Chapter 10

"Kiersten," Sarah said, exiting the limo and walking toward the plane. "We're getting on the plane, ETA back is two hours." Sarah sat down at the table and buckled her seatbelt. Addison sat next to her, also buckling her seatbelt. Cassie and Quentin boarded and sat in two of the seats.

"Let's go home, Paul," Cassie said, her voice sounding as tired as she looked. It was after ten and the work day should have been over close to six hours ago.

"Yes, Ma'am." Paul said, turning his attention to the controls to take them home. Cassie glanced over at Sarah who gave a slight shrug. Addison had passed out with her head resting on Sarah's shoulder before the plane had even started rolling. Cassie knew it was only a matter of time before Sarah did the same thing. It had happened every time that they had flown back to Atlanta late at night.

Sarah awoke to the phone ringing. It took her a few moments to remember where she was, but she picked up the phone. "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Director Robertson's office." She rubbed her eyes and looked at Addison who was still asleep, using her right shoulder as a pillow. Sarah wiggled her shoulder to wake Addison to gain use of her right arm. She reached for a pen. "What?" She listened for a few more seconds. "Hang on, I'm going to put this on the polycomm." She pushed a few buttons while Cassie and Quentin looked at her quizzically. "Alright, Dave, you're on speaker with Director Robertson, Doctor Jones, myself and Addison Walton."

"Ok, this is Dave Johnson from Media Relations," Dave said, causing Sarah and Cassie to share a glance. "CNN is reporting that a senior official, they haven't said which agency, has leaked a report about birthrates. We know that this report exists, how do you want us to handle it?"

"What are they saying, Dave?" Cassie asked.

"Just basic info, nothing too specific, obviously we know more than most people do." Dave said. "No one has reached out to us for comment."

"Give them time," Cassie said rubbing her temples as she grabbed a note pad and scribbled a note and slid it to Sarah, who nodded and stood. Addison watched her walk toward the cockpit.

Sarah poked her head in through the curtain. "Paul, quick question for you."

He pulled the headset off his head and turned to look at Sarah. "What's up?"

"Can we get CNN on the plane?" Sarah brushed a few locks of her hair back out of her face.

"Maybe if you can stream it," Paul said, his brow furrowing in thought. "Come to think of it, that wouldn't be a bad idea to have."

"Thanks," Sarah said, before turning around to head back into the cabin.

The plane rolled to a stop in the hanger and Paul came back and opened the door. Sarah had her phone to her ear by the time she hit the tarmac.

"Kiersten," she said opening the door on the Yukon. "Were wheels down, twenty minutes to the office." She listened for a few moments. "Ok, see you then. Have everyone in the fifth floor conference room when we arrive. They had watched on one of the laptops the report from CNN, and then compared it to to similar reports from MSNBC, FOX and NPR and had concluded that the information was a very basic leak by someone that had simply read the summary page. Whoever it was, they were probably looking for their fifteen minutes of fame... They were about to get it. Addison opened the back door on the Yukon and got in.

"I don't feel like it would be wise to try to drive. I'm still tried." She said.

"Ok," Cassie said, pulling the door shut. "We can either send one of the valets over after your car or Sarah can bring you back over. "

"Ok." Addison said, as Cassie threw the Yukon in gear and backed up. Sarah's phone rang again.

"This is Sarah," she said into the phone. She listened for a few seconds. "Ok, patch him through. What can I do for you, Senator?" She listened some more. "Ok, let me put you on speaker.

Cassie, Sarah and Addison walked into the conference room on the fifth floor. The place looked like a tornado had gone through: half eaten meals on plates stacked on the tables, half empty coffee cups all over the place. One of the screens on the side of the room was displaying CNN where they appeared to still be analyzing the leaked report.

"Ok, everyone," Cassie said loudly. "Department heads at the table, I want updates on where we stand!" The department heads all went to the table and sat down. Their deputies and assistants stood behind them around the outside of the room.

Sarah sat down at her desk, and looked at the papers strewn about. One of them was the order form for the belt. She had the measurements on her phone, so she slid the paper out and transferred the measurements to the sheet. The issue at hand had gotten serious and it was probably only a matter of time before other countries started to do things to help combat the issue. She heard footsteps coming down the hall and she glanced up at toward the sound. Addison was walking toward the desk, her phone in her hand. "I was just thinking about something..." She said, stopping in front of Sarah's desk, phone still in her hand.

"Oh?" Sarah said, glancing up at Addison. "What's that?"

"These," Addison turned her phone toward Sarah. The screen showed a body from the top of the thighs down. Metal bands encircled the legs with two chains running up the outside of the legs and a short chain connecting the two bands. Sarah looked quizzically at Addison.

"Why?" Sarah said. About the only thing she could see that the bands would do would be to to keep the wearer from wearing pants or spreading their legs apart...

"When was the last time you saw me wear a skirt or dress?" Addison said.

Sarah furrowed her brow. She never really paid attention to how others dressed. "I'm not sure..."

"Well, I'm sure it's been months," Addison said. "I think I'm going to order them with mine. "

"I'll think about it..." Sarah said, the idea not really making sense to her. "I wear skirts and dresses often enough that forcing me to do it would just be overkill... I still need to figure out the key situation..."

"Key situation?" Addison said, her voice sounding confused.

"Yeah," Sarah said, leaning back in her chair; She motioned for Addison to sit down in the spare chair that sat at her desk. "We have to figure out a way to keep the keys secure, but still allow for cleaning and, in the case of a couple, attempts at procreation; but still keep the keys secure." Sarah watch as Addison turned bright red, and bit her lip.

"I, uh..." Addison stammered. "Might have your answer, but it's going to need some explaining and demonstrating. Think you could take me back over to my car and then follow me home? I could give you a demonstration."

" I think we could handle that..." Sarah said. "If I like what I see, we can present it to Cassie tomorrow." Sarah watched Addison blush again. She wondered what was causing Addison to blush.

"Uh..." Addison said. "Ok..."