United (The United Trilogy Book 1) (11 page)

I chuckle at his antics.  “Yes, well I suppose we will have to show those old geezers a thing or two shall we.”

His eyes light up with mischief, “oh that we shall young Roz.  I’m getting the look from Judy so I suppose I should let you get on with the tour.  Please, if you need anything you just come and find old George.” He kisses my hand and goes back into his office.

I turn back to Judy and notice her disapproving look.  “Oh that man, he can’t help himself!” I’m not exactly sure how to take her statement but I smile anyway and follow her into my office.

“Here we are, if you would like any changes to be made please let Tina know.  She is in charge of all the interior designs in the building and would be happy to change it to suit you.”  Just setting foot inside I could already see it was gorgeous.  I could tell Tina had already made a few adjustments to make it more feminine for me.  “It’s perfect Judy, absolutely beautiful!  Please tell Tina she did a wonderful job.” Judy smiled wide and told me she would.  I took a few moments to take in my surroundings.  The office was huge.  One whole wall was top to bottom windows.  They were adorned with sheer lace curtains that were tied back with yellow ribbons to let the sun filter in.  There was a huge oak desk off to the side with two vases of fresh cut flowers on either side of the desk.  There was a large seating area with a pale yellow couch and three pale yellow overstuffed chairs.  I could just sleep here, it looked so inviting!  In front of my desk were two oak chairs with pale yellow cushions with small white flowers.  Judy took a seat in one of those chairs and motioned to the large chair behind the desk.  “You should try it out, see how it feels.”

I sat down and couldn’t help the huge grin that was taking over my face.  “This is wonderful Judy, everything is perfect, thank you so much.”

Judy chuckled softly, “well if you are this easy to please all of the time we should get along perfect.” She said.  “Now, let’s get down to business shall we?   Everything has been left for you in your computer here.  She motioned to my desk.  I didn’t see anything there so I looked at her and saw her wide smile.  “There is a control panel you must bring up by using your hand print Miss.  Put your hand on the desk right there and let it scan you into the system.” I did as she instructed and instantly a hologram bluish computer came to life in front of me.  It was like the system in the Council and was a bit overwhelming.  Judy seemed to follow my thoughts and added, “It will take a while to get used to, but it will be very helpful to you.  It will open only for you and it is also voice activated.  Anything you need you can request and it is at your fingertips.  If you bring up the security screens you can command them to show you any department you’d like and instantly you can see what is happening in that department.  “WOW!” I couldn’t seem to form any other words at the moment.  This technology was amazing and would be a huge help while trying to keep track of everything.  “Yes, it is rather impressive.  It was President Vaughn’s early brain child.” She said this looking rather sad.

“I’m sure you were very close to him, I’m sorry this must be a hard transition for you as well.” I can’t imagine how hard this is going to be on her.  She has been with Vaughn for the last 20 years and used to how he does everything; now she is being handed a sixteen year old who knows close to nothing about running a country.  I resisted the urge to apologize to her, and my confidence was slipping by the moment.

“Everything happens for a reason dear.  I’ve had a very good career here and the Ministry has seen many changes throughout those years.  I’m looking forward to the next 20 years and I’m very excited to see what you bring to the table.  You are going to be great Miss Thatcher.”

I was close to tears and trying to hold it together at least until I was alone.  “Thank you Judy, I’m going to try my best, thank you in advance for your patience.” She smiled at this.

“Well, let’s get to work shall we?  As I said anything you need to access is at your fingertips.  Use this week to get to know your surroundings and staff.  Anything you need let us know and we will help you.  You aren’t the only new one, the interns arrived this morning.  George is in charge of interns and will be training them and will be working side by side with a young lady who will become your right hand.”

Just then George walked in with Molly in tow.  “Molly!” I shouted!  She ran to me and gave me a huge hug.

“I can’t believe it Roz, this is so amazing!  We are going to be working together, how awesome is this?” it was refreshing to have Molly’s enthusiasm.  I didn’t realize just how much I missed my friend until she was standing in front of me.

George stepped up, “Molly is going to be in charge as Director of project management.  I held this position with President Vaughn, and it will be going to Molly.  Until we have her fully trained the three of us will be working together.  Every time a new President is brought in a new Project director must be brought in as well.  I will be here as long as you need me, to answer any questions Molly may have, but other than that you two will run the show.  Molly has already been debriefed on her Job position but please allow me to explain it to you.”

