Type 88

Part 5 - The Cliff, Chapter 11

11

Five Days until the Deadline

Two identical buildings sat on opposite ends of the earth, each holding a powerful piece of equipment.

Both buildings were heavily fortified. Identical men following identical commands patrolled the perimeter of each building, with little understanding of the situation. The men worried about what was going on in the buildings and thought they would rather be anyplace else—patrolling the other building, perhaps. The situation was much better over there.

Deep inside each building, important people gathered intelligence to make an intelligent decision.

Both groups understood the situation the same way, and each felt they had a better plan to deal with it than the other. Neither group discussed why they were there in the first place. Everyone was past that now.

Someone on each side got off the phone with an even more important person, who understood the situation less but was more qualified to make a decision, and presented grim information about what was necessary—war.

A different set of unqualified people prepped the equipment for war. Like the patrols, these people wished they were someplace else. They understood little about the situation. They were scared.

Melinda Shroud and General Sang were the only people on either side who weren't scared. Both would take action first. Both would ensure their own prosperity.

***

At identical moments, using identical computer terminals, an identical set of nuclear weapons launched in opposite directions across Earth.

For the first time in history, people all around the world were working in perfect harmony.

***

Other people monitored the important people, terrified about what they were doing. They launched their own weapons in response. They didn't have as clean a process as the important people, so they used dirtier weapons. Sometimes, you have to make do.