".......This is GNN, The Galaxy News Network, All news, All the time. I am Betty Sanchez. It is a few minutes after the top of the hour and these are today’s top stories. United States troops keep the peace in newly annexed Canada, executing Canadian terrorists who tried to blow up an Arms Depot in Toronto. Chinese forces continue their push into central Russia. Our Russian allies fought fiercely, but failed to stop the Chinese advance. President Thompson is back in Washington today after a failed mission to Great Britain. He was there to ask for support from our British allies against the Chinese. The British Prime Minister responded that they would like to help, but that they had problems of their own. Great Britain is in the second year of a devastating war that pits England and Germany against Spain and France, who are just the latest players in the fifth year of World War 3.

The President announced today that there would be yet another reduction in rations, which drew strong protests in front of the White House. The protesters were dispersed when Marines with Miniguns opened fire on the protesters after the protests became violent. 120 were killed and 300 were wounded. The Pentagon announced today that the Chinese forces have pushed our troops in the Yukon back yet again. The Chinese advance has not been stopped despite heavy bombing of Chinese formations. However, Chinese forces won’t be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Chinese Oil Tankers in the North Pacific bringing oil to China from Alaska were sunk by American F-18Ks.

In the 5th day of WestTek Congressional hearings, Senator Robert F. Kennedy III asked the President of WestTek about illegal funding diverted from other sources in the government. The WestTek. President declined to give an answer. The Pentagon mentioned their concerns about Chinese Biological weapons during a press conference today. Pentagon Spokeswomen Julie Clay said 'They have enough Biological weapons to make the Ebola Virus look tame.' Now, a word from the makers of Corvega, the greatest car on Earth . . . "

Sigh. Commander in Chief NORAD (CINCNORAD) General Daniel Thomas turned off the TV and took another swig of vodka. He then regretted it, but he couldn’t help it. It seemed like liquor was the only thing nowadays that helped control his stress level. After the Chinese forces invaded Alaska late last year, he began drinking just to get to sleep at night, but soon he was developing a drinking problem as Chinese T-110's began driving deeper into American soil and the 12-hour days began getting to him. Sigh.

Gen. Thomas looked up at the clock, put the vodka bottle back in his desk and began reading causality reports from the past week. He could go home in a few hours and he didn’t need any more alcohol in his system while he was driving home, even though he had already polished off a bottle of vodka since six o’clock the previous evening. However, the causality reports depressed him even more and made him want another swig of vodka. He put the reports back on his desk and walked out of his office and into the halls of NORAD.

Five minutes later, Gen. Thomas stepped off the elevator into the most important room in the western hemisphere. The command center was the nerve center of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) where data collected by radar, satellite and other sources were displayed and continuously updated every second. The defenses for the entire United States were coordinated from here and had more operational control centers then the Pentagon. NORAD was also the most secure place on the face of the earth. Buried deep within Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colorado, There was only one way in and in an emergency the mountain could be completely sealed off with a 5-inch thick steel door. The circuits were all hardened against an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP Pulse) and the mountain itself would protect NORAD against a nuclear blast.

The most obvious thing in the room was a large screen (A.K.A. The Big Board) showing a map of the planet Earth on one wall. On the map were pertinent pieces of information, such as every known missile base, known locations of friendly and enemy submarines, military bases, major cities, and known positions of friendly and enemy armies. Since World War 3 had begun in 2072, there were two other things that had been shown constantly. A red area symbolizing the areas under Chinese control and a blue area symbolizing the areas under control of America and it’s allies. Neutral territories were black. Right now the red area covered most of central and southern Asia. There was a large chunk of red in eastern and central Russia that had engulfed Alaska and was spreading into the Yukon. Japan was completely red as well. Unfortunately, the blue area seemed to shrink every week, while the red area grew during the same time. It almost looked like a video game screen, but much more serious.

Sigh. The general thought, Sometimes I wish somebody would just do it and get it all over with. General Thomas grabbed a cup of coffee and walked back to his office. He sat down at his desk and once again tried to work when he noticed that there was something in his fax machine. Damn, He thought, How long has that been sitting there? He reached over and picked it up, looking at the cover sheet. October 20th, 2077 . . . Three whole days? God, theses long nights and bottles of liquor must really be getting to me. The general lifted the cover sheet and began reading the letter.

"To CINCNORAD,

I, Captain Roger Maxon, Serial Number 072389, of the United States Army, stationed at Mariposa Army base, California, write this letter to convey information of the utmost importance to the Department of Defense. Due to the unethical nature of the work being done here and the total disregard for human right exhibited, troops loyal to my command have seized control of the base and executed the "technicians" working here. It is now my intention to...."

