A call from Scott turned out to be a mixed blessing for Jan. Using short, cryptic exchanges, her husband answered many of the questions that had been uppermost in her mind. “The lad is where he should be, where he’d want to be,” Scott replied when Jan asked after Nathan. “You understand, don’t you?” he asked in a very guarded manner.

Jan wasn’t able to respond. The best she could manage was to shake her head while she struggled to calm herself. This news brought on tears that were as much from the tension that had been piling up as they were from the dread that had now become reality.

Scott understood what was happening on Jan’s end of the line and tried as best he could to calm her. “Some friends of mine will be there early tomorrow to give him a hand,” he continued, speaking slowly as he carefully selected each word. “I expect they won’t have much trouble. The lad and his buddies don’t have much to be moved.”

Though Jan thought she understood what Scott was saying, she wished she could ask him to spell it out. But she didn’t dare. She was well aware that their chat could very well have uninvited ears listening in. Whether they were on Scott’s end or hers didn’t matter. Both, given the circumstances, were likely targets for monitoring. So she had to content herself with the shreds of news that Scott was able to pass on using his own version of crypto-speak. “What about you?” Jan finally asked when she was sure of her voice.

“Busy,” was all Scott came back with. When he didn’t say anything for several seconds Jan wondered if she should press him with another question. But she didn’t. She wasn’t as practiced at this as Scott. Finally he filled in the silence with a nonsensical story about a fight between Jan’s hyperactive Jack Russell and Scott’s overly curious Abyssinian. Jan listened and was entertained but longed to speak openly to her husband. Since that was impossible, she forced herself to be satisfied with just hearing his voice.

Before he said goodbye Scott dropped his own news on her. “I’m having lunch with Bernie tomorrow,” the major general stated in a rather nonchalant manner.

“Oh?” was the best Jan could muster, realizing that Bernie was General Bernard Poulengy, Chief of Staff of the Army, and a great supporter of Scott’s career.

“He’ll only be in town for the day,” Scott quickly added.

“Well, don’t forget to give him my best,” Jan nervously replied.

“I will,” Scott answered. “He knows he can depend on us to do our best when he asks.”