Like a man returning from an all night drinking binge, Earl Saunders staggered into his office and threw himself onto the sofa. None of his staff followed him past the outer office where they drifted over to their old desks. Some simply sat down in their seats and looked around, not quite sure what to do now that the Idaho National Guard had all but ceased to exist. Others, taking off their helmets and field gear, made as if they were going to catch up on some work that still sat where they had left it. All responded differently to the morning’s events. All had their own opinions as to whether what they had done had been right or wrong. Yet none thought of leaving the side of the State Adjutant General. While their sworn allegiance was to the state, each felt a strong personal loyalty to the general they served that somehow overshadowed all other considerations. For better or worse, the men and women who had been handpicked to be on Saunders’s personal staff were going to stand by him, even in defeat.

Within minutes of his arriving, a phone rang in the outer office. Shaken from their own, dark thoughts, the staffers sitting around looked up at each other, then at the nearest phone to see what line the call was coming in on. As the phone continued to ring, one staffer after another looked about the room to see who would pick it up. Finally the executive officer shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the receiver of his phone. “State Adjutant General’s Office, Lieutenant Colonel Hadley speaking, sir.”

When he heard the response to his introduction, Hadley sat up. “Yes, sir. He is. Just a moment, sir. I will put you on hold and let him know you want to speak to him.” After hitting the HOLD button, Hadley hung up the phone, got out from behind his desk and stuck his head around the corner and into his general’s office. “Sir, it’s the governor’s office,” the executive officer called out in a hushed tone.

Saunders didn’t budge from his seat. “Put it on speaker phone.”

Entering Saunders’s office, Hadley crossed the room and hit the SPEAKER button. “Sir, you’re on speaker phone,” Hadley announced. “General Saunders is here.”

From the speaker phone, a voice thundered out across the room. “Congratulations, general. You and your boys did well.”

In silence, Hadley watched his general’s face turn red from anger as he listened in silence to the attorney general.

“I want you to know that the sacrifice of your Guardsmen was not in vain. Their efforts have paid off exactly as we had hoped.”

Saunders was seething with rage by now and unable to keep his tongue in check. “Just what in the hell kind of perverted logic brings you to that asinine conclusion?”

“Haven’t you heard the news?” Osborn asked innocently.