Gen. Thomas’s chain of thought was broken by a sound he hoped he would never hear. The sound of the klaxon alarm caused him to immediately drop the letter and jump to his feet. When he arrived back in command center a few minutes later, things had changed dramatically. The blaring klaxon alarms added to sense of confusion in the room as people rushed to get the situation under control. The most important change was the big board, where the missile sites, military bases, submarines, and major cities were now highlighted. However, two new features had been added. Bright white lines coming from most of the missile sites inside Chinese territory and Chinese submarines, each of which represented a nuclear missile in flight, and several small airplanes just outside American airspace, each of which represented a flight of inbound Chinese bombers.

God, I hope this is a drill, thought Gen. Thomas. "General, we have launch detection", said Colonel Richard Chung, Gen. Thomas’s immediate subordinate at NORAD. The general replied "Call the Pentagon and the National Reconnaissance Office(NRO) and have them confirm it." Colonel Chung immediately began calling while the general took a longer look at the big board. Three-fourths of the Chinese land-based missiles were in the air, as well as half of the sub-based missiles. The General quickly checked Chinese warhead estimates. My God, there are at least two thousand nuclear warheads in the air and very likely heading towards the United States and Russia. Assuming each warhead kills a million people, that’s two billion people dead and that’s not taking into account the missiles they haven’t fired yet.... "Sir," Colonel Chung’s voice snapped him back to reality, "The Pentagon and NRO confirm the missile launches." The general swallowed this and looked up at the clock. It read 3:17:56 a.m. That would make it about 5:18 a.m. in Washington D.C. General Thomas gave the order that he wished he would never have to give, "Seal the mountain and call Strategic Command in Omaha. Have them scramble the continental defenses." He then picked up the Hot Line that connected NORAD directly to the White House. "This is General Thomas at NORAD. We have an Emergency Situation here. Wake up the President."

The silence of the cool night air over Washington D.C. was shattered as the blue and white VIP variant CH-53 helicopter, bearing the seal of the United States of America, sped towards the White House. As it landed on the south lawn helicopter pad outside, the President, escorted by secret service agents, and the First Lady, carrying their four year old child in her arms, exited the White House south entrance and boarded the helicopter, which now bore the call sign Marine One. A minute later the Vice President and his wife boarded as well, followed quickly by the senior members of the White House staff that where there. Eleven minutes after landing, Marine One took off again and proceeded at full speed towards Andrews Air Force base, Maryland.

At 5:46 EST, Marine One landed at Andrews Air Force base. The President and First Lady quickly walked 50 feet and boarded the waiting E-4B. The rest of the helicopter passengers quickly boarded as well. The E4-B National Airborne Operations Center (NEACAP), a converted 747-200 that in an emergency would become an airborne command center capable of coordinating the defense for an entire nation, taxied to the end of the runway and took off. Once at cruising altitude, NEACAP set up a secure radio link with NORAD.

"General," Colonel Chung said, "NEACAP just took off with the President and the Vice President safely aboard. The President has just ordered a full counterstrike". "Finally." the general replied. Over the last half hour things had gotten much worse. India had launched it’s missiles at the U.S. and Pakistan. Pakistan replied with its own nuclear weapons. Iran and Iraq had fired at Israel, causing Israel to respond in kind. Russia had been hit in several places, but had managed to launch it’s remaining missiles at China and India. France and Spain had launched theirs at Germany and England, and Germany and England quickly responded. South America, Australia, and Africa had been untouched as yet, but not all of the missile courses were known. At this time, the board showed that most the missiles were still in flight, and the Chinese missiles headed for America had already started their descent. In roughly 20 minutes, The United States, as well as most of the world, would be reduced to glowing embers. China would take a little longer, but the end result would be the same. General Thomas turned to Colonel Chung and said, "Order the launch of all nuclear weapons and scramble all bombers."

"What a lovely night," Missile technician Gary Jackson said as he looked out at the flat, starlit horizon of South Dakota. Gary threw his cigarette away and looked back behind him. The moon was setting behind the low, grey building that formed the top of the missile silo. He hated the damn things, but the job of maintaining the missile inside did have it’s advantages. He worked the night shift and the job was so boring that nobody cared if he smoked on the job, and they cared even less if he went outside to 'relieve' himself and didn’t come back for half an hour. He walked back and descended into the silo. His fellow missile technician Bob Ritter was in his chair reading a book, like he always was, and listening to the little radio he had brought in a couple years ago. Jackson sometimes wondered if he was even listening to the soft music coming from the radio at all, but whenever he tried to change the station he heard a quick "Leave it" from Bob. Bob Himself was a bookworm, and read everything from technical manuals to science fiction to the classics, and he read so much that Gary sometimes wondered how many library cards he had melted from constant use. Right now he was reading some century-old novel named "On The Beach", which Gary didn’t understand. He would rather drink a cold beer and read Playboy or maybe just Guns and Ammo, but Bob was Bob.

