Tallahassee

Tallahassee charges into Gulf maelstrom as rescue tug, cable primed to snag the drifting Kensington Indio ten miles offshore—yet 25-foot seas crash decks, 40-knot winds shred tow lines, forcing battered retreat to port. Lieutenant Emily Lowenbrau recounts the rout in Outer Oval Office hush, her voice slicing through Bartlet's multiplying crises, the vessel's unseen hull throbbing as symbol of thwarted command over chaos.