Chapter 88 - Chapter 88: The Government's Choice

The Situation Room was never a warm place, but today the air was frigid with the weight of a decision nobody wanted to make. The President sat at the head of the polished table, his face looking older than it had just a month ago. Arrayed around him were his most trusted advisors: the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Advisor, the Director of National Intelligence, and a handful of others whose presence was required for matters of existential national interest. And this, everyone knew, had become exactly that.