The four of us took a seat in the seating area with Molly and I next to each other on the couch and George and Judy taking the chairs.  George began, “You see Roz, you are going to be the idea genius.  Anything you can dream up that will make for a better future is your job.  It is up to our brilliant Molly here to make that dream happen.  So in a way you are the dreamer and the planner. Molly is the one that finds a way to make it work.  She will be doing all the research and working with the departments to make it happen.  In a way she is going to be your go between.”

Molly just sat there nodding her head looking proud.  This really was the perfect job for her.  Next to Wes, Molly is the most brilliant person I know, and like Wes, she has a great eye for research.  Many times in school I was the one to dream up ideas for projects and Molly and Wes would come up with a formula and plan of action by the next morning.

“This sounds wonderful, thank you George.”

“This week you just get to know everyone and the departments.  I will train Molly here and there and while I’m training the other interns Molly is free to go with you on your excursions and tours.  Don’t let any of those old coots get to you.  We have plenty of them here in the Ministry, but you will show them!”  George proudly stated.  This got a disapproving look and a throat clearing from Judy.

“Well that’s my queue.”  He shot a wink at Judy and gave me a quick pat of the back.  He turned to Molly and said, “Come girl, let’s get to it!”

Molly gave me another quick hug and jumped to her feet.  “Duty calls.  See you tonight?” I nodded and off she went.

So far today is one wonderful surprise after the next.  The dread is slowly being replaced by excitement.  I can’t wait to work with Molly and George is amazing!

“I love him!” I said to Judy who again had that disapproving look.

“Hmm, yes.  Well he is what he is.” At that odd statement Judy told me to hold on and she would be back.  A few seconds later she came back in with her tablet.  “Now we need to get Housing figured out so I can let Payton know what to do with you and after that you are free to go explore.  Now, Andi told me she gave you a brief over view of your options but let’s run over them again, yes?”  I nodded my consent and let her continue.

“Ok, usually the President has his or her own house which is separate from the building.  It is very nearby and Masters has his men doing a patrol constantly.  This is where we would usually place you, but being as you are so young you might prefer to stay in the employee housing for a while first.  Either way is fine; just let me know so I can set everything up.” Well geez, this is going to be a harder decision than I thought.  I would much rather live with people, the idea of going home to an empty house makes me hurt inside, but it’s also nice to get away from work.

Then an idea hit me.  “Judy, would I be able to merge the two somehow?” she gives me a skeptical look.  “What do you mean Miss?”

“Well is the house big enough for several people to live in it?” I could see it all clicking in her head.

“Oh yes miss, it is rather big.  You would even have someone to do the cooking and cleaning for you.” This was sounding better and better all the time.  I may have inherited many of my mother’s good qualities, but I also inherited her cooking skills.  “That would be wonderful.  You see I would really like to have my own space away from work, but I’m not really comfortable living alone.  Do you think it would be alright if Molly and Wes were to live there as well?” She seems excited about the idea until she heard me say Wes, I could see the frown lines form.  So I was quick to add, “He is like a brother to me.  We grew up practically living with each other our whole lives; we would both feel much more comfortable living close.”

That seemed to help a little, but she still wasn’t looking too impressed.  “Miss you don’t have to ask anyone for permission for anything, especially where you live.  Where you live and who with is up to you.  There are three floors, two with just bedrooms, so I don’t think it would be a problem to have a girls and boys floor if that’s what you would like.” Point taken Judy, Wes could live there on his own floor away from Molly and me.  It will be great.  “Wonderful, go ahead and let, Payton was it? Let her know that the three of us will be moving in as soon as possible.”

Judy stood up and began to make her way back to her office.  “As you wish miss, I will let her know to have it ready.  Also, you will have a seamstress come to your house tonight to have you fitted for some more clothes for you and Molly.  Wes will be fine with what he has.”

“Thank you Judy, but one more thing before you go.  Can you please call Andi and see if she would mind giving Rochelle at the front desk some lessons on how to interact with guests and employees?  I’d like her to meet with her for an hour every day until Andi feels she is ready.  In the meantime tell her to let Masters know he will be covering the desk for her.  That will be all thank you.” Judy gave me a surprised look, but didn’t say anything else, just nodded and left.

I wanted to make sure I was keeping the Council informed of everything, even though I know that they had people whose jobs were just that.  Either way I needed to start figuring out this computer system so now seemed like a great time to start.  I scanned my hand and waited for the screen to appear.  When it did I used the voice activated system to say “Write the Council.” I wasn’t sure if this was going to work, but sure enough, just then a box popped up.  I decided short and sweet was the way to go.

