Chapter 13

By 1:30 in the morning, the doctor at George Washington University Hospital called Secretary Lehrer to update her on the new President's condition.

"Hello, Secretary Lehrer? This is Dr. Franklin from George Washington University Hospital. I've just finished examining the President and we're now prepping him for surgery. He has massive internal injuries, a broken jaw, fractured left leg, and several broken ribs. He is in critical condition and it will be touch and go for a while."

"Is he conscious?"

"He is resting now and he couldn't talk with you anyway because of his jaw."

"Have you told him that he is President?"

"No. It's been a bit busy around here tonight and I wasn't told that he had become President until just before I got on the phone with you. I was wondering what all of the Secret Service agents were doing all over the place around here, and they are now guarding him. I think that it would be better to wait anyway. He has been told that there was an explosion at the Capitol, but he then lapsed into unconsciousness."

"Do you have any idea when he will be physically able to be told, and then sworn in?"

"As of now I have no idea how long we will be in surgery or what we will find once we get him open. He will have to come out from under the anesthesia too, which could take several hours after the operation itself is finished."

"Thank you Dr. Franklin. Keep me informed of his condition and good luck. The whole world will be pulling for you. He is the only President we have right now and we need him."

"Thank you Secretary Lehrer. We'll do the best we can. I'll keep you informed."

After hanging up the telephone, Kathleen Lehrer explained the circumstances to the others assembled in the Situation Room. Once she had finished, she said, "I think it is time we go up and meet the media. We have been putting them off long enough, and there are probably rumors spreading around faster than I want to dare think about."

Fred Valentine called the Secret Service to let them know what she was doing and then called the White House Press Office and told them to announce that Secretary Lehrer would be there in about five or ten minutes.

At 1:45 A.M. Kathleen Lehrer walked into the White House Briefing Room accompanied by the people who had been advising her down in the Situation Room. As she walked to the podium, she continued to talk with them about last minute developments.

She stepped to the podium and said, "I have a few announcements to make, and then I'll answer some questions."

"First, I would like to express my condolences to the families of those who were killed at the Capitol this evening."

"I have just talked with Dr. Franklin from George Washington University Hospital. He is operating upon the new President right now. He told me that the President is in critical condition with internal injuries, a broken jaw, fractured leg and several broken ribs. He didn't know how long the surgery would take, how long it would take for the President to come out from under the anesthesia, or when it would be possible for him to take the oath of office. Until the President comes out from under the anesthesia and is able to take control of the government, I will continue to serve as acting President under the 25th Amendment, unless we discover that the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Labor are found alive, in which case I will gladly turn power over to one of them."

"We have hard evidence that the plane that crashed into the Capitol this evening did not crash by accident, but was a deliberate attempt to paralyze the United States government by the Iranian government of the Ayatollah Makhtol. We believe that the reason they did this was that they felt that the United States would not respond to actions they were taking throughout the Middle East and Europe, which we are now receiving reports about. The United States government considers their attack an act of war and plans are now being prepared as to how we will carry out our counterattack. Final decisions on that will probably have to wait until the President officially takes control of the government."

"The death toll from the explosion now stands at 500, including two who had been listed as injured earlier and who have since succumbed to their injuries. The entire Supreme Court has been wiped out and the bodies of the heads of the F.B.I. and C.I.A. and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been recovered. President Ruskin's Chief of Staff and National Security adviser are still missing."

"We have received reports of attacks by Iranian backed forces in Turkey and an attack on the U.S. Embassy there. Our troops are defending the Embassy and our assistance has been requested by the Turkish government under the N.A.T.O. treaty. We are now helping them defend themselves against this Iranian aggression."

"About an hour ago I ordered the 7th Fleet to assist the Emirates repel an invasion by Iranian forces. Their forces are in danger of being overrun, and their strategic position is too important for us to let them be overwhelmed by the Iranian fanatics."

"We have passed along warnings to friendly governments throughout the Middle East that the Ayatollah Makhtol is apparently launching uprisings throughout the region and that we will help them in any ways that we can."