“Not quite. It would take only one man with one button.”
“How?”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
It was Sandy who spoke, though. “COM-U-TECH’s satellite that destroyed Adventurer. The signal to all those microchips is going to come from space.”
Terrell nodded deliberately. “It takes the satellite approximately sixteen minutes to cover the entire continental United States. During that time it will send a high frequency beam signal the chips are keyed into. When they receive it, all television and radio stations will cease broad-casting. The telephone will become useless and you can forget all about most business dealings, especially in the area of banking. Banks won’t have access to their computer logs, which means customers won’t have access to their money.”
“My God,” muttered Blaine. “The whole country will be—”
“Paralyzed, Mr. McCracken? You were fond of using that word before. You believed that Sahhan couldn’t accomplish the paralysis on his own. Probably not. But along with Omega, paralysis will be the inevitable result.”
“So the power gets knocked out—”
“Not the power,” Terrell corrected him. “Telecommunications and data transmissions in general. And those transmissions, records such as bank accounts, won’t be erased, they’ll just be frozen, rendered inaccessible.”
“Then what?” Blaine asked anxiously.
“Your timing is a bit off. As I understand it, the Omega phase of the operation is not scheduled to go into effect until several hours after Sahhan’s troops begin their simultaneous assault on urban centers at nine P.M. eastern standard time”—Terrell watched the sun rising beyond the windows— “this evening. Christmas Eve. The communications channels will be cut off just as the true panic begins, say, by midnight, after the shooting is well under way and the country has had an opportunity to be informed of it. Even a simple call to a police department or check of the television news will be impossible. The panic will escalate, feed off itself. All systems of control will break down.”
“And then Krayman’s mercenaries ride in like the cavalry to the rescue … unless the army beats them to it, of course. They’re set up for the kind of emergency you’re describing — civil defense in the event of nuclear war and all that. They’ve got backup communication facilities. No way to stop them from talking to one another.”
“Yes, there is,” Terrell said simply. “Communication backup facilities are useless if no one plans to issue any orders over them. Omega goes much deeper than machines. There are men who’ve been involved in it from the start who believe the time has come for a more central and enduring leadership for the country.”
“Peacher,” Blaine muttered. “Christ, it all fits. …”
“The military’s been infested at the highest levels,” Terrell continued, “levels that can effectively shut down the whole apparatus. The same holds true for your own intelligence community. It was Dolorman who isolated you and ordered your elimination. Only a few Krayman people have reached directory positions, but they are high enough to assume control while the chaos is proceeding and the various branches of the government are cut off from one another. Don’t you see? Through it all, Krayman people will be the only ones who will know precisely what’s going on. Everyone else will fall prey to whatever illusion is forced upon them.”
Something clicked in Blaine’s mind. “The mercenaries … The people will think they’re part of the real army, which has been paralyzed.”
Terrell nodded. “Exactly. And the mercenaries won’t just obliterate Sahhan’s troops, they’ll also complete their work by eliminating those who stand in Dolorman’s way, clearing a path for Krayman Industry plants to assume control. They’ll appear to be the good guys, which will make their job all the easier. Assassination, execution — in all the confusion who’s to know or judge? Without the media to turn to, the people will see only what’s directly before them: the army riding in to save the day against a vast insurrection and proclaiming martial law.”
“While the real insurrection is actually taking place,” Blaine concluded. Then he shook his head. “But I still don’t buy the army sitting on the sidelines while all this is going on. Your point about communications breakdown is well taken, but there’s still the chain of command to consider. They’re poised to function in an emergency, and Krayman Industries can’t possibly control all the levels.”
Terrell shrugged. “I’ve thought of that too. Obviously there’s something we’re not aware of. Dolorman’s got another way to neutralize the army for as long as he needs to and we’ve just got to accept that no help will be coming from that quarter.”
“You’re allowed to miss one thing,” Blaine told him. “Dolorman’s plan is brilliant. He hasn’t given you much.”
“That’s the second thing I may be missing,” Terrell said. “I’ve spent five years of my life organizing and controlling every move we’ve made. I’ve studied Dolorman. He’s a tremendous businessman, ruthless and cunning, but not very creative. I can’t believe this whole plan is really his.”
“So you think he’s fronting for someone?”
“But if not Krayman, then who?”
It was Sandy who broke the ensuing silence, changing the subject. “Why did you send Kelno to me, Simon?”
“Because our first hope was to use you to expose Omega after we learned you were planning a story on Krayman. But after Kelno was killed, you became only a distraction to draw Dolorman’s attention away from us. We continued to watch you and provide help when it was needed on the chance that you might still be of use to us eventually.”
“Did you know that Stephen Shay was one of them?”
“All the networks are infested with Krayman people who are poised to take control during the course of Omega. When the telecommunications system is switched back on, new men will be at the controls. In fact, that’s the essence of Omega. Control telecommunications and you control the nation. People will be allowed to see only what Dolorman wants them to see. He’ll be able to paint any picture he desires, stalling the ultimate return of all communications apparatus until the first line of his private sector and government forces are firmly in place.”
“You can’t tell me people aren’t going to question,” Blaine argued.
“Some will, but to what end? There’ll be no way to spread their views or link up with others who feel as they do, at least not soon enough.”
“And where does the destruction of the space shuttle come in?” Sandy asked.
“For its signal to be effective in reaching the billions of infected microchips,” Terrell replied, “COM-U-TECH’s satellite has to broadcast from approximately one hundred eighty miles above the earth’s surface. Although the satellite is invisible to ground station radar thanks to a sophisticated jamming apparatus, Adventurer’s orbit would have brought it into visual contact. Dolorman couldn’t have that. Originally, his satellite was armed to protect it from asteroids and space debris. But when Adventurer’s orbital flight plan showed a direct approach line, the satellite was programmed to attack. The damn thing’s invulnerable.”
“What about Pegasus?” Sandy reminded him. “You said it was armed, too, and it’s scheduled to go up—”
“The day after Christmas with a dry run on Christmas Day,” Terrell said. “It’s all very hush-hush and it doesn’t matter, because Pegasus will never get off the ground. Cape Canaveral and NASA are infested with Krayman Chips. Omega will make the launch impossible.”