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board.”
    Kellan stood and shook their hands once again. “Thank you, Senators. I’ll be in touch.”
    § § §
    “I was joking when I told you it was okay to obsess about this once I was back in California,” Jonah said, completely devoid of humor.
    “I didn’t obsess,” Kellan countered. “I followed up on information that is a matter of public record. This type of thing is actually my job .”
    “Yes, and obviously you’re doing it quite well. No surprise there. So, initial thoughts?”
    “I think this is a real problem and I’d like to see something done about it,” Kellan replied, giving his personal, emotional answer. “The challenge and opportunity get me excited, but I don’t want to damage or destroy what I’ve already achieved.”
    “In other words; you’re interested, but under the right conditions.”
    “That’s it exactly.” Kellan sighed, relieved by the ease with which Jonah understood and accepted.
    “Fall back on your training, sir. Use S-M-E-A-C to clarify the complex.”
    Kellan took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his mind racing and already extracting and aligning the relevant information. SMEAC was the mnemonic for the five paragraph written order, utilized by officers to clearly issue complex orders; situation, mission, execution, administration and logistics, and command and signal.
    “The situation is that there is a questionable policy or policy implementation that needs investigation or possible intervention,” Kellan said. “The mission is to determine the full extent of the problem, causes, parties responsible, and to provide potential solutions.”
    “That was the easy part,”Jonah said, sounding as though he was shuffling paperwork as they talked.“Now you have to determine just what your course of action would be, what you’d need, and if you think you can actually accomplish anything.”
    Kellan consulted the legal pad in front of him. He’d already done this work. What Jonah was doing now was giving Kellan the opportunity to say it all out loud, to face his fears and worries. In doing so, he’d establish whether or not this was a fool’s errand.
    “Execution is going to involve submitting requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Obtaining other documents through Senate requests and demands. Interviews will need to be conducted, reports written and filed. Ruffled feathers will have to be smoothed, military policy and ROE established and analyzed.” Kellan paused. “That can all be done by staff. In the end, I’ll have to be the one to put the disparate parts together, formulate logical conclusions, write summaries and reports and report the findings to the Senate, the President, and other government officials of varying levels of hostility.”
    “That leads you to administration and logistics,” Jonah said.
    “If I could have my dream team, I’d bring Maddy and Nick with me from Keystone to handle filings, interviews, document and report, review and compilation, and also analysis.” Kellan checked their names off of the list on his legal pad. “I’d like to have a JAG lawyer or someone from JAS to both advise and interpret U.S., military and international law.”
    “How about a paralegal or a legal secretary, then?” Jonah asked.
    “Definitely. That might be pushing things, though. I’ve already been told I can have you as my military liaison to smooth the way with the uniforms. My former rank might not get me as far as I’d like to think.”
    Jonah’s chuckle warmed Kellan’s chest and he smiled in response, even though Jonah couldn’t see. “You assume I’d be willing to assist you in your bureaucratic tail-chasing, sir.”
    “It would provide us with a legitimate reason for why we were constantly in one another’s company,” Kellan teased.
    “Point, sir. Anyone else?”
    “A strong and self-motivated civilian executive assistant to answer phones, e-mail, handle paperwork and just generally keep me organized