to having to redo everything I'd achieved in the last lifetime. I was chosen to lead the mission because I've been through this before and stand a good chance of providing the information you need to meet the threats that are forming against this country."
"Yes, let's get to those threats, exactly." Admiral Lancaster said sharply. "You said that there are two threats and that neither has to do with the assassination attempt?"
"That's correct, Admiral." I replied evenly. "The assassination attempt was done by an insane man. Hinckley felt that killing Reagan would make Jodie Foster love him. There's a letter in route to her now that will confirm that. There are two time travel threats to the United States. Actually, neither of them will appear for several years, but you will need to prepare for them now.
"The first that will appear is the Soviet threat. Alexei Shevardnadze, son of Foreign Minister Eduardo Shevardnadze, was the original financier of the Do Over project. He will come back in 1984 and lead a successful coup against the Soviet Leadership. That will set our two countries on a path that leads to conventional war in 1988. That war ends when the U.S.S. Long Beach and her squadron are hit by a surprise submarine attack in the Gulf of Aden. The senior officers of the ship are killed in the attack and I assume command at that time. I gave the order to launch a nuclear-tipped ASROC, in accordance with orders from President Reagan. This causes the Russian military leadership to revolt, having been assured the United States would never commit first-use of nuclear weapons again, and Alexei is executed along with his father. From intelligence gathered after the war, we believe he comes back in time somewhere around the beginning of April, 1984. He must be eliminated after that point, but before he and his father succeed in their coup."
"That's hard to believe, and we cannot just have someone assassinated based on your word." Mr. Barnes exclaimed and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"If that is what the government decides, then that's what you decide." I answered carefully and very slowly. "Once he seizes power, your window of opportunity will be over. The good news is that you don't have to decide right now, you've got three years before that window of opportunity opens. The second threat is much more problematical.
"When a person goes back in time, their body in the future time dies. When I fought my way into the Chinese center, there was already a body on the table, and the machine was on a power-down cycle. I was severely wounded and couldn't risk dying before all non-American personnel in that center were killed. Any left alive could warn the initial traveler or their government that we knew they were there."
"This friend of yours, Sean Rule, did he help them willingly?" General Armitage, the Marine, inquired.
"Sir, they held someone Sean loved dearly hostage." I pointed out with great care. "I believe that he laced his information with half-truths. Unfortunately, they must have been able to work around them. As it was, they already had most of the information they needed and were seeking to confirm that information. With the way the machine worked, as soon as it was used, the world around us was changed. The lives we'd known were lost. Essentially, the people we loved and cared for ceased to exist. Sean decided that he didn't want to start over again and reset the machine after I passed out from my wounds. He then sent me back, and I woke here early in the morning of the 30th of March. We know from the settings on the machine that the Chinese man went back to May 2nd, 1983. The only problem is I don't know his name. He looked to be in his late sixties or early seventies, which will make him in his fifties or late forties right now. My guess is he's a Party official in some government position. I worked last night with a sketch artist who did a pretty damn good job on the face."
"See, this is what I don't understand." General Maxwell stated and I had to remind myself this wasn't the man I'd worked with in the first Do Over. "First of all you have your Russian guy, how do we know he's going to come back in time still and what happens to you when your old self comes back in time? You said that took place on August 1st of this year."
"It's Chaos Theory at its finest, Bob, and I barely grasp the basics." I said with a little exasperation, and realized I'd used the man's first name. "Sorry, General, after you retired in 1992 we played a few rounds of golf and got to know each other fairly well. We even had a few arguments about time travel. I apologize for being overly familiar."
"It's okay son, but I'd appreciate a better explanation." General Maxwell said and I had to return the smile he gave me.
