At the head of the table is General Joseph Fecondo. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and veteran of the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars wipes the palm of a manicured hand across his tan, receding hairline and gazes at Borgia and Costolo with a look of annoyance. “Well, now that we’re all finally here, I guess we can begin. Director Hurley?”

Patrick Hurley takes his place at the podium. Trim and fit, the fifty-two-year-old former all-american shooting guard from Notre Dame looks like he still plays competitive basketball.

Hurley activates a control switch at the podium. The lights dim, and a black-and-white satellite photo appears on the large screen to the CIA director’s right.

Borgia recognizes the quality of the image. The digitalized photo comes from the C-8236 high-resolution thermal-imaging camera, mounted aboard the Air Force’s top-secret aircraft, Darkstar. The stealth Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a flat, clam-shaped vessel with enormous wings. Darkstar operates at altitudes of 65,000 feet and can transmit close-up images in all weather conditions, day or night.

A computerized square appears in red. Hurley positions it, then enhances the image within. Details of a small school and children’s playground enlarge and focus. Adjacent to the school is a well-enclosed concrete parking lot.

The CIA director clears his throat. “The series of photos you’re about to see were taken above an area just northeast of Pyongyang along North Korea’s western coast. On the surface, the site appears to be nothing more than a children’s elementary school. But buried 1.3 kilometers beneath this parking lot is Kim Jong Il’s underground nuclear-weapons facility, the same facility the North Koreans used when they first began test-firing two-stage medium-range missiles back in 1998. We suspect the site may also house the new TAEPO-DONG II missile, an ICBM with a range of twenty-two hundred miles, capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads.”

Hurley clicks to the next photo. “Darkstar’s been monitoring the facility for the last two weeks. The photos I’m going to show you were taken yesterday evening, between the hours of eleven o’clock and 1:00 A.M., Seoul.” Hurley magnifies the image to reveal the figures of two men exiting a black Mercedes-Benz.

“The gentleman on the right is Iranian President Ali Shamkhani. The gentleman on the left is China’s new Communist Party Leader and former military commander, General Li Xiliang. As Pierre will tell you, the general’s hard-line Communist all the way.”

Hurley clicks through several more photos, stopping at a man dressed in a long, black, leather coat, who seems to be staring up at the heavens as if he knows his picture is being taken.

“Christ,” Borgia whispers, “it’s Viktor Grozny.”

“Almost looks like he’s staring at our camera,” General Cohen adds.

“The roll call’s not quite over.” The CIA director changes the image. “And our host for the evening—”

Borgia’s heart races faster. “Kim Jong Il.”