Murray and Walters met again with FBI Director Stiller as they had previously planned to give their report on possible destination for the buses transporting the people from Congress. Stiller saw some optimism on their faces but definitely no sign of victory and he waited for what they had to say.
"Chief, we have identified some locations we think are the only ones are large enough to make it possible to hide. We have requested support from the Washington police department and they have agreed to survey the locations by helicopter but they are large areas and the helicopters are also required for tactical support in the city during the crisis," reported Murray.
"Time-frame," asked Stiller.
"Based on what they have managed so far and how much land we need to survey, we estimate at least eight hours before we can say with authority the areas have been searched," replied Murray.
"Land-based search," asked Stiller.
"Where it is possible we have dispatched agents to find managers and the like to simply ask if they have seen any buses," replied Walters.
"There is also the chance the buses did not go to the same location. In that case it would be impossible to find them, at least not quickly," said Murray.
"That occurred to me as well," said Stiller. "There is another chance that the buses never went to any permanent location and they have stayed in motion, perhaps just circling on I-495."
"I have called Harkness and Goodman to pursue those ideas and see if we can come up with any others. They are assembling teams," said Murray.
"Good thinking. Do people still call them the James Gang," asked Stiller.
"Not in front of them, Chief. They didn't choose their first names and they get a little stiff when people make fun," replied Murray.
"OK. Go with it and we will meet back here in an hour unless you turn up something sooner," said Stiller.
"Reporting from CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, this is Rachel Hawkins with an update on the pursuit of the gunmen near Austin." Hawkins was looking surprisingly fresh after what had been a very difficult period in front of the camera. Sometimes it was coming over her that millions of people around the world were watching her but she was still able to shake it off and stick to the job.
"The Highway Patrol was pursuing the remaining three vehicles. In one of them the occupants of the vehicle started shooting at the Highway Patrol cars and this did some damage to the vehicles but they did not injure any officers. The Highway Patrol then shot out the tires of the SUV resulting in a high-speed crash. Five of the eight occupants did not survive. One other SUV gave up without firing and the other is being followed by a police helicopter. Thus far, there are no additional injuries to Highway Patrol officers to report."
Hawkins paused and then said, "Update coming in now."
She started reading her monitor and then said, "The last SUV ran out of fuel and was surrounded by Highway Patrol officers. The occupants surrendered without incident. This incident now seems to be closed."
"We will now return to the live feed from the Oval Office and will return as the situation warrants. Thank you."
Hawkins breathed her relief as the red light went out and she heard Abrams call out to her, "Good job, kid. You're doing great."
Gill stood up and said, "It looks like things are slowing down and I'm dying to see the dogs."
Kreitoff stood right away, saying, "Oh yes. Would you like company?"
Before Gill could answer, most of his companions were standing and there was no need to say anything. In his enthusiasm to see the dogs, Gill didn't notice that Harrison and his wife were still sitting together.
Caroline squeezed Harrison's hands and, without a word, they stood together and slipped away to their room. As they walked, she said, "In all these years, this is the first time you have chosen me over a scientific moment. I may have to marry you."
They walked into their room and Harrison closed the door behind them. Right away Caroline wrapped her arms around him and said, "The dogs can wait. I want my husband."
Without moving from the door, they started kissing each other. Harrison ran his fingers through her hair as their kiss rapidly became very passionate. After two years apart there was a deep hunger in both of them. Holding each other as they hadn't since they first met, their need for each other grew by the moment. They stroked each other with growing intimacy until they broke off the kiss so Harrison could slip Caroline's blouse over her head.
"Those flowers on your bra. I haven't seen those since ..."
"Shut up, Tiger. I want my husband, not a historian."
They started kissing each other again while she unbuttoned his shirt, yearning to feel his skin against hers. He cupped her breasts in his hands and she gasped but he felt her nipples rising to his touch. He undid the snap and her bra fell away just as she pushed his shirt away from him. He pulled her close, her breasts pressed to his chest. The heat between them was starting to blaze and already they were melting together.
"It's been so long," whispered Harrison.
"Me too," she whispered back. "Don't talk, kiss me."
After another long kiss, their passion grew too much for just standing by the door and he led her over to the bed. They stood for a moment, regarding each other, hungering for each other, delighting in the thought of what was soon to come, when Caroline reached for the buckle on his trousers to unfasten it and his pants dropped easily to the floor. Without a word, she slipped off her slacks and then got onto the bed. He followed her quickly and took her in his arms.
