No one said anything for a moment. People absorbed David’s thoughts. Some were no doubt struggling with the question of whether nuclear deterrence was good or bad.

Brooke cleared her throat and said, “Well, this turned out to be scary. But I still have a question about the premise of this war plan. Let’s suppose that our politicians have neither the information nor the balls to launch a nuclear response back at an attacking superpower. I will try not to insert my hatred of all liberal politics here. Now, I am more disturbed by the threat of a cyber attack on our satellites than anyone. I mean, I rely on these things every day to do my job in Ft. Meade. But I fail to see why we still have reason to believe that this is a real threat. Why is a cyber-attack on these satellites a game-changer? Can one of you Air Force guys please help me out here? Aren’t there already missiles that can shoot down satellites? Henry, couldn’t they just blow up data centers? Why is this ARES such a big deal? What is new about this weapon compared to what they could have already done?”

David said, “Well they can now control more satellites in a shorter time.”

Brooke shook her head and said, “No. That’s not enough of a leap for me. My point is, they could have done the same things through different means. What am I missing here?”

Most of the classroom looked at Lena but she didn’t say anything back. Instead, the answer came from Henry.

He said to Lena, “Ohhhh. I see what’s going on here.”

Everyone stared, waiting for him to continue.

Henry said, “There is a countdown. Isn’t there?”

Eyes shot back to Lena. She nodded.

David then said. “That was it, wasn’t it? That’s how you knew that they are really going to attack. That’s what this new intelligence was that your dead agent uncovered.”

“Part of it. Yes.” she said.

Some of them put it together and some didn’t. Someone whistled. A few swore. Up until now, David still had a skepticism built up inside of him. He hadn’t truly believed that China was going to attack the United States. Sure, there may have been intelligence that they were thinking about it. But in David’s heart, he believed that somehow this was all going to go away. Cooler heads would prevail. The Red Cell would just become some crazy what-if scenario planning session. David had harbored these thoughts since Tom had first told him about the project. But the evidence was now falling into place. The reasons for secrecy. The signs of war. Suddenly this all became very real.

He gazed outside, thinking about the implications of a war of this scale. He could see tropical thunderheads on the horizon, each with a white mist streaming down to the distant ocean. Storms approaching. Fitting.

Someone said, “What’s the countdown matter for?”

David sighed and said. “It means that they’re going to follow through. The satellite-killer is a first-strike weapon. And the countdown means they’ve already pulled the trigger. It’s true that they probably have missiles that could do this. They’ve had them for years, actually. But if there is a countdown, then that means that they have a plan in motion. And everything that we’re doing here matters a whole lot more.”