Authors' Note: This story is based on a very interesting and intriguing post I stumbled upon online about three years ago. It was titled "Nancy The Throat Goat."
For those of you who haven't heard of it, I suggest you google it. It's a fascinating... Conspiracy? Story? Rumor?
Disclaimer: All characters are over the age of 18 and are all fictional.
***
Washington D.C, 1984
11:47 P.M.
"You know, Harry," said a smooth feminine voice. "You really should get some rest."
President Harry Bolton looked behind him to meet his mother's gaze as she stepped into the dimly lit Oval Office. "I know, Mom," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It's just... there's so much going on."
Kathy strolled towards him; her eyes flickered towards the folders and papers on his son's Resolute Desk. The room smelled faintly of the leather chair he sat in, mixed with the scent of cigars. She noticed the furrowed lines of concentration on Harry's forehead and the tension in his jaw.
Moving closer to him, Kathy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on," she said, taking his hand. "Let's sit down," she offered, her voice soothing and motherly.
"Sure," he sighed.
They settled down onto one of the plush couches, and Harry leaned back with a sigh while her mother sat right beside him. The comfort of the couch seemed to momentarily melt his tension away.
The room was quiet except for the faint ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner and the distant murmur of the city beyond the walls of the White House.
"I thought you were asleep," Harry said.
"I thought you were asleep. Time flies when you're reading. I saw the light turned on from one of the library's windows," Kathy replied.
He sighed before speaking. "Mom, you know there's a lot I can't tell you."
Kathy smiled knowingly. "I know how it goes, dear. Your father used to tell me the exact same thing after those long nights. I never asked him to tell me anything, but sometimes he just did... on his own accord... I guess it gave him a little peace of mind knowing he wasn't talking to a general or an advisor."
"Dad's America was way different than this one."
She nodded. "In a way, perhaps but that is not necessarily a bad thing."
Harry sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "The situation with the Soviets keeps getting worse and worse. What has been years of tension has escalated to a waiting game to see who fires the first shot and some want us to be the first ones to pull the trigger... Two days ago, an East German national by the name of Dieter Gerhardt was arrested in New York for espionage..."
"Oh, my goodness."
"And his Russian handler, a man named Leonid Korsakov, was arrested a day later. I'm only telling you this because the FBI will go public two days from now... So don't say anything until then," Harry said with a cheeky smile.
Kathy smiled. "My lips are sealed, darling."
Although that didn't even begin to scratch the surface. Then he had the Cuban troops who had taken up positions on the Island of Grenada, and a few months back, Russian MiG fighters shot down a civilian airliner, South Korean flight 007, which Harry and the rest of the international community deemed a crime against humanity from one of the members of the Axis of Evil.
The idea that a German and a Russian national could be embedded so deep in the West was unnerving. Many in America had moved past the paranoia from the McCarthy era; many didn't believe in the Red Scare, but the KGB had long settled in the fabric of their freedom-loving society.
Spies, sleepers, handlers, and double agents like that piece of shit, traitor Klaus Fuchs, who sold atomic secrets, or those fucking Jews, the Rosenbergs. The enemy was already within the very walls of their most sacred institutions, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if the US was truly strong enough to win the race against the communists.
There were rumors about how the Soviet Union was an empire in decline, but that didn't make them any less dangerous.
Harry Bolton distinguished himself as one of the youngest candidates for the presidency within the Republican Party and subsequently became one of the youngest individuals to assume office. Throughout his campaign and following his electoral success, his young age compared to his predecessors had frequently been a source of criticism and a point of contention for the opposition as well as the public.
Age is no guarantee of experience. They were the guardians of the free world; Harry had to believe that his cause was just. He was the one responsible for carrying forward the Bolton legacy just as his father and grandfather had done before him.
Kathy could see her son's turmoil play out on his face; he looked so much like her late husband. She knew that look, having been married to a man who had once sat in that very chair. Politics was like a chess game where even the most skilled grandmasters get cornered.
Kathy's smile grew wider as she reached with one perfectly manicured hand and placed it on his thigh, giving it a comforting squeeze. "You're doing just fine, Harry," she said softly. "Remember that you can't solve the problems of the world. There is a new problem every day. It's just impossible."
"Yeah, I know. I just... I just can't help but wonder if what I'm doing is right. If my decisions are the correct ones. Sometimes I wish I could ask dad... even if it's just one question."
"Ironic," Kathy smirked. "Your father used to say the same thing about his own father as he stared out the window. Many times, he wondered what 'his old man' would've done differently."