Two days later, Anton went over to the control center. He went to a computer terminal that was neither being used or had anyone else close by, and logged in. Once he had accessed it, he just waited.
Across the world in America, Steven started to access a Russian satellite. It was night, and he felt a little sleepy. He also felt uneasy. With Jerry's unconscious body sleeping on the sofa, and about to contact the same person thousands of miles away, there was a weird feeling about it.
Steven accessed the satellite, then looking from Jerry's notes, he broke into the Moscow Missile Center's computer system. He then reached the strategic area missile base center which was connected to Anton's base. Finally, he typed in the access codes of a certain computer.
Anton saw his terminal screen's information wink out, then came a different display. Steven had accessed the computer. To let him know that things were ready, he typed in a short message: HIT IT.
Steven then put a disk into his computer, and sent the information into the Russian computer. The Russian computer read the disk information like a launch code. After less than a minute, both screens read: ACCESS COMPLETE.
Anton then accessed out of the computer and left the room. He felt very elated. After six years, his plan was going to work. In eight hours, the missile would fly out and carry out his revenge on the system. Anton was so excited, that when he tried to take a nap so he could wake up in his other body, he couldn't go to sleep. It didn't bother him very much, though. At one point he looked a nearby clock, which was twelve hours ahead of those in his American home: 8:01. He had forgotten to set his alarm clock. Steven was probably watching the morning news to start his day. He would hear about the missile as it would launch at 8:10. In the middle of his thinking, Anton went unconscious.
"Wake up, Jerry!" was the next thing he heard. Steven was shaking him. Steven looked very worried.
"Sorry," Jerry answered, "I forgot to set the alarm clock."
"Something went wrong. China is massing its troops on the border."
"What?"
"They're preparing to fight. If the missile goes off, China will definately go in."
"All the worse for the crooks at the top." Jerry was thinking only of how the Russian government would be affected, and was not alarmed.
"Jerry, when the Chinese government invaded Tibet, they killed thousands of civilians. With Siberia, they will do a repeat performance."
"Come on!" Jerry wasn't buying the news. After all the work he had done, he could not think of reversing his plan.
"Jerry, your plan was to get at Russia's government without hurting the people. It would have worked, but now here is China. We can't let all those people die. And as for the survivors, you know about things like 're-education camps.'"
Jerry was starting to realize what was going on, but he still could not bear to think of dismantling his plan, "I, I don't know."
"Is this what your parents would have wanted?"
Conflicting thoughts ran through Jerry's mind. He could let the missile fly, and Russia's government would get what it deserved. They had hurt him, and Jerry had the right to hit back. Unfortunately, things had gone wrong so that while the murderers would pay, so would countless numbers of bystanders. He finally made a decision, "Okay, let's get rid of it."
Steven's worry turned to enthusiasm, "All right! That's the spirit."
"Problem. There's nothing over there to reawaken me in time. You'll have to knock me out so that I can defuse the program."
Steven's smile disappeared. After hesitation, he took a chair. "Sorry Jerry" he muttered before slamming it against his friend's head.
After waking up, Anton rushed to the control center, fast but not too fast as to arouse the suspicions of his fellow Russians. He quickly reached the control room, and went to the terminal he had Steven tap in. He accessed it, then started typing in to defuse the program.
Then the screen blinked, and the terminal cut Anton off. Anton was shocked; then in a panic, he tried to re-access. The terminal would not respond. Then sirens went off, and the lights went red. "Launch Alert! Launch Alert!" the speakers bellowed, "Missile Seven to launch in five minutes! This is not a drill! This is not a drill! Launch Alert!" The message kept on repeating.
Anton was gripped by panic and fear. What could be done now? "All my years," he spoke to himself, "all I thought of was revenge, never thinking about the consequences. If only I had closed the door on my plan. Wait a minute!"
A thought came to his head. The silo door could be manually shut from inside. Running as fast as he could, he dashed from the control center, past his panicked colleagues, through the corridors, and finally he got to the solid steel door to the silo's interior.
"Two minutes to launch!" the loudspeakers announced.
Anton punched in the well known security code on the door's electronic lock, then turned a large metal wheel on the door. The door opened, and he rushed in.
Anton looked around. He was on the central rung of a system of circular gratings and ladders that went from the floor of the silo to just below the top, which was now an open roof. Anton rushed to a ladder and started to quickly climb down.
"Ninety seconds to launch!" the loudspeakers boomed.
He reached the grating under the entrance level. He then heard a man call out from the entrance, "Anton, get out of there. If you stay to close the door, you won't have enough time to get out alive!"
Anton hesitated, then answered, "I have to try!" He then started to run to the other side of the silo.
"One minute, twenty seconds to launch!" the loudspeakers warned.
Anton saw the man slowly close the door to the tunnels, but he was in too big a hurry to contemplate what was going to happen to him. He then reached a panel on the wall that looked like a patch for a hole. It had two small handles.
"One minute, ten seconds to launch!" The loudspeakers announced.
Anton then took a hold of the handles and pulled. The panel resisted at first, then came off with a pop. He then took a hold of the large and rusty iron wheel that was under it.
"Sixty seconds to launch!" the loudspeakers thundered.
Anton tried to turn the wheel. He tried hard, but it wouldn't budge.
"Fifty seconds to launch!" the loudspeakers bellowed.
He tried even harder to turn the wheel, no good.
"Forty seconds to launch!" the loudspeakers blared.
Every word struck him like a hammer. Anton pushed on the wheel with all his might.
"Thirty seconds to launch!" the loudspeakers then began going constant, "twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven,"
Anton heard a crack, and a squeak.
"twenty-six, twenty-five, twenty-four,"
Then the wheel began to turn. It was very sluggish and squeaky, but Anton worked his hardest to turn it - and fast.
"twenty-three, twenty-two, twenty-one,"
Anton looked at the silo door. It hadn't moved, but he continued to turn.
"twenty, nineteen,"
Then the resistance in the wheel suddenly went away. Anton quickly turned it around and around.
"eighteen, seventeen,"
Anton saw it just starting to close.
"sixteen, fifteen,"
Then all traces of sluggishness in the wheel disapeared. Anton turned it faster than ever.
"fourteen, thirteen,"
The silo door was closing, but Anton wondered if it would close in time.
"twelve, eleven,"
It was about a fifth closed.
"ten,"
It was about a fourth closed.
"nine,"
It was about a third closed.
"eight,"
It was about two-fifths closed.
"seven,"
It was about half closed.
"six,"
It was about three-fifths closed.
"five,"
It was about two-thirds closed.
"four,"
It was about three-fourths closed.
"three,"
It was about four-fifths closed.
"two,"
It was almost completely closed.
"one,"
A loud and hollow sound echoed through the silo announcing that its door was closed. Exhausted, Anton collapsed on the grating.
" zero- launch!"
A massive roar filled the silo and a cloud rushed around its walls. Then a powerful gust of wind lifted Anton's body from the grating, and battered it against the silo walls.