As he handed over the papers, he stared directly into Ted Rust’s eyes. Rust had warmed to the thought of a chief of staff who would take orders, instead of always giving them. As he looked into this stranger’s eyes, he felt instantly drawn to him . . . a strange and powerful presence. As he examined the documents in his hand, a strong desire swept over him—almost a compulsion—and he knew that he must have Benjamin Benares as his chief of staff. No further discussion of the matter was needed.

He tried to shake it, but the urge he felt was like a narcotic that left him somewhat dazed. He smiled at this young man and briefly scanned pages of glowing references. “I respect my wife’s opinions,” the president said with no conviction. “And, I like the looks of all the important names you have here—many important people seem to think very highly of you.” He fought not to say it, but he was powerless to stop the words that flowed from his mouth. “Subject to an independent verification of your credentials, Mr. Benares, and subject to our standard FBI security check, I would be pleased to have you join my team. We’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Benjamin Benares said meekly. “You will never know how happy you have made me—and my family.”

Valery showed Benares to the door. He looked knowingly into her eyes. “It is well done, indeed,” he said softly. “Our good friend Tauriq will be pleased.” Then he was gone.

BY THE TIME THE NEW YORK Stock Exchange opened, news of the meteor disaster had created a feeding frenzy in the world markets. Every stock on the Big Board, NASDAQ, and the AMEX had begun selling off the previous afternoon. Then, computerized trading programs began sending massive sell signals that, in turn, brought on frantic telephone redemptions by holders of mutual funds and equally frantic selling by fund managers desperately needing cash.

James Wong, the treasury secretary, left the cabinet meeting early to deal with the financial crisis. He had already halted trading in all stocks and funds with exposure in California the moment the severity of the crisis was known. As the situation worsened, he halted trading in all bank stocks and insurance company stocks. He contacted the desperate chairman of the Federal Reserve board, who was paralyzed into inactivity—not knowing whether to inject money into the system to instill confidence or to drain money out of the system to instill confidence. So, the Fed sat on the sidelines and did nothing.

By 11:00 A.M., East Coast time, the tape was running ten minutes late as a record eight hundred million shares had been sold on the Big Board. The Dow had dropped a sickening twenty-five hundred points with no floor in sight. By then, nearly two trillion dollars of investor value had been wiped out. James Wong ordered all U.S. markets closed.