Her brain numb, CJ turned away from the phone and helped herself to some table cleaner from the counter by the kitchen.  She was glad it was early and there weren't many customers.  No one noticed as she wiped the phone and the counter.  She dug her gloves out of her coat pocket and put them on before paying for her take-out order.

She made her way to the 7-11 where she picked up bleach, a bucket, rubber gloves and lots of paper towels.  All the while she tried to map out where she had seen the plumber throughout the day.  How was she going to cover it all?  Like a bad tour guide she recited the problem that she was facing:

"The White House has 132 rooms, including 16 family-guest rooms, 1 main kitchen, 1 diet kitchen, 1 family kitchen, and 31 bathrooms. The White House has (excluding storage rooms): 10 rooms on the Ground Floor, 1 main corridor, 6 restrooms; 8 rooms on the State Floor, 1 main corridor, 1 entrance hall; 16 rooms, 1 main corridor, 6 bathrooms, and 1 restroom on the 2nd floor; and 20 rooms, 1 main corridor, 9 bathrooms on the 3rd floor. Floor area (total of 6 floors) approximately 55,000 square feet."

More goodies from Claudia's House of Useless Information, she thought with some frustration.

--------------------

Danny dumped the phone in the Thames.  He stood by the water for a few minutes, trying to imagine CJ in the Indian restaurant, alone with the knowledge that she was without a doubt a victim of the first case of bioterrorism in the United States.  He sighed and headed back toward Jerry's apartment. 

Jerry had said Danny would be watched to ensure no one was following him.  He did as he was instructed, turning the wrong direction, pretending to be lost, and then retracing his steps to make it easier for the watcher to detect if he were followed.

Even with the detour, it didn't take him long to get back.  Jerry poured him a bourbon neat, he hadn't asked for.  "Is Ms. Cregg all set with some official story to give the Saudis for why our entourage is coming? "

"Yes, Rift Valley Fever appropriately enough.  I should get some work done on the story for Marbury."

"Ah, well, she is perceptive and we are lucky!  Get some sleep.  It'll be a big day tomorrow. You should review the information Marbury delivered about the Saudi Rift Valley Fever problem and the Americans' program so you can ask intelligent reporter questions about them."  Passing the folder to Danny, he smiled.  "We meet the American doctors at noon. The British will likely already have convinced them to join the entourage going to Saudi Arabia.  All we've got to do is get a copy of their program as background for the press coverage of this multi-national effort on behalf of public health."

He paused for a moment, "Danny, Riyadh is a purely technical operation, but things may get a little dangerous in Jeddah.  Do you feel comfortable using a gun?"

"No." Danny had always felt the pen was mightier than the sword, or in this case the gun. He wondered for a moment if he'd gone insane -- trans-Atlantic Concorde flights, impersonating drunken soccer fans, throwing barely used electronics in the Thames and now guns.  But no, not only was this the story of a lifetime, more importantly, CJ needed him. "I shot the editor in chief of USA Today last Christmas."

Jerry's left eyebrow nearly climbed off his forehead, "Really? "

"Yeah, the Post are the reigning Paintball champs, two years running."

Shaking his head, Jerry smiled and said, "Then our afternoon will be a trip to the firing range.  You can show me your stuff.  Our flight is at 9:00 pm and we arrive in Riyadh first thing in the morning. "

--------------------

CJ started by cleaning her office because there were still a lot of people in the White House.  It didn't seem like the plumber had had much of a chance to touch anything other than her desk, Gail's bowl and the door handles.  Just for safe measure she did a quick wipedown of her bookcase, the television sets, exercise bike and the coffee table. Idly, she thought that her office was really very filled with furniture!

Then she went to the pressroom bathrooms and the pressroom.  The lid had been on for several hours and these were her people.  She looked into the Rose Garden and noted that the snow had started to fall softly.  This was good.  Folks would want to get home ... and if she was lucky, even the early risers would be a little later in the morning.

After the first hour her eyes were burning.  After the second, her nose and throat were dry and scratchy.  After the third hour even her skin began to get dry and sore.  She moved systematically through a building she knew very well. Because she was exhausted and her eyes were burning and she was scared and tired of cleaning toilets and sinks, she couldn't help but wonder if tonight, cleaning bathrooms in the White House, was the irony of her entire life.  Bartlet's legacy, according to Donna, was going to be the automatically flushing toilets ... much like Theodore Roosevelt's legacy included the biggest overhaul of the White House plumbing.  And though Roosevelt had often been his own press secretary and provided the first White House Pressroom, she wondered if perhaps cleaning bathrooms was a legacy for press secretaries.

--------------------

Tuesday

Danny awoke very early.  The time change and stress made it hard to sleep even though he needed to.  Helping himself, he made a pot of coffee and put the finishing touches on the story.  When the first pot was gone, the story was done.  He burned it to a CD-rom for delivery to Marbury.  All this was done before Jerry got up, awakened by the smell of the second pot of coffee.

Jerry emerged from his room wearing black silk pajama bottoms and a camera. He looked rested and relaxed.  Danny wondered how Jerry managed to stay so relaxed with all that was going on.   

"Morning Danny.  How did you sleep?" "Fine."  Jerry knew it was a lie. Jerry grabbed the camera and started moving, focusing, shooting imaginary pictures then moving again.  "Yeah, I remember how to do this.  I can look the part."  Jerry removed the camera strap from his neck and set the camera aside.  "Marbury's messenger should be here about 10 o'clock.  I'll go and get us some real breakfast, while you dispose of the laptop."

