What was even more unusual was the list of people that had come with the admiral: some colonel in the air force stood in one corner, and the intelligent but slightly off-color White House Science Advisor Neal Danielson stood in another. His chief of staff Jim Hacker sat on one of the Oval Office’s beige couches across from the unusually enigmatic admiral.

The president focused on the navy man and said, “Well, Admiral, would you care to tell me why I am late for dinner with my wife? I mean, couldn’t this have waited till morning?”

The admiral glanced over his shoulder at Neal standing in the corner. They had rehearsed this moment for some time, but the admiral was finding that no amount of practice made it any easier to actually say what he was about to say. Neal gave the senior military man a nod of reassurance and the admiral turned back to the president. He took a long, deep breath and then said, “Mr. President, Mr. Hacker, I am sorry that I have dragged you in here tonight, but I am afraid the information I have to share with you will not wait.”

He ignored the questioning looks the men gave each other and carried on, “Sir, for about nine months now, a small team of scientists and officers have been tracking a hidden threat to our security, and preparing for the day when we would be able to respond to that threat. During that time, this team has worked to put in place a response that would be both effective at neutralizing the threat while also coming up with frankly unique and unprecedented methods for minimizing the collateral damage we fear will come once we initiate our plan.

“The team’s goal …. or rather, our goal,” the admiral spared a brief smile for his two associates and then went on, “has been to prepare for the day when we would be ready to strike with lethal force, for we will only have one shot, and it must be 100% effective.”

The admiral paused for a moment, and then said with as much authority as he could muster, “Mr. President, we’ve come to you this evening because today is that day.”

* * *

An hour later, the president was still in the grips of the admiral’s presentation. Neal had provided Admiral Hamilton with a plethora of information prior to the meeting, and he and the colonel stepped in to support the admiral or answer any particularly technical questions whenever it seemed prudent. The president was taking it reasonably well, as was the chief of staff, but while they were not totally incredulous, they were far from convinced. The team had wanted to get the president on his own at first, but that had proved impossible. Jim Hacker was very good at his job as the president’s gatekeeper: to get to the president, you had to go through him.