"She slammed the phone on me."
The President of the United States remained seated at his desk after Vespera Ashborn ended the call, staring at the phone through which she had just threatened his country.
"Get her back."
An aide reached for the desk phone. Across from him, a security adviser lowered the pen he'd stopped using halfway through the conversation.
"Mr. President, before we respond, we need to establish whether she's preparing to attack."
"She just offered to declare war on us. What would you call that?"
"A reason to get our personnel away from her."
The President looked up sharply.
"We cannot have an awakened deciding which federal duties she feels like tolerating."
"Sir, she has already removed them. If you send those people back, we need military support to keep them alive while they try to enter."
The aide held the phone against his ear, listening to it ring.
