The Golden Hour - Todd Moss
Emergency medical personnel know from experience that if a patient receives treatment within an hour after a heart attack or stroke, his chances of survival increase exponentially. Judd Ryker knows this because he worked his way through undergrad as an EMT, but in a moment of idle curiosity the polysci prof wondered whether the same principle translates to other “incidents” as well, especially his own field. Once a corps of grad students had sifted through a mountain of data, Ryker’s study of the history of coups d’etat convinced him that The Golden Hour translates to affairs of state as well. The statistics suggest that there’s a critical period within which governmental overthrow can be reversed; a period of about 100 hours. Once his findings are published, Judd finds himself plucked out of academia and dropped into a position at the United States Department of State.
| Ryker quickly discovers that even the bloodiest coup in a third-world nation is tame compared to the back-stabbing and interdepartmental infighting going on among the many government agencies. A year after his move, while on a beach vacation, Ryker gets a call: there has been an overnight change of government in the West African nation of Mali. The hundred-hour clock has started… Ryker knows the terrain and the principals in Mali, because he spent many months there as a grad student. He even met his wife out in the wild fringes of the Sahara. Mali is also the country where he found himself in the hospital eight months back, caught with the Ambassador by an IED as he toured the countries of the Dark Continent. Once a few task-force meetings convince him that the best test of his concept is for to be more hands-on, Ryker makes his way to the scene. |