HI everyone!  I just wanted to let you know that I am getting settled wonderfully.  I have met my staff and feel very confident that everyone is a perfect fit.  There are still the skeptics, but in time I’m confident I will win them over!
 ☺
I also wanted to let you know that I decided to move into the Presidential house along with Molly and Wes.  As I informed Judy there will be no hanky panky he is like my brother and it will be strictly separate  rooms.  (Tell peter I will keep the touching to a minimum) I’m going to get to know everyone on my floor today and then starting tomorrow I will be visiting the Career Board room to see where the magic happens!

*Roz

I told the computer to “send.”   I decided to inspect my office fully before I built up the courage to go around and mingle.  I looked around taking in all the beautiful light and opened drawers and cabinets to see what I would find.  I was surprised to find one cabinet full of snacks and fruit, anything I would need really.  It was then that I noticed one of the cabinets was actually a small refrigerator.  When I opened it I saw it was stocked full with bottles of water and what else but chocolate milk!  Oh yes, they were fully prepared for me!  I opened one of the drawers and saw it was stocked with chocolate.  The perfect, ideal office for a sixteen year old girl.  I grabbed chocolate milk for courage and sat down on the couch drinking it while a made a list of people I remember and what their jobs were.  Sadly the list wasn’t very long, not even half of my direct staff.  I wouldn’t have dreamed it took so many people to run such a small country; but it has worked for years so they must be on to something.  I finished my milk; made sure I didn’t have a mustache, and got ready to face the masses.

Chapter Twelve

I decided to just walk around and observe, I didn’t want to interrupt anybody.  I just wanted to get a better feel for how everything worked.  I felt instantly awkward.  Everyone noticed as soon as I was near and tension filled the air.  I heard a lot of, “afternoon Miss Thatcher.” And many, “Can we help you Miss?”  It was all so stuffy and made me feel so much older than my sixteen years.  After an hour I couldn’t take it anymore and I found myself in George’s Office.  He was just finishing up with Bob who gave me a firm chilly look before he left.  I was fed up with people by now and George seemed easy to take my guard down around so I flopped down on his couch.  “Geez, what is his problem?” I asked.  This earned a giggle from Molly and a slight smile from George.

“Oh, don’t let Bob get to you.  He is one of those old coots I warned you about.  He is great at his job; but he is one of those people who is hardly ever happy with anyone or anything.”

I thought about this for a moment as it dawned on me, “He liked Vaughn and blames me for his absence doesn’t he?”  George looked taken back and then guarded.  "He did like Vaughn, in a way they were made from the same stock, very efficient.  Nobody blames you for Vaughn’s departure; it was just his time to go.  Everyone, even Bob deep down, knows that you are going to be a breath of fresh air to the Ministry.  Just give him time.” With that George’s attention went back to whatever it was he was working on.

I turned to Molly, “So I basically made the executive decision that you and Wes are going to move into the Presidential house with me.  Is that alright with you, or would you prefer the staff housing?” Molly’s eyes lit up in excitement as I knew they would.  I never would have made that call without asking both her and Wes if I didn’t already know for sure their answer would be a resounding yes.

“Oh, of course that’s ok with me!  How exciting, living in the Presidential house; even if I do have to put up with more of Wesley’s antics…totally worth it!” That last bit made me chuckle.

“Well good, I aim to please.”   Looking down at my watch I realized how late it was getting.  According to my itinerary Judy left me, I still have to meet with Masters before I can head “home” and meet with the seamstress.  “Well, duty, calls.  I will see you guys later.” Molly waved and George looked up with a smile and got back to what he was doing.

I stopped into Judy’s office on my way to see Masters.  “Hi Judy, just wanted to let you know I’m going to meet Masters now.  Can you shoot him a message and let him know I’m on my way please?”  Judy looks up from what she was doing with a smile, “Certainly Miss Thatcher.”

I smile back trying to hide my annoyance with the name.  “Judy, I would love it if you called me Roz, please.”

She gave me a small smile, “Yes, I know Miss but I am old and stuck in my ways, it just doesn’t seem respectful.  I’m sorry.”  I keep reminding myself that it takes baby steps.

I smile back at her and change the subject, for which she looks relieved.  “Can you tell me the best way to get the Department of Defense please?”

