A Secret Service Question: commentary

[Mark Rand]

Hello all,

A quick thank you to all who posted replies to the various versions of "A Secret Service Question".

It doesn't matter who the characters are, they all boil down to the same thing, how the Secret Service protects Holly and her mother.

For those of you who are wondering how an eye doctor's daughter could end up being an aerialist, here is the answer. Holly is the first lady's daughter from a previous marrage.

Here is the timeline. (For convenience, I'm listing Henry Hayes, the President in Stargate SG-1 as President and Robert Kinsey as Vice President. If you want, you can replace them with whoever you want. I'm also adding two optional events from the Buffyverse.)

1960...June is born.

1978...June graduates from high school and joins a circus as a showgirl. While there, she and a Hispanic aerialist fall in love.

January 1979...June and her boyfriend marry. Once she becomes pregnant, she will work only in the show office.

December 1979...Holly is born.

August 1984...June's husband dies in an accident.

December 1984...June's parents tell her that they are willing to put her through college if she leaves the circus and lets the courts decide where Holly, age 5, will be placed.

January 1985...June agrees. Holly is placed with her father's parents.

September 1985...June enters college.

April 1989...June graduates pre-med program

December 1989...Holly is 9 years old.

April 1993...June receives her M.D.

December 1993...Holly is 13.

March 1994...Holly begins performing.

June 1998...June, age 39, finishes residency as an eye doctor and gets her medical license.

December 1998...Holly is age 18.

September 11, 2001...the 9-11 incident.

December 2002...Holly marries Matt Reese.

June 2003...the Sunnydale earthquake.

March 2004...June marries Senator Henry Hayes, a Presidental candidate.

June 2004...The L.A. demon war. The world now knows about Slayers, vampires, demons and such.

November 2004...Henry Hayes becomes President-elect. Holly agrees to accept Secret Service protection under the following conditions: 1) the Secret Service doesn't try to run the circus, 2) her agents carry a show radio in addition to their other communications gear, 3) if they have any questions, they ask Holly's fellow employees.

January 20, 2005...Henry Hayes is sworn in as President, Robert Kinsey is sworn in as Vice President.

Comment is invited.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question: commentary

 

June is a board-certified ophthalmic surgeon and a member of the faculty of George Washington University's medical school. Since it's about a mile from the White House, she'll get there by Secret Service SUV. Question: what kind of SUV? They use the Chevy Suburban in the Tom Clancy books and the Ford Expedition in the TV-movies First Daughter, First Target and First Shot.

President Hayes smokes pipes and the occasional cigar. (June is trying to get him to quit, but, so far, she hasn't.) He's a fan of hockey and most motor sports. (He doesn't like Formula One and stock cars on ovals because, to him, they're boring.) Occasionally, he'll decide, at the last minute, attend an event. When the head of his detail complained, he asked, "If you don't know, how can someone that wants to attack me know?"

The head of the detail sent an agent to a local ice arena to find out if it was possible for them to inspect the arena floor under the ice an hour before the President arrived. The arena's operations manager said, "It's not possible because it takes five days to remove the ice and put a new surface down." He then explained the proceedure, in detail, to the agent. In case you're interested in the proceedure, you can go to http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/ice-rink.htm/printable.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question: commentary

 

Because her father was Hispanic, Holly, in this case, is easily mistaken for a Hispanic woman. She speaks Spanish fluently and can, when she wants to, use an accent that makes people think she was born in Mexico.

In the show, she is on one of two single trapezes, is the flyer in a cradle act, hangs by her long black hair, and gets shot out of a cannon.

Her husband, Matt, who has a masters in electronics engineering, works with the electrical crew while the show's in winter quarters. On the road, he maintains the various public address systems and plays trumpet in the circus band, which he also leads.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question: commentary

 

After Senator Hayes married June, they told the Secret Service about June's circus relatives and gave them what information they had about the show. Since Henry told them that he might visit the circus if they were in the same area and he had time to do so, Agent Connie Wells visited the circus, which was getting ready to leave it's Durant, Oklahoma winter quarters.

She spent a day there, and received a complete listing of the current staff. She also examined 24-hour advance agent Mary "Cowgirl" West's two cap guns, veterinarian Rumiko Nishigawa's compressed-air pistol, compressed-air rifle, and 400-year old katana, and Holly's beloved circus cannon American Beauty.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question: commentary

 

A bit more on the above mentioned weapons. M

ary keeps her cap guns in a storage compartment of the show-owned motorhome she drives and lives in.

Rumiko's compressed-air pistol and darts are in the backpack she carries. Her compressed-air rifle and katana are in locked cases in the sleeper compartment of the semi her office is in.

Holly's cannon uses compressed air to fire her. The smoke is a stage effect from powder in a different compartment. Also, Holly goes from 0-50 mph in 1/5 second. She launches at 9Gs and lands at 12Gs. If she hits the net wrong, she'll break something.