Washington today is a quiet city, traffic is sparse, the bustling crowds are gone. As Sunday sort of atmosphere has muted the streets on Capitol Hill. Government offices are shuttered and still. No Senators are to be seen, for the senate office is practically empty. Washington is on a holiday, and most legislators have gone home for a brief rest. 

But unfortunately, while the makers of history pause - history does not. Sometimes, as Senator Dean Edwards is learning right now, history and holidays don't mix... A soldier is up for court martial - a confessed traitor - but his mother wants to speak with the senator, and so he agrees to listen to what she has to say.