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‘These events have produced a very grave situation, which cannot be permitted to remain unresolved. In consultation with my new Secretary of Defense, Air Force General Raul Gutierrez, and other advisers, I have taken a serious decision. They involve all Americans. First, I have communicated to Steve Wade and those supporting him the following ultimatum. He is required to vacate the White House, and call on those military units supporting him to surrender peacefully, not later than forty-eight hours from the start of this broadcast, that is to say eight o’clock, Eastern Standard Time, on Thursday. All those who comply with this ultimatum, including former President Wade, will be dealt with fairly under the law. If this ultimatum is not complied with, I will take whatever action may be necessary to restore constitutional and democratic rule to the United States. Such action may have a heavy price, but it is one we must be prepared to pay. You can help by remaining in your homes and keeping the peace in your own communities. You know, as I do, that one man, however popular he may be, cannot be allowed to hold our country, our Constitution, to ransom. When I next address you, it will be from the White House, and as a President who is in complete charge of the affairs of the United States. Until that time, I thank you and wish you well.’

T
HE
MEETING
BEGAN
as soon as the television crew left. Moving to the sitting area of Ken Hunt’s study, the President, Hunt, Kelly, and Jeff made themselves comfortable, and waited until the secure call from Ted Lazenby and Raul Gutierrez had been patched through on the speakerphone.

‘Congratulations, Madam President,’ Lazenby said. ‘Great speech.’

‘Thank you,’ Ellen replied. ‘I was shaking like a leaf.’

‘It didn’t show. You looked and sounded like the President. I’m proud to be serving under you.’

‘Thanks, Ted. You understand we’re committed now. I’ve given the ultimatum. There’s no way back now.’

‘No. But I don’t think there ever was.’

‘What’s going on at your end?’

‘Our intelligence from the White House is that there are very few people left in the building. Most of the staff were sent home before Wade’s speech. We have Wade, Latham, Hessler, and McGarry, and a bunch of Marines, plus a couple of Secret Service Agents, one or two administrators and a chef, and that’s about it. The grounds are swarming with Marines. The place is heavily defended. Oh, and…, God, Ellen, I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but they…’

‘Tell me what, Ted…?’

‘They found Martha Graylor…’

Ellen turned her head away. ‘Oh, no,’ she said quietly.

‘They found her in her office. She’d overdosed on sleeping pills. She left a note, something about everything being too much for her, and she couldn’t go on. I’m sorry, Ellen. I know you were close.’

Ellen held her head in her hands for a few moments and bit her lip, recovering her composure.

‘OK, what about the military situation?’

‘We have you protected pretty well. General Terrell is cooperating fully. He’s moving more troops into position around Houston. You may notice a few more tanks on the streets in the next few hours. Nothing to worry about, they’re on our side. We’re flying reconnaissance missions in the area around the clock. We have a carrier and a couple of subs in the Gulf of Mexico, but they’re not showing any hostility. We’ve picked up a few coded messages and private tweets that suggest the Navy is coming over to you, if it was ever otherwise. McGarry’s not exactly supporting us yet, but there’s no evidence that he’s trying to screw us either. It may be that he knows the game is up. So I’m happy with your security, at least for now.’

‘What about Washington? What about Hessler?’

‘Same as before. They have very little support. Even Hessler’s people are having second thoughts. But the people they have on the ground are hard-core. And they still have the Sons of the Flag pinch-hitting for them outside the Capitol. They were watching the speeches on the big screen, and they were pretty enthusiastic about Wade. But it’s just noise, no movement so far. We have agents everywhere, so we’ll get a heads up if that should change. We still can’t do much about the Senate. But we do have the other members of the Court, except the Chief, of course, plus several more heads of department flying out to Houston tomorrow.’

‘So the Senate is still in trouble?’

‘Yes, Ma’am, I’m afraid so.’

‘We have overwhelming superiority, but they have the nukes, and they can make us destroy Washington to force them out.’

‘Right. We can take the White House and the Capitol back, but it’s going to be a bloodbath, and there’s no way around that.’

‘And I just promised on national television to do exactly that less than forty-eight hours from now.’

‘We agreed we had no choice, Madam President,’ Raul Gutierrez’s voice joined in.

