As the device slices the glass, Borgia assembles the high-powered rifle, attaching it to its bipod.

Chaney looks from the right TelePromPter to the left. ‘Many years ago, another African-American stood on these same steps and addressed his people. He spoke of freedom and equality. He spoke of rising up from the dark and desolate valley of segregation into the sunlit path of racial justice. He shared with us his dreams. He shared with us his faith.

‘My godson, Immanuel, was a gentle soul. Like his father, Immanuel believed in humanity, but worried about our survival. On his last birthday, he shared with me a passage his brother, Jacob, had transcribed from one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The passage described something called the War of the Sons of Light versus the Sons of Darkness. Manny explained that the Sons of Darkness are the mass murderers of the innocent and all who support them. They are the zealots, who distort faith’s teachings as an excuse to commit mayhem. They are the greedy, who force society down paths that retard the future of mankind, solely so they can remain in power. “The war is on,” my godson told me, “and humanity must triumph, or our light shall be extinguished.”’

Behind the former president, Jacob Gabriel closes his eyes, focusing inward, as his mind searches the psychic realm for the signal line he seeks.

Borgia adjusts the bipod’s height so that the barrel of the rifle protrudes out the hole in the window. He loads a high-velocity .50-caliber exploding round, then peers down the infrared scope with his only functioning eye.

It takes him a full thirty seconds to lock the target in.

Gun scope …

The reflecting pool … viewed from above.

The podium … he’s not targeting me, he’s after Chaney!

Jacob’s eyes snap open as he speaks into the microphone cuff links. ‘Washington Monument—observation deck!’

There are 147 members of the Secret Service patrolling the area, all tuned in to Jacob’s radio frequency, but it is Dominique Vazquez-Gabriel, disguised as a security guard, who is first to react.

Aware of the TelePromPter, Borgia activates the infrared laser, invisible to the naked eye, and brings the glowing orb to the center of Ennis Chaney’s chest. He slips his right index finger around the trigger. Collects his breath.

Pulls the trigger.

‘Martin Luther King said the ultimate measure of a man is where he stands during times of challenge and controversy. As we stand here, united in our sorrow, our survival is being tested. History is asking more of us than tears, it is asking us to rise to the challenge of our own mortality. As intelligent beings, created in God’s image, it is our obligation to reach out to the stars and experience the heavens before we die, so that we may realize our true place on this Earth—’

Adrenaline pumping, Jacob commands his mind to enter the nexus.