"Take me to the jungle, Tiger."
They lay there together and it was a long time before they got back up again.
Gill and the entourage walked fairly quickly back to see the dogs. The intensity of the recent exchange in the White House was probably driving them along a little but no-one mentioned it.
When they got into the exercise area, the dogs didn't pay any attention to them and Kreitoff was the first to say, "Soccer!"
They watched their play for a few minutes and the dogs really were driving the ball back and forth between the two goals. There still didn't seem to be any particular rules but they did seem to have teams.
Gill said, "It's too difficult to tell them apart to make any science out of this. We could learn a lot of their behaviour but not when we can't tell one from the other."
"Team jerseys," said Goldberg. "I love it!"
"Well, yes. You could look at it that way but I mean to get some data from this soccer and how else can we capture it," asked Gill.
"Lighten up, bro," said Goldberg. "There's nothing wrong with having some fun with it."
Gill looked a little flustered and Hoffman interrupted by saying, "I like the idea but knitting twenty-four doggie jerseys is quite a project."
"Just a moment," said Roger. "A big part of surviving a nuclear disaster is improvisation. We have quite a bit of raw material in the warehouse and I'm thinking perhaps we could take some cloth to go over the back and shoulders with a little strap to attach under the chest."
"I'm liking it," said Margolis. "We can easily write names or numbers ... or both. Yes, both would be fun and still wouldn't be difficult. They would be light and should be comfortable. Maybe the dogs wouldn't mind wearing them all the time."
"Sounds like we have a team project," said Campbell. "Let's get on with it."
"Mark, right," asked Roger toward Campbell.
"Yes."
"Come with me and help me carry back some things to the common area and we can get cracking on it," said Roger.
As they walked away, Roger said, "You don't seem to talk much, Mark."
"Only when something needs to be said."
"Good. I like that. I couldn't make up my mind if you were being taciturn or just economical."
When they walked into the warehouse Campbell was clearly impressed but, not surprisingly, he didn't say anything. It was obviously a very large cavern and obviously had a great many things in it. What was there to say.
"How about different colours for each time, Mark," asked Roger.
Campbell thought for a moment and said, "It sounds festive but Gill might consider it a prebuilt bias. It would make for easier observation but I'm sure he will want to let the dogs pick their own teams."
"OK, here is some material," said Roger as he pulled some coloured sheets out of a large closet and stacked it on Campbell's arms.
He walked to another closet and pulled out some straps which he also stacked on Campbell's arms. Then he walked to another one and pulled out some sewing kits.
"Don't strain your back with those, Colonel," laughed Campbell.
"That didn't need to be said," replied Roger and he laughed back.
With that they headed back to the common area to meet the others.
When Harrison and Caroline returned to the common area, practically everyone else was already there and Goldberg couldn't resist saying, "Boss, some things are better than a Nobel Prize, eh?"
There was laughing all around and Harrison looked to the ground while he raised one hand over his head to request it stop. Caroline flushed but recovered quickly and she started laughing too.
Fortunately for Harrison and his wife, Roger and Campbell returned at that moment. Harrison jumped instantly on the opportunity to shift the conversation and asked what the two would do with all the stuff they were carrying. As they distributed the materials, Roger explained what was being given to each person and everyone started fussing with their allotments to try to make some sense of it all.
In the Oval Office, the President said, "Unless you're planning on going all night, we need to be thinking of sleep."
"In my estimation, we are stable for the night, Mister President," said Masterson. "The Joint Chiefs will return to the Pentagon but I will remain on-station here."
"Chief Justice, is it your preference to remain here," asked the President.
"Mister President, I consider it my duty," replied Justice Winston.
"Duty is certainly the word in front of us all, isn't it," said the President cryptically.
Malcolm said, "Frederick and I will stand watches through the night. We have discussed a great many things this day and I will confer with my people."
The President spoke into an intercom and said, "Andrea, please return to the Oval Office and bring some aides to assist in working out sleeping arrangements."
Before Andrea arrived, the telephone rang again and Masterson answered. He listened for a moment and then looked to Malcolm in puzzlement.
"Someone calling himself the Arkansas Roadrunner is calling from Camp Williams. This much I understand as we knew the big-rig truck was destined there. He asked only to give you the message: never feed lox to a salmon. I assume this is some type of code."
