Puckett's jaw was set like iron, his eyes aflame. "Don't you move, dirtbag."

Rodgers heard soldiers yelling outside. He looked down at the officer on the cot.

"I've got to trust you," Rodgers said, not sure he was being understood. "We need those missiles stopped."

He made a point of aiming the gun away and stepped back. He motioned for Ki-Soo to rise.

The officer bowed slightly.

"You traitors!" Colonel Sun shouted. "See how a patriot dies!"

Sun reached forward and pulled Puckett's arm toward him. Reacting as he'd been trained to do in an attack situation, the Private fired. Sun groaned, folded at the middle, and fell at Puckett's feet.

Rodgers dropped to his side and felt for a pulse. "He's gone," he said. He turned to Moore. He had known that the Private was dead, but picked up his wrist anyway. He pulled a blanket from the cot and handed it to Puckett, who draped it over Moore's body.

"Colonel," Rodgers said, "do you speak English?"

Ki-Soo shook his head.

"Pu-t'ak hamnida," Rodgers used one of the few Korean words he knew. "Please. The Nodongs-- Tokyo."

Ki-Soo nodded as soldiers appeared in the doorway. He held them back with a raised hand and barked command. Then he pointed to the dead man.

He said a word Rodgers didn't recognize. Then the Colonel thought for a moment and said, "Il ha-na, i tul, sam set "

"One, two, three," Rodgers said. "You're counting. Countdown? No-- you'd go backward."

"Chil il-gop, sa net, il ha-na " Ki-Soo continued.

"Seven, four, one-- a code? The password?" Rodgers felt a chill run up and down his back. He pointed to the dead officer. "You're telling me that he changed the passwords. That's why he killed himself, so we can't get them out of him." He thought quickly. The Nodong circuitry was in a box rigged to fire the missile if tampered with. There was no way to stop them unless they got the code. "How long?" Rodgers asked. "On-che-im-ni-ka?"

Ki-Soo looked at one of the soldiers standing in the door. He asked him the same question, and the soldier answered.

The only word Rodgers recognized was "ship yol"

Ten.

They had ten minutes until the three Nodongs were fired toward Tokyo.

Quickly he used Ki-Soo's radio to call Squires and asked to be patched into the TAC SAT.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

Wednesday, 7:20 P.M., Op-Center

Hood and his top aides were still in his office when the call came through from Rodgers. Hood put it on speaker and the others gathered around.

"Paul," said the Deputy Director, "I'm in the Nodong camp, using their radio through the TAC SAT up in the hills. South Koreans had taken over-- we lost Bass Moore getting it back. Colonel Ki Soo here is being very cooperative but he does not know the cancel code. The South Koreans changed it, and they're dead. We've got just over eight minutes until the things take off, headed for Tokyo."