Meaning I had to cowgirl up and join the others in the Stress Meeting. Joy.
Considered what relieved stress. Had had sex with Jeff already and that wasn’t an option right now. Couldn’t cuddle the kids because they were elsewhere having fun. Looked in my purse. Sure enough, I had Snoozing Poofs on Board. But only Harlie and Poofikins. Had to figure that the other Poofs were with their owners.
Stroked the two Poofs gently. They made happy sleeping noises. Could have woken them up, but just the act of petting them made me feel better.
Wished Algar hadn’t left already. I needed guidance for how to handle things in the LSR, since I couldn’t very well say that The Great God Algar had shared some wisdom with me. Eating one of Chef’s desserts wasn’t going to be a problem, but it would be hours before I could legitimately try to talk to ACE in my sleep.
Pondered my options. There were two people in the world who I knew for certain were in the extremely limited Algar Club. White was undoubtedly in the LSR, so my calling him would be suspicious.
Had no idea of what time it was in Italy, but it was probably really early in the morning. Then again, he always insisted that if any of us needed guidance, he was there 24/7. Time to put that to the test. Pulled out my phone and made the call.
He answered on the fourth ring. “Kitty?” Gower sounded tired but not necessarily asleep. “Is everything okay?”
“Um, in some ways yes, in some ways no. Are you able to talk privately? And I apologize for most likely waking you up.”
“I was awake. I’ve had trouble sleeping for a variety of reasons. Just didn’t have my phone near me when you called.”
“Are things okay with you?”
“Yes, it’s just a difficult time, wrangling all these different religious leaders into one cohesive mindset. Officially we’re all together. In reality, it’s taking longer than we probably have.”
“Yeah, as to that . . . I kind of need Supreme Pontifex guidance.”
“Really?” Gower sounded a lot more awake. “What’s wrong? Are things okay with Jeff and the kids?”
“Oh, yeah, this isn’t a domestic issue. It’s more of an ‘I know what to do but cannot tell anyone how I know what to do’ issue.”
Gower was quiet for a few moments. “You talk to . . . him . . . regularly, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. Do you?”
“Not as much as you. I think you’re his favorite, but he does visit when I really need him.” He cleared his throat. “I’m amazed we can talk about him at all.”
“I think he knows we need to be able to not pussyfoot at this precise time. So, get comfortable, I have a lot to catch you up on.”
Spent a good fifteen minutes talking fast and nonstop. The beauty of sharing with an A-C was that Gower could hear faster than I could talk, so I could talk as fast as possible. I still wasn’t able to talk at hyperspeed, but I was a fast talker by nature, and when I had my Recap Girl cape on I was even faster.
Finished up. “So,” Gower said slowly, “we should be realistic and admit that you’re not really going on a FLOTUS world tour so much as you’re going to use that as a cover to stop Cliff before the Faradawn Treeship lands and all hell literally breaks loose.”
“Got it in one. I therefore need to start this tour in the Middle East. I can get Mona Nejem to help me start in Bahrain and, hopefully, use that as the excuse to talk to people in the region. But I’m sure that will meet with a lot of resistance.”
“And jealousy, too, I’d imagine.”
“Probably. More because it’s ‘The First Lady’ visiting rather than anyone wanting me, specifically, to come hang out.”
Gower chuckled. “Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Kitty.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Not sure that makes any of this more workable.”
“I can help you with the reason for why you need to start in Bahrain. We’re having a lot of pushback from the Muslim leaders, more because they fear that their extremists will fight this tooth and nail than because they’re not willing to move forward into the brave new world descending on us.”
“Just like our extremists will. Yeah, I truly feel their pain. So, what, we’re going to say that I’m going to the Middle East first to soothe the Muslim leaders? I’m Jewish. I’m not so sure that will fly.”
“You may be Jewish, but your reputation precedes you, and you’re considered someone essentially neutral.”
“Pull the other one, it has bells on. My mother was in Mossad. For all we know, my mother is technically still in Mossad.”
“Yes, and yet you can count the Ambassadress of Bahrain as a close friend. You’re responsible for continuously breaking up the Al Dejahl terrorist network, which is not aligned with Islam in any way but which, due to the name and the region where the majority of recruitment is done, reflects badly on everyone in said region.”
“Wow, you’re as good at the diplomatic spin as Richard is.” Had a happy thought. “Um, Paul? Would it be possible for you to go with me on this tour?”
He chuckled again. “Yes, I was anticipating the request. James isn’t going to like the idea, though.”
“Well, all of Alpha Team is supposed to go with me, and you’re part of Alpha Team still, so . . .”
“That spin won’t fly with him. However, the religious summit has voted to head to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to sway the hearts and minds of as many as possible. Europe seems to be the most willing to go along with us, but Russia and all those surrounding countries aren’t so sure.”
“Meaning I need to get Olga Dalca involved as well.”
“Yes, again, your being close friends with the Romanian Ambassadress is a huge help and yet another example of your neutrality.”
Chose not to ask how I’d become the poster girl for We Are The World. “Whatever works. Speaking of the region, though, I’m sure that Cliff has a benefactor of some kind helping him out, because if he’s embedded himself in that area, and I’m really sure that he has, then he didn’t do it without assistance.”
“There are always remnants of Al Dejahl around, just waiting for their new leader. I’d assume that’s who he’s with.”
“Figure one of them has money, because Hacker International cleared out of most of Cliff’s holdings along with those of anyone else connected to him that they could find.”
“Our enemies rarely work alone.”
“Which is why I don’t want to, either. So, does Jeff go with me or stay here? And what about the kids? I was told, gads, only this morning that the kids were going with me on the world tour, but I’m worried about taking them.”
Gower was quiet for another few moments. “I think your mother is right—the President needs to stay put. I understand why Muddy thinks otherwise, but while the Turleens may have visited a lot, what they haven’t done is interact with humans, and observation is different from interaction. Plus, as you mentioned, we don’t want Chuck on the front lines with Cliff if we can help it.”
“I kind of wish ACE was still riding shotgun with you.”