"The reports on local news stations are mostly focusing on safety tips and evacuation routes," Lou added. "The national news is reporting minute-by-minute volcanic activity."

"I finally got in touch with Dr. Kaplan. He'll be here within the hour."

Santos tightened his jaw. "I want a slew of scientists here before this thing is over."

Again, Lou picked up on the tension between Josh and the President. She was about to comment on it when Ronna peeked her head in the door.

"Excuse me. Donna's here."

The President stood. "Send her in."

"Good evening, sir." Donna closed the door and stepped into the room.

Josh's eyes lit up. While he was reminded of old times, he couldn't dismiss the confidence Donna had gained since she'd worked for him under this roof over a year ago.

"My wife was willing to let you come over to the dark side?"

Donna smiled. "Only for this evening, sir."

He sat down. "Ronna tells me you were able to get in touch with someone at the Army Corps?"

"Yes, sir." Donna shifted her weight. "Major General Dalton Higgins reported that their main concern is the lahars, or mudflows, that began as soon as the volcano erupted." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "In 1985, the Army Corps of Engineers built a one-and-a-half-mile diversionary canal at Spirit Lake in hopes of channeling the lahars away from the lake. They also lowered the water level of the Swift Reservoir two weeks ago as a precaution to minimize the possibility of flooding in the valley." Donna paused for a breath. "Major General Higgins wasn't sure if the volume of the lahars is going to cause the reservoir to overflow, but he was fairly confident in its stability and craftsmanship."

Lou noticed the pride in Josh's eyes.

"Did he say anything about sediment-retention structures?" Santos asked.

Donna nodded. "He seemed to think that the structures would be able to withstand up to a six on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. Initial reports indicate that this blast was a three or four."

"What was the '80 eruption?" Lou asked.

"A five," Josh replied, his eyes still trained on Donna.

She gave him a small smile, then turned her attention back to the President. "Major General Higgins said he'd be happy to walk you through it, sir. He'll be available around the clock."

"Thank you, Donna," Santos said. "And I'll be sure to thank my wife for lending you to me. She better watch her back, or I'll steal you for good."

"Yes, sir." Donna smiled, then exited.

"She's good," the President said, looking at Josh.

"Tell me about it." He smirked.

CUT TO:
INT. MARCUS WHITMAN HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER

"Good evening, sir. My colleague and I would like to check-in," Ainsley informed the front desk clerk.

"Last name?"

"Hayes. Ainsley Hayes." She motioned to Sam, who was still trying to call The White House. "And this is Sam Seaborn."

"I see you're with us for two nights?"

"That is correct."

The clerk's eyes darted back and forth between Ainsley and Sam. "Are you together?"

Ainsley gulped. "How do you mean?"

Sam's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "We're not a couple, if that's what you're asking."

"We are absolutely not a couple," she replied, slicing her hands through the air. "And how dare you assume that just because we are a man and a woman, traveling together that –"

The man held up his hand. "I didn't mean to suggest...I was simply wondering if you two knew each other well enough to share a room?"

Sam dropped his cell phone, and Ainsley's face turned pale.

She was the first to recover. "We are two professional..."

"And dedicated," Sam added.

"...government employees who maintain a perfectly platonic relationship," Ainsley finished.

"I'm sorry for the confusion." Sally Peyton appeared next to the young clerk. "What Ruben is trying to ask is if you'd be willing to share a room during your stay, because we're expecting an influx of evacuees within the hour."

Sam bent down to retrieve his phone. And the battery that had fallen out.

"We're going to need a moment to discuss the situation," Ainsley replied. She pulled Sam to the side, preparing to make a case for sharing a room.

CUT TO:
INT. WHITE HOUSE MAIN LOBBY

Bram arrived at work 50 minutes after he'd received the page. It took him 20 minutes to get a cab and another 30 to get back to The White House.

He attempted to walk through the security check point, but a linebacker-sized guard stopped him. "Where's your pass, sir?"

Bram looked around his neck, then searched his pockets. "Damn it. I must've left it on my dresser when I went home to change after work."

"You'll need to sign in with a visitor's pass, Mr. Howard," the guard said.

"Oh, come on!" Bram yelled. "You even know my name. It's not like I'm some derelict off the street."

"I just follow the rules." The guard presented Bram with the sign-in book.

Bram signed his name on the dotted line. "I won't forget this, Tyrone."

"Neither will I," he replied with a chuckle. "I haven't forgotten the first time either."

