"I, Alan Robert Morando solemnly swear"

"That I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States," O'Brien droned on.

Suddenly the room behind Oates went quiet. The prompting of the oath by the Chief justice went unanswered by Moran. Curious, Oates turned around and looked at the crowd. They were all staring in frozen wonder at Vice President Vincent Margolin, who walked through the doorway preceded by Oscar Lucas and flanked by General Metcalf and Admiral Sandecker.

Moran's upraised arm slowly fell and his face turned ashen. The silence smothered the room like an insulating cloud as Margolin stepped up to the Chief justice, the stunned audience parting for him. He gave Moran a frigin look and then smiled at the rest.

"Thank you for the rehearsal," he said warmly. "But I think I can take over from here."

August 13, 1989

New York City

SAL CASIO WAS waiting in the vast lobby of the World Trade Center when Pitt came slowly through the entrance. Casio looked at him in stark appraisal. He couldn't remember when he'd seen any man so near the edge of physical collapse.

Pitt moved with the tired shuffle of a man who had endured too much. He wore a borrowed foul-weather jacket two sizes too small. His right arm hung slack while his left was pressed against his chest, as if holding it together, and his face was etched in a strange blending of suffering and triumph. The eyes burned with a sinister glow that Casio recognized as the fires of revenge.

"I'm glad you could make it," Casio said without referring to Pitts haggard appearance.

"It's your show," said Pitt. "I'm only along for the ride."

"Only fitting and proper we be together at the finish."

"I appreciate the courtesy. Thank you."

Casio turned and guided Pitt over to a private elevator. Pulling a small push-button transmitter from his pocket, he punched the correct code and the doors opened. Inside was an unconscious guard who was bound with laundry cord. Casio stepped over him and opened a polished brass door to a circuit panel with the words LIFTONIC ELEVATOR Qw-607 engraved on it. He made an adjustment in the settings and then pushed the button that read '100.' "

The elevator rose like a rocket and Pitts ears popped three times before it slowed and the doors finally opened onto the richly furnished anteroom of Bougainville Maritime Lines inc.

Before he stepped out, Casio paused and reprogrammed the elevator circuitry with his transmitter. Then he turned and stepped out onto the thick carpet.

"We're here to speak with Min Koryo," Casio announced mundanely.

The woman eyed them suspiciously, particularly Pitt, and opened a leather-bound journal. "I see nothing in Madame Bougainville's schedule that shows any appointments this evening."

Casio's face furrowed into his best hurt look. "Are you sure?" he asked, leaning over the desk and peering at the appointment book.