drake had the laptop resting on the rubber pontoon that made up the side of the Zodiac. His fingers were poised over the keyboard. All three men were watching downriver. They heard the Tomahawk a few seconds before they saw it.
It roared in low and fast, catching them by surprise even though they were expecting it. Drake hit a key. The nose cone of the missile exploded and the pod popped out. A parachute deployed out the end of the pod and then it was down in the river, a quarter mile from their location.
"Let's go!" McKenzie yelled.
*****
Most of the team was up the ropes. Parker had been working the computer while Thorpe talked to General Lowcraft. Thorpe took a deep breath. "McKenzie's got Tommy."
"You have to get him back."
"What about—" Thorpe pointed at the console.
Parker nodded. "We've got a big problem in here, too. McKenzie's used REACT to program Omega Missile with a target matrix. With live warheads."
"How many?"
"Two. The Pentagon's one of the targets. Tel Aviv's the other."
Thorpe was torn between running for the surface and going after Tommy and finding out what was going on. "Oh, Christ. Have they been launched?"
"Not yet, but all McKenzie has to do is hit a button and they launch."
"Is there anything we can do?"
"You've got to go after McKenzie and keep him from launching," Parker said. "You don't need me for that." Parker turned in her seat to face Thorpe. "Kilten recruited me to be here when he pulled this off. He wanted people in here who would launch when he gave them the right stimuli, but I don't think he meant things to turn out like this. And since he's planned this for a long time I think I was put here for another reason. I see that now."
"But—"
"I might be able to do something. Maybe I can override his programming. Regain control of REACT."
"You told me Kilten designed and programmed the thing. How can you—"
Parker stopped him with a look. "I have to try. Just as you have to get Tommy away from McKenzie and abort this missile. Maybe I can beat his program. Kilten had to override this REACT computer to transfer control to his computer. Maybe I can do the reverse. McKenzie's the one running things on the outside. He's your problem." She turned back to the computer. "Kilten—his legacy— is in here. And this is where I have to beat him."
"All right," Thorpe said. "You know the Pentagon's got some heavy firepower coming this way."
"I'll radio them and see if I can get them to call it off," Parker said.
Thorpe turned and ran for the shattered elevator. He looked over his shoulder once as he grabbed the rope. Parker's head was down and her fingers were flying over the keyboard. She glanced over at him. Thorpe snapped her a salute, then began climbing.
*****
McKenzie, Johnson, and Drake pulled the pod out of the water into the second Zodiac. They tied it off to the lead Zodiac with a length of nylon rope, then lashed it down inside the second with more cord. They resumed their way downriver.
*****
Amid the dead in the Launch Control Center, Parker worked feverishly. She looked over at Kilten's body and swore as she reached another electronic dead end.
"Come on, come on, Kilten. You put an override into this. An override and a hidden program so you could take the other computer out. So what's the password?"
She pursed her lips in thought, then typed:
Omega Missile
The computer immediately replied in the negative: improper password She typed in:
Omega
improper password
Parker looked up at the clock. Time was flashing by as the digits dropped second by second. She knew that McKenzie would launch the matrix soon and there was no way of knowing where the missiles would come from or what their flight time would be—Omega Missile would decide that.
She typed in:
Kilten
Computer screen:
improper password
"Damn!" Parker exclaimed.
Dublowski and his team were deployed outside the LCC fence when Thorpe reached the surface. He ran out and joined them. They could hear a helicopter inbound.
"Where's the major?" Dublowski asked.
"She's staying. She thinks she can get the computer working."
Dublowski looked at the building, then back at Thorpe. "That takes guts."
Thorpe simply nodded. "McKenzie has Tommy."
"Fuck," was Dublowski's commentary on that. "Do you know where he is?"
"I have an idea."
"We're with you," Dublowski said.
"There's a warhead—" Thorpe began.
"We're with you." Dublowski's tone indicated no further discussion would be tolerated.
"McKenzie's programmed the computer to launch two warheads," Thorpe added. "One at Tel Aviv and one at Washington."
"Great," Dublowski muttered, watching the horizon for the helicopter they could now hear.
The helicopter came in low over the treetops. It was a Blackhawk with red crosses painted on the side. It swooped in to a fast landing. Thorpe and the team ran forward and jumped into the cargo bay. Thorpe noticed CWO Maysun lying inside on a stretcher along with a body wrapped in a poncho next to him.
"I'm sorry about your son, Captain," Maysun said. He was barely conscious.
"You did your best," Thorpe replied. He leaned between the pilots' seats and grabbed their flight map. He scanned, running his finger along the river, then he tapped the pilot on his shoulder, pointing at a spot on the map. "Get us to the river here, then fly downstream.
"I'm supposed to—" the pilot began, but stopped when Thorpe drew his pistol.
"Take us to the river."
*****
The two Zodiacs were moving slower now with the weight of the pod in the second one. McKenzie turned to Drake. "Fire the target matrix."
Drake's fingers went to work on the keyboard and then he transmitted the message to Omega Missile.
"They're fired," he announced.
*****
Inside the LCC Parker watched red warning lights come to life on one of the panels indicating that the matrix had been initiated. She worked harder, typing in every code word she could think of.
While she was doing that, she pulled the mike for the radio close to her lips.
"General Lowcraft, this is Major Parker in the LCC. I know you probably have an attack coming on to this location. Please abort it. It would serve no purpose. The missiles aren't being launched or controlled from here."
Lowcraft's voice came back. "Major, you were supposed to get on that chopper and get the hell out of there."
"I can do more good in here," Parker replied. "If I can get control of REACT back, then I can stop all of this. I need time."
*****
In the War Room, Lowcraft turned to Colonel Hurst. "Order the attack off."
As Hurst reached for the radio, Hill's voice cut through the room. "Hold on there! We continue as planned. Those are the orders of the President of the United States!"
*****
The USS Nebraska was the closest nuclear-missile carrying submarine to Israel when Omega Missile received the target matrix. The sub received the EAM to launch one missile and the crew ran through the proper procedures for launch.
When the final go came, a D-5 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile roared out of its launch tube to the rear of the conning tower, burst through the surface of the water, and angled up into the sky.
Israel was just over the horizon.
*****
In the Atlantic Ocean, the USS Wyoming had been chosen by Omega Missile for the Washington launch as it was returning from a tour of duty in the Atlantic and was only four hours steaming out from Norfolk Naval Base. It launched a single Trident II toward the nation's capital, the crew not even aware of the missile's target. They simply did what the electronic codes they received ordered them to do, the target programming done by Omega Missile.