Culver fetched a glass from the draining rack over the sink and poured himself an ale with a practised hand. Kip remembered him saying once that he tended bar while at college. It seemed there was very little that the Louisianan didn’t have some working knowledge of.

‘I’d offer you dinner, Jed,’ he said. ‘But Barbara only picked up enough for two. And I’m not good at sharing.’

Culver set his glass down on the galaxy-black granite benchtop and held up both hands. ‘I wouldn’t want to interrupt pork chop night, Mr President.’

Kipper resisted the temptation to start turning the meat. In his humble opinion, too-frequent turning made the meat tough and dry and was a crime against humanity. There should probably be a law against it. He’d have to look into that. After another beer.

‘So, what was it you wanted to bug me about? Your minute starts now.’

‘Just an update, Mr President. Secretary Humboldt just sent over a briefing note from her department on how we might handle dispersing the women and children out of the camps in the east. I’ve read the executive summary, and I’ll try to digest the whole thing later tonight. But from a practical point of view, it looks okay. We’re going to keep the families together, but break up the tribal groups and scatter them like chaff. Most will be going out to the frontier, to work on government farms, so they’ll be under supervision. And working plenty hard with it.’

Kip found he could work his spatula under the chops without having to push too hard. A sure sign they were ready to flip. He was about to call Barb down when she appeared at the door in her dressing gown and slippers, looking rested and even a little flushed from the hot water and the alcohol.

‘Hi Jed,’ she said. ‘You staying for dinner?’

‘No,’ both men answered at the same time. Culver found a weary smile somewhere and added, ‘I’m picking up Marilyn at the apartment and we’re going out to dinner. Although I have to say, my mouth is watering right now and I could be talked out of it – except that your husband and my wife wouldn’t approve.’

He emptied his beer in two long pulls before rinsing out the glass and replacing it on the draining rack. ‘And anyway, I really was just dropping in on my way through. We can discuss how we handle Sarah’s plan tomorrow,’ he added, turning back to his boss. ‘And I’ll need to have a word with you about Texas as well.’

‘Okay then,’ agreed Kip. ‘Right now I have perfectly cooked pork, cold beer and a smoking-hot wife. I’m afraid I don’t intend to be distracted from that by affairs of state.’