“Arturo, I know. Are you assembling a team, Professor?”
“In process.”
“Can you reach Masaki? We need to convince her that Montana may not have been a state-sponsored act of war,” Kip said.
“Do you know that?”
“I believe that he’s lost control. As much as I hate these Russian bastards, escalation will be catastrophic.”
“I agree. I’ll try.”
The connection ended.
WASHINGTON, DC / VENTURA, CALIFORNIA / THE PACIFIC OCEAN
Staffers were coming into the Situation Room, briefing their superiors, and leaving, a revolving door of panicked people. Phones were ringing, video displays turning on and off, a state of chaos. Director Masaki was standing, behind her were displays marked “SIPNET,” “GWAN,” “NSANET,” “JWICS,” “TS/SIT/TK/B Ops Net,” and “Multi-Net.” “I believe we have Professor Hailey H
