Sedona Chip, Book #9 of the Janitors Series - Some humor as the First Lady and Janitor gals continue their playacting.

Today’s excerpt is from Sedona Chip, Book #9 of the nine-book Janitors Series.  Knowing the French were listening in on everything said in the Oval Office, the President slips out of the office as the First Lady and the Janitor ladies do their playacting to drive the French batty.  Enjoy and have a wonderful day. 

m.j.

 

Claude Basset, who was nearly living in the small office he’d been given in the Embassy, sat bolt upright on hearing those words, and immediately placed a call to his President.  It was just after 8:00 PM in Washington, 2:00 AM in Paris, and after four in the morning in Tehran.  He had already reported the “success” of Maurice Lambourne in “verifying” construction of the super weapon.  Now, after his President woke up from a sound sleep, he reported, “Sir, that General and their President are discussing the target sites.  Hold on, please, while I listen in.”

The President muttered, “Ellis, I think any of these would do nicely.  Let me think about these a bit.  For now, the First Lady and three of her friends are waiting to come in and discuss a few things.”

Basset almost screamed when he heard that, but remembered he had his President on the line.  “Sir, you’re not going to believe this, but that idiot is going to spend some time with his wife and some of her friends, before deciding on a target site.”

The French President rubbed his head, closed his eyes, and sighed.  “Call me back, when you know something.”

“Yes, sir.”

After about ten minutes of conversation, the President quietly slipped out of the Oval Office, as the First Lady, Wendy, Holly, and Janet continued right on with their conversation.  He walked to the office of General Bradley.  “They’re having a grand old time in there, Ellis.  I certainly hope the French enjoy the conversation.  This one is centered around which movie actor is the ‘cutest,’ for pity’s sake.  I understand from my wife that they will shift gears at some point, for a return visit to the hem lines of the female military uniform, on to female undergarments, then finally on to proper clothing for the other ladies to wear when they come to visit at the ranch—which, by the way, they have been invited to do, the next time we go down to the ranch.”

“I hope the French are well-rested, because it sounds like they won’t get much tonight.”

The French listening in were anything but well rested and the situation was due to get much worse.  At the first relay station, where the tapping equipment was set up, the number of men to monitor the equipment and listen in had dwindled.  Of the six men originally handpicked by Claude Basset to do the monitoring, only three remained.  In addition to the one who had quit when summoned to Paris, another two had asked for reassignment.  One was granted his request, the other—on being denied—had quit as well.  The three that remained were going “soft in the head,” as one had grumbled about listening in to the ladies talk about absolutely nothing any of them wanted to hear.  The one listening in that night would be certain that his brain was going soft, and he was going insane before the First Lady and her guests were finished.

In the French Embassy in Washington, at the second relay station, the three men assigned to listen there at least didn’t have to sit around and wait endless hours for conversation to start.  The first relay station alerted them when it was time to listen in.  Nonetheless, they were growing more than weary of the female talk.  The same situation existed in the French Presidential Palace.  In Tehran, Basset had someone monitor the system until conversation began—then he was summoned.  However, since he had learned that the Oval Office was normally only used from six until around ten, he had started listening in from 2:30 AM (Tehran time) until 6:30 AM.  He had adjusted his sleep pattern accordingly.  Of course, calls from Maurice Lambourne and Luc Rapp often interrupted his sleep, as he interrupted the sleep of his President.

This night, the Frenchmen listening in as the American ladies spoke were all reaching the end of tolerance.  On top of that, the French President lay wide awake in his bed, even though he kept telling himself it could be two hours or more before Basset called back.  Finally, after nearly three hours of this, he called Basset and asked, “Anything yet?”

“No, sir.  They are now discussing ladies’ undergarments.  It seems that one of them has a rather robust chest.  But I don’t suppose you want to hear about all that.”

“No, I do not.  Call me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nearly four hours after the President left the Oval Office, General Bradley went to his other office.  “Sir, I think it’s time.  Wendy has to fly all the way to Afghanistan yet tonight.  Though I understand she got plenty of sleep during the day, that’s still a long haul.”

“Right, you are.  Let’s go.”

The President slipped into the Oval Office and sat down.  As he did, he winked at his wife and smiled.  Seconds later, General Bradley knocked on the door and came in.  Before he could speak, the First Lady glanced at her watch.  “Will you look at the time?  Come ladies, I’m sure General Bradley is here with something important.  Let’s call it a night.”

Frenchmen at four listening posts sighed in relief.

After the ladies left the Oval Office, General Bradley asked, “Did you get a chance to look over the list of targets, sir?”

“No, not really, Ellis.  I found the conversation in here quite interesting.  Let’s take care of this tomorrow.  I have a busy schedule, so let’s plan on about four or five tomorrow afternoon.  I’ll look the list over during the day.”

Claude Basset actually cried.  Two other listeners screamed, and one pounded his fists on the desk in front of him.

“Fine, sir.  I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, unless something comes up during the day.”

 

Sponsored by:  www.mikejacksonbooks.com