Page 116 (1/2)

"That soon"

Yaeger looked at the ad the worst till last" His fingers played over the keyboard "Gentleive you February twenty-second and a catastrophe of staggering nitude"

They were not prepared for what flashed on the screen What Sandecker and Gunn saw on the video screen was an unthinkable event they had no control over, an encircling web of disaster that they could see no way to stop They stared in sick fascination at the four purple lines that met and crossed on the screen

"There can be no mistake?" asked Gunn

"I've run er wearily, "trying to find a flaw, an error, a variable that will proveNo matter how I shake and bake it, the result always comes out the same"

"God, no," whispered Sandecker "Not there, not of all places in the middle of a vast and empty ocean"

"Unless some unpredictable upheaval of nature alters the sea and ater quietly,

"the convergence zones will intersect approximately fifteen kilometers off the city of Honolulu"

This President, unlike his predecessor,He refused to take part in advisory , and he particularly disliked aides running around la the latest presidential polls Conferences to build defenses against criticism from the media or the public failed to shake hi as much as possible in four years If he failed, then no a the bla party would win him another election Party hacks tore their hair and pleaded with hinored the in the nation's interest without giving a second thought to whose toes he stepped on

Sandecker's request to see the President hadn't impressed White House Chief of Staff Wilbur Hutton

He was quite impervious to such requests froress or the Vice President Even meing a face-to-face atekeeper overzealously

Hutton was not aand beefy as a Saturday night arena wrestler He kept his thinning blond hair carefully tri dyed red, he stared from limpid smoke-blue eyes that were always fixed ahead and never darted froraduate of Arizona State with a doctorate in economics from Stanford, he was known to be quite testy and abrupt with anyone who bragged of coue school

Unlike reat respect Having enlisted and served as an infantry the Gulf War, he had a fondness for the military Generals and adnition than dark-suited politicians

"Jireeted Sandecker warmly despite the fact that the admiral showed up unannounced "Your request to see the President sounded urgent, but I'm afraid he has a full schedule You needn't have "

Sandecker smiled, then turned serious "My mission is too delicate to explain over the phone, Will