Malcolm smiled and said, "No. He just wanted to say something pithy when he arrived."
"Chief, we have identified some locations we think are the only ones are large enough to make it possible to hide. We have requested support from the Washington police department and they have agreed to survey the locations by helicopter but they are large areas and the helicopters are also required for tactical support in the city during the crisis," reported Murray.
"Time-frame," asked Stiller.
"Based on what they have managed so far and how much land we need to survey, we estimate at least eight hours before we can say with authority the areas have been searched," replied Murray.
"Land-based search," asked Stiller.
"Where it is possible we have dispatched agents to find managers and the like to simply ask if they have seen any buses," replied Walters.
"There is also the chance the buses did not go to the same location. In that case it would be impossible to find them, at least not quickly," said Murray.
"That occurred to me as well," said Stiller. "There is another chance that the buses never went to any permanent location and they have stayed in motion, perhaps just circling on I-495."
"I have called Harkness and Goodman to pursue those ideas and see if we can come up with any others. They are assembling teams," said Murray.
"Good thinking. Do people still call them the James Gang," asked Stiller.
"Not in front of them, Chief. They didn't choose their first names and they get a little stiff when people make fun," replied Murray.
"OK. Go with it and we will meet back here in an hour unless you turn up something sooner," said Stiller.
"Reporting from CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, this is Rachel Hawkins with an update on the pursuit of the gunmen near Austin." Hawkins was looking surprisingly fresh after what had been a very difficult period in front of the camera. Sometimes it was coming over her that millions of people around the world were watching her but she was still able to shake it off and stick to the job.
"The Highway Patrol was pursuing the remaining three vehicles. In one of them the occupants of the vehicle started shooting at the Highway Patrol cars and this did some damage to the vehicles but they did not injure any officers. The Highway Patrol then shot out the tires of the SUV resulting in a high-speed crash. Five of the eight occupants did not survive. One other SUV gave up without firing and the other is being followed by a police helicopter. Thus far, there are no additional injuries to Highway Patrol officers to report."
Hawkins paused and then said, "Update coming in now."
She started reading her monitor and then said, "The last SUV ran out of fuel and was surrounded by Highway Patrol officers. The occupants surrendered without incident. This incident now seems to be closed."
"We will now return to the live feed from the Oval Office and will return as the situation warrants. Thank you."
Hawkins breathed her relief as the red light went out and she heard Abrams call out to her, "Good job, kid. You're doing great."
Gill stood up and said, "It looks like things are slowing down and I'm dying to see the dogs."
Kreitoff stood right away, saying, "Oh yes. Would you like company?"
Before Gill could answer, most of his companions were standing and there was no need to say anything. In his enthusiasm to see the dogs, Gill didn't notice that Harrison and his wife were still sitting together.
Caroline squeezed Harrison's hands and, without a word, they stood together and slipped away to their room. As they walked, she said, "In all these years, this is the first time you have chosen me over a scientific moment. I may have to marry you."
They walked into their room and Harrison closed the door behind them. Right away Caroline wrapped her arms around him and said, "The dogs can wait. I want my husband."
Without moving from the door, they started kissing each other. Harrison ran his fingers through her hair as their kiss rapidly became very passionate. After two years apart there was a deep hunger in both of them. Holding each other as they hadn't since they first met, their need for each other grew by the moment. They stroked each other with growing intimacy until they broke off the kiss so Harrison could slip Caroline's blouse over her head.
"Those flowers on your bra. I haven't seen those since ..."
"Shut up, Tiger. I want my husband, not a historian."
They started kissing each other again while she unbuttoned his shirt, yearning to feel his skin against hers. He cupped her breasts in his hands and she gasped but he felt her nipples rising to his touch. He undid the snap and her bra fell away just as she pushed his shirt away from him. He pulled her close, her breasts pressed to his chest. The heat between them was starting to blaze and already they were melting together.
"It's been so long," whispered Harrison.
"Me too," she whispered back. "Don't talk, kiss me."
After another long kiss, their passion grew too much for just standing by the door and he led her over to the bed. They stood for a moment, regarding each other, hungering for each other, delighting in the thought of what was soon to come, when Caroline reached for the buckle on his trousers to unfasten it and his pants dropped easily to the floor. Without a word, she slipped off her slacks and then got onto the bed. He followed her quickly and took her in his arms.
