The countdown clock read 7:28.

A phone rang somewhere in the room, and it was actually Madox's cell phone, which he pulled out of his pocket. He said, "Madox," then he listened and confirmed, "Project Green is go," followed by, "Kaiser Wilhelm," who must be in on this, or more likely that was a code word that meant everything was fine, and he-Madox-was not under duress.

Madox listened again, then responded, "Good." He glanced at the countdown clock and said into his cell phone, "About five or six minutes, give or take, then the two minutes for the lock-in. Yes. That's good. What are they having for dinner?" He listened, laughed, and said, "I may be saving you all from a fate worse than death. Okay. Good. Thanks, Paul." He added, "God bless us all." He hung up and told me, "You'll appreciate this, John. The president and his guests are having French cuisine-poached truite saumonee with sauce relevee for dinner. So, where was I?"

I said, "Excuse me, Bain. I must not have been paying attention, but-"

"Oh, sorry. That was Paul Dunn. The special assistant to the president on matters of national security." He explained, "They're having a small, intimate dinner at the White House tonight. This is good because the president and first lady can be quickly evacuated from Washington. Along with Paul."

"Is the food that bad?"

Madox laughed and said, "You actually are funny." He put the cell phone back in his pocket. "FYI, I have a cell antenna down here, and my relay tower is again activated, but unfortunately for my non-paying customers in the vicinity, the system is now voice scrambled." He asked me, "Where was I?"

"Sixty million bodies floating down the Nile."

"Right. The biggest single loss of life in the history of the world. Plus, don't forget another hundred million or more of our Muslim friends incinerated in a hundred more nuclear explosions."

I still wasn't quite following this. I understood what Wild Fire was-which sounded a little extreme as a retaliation for a terrorist nuke going off in America-but who was I to judge? What I didn't understand was how Madox, by nuking four Islamic cities, was going to trigger Wild Fire ... then I got it. It wasn't four Islamic cities. It was two American cities. The cities where the nukes were right now-LA and San Francisco. Holy shit. I looked at Kate, who I could see was white as a ghost.

Madox grabbed a remote clicker from his console and turned on the three flat screen televisions.

The first one brightened, and I could see a news studio, and a weather lady was pointing at a national weather map. Madox said, "Washington," then he hit the Mute button as the sound came up.

The second screen showed another news studio and some guy was giving a sports roundup. Madox noted, "San Francisco," then muted that TV as well.

The third screen showed two news anchors yakking it up with a daytime skyline behind them, and it took me a few seconds to recognize it as downtown Los Angeles. Madox listened for a few seconds, then looked at his watch. "Okay, it's seven fifty-six here, so on the Left Coast, it's four fifty-six P.M." He looked at his countdown clock that read 4:48, :47, :46, :45-.

He said, "So, we have five or six minutes for the last letter-D-to reach the receivers. Then, two minutes for lock-in." He paused. "GOD."

I cleared my throat and said to him, "Are you ... ? I mean, are you ... ?"

"Spit it out, John."

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing?"

I didn't reply, and neither did Kate.

He sat back in his swivel chair, crossed his legs, and lit yet another cigarette. "Project Green. That's the name of my plan to trigger Wild Fire. Get it? Four suitcase nukes-two in LA, two in San Francisco." He added, "They cost me ten million bucks, plus maintenance."

Madox glanced back at the countdown clock. "They'll all blow in less than six minutes." He turned toward us and said, "Then, the Wild Fire retaliatory response kicks in, and we blow those Islamic sons of bitches off the face of the Earth for what they did to Los Angeles and San Francisco-" He stopped abruptly, as though something just dawned on him, then said, "I forgot. I'm blowing up San Francisco and Los Angeles." He laughed.

Holy shit. I said to him, "Bain, for God's sake, you can't-"

"John, shut up. You sound like Harry now. And while you're shutting your mouth, think about how beautiful this is. Project Green. Wild Fire. Why green? Because ..." He looked at the flat screens. "See that ribbon running across the bottom on the LA channel? What's that say? Alert Level Orange. Do you know what it's going to say in the very near future? Green. Permanent Green. Get it? You'll never again be wanded at an airport ... well, actually, you'll never again be at an airport. But think of all our fellow Americans who are inconvenienced at the airport."

He rambled on a bit, and I looked at the news shows from LA and San Francisco, hoping I'd see some indication that some dangerous plot had been uncovered in those cities. But the anchors were starting to wrap it up. I hoped-prayed, actually-that both pilots and co-pilots in both cities had been found. But the chances of all four of those guys being found by now, along with the suitcase nukes, were not good.

I said to Madox, "Bain, the government will know it was you and not the terrorists who-"

"John, even if they did figure it out, it would be too late. Wild Fire is hardwired and on a hair trigger."

"Bain, they'll be here looking for you-"

"You know what? I don't give a shit as long as I know that the world of Islam is lying in nuclear ruin. I don't mind being a martyr for my country, my faith-"

"Are you out of your fucking mind? You're going to murder millions of Americans, millions of innocent Muslims-"

"John, shut the fuck up." He glanced quickly at Carl and Luther, then said to me, "The ends justify the means."

"No, they do not-"

He raised his voice. "They do! This is a whole New World we're talking about. Are you too stupid to understand-?"

"I have to pee."

Madox looked at Kate. "What?"

"I have to pee. Please, I can't hold it in. I don't want to ... to wet myself here-"

Madox seemed annoyed, thought a moment, then said, "Well, I don't want you wetting yourself here either, considering the lousy job the air-purification people did." He instructed Carl, "Watch her."

Carl ordered Kate, "Down on all fours. Turn around."

Kate did as she was told, then Carl said, "Over there."

I lost sight of her, but I heard Carl move across the floor, and then I heard a door opening behind me.

Madox watched what was happening, as did Luther, who again took out his cigarettes.

Carl said to Kate, "Go ahead. I'm not closing the door."

The moment had arrived. Carl was watching Kate with his back to me, and Madox was dividing his attention between his countdown clock, which now read 3:26, his security monitors, which still showed no problems, and his flat screen TVs, where news shows were still wrapping up their hours.

Luther was fixated on the open bathroom door.

I turned my head and looked behind me. Carl was standing at the door with his shotgun at his hip, pointed at Kate, whom I could see standing in front of the toilet bowl, unbuttoning her jeans, then unzipping her fly.

I don't know what Carl thought he was going to see, but he was about to see something else.

Madox said, "John, you don't need to watch your wife peeing. Turn this way."

I turned away from what was going to be a very bright light, held my breath, and shut my eyes. I was prepared for it, but when it happened, I almost peed my pants myself.

There was a deafening explosion that filled the room as if the noise were solid. Simultaneously, the room was lit with a blinding light, which I could actually see through my closed eyelids, and I heard Carl screaming in pain.

I was flat on the floor now, with my BearBanger in my hand, but the room was full of smoke, so I couldn't see Madox or Luther, and I hoped they couldn't see me. I'd already decided that Luther presented the biggest threat with his M16, so I pointed the BearBanger at where I could see movement near the door and fired.