She jumped up, “oh good heavens I almost forgot.”  She went over to what appeared to be a safe, scanned her hand and a moment later it popped open, she grabbed something out of the safe, shut the door and handed me the box.  I open the box and inside I see a watch like the one that Annabelle was wearing.  “It has a G.P.S. built in and the schematics of the building.  All you need to do is tap on the side here and a menu will appear.  Click where you want to go and it will show you the best way to get there.  If you hit this button next to the other a new screen will appear.  This is where you can send and receive messages.” WOW!  I was in awe.  I always knew the Ministry has amazing things and much more technology than anyone in the zones would need, but they keep blowing me away.  I took the watch out of the box, surprised with how small it is for being capable of so much.

“This is amazing Judy, Thank you!” She smiled and helped me put the watch on.

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?  It’s one of my favorite inventions.  It has been a huge help to the new  interns.  Now let me show you how to program it.  We will put the Department of Defense in and do you see that red dot?” I nod.  “That is them, and that green dot is you.  Just follow here and you should get there in a jiffy!  I’ll send Masters a message now and let him know to expect you.  Just send me a message if you have any questions, or give me a call, otherwise I will see you tomorrow morning.  You have a wonderful first day Miss Thatcher.”  I smile warmly at her.

“I don’t know what I would do without you Judy; you really are a life saver!”  I turned and head out to meet Masters.  I decided that the best way to prepare for this meeting is to get my backbone fully in place.  With most people today I smiled and did my best to put them at ease while I slowly tried to win them over.  With Masters there is no way my smile is going to get me anywhere.  If I have learned anything from him, he exudes strength and power.  In order to earn his respect, and his most definitely will have to be earned, I am going to have to prove to him that I am cut out for this job.  No more getting lost and calling him for help.  It’s time to show Masters who is boss, and right now that just so happens to be me.  I will be much more convincing however, if I can keep from yakking on my shoes, which is exactly what I feel like doing right now.  Masters is intimidating for sure, which is perfect for his job, but how am I going to go about getting him to respect and see me as a leader and not a child is far beyond me.

I notice that the green dot is almost in line with the red.  I square my shoulders and prepare for battle.  I am in a plain white corridor with no warmth to be found.  It is such a stark contrast from all the other places I have seen in the Ministry thus far.  I arrive at a strong looking metal door.  There is no one there waiting for me, so I assume I need to scan myself if.  I put my hand to the scanner, and scan in.  The door unlocks and I walk through it.  I stand there stunned for a minute.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, an office at least, but instead of an office I am standing in a huge concrete room surrounded by white walls.  The floor is a rubbery, somewhat bouncy, material that makes me feel like I’m going to fall when I walk.  I stand there and take in the surroundings.  All around me is organized chaos.  There must be 50 men in here right now all doing some type of training.  There are some paired off sparring, others are hitting punching bags, a few are engaging in some kind of martial arts that is making me want to yell at them to knock it off because someone is for sure going to end up hurt.  I restrain myself, but still jump every time one of them gets a good hit in.  Masters sees me and walks towards me with that cocky smirk on his face.  He can see my discomfort and he loves it.  Why can’t this man have a normal office like most people?  I square my shoulders and ready myself.

“Good afternoon Miss President.  I’m glad you found your way down here.”

Haha, very funny.  I completely ignore the comment and come back with “Hello Kevin, thank you for taking the time out of your day to meet me.”  He scowls at the use of his first name, but if he wants to have a pissing match I am going to go toe to toe with him.  He jumps right into tour guide mode for which I am very thankful for the small reprieve.

“What you see here is the training room.  These men you see here are all the new recruits.”  It was then that I noticed Tristan.  He sees me from across the room and tosses a wink in my direction and continues his fighting.  Masters moves on towards a hallway in the back of the room.  I follow trying to stick as close to the wall as possible.  I can just see me going home with a black eye on the first day.  We reach the hallway and enter to another corridor.  This one is lined with rooms which have two way mirrors.  We can easily see what is happening on the other side.  Four of those rooms are set up with targets.  The men in them are throwing knifes and shooting bows.  Great.  I knew they were bound to have weapons, I just was hoping not to see them.  We are an anti-gun country.  After the war, the founders said they have seen enough guns, taken care of enough bullet wounds to last a life time.  Knives and bows are only allowed because they are used for hunting.  People in our country don’t use weapons.  Obviously not everyone follows the rules, thus having to have these men trained in their use.  It is a capital offense to be found with a weapon intent on harm.  Crime is kept pretty low, it’s incredibly low compared to most other countries, but it still happens.  We continue walking until we come to another room.  This is one much larger than the last.  It has maps hung all over the walls and there is a long table full of men sitting there discussing something while breaking up the zones on a screen in the center of the table.