"Take me to the jungle, Tiger."
They lay there together and it was a long time before they got back up again.
Gill and the entourage walked fairly quickly back to see the dogs. The intensity of the recent exchange in the White House was probably driving them along a little but no-one mentioned it.
When they got into the exercise area, the dogs didn't pay any attention to them and Kreitoff was the first to say, "Soccer!"
They watched their play for a few minutes and the dogs really were driving the ball back and forth between the two goals. There still didn't seem to be any particular rules but they did seem to have teams.
Gill said, "It's too difficult to tell them apart to make any science out of this. We could learn a lot of their behaviour but not when we can't tell one from the other."
"Team jerseys," said Goldberg. "I love it!"
"Well, yes. You could look at it that way but I mean to get some data from this soccer and how else can we capture it," asked Gill.
"Lighten up, bro," said Goldberg. "There's nothing wrong with having some fun with it."
Gill looked a little flustered and Hoffman interrupted by saying, "I like the idea but knitting twenty-four doggie jerseys is quite a project."
"Just a moment," said Roger. "A big part of surviving a nuclear disaster is improvisation. We have quite a bit of raw material in the warehouse and I'm thinking perhaps we could take some cloth to go over the back and shoulders with a little strap to attach under the chest."
"I'm liking it," said Margolis. "We can easily write names or numbers ... or both. Yes, both would be fun and still wouldn't be difficult. They would be light and should be comfortable. Maybe the dogs wouldn't mind wearing them all the time."
"Sounds like we have a team project," said Campbell. "Let's get on with it."
"Mark, right," asked Roger toward Campbell.
"Yes."
"Come with me and help me carry back some things to the common area and we can get cracking on it," said Roger.
As they walked away, Roger said, "You don't seem to talk much, Mark."
"Only when something needs to be said."
"Good. I like that. I couldn't make up my mind if you were being taciturn or just economical."
When they walked into the warehouse Campbell was clearly impressed but, not surprisingly, he didn't say anything. It was obviously a very large cavern and obviously had a great many things in it. What was there to say.
"How about different colours for each time, Mark," asked Roger.
Campbell thought for a moment and said, "It sounds festive but Gill might consider it a prebuilt bias. It would make for easier observation but I'm sure he will want to let the dogs pick their own teams."
"OK, here is some material," said Roger as he pulled some coloured sheets out of a large closet and stacked it on Campbell's arms.
He walked to another closet and pulled out some straps which he also stacked on Campbell's arms. Then he walked to another one and pulled out some sewing kits.
"Don't strain your back with those, Colonel," laughed Campbell.
"That didn't need to be said," replied Roger and he laughed back.
With that they headed back to the common area to meet the others.
When Harrison and Caroline returned to the common area, practically everyone else was already there and Goldberg couldn't resist saying, "Boss, some things are better than a Nobel Prize, eh?"
There was laughing all around and Harrison looked to the ground while he raised one hand over his head to request it stop. Caroline flushed but recovered quickly and she started laughing too.
Fortunately for Harrison and his wife, Roger and Campbell returned at that moment. Harrison jumped instantly on the opportunity to shift the conversation and asked what the two would do with all the stuff they were carrying. As they distributed the materials, Roger explained what was being given to each person and everyone started fussing with their allotments to try to make some sense of it all.
In the Oval Office, the President said, "Unless you're planning on going all night, we need to be thinking of sleep."
"In my estimation, we are stable for the night, Mister President," said Masterson. "The Joint Chiefs will return to the Pentagon but I will remain on-station here."
"Chief Justice, is it your preference to remain here," asked the President.
"Mister President, I consider it my duty," replied Justice Winston.
"Duty is certainly the word in front of us all, isn't it," said the President cryptically.
Malcolm said, "Frederick and I will stand watches through the night. We have discussed a great many things this day and I will confer with my people."
The President spoke into an intercom and said, "Andrea, please return to the Oval Office and bring some aides to assist in working out sleeping arrangements."
Before Andrea arrived, the telephone rang again and Masterson answered. He listened for a moment and then looked to Malcolm in puzzlement.
"Someone calling himself the Arkansas Roadrunner is calling from Camp Williams. This much I understand as we knew the big-rig truck was destined there. He asked only to give you the message: never feed lox to a salmon. I assume this is some type of code."
Malcolm smiled and said, "No. He just wanted to say something pithy when he arrived."
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