It was dark at the top of the world, and far above stars twinkled merrily. The winds whistled across the endless snow-scape, months after the last sun had been seen here. Across the field of white, a figure moved, his black leather shoes crunching on the crisp snow. Slowly, carefully, he made his way towards the windbreak, stopping just at the edge to look around in the starlit night, and sing.
“♪I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…♪”
“That,” Agent Hanson said from behind the windbreak, “is not funny.”
“Come on, Jill.” He stepped out of the cold wind, smiling behind his mirrored sunglasses. “Where’s your sense of humour?”
“I left it back in Langley, Wolf. You know, in one of those warm rooms they have there?” She shivered, even inside her Arctic survival suit, glaring at her companion. “And tell me again why you’re comfortable dressed like that, Bob. We’re at the fucking pole here.”
“Exaggeration, Jill. We’re still twenty miles off.” He smiled as he dusted the snow from his jacket and checked his watch.
“I don’t care. You’re swanning around as though this is summer!”
He looked down at his suit critically, and took off his sunglasses to polish them. “No. In summer, I wouldn’t wear the jacket unless I had to.” He grinned at her. “Anyway, it’s just a perk. Do good today, and who knows – maybe you’ll impress someone.”
“Right. Homeland Security is handing out immunity to cold now.” She snorted.
“Jack Frost was real cooperative after a few minutes’ waterboarding,” Wolf smiled nastily. “Now he’s got a comfy little cell all his own, doesn’t get bothered by anyone. And he doesn’t bother me.”
“… whatever. Anyway, I’m just along to analyse the files.”
“Sure, but that’s a pretty hot job. Just think, it’s your chance to find out where Bin Laden’s been hiding. And to get us all a solid list of all the bad guys, everywhere. If this goes well, you’ll catch some attention.”
“You don’t seriously think this will work, do you?”
“Why not? It’s the one day of the year the Big Man’s away for sure. We’ll have twenty-four hours to secure the area, go through his files, liberate his ‘helpers’ and extract anything they know. By the time he gets back, the landing field will be one big ambush zone. It can’t fail.”
Wolf glanced at his watch again, and turned to look North. Hanson followed his gaze, bringing her binoculars up to her eyes. They waited in silence for a minute.
“… I still don’t feel right about this.”
Wolf sighed, and looked back at her. “What’s your problem? We’re here to keep America safe. That’s your job, right?”
“Yeah, but this isn’t a threat, is it? What harm is he doing up here?”
“Hey, it’s not our job to decide who’s a threat, remember? The President did that already. You’re not questioning the President, are you?” Wolf’s disconcerting grin flashed again. “Anyway, just think about it. This is someone who comes and goes as he chooses, in America as well as the rest of the world. He’s broken into the White House, Agent Hanson – and we take that kind of thing very seriously. The Big Man won’t enjoy Gitmo one little bit, after that.”
“So we grab him and torture him for, what, leaving the President a lump of coal?”
“We interrogate him, Jill, because he knows where the bad guys are. They get visits, too. Everyone does. And if he won’t help us find them, then he’s as bad as they are. He’s one of them, Jill, and if he’s dumb enough to annoy the President personally, well, he’s not making things any easier on himself, that’s all.
“If it makes you feel any better, though, think of the children. This old man, he creeps into children’s rooms at night, and do you really trust a man who does that? Would you trust him with your children’s safety? Or anyone else’s? When we take him out of circulation, we’ll be protecting our country and our children. Look at it that way.”
“I just remember… I mean when I was a kid -”
“When we were young, the world was different. The world was safer. We could afford to be more gentle then. Now,” Wolf sounded positively gleeful, “we live in a more dangerous world. And we get to be dangerous with it.”
Agent Hanson sighed, and glanced behind her, at the waiting men. Ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice, knowing they were serving their country, and that they were in the right. Hadn’t the President said so?
“This isn’t what I joined up for. I just wanted to keep America safe, not – not this.”
“But you are, Jill, you are!” Wolf’s hand landed on her shoulder, a friendly weight that somehow was anything but comforting. “Think of all the good we can do, with what he knows. Just think of the damage we can do our enemies, with his help.
“And, as an added bonus, the two of us get to have all our Christmases come at once! Come on, Jill, lighten up. It’s time to go.”
In the distance, Agent Hanson saw movement through her binoculars. A sleigh, lifting into the night sky, visible only by a faint red glow from the front. She shivered, not just from the cold, as the helicopters behind her started their engines.