"It was my third day here. Give me a break."

"I suggest you get a duplicate pass or maybe have one tattooed on your chest." Tyrone handed him a visitor's pass. "Have a good night, Mr. Howard."

Bram shook his head and proceeded through the entryway. "Thank you."

CUT TO:
INT. WEST WING CORRIDOR

As Josh strode down the long corridor, he heard footsteps fast approaching behind him.

"Josh!"

He whipped around. "Where in the hell have you been?"

"I was at dinner when I got your page." Bram let out a ragged breath. "I got here as fast as I could."

"An hour was as fast as you could?" Josh raised his eyebrows. "Do I smell alcohol on your breath?"

"I had a couple of drinks at the bar." He gulped. "I was off duty, Josh. It's not like I intended to come back!"

Josh put his hands on his hips. "Are you drunk?"

"Not even close," Bram shot back.

Josh took a step closer. "When you get paged by me or anyone else in this building, you get here immediately. If you don't have a car or a cab is taking too long or the Metro has stopped running, you call the White House to check in."

Bram lowered his head.

"This isn't the campaign, and you aren't working for a Congressman anymore. You serve the President of the United States. Sam's stuck in the middle of this mess, and in his absence, I need you to step up, Bram!"

"I'm sorry. I should've called." He wiped his forehead.

Josh started walking again, and Bram was hot on his heels.

"I heard about the eruption on the radio in the cab. How bad is it?" he asked.

"I'll know more after my next meeting." Josh kept walking and looked at his watch. "In the meantime, have Lester brief you, then check in with Donna. She's been doing your job for the past hour."

Bram stopped in his office doorway. "I'm sorry."

Josh looked back at the younger man, clenched his jaw, then kept walking.

As he approached Sam's office, he noticed a light shining through the open door. He stopped just outside and saw Donna on the phone.

"And this all happened within 45 minutes?" she asked.

"Right," she responded, taking copious notes. "All airports in Washington, northern Oregon, and British Columbia. Got it. When do you anticipate further closings?"

Josh leaned against the doorframe and watched her. She was as efficient as ever, he thought. It was times like these when he truly missed working with her.

"Of course," she said into the phone. When she looked up, she saw Josh and smiled. "I will. Thank you."

She hung up. "How long have you been standing there?"

Josh pushed his shoulder against door jamb and stood upright. "Long enough to see you haven't lost your touch."

"Did you think I had?" She grinned.

"Never." He approached his old desk and gestured to the phone. "The FAA?"

"Yeah." Donna looked at her scribbled notes. "Most of the airports in the Pacific Northwest are already shut down, and they expect flight delays in Idaho as the ash moves eastward."

"A lot of people flying into Boise these days?" Josh smirked.

"Josh." She slapped him lightly on the arm. "They'll fax a report to your attention in a few minutes, and then keep you updated via e-mail every hour."

"Ok."

"I thought you had a meeting in the Oval?" Donna asked.

"I'm headed there now." He perched on the corner of the desk. "Bram finally showed up."

"Finally?"

He nodded. "He should be checking in with you any minute."

She put her hand on Josh's thigh. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." Despite being with Donna for nearly five months, he still got goosebumps every time she touched him. "Still no word from Sam or Ainsley?"

"No." Donna absentmindedly rubbed his leg with her thumb. "But I did a little research and found that Walla Walla is 257 miles away from Mount St. Helens, so they should be ok."

"Told you so." Josh smirked.

If she kept rubbing him like that, he would have to walk into the Oval Office with an embarrassing erection. He picked her hand up and held it against his chest. "After you meet with Bram, why don't you head home?"

"I don't mind staying," she replied. "I like feeling useful."

"You are very useful." He bent down and kissed her. "And valuable."

As she deepened the kiss, Donna's hand roamed up Josh's chest and neck and finally settled on his cheek.

Bram cleared his throat, interrupting them. "Excuse me."

They broke the kiss and looked at the young deputy.

"I have to go," Josh whispered. He kissed Donna's nose and ran his hand down the back of her head.

When he passed Bram, he didn't say a word.

CUT TO:
INT. OVAL OFFICE

Lyle Edmonds and Hubert Kaplan arrived at The White House at the same time. The discomfort between the two was palpable.

The men shook hands with everyone in the room before taking their seats on opposite sides of the same sofa. Gloria Vincent sat between them.

"Thanks for coming," Santos said.

