Minuteman III Launch Control Facility
Outside Karlsruhe, North Dakota
“Sir, should I turn my key?”
Captain Daugherty stared at the speaker, his hand still gripping his key, procedure dictating he give a three count immediately. Though once he did, there was no turning back. The orders were legitimate, of that, there was no doubt. But the abort codes just received from someone who sounded an awful lot like President Starling had also checked out.
He didn’t know what to do.
Yet he did. His training told him exactly what to do.
Launch.
But his procedures were written during an era when nuclear attack was imminent. He was certain that wasn’t the case here. Launching without being certain was insanity. And this new voice, this Special Agent Kane, was forcing him to question everything up to this point. Yet he had to follow his training, leaving only one clear path.
“Sir, we’ve gone beyond the failsafe window. We must turn our keys.”
Daugherty looked at Fraser. “But the abort codes. They’re valid.”
“Yes, sir, but protocol says we launch. We’ve gone beyond the failsafe window. We must turn our keys.”
Daugherty stared at his key then flinched when the man claiming to be the President spoke again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, General Parsons informs me that you’re already past your failsafe abort window. But he also informs me you can still do the right thing. Please, think about this. It’s in your hands now.”
Daugherty looked at his partner. “What do we do?”
“We turn our keys.”
Daugherty shook his head. “No, it can’t be right. We know about the hacks, right?”
Fraser shook his head. “There’s no way they could hack our system. No damned way.” Fraser jabbed a finger at the speaker. “We have no clue who that is. It could be some damned computer making someone sound like the President.”
Daugherty nodded slowly. Fraser was right. It could be anyone. Then a thought dawned on him. “Wait! If the system can’t be hacked, then how could someone pretend to be the President?”
Fraser’s eyes narrowed. “Huh?”
“Think about it! The only way to communicate with us is through the system. So if the system can’t be hacked, then the launch orders are legit and this call from the President is as well.”
Fraser paused, his head slowly bobbing. “I-I don’t know.” He removed his hand from his key and turned in his chair to face Daugherty. “I-I think you’re right.” He sucked in a deep breath then squared his shoulders. “You must be right.” He put his hand back on his key. “Turn to Safe?”
Daugherty nodded, relief sweeping over him. “On my mark, rotate launch key to Safe. Three… two… one… mark.” He turned his key and sighed as the system status immediately changed, his missiles indicating they were standing down, millions of lives just saved.
Fraser sounded jubilant. “Roger, key to Safe!”
Daugherty had to talk to the others, to tell them why they had aborted so they too could hopefully make the right decision. He activated his comms. “Mr. President, this is Captain Tony Daugherty, 740th Missile Squadron in North Dakota, can you hear me?”
“Hello, Captain Daugherty, thank you for responding.”
“Sir, we are standing down. Umm, can you connect me to the other crews?”
There was a pause. “You’re on, Captain.”
“Thank you, Mr. President. This is a message for the crews out there who haven’t made up their minds yet. Some of you probably know me and my partner here from training or serving together. I’m Captain Tony Daugherty, and I’m here with Lieutenant Jon Fraser. I want you to know we are standing down, and if you have doubts, I want you to know our reason for doing so. If the system can’t be hacked, then both the initial launch orders and the President’s message must be legit. And we know they both can’t be. Therefore we must assume that the system was hacked, and if it was, there is no way the hackers would be asking us to stand down. The launch orders must be false.”
Finished, he looked at his partner, the seconds feeling like hours, when suddenly his headset filled with dozens of overlapping voices, few words understandable, but the excitement of the strays he could catch had him slumping in his chair with relief. His fellow soldiers were standing down.
And hundreds of millions had just been saved.