US President Jordan Lyman is a polarizing figure, with more opposing his actions than supporting them. The reason?: he signed a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. His detractors believe the Soviets will not live up to their end of the treaty and thus leave the US unprotected. They don't believe true peace can be an outcome of the Cold War. One of those detractors is Air Force General James Mattoon Scott, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Scott is slowly ingratiating himself as a political figure - the face of US security - to raise the fervor of the peace naysayers. Marine Colonel Martin Casey - Jiggs to his friends - Director of the Joint Chiefs who works directly under Scott and who is loyal to him and his anti-treaty views, comes into a quick succession of seemingly innocent and not so innocent information - build up of a new military base in Texas dealing with Ecomcon which he previously knew nothing of, Scott secretly organizing $10 bets from other US military leaders on a horse race at the Preakness, anti-treaty Senator Frederick Prentice stating to him in private that they must all stay alert on Sunday, and Scott lying about his previous night's activities - which in combination makes him believe that Scott is leading a military coup against the president. Ecomcon seems to be shorthand for "Emergency Communication Control" and the taking of those $10 bets signifies support for the coup to happen in seven days on that upcoming Sunday during a covert military training exercise in the form of an all out alert about which Prentice should have known nothing. Jiggs brings his concerns to the President, who in turn cautiously takes the information with seriousness. With Jiggs, his chief aide Paul Girard, and his dearest friend, senior Senator Raymond Clark (who is better known as a dipsomaniac than an effective politician) among others, Lyman tries to amass evidence of the conspiracy, that evidence which includes dirt on Scott's private life from his former mistress, Ellie Holbrook, to be used only if all other avenues fail. They do learn that the conspiracy is true, but that it is so widespread - its scope including at least one in the media, political commentator Harold McPherson - that obtaining evidence is difficult. Without it, Lyman, as an unpopular president, will lose total effectiveness as a leader if he requests Scott's resignation. The race to Sunday begins as both sides try to protect their ideal of what's best for the country.—Huggo