"Are you asking me to dispose of another perfectly serviceable electronic device by throwing it into the Thames?"

"Yes."

"But this is my laptop.  It has everything on it. My stories, my contacts, my life."

"Precisely.  I hope you have backups," he smiled. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Anything...I'm not that hungry."

Jerry smirked, "the woman at the diner on the corner has taken a liking to me.  I'm sure she'll make us anything we want."

"Okay, ham and cheese omelet.  Toast."

As Jerry disappeared back into his room to change he pointed to the cabinet.  "There are three laptops in there, state of the art.  Take whichever one suits you as a replacement."

--------------------

The J & J Jacks of Alaska private jet had landed in Riyadh.  They'd decided to just live in the jet for the next few days, not wanting to risk detection of any of their specialized equipment.  Jax called this camping and it required high quality ear plugs.  He had one of his lists, handwritten on a yellow tablet.

"Richard, can you procure us a good, used helicopter?"  He handed him a briefcase.  "This should cover it.  Fuel up and do a thorough inspection. I suspect we'll depart for Jeddah tomorrow evening once it's dark.  File a flight plan.  The White House should have cleared our trip with the Saudis."

There were other things on Jax' list: 1)    Richard -- helicopter 2)    Mike -- decommission phones, Jeddah 3)    Mike -- explosives 4)    Andrea - email communications in and out of Jeddah

--------------------

Just before noon, Jerry and Danny made their way to the Department of Public Health's Whitehall offices to meet the Americans. 

John Marbury had, as he said he would, "encouraged" the two epidemiologists from the Health Department that the British were eager to comply with Saudi request for urgent help with the Rift Valley Fever outbreak.  He'd then told the American doctors that their government wished them to help as well.  That the Post would provide coverage of multinational effort. 

Jax and Andrea were at that very moment making the Saudis believe their problem was dramatically more significant than it was. 

And CJ Cregg had told the Saudis that the Americans were very concerned about the spread of the virus out of Africa and significant money and scientific experience was being offered to quell the outbreak before it got out of hand.  They were sending a contingent of American and British doctors, veterinarians, and epidemiologists to demonstrate a public health program.  The specialists would then stay to assist with the outbreak. 

Marbury was getting the visas and the travel arrangements in order. 

Jerry loved it when a plan came together.

They shook hands all around. Jerry would have to remember that to these people, he worked for Danny.

"Dr. Allen, Danny Concannon, Washington Post. As Dr. Troop from HPA has told you, both the British government and the White House are concerned about a dramatic increase in the death rate in people in the Jeddah area associated a Rift Valley Fever outbreak." 

Dr. Allen was a short balding man with a decidedly academic appearance. "Yes, she asked us to leave with the British delegation that is heading to Riyadh tonight."

"I believe it was a Dr. Akin at APHIS who suggested your group and your program.  Because I was here in London, the White House Press Secretary called me looking for some coverage for the stateside press of your efforts to help with significant health issues in the Middle East.  And it's a good story.  So we'll chronicle your efforts and explain the program, but also try to show the impact of the outbreak--the human deaths, the effect on livestock in that area.  We'd also like to look at the risk of this and other zoonotic diseases spreading internationally."

"Good, we would like to increase international awareness of public health issues."

"Would it be possible to get a copy of your program -- one of your demo copies?  I'd like to review it as background for the story.  Perhaps one of you could demonstrate it to me on the plane tonight?  Do you have extra copies such that I could have one to play with after you've shown me how it works?  I'd like to understand the tool myself so I have a working knowledge before your demonstration for the Saudi Health Minister tomorrow."

"That will not be a problem, Mr. Concannon.  Dr. Rainyer will show you the program tonight and you can keep that copy to try out before the formal demonstration."

"Thank you.  I'd like to have my photographer, Mr. Walker, take some pictures now.  Then I'll get some biographical information and I think we'll have all the preparatory details taken care of.  This shouldn't take us longer than 20 or 30 minutes.  Then, I have a short meeting with Sian Jarvis, the Department of Public Health's Director of Communication, to get the same information from her on the British delegates."

--------------------

CJ unplugged and put away the three fans she'd found in an attempt to diminish the smell of bleach.  It didn't really work, either that or the smell was just embedded in the mucous membranes of her nose.  The early risers were beginning to arrive at the White House for work.  She could no longer clean without detection.  She'd done what one person alone could do.

Down the hall, she could hear Charlie and Sam arguing about the Wizards game the night before as they arrived for another day that would be just like any other for them, but not for her.  Exhausted, she decided to return to her office for a few hours sleep. Even though she couldn't stretch out on the couch, she was tired enough she could sleep without being comfortable.  For the first time in two weeks, she slept without a visit from the dream about the white dress -- she dreamt of bathrooms.  Parading through her dreams was the history of plumbing and bathrooms in the White House.  She was now up to the Truman reconstruction years:

The hardware is solid brass and bronze. Since there were "objections to flushing valve water closets due to noise in flushing," low noise flushing valve outfits were installed. Drainage piping below the basement floor is extra-heavy cast iron.  Lavatories are of vitreous china with combination supply fixtures. Those on the second floor are fitted with drinking water faucets combined with the supply fixtures.

She was awakened by a sharp knock at the door. Looking at her clock--8:30.  Carol was cheery as always.

"Good morning CJ. It's half an hour 'til briefing, time to prepare." 

Yawning, CJ replied "I'm awake." She wasn't surprised that three hours sleep had done nothing to make her smell less like bleach. Her briefing prep would include a shower in the basement. She didn't need questions from the press core about bleach perfume.

TBC