"Mr. President, a group of our top geoscientists, hydrologists, and volcanologists are standing by in our Vancouver, Washington, office if you'd like to do a conference call," Lyle said.

"That would be helpful," Santos replied. "I'll have Ronna put the call through after the six of us hash some things out. Who wants to start?"

"I'm happy to give the account from the USGS standpoint," Lyle responded.

Josh noticed that Kaplan gave Lyle Edmonds a nasty look. He could tell that the men were gearing up for a battle. He didn't know whether he should sit back and watch or add fuel to the fire. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and tapped his heel on the ground.

Lou saw Josh's reaction. She made it a point to observe him throughout the meeting.

"About two months ago we created an emergency coordination center, or an ECC, at the US Forest Services facility in Vancouver, Washington. It's staffed 24 hours a day with scientists and administrators from the USGS, USFS, and emergency management agencies," Lyle said.

"We've had a team of ten FEMA employees there since the ECC was established in early February," Gloria added.

Santos nodded.

"Our guys at the ECC report on a daily basis to my deputy, Mason Blanchard."

"Where is Mason?" Josh asked, looking around the room.

Lyle cleared his throat. "Back at the office, continuing to communicate with the ECC and other regional USGS offices."

"Right," Josh responded. He was getting a sinking feeling about every step in the USGS' communication process.

"The ECC is in touch with the Cascades Volcano Observatory, the CVO, at least twice a day. The CVO, which is run by my agency, maintains an extensive volcano monitoring system in conjunction with the University of Washington's geophysics program. They file hourly reports, which are then passed on to the ECC. If the scientists at the ECC think a report deserves further attention, they fax it to my staff in DC," Lyle continued.

"How many reports has your office received since the establishment of this ECC?" Santos asked.

Lyle looked in the folder on his lap. "Only two, sir."

"And when were they given to your deputy?"

"The first one was given to him on February 21 and the second on March 11."

"That was four days ago," Josh observed. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.

Santos regarded Josh, then turned his attention back to the director. "Did your deputy share the reports with you upon receiving them?"

"No," Lyle looked away. "I trust him to handle the communication between the ECC and my office."

"You're blaming your deputy?" Josh raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not blaming anyone, Mr. Lyman," Lyle responded. "I'm stating the facts. Besides, I am not a trained geoscientist or volcanologist."

"Is your deputy?" Josh huffed.

Lou got the distinct impression that he did not like Lyle Edmonds. If it wasn't the way he talked to the head of the USGS, it was his demeanor while doing so. Josh was at the edge of his seat and looked like he was ready to pounce.

The President tried to ignore Josh's behavior. "Who did Mason communicate with in order to determine the severity of volcanic activity at Mount St. Helens?"

"That would be me," Dr. Kaplan said, raising his hand.

A faint smile formed on Josh's face. Santos clenched his jaw.

"Yes, and we sent Hubert to meet with Josh this morning to warn you of an imminent eruption," Lyle replied.

"Actually, you didn't send me," Kaplan said. "In fact, you did everything you could to prevent me from coming."

Josh glanced at the President who kept his eyes focused on the scientist.

And there it was, Lou thought with a wry smile. Josh wasn't the one who ignored the scientist's warnings. It was the President. If she thought they were in deep water before, they were sinking into unknown depths now.

"Well, we have a team of scientists who interpret the CVO reports to determine how severe the activity is. Once they've read and researched the report, they prepare recommendations for me."

Josh ran a hand through his hair. "Why didn't you want Dr. Kaplan to come to the White House, Mr. Edmonds?"

"Because the March 11 report had not gone through the proper channels yet," he replied in a raised voice. "I didn't want to alarm anyone, especially the President of the United States, until I had all of the facts."

"The facts were easy to interpret," the scientist commented. "There were at least two geophysicists and one other volcanologist in our office who knew that the eruption was imminent."

"Then why didn't they inform me of that?" Lyle asked in a huff.

"They tried!" Hubert said. "But you told them to go through Mason before coming to you."

"That's preposterous!" Lyle responded.

"Now is not the time for the blame game, gentlemen," Santos interrupted. "You can sort that out later. Right now, I want to hear about what's going on at Mount St. Helens and what we can do to help save lives."

Josh shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh. The President was right: they needed to focus on the volcanic eruption rather than the line of communication. But after this thing was over, he'd have to have a long talk with his boss.

CUT TO:
INT. COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR'S OFFICE

While Josh, Lou and the President met in the Oval Office, Otto and Lester worked on remarks for a morning briefing. They'd asked Donna if she wanted to join them, and she jumped at the chance.

