Line of Succession {CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT}

Chapter 3: The New President

Jessica heads to the East Room of the White House, where the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is standing in the middle of the room, with a bible in his hand. She walks into the room, and walk up to the person with the bible in her hand. The judge tells her to put her left hand on the bible, and raise her right-hand repeat after him. She takes the oath of office of the President of the United States.

J - "So help me god."

CJ - "Thank you, you are now President, Madam President."

Most of the White House staff walk into the East Room, each one introduces themselves and shakes their hands with the newly sworn President. They all stand in line, waiting for her first command as United States President.

Staff Member - "What is your first order, Madam President?"

She thinks about it, and then says it:

Jessica - "Lockdown all  federal government agencies, this could be a bigger attack waiting to happen."

Staff Member - "Yes Madam President!"

They do what she said, they all scramble around, heading out to different doors and heading to different parts of the White House. Jessica herself leaves the East Room and heads to the Oval Office. 

She arrives there and sees her children sitting on the couch, crying. She runs and jumps onto the couch, and hugs them. 

Emma - "Mommy, is daddy alright? Is he going to come back home?

Jacob - "Yeah! Is he going to come back here tonight, like right now?"

Jessica- "I am afraid he is not going to come home, kids. You are too young to know the reason why, though..."

The kids start to cry again, but again, she comforts them, telling them that everything will be alright.

At the same time, a couple of Army generals come into the Oval Office, holding some paperwork, that was originally going to be seen by Zechariah, but the events that happened that night, now Jessica has to see it now. She tells the kids that she'll be in their rooms soon to tell them goodnight. They leave and the Generals give her the file with some military information. She never spent a moment in the military, so it will be hard for her to decide, so she opens it and says that the continuation of government had declared open war on the Turkish Republic, both the general government and the rebel government. 

General 1 - "As you are now President, you are also the commander in chief of all 5 uniformed services of the United States. You have supreme command over the entire military. As this is urgent, we will need you to respond within 15 minutes or less, we recommend to block off the Turkish Straits, one of the most crucial land points in the world."

Jessica - "All right, I have made the decision in my head just now. Block off the Turkish Straits. That is my first command as commander in chief."

General 2 - "Yes, Madam President. The Sixth Fleet, which is stationed in Italy right now, will be blocking off the Straits within around 2 hours from now."

Jessica - "Good, thank you two for your cooperation."

General 1 and 2 - "No, Madam President, thank you for your cooperation, as it is an honor to work with you. Your husband would never let us do that, as it would spark an international incident, but we have an excuse to do that."

She dismisses them from the room, they leave and close the door. She walks around the oval-shaped office, looking at the artifacts around the President's desk. She sees things that she has never seen before. She swears to herself that she will never sit in that seat, which is behind the desk. She also swears that she will never get power-hungry, especially in a situation like this, but the Constitution is still in effect.

Later, around 15 minutes later, the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States, walks into the office, holding on to a couple of papers. 

Chief of Staff  - "Good Evening, Madam President, we have confirmed that all Government Agencies have been locked down, until your approval saying that the lockdown can be lifted."

Jessica - "Ah, yes, thank you, Mr. Chief, of Staff. You maybe be dismissed for the evening."

Chief of Staff - "Thank you, Madam President."

With that, the Chief of Staff leaves the office, quietly closing the door behind him. Even though this is a national emergency, she decides to head off to bed, as it is 11:46 P.M. The Secret Service says they will handle the situation for the night, as it recommended that she should go to bed.  She is so tired that she cannot say goodnight to her children; their first night without their father, husband, their President.