Good luck, Johnny boy.

“Missed,” the Nigerian said. “Got the wrong guy.”

“Damn it,” Breece cursed.

“Doesn’t matter,” the Nigerian said. “T-minus five minutes.”

Kate looked at the clock. 12.01pm. Four minutes.

On the wallscreen, John Stockton was talking, giving his post-Inauguration address.

She had to time this just right. But there were so many unknowns.

Kate typed another message out to this insider.

[ERD_SECRETS: China isn’t behind what’s about to happen inside the Capitol either.]

12.02pm.

SEND.

“DC rapid response team is en route, Dr Pryce,” the DHS response desk said over Pryce’s headset, plugged into the Pentagon terminal. “The lead looks strong, ma’am.”

“It could be a trap,” Pryce said. “Be careful.”

She looked up, was keenly aware of eyes on her, watching her here in the Pentagon Situation Room as she touched this issue well outside her nominal remit.

“We know, Dr,” the response desk replied. “They’re ready.”

“Keep me informed,” Pryce said. “I need to know right away when you get there if this is legit or not.”

“Yes, Dr.”

Her personal phone buzzed again, the three sharp buzz pattern. It was sitting atop the table. She looked at it and saw the message.

Pryce’s heart dropped.

She whirled. There, against a far wall of the Situation Room, her new Secret Service detail, the one she’d resisted for so long, were standing, waiting for her.

They saw her turn, saw her look at them, and she saw something coil up inside them.

“The Capitol!” she yelled across the room. “The President! Something’s about to happen!”

She saw fingers go to ear buds, lips start moving as they hit the radio to their command, the fastest way to reach the President’s detail.

Then she was turning, looking for the screen showing the Inauguration. There. There was John Stockton, at the bottom of the House Chamber, talking, passion on his face.

A bogus threat, Pryce thought. Just a bogus threat. Come on. Come on.

John Stockton took the podium to address the assembled audience.

To address America.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand,” he started. “Abraham Lincoln said those words. They’re as true now as they were then.”

His eyes searched the crowd. Some Democrats had chosen not to be here today. He had to accept that. He had to reach out to the whole country, regardless.

“A nation divided is a weakened nation. In America, we’ve been divided. Our trust has been undermined, dividing us.”

He lingered on those members of the opposing party who had come, today, rather than boycott his inauguration. He met their eyes as he spoke.

“This isn’t an accident. We’ve been attacked. Our trust has been intentionally weakened. It’s been undermined by those who want to divide us and conquer us. That attack has been successful. And if we remain so divided as we are now,” Stockton shook his head. “We cannot stand.”