ReUNION: What if the Civil War had never happened? by Harvey Ardman

Wang. We're
working on the details. He's in the room with me right now."
    Wang stuck his face into the frame. "Pleased to meet you, President
Bourque," he said grinning.
    Bourque sat up, surprised. "Ah, Mr. Wang. Glad to see you. I didn't know
Callaway had a Chinese Chief-of-Staff."
    "Born and bred in Sandusky, Ohio," Wang said. "Third
generation."
    "But…"
    "My great-grandparents were Korean."
    "Ah."
    Wang grinned.
    "So you and my boy Roy making out okay?"
    Wang hesitated at boy . "He's a good man," he said. But he
realized Bourque didn't mean anything by the word.
    "Damn, Roy, you're living on the lucky side of the road."
    "There's more to tell you," Pickett said.
    "More? What? Am I gonna have to squeeze it out of you?"
    "They're worried about our military situation."
    "What did you tell them?"
    "The truth."
    "Jesus H. Christ, Roy. You're scarin' the pudding out of me."
    "It was the only way, sir."
    Bourque sighed and nodded. "Well, you're eyeball to eyeball with them. I
take your word for it. Now what's this 'more' you mentioned? You hearing me,
Roy?"
    Pickett shifted his eyes to the webcam, remembering that looking at Bourque's
face on the monitor wasn't the same as eye-to-eye contact. "Yes, sir. The
North Americans fear that Mexico could move against the CSA at almost any
moment."
    "Well, I can't argue with that," Bourque said.
    "So they're ready to give us some military aid."
    Bourque gasped in surprise. "What? Military aid? What kind of military
aid? When?"
    Wang stuck his face in front of the webcam. "Right now, President
Bourque. I'm going to speak to the Secretary of Defense about your needs
this afternoon and he'll call your military chief, probably tomorrow
morning—Boynton, isn't it?"
    Bourque closed his mouth, which had been ajar. "Yes, General Arthur
Boynton. I'll alert him. Thank you Mr. Chang."
    "It's Wang, but you can call me Eric."
    "Eric it is then," Bourque said warmly. "That's generous and
unexpected. I am grateful to you."
    Wang shrugged. "Had to be done," he said.
    "Listen, Eric," Pickett said, "could you give me and the
President a few minutes…"
    "Alone?" Wang said. "Of course. When you're done, click on this
button to hang up and meet me back in my office. Your badge gives you free West
Wing access."
    Pickett waited until Eric had left before he turned back to Bourque. "He's
gone," Pickett said.
    "Well now," Bourque said, "I don't know how you did it, but it
seems to me that you've got that Chinaman roped and tied and ready to
ride."
    "You know, he could be listening in," Pickett warned.
    "Yeah, well, if he's eavesdropping, he can't complain about what he hears,
can he?"
    "Maybe not, but I don't think it's a good idea to make them mad."
    "So what do you think of Callaway—and the Chinaman—can we trust
them?" Bourque asked.
    "I think so," Pickett said. "Callaway's a straight shooter. Wang
pretends to be a son-of-a-bitch, but I don't think there's a dishonest molecule
in his body and he's intensely loyal to Callaway. Anyhow, what choice do we
have?"
    Bourque nodded in resignation. "You're right. We're as helpless as a
turtle bottom up."
    "What kind of military help should we ask for?"
    President Bourque considered the question. "Best thing they could do for
us, militarywise, is to keep an eye on our Atlantic coast. We're very
vulnerable there. If they could station four or five of those missile frigates
20 or 30 miles out, that might discourage Garcia, without ruffling any feathers
on our side."
    "I'll let 'em know."
    "This is better than I thought, Roy."
    "You have to say one thing for the North Americans," Pickett said.
"They don't do things by halves. It's all or nothing with them."
    Bourque closed his eyes and took a very deep breath. He seemed to slump in his
chair.
    "Sir?"
    Bourque opened his eyes and sat up. "I'm fine, Roy. Just tired. They're
coming at me from all directions."
    "I understand."
    "But you've just given me the best possible news. You're the only star in
the sky, Roy, but you