“This is the command room.  It is where all the strategic planning is made.”  I nod and watch for a minute in fascination.  I will say that Masters seems to have everything running like a tight ship.

“Let’s go sit in my office where we can have some privacy.” He leads me down another hall and to a large office.  This room is much like the man himself.  Stark white walls again, tidy desk, and minimal everything.  Looking at his office doesn’t give away any clues of the man before me.  It could belong to anyone.  He sat down at his desk and I took the seat opposite him.  I decided that if I was going to take command I need to do so right off the bat.  So I took a deep breath and jumped right in.

“Now that I am taking over there are going to be many things I’m going to have to learn in a short amount of time.  The Department of Defense is one of the areas that is the most important to our country, and the one I know the least about.  I can’t offer much as far as advice or counsel in this area, as you know.”  That got a small smirk out of him.  “That being said I’m going to let you do what you do best.  I am going to trust that you know what you’re doing and leave that up to you.  However, I want you to know that just because I don’t understand everything that goes into your department, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be aware of everything that is happening.  I mean everything!  Do you understand Masters?”  He looked at me for a moment and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

After a few seconds of silence he nodded and said, “Perfectly.  You want me to do what I do best, but don’t want any surprises.  Anything happens, and you are the first to know.”  Good, we are at an understanding."

“As far as how the men are trained and handled I will stay out of your way.  I do, however want a weekly report of the happenings in the zones.  I would also like you to include anything that might be of interest on the patrols.  I would like to have a sit down meeting with you once a month to make sure that we continue to be on the same page.”  At this I got a raised eyebrow but no protest so I took that as encouragement and went on.  “This week is going to be spent in the Career Board department.  Next week however I would like to spend it touring the jails.”  At this all looks of boredom were erased from his face.  That perfect hard veneer he had in place slipped and he was downright gaping at me now.

“You have got to be kidding me.  You want to go into the prisons?”  I refused to let him intimidate me.

“Yes, I do.  The only way to fix a problem is to find out how it occurred and what we are doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again.  It is going to take some time, so I’m blocking off two weeks.  I don’t expect you to escort me to all the prisons, but I would appreciate two of your men to be there at all times.”

He stood there looking at me like I was insane.

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“Not at all.”

“You honestly want me to not only let you tour the prisons, all of the prisons, but you want to see the inmates?!  No bloody way.”  I knew I was going to have a fight on my hands.  The fact that things had gone so smoothly up until this point surprised me.  But I have to draw a line and this is where it is being drawn, if I have to throw some weight around to do it for the better of the country I will.

“Masters, I understand that you aren’t used to working for someone as young as me and a female at that.  I know you are going to worry more about my safety and wellbeing than you did about Vaughn.  I appreciate that, but I refuse to let the fact that I am a young female get in the way of running this country and making it better.  The only way I can try to improve upon a situation is if I see it firsthand.  I wouldn’t respect any president who didn’t run things in a hands-on manner, and neither should you.  If you feel that I’m stepping on your toes, move them.  I am who you are stuck with and I am going into those prisons next week.  I wasn’t asking your permission just so we are clear.  The President is telling her Head of Defense that she is requesting two escorts and to inform all of the people that need to be aware of my arrival.  However, I do not want the wardens knowing ahead of time.”

There, I got it all out and he is free to hate me or quit, but it needed to be said.  He sat for a long time in silence, I could tell he was livid, but he held his tongue.  After a few more seconds with us staring each other down, he gave a slight nod of his head.  “I will clear my schedule for the next two weeks and will accompany you myself, as well as have two escorts.” Victory!  I made sure to keep the smile off of my face and stood.

“Thank you very much for your time Masters, and I appreciate your cooperation.  I will have Judy send you a copy of my itinerary when it’s finished.”  He nodded and stood up.

“Please, you don’t have to show me out, I will be fine.” No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t just walk out, I didn’t want to leave things on bad terms with Masters.  I’ve seen firsthand how good he is at his job and I really do respect him, and I just laid into him pretty badly.  I stopped at the door and turned around.  I looked deep into his cold hard stare.  “This is the right thing to do Masters.  I know Vaughn leaving and me taking over isn’t ideal for you, but it’s the hand we are dealt.  I’m just trying to put everything aside and do what needs to be done, and this needs to be done.”  He nodded and I gave him a smile and left.