She had already heard the counterarguments, both from elected people like himself and from her military advisers as well, and she’d called her shot. As commander in chief, she’d essentially silenced the Joint Chiefs into compliance, and now that Congress had been silenced—both by presidential fiat and by disabling phone service—Congress’s last line of communication (press leaks) had likewise been eliminated.

“I can’t emphasize the importance of total secrecy on this matter,” the president said. “I know this is a frightening time for all of you—and forgive me for pushing you all to the Annex, but I believe it was the best decision. I have complete confidence in Israel’s capability to carry out this attack, but we need to be prepared for the worst. In fact, in about five minutes, I will be relocating to—”

Something distracted her on her left, out of the frame. “Yes, what?” she snapped.

A hand appeared in the frame holding a piece of paper. The look that blossomed in her face as she read the contents made Penn feel cold.

“Oh, my God,” she said.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT

“JEEZ, SALS, WE REALLY HIT A NERVE,” TODD SAID. “THE STORY’S being picked up by everybody.” He leaned in closer to his screen. “There it is!” he shouted. “The Gray Lady herself just posted it.” They sat at opposite poles of Sally’s round glass table in the dining room. Both had their laptops open, Sally watching the numbers spin on their page counter, and Todd cruising to see who else was picking up the story.

They both jumped when Sally’s phone rang. She checked the caller ID and scowled. “This should be interesting,” she mumbled. Then she punched the connect button and put the call on speaker. “Sally Lambert.”

A male voice that was all gravel and anger said, “Is this the same Sally Lambert that runs the Washington Underground?”

“Good evening, Colonel Harrington,” she said. “Or, rather, good morning, I suppose.” Colonel Tyrone Harrington was one of their most reliable deep-background sources for stories against the administration.

“Are you actually trying to bring the world to a state of war?” The colonel nearly shouted the question.

“Up awfully late, aren’t you, sir?” Sally asked. She winked at Todd, who stifled a laugh.

“You’ve lit a shit storm, Sally,” Harrington said.

“So our presumptions were correct?” As she asked the question, she motioned for Todd to start typing. She imagined he’d be righteously pissed when he found out that he was on the record.

“I’m not here to discuss that,” the colonel said. “I’m here to ask you to take down the post.”

“It’s not a post, it’s a story,” Todd said, earning an angry glare.

“Who the hell is that?”

“My colleague Todd McElroy. He wrote the piece originally.”

“Then you should fire him.”