"The basic theory is simple, but convoluted." I started the explanation for them. "I can't explain the science that makes the machine work, but I can explain its effects. First, it creates a bubble outside the space-time continuum. Time-travel, the physical movement of a person through time, is impossible, but by creating this bubble outside of space-time, it becomes possible to transmit data between the bubble and any point in time. How that data is received is the major problem. So far, the only way for data to be 'received' in time is to record and transmit the brain wave and memory patterns of a human being back through time. It only works when the receiver is a human being, and only when the receiver has the same basic material of the sender. That's why the traveler is transmitted into his own body somewhere along the time-continuum and why the actual time traveled is limited by the life span of the traveler. A drug is administered that makes it possible for the brain to be scanned by the machine and transmitted outside the bubble. When the power of the machine within the bubble runs out, the bubble collapses and any living person in it ceases to exist. Changes to the timeline in the past have no effect on the bubble or anything in it. Once a bubble is established, it essentially exists for all time, and at the same time ceases to exist. Those involved in the first Do Over therefore are not affected by the changes to the past."
"So we could just kill this Shevardnadze fellow." General Armitage said with a huff.
"We could, but from the perspective of justice, until they are affected by the Do Over transmission, they are 'innocent'." I countered with an argument I was very familiar with and supported. "It's the old argument of 'if we know a person is likely to commit a crime, can we throw him in prison because he might commit a crime in the future?' There is no argument on that if the government has strong evidence to believe a crime may be committed by a person, the government can observe the person and stop him from committing the crime. This is the principle that allows the FBI to insert agents into organized crime syndicates and arrest them before they actually commit the crime."
"But what 'crime' have they committed?" General Armitage asked.
"They've broken the Temporal Travel Act of 1998." I stated with a smile. "The act was approved in secret by the joint Intelligence Committee of Congress with the authority granted to them by the full Congress, and the Act was signed by the President of that time. It basically says that any travel through time by the Do Over method, or any other method is illegal unless specifically authorized by the President of the United States. Punishment for this crime is death."
"And we're supposed to take your word that this law exists and that you are not an unauthorized traveler?" General Armitage challenged me directly.
"Yes, General, you are." I answered with a wide grin. For the first time since I'd arrived back in this time I was feeling half-way decent and not totally depressed. "Frankly, I could care less if you decide to execute me as well, as long as you get the other two and protect this country. General, I'm not suicidal, but I've spent twenty years in the last timeline in the service of this country. I've fought in two major wars, and I've just lost the people I love and care about the most. The best description I can come up with is that right now I'm burned out totally, but I will still do my duty to the best of my ability. Under the TTA, as a legally authorized time traveler, I can share information with you that directly affects the National Security of this country, or has a significant humanitarian impact. Beyond that would be a violation of that law, which I am still bound to obey by the same oaths that bind me to protect and defend this country in this present time."
"A fine sentiment, if it is accurate." Mr. Burns said with a frown and I spared him a hard stare for a long moment.
"I'll let that pass based on the fact that you've only known me for a few hours, Mr. Burns." My voice was cold and flat, even if still pre-pubescent. "If anything I tell you ever proves to be false, I will have earned your reprobation, until such a time occurs, I expect to be accorded the respect my sacrifices for this country have earned. Would you give up your wife, your kids, everything you've worked to achieve for a mission like this? Would you do it twice?"
"That's not really relevant, is it?" Admiral Lancaster pointed out. "As you said, you have a duty to this country and to the Oaths you swore, Captain. Stop thinking like you are the age your body is and show me the reason why the United States Navy would grant you the rank of Captain!"
"Yes, Admiral." I responded automatically, and was surprised at the feeling of something inside of me snapping. It wasn't a bad thing, but the feelings of resentment and bitterness that I had felt since waking in this time were gone, for the most part. I would have to think about it some more, but I was pretty sure that I could now face yet another lifetime. Brian was still here; I'd just have to wait a little before resuming our relationship. "You are right, and please gentlemen, accept my apology. One of the effects of returning to your younger self is that you are physically this age, and all the…physical effects are still there. I've been through puberty twice now and I can assure you that there are real physical side effects that even the adult mind has problems dealing with. Emotions are… more intense than what we feel as adults and I have to remember how to deal with them again. I'm sorry for my confrontational attitude.