‘Yes, we did,’ Ellen said. ‘But we’re talking about a possible civil war here, and if there’s any way to avoid a civil war, we have to find it. I’m open to suggestions. Ted, I’m assuming from what you said, the information you have, that you still have a line open into the White House?’

‘Yes. They’re keeping a phone line open for now at least, but there are no guarantees.’

‘So, there’s some hope of negotiating. Who are you talking to?’

‘Dick Latham.’

‘Has he given you any reason to think…?’

‘No. None at all. Our discussions have been strictly factual. They’re not acting like people who know they have a deadline.’

‘So, what we have to figure out,’ Ellen said, ‘is who would be the most effective negotiator in this situation – assuming they want to talk to us.’

‘My vote is for Raul,’ Lazenby replied. ‘This is a military standoff, and Raul is a military man. If anyone can convince Hessler he’s in a hopeless position, he can. My suggestion is that we shouldn’t try to deal with Wade directly. He’s a crazy man, and there’s no way he’s coming out voluntarily. But maybe we can turn his people against him. If they think it’s a lost cause, they may start to desert him.’

‘What about that, Raul?’ Ellen asked.

‘I agree there’s no point trying to get to Wade,’ Gutierrez replied. ‘But the military side is up to Hessler, and I don’t think there’s much negotiating with him. Madam President, it’s entirely possible Hessler thinks he has the advantage because they control the nukes.’

‘He would actually contemplate telling Wade to use nukes? Is he out of his mind?’

‘He’s a psychopath in uniform, Madam President, and he has to be desperate by now. Wade too. I wouldn’t put anything past them at this point. That’s why I think we have to find some way to talk to them that doesn’t come from a military position, and we have to find it quickly.’

‘Such as…?’

‘Well, it seems to me this is a constitutional issue as much as anything. Maybe Ted would have more success making overtures to Latham.’

‘I doubt it,’ Lazenby said. ‘When I talk to Latham, he sounds like he’s scared shitless. I can’t see him standing up to either Hessler or Wade.’

There was a silence.

‘I do have one suggestion,’ Gutierrez ventured tentatively.

‘Go on.’

‘It sticks in my gullet to suggest it, but if you were to offer an amnesty to all military personnel below the rank of colonel, you might get them to turn on Hessler and his henchmen. These are experienced officers. They’re not stupid people. It must have dawned on them by now that they are backing a losing horse.’

Ellen shook her head.

‘These are officers in the armed forces of the United States, Raul. They knew what they were getting into.’

‘I’m just making a suggestion, Madam President…’

‘I know.’

‘Madam President,’ Jeff broke in. ‘May I?’

‘Go ahead, Jeff.’

‘General Gutierrez, is there a way to spread the word that an amnesty might be on the cards, without the President actually saying so?’

‘You mean, spread a rumor?’

‘Right.’

‘Sure. It would be the easiest thing in the world. All we have to do is use the networking sites and drop a leak or two to the press. The CIA would pitch in and help, too. Technically, this isn’t their jurisdiction, but they’ve been itching to get involved. This would be right up their street.’

Jeff looked at Ellen, who raised her eyes to the ceiling.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘But it has to be deniable. I don’t want to commit myself to amnesties right now.’

‘Understood.’

‘All right. Back to negotiations. I don’t think we have a consensus yet.’

Kelly leaned forward in her chair.

‘Mr. Vice President, do you happen to know whether Linda Samuels is one of the Secret Service Agents who’s still in the White House?’

‘I think she is,’ Lazenby replied. ‘I have the names here. Just a moment. Yes, Linda Samuels and Gary Mills. Why do you ask?’

‘She might be a useful contact. I’ve known Linda all my life. I can’t believe she supports what Wade is doing. She has to be there just out of personal loyalty.’

‘Don’t underestimate her personal loyalty, Kelly,’ Ellen said. ‘I talked to her before she went to jail, remember?’

‘I remember, Madam President,’ Kelly replied. ‘But she and I are very close, always have been. I was thinking, I might just be able to get to her.’

Ellen thought for a moment.

‘Ted,’ she said decisively, ‘get that line into the White House patched through to the law school here, so we can use it whenever we have to. I want you to start talking to Latham as soon as possible. I’m also going to have Kelly make an approach to Agent Samuels. We’ll have two things going at once. Let’s hope one of them works.’

