The flight from Boeing Field in Seattle to Andrews Air Force Base just outside of Washington D.C. had taken more than four hours. It was less than the generally required five hours for commercial traffic to travel between the two cities, but Air Force One had the advantage of being a faster aircraft when need be, and with priority landing privileges, she was never shuffled into a pecking order with other incoming aircraft. Another thirty minutes had passed before President Harwell, agent Bishop, and others from the entourage were transported via the Marine One helicopter to the south lawn of the White House where his Chief of Staff Christopher Westin was waiting. A moment later they, along with agent Bishop, left the entourage behind and descended into the underground bunker facility. With a three hour loss due to time zone changes from the west to east coast, President Harwell finally strode into the situation room just prior to eight forty-five eastern time.

Before all those present could rise, he motioned for them to remain seated and asked, “What do we know definitively?”

Vice President Sutherland replied, “Mr. President, we know that West Point took the worst hit in terms of loss of life. General Osborne from the Joint Chiefs was killed during the attack, and his principle aide is listed as critical. Many others in the officer ranks were also killed or injured, with the corps of cadets being hit hard as well. We don’t have specific numbers yet, but they should be coming in soon.”

Knowing that he had ordered General Osborne to attend the game, as well as the man’s counterparts from other branches of the military, President Harwell looked at his running mate and asked, “That is tragic news, as he served this country proudly for many years. What do you know about the other members of the Joint Chiefs?”

“Admiral Mendenhall, his aide, and the commandant of the Naval Academy have all sustained injuries, but none are life threatening. Unfortunately General Brooks and the Commandant at the Air Force Academy, General Vickers, have both been killed.”

“Yes, we already knew about Brooks and Vickers. A principle aide of the commandant contacted us via the FAA during our flight and reported their deaths.”

“Yes sir.”

“What about civilian casualties?”

“Reports confirm that civilian losses aside from those in the press box areas are comparatively light at all three locations. It would appear that the attacks were aimed primarily at military personnel.”

“Well I suppose that’s a small measure of good news. When can you get me an accurate count at each of the locations?”

“We have people working on that right now sir and the civilian count from each academy should be coming in before the military numbers are finalized.”

“Where are all the bodies of the dead being moved to?”

“For the present time sir, each of the three football fields is being used as a collecting point for identification purposes. Initially the more seriously injured were being treated on the field as well, but many of those have since been moved to local hospitals. Contact information has also been gathered on those with minor injuries, and after being cleared by local medical personnel, they were asked to return to their homes.”

After silently nodding with understanding, President Harwell then motioned toward the head of Homeland Security and asked, “What can you tell me about all of this?”

“Well sir, it’s obvious that the attack at each of the locations was well thought out. As the Vice President alluded to, civilian casualties were far too limited for this to have been a random act. Those assailants coming in via parachute knew exactly which area of each stadium to concentrate their fire upon.”

“So you are concurring with Vice President Sutherland that the attacks were aimed at our military forces.”

“Yes Mr. President I am. But they were also aimed at symbols of our military forces.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well sir, the stadiums were also attacked. Although one of them isn’t actually on academy grounds, they all serve as a facility of their respective academy. As such, it could be interpreted that the attacks were made upon three of our domestic military bases.”

“I see your point, and understand your position on such treachery. But for now, I want to maintain a focus on the human element of the attacks.”

“Yes sir.”

“So how did the attacking forces learn of where the military representatives in each location would be seated? Do you suspect an inside source of some kind?”

“There is no evidence to suggest that at this time sir. Besides, seating charts or photographs for most stadiums can be easily accessed via the internet. It would have been no problem for the attacking forces to formulate a plan of where to concentrate their firepower based on such readily available information.”

“I understand. So do we have any leads on who attacked us?”

“Nothing concrete sir, at this point everything would just be theoretical. There simply isn’t any evidence for us to build a case on yet.”

“No evidence? What about weapons, finger prints, or something like that?”

“I’m sorry Mr. President. As I said, the attack was well planned out. There were abandoned weapons on the playing field along with all of the parachutes at both West Point and Annapolis, and in Colorado Springs the same stockpile of gear and weaponry was discarded in an adjacent parking area. We do know that an identical arsenal was used at each of the locations, and some of it was foreign made.”

“And with all of that you have no evidence to suggest who attacked us?”

“No sir. The weapons they used can be purchased from some foreign governments with ease, and other elements of their arsenal are readily available on the black market. Forensic teams have been going over those weapons, empty shell casings, and anything else that has been recovered, but there are no finger prints as of now. Multiple witnesses stated that they caught a glimpse of the attackers, and their hands were white or cream colored. Based on that and the absence of fingerprints, they were all probably wearing surgical gloves.”

“What about their faces or body type?”

“The attacking forces all wore a helmet with dark face shields, which made identification impossible. As to body type sir, they were all described as average height with medium build. Unfortunately that doesn’t give us much to go on.”

Feeling dejected at the absence of true leads, the President turned to the Secretary of State and asked, “What about your teams? Is there any whiff of who might have done this?”

“Well Mr. President, no element or faction has taken credit for the attacks as of this time. We at state have good reason to believe that the attack was carried out by some group within the Middle East, and based on recent actions; the most likely candidate would be the Syrians. We have teams both here and in the region working that angle in search of tangible proof.”

“That’s good Mr. Secretary. Please keep me posted of whatever your teams may uncover.”

“Yes Mr. President.”