Fifty-five seconds.
“Arjun, we’re running out of time,” Grace said. “Think.”
“You mean like China’s no-first-use nuclear policy?” Arjun asked.
Grace nodded urgently. “Instead of launch on warning, can we change the code to launch on attack?”
Arjun squinted at the screen, a bead of sweat running down his face. His fingers floated over the keys, moving as if he were designing code in his head, but he wasn’t typing yet. Then his fingers touched the keyboard and began moving quickly, compelling lines of code to appear on the screen. Grace followed along but couldn’t understand his logic.
Grace peeked at the clock again.
Twenty seconds.
Arjun pressed the enter key and exited the back door to the ARC system. He exhaled sharply and leaned back in his chair, his face blotchy with sweat. “I did what I could,” he said. “I changed the first rule as you suggested. But I don’t know if it will work.”
Arjun and Grace turned to watch the clock. Grace held her breath and prepared her mind for the worst.
Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three.
The clock stopped at three. Grace’s eyes opened wide.
Did it work?
All eyes in the war room locked onto the hologram dashboard. They waited in tense silence for a message from the ARC system. And then it came.
ARC has rescinded the order to launch nuclear weapons
The war room erupted in loud cheers, whoops, and shouts of relief. On the video screen, Grace saw President Tolley stand up and clap. For a moment, a rush of happiness filled her. But then she remembered. Grace glanced up at the hologram dashboard once more. The clock had stopped, but the missile indicators were still red.
Wait.
Grace cringed.
Are we about to get nuked by China and Russia?
52
Accidental Nuclear War
SUSAN
1707
Situation Room
The White House
Susan exhaled sharply, her heart still pounding from the intensity of the last few minutes. But the celebration over shutting down ARC’s nuclear launch ended quickly, and the silence in the Situation Room was deafening. Susan watched as the horrible realization spread across the faces of her senior advisors.
This isn’t over yet.
Although they successfully prevented the United States from starting a nuclear war, an attack still might be underway by China or Russia. And they had no way of knowing for sure without access to the early warning satellite network—at least until ARC’s radars picked up incoming missiles, or the ground underneath them shuddered from a detonation.
Susan’s eyes darted to the red missile indicators on the ARC dashboard, and she tried to decipher the potential threat. Three sets of indicators over the South China Sea, Siberia, and the Northwest Passage were still red. She was pretty certain the missiles over the South China Sea did not represent a threat. They were likely test launches by China and had presumably landed in the ocean more than an hour before. But it made no sense that ARC had switched them from white to red after being unable to resolve their final status. This unnerved her.
Another issue to investigate when this is all over.
NORAD had provided some minimal information about the missile indicators over Siberia. The details were scanty, but given their trajectory, it seemed they were most likely unannounced launches of space rockets from Russia. That left the unexplained missile indicators over the Northwest Passage where the submarines lurked deep underneath the surface of the ocean.
But only two missiles?
Recalling the earlier discussion about a decapitation strike, she’d counted up twenty-four missiles between the two submarines. Susan pressed her lips together and inhaled through her nose. In the unlikely event that China launched a first strike from its submarines, it would not be a limited one.
It wouldn’t make any sense.
She cleared her throat and looked at her military commanders on the video screen. “Have we picked up any incoming missiles on our radars?”
“No, ma’am,” the NORAD commander said. “And given the location of the launch in the Northwest Passage, we should have detected them within a few minutes or less, that is if they were heading for actual targets in the United States.”
Susan furrowed her brow. “Commander, do you think these were test launches by the Chinese?”
“Our radars appear to be in working order, ma’am,” the NORAD commander said. “I think we can safely assume these were test launches that are part of China’s war game.”
“What about the indicators over Siberia?” Susan asked, her eyes trained on the video screen again.
“Ma’am, without access to our satellite network, we don’t have any further information about those launches at this time,” the NORAD commander said.
“Might I suggest we reach out to our European colleagues,” David said. “They might have been able to pick up the launches from their satellites and have more information.”
“Get them on the phone,” Susan said.
David reached for the conference phone in the middle of the table and began dialing the number. But before he could complete the call, a loud beeping began emanating from the ARC system, sending gasps around the room. The hologram dashboard at the center of the table flickered a few times, but all of the indicators remained the same.
“What’s happening?” Susan asked, her pulse surging. On the video screen, her military commanders appeared to be scrambling to understand the latest development.
Then an airy female voice sounded from the computer.
All missile threats are nullified
there are zero inbound missiles heading for targets in the United States
On the ARC dashboard, all the missile indicators disappeared suddenly from the hologram, and the system’s threat status decreased to a lower level.
“Is it over?” Susan asked, staring at the blank faces around the room.
No one answered, but stared in stunned silence at the ARC dashboard.
“Why did ARC change the status of the missiles?” Susan asked.
“Ma’am, our satellite network appears to be back online again,” the STRATCOM commander said, his voice shaky. “That could by why.”