It wasn't that she didn't like working for the First Lady. In fact, she loved it. But she missed anticipating questions from the press and creating statements to answer them. She worked closely with Annabeth on a daily basis, but this was something entirely different, and, she admitted, a lot more exciting.

"What do you think of leading with the 1980 eruption and comparing the two?" Otto asked around a Dorito.

"No good." Donna shook her head. "I think it's fine if you compare the two eruptions, but that should come later."

"We should start by concentrating on what happened tonight," Lester added, tapping a pen against his legal pad.

"Right," Otto replied. "How about this: 'At 6:50 pm Pacific Standard Time, Mount St. Helens erupted due to a 5.3 seismic event'?"

"How long did it take you to come up with such poetry?" Lester chided.

"Hey, I'm working on virtually no sleep and an empty stomach." He shoved another Dorito into his mouth.

Lester shrugged. "It's not my fault you got here after the pizza was gone."

"Guys, we need to focus," Donna said, stacking her note cards against the table.

A light tap on the door startled them.

"Ms. Moss?" Tyrone, the night guard at the west entrance, opened the door.

"Yes?" Donna looked worried.

"There's a woman here to see you. A Lauren Harman. She said you'd want to know she's here and that she doesn't have your cell phone number," he said.

Donna stood. "Thank you, Tyrone."

Otto and Lester looked confused.

"Sam's fiancée," she said. "I'll be back."

Donna followed Tyrone down the hall, and as soon as she got into the main lobby, Lauren breathed a sigh of relief.

"Donna, I'm so glad to see you. I'm worried sick about Sam," she said in a shaky voice. "Have you heard from him?

As soon as Donna stepped through the metal detector, Lauren threw her arms around her.

"Hi, Lauren," she replied, hugging Sam's fiancée despite a moment of awkwardness. "I haven't heard from him yet, but we've been trying non-stop since the eruption."

Lauren let out a long sigh. "I tried calling the hotel and his cell. Why can't we get in touch with him?"

Donna pulled back and rubbed her arm. "I'm sure a million people in the Northwest are trying to make phone calls right now. It'll just take some time."

"Do you think he's ok?" Lauren bit her lower lip.

"Yes, I do." Donna reassured her. "He's 260 miles away from the volcano. The most he'll get is some ash. In fact, I saw a report on CNN, indicating that Walla Walla was one of the cities evacuees were
fleeing to."

"That's comforting...sort of." She lowered her head. "I'm sorry for coming here, but I –"

Donna held up her hand. "You don't need to apologize. I know how worried you must be. I know how worried *I* would be."

Sam's fiancée nodded. "I called your office and left several messages. I don't have yours or Josh's cell numbers."

"Well, let's change that right now." Donna smiled. She wrote down their cell numbers and their home phone number and handed it to Lauren. "Do you want to stay here for a while?"

"No. I should be at home in case he tries to call. I haven't switched my number yet, and sometimes my cell acts up in DC." Lauren sniffed.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, but thank you." After a long pause, she spoke again. "I know he's with Ainsley. That's nothing I should, you know, worry about, right? I mean...Oh, never mind. I'm just nervous, and the crazies are talking."

Donna was relieved that Lauren didn't push the subject. She had no idea what Sam had told his fiancée about his relationship with Ainsley.

"We've tried contacting her as well," Donna replied, avoiding even mentioning Ainsley's name.

After a brief moment of silence, she tried adding a little humor into the conversation. "Josh said that Sam would probably find all of this exciting."

"He probably does," Lauren said with a slight chuckle. "Donna, if you hear from him, promise you'll call me?"

She looked Lauren in the eye. "I promise."

"I've sent him a couple of text messages, too."

"I think the whole system is screwed up right now," Donna responded, squeezing Lauren's arm. "But as soon as I talk to him, I'll call you. Will you do the same?"

"Of course. Thanks so much."

"If you need anything at all, call me," Donna instructed.

Lauren walked to the door and waved. "Thanks, Donna."

Donna felt sorry for Lauren, knowing what she must be going through. She'd lived here for just over two months and didn't really have any friends yet. She'd make it a point to invite Lauren and Sam to dinner once this thing was behind them.

"There you are," Lester said as he walked into the lobby. "The governor is doing a press conference in ten minutes."

"Good." Donna turned around and took a deep breath. She quickly went back into work mode. "Good. I'll tell Josh."

FADE TO BLACK