After being announced, President Harwell moved toward the platform housing the central lectern, and was greeted with mixed levels of respect. Some, in typical childish behavior that can be exhibited in the political arena, did not applaud the man who was the supposed leader of the free world. Those within the assembled mass who chose that path of disrespect hadn’t done so for reasons of substance such as being personally and negatively impacted by actions of the man who was about to speak. Nor was it due to any lack of character that he may have exhibited by his treatment of others. Their dislike of President Harwell was instead based on nothing more than the ridiculous notion that it was acceptable for men and women representing the general populace of the nation to disregard the worth of someone simply because they were a member of the opposite political party. However to be fair, others who applauded him did so simply because the President was a member of their particular political party. In either case, the substance of Jordan Harwell as a leader, humanitarian, or simply a man who could have been their neighbor, was never a determining factor.

When the chamber settled back into a state of anticipatory silence, President Harwell began his speech to the joint session of Congress. The focus of his address, although already known by the collective at least in part, would be to deliver grave news of the three pronged attack. The President would also provide them with accompanying statistics, and as he had learned Sunday afternoon in the oval office, civilian casualties were far worse than originally believed. When combined with the military casualties, the total death count from all three of the targeted military academies stood at eight thousand seven hundred forty-one with a potential increase of perhaps a handful more.

When the President began to break down specific numbers, some within the chamber took notes. West Point had suffered the largest loss of life at three thousand six hundred fifty-two, with four hundred twenty-nine of those being media representatives and other civilian classifications. Another three hundred eighty-one were from the current corps of cadets, which left twenty eight hundred forty- two other active military personnel that had also been killed. That list of seventeen hundred twelve officers and eleven hundred thirty from the enlisted ranks included General Osborne from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and by succumbing to multiple injuries Sunday morning, his principle aide. That information was received with a collective gasp and murmurs of disbelief, so the President decided to let that sink in a little bit before proceeding.

Moving on to Annapolis, President Harwell reported a loss of three hundred sixty-four civilians, and a higher cadet number than that of West Point as four hundred three midshipmen were lost. As they had been nearer to the route used by the escaping terrorists than those at the other eastern site, the collective of young men and women had become even more vulnerable to harm. Turning to the fifteen hundred thirty-two officers and seven hundred seventeen within the enlisted ranks, the death total reached three thousand sixteen. Of that total, only two civilian deaths had come from apparently precisely aimed gunshot wounds, as one victim was found in a parking area just outside the stadium complex. Not far from his position, a Maryland State Trooper had also been killed via gunfire. Although the two deaths were most probably somehow associated with the terrorist act, what had happened to each of them was a momentary mystery. The initial belief was that the first man had been one of the attacking forces, and that somehow the two victims had killed each other during an old fashioned western shootout. That theory was soon put to rest however, as witnesses had come forth stating the horrific truth of what actually transpired. Additionally, their recollection of events was confirmed when ballistics revealed that separate weapons of a different model sidearm than the troopers 45-caliber Smith & Wesson had been used to slay them.

Turning to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, nearly a thousand less people had perished than at Annapolis. The breakdown of those killed however, was drastically different than in either of the two eastern locations. While one could take solace in that not a single member from the current corps of cadets had been killed, they could also be saddened by the increased loss of civilian life at seven hundred fifty-three. Medical examinations on the scene revealed that very few civilian deaths other than those of the media had been caused by fragments from exploding grenades or any flying debris as a result of them. Instead, nearly all could be attributed to various internal injuries as a result of being trampled by panicked masses. Unfortunately many of those were either children or the elderly out for nothing more than the joy of a football game and the pageantry surrounding it on an otherwise pleasant day. Their demise now meant that parents or family members believed to be somehow responsible for their welfare would inevitably battle inner demons as a result of self-blame and loathing.

The officer casualties stood at one thousand forty-one, and included General Brooks from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General Vickers who had been serving as the Commandant of the academy. Those from the enlisted ranks were minor compared to their counterparts from the Army and Navy, but two hundred seventy-nine had still been claimed. Included in that total were the three who had been mistakenly attacked by the corps of cadets as they parachuted onto the playing field.

President Harwell reiterated to the collective that within the numbers from all three locations, two members from the Joint Chiefs had been killed while a third, Admiral Mendenhall, had suffered some minor injuries that would keep him in dry dock for the next week or two. What enraged President Harwell beyond the fate of those men and the loss of other military personnel in all three branches was the loss of civilian life. Because of that, he closed by asking Congress to consider voting for a declaration of war against whoever perpetrated the attacks. Although the identity of those scoundrels was not yet known, the President wanted to be prepared for action when their identity was learned.

While taking precise notes throughout, a member of the United States House of Representatives waited patiently for the President to conclude his remarks and exit the chamber. Then soon after, while an hour long recess was being observed, the man walked to his office so that he could compare those notes to some taken by a staff member. When alone in his private office a few moments later, Democratic Representative Braden Donahue of Texas pulled a burn phone from his locked desk drawer and hit speed dial.

A woman’s voice on the other end answered, “This is number twenty three. What do you have to report?”

“This is number nineteen. I have the final tally as reported by President Harwell during his recent address.”

“Very well, proceed.”

“Total dead at all three locations is eight thousand seven hundred forty-one. Of that, fifteen hundred forty-six were civilians.”

“Understood and thank you. I shall pass these totals onto number two.”