Parallel worlds – one. Fire and flame
Шрифт:
– Get the Secretary of Defense to block it!
Ruthra was also taken aback.
– What's going on?
– The system has entered the number one standby position.
– What is it? Why?
– It took our reprogramming of passwords as a system takeover and is requesting the previous persons it is set up to.
– The President?
– Him, the Secretary of Defense and the Chief of Staff. Any one of them. Only the three of them can initialize the launch. One of them can't.
– And the lock?
– If one fails, there's a lockout.
– The minister is gone, he changed his appearance and escaped. He was among those in a group of his own. Soon he will be younger, we won't recognize him at all without the program. He's with a new life," an officer who ran up to the head of security reported to him.
– How? Ah. They were in the clan of those who used your method," he said to Ruthra.
– The body of the president has been found," another officer reported.
At that time, the general siren started howling. Everyone was very excited, constantly contacting someone, running around. Rutra and the crew were excited. The ladies were scared. They did not fully understand the essence of what was happening. Rutra ran up to the head of security who was yelling at uniformed officers, sailors, captains of the first rank. It's tradition – they carry the so-called nuclear briefcase next to the president at all times.
– What's going to happen? Can't it be stopped? – Ruthra asked him in a low voice.
– It's querying all systems. For some reason, our supercomputer isn't responding. To be more precise, it has blocked communication between the Cheget, Kazbek and Perimeter systems. The system, not receiving a response, considers them captured.
– How could this have happened? How did it block itself? There must be outside interference.
– It's getting late! – he shouted. – You must sound a general alarm. We can't stop her. She's launching nuclear missile systems that bypass all the lockdowns.
Ruthra's voice trembled; he realized the provocativeness of his question and asked it nonetheless:
– What's going on? Is all this for real?
Everyone came, and amidst the clamor, Ruthra's serious question was the one that interested everyone. Suddenly there was silence. The Acting Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense said quietly and calmly:
– It's unbelievable, but the tech shows it's happening. Look at the screen, it's already issued targeting orders, so it's activated the RYAA-01 protocol!
– General evacuation! – shouted the head of the guard, and his shout stabbed a dagger through the ear into everyone's brain. – General evacuation! – he continued to yell.
Then ran over to the communications lockdown terminal, switched it to broadcast mode, and walked over to Ruthra.
– Get in the chair. You must sound the alarm. Open the safe.
– Which one?
– Oh, shit. We haven't transferred the locks to you yet. We need to open the package.
– What the hell is going on? Were you expecting me?! – Ruthra was yelling now.
There was no one left in the office anymore except for the crew, two naval officers, the chief of security, the chief of staff, and two members of the president's security detail.
– Mr. President, you're not prepared for this turn of events, and we're… We live in this, in daily training. You need to be evacuated to a secret underground bunker. Just give me a quick message: "Alarm has been sounded, possible nuclear strike throughout the country." The troops have been ordered. War has already begun. NATO is launching a retaliatory strike.
– What are you saying now?
– Mr. President! It's more serious than that. If the world was going to end, it wouldn't come on schedule. We have to go by the book.
– Go ahead, you're on the air.
– What the hell?
– Speak up!
Somehow Ruthra's memory had magically cleared. He remembered what was required.
– Dear citizens of Russia, an urgent message to everyone! Please remain calm, but at the same time I ask you to hurry. A nuclear strike on the territory of our country is possible. You have 30 minutes. Please don't panic. Communications will soon be out of service. If there are civil defense instructions, follow them. If not, try to stay in the building, close to supporting structures, away from glass. In a direct hit, there is no way to escape. In the general hustle and bustle, more will die in the crush. It's impossible to put everyone in a bomb shelter. Our hope is in God and the air defense system. Try to stay out of open spaces. The explosion is likely to be airborne. That's why heat and light waves are the most dangerous. The electromagnetic pulse will disable all electronic devices. Turn them off beforehand…
– That's it, that's it. The civil defense headquarters will tell you next," the head of security almost demanded, waving his hand.
When the airwaves went off, Rutra, having already entered the role of president, asked sternly:
– How could this happen?!
– This is not the time, please. Let's go," the security guard said pleadingly, grabbing his arm.
– The team is coming with me," Rutra stated.
– I'm sorry, of course, but they were admitted at your own request and by permission of the former president, only because you hooked them up to a supercomputer to control the cloning of the thymus gland. The president's clan made great use of it, and they made great business out of it too.
– All the more reason I need a team.
Ruthra first intended to ask them about the method the security officer had mentioned, and what had happened before.
They ran to the next room, the head of security opened the entrance to the elevator, where everyone entered… and rushed into the depths of Moscow's underground.
– Rutra, thank you, you're a true friend," Iulia said already in the elevator.
– Thank you, thank you," Andrian and Catherine repeated after her.
Only YatSan remained silent. Rutra looked at her. She was a lovely creature of about 25 years old. She was a thin, frail person whose eyes hid a gentle longing with a sly fury. She looked at Ruthra shrewdly, but at the same time with a hidden request, as if she wanted to say something… or wanted Ruthra to realize something for himself. Her gaze penetrated his mind, began to carry signals. Ruthra couldn't quite decipher them, just some fragments of the big picture. She was looking for help and support. She needed to make sense of the past to understand the big picture of what was happening to him in this world. Who were these people on his team? How had he met them? Why were they responsible for such a serious project? How did the president usurp his opening? Was he arrested? How did they know the entire technological process? Did he entrust it to the local Iren? Or does YatSan know something about it? Isn't that what her look is trying to say? Maybe she's being threatened?