"The reasons for the restrictions proposed by the future congress are simple. The next two decades are going to be extremely busy for the United States and for the world. Some things have to happen in order to have the outcome with the right result. Other things don't, and even the smallest things can have a major, unwanted impact. For instance, we are dedicated to the concepts of liberty and free will in this country. Were I to give detailed analysis on who won each of the next four Presidential elections, that information can be used to change that election. Left alone, the same results are likely to happen despite changes to national security issues. For instance, we fought a World War with the Soviets in the last timeline I lived. In the first timeline, there was no war and the Soviet Union collapsed. In both timelines, the same person won the 1988 election, and the same person won the 1992 and 1996 elections. The 2000 elections had a different outcome, although there was a less than two percent difference in the votes of that timeline. The differences between the two were actually for the betterment of this country, and the world as a whole. Even with the experience of the last two timelines, I am extremely hesitant to risk revealing something that doesn't have a direct, positive impact on the security of this nation. That doesn't mean I'm going to allow American lives to be at risk unnecessarily. Sometimes soldiers die in a war, but that doesn't mean their lives are chaff to be thrown into the wind."
"That's better, Mr. Jones." Admiral Lancaster said with an approving nod. "Now, what do you suggest we do regarding this Chinese time traveler?"
"The first step is to use surveillance photos to identify the person." I said carefully, thinking about the best way to handle the identification. "We first need to procure photos of every government and Party official in China between the ages of forty and sixty-five. Then we need a team of two to three analysts to review the pictures with the drawing and select likely candidates for matching. I believe it would be best to then have me review those photos they select as likely matches for confirmation. Then we set up surveillance and wait for the Do Over to happen. When it becomes apparent that it has happened, we eliminate him. Shevardnadze is easier to fix because we know what he looks like and where he is now and in 1984. With him, we just need to plan an Op to eliminate him."
"What about information not directly related to these two individuals?" General Armitage asked.
"It will take me about ten days to dictate all the information I have that relates to national security or humanitarian disasters, sir." I responded quickly. "After I relate the information on every known spy from 1980 to 2004, I'll start in on the defense analysis of key weapons systems and then finish up with some vital information on a new disease that is just now starting to hit our major cities. For the next ten years that disease is limited to a sub-set of our population, but by 2004 it will spread to the rest of the population and grow in strength there while it infects nearly a third of Africa and as much as ten percent of the population in some Asian countries. After that I'll finish up with information on what world leaders pose a direct danger to the security of this country, as well as certain individuals who will be just as great a danger."
"An individual posing as much danger as an entire country?"
General Maxwell asked with some incredulity
"Yes, sir, individuals who become major financial backers or leaders of
terrorist organizations." I answered, pulling out the good old 9/11 card.
"Imagine a team taking over five airliners and then slamming them into
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. That's happened in the first timeline,
but not the second because we killed the man who funded and recruited those
who planned the attacks. The key thing about him though, was that we needed
him until after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was completed."
"The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?" Admiral Lancaster remarked with surprise.
"Yes, it's their version of Vietnam, Admiral." I told him with a quirky smile. He just nodded in response. Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviets in 1979, and right now it looked like the Soviets were winning easily. There was silence for a few moments as the men all looked at each other as if to confirm they were done.
"What do you suggest we do once you've completed providing us the information?" General Maxwell asked cautiously. I could see them all sit a little straighter and look at me avidly for my response.
"This would be a lot easier if I was an adult who could disappear into government service without raising the eyebrows, curiosity, and questions of my relatives." I answered calmly and leaned back a bit in my chair. "Unfortunately, I'm physically twelve years old and if I disappear totally my family is going to freak out and make waves. I know them from two lifetimes, and they will cause problems for me, and for the government no matter what we do. We can minimize the problems they'll cause, but to do so I'll need to not be sequestered somewhere by the government. At the same time, my living with them is going to cause more problems."
"Why is that?" General Armitage asked in a voice filled with curiosity.
