How did they end up here? Was it some special turn of events, an epiphany of religious fanaticism, that brought them to this life where they thought they were doing Christ's work - some perverted, demented vision of the cross? He had been required to agree with Sanford that copies of the plan could not leave the room.

I'll bet that anyone who disagrees with the plan doesn't either. The package contained a detailed plan for the destruction of the Washington Cathedral and the National Mosque in DC Northwest and the Mormon Temple just outside the beltway in Maryland. It was a plan that required the cooperation of all these terrorist cells. It was bold. Juan Pablo knew it would work. He had written most of it himself. O'Neil had also provided a little input, Sanford a lot more.

While the DHS, FBI, and others had achieved many successes against foreign and home-grown terrorists since the turn of the century, they were always at a disadvantage. Security at major landmarks like their three targets was always at a minimum since there existed targets that would involve many more casualties. Thirty thousand chemical plants, over three hundred nuclear power plants, major sporting events, political rallies - the list was endless.

During the day, their targets might be full of people. They would have some security personnel on hand, mostly for crowd control, parking, and occasional accidents. At night there would be at most a few rent-a-cops providing a lackluster and sleepy security. That's when they would plant the explosives.