The phone on his nightstand rang loudly at seven o’clock sharp, and woke the President from a restless sleep. A somewhat familiar voice on the other end of the line said, “Good morning Mr. President. As per your orders sir, this is your wakeup call.”

Everything within him wished that he could sleep for several more hours, but Jordan Harwell knew that he had already pushed the envelope by getting more than four hours in bed. While attempting to shake away the fog layer within his head, the President replied with nothing more than a courteous, “Thank you.”

Twenty minutes later President Harwell emerged from the residence after a quick hot shower and shave. Now somewhat more alert, he braved the chilly morning air by walking along the outside porch area to the oval office in comfortable jeans and his favorite University of Washington sweatshirt. That action effectively cleared away the last wisps of lingering fog between his ears, and as Jordan Harwell entered the oval, his Chief of Staff Christopher Westin turned toward him and said, “Good morning Mr. President. Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning Chris. I suppose so considering the trying conditions.”

As one of the many byproducts of a decade’s long friendship, Christopher Westin knew the response had been code for the man not having slept nearly at all. With that in mind he replied, “Yes sir, I didn’t sleep well either.”

As a non-familiar aide then came forth with a cup of coffee for the President, and offered the same to Mr. Westin, the young man asked, “Mr. President?”

“Yes.”

“Sir, I received a communication from Mrs. Dawson instructing me to tend to your calendar for the day during her absence. Does that meet with your approval sir, or would you prefer that someone else handle those duties?”

While reaching for the coffee that would rewarm his bones, Jordan Harwell replied, “If Mrs. Dawson has selected you to fill in for her, then that will be fine with me.”

“Thank you sir, I will do my best to uphold that faith in me. Now sir your calendar shows that the Secretary of Defense will be your first scheduled appointment at eight o’clock.”

“Alright, what comes after that?”

“You have an appointment with the Director of Homeland Security at ten, but I just received a phone call from him a few moments ago. Sir, he requests that you call his office at your earliest convenience.”

“I understand. Now please inform me of any other appointments throughout the remainder of the day at least thirty minutes beforehand unless you will be interrupting a current meeting. In that event I will want to know further in advance. Is that clear?”

“Yes Mr. President, I understand.”

Throughout the next thirty minutes the President and his Chief of Staff had the opportunity to discuss several matters and visually scan a few files; all while sipping on strong cups of coffee and munching on their joint dietary weakness of pastry. As had been requested, President Harwell also spoke on the phone with the Director of Homeland Security. When finished with that call, he turned to his Chief of Staff and said, “Well Chris, the Director has just given us something else to think about.”

“What’s that sir?”

“Nothing that can’t wait until after the briefing about Syria, but I’m glad that he brought his thoughts to my attention. We can discuss it with the Director at greater length when he gets here. Now then, where were we?”

Somewhat surprised by the President’s lack of short term memory, he replied, “We were discussing the impact of our domestic oil reserves without those of Texas sir.”

“Oh yes, that’s right.”

That resumed discussion was then interrupted and would be placed on hold for the time being as the Secretary of Defense reported as ordered to the oval office promptly at eight o’clock. Within minutes after that, he, the President, and Christopher Westin had made their way into the situation room where the scheduled briefing would take place under the cloak of secrecy. Once inside the secured chamber, he turned toward President Harwell and asked, “With your permission sir?”

“Certainly Mr. Secretary, please proceed.”

Assisted by visual aids now displayed upon a wall of flat screens, the Secretary began his briefing. The numbers from the sweeping attack upon Syria were positive in nearly every aspect of the intended mission, and throughout the next twenty minutes each was covered in detail. Among the reports of what had been destroyed within the enemy’s homeland, President Harwell and the remainder of those within the situation room were also informed that losses to American military personnel were almost non-existent. The four missile cruisers within the task force that surrounded the supercarrier USS George H.W. Bush had been quite effective in targeting strategic cities and military bases with their long range barrage, while the air wing from the carrier along with air force missions from bases in neighboring Turkey had delivered their venomous arsenal with more pinpoint accuracy. Satellite imagery obtained a few hours after the completed attack had provided proof that the capitol city of Damascus was significantly damaged, while that same imagery revealed that a half dozen other population centers to the north from Homs to Aleppo and the large port city of Latakia were also burning.

There had been little tangible resistance from the ground, but in a few instances fighter aircraft from the carrier wing had been engaged by the Syrian Air Force. Unfortunately for the Syrians, their numbers of planes and the skill for such an undertaking had been inferior to that of the American forces. As a result, more than a dozen of their defensive craft had been shot down or blown to bits. Nevertheless, the various engagements did provide the Syrians with a rare achievement in modern aviation combat. They were able to force one American aircrew of two men to bailout over the desert when their plane was badly damaged and could not return to the carrier or sea intact. Of greater significance was another American fighter that had been completely obliterated by a missile while killing the crew in the process. It was but the smallest taste of victory in the grand scope of the day to be sure, but it did allow the Syrians a level of hope that they were not entirely defenseless.

When hearing the report of positive results, President Harwell asked, “And what of the insurgent ground forces?”

“Sir each of our seal teams and special operation forces of army rangers have reported in. They are each engaged in different scenarios of course, but all are going according to mission specifications at this time. We will continue to monitor their progress as they can safely communicate with friendly forces, and we shall keep you updated with any relevant news.”

“And the fourth fleet task force?”

“I have spoken directly with Rear Admiral Rutherford via a satellite video conference call sir, and he informed me that all is well with the task force at the present time. He awaits your order to launch a second attack wave.”

“Very well Mr. Secretary, consider that order to be given.”

“Yes sir.”

“And inform Admiral Rutherford to continue with his assault until ordered to cease. Those from Syria who perpetrated the attack upon United States soil and its citizens created a much higher death toll than that of Pearl Harbor, and their treachery shall not be forgotten. History shows that we as a nation didn’t have the ability to strike back with such immediate vengeance against the Empire of Japan in the months following that attack, but this is a different time. We have that needed strength now, so Syria and those within who are responsible are going to pay dearly for what they have done to the United States!”

“Yes sir. And may I say that I share your desire to punish those responsible. I will inform Admiral Rutherford of your orders immediately.”

“Thank you Mr. Secretary.”

“Yes sir.”

“By the way, what is being done about the two pilots who needed to bail out?”

“Admiral Rutherford has deployed a recovery mission from the carrier sir, but at this time I have no word as to their progress.”

“I understand, and thank you Mr. Secretary. Please inform me when more is known.”

“Yes sir Mr. President.”