“Absolutely,” Roth said. “One last gift. The great Evgraf Davidov himself.”

“We knew the Dead Hand was involved.”

“We did, sir. But we had no idea how high it went.”

“Davidov’s one of the president’s closest advisors.”

“They grew up together, sir. They’re practically brothers. Him being involved raises the stakes significantly.”

“If we needed any more confirmation the Russians were preparing for war, this is it.”

“It absolutely is, sir. I think it’s fair to say, war with Russia is closer now than at any time since the end of the Cold War.”

“End of the Cold War?” the president said. “What a farce. That war never ended. The whole song and dance about openness and political reform in the nineties was nothing more than a sideshow, something to distract us while the KGB built a police state as totalitarian as anything Stalin ever dreamt of.”

“Everything they fed us was a crock of shit,” Roth said.

“Agreed,” the president said.

“The Kremlin needs this war.”

“Yes they do, Roth. They’re up against term limits. If they don’t get the constitution ripped up soon, the president will have to step down.”

“And there’s no way that’s going to happen.”

“A war with us is far preferable,” the president said.

“It’s the biggest distraction there is.”

The president stood up and went to the window. Through it, he could see the lights of downtown Washington DC, the capital city of the most powerful nation ever to put its flag on the map. Economically, it was unstoppable. Technologically, unsurpassed. Its military was more powerful than anything ever fielded by any nation or empire in any era in human history. Absolute supremacy, absolute power, could be brought down on any spot on the planet instantly.

But watching him, the way his shoulders sagged, the way his head hung, Roth knew he felt anything but powerful at that moment.

The president turned to Roth. “Let us not forget the significant interests in our own country that want this war.”

Roth nodded. “Mansfield made that abundantly clear.”

“That weaselly little slimeball,” the president said.

“And who was paying him?”

“Vultures, the lot of them,” the president said.

“Trillions of dollars are at stake, sir. The military contracts alone would be enough to change the economic landscape of the entire nation for generations.”

“They’re always after the same thing,” the president said. “No matter how much things change, they always stay the same.”

“But who are they, sir?”

“Who are they? Why Roth, they’re the men who run this country.”