The President is Missing

In the woods, Bach encounters a pack of coyotes. She frightens them away by wounding one.

President Duncan learns that the team of shooters who pursued him on the bridge were hired mercenaries, and his team is trying to trace who was paying them. He also learns that two of his cybersecurity experts believe that they have located the Dark Ages virus.

Bach climbs a large tree and perches on a branch. She sees two men approaching and knows that they will soon catch sight of her. Although this was not part of her plan, she prepares to kill them.

Now that the virus has been located, it can be neutralized, but this is a dangerous process. The team is trying to recreate the virus on other systems in order to experiment with how to disable it. President Duncan is startled when he realizes that Augie has vanished from the secure area.

Bach tries to recalibrate her plans. If she shoots the two men, others will quickly come looking for them, and she’ll end up being unable to carry out her mission. This failure could put her and her future child in danger.

Suddenly, the two men turn back and walk in another direction. Relieved, Bach climbs higher up in the tree and positions herself to shoot her target.

A search immediately begins to attempt to find Augie. President Duncan hears gunshots from the woods.

The president races into the woods, accompanied by Alex, his head of security. He finds Augie surrounded by Russian and Secret Service agents. When the Russians caught sight of Augie, they fired what they claim were warning shots; however, Augie is terrified and thinks they were trying to kill him.

Duncan asks Augie why he fled into the woods, and Augie claims that he became overwhelmed by the idea of witnessing the devastation caused by a virus he helped to create. Duncan is unsure whether Augie is lying but brings him back to the control center.

From her perch, Bach sees a group of men entering the cabin. One of them is her target, and she debates whether to take the shot now, although the conditions are not ideal.

President Duncan questions Augie, trying to understand his panic and distress. Augie explains that neither he nor Nina fully understood what the purpose of the Dark Ages virus was, and neither of them was motivated by hatred toward America. He and Nina had formed a plan while working together for Suliman Cindoruk, and what Nina ultimately wanted was a pardon from the Georgian government so that she could return home (because of her support for the separatist movement, she was considered a terrorist). Due to the roles they played in developing the virus, Augie knew how to locate it, and Nina knew how to disarm it.

Nina and Augie planted the “peekaboo” virus to tip off American security to the impending threat; they then defected from the Sons of Jihad and traveled separately to the US. After meeting separately with Duncan and determining if they trusted him, they then planned to collaborate to stop the virus in exchange for Nina’s amnesty. However, the shooting outside the baseball stadium curtailed this plan.

President Duncan demands one more piece of information from Augie: How did Nina learn the code “Dark Ages”? Augie insists that Nina never told him. Duncan tells Augie that if he wants to honor Nina’s memory, he should do everything he can to stop the virus. Duncan learns that his team has located a message on Nina’s cellphone (retrieved from the van after she was shot) and that they now believe they know the whereabouts of Suliman.

President Duncan reveals the threat of Dark Ages to Vice President Brandt, explaining the full scope of the possible destruction. He also tells her that someone in his inner circle has betrayed him; she seems hurt and offended that he could think it might be her.

The president encourages the cyberteam to keep working. They are concerned because none of their strategies for disabling the virus are working. Every time they recreate the virus, it wipes the entire system they are working on.

President Duncan continues his conversation with the vice president, explaining why he had to keep her and the other potential traitors in the dark. She states that once the cyberattack threat has been resolved, she will resign since the president doesn’t trust her.

Duncan cynically points out that her resignation would make it possible for Speaker Rhodes to replace her and reveals that since he learned about the mole, he has had all the possible suspects under surveillance. This means that he knows about her meeting with Rhodes. He is surprised when Brandt suggests that he administer a polygraph to find out if she is the source of the leak and whether she has been colluding with Rhodes.

In Berlin, a woman enters a condominium lobby and identifies herself as a police officer; at the same time, a group of German special-forces officers enters the same building. A special-forces helicopter has also deployed more officers onto the building’s roof.

Suliman is relaxed and watching his team, who are passed out after a night of partying. The narrative implies that, following up on the text message found on Nina’s phone, American and German forces are collaborating to target the building where Suliman is located.

The highly trained German special-forces officers make their way through the building. They have been instructed to take Suliman alive. One of the officers notices a small device on the wall in the hallway, which is making a clicking sound.

Suliman receives an alert from the sensor in the hallway. He has access to a handgun with a single bullet: He has always planned to take his own life if faced with capture. However, he is unsure whether he would be able to proceed with this plan.

With their cover blown, the German agents burst into the apartment. They quickly realize that it contains five members of the Sons of Jihad but not Suliman. They also notice that a camera has been installed, allowing someone to surveil the apartment remotely.

The narrative reveals that Suliman is not actually in the apartment. He is in a tavern about 20 kilometers away and has been watching events via the camera.

Back in the US, President Duncan receives word that Suliman was not in the apartment and has not been captured. The cybersecurity team is also facing a dead end in their efforts to disarm the virus.

Duncan takes time alone, realizing that there is a very real chance that the virus will be deployed. He is devastated because of what he will be required to do if the US infrastructure collapses. Eventually, he rallies and realizes that he must continue his efforts.

The president receives a call from Carolyn Brock, informing him that the results from Vice President Brandt’s polygraph are inconclusive. Duncan knows these tests are not always accurate, and he is no closer to knowing whether to trust Brandt.

President Duncan orders that key advisors, strategists, and high-ranking politicians move into a secure operations center at the White House.

The president asks the cybersecurity team to explain the virus and how it works in simple terms; he is becoming concerned that they aren’t considering simple solutions.

One of the cybersecurity experts explains that the virus functions by overwriting files, rather than deleting them. The virus is either set to a timer and will activate at a specific time, or it may rely on someone triggering it. If the virus detects hostile activity (i.e., someone trying to disarm it), it will activate. None of Duncan’s suggestions are actionable.