CHAPTER ELEVEN
2:55 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
The Situation Room
The White House, Washington, DC
The gathering was much smaller this time.
Haley Lawrence, the Secretary of Defense, was there, with two aides seated behind him. General Frank Loomis of JSOC was there again. Luke Stone was there, this time sitting in a leather chair at the conference table. Half a dozen others were there, along with a few aides and assistants sitting along the walls behind them.
Kurt Kimball was in his usual place at the head of the long conference table. It was a serious group. Kurt didn’t need to perform his typical thunderclap for quiet. Everyone was ready when Susan walked in.
“Well, Kurt. Was this the best crowd you could get?”
He smiled and shook his large bald head. “We’re restricting access to
