Shakeup

president for tea, prior to the ceremony."

 

Stone shook Will Lee's hand and kissed Holly Barker on the cheek, then asked for Earl Grey, with lemon and a carcinogen. The president poured.

 

"I understand it's a bit chilly outside," Will said.

 

"I recommend outer clothing made to Antarctic standards," Stone replied.

 

"Typical," Will replied, "on Inauguration Day. How's the crowd?"

 

"I've only seen an aerial view on television," Stone said, "but the ground under the crowd was not visible."

 

"Oh, good. The networks delight in comparing the crowd size to the last president's."

 

Stone was only halfway thawed before they were summoned to depart. In the reception hall downstairs, his outer clothing was returned to him, and he was helped into it. Taking the jump seat beside Will in the presidential limousine, Stone marveled at the foot-thick doors, the three-inch-thick window glass, and the absolute silence inside. As soon as the women's garments could be arranged in the rear seat, they were off.

 

"The Bacchettis will be seated with us," Kate said. "I'm told we'll have electric blankets for our laps."

 

The Bacchettis were Stone's closest friends, he the police commissioner of New York City and she the COO of Strategic Services, the world's second-largest security company. Stone and Dino had been partners as detectives on the NYPD, when everybody was younger.

 

Only Kate and Will managed to make conversation: Holly was as silent as a rock, and Stone followed her lead. Holly slowly leafed through a document, her speech, in a leather-bound folder, her lips moving a little.

 

Amazingly, given the temperature, the streets on the way to the Capitol were lined with the public, six-deep. They were there to see the first female president succeeded by the second such. Crowd noise could be heard dimly through the thick glass, and Holly remembered to s