Page 89 of Powerless

“Where in the Philippines?” I ask as I take my glasses off and place them on the table.

“Manila, sir.”

“Shit,” I grumble. Looking down at the keys of the laptop, I attempt to gain my bearings. “How long ago?”

“Twenty-two minutes.”

“Twenty-two minutes? There are offshore fault lines around the Manila Trench which means they must’ve had a strong earthquake resulting in a tsunami. They’re infrequent in the Philippines, but when they happen, they can be devastating. Do we have anyone in the area?”

“We have two subs in the Indian Ocean.”

“Reach out to the Philippine president, and get whatever information they have. Do the subs have supplies?”

“I can contact General Meyers and find out.”

“Do that, and if they have supplies, turn them around and send them to the Philippines.”

“Will do, sir.”

As Liam closes the door between our offices, Jamie opens the other door leading to his and Esther’s office. “Mr. President, Gavin needs five minutes of your time.”

I lift my hand and gesture for him to show him in.

“Mr. President, I want to give you your speech for your first press conference.” He hands it to me, and I skim over it.

“No,” I say as I circle a few of the weaker words in the address. “I’m not saying we’re going to determine the progress of the world.” I look up at Gavin and shake my head before continuing to read the speech. “No.” I circle another line. “That’s insulting to the American people.” I read the rest and nod my approval. “The American people want a leader, not a friend. They have plenty of those.”

“Yes, sir.” He takes the speech and leaves my office.

Within moments, Liam returns. “There are limited supplies on the submarines, and President Ramos says they’re in desperate need of medical supplies.”

“What about casualties?”

“It’s too early to tell, but where it hit was heavily populated with locals and tourists.” He looks down for a split second before raising his head and adding, “President Ramos isn’t confident.”

“Get relief ready to airlift.”

“Thank you.” Liam disappears, giving me a moment to wrap my head around everything.

“Mr. President, it’s four in the afternoon and you’ve yet to have anything to eat. I’m calling down to the mess for you,” Esther says as she places another stack of papers on my desk. “And I need your signature on these please.” She hands me two loose pages.

“I’ll get to it.”

“Do I have to call Mrs. Adams to come down here?” Esther snaps with a bite of sass.

“You just reminded me, I need to make time to go up to the residence and see how she is. With everything happening today, I haven’t had a chance to see her. She wasn’t feeling well this morning. I think the campaign trail and the inauguration has really taken a toll on her. And, she’s stubborn and doesn’t really want to hire a personal assistant, so she’s doing everything on her own.”

“Would you like me to send Jamie up to check on her?”

“She said she wanted to rest, but what time did you say it was?” I look at the clock on my laptop. “It’s just after four. I’ll head up and see how she is.” I sign the paperwork and hand it to Esther.

“Thank you, Mr. President.” Esther disappears out of the office.

“Mr. President, a reminder you have a five o’clock meeting with the vice president,” Jamie reminds me. “Would you like another coffee, sir?” He glances at the one that’s now gone cold because I’ve been lost in my work.

“Actually, could you arrange for some soup for Mrs. Adams?”’

“I can.”

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