Susan’s mouth fell open. “Is it fully functioning?”
“It seems so,” he said. “We have to run some diagnostics to be certain, but ARC now appears to be receiving real-time data from our satellite sensors.”
“Do we have a final status on all of the missiles ARC detected?” Susan asked, feeling some discomfort about their sudden good fortune.
“Ma’am, I just ran a full data query from our satellite network,” the NORAD commander said. “There are no missiles over the South China Sea or the Northwest Passage. The launches from Siberia were three Russian spaceships, as we thought. Given the course of their trajectory and speed, they appear to be headed for the moon.”
“The moon?” Susan asked. “How did we not see this coming?” She looked over at Grayson, who fumbled with a stack of papers. Her stomach gave a sudden loud growl, reminding her of the time and her basic needs.
“Ma’am, I’ll get a team together right away to gather all existing intelligence on Russia’s plans for their space mission on the moon,” Grayson said.
“Thank you, Bill, that sounds good,” Susan said curtly, folding her hands together. Then she turned toward the video broadcasting from the National Military Command Center. “General Hawkins?”
“Yes, ma’am?” he said.
“I want you to shut the ARC system down immediately,” Susan said. “I think we’ve had one too many close calls with the system today, and I’d prefer to get some sleep tonight.” Several of her advisors and military commanders tensed their bodies at the order. But this time, no one dared speak out against her. “Can you do that from the Pentagon?”
“Yes, ma’am,” General Hawkins said. “We’
ll get on that right away.”
“Great.” Then Susan shifted her eyes to the video screen with her military commanders. “I want NORAD to decouple our early warning satellite systems from ARC. How long will that take?”
There was a long pause while a junior officer whispered into the NORAD commander’s ear. “Uh, ma’am… we think it can be done within an hour,” he said.
“Good.” Susan now looked at the STRATCOM commander. “How long will it take for you to revert back to our old command and control systems?”
“Ma’am, we’ve kept our old systems in place for the sake of redundancy,” he said. “We can have them up and running as soon as ARC goes offline.”
“Excellent.” Susan surveyed the room, looking each of her advisors in the face. “It’s been quite a tense day, and we should all head home to spend time with our loved ones. Tomorrow, we’ll get back to work. As our first action, we will launch full investigations into the ARC system and Centoreum Tech.” She took a breath and continued. “I’d like to thank each and every one of you for allowing cooler heads to prevail. This has been to the great benefit of our government, the American people, and the entire world. Together, we prevented an accidental nuclear war from occurring. Although few people will ever know of your bravery and public service, they will be forever indebted to you. Goodnight everyone. Now go hug your families.”
The meeting began to break up, and Susan nodded to Elise, who immediately understood her signal. Then she rose slowly from her chair, and a sudden sense of urgency filled her chest. But her body felt unusually heavy, and she could barely move. Her most recent surge of adrenaline had worn off, and the previous tingles underneath her skin had turned to aches of fatigue.
I need to see Lucy and Blake.
“Madam President, do you have a quick moment?”
Susan froze in her place, closing her eyes.
Now what does he want?
She’d wanted to avoid speaking to Grayson until she was ready for a confrontation. She wanted to ask him about the drive Harrison had given to him and his apparent vendetta against Morgan.
Did he lie to me? Betray me?
Or was there even more to it than that? Before turning around, she sighed heavily, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.
When she looked at him, Grayson’s face twisted up with tension. He leaned in closer to her, apparently not wanting anyone to overhear him. His eyes were bloodshot. But a strong whiff from his woodsy cologne drowned out any scents of alcohol she’d picked up earlier.
“Ma’am, I just received an email from FBI Director Laski,” he said. “There’s an urgent development. We need to alert Secret Service about Morgan Shaw and have them take her into custody right away.” His gray eyes seemed to have recovered a bit of their usual brightness.
He desperately wants her out of the way.
“What does the FBI have on her?” Susan asked, her ears pricking up. She felt around for the USB drive in her pants pocket.
“Jack Shaw has fled the country on his private jet, and the FBI fears that Morgan may have escaped with him.”
“Really?” Susan asked, feigning as much surprise as possible and avoiding direct eye contact.
He doesn’t know where she is.
Grayson crossed his arms. “They’ve found DNA evidence that places Morgan Shaw at the golf course on the day that President Monroe died. They consider her the primary suspect for his assassination. Ma’am, she’s the one who gave him the bottled wat—”
“Madam President, I beg your apology for the rude interruption,” David said, eyeing Grayson with extreme distaste. “But I overheard you talking about Morgan and the president’s death, and I want to set the record straight.”
Susan motioned for David to continue over Grayson’s visible objections, fingering the drive in her pocket.
“Morgan could not have possibly been at the golf course that day,” David said. “I know this because she was in the office working all day, and we met several times to discuss various issues. If you don’t want to take my word for it, you can check her badge swipes if you need to. Plus, I’m sure there’s video footage of her comings and goings.”