‘Will do,’ Lazenby said.

‘Madam President,’ Raul Gutierrez said, after a silence, ‘we have to assume at this point that negotiations may not succeed. I need your permission to finalize the plans for retaking the White House and the Capitol. And in light of the possible nuclear threat, I believe we have no option but to choose an option which is fast and decisive.’

‘How fast and decisive?’ Ellen asked nervously.

‘We can rebuild the White House,’ Gutierrez replied. ‘But we can’t rebuild one of our cities after a nuclear attack. I’m prepared to accept the first possibility if we can prevent the second.’

The President held her head in her hands. ‘Can you guarantee that we can prevent the second?’

There was a silence.

‘No. I believe it’s highly unlikely. Maybe even unthinkable. But I can’t guarantee it.’

‘God help us all,’ Ellen said. ‘Go ahead, Raul. Put whatever you need to in place. But nobody moves without my order.’

‘Understood, Madam President.’

‘Jeff,’ Ellen Trevathan said when Lazenby and Gutierrez had rung off, ‘make sure the television people are ready to go night and day. I need to be able to broadcast at a moment’s notice.’

‘I’ll see to it,’ Jeff said, leaving the room.

The President turned to Kelly.

‘Agent Samuels struck me as a woman of principle, Kelly. I admired the way she stuck to her guns, even if it was misguided.’

‘Yes, Ma’am, she is.’

‘I don’t know why, but I think she may hold the key to this thing. Let’s not waste any time.’

‘H
EY,
L
INDA,
WHAT’S
going on?’ Kelly asked quietly.

The phone conversation with her friend had taken more than an hour of delicate negotiation to arrange. But now Kelly installed herself in Ken Hunt’s office with a pot of coffee. Dick Latham was designated to negotiate on behalf of Steve Wade. Before she allowed negotiations to be opened, Kelly insisted that she should be alone during the call, and that no one should listen in on or record the conversation. The White House had insisted on the same conditions.

Ellen Trevathan had returned to the hotel to rest for an hour or two, and Ken Hunt had driven home for a brief reunion with his wife.

‘Oh, much the same,’ Linda replied lightly. ‘Well, not really. How about you?’

‘I’m fine. I can’t say I like the weather too much down here in Houston. Too muggy. I’m kind of hoping I can get back to Washington before too long. Are you doing OK?’

‘Yeah, I guess. Except for Bob, but you know how that goes.’

‘Now what’s he done? Still trying to tempt you back?’

‘Not exactly. He and the bimbo have named the day. They’re planning an October wedding. Nice for them, huh?’

‘Oh, God, Linda. I’m sorry.’

‘Yeah, well, what are you going to do?’

Kelly took a sip of coffee and allowed some time to pass.

‘Yeah. We have a difficult situation here, Linda.’

‘No shit.’

‘Yeah. Maybe you and I could do something to help. What do you think?’

Linda laughed.

‘That would be something, wouldn’t it? Kelly and Linda. The old team. We always used to say we were going to change the world. Remember? When we were in college? We used to sit up all night figuring out how to put the world to rights.’

‘I remember. We solved all the world’s problems several times over.’

‘If only they’d listened to us.’

‘Right. No more war, hunger, crime. Peace and prosperity for the whole world.’

‘What a deal.’

‘Yeah,’ Kelly said, smiling. ‘Those were good times, Linda. I miss them.’

‘Me too.’ Linda’s voice sounded sad. ‘That was before we got involved in all this shit.’

Kelly took a deep breath.

‘What if we could just help to save America? That would be a pretty good start, wouldn’t it?’

Linda sniffed.

‘We were college kids, Kelly. It was all so simple back then. I don’t even remember what we thought the answer was.’

‘Neither do I. But perhaps we could work it out again.’

‘I’m not sure there are any answers, Kelly.’

‘There might be. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? What if we could get together? Do you think we might be able to work something out?’

Kelly heard Linda give a deep sigh. ‘Get together?’

‘Yeah. Why not?’

Linda hesitated.

‘Kelly, is this an official approach? I mean, from Trevathan?’

‘I have authorization, yes. But it’s still between the two of us.’