Gary Jackson was musing over these thoughts when the klaxon alarm went off. His training immediately kicked in, as did Bob’s, who dropped his book and looked at his console. The teleprinter almost at once printed out a message and Gary grabbed it.

‘.....immediately ordered to launch all land-based missiles at their assigned targets inside the People’s Republic of China. This is not a drill.’
Jackson’s face went pale as he read he read the printout. "My God, it’s the real thing," Gary said and handed it over to Bob. "Those little yellow bastards!", Bob swore as he read it for himself. They then walked over to the wall safe in the corner of the room and opened it up.

Inside the safe were the missile keys that launch the missiles and the authentication codes to make sure any orders received are authentic. Bob withdrew the missile keys and the codes and handed one of the missile keys to Gary. He then began reading off the letters in the authentication code, using the phonetic alphabet where a certain word associates with each letter to avoid confusion. Bob Ritter began, "India Whiskey November Bravo Bravo Hotel Sierra Tango Echo Zulu." Then Gary began reading the authentication code, "India Whiskey November Bravo Bravo Hotel Sierra Tango Echo Zulu." They were completely identical. "It’s real," said Gary. They returned to their seats and began prepping the missiles for launch. The missile technicians both sighed as all the missile status lights lit up green. As Bob made a double check, Gary looked at the missile key around his neck. He was about to commit an inhuman act, one that would lead to the deaths of millions of people, something that, if he did it, he couldn’t live with himself, but if he failed to turn that key he would be betraying this country, his friends, and his family. "Gary!," Bob’s voice shook him back to the real world, "Gary, prepare to turn your key." Gary got up and removed the missile key from around his neck and inserted it into the key slots in the control panel. Ten feet away, Bob put his missile key into the other key slot. They both had to turn their keys at the same time or the launch would be aborted. Bob said "Okay. On three, we both turn our keys. One.........Two........Three!." At exactly that moment both keys were turned and a loud beep was heard, while on the computer screen the message "LAUNCH SEQUENCE CONFIRMED" was displayed. For a few seconds there was nothing, and Gary hoped that the missile would not launch. Then came a loud rumbling from the silo itself, which soon became a deafening roar, and at that moment Gary felt suddenly empty inside. Soon the eardrum-shattering sound was replaced by silence as the missile was launched for it’s first and only voyage, that would end an hour later somewhere over China. The silence only deepened the emptiness that begun eating Gary up inside was finally interrupted by Bob, "It’s about time the Chinese learned you don’t screw with America." Gary just stared at him, not believing what he had just heard. Bob didn’t notice however, and walked into the now empty silo to inspect the blast damage and lit a cigarette on the way though the doorway, killing time until the end of the world which was descending towards them. Gary stood up and slowly walked over to the safe. Inside behind where the missile keys had been, there was only one item remaining. A cleaned and unloaded Colt 6520 10 mm. pistol, put there in case anyone ever tried to attack the silo from within. There was no danger of that now, but it would still serve a purpose. Checking to see that the safety was off and the gun was loaded, he lifted the gun to his head. He then began repeating something he had heard as a child and had only remembered seconds before, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come....."

Bob was just starting back when he heard the gunshot. He immediately dropped his cigarette and broke into a run. He had just entered the control room and noticed Gary’s body when the silo was engulfed by intense heat and light flowing though a hole in the ceiling that had not been there just a second before.

It will be over soon, Gen. Thomas thought. Most of the Chinese missiles had already hit their targets and three more were bearing down on NORAD itself. That would be the end of NORAD, because even though it could survive one nuclear blast, several nuclear blasts would turn NORAD into a smoking cinder. NORAD itself was silent. No one spoke a word, except for the occasional status report, because there was nothing to say and everyone had resigned themselves to their fate. A few had to be silenced by MP’s. At least he had fulfilled his duty, as the American land based missiles had already started their ascent to their highest point, at which the nose cone would open up and 8 nuclear warheads would pop out of each missile. Each warhead would then begin descending towards it’s target to deliver it’s deadly cargo.

The ironic thing is, after this is all over nobody no one would remember or care why this happened and who started it. There will be survivors, though and hopefully they will avoid making these same mistakes again.... Gen. Thomas was still musing over this in the silent command center when the first two nukes impacted Cheyenne Mountain, causing it to cave in on NORAD, killing most of the people inside, and trapping a few others. The third blast quickly finished what the first two had started.

An hour afterwards the silo was silent again, except for the soft music playing in the background. Near the corpses of the two technicians that were burned beyond recognition, the radio that had been left on was playing some forgotten song from the 1940's. The radio, most of it’s circuits having survived the EMP pulse and its casing scorched and melted from the nuclear blast, continued playing unaware that there was no one within five miles to hear the soft music coming from it. It would continue to do so until the backup generators failed an hour later, just as the first rays of light broke over the eastern horizon, lighting the corpse of a once great nation.