Grayson’s eyes bulged in response to David’s intervention. He opened his mouth to speak, but Susan held out her hand.
Giving Grayson direct eye contact, Susan said, “Morgan was taken into custody by Secret Service earlier this afternoon.” She watched Grayson’s face carefully and detected a slight relaxation in his jaw muscles at the news of Morgan’s arrest.
“But ma’am…” David said, a look of panic on his face.
Susan held out her hand to stop him, turned to Grayson, and showed him the encryption key drive. “Whilst in custody, Morgan gave me this. Do you recognize it?”
Grayson flinched slightly. “Not at all,” he said firmly. But the look on his face signaled dread.
Strike one.
“Well, that’s interesting,” Susan said. “Because Morgan said you possess an identical drive. Are you sure you don’t know what it is?”
“No. How did she… but you were in the…” he stammered.
Strike two.
Susan nodded quickly as her chief of staff stepped back into the Situation Room. Their eyes met briefly, and Susan received the confirmation she was looking for. Turning to Grayson, she said, “Elise ducked out to talk to Morgan about an hour ago… in the middle of our nuclear crisis. Apparently, Morgan attempted to break into the White House, desperate to deliver some important information to me about the ARC system.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath. “Bill, you’re the one who convinced me to strip Morgan of her credentials and deny her access to the White House. Without her insights, we might not be standing here right now… the whole world might have gone up in a cloud of nuclear dust. You’ve had it in for her since Harrison died… why?”
“Ma’am, the FBI director…”
“Don’t FBI director me, Bill,” Susan said. “I know what you did. You had Laski look into Morgan because you wanted her out of the White House. Apparently at any cost. And I want to know why. Tell me what is on this drive that you don’t want me to know about.”
“I don’t know,” he said.
Strike three.
Susan gave Elise a subtle nod.
Grayson took a few steps backward as two dark figures entered the room. He stared at Susan in stunned silence as two Secret Service agents approached him, handcuffs at the ready.
53
Bourbon
GRACE
1800
E Ring, The Pentagon
Arlington, Virginia
Grace took a small sip from her tumbler, the lukewarm liquor tingling the back of her throat as she swallowed. Standing in a sitting room outside the chairman’s office, she huddled in a tight circle with Admiral Waller, General Hawkins, Colonel Martinez, Arjun and several others. Captain Dietz was notably absent.
Everyone except Arjun held a glass with two fingers of the finest bourbon from the chairman’s hometown in Kentucky. Admiral Waller said he kept the bottle in his office for special occasions.
“I’d like to make a toast to our two young heroes,” Admiral Waller said. “Because of their quick thinking and courage under heavy fire, they saved us all from our worst nightmare.” He lifted his glass and nodded at Grace and then at Arjun. “Today, I tip my hat to Major Lim and Mr. Sharma.”
Grace’s face flushed. Arjun dropped his chin to his chest and attempted to smile.
“Hear, hear,” General Hawkins said, a broad grin on his usually stern face. It was the first time she’d ever seen him smile. For an old guy, she’d admit he was quite handsome.
Arjun lifted his glass of water as the rest of them lifted their bourbons, enjoying a long sip of whiskey in silence. Then the chairman pulled General Hawkins aside for what appeared to be a private conversation.
Someone nudged her in the arm from behind, and Grace turned to see Colonel Martinez smiling at her.
“I can�
�t seem to get a hold of Morgan,” Martinez said.
“Me neither.”
“She must still be at the White House,” Martinez said. “Otherwise the President—”
“—would never have called on me in the middle of a national security crisis?” Grace said, finishing his sentence. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Morgan thrusting her into the spotlight.
“Hey, you did good,” Martinez said, appearing to read her doubt. “Morgan obviously knew you could do it or she would have never told the president to ask for you.”
The heat in Grace’s cheeks intensified. “But it was Morgan’s theory about the ARC system that saved the day.”
“No, that was all you,” Martinez said quickly. “Morgan planted the idea, but you thought at the right time and came up with a workable solution. And of course, Arjun’s swift translation of your idea into code was critical.” He nodded at Arjun, who was standing awkwardly off to the side.
Arjun shuffled over to them, a shy look on his face.
“Any word on your mother?” Grace asked, trying not to sound cold. Even if Arjun had helped her save the world, she’d not forgotten everything he’d done to sabotage her job for the past several months.
Arjun nodded. “I got a text from my dad. The doctors think my mom’s symptoms are caused by a bacterial infection from her surgery last week. She’s still in the hospital receiving fluids and antibiotics, but her cancer is most likely in remission. We don’t know for sure. They’re still running some tests.”
Grace half-smiled at him. “That sounds like good news, all things considered.” She paused, taking another sip of her whiskey.
Arjun turned to her and grabbed her arm, an urgent look in his moist eyes. “Grace, I swear it wasn’t me who reverted ARC back to its previous version,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. “I meant what I said. I want to help you warn Pentagon leadership about the problems with ARC. I promise I didn’t go back on my word.”
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