~the next day~

Donna Moss couldn't help but let out a sigh. Part of her wondered what
possessed her to get such a job. When she first started working for Josh
during the campaign, she'd been swept away by the apparent glamour of the
job. It was face paced and selective, something which few people could say
they actually had close involvement with. But Donna had seen the
President's road to the office, and had been rewarded by getting an
incredibly hectic job, working for one of the most impossible men she'd ever
met. For example, this afternoon, she was doing some research for Josh
about the day old Russian situation when she noticed a young woman looking
slightly confused and lost standing nervously at her desk. Looking up,
Donna asked, "Can I… help you?"

The young woman smiled apprehensively. She had a khaki skirt on and a nice
shirt. Her long dark brown hair was drawn fairly well into a braid. "Um,
I'm here for Josh Lyman," she said, sounding hopeful that Donna would be
able to help her.

"Really," Donna said. Turning away from her computer, Donna looked over at
the appointment book. "You must be from Gary Johansen's office."

"Yes," she said gladly. "Yes, I'm Caelan Reed, Mr. Johansen's assistant."

"Good," Donna said. "Well he's been expecting you but he's actually not
back quite yet. I know he'll be back soon because he knows he has an
appointment with you. Why don't you just go on into his office and wait."

"Okay," she said agreeably.

"Well, it's right behind you," Donna directed. "You can't miss it."

Caelan glanced behind her and saw the door. "Oh, okay thanks."

"Is this your first time in the White House?" Donna ventured, smiling.

"Yeah," Caelan admitted.

"Don't be scared," Donna advised. "We're just as disorganized and crazy
here as anywhere else."

Laughing, Caelan said, "I don't know if it's possible that you're more
disorganized that at Mr. Johansen's office. I swear, with him in control of
Russian relations, it's amazing we're not at war."

Donna laughed as Caelan disappeared inside. When Josh wandered in a few
minutes later, she stood to greet him. "There's a woman in your office," she
said.

Josh looked critically at her. "Why is there a woman in my office?"

"Because she needs to see you."

"Okay, but…," Josh tried to formulate a practical question. "Who is this
woman in my office?"

"Ummm… I don't actually know if I got her name."

"Okay, Donna," Josh said, completely frustrated. "Why don't you just tell
me-"

"She's from Gary Johansen's office!" Donna exclaimed defensively.

"Why didn't you just say so?"

"I was getting there," Donna said.

"Slowly," he mumbled as he walked into his office.

"I heard that!" Donna yelled before he could close the door.

Ignoring her, Josh turned to the young woman seated in front of his desk.
He noted how she looked genuinely uncomfortable there. "Hi," he said,
extending his hand. "I'm Josh Lyman."

She rose to shake his hand, smiling. "I'm Caelan Reed. I'm from Gary
Johansen's office."

It took a moment for that to register and for him to remember exactly who
Gary Johansen was. He recognized the name and knew that it was important,
but until he concentrated, he didn't make the complete connection. "Ah,
yes, the diplomat."

"Right."

"Well, have a seat, Miss Reed," Josh said, moving around to his side of the
desk, gesturing to the chair she had been sitting in.

"Really, Caelan's fine," she said.

"Okay, Caelan, you can call me Josh," he said. "I hate to skip all the
formalities and small talk but this is getting pretty serious. We've
contacted Mr. Johansen's office because we're scared to death what's going
to develop out of this whole Russian situation."

"Well, I can speak quite confidently for Mr. Johansen. I've done all of
his research, and been by his side as he's talked with the Embassy overseas.
They're all fairly worried."

"Where is Mr. Johansen?"

"He's currently talking to the Russian ambassador that's been in the States
for about five years now," Caelan said.

"Good," Josh said approvingly. "If you can't tell, we're a little busy
around here. The Russian situation is foremost in our minds right now.
It's got the country all tensed up. We're going to hold a briefing later
tonight about how the situation is playing out."

"What can I do to help?" Caelan asked.

"I take it you're pretty knowledgeable when it comes to Russia."

"I know about the culture, the language, the people, the politics, and the
current situation," Caelan said.

"See, that's good. None of us know squat except that we're in trouble,"
Josh told her. Getting up, he said, "I want you to come with me."

Caelan hesitantly got up. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Opening the door, he said, "You're going to meet the rest of the Senior
Staff. They never let me work on anything alone."

"Oh," Caelan said, unsure, then followed Josh out the door. Josh led her
through an array of corridors, all looking frighteningly the same to Caelan
as they rushed through the seemingly endless stream of traffic in the West
Wing. She was rather thankful, when Josh finally came to a door, where he
knocked politely and went it, Caelan on his heels.

"Hey, Toby," Josh said. "Where's Sam?"

"Sam's in his office," Toby said.

Josh excused himself and called Sam over. Once they were all together,
Josh said, "Okay, this is Caelan Reed, from Gary Johansen's office. She's
here to help us with the whole mess is Russia. Oh, Caelan, this is Toby
Ziegler, the White House Communications director and this is Sam Seaborn,
Toby's Deputy."

Toby nodded at her, and Sam shook her hand warmly. There was something
that was cute about Caelan-the way she looked like a little girl, shyly out
of place, and completely unsure of how to act. They could all tell a
thousand thoughts were rushing through her head, and all she could do to
show it was put on a dumb face and smile obliviously at everything.

"So what can you tell us that we don't know?" Josh asked her, as all three
men sat back to listen.

"Well, that depends on how much you know," Caelan stated.

"That's easy," Sam said. "We don't know anything."

"Okay, then," Caelan said with a nervous laugh. "Mr. Johansen's been on
the phone ever since the incident happened, talking to the guys in the US
Embassy is Moscow. Things are pretty tense over there, but nothing's fallen
apart yet."

"Will it?" Josh questioned.

"No one knows for sure. It depends on how well the government regroups
after this attack."

"What's their status right now?" Toby said.

"Currently, Russia's in a state of martial law," Caelan explained. "The
government is useless. There's no one there who has any control over
anything anymore. Alexandr Kovac had less responsibility in the Russian
government than Hoynes does in ours. So he doesn't even know what he's
doing. He's a business man, not a politician. He doesn't know how to
handle the people. So now it's all the military. On the bright side, one
of the key generals, who is likely to be a candidate for the presidency in
the next election, is open to the concept of democracy."

"When you say he's open to the idea, what do you mean?" Toby asked.

"I mean just that," Caelan said. "For years, he has avoided becoming a
political figure. His strengths were always in the military arena.
However, he has voiced to some very reliable sources, that he is warming up
to the idea of leading the country. He is however, politically undecided.
He's a man of the people, not only in their perception, but at heart too.
From what Mr. Johansen's said, this guy is rare."

"So, he wants what's best for his people, but he doesn't know for sure what
that is," Toby concluded.

"Exactly," Caelan said. "So, it's our job to convince him that democracy
is the way to go. And then we've got to do everything we can to get this
guy into office."

"Great, so what's the first step?" Josh asked.

Caelan shrugged. "Well, the ball's in your court," she said. "But I would
show him the bright side of democracy."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Sam asked.

"Well, several of the generals in the Russian military are coming over to
America to be briefed by their consulate here in DC including the popular
General Markov," Caelan said.

"So, we need to arrange a small welcoming party here at the White House,"
Sam said.

"Then see if they're interested in talking further in a more professional
atmosphere," Toby concluded.

"Sounds like you guys have a plan," Caelan said, smiling.

"Yeah, but we still don't know how to make it work," Josh pointed out.

Still smiling, Caelan said, "I guess that's why I'm here."

TBC....