"how long until the first one touches down?" McKenzie asked.
"The Israeli one is from a sub in the Med. Tel Aviv will be a parking lot in twenty minutes."
"Good," McKenzie growled. He'd been paid a lot of money by several Arab leaders to launch that missile, money that had funded this entire operation and paid for the Canadians up front, but McKenzie would have launched that missile at the Israeli capital for free.
"When do our friends in the Pentagon get fried?'' he asked.
"Twenty-four minutes."
*****
Bedlam broke out in the War Room as the launches were noted.
"Sir, we've got two launches. Two missiles up!"
"Put it on the screen," General Lowcraft ordered.
In the front of the War Room, two red lines in addition to the red dot showing the missile headed for the Omega Missile LCC appeared. The lines began moving toward their targets.
"Give me the targets," Lowcraft demanded, although it was apparent where they were headed.
"Tel Aviv." The officer paused, as if that wasn't bad enough.
"And?"
"And right here. First missile will touch down on Tel Aviv in nineteen minutes! We get hit in twenty- three!"
"Goddamnit!" Hill exclaimed. "I thought our people were in the LCC!"
"Major Parker and Captain Thorpe said—" Lowcraft began, but Hill silenced him.
"They're in on it," Hill exclaimed. "They're all in on it. You get that strike down on their heads right away. We are going to end this!"
*****
The Nebraska launch was picked up by a U.S. Air Force J-STARR surveillance aircraft flying routine patrol over the Red Sea. The J-STARR was hooked in to the multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai. As part of that agreement it was also linked to the Israeli Self-Defense Force headquarters.
Thus the first alert that the Israelis received that there was a U.S. nuclear missile inbound came from a U.S. plane.
*****
Thorpe was leaning out the side of the Blackhawk, watching the river surface flashing by less than fifteen feet below. The pilots flew under a set of high-tension wires, narrowly missing them. He figured that McKenzie had a large lead on them, but the chopper was faster than any boat he might have.
*****
The clock in the front of the room was down to sixteen minutes, but the missile heading her way wasn't the highest priority in Parker's mind. She rapidly typed a question for the computer:
How long until first missile strike?
Computer:
Eighteen minutes; Target Tel Aviv
Parker ran her fingers through her hair and then pounded her fists on the console.
"Damn you, Kilten! You didn't want it to turn out like this. You must have had a way into the computer."
Her mind went back to the conference room in Cheyenne Mountain and the mission into Israel that had preceded it.
Parker typed into the computer:
Sanchez
The computer screen dissolved, then two new words appeared:
password accepted
Inside the War Room the countdown was being called out as all eyes followed the red lines on the screen. "Sixteen minutes to touchdown Tel Aviv!"
One red line was over the eastern Mediterranean, approaching the shore of Israel. The other was in the Atlantic, heading toward Washington.
"How long do we have here?" Hill asked.
"Twenty minutes."
"And the LCC?"
"Four minutes until the B-2 strike."
*****
The Israelis reacted promptly. The president happened to be in a meeting with his Self-Defense Force commander when an aide came sprinting in with the word of the inbound Trident missile.
The president sat stunned for a second, then turned to the SDF commander, General Ariel. "Implement the Samson option."
"Why would the Americans—" General Ariel began, but the president waved a hand to silence him.
"It does not matter why. Do as I order. We do not have time to discuss this. We must act."
Ariel pulled his secure cellular phone out.
*****
Parker was reading the computer language, trying to sort through the hidden program. "OK, OK. I see what you did."
She began typing rapidly, trying to wrest control back from Kilten's laptop.
*****
Hill was recovering from the shock of the missile launches. He stared at the screen and then it really came home to him. Tel Aviv.
"Oh my God," he exclaimed as he desperately dialed numbers into the red phone.
"What's wrong?" Lowcraft asked. "The Samson Option," Hill muttered as he pressed the phone to his ear. "The what?" Lowcraft asked.