"Mr. President." It was the voice of Alicia on the intercom. 'There's a call holding on line three. It's Dr. Mannheim."
He glanced up, distracted. In the interest of more space, the operation had moved from the Oval Office to the Cabinet Room, where Stuart's wooden-jawed portrait of George Washington gazed down on the papers strewn around the eight-sided table. Seated there with him were his chief of staff, Morton Davies; the special assistant for national security affairs, Theodore Brock; head of the Joint Chiefs, Ed Briggs; as well as the head of the CIA and the secretary of defense. The Vice President was giving a speech at a California fund-raiser, but his contribution was not particularly desired, or missed. Let him make speeches and wave the flag.
He reached over and picked up the handset. "Tell him I'll get back to him. Is he at home?"
"He's calling from somewhere in Greece. The SatCom—"
"Damn. Can't I call him back? I really don't have time—"
"I think you might want to take this, sir." Her voice was crisp and neutral as always, but he knew what the edge in her intonation meant. This is priority.
"SatCom?" Suddenly it clicked. He had been too distracted for the name to register at first.
"He's almost babbling. Something about a helicopter. He's—"
"Put him on. And have the damned thing traced." He hit the speaker button.