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“Sir, I believe you know Noa Himel,” she says.
There’s a few seconds where no one speaks, and from her open bag, a light starts flashing. Hannah doesn’t quickly respond, just casually drops her hand into the bag and rotates her Agency-issued cell phone—thank all the Heavens they’re getting coverage here at the White House—and looks at the screen. No one else in the room can see the bright flashing light coming from her phone. Her specially made contact lenses, besides correcting her vision, allow only her to see the warning light and this urgent notification.
FLASH FLASH FLASH. PENTAGON CONFIRMS POTUS ISSUED ORDER TO CYBERCOMMAND TO ATTACK PRC AT 1200 HOURS TODAY. SWANTISH.
Hannah calmly looks up at Barrett.
“You see, sir, we now have a witness,” she says. “A witness to back up this recording.”
“But …” His shocked voice dribbles out.
“How? Noa, please demonstrate.”
Noa opens her mouth wide, inserts two fingers, winces and then tugs an object free. It’s placed on theResolutedesk. It looks like a silver cap for a molar.
Hannah says, “A recording device. Not too much range, the quality isn’t that great, but it does its job well, don’t you think?”
And now Hannah is thinking of two things: the war warning she’s received from her deputy, and the need to get Barrett to resign. Now. So that somehow, she and others can stop what’s about to break out.
There is no other option.
She waits.
No, there is a third option.
She doesn’t want to even consider it.
“Keegan, please, this is where we’ve come to,” she says. “There is evidence available and to be found concerning your illegal and unconstitutional activities.”
Including starting a war,but Hannah won’t touch that, not now.Keep your eye on the prize.
“There are two paths forward, sir,” she says. “One that will involve your resignation, today, for health reasons. You will be seen as one willing to sacrifice his position for the good of the country. You will leave the White House as a hero. The other path … congressional hearings lasting months, daily humiliations and embarrassments, this tape of you threatening Noa Himel being aired over and over again, and your eventual impeachment and removal from office. With the possibility of prison time as well.”
More silence.
“I will also guarantee you, sir, that everything I’ve revealed andmentioned here will remain in the Oval Office after your resignation. You have my word.”
Barrett says, “You bitch.”
“No argument from me, sir. But I need your answer. And I need it now. Your resignation, for the good of the nation, and the American people.”
Hannah feels like her entire life has led up to these next few seconds, as she and Noa wait.
All the travels, all the sacrifices, all the devotion to duty and the Constitution and the United States of America.
Preparing to give up her life if necessary.
Barrett’s hands start to move.
Her hand slips into her bag. In a concealed sheath is an Agency-issued hard plastic knife, invisible to scanners and magnetometers.
The third option.
If Barrett doesn’t resign in the next minute, he will shortly be the fifth American president assassinated in office.
Her hand finds the knife.
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