Sachs said, “I want you to sweep for explosives right now.”
39
Four minutes later they all stood in the cargo hold, looking at an open box of toner cartridges wired together with enough explosive to bring down Air Force One in seconds. The red blinking light on the small BlackBerry phone showed it was armed.
Koz swore. “God in heaven.”
Sachs and Li stood behind Koz as he studied it. The red light bathed his face.
“Look like Marshall tore a page from the Yemen terrorist playbook,” Koz said. “Pack high explosives into printer cartridges to avoid detection by scanners. Poetic, too, since toners are used for all our EAM printouts.”
Sachs said, “Still think I made up the attack on my chopper?”
Koz shook his head and studied the bomb. “This is bad,” he said. “The phone still has its battery. That means it’s not a timer. It’s a remote detonator. Probably synced to the VLF receiver. That’s what our submarines use to receive launch orders.”
Sachs said, “Meaning?”
Koz said, “Meaning Marshall can basically blow us up from any point on the planet as soon as we try anything. Hell, he might have been listening to all our internal communications all along too.”
Sachs paused. “Just how easy is it for Marshall to launch our missiles?”
“Once the eight-digit enabling code is dialed into the launch system, the procedure is simple. It’s not like a sub where you need several other officers involved in the launch. The Looking Glass plane is essentially a remote- control unit.”
Sachs said, “But don’t you still need two officers turning their keys at once to launch?”
“Trust me,” Koz said grimly. “Marshall’s already taken care of that.”
“Then we have to somehow override the Looking Glass controls so he can’t launch,” she said.
“Same problem,” Koz said. “Assuming we can pull it off, as soon as he figures it out he’ll vaporize us.”
Sachs looked him straight in the eye. “I have an idea.”
40
Sachs entered the cockpit, a finger to her lips and whiteboard in front of her. The two pilots and navigator looked up in surprise, then gaped as they read the words she had written:
Turn off your headsets.
Don’t say a word.
Enemy listening.
The men exchanged glances, then slowly removed their headsets and turned them off.
Sachs said, “There’s a bomb on board and we need to get off this plane. Preferably after we’ve landed safely on the ground.”
The navigator scrambled to check his charts. “We’re over the North Dakota badlands, ma’am. No airstrips or predesignated alternative bases in the vicinity, and Minot and Grand Forks are too far away.”
“Improvise,” Sachs said. “Find a stretch of highway if you have to. But make sure it’s near a truck stop or some place with food and facilities. If we land in one piece, we’ll need to set up a new command post.”
As she left the cockpit, already she could feel the plane making a sharp descent. She rejoined Koz in the battle staff compartment, where he was poring over an operations manual while battle staffers worked furiously at their consoles.
ed over Koz. “How are you doing?”
“It’s tricky, but I should be able to override the Looking Glass launch procedures without Marshall catching on.” Koz looked up at her. “I just don’t understand why he’d do this. I do but I don’t.”
Sachs said, “Decapitation. By blowing up D.C., Marshall ensures we go to war with China — while we can still win it on our terms.”
“Until you came along,” said Koz, as he started reprogramming the overhead launch console.
Sachs said, “Well, clearly he made contingency plans. You said all Marshall has to do is dial in the eight-digit enabling code.”
“Yep. Once you have the code, it’s simple.”
Sachs asked, “How simple?”
41
Marshall waited until they had descended to 18,000 feet before he removed the key he wore around his neck and inserted it into one of two locks in the red safe next to his desk console in the battle staff compartment. He then removed the second key he had taken from Quinn and opened the second lock.
As soon as he opened the safe, the alarm went off, a clattering sound like a woodpecker. But there was no intelligence officer to stop him now. Nobody.
The launch procedure was so simple, really.
Let Deborah Sachs keep American bombers and subs at bay, he thought. He was going to launch those missiles at China. At least he could be sure
Yes, American civilization would be renewed for another century.
Marshall waited a full minute before the clattering stopped. He then removed two more keys from inside the safe and tossed one to Banks.
“The keys to the kingdom, Major Tom.”
Marshall cracked open the code card with the eight-digit enabling code. He repeated it out loud:
“Tango, Seven, Bravo, Four…”
Banks keyed it into the overhead launch console. “Tango, Seven, Bravo, Four,” she repeated.
The corresponding beeps locked in the code.
Marshall read the final four digits. “…Alpha, One, Delta, Nine.”
“Alpha, One, Delta, Nine,” echoed Banks, and locked in the code.
Marshall then inserted his key into the overhead console. “On my count.”
Banks inserted the second key and nodded.
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One…”
“Turn.”
Simultaneously they turned their keys.
42
