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make the decision on where to go from there after consulting with the Secret Service.

    As they reached the gates of the naval base, the motorcade slowed to about thirty-five and the civilian escort peeled off to be replaced by a Shore Patrol escort that would take the motorcade to a secure hangar on the base.

    Once the vehicles came to a stop, everyone disembarked, and the President was met by the base commander. The commander assured the chief executive that he was perfectly safe and that a detachment of Navy SEALs was now on duty to protect him. After discussing the situation, it was decided that the President and his entourage would spend the rest of the night here, relocate the next day’s meeting to the base, and then leave for Washington.

    “Okay, Kurt, Phil, go with this sailor. He’ll take you to enlisted quarters. Get some sleep, and someone will wake you in four hours when you’re expected to be back here. Give the sailor your shirts, and they’ll be washed and ready for you by morning. Meanwhile, we have someone going to all the rooms to bring your things here before we leave for DC.”

    “This way, men,” the young sailor said.

    Kurt looked at Phil with a mixture of concern and excitement. He figured there wouldn’t be much privacy where they were going, and he didn’t know if Phil would still be in the mood for a quickie. Any thoughts of fun ended when they saw where they’d be sleeping.

    “Okay, guys, try to be quiet going in. Your berths are two cubicles down, and you’ll find two beds with sheets and blankets and pillows. I’ll lead you there and take your shirts with me to the base laundry.”

    As they walked as silently as possible, they saw that they were in a barracks with two-man cubicles on both sides of the walkway. Men were snoring all over the bay.

    “Here you are. As for your weapons, put them in your shoes and slide them in under the bed. I’ll wake you in four hours.”

    Kurt and Phil stripped off their shirts and gave them to the sailor, who seemed to discreetly check out their chests before he left. They took off the rest of their clothes and draped them over the end of the beds. Rather than wasting time making up the beds, Kurt and Phil each spread out one sheet and lay down on it, covering themselves with the other.

    Kurt gave the thumbs up to Phil, who returned the gesture from the next bed, and both men tried to get to sleep while ignoring the hundred or so men snoring away. Finally, sleep overcame them only to be broken moments later, or so it seemed.

    “It’s time to get up, sir,” the sailor said.

    Kurt and Phil sat up on their beds and stretched and saw that all of the naval personnel were out of the barracks already. Hanging on the wall separating the cubicles were their shirts, washed and ironed. Kurt picked up his hand mic and spoke into it.

    “Jackson to Morgan, so do we have time for a shower?”

    “Affirmative, just make it quick,” came the reply.

    They grabbed the towels from the feet of their beds and headed to the shower, which they had all to themselves.

    “Well, we don’t have soap, but at least we can rinse off,” Phil said as he kicked off his shorts.

    Kurt followed suit, and both men stood under the shower rinsing their bodies for about two minutes before they shut the water off and dried themselves.

    “We should have given the sailor our shorts too!” Phil said.

    “Skivvies,” Kurt corrected.

    “Huh?”

    “In the Navy they call underwear ‘skivvies’.”

    “Well, whatever they call ’em, we should have had these washed too. Hate climbing back into dirty underwear.”

    “But—but then we would have been naked all night!” Kurt mocked in exaggerated shock.

    “Yeah, like you would’ve minded,” Phil replied.

    They returned to their cubicle, dressed, and headed back to the last place the motorcade had been seen. It was still there, and Kurt and Phil met up with Morgan.

    “Okay, what we’re using for a makeshift command post is over there on that table. No monitors, just communications. One of you man that while the other watches the vehicles. The President is having his meetings at the base commander’s house, and we should be outta here and on Air Force One in six hours.”

    “Gotcha covered, boss,” Kurt replied.

    After the detail leader left the area, Kurt bitched a little. “Don’t we just always get the best jobs around here?”

    “Whaddaya expect? We’re the new kids on the block, the