Penn Glendale understood the geopolitical situation to be what it was. He understood that Israel stood on the precipice of having to choose between survival and Armageddon. What he did not understand—what he couldn’t begin to fathom—was how the world allowed Iran to advance to the lengths they had in the production of nuclear war-making materiel. This could have been stopped before they’d developed their first-strike capability. If the United States had shown the political courage then to ignore the ire of America’s vocal minority of pacifists’ cries for peace at any price, this first strike could have been handled with conventional munitions.

But . . . no. Administration after administration pushed the issue on to the next group of politicians, keeping the ball rolling until it finally came to a stop at the feet of the singularly least-qualified president in the history of the republic.

President Blanton clearly was reading her speech for the benefit of the history books. Not a bad idea, Penn supposed, given the fact that she would be only the second political leader in the history of the world to oversee a nuclear first strike.

Okay, that was unfair.

Israel would be the one to actually throw the first punch, but that punch wouldn’t be possible without the United States’ arsenal on perpetual standby to serve as their shield and backup. The Russians, Chinese and Pakistanis would be given ten minutes’ advance notice of the strike, along with assurances that those nations would not be in danger. The nuke-capable NATO nations were already on board with the operation.

“General Clayton,” the president said, “where do we stand on our preparations to support the attack?”

Grant Clayton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sat straighter in his chair. “Madam President, everything remains just as it was last time we spoke. Our air and sea assets are all in place. After you alert the other nations of our intent to support Israel in their efforts, we will make our presence momentarily discoverable for the purposes of verification. That should convince all the players to keep their guns in their holsters, ma’am.”

President Blanton smiled at the metaphor. “The time is ticking down toward zero,” she said. “Speaker Glendale and Senator Laraja, are you on the line?”

“I’m here, Madame President,” Penn said.

They waited for a few seconds, and when the Senate majority leader didn’t answer up, Penn said, “Congresswoman Fortnight thinks she saw Senator Laraja in line outside the Annex, waiting to check in.”

“I see,” the president said. “And how is that process going?”

“Which process is that, ma’am?”

“The process of reestablishing the House and Senate out there at the Annex?”

“It’s complicated,” Penn said. “We’re so early in the process that I don’t have much to tell you. Perhaps if we could add an hour or two to the timeline—”