"My father is not the most…stable of men." I admitted calmly. "He seeks to present an image of normality all the time, but in private he has problems he does not face unless forced to do so. If it was just him, there'd be no problems with me not living there, but there is my mother, my sister, and a fairly extensive network of Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and cousins. My father and I will clash, and that clash will cause problems throughout the family. My disappearing though, even if it is officially into some government program or service, will also set them off. There are over thirty people in first degree relations with my family that would notice the disappearance."
"We could just take your family into protective custody and have them tell the rest of your family that you got a job offer somewhere else." Mr. Burns stated scornfully.
"Then you better be prepared to have my Grandparents visiting once a year." I countered his argument. "Nanny, my mom's mom, visited us once a year when we lived in Florida between 1974 and 1977. Grandma Kirk, my dad's mom, dotes on him just as much and visited every other year due to her tighter finances. In 1986, in my first lifetime, we moved to a small town in Nevada and they visited us out there as well. We even had a couple of aunts and uncles come visit as well."
"How was this handled during your last Do Over?" Admiral Lancaster asked in the silence that followed my last words.
"The first time, I wasn't associated with the government during the original experiment, and I had no idea that I'd be living in the past." I explained. "I kept my secret to myself, pretty much. Things between my father and I got tense and I'd been put in foster care by the time I became aware that there were others who had come back in time. My foster parents at the time were Mr. and Mrs. Rush. They are defectors from the Soviet Union, and Mr. Rush works at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. He is loyal to the United States and assumed custody of me, fully aware of my situation. At his home he has a secure room he used to work on nuclear physics projects at home and we used that to store secure documents relating to the analysis projects I did for the government. We even set up a milnet secure computer connection there to facilitate that. His wife and son also knew about me and kept it secret without failure during my entire life in that timeline."
"Then why don't we place you there?" Admiral Lancaster asked quickly. "We can make similar security arrangements and any travel necessary can easily be explained. I understand your father believes you are here because of nuclear secrets you copied. That fits nicely with this Mr. Rush's line of work."
"I still don't understand why we don't just relocate the boy to a secure facility and tell his parents that he's been selected for a special program." Mr. Burns stated flatly. "We'll let him go home once a year if he behaves and that will be that."
"For one thing, he's not a boy." General Maxwell's voice was firm and he looked me directly in the eyes as he spoke. "After all, I played golf with his future self and told him to call me by my first name."
"Don't tell me you believe that." Mr. Burns said scornfully.
"How would he know my first name?" Maxwell retorted sardonically. "I never told him my first name, and he didn't even know who he'd be meeting until we introduced ourselves to him when he came in here."
"He could have…" Burns started to state but his voice drifted off as they all looked at me.
"Admiral Lancaster is the only other person here I've met in my previous lives and I never learned his first name." I said honestly. "I'm not going to lie and pretend I know things that I don't. I do know that he eventually gets his fourth star and command of the Pacific Fleet, which is where I met him on my reserve duty week in 1993, shortly before we retired. During the week I overheard one conversation where he mentioned that his son Denny had just completed flight school and was being assigned for training on the F-18 fighter."
"My son is ten right now." Admiral Lancaster stated with a small smile. I noticed the wings on his breast pocket and realized his son had been following in his father's footsteps as a pilot. That had to make him proud.
"Care to explain how he might know that, Mr. Burns?" General Armitage asked the civilian who just looked at me with a frown.
"Let's discuss our options while Mr. Jones here continues his debriefing with the Agency specialists." Admiral Lancaster suggested and everyone but Mr. Burns nodded at his idea. The Admiral was the first to stand, and I joined the rest of the men there in following him to my feet. "Mr. Jones, give us all the information you can and we'll discuss this again in a week."
"Thank you sir." I said as I shook his hand. Everyone but Mr. Burns also shook my hand before leaving. They hadn't even left the hallway just off the dining room before two middle-aged CIA analysts came in with tape recorders and over a dozen yellow pads of legal paper. I barely had time to ask for a cup of coffee before they started firing off questions for me to answer.
