DEADLY DILEMMA by Dan Stratman (story read aloud .txt) 📗

personal phones, where allowed in the secure command post. A simple cell phone out in the parking lot had become the only way to contact the vast, trillion-dollar military apparatus.

Wilmer tried in vain to get his breathing under control while he considered the advice of his NCOIC. “No. That’s not protocol. There are clear-cut procedures in place for how to respond in a decapitation scenario. Start the—”

Holmes shocked the colonel by grabbing his arm. “Stanley, listen to me. You can’t make that decision yet. Something doesn’t feel right about this. We don’t know if there is a missile on its way or if there is some sort of glitch in the system. We have twenty-eight thousand of our own people stationed in South Korea. Anyone still alive after we nuke North Korea will die within a week from radiation poisoning.”

Wilmer yanked his arm away. “Get your hand off me. I have a sworn duty to follow orders and make the difficult decision when the time comes. The American people have put their trust in me. I don’t intend to let them down.” He turned to the hushed room and cleared his throat. “Start the nuclear retaliation checklist. Launch ten missiles. Target is North Korea.”

Chapter Six

Like a good airman, Master Sergeant Holmes followed the terrifying order. He took a deep breath then released it. “All stations, listen up. On the orders of Colonel Wilmer, initiate the nuclear retaliation checklist. This is not a drill. I say again, initiate the nuclear retaliation checklist.”

Airmen manning each desk pulled binders with red-striped borders from shelves above their workstation. The spines bore the chilling words, TOP SECRET – NUCLEAR RETALIATION CHECKLIST.

Tamper-proof tape sealing the binders was ripped off. Quivering fingers traced down through the checklists as the airmen executed each step. This helped ensure they didn’t miss anything on their march down the path to Armageddon. With no ability to get confirmation from higher authority, the staff operated in the blind and hoped the procedures in the binders—written back when SAC oversaw nuclear missiles—still worked.

Step by step, they methodically prepared to unleash a nuclear apocalypse on twenty-five million unsuspecting people living on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula.

General McNeil burst into the building. He marched down the hall toward the command post entrance. His driver and the lieutenant who’d fetched him from the gym trailed closely behind.

The guard saw a small man dressed in a track suit coming his way. He lowered his rifle and shouted, “Halt! This is a restricted area. Stop or you will be fired upon.”

The driver and the lieutenant dove for the floor and covered their heads.

McNeil charged ahead.

The guard racked his gun and aimed it at the man’s chest. “I’m warning you. Stop!”

Now only ten feet away, McNeil yelled, “You moron, unless you want to spend the rest of your tour locked up in Leavenworth, I order you to stand down!”

The confused airman leaned forward and squinted to get a better look at the onrushing civilian. He finally recognized his boss. “General…McNeil?”

McNeil slapped the barrel of the gun aside and stormed into the command post. Personnel were frantically preparing for launch.

“Colonel Wilmer, I’m assuming command. Status update. Now!”

Wilmer rushed over to the entrance. “Sir, we got an Emergency Action Message saying the North Koreans have launched a missile at Los Angeles. Before I could verify it, we lost all connections to the National Command Authority. I’ve implemented retaliation protocol targeting North Korea. Ten missiles are ready.”

“Excellent job, Colonel.” A disturbing look spread across McNeil’s face. “Continue with the launch checklist.”

The airmen turned back around and continued their checklists. When completed, they closed their binders.

Less than a minute later, Wilmer announced, “Missiles ready for launch, sir.”

Suddenly, the overhead lighting came back on. The screens at the front of the room came alive. The information presented on them looked like any other day.

Telephones at workstations began ringing off the hook.

“What’s happening?” McNeil asked.

“The emergency generator must have come online, sir,” Wilmer volunteered.

“Launch the missiles,” McNeil ordered.

“Stop! Stop the launch!” Sergeant Holmes rushed up waving an SD card.

Every head in the room turned toward him.

“It’s a training exercise! This isn’t a blank card you gave me. It has a decapitation scenario training exercise on it. There is no attack!”

Colonel Wilmer grabbed the SD card. His mouth dropped open when he read the warning label printed on the card.

McNeil exploded. “Dammit!”

Everyone nearby looked away, hoping that avoiding eye contact would prevent them from being the target of his rage.

“How the hell could you mistake a training scenario card for a blank card, Wilmer!” McNeil pushed him aside and rushed forward. “Stand down! Terminate launch checklists!”

Sergeant Holmes repeated the same command at each workstation, verifying that the missiles had indeed been put back to standby status.

The worst part of the fiasco was that the command post had been transmitting its preparation to launch a salvo of nukes to the entire military command structure. The supposed blackout in the command post had been part of the training exercise. Until the SD card had been yanked out of the mainframe, every other branch of the military believed World War III was starting.

McNeil got right in Wilmer’s face. “I want to know how the hell this happened!”

The dressing down was interrupted by an enlisted man holding up a phone at a nearby desk. “General, the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is calling. They’re demanding to know what is going on out here.”

Soon other staff held up their phones.

“Cheyenne Mountain is calling.”

“Raven Rock is on the line, sir.”

“Headquarters is on the encrypted hotline.”

McNeil’s eyes filled with fire. He turned and poked Wilmer in the chest. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a loser like you destroy my career. I’m holding you personally responsible. You created this friggin’ mess, Colonel, you clean it up. Be in my office in thirty minutes with a full report.” McNeil turned to leave but then suddenly stopped. He spun back around and stood there, arms crossed.

Wilmer