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"It already is," said Cole. "Whatever we have, it hasn't been democracy for decades."
"I still have to take on Russia and China, not to mention the loonies," said Torrent. "I could still lose."
"Qin Shi Huangdi was overthrown and his dynasty terminated. But the empire he founded lasted two thousand years. He built well. He didn't have to have a long and happy life himself, did he?"
"So you're with me?"
"No sir," said Cole. "I will support your cause. I will work toward the same objectives as you. But I am not and never will be with a lying snake like you, sir."
Torrent nodded. "Just remember, Cole. Until the snake did his work, Adam and Eve were perpetual babies. The snake started the whole thing going."
"Where can I ditch this thing?" asked Cole, indicating the EMP device.
"I kept it down here," said Torrent. "It's why I ran here when you gave me warning. It goes up on that shelf. The carpenters know I keep it here. I told the head carpenter it was my last line of defense, and he accepted that without further questions."
"So do I, sir," said Cole.
"You could have died protecting me," said Torrent, "and you could have died at my hand."
"But I didn't," said Cole. "Aren't you glad?"
"You killed all your friends."
"I killed three of them," said Cole. "Your security forces took care of the others. And the moment they raised their hands to try to stop the work you're doing, they stopped being my friends."
"What do you hope to gain from this, Cole?"
"The same thing as you, sir. Peace on Earth." Cole stowed the EMP device up on the top shelf. Then he rebooted Benny's Bones manually. "You took him by surprise, sir, with the nail gun, just as he was coming through the door." Cole glanced to make sure the cord on the thing was long enough that it was even possible. It was. "And then I arrived and finished him off."
"That's how it happened," said Torrent.
"I'm calling everybody now."
"Yes, go ahead."
Cole clicked open the connection with Jeep.
"What happened, Colonel Coleman?" Jeep demanded.
"We weren't sure we had them all, Jeep. I had to patrol the floor before I wanted to announce where we were. I was afraid they were keying in on my communications somehow."
"Is the President all right?"
"The President actually saved his own life," said Cole. "He took down Benny with a nail gun in the carpenters' shop."
"You can actually kill with that?"
"I don't know. I said he took him down. I took him out."
Security forces came rushing in from everywhere. Cole sat down on the floor of the basement hall, leaning his back against the wall. Since he was dressed exactly like the would-be assassins, he got more than a few startled glances, until a Secret Service agent realized the problem and sat down beside him. So that it would be clear that he was either an okay dude, or in custody.
"I wish we could pretend these guys were a bunch of foreign assassins," said Cole glumly.
"I know," said the agent. "You knew them, right?"
"They were my team," said Cole. "But they got distracted from the mission."
"What mission?"