By dinnertime, I felt like I'd been through a ringer. Unfortunately, the relative inactivity as I ate dinner with my father let me think on my more personal troubles and I missed having Brian there to talk to about everything. I definitely could not tell my father any of this, and not just because he still thought we were discussing nuclear secrets.
"So, are you blinding them with your brilliance?" Dad asked after we'd eaten half the meal in silence.
"Yeah, I guess I am." I said with a slight smile that I hoped he didn't realize was totally false.
"So when do you think we'll be done here?" Dad asked after I'd remained silent for a few moments.
"It'll probably be at least a week, Dad." I told him and he frowned. "I'm sorry, but I think they're going to want me to explain a lot of things and it takes a while. I'm sure they'll let you leave earlier if you need to, Dad."
"I'm not leaving you here alone, Davey." Dad said firmly and then he leaned forward conspiratorially. "I think there's something going on that they're not telling us. I saw several soldiers around the house when I went for a walk earlier and they didn't let me outside without an escort."
"It's no big deal, dad." I said with a shrug. "They explained that whenever nuclear secrets are being moved around, and they're having me look at some books that are classified, they usually have armed guards. That's probably the only reason they are out there."
"Oh." Dad said with surprise and then fell silent. "Do you think they're going to want you to work for them when you finish school?"
"Probably." I answered with total honesty. "I get the impression they don't let people go once they have their hooks in them."
"Well, at least they'll probably pay for your schooling." Dad said and I had to suppress a surge of anger at his words. He always was worried about money but never did the hard work necessary to earn it honestly.
"Yeah, well, I might just be able to pay that for myself." I said with a shrug and instantly wished I hadn't. He had dollar signs in his eyes now and I knew he'd do his best to get into any pocket books I might have with money in them.
"That would be nice." Was all he said at that and I breathed a sigh of relief.
That set a pattern for the next few days. I'd get up early and meet with the CIA and FBI people, speaking for hours on end about everything I knew. The first thing I did was give them a list of sixty-three people that had worked as agents for foreign powers within our government. Unlike my first debriefing where I didn't have a lot of specific information, I had much more now. My experience with the government in the last timeline, and my security clearance there, had ensured that I would have a lot more information for the government than I had before. They constantly pushed me for more information than I was willing to give, but I was careful not to stray into the political.
By the eighth day I was repeating myself and we were reviewing information I had provided. Dad was starting to go stir crazy and it was me who suggested someone take him out for a ride around the surrounding area just so he'd stop pestering me so much at dinner. Somewhere down the road he and I would have the big battles that we'd had in both my prior lives, and I was not looking forward to leading him down the path of enlightenment and rapprochement. The ninth day was more review of information and I received word that I'd be making a trip the next day. Dad did not like that news at all and demanded to go along, but I reminded him that the day was Mom's birthday and we'd be dead meat if we didn't come back with something for her. An agent quickly offered to take him into town to do some shopping.
On April 8th, mom's birthday, we both called her around nine in the morning. She was grumpy, and bitched about us not being there for her birthday, but Dad promised her a big dinner when we got back so she calmed down. Jenny insisted on talking to us since she was worried as well, and I felt that weird sensation of talking to my sister who had been dead for so long. By ten in the morning, Dad was gone in a car towards town and a helicopter came to pick me up. A crewmember tried to show me how to buckle the belt on my seat but I'd already finished doing that little chore.
By helicopter standards, it was a long ride, but we finally settled down at Camp David right on time for lunch. The marine guard who met us as we disembarked remarked that I would be having lunch in the Davis Bungalow and I just nodded before leading the way there. The two agents from the safe house took note of that in their notepads and I hid my smile.
Yes, I'd been to Camp David before, with three Presidents, and I knew my way around.
