The President sat on the far end of the long mahogany conference table. All of the tall leather chairs surrounding the table were empty except for the four next to him. In times of national crisis every chair would be filled, and deputy assistants would crowd the rest of the room, either sitting or standing. But today he wasn’t facing a crisis—at least, not yet. He certainly saw an opportunity, but he also sensed extreme danger for the nation if he made the wrong choice in the next thirty minutes.

President Ryan was flanked on his left by Mary Pat Foley, the director of national intelligence, and Robert Burgess, the secretary of defense. On his right sat the secretary of state, Scott Adler, and the President’s chief of staff, Arnold Van Damm, the only political voice he allowed in the room. Arnie’s hair was long gone and the lines in his careworn face were deeper than when the President had first met him, but the pale blue eyes—and the brain behind them—were as keen as ever.

That was it. These were four of his most trusted advisers. Ryan didn’t want a cacophony of political opinions or academic theories clouding the room. He needed only the clear, sober, actionable analysis these four would give him in order to make his decision, and quickly.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice—and for keeping this meeting just between us. We don’t need public opinion or the Hill getting ahead of us on this.”

They all nodded. “Of course, Mr. President,” Mary Pat Foley said. “We understand completely and we serve at your discretion.”

Ryan poured himself a cup of black coffee from the service in front of them and invited the others to do the same. “We don’t have much time to make this call. You know I count on each of you for your honest and candid opinions. I know you’ve all been briefed by Mary Pat, but I want to catch you up on the facts before we proceed. Mary Pat.”

The director of national intelligence picked up a remote control and pointed it at one of the big wall monitors. She talked through the video from the SBIRS GEO-3 infrared missile-warning satellite as it played on the screen.

“As you all know, the North Koreans managed to successfully launch a MIRV’d SLBM yesterday at approximately five p.m. EST. The missile carried three dummy warheads, each landing harmlessly, thankfully, in the northern Pacific Ocean with no loss of life or property damage. Nevertheless, the event is significant for several reasons.

“First, we had no idea that the missile in question—the Pukkuksong-1—had this kind of range. Either the missile has been improved or our intelligence estimates were way off base.”