Angered and frustrated by a day that had seen so much of what he had worked for brought to the test, GO Thomas laid into Jan with a viciousness that was normally reserved for his most despised foes. “Those paratroopers landed in my home state, not the other way around. No Idaho Guardsman set foot on Capitol Hill, gun in hand, threatening to pull down the government. No state official stood on the steps of Idaho’s statehouse and tore the Constitution to shreds. We are the victims here, Ms. Fields, the people of Idaho and the very Constitution that this President and his lap dogs have worked to subvert since the day they took office.”

Throwing her hands up and turning her face away in disgust, Jan returned GO’s verbal volley. “Oh, please. Save your whining for the evening news and the weak minded who lap up whatever drivel you choose to feed them.” Then she brought her head about and glared at Thomas. “You engineered this crisis. You manipulated people and events until the President had no choice but to respond in a deliberate and forceful manner. You knew that he could not ignore what you did. Yet you just kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing.”

GO smiled. “You give me a great deal of credit.”

“No,” Jan replied as she stood up. “You give yourself too much.”

With his face glowing red from the anger, GO jumped to his feet. “And where do you think you’re going? We’re not quite finished.”

The moment of truth had come. GO’s true colors were flying from the masthead and it was time for Jan to push her guile to its limits. “Am I to assume by your statement that I am not free to leave here?” she asked as calmly as she could. “Is the champion of personal liberties going to deny me my freedom?”

It took a second for GO to realize that he had allowed his anger to override his common sense. With his hands curled up in tight, white knuckled fists, he stared at Jan. As he did, the color in his cheeks drained and his rage turned into embarrassment. Finally GO averted his eyes, lowered his chin, and brought his right hand up to scratch his head as his face deformed itself into a series of anxious grimaces. When he was composed and had collected his thoughts, he looked up at Jan. “Oh God, Jan. I am so sorry. I …”

Realizing that she had gained moral ascendancy for the moment, Jan decided that it was time to go. “Am I free to leave?” she asked again in a low, yet deliberate manner.

Still off balance, GO nodded, “Why yes, of course you …”

“Don’t bother to show me to the door,” Jan quickly replied as she snatched up her purse and headed for the exit. “I know the way.”