I'd been expecting that my fate would eventually be decided by the same man who decided it last time. Ronald Reagan wasn't the type of man to make monumental decisions like this without seeing as much first hand as he could. In the last 2004, I'd been at his funeral instead of watching it on television, and he was going to be the first 'friend' from my second lifetime that I'd meet in person. I was both looking forward to this and dreading it at the same time. When we reached the correct cabin, another marine guard opened the door and I went inside. Two Secret Service agents gave me the once-over before standing aside so I could enter the living room of the cabin. The President was there, talking to Casper Weinberger quietly until he noticed my entrance. He turned to greet me with that familiar smile.
"You must be the young Mr. Jones I've been hearing remarkable things about." President Reagan said as he took three strides towards me and shook my hand. "It's good to meet you in person."
"Mr. President, it's an honor to meet you for the first time again." I said with a smile as I shook his hand, and was relieved to hear his booming laughter.
"You hear that, Cap?" The President said as he turned to his cabinet member. "No twelve-year old I've ever met would make a joke like that with the President of the United States."
"Sir, anyone who has seen you trying to drive a post into the ground would crack jokes all day so he could raise you from your foul mood before the long ride back." I retorted and saw the shock on his face.
"I think he's genuine, Mr. President." Cap Weinberger stated with a short bark of laughter. He also shook my hand.
"Why don't we have a seat before lunch?" President Reagan said more than asked as he pointed to a chair across from the one where he proceeded to sit. Weinberger also moved to sit near the President and was still smiling. "So, you've been to my ranch before?"
"In the previous timeline, Mr. President." I answered honestly. "You gave me some damn good advice out there when I was going through a real bad time. It was kind of funny actually. You let me stew for a few days and then took me on a long ride before giving me advice I really needed to hear."
"Well, I'm glad to hear someone actually listens to what I say." The President retorted and I had to laugh softly. I'd really missed having him around like this instead of how Alzheimer's had left him. Since I'd also remembered the damage knowing about his disease had done when he entered the second stage, I'd refrained from mentioning it this time around.
"I always have tried, Mr. President." I responded with a smile and girded myself for him to turn serious.
"We've managed to read a summary of the information you've provided so far." Casper Weinberger spoke up, shifting the topic to business. "I've found some of it hard to believe, but everyone seems convinced you are genuine."
"Now you have to decide what to do with me." I offered simply, accepting his words for what they stood for: basic acceptance. There was no mad scientist raving about Shevardnadze while the man was leading a coup in the Soviet Union. The saving grace was that as a Naval Officer, I had access to lots of classified information in the present time, information that no twelve-year old could be expected to know or understand.
"Yes, that is why you're here." President Reagan stated calmly, looking at me very intently.
"It was you who personally decided my fate last time, Mr. President, and I feel confident in your fairness." I told him honestly.
"Why is it that you wish to return to your home town, but not your parents' home?" Casper Weinberger asked, cutting straight to the main point here. "I'm pretty sure we could come up with some cover story that would not set your parents off, especially with the sneaky cover story you fabricated already."
"Balance." I answered after a very long pause. "One of the things I learned from the last Do Over is that I need a balance in my life in order to help me perform any other… duties I might have. Having friends, having people I love around me helps me to maintain that balance and makes me more capable. The best officers and agents I served with always had families, loved ones that they could turn to in order to maintain a personal balance in their lives. I don't have that right now. My parents, as much as I love them, are ill equipped to deal with my special circumstances. I cannot reasonably be expected to live on my own while in a twelve-year old body even if I am mentally capable of doing so. Mr. and Mrs. Rush are both quite capable of handling the secrets of my true nature, and they are the second set of parents I had in my last life. I'll abide by whatever final decision is made, but I really believe this would be the best for me personally, and make me more capable of working with the government on the challenges that lie ahead."
"Well, one thing for sure is that you are not mentally a twelve year old." President Reagan said with a short laugh. "Let's go eat some lunch and discuss exactly how this would work."
"Yes, Mr. President, and thank you." I said as we rose to our feet. The President led the way into a small, cozy dining room where we sat to eat. Mentally, I was grinning at how predictable the President was. Last time, he'd kept the government from trussing me off somewhere and he did it again this time.
