A House of Dynamite (2025)

1. Let us know when you're at the ops building. Over.

2. Six more months of your bullshit.

3. I'm not... I'm not trying to start problems with you.

4. I'm just saying.

5. No, I...

6. All you had to do was wait six months, and I would've been there to help.

7. I got... I gotta go.

8. But, listen, tomorrow we can... we can figure this out.

9. We can handle this whole situa...

10. Hello?

11. Hello?

12. Just coming on the shift?

13. - Sergeant, you get my email? - No, sir.

14. Well, there's an update from the top

15. for today

16. of the utmost importance.

17. That's an order.

18. - All right, sir. - Mm-hmm.

19. Think you'll keep making that joke?

20. If you keep smiling, I'll keep making it.

21. I hope not.

22. How'd that go?

23. Still working on it.

24. But we should have some movement on it today, hopefully.

25. - The regs say no food or drink. - All right, man.

26. If you want one, just ask.

27. Break's every four hours. Next time, you can wait.

28. - What's up your ass, man? - And clean up your workstation.

29. It's covered in grease and chips and shit.

30. Yes, sir.

31. Look at the dinosaur coming in the way.

32. Wow. Aw.

33. - Guys, guys, it's 3:30 in the morning. - I'm sorry.

34. - Hi. - Hi.

35. How you feeling, conductor?

36. - Mmm. - How's he doing?

37. Fever's gone up to 102.

38. Oh gosh.

39. - Come on. Let's get some shut-eye. - Go to Daddy.

40. - Come on. - I love you.

41. - Okay. - I love you.

42. I love you. Mommy's got her phone.

43. What?

44. - I can have him? - Mm-hmm.

45. - He's with me today? - Mm-hmm.

46. Thank you.

47. - I love you. - I love you too.

48. I love you.

49. - You wearing that to the White House? - Yeah. It's, uh, Casual Friday today.

50. - Thought so. - Bye.

51. Babe...

52. I love you.

53. - Good morning, ma'am. - Morning.

54. How are you, sir? Can I see your badge, please?

55. Thank you very much.

56. Have a good shift.

57. Keys.

58. - Thank you, ma'am. - Yeah.

59. - Morning. - Morning.

60. - Here you go, sir. Thank you. - Thank you, sir.

61. - Morning, Captain. - Morning.

62. Um, egg-white omelet, please.

63. - Usual? - Yeah, thanks.

64. - So when did you start? - Last week. How did you—

65. Egg sandwich or oatmeal. Anything else holds up the line. Thanks.

66. - Morning. - Good morning.

67. - How's it going, man? - Morning.

68. - Good morning. - Morning.

69. - Morning. - Good morning.

70. - Quiet night. - For you, maybe.

71. - You're kidding. Little guy again? - He'll be fine.

72. - PLA exercise in an hour. - Really?

73. I thought they'd call it off and try and lower the temperature.

74. I guess they like it hot.

75. - Right, anything from Pyongyang? - Not since the last test.

76. Saber-rattling or silence. I'm not sure which worries me more.

77. Well, add to it.

78. NSA is itchy about an uptick in chatter between Tehran and their proxies.

79. - They want it flagged in the Morning Book. - Consider their asses covered.

80. What's that?

81. Butte County. Over 100,000 homes at risk.

82. That is not the feed.

83. Same monitor was acting up yesterday. We called systems.

84. - Great. Bye. - See you, Olivia.

85. Hope the boy feels better.

86. Sleep well.

87. Oh!

88. All right. Cheers.

89. Cheers. Thank you.

90. - Petty Officer Davis. - Morning, ma'am.

91. - Status update? - On?

92. Operation Don't Fuck This Up.

93. I'm picking up the ring tonight.

94. Bravo Zulu, sailor. That took you long enough.

95. - Right, morning, everyone. - Morning.

96. Book push is two hours. Let's get to it.

97. - You got it. - You got it.

98. Rogers.

99. No. He says the prenup is ironclad. Those are the words he used.

100. Well, I don't have time. I don't have time to find another lawyer.

101. Not if I wanna keep my job.

102. Uh, I have to go. Goodbye. Thank you.

103. At 0930, the president visits a WNBA clinic for kids.

104. Then we have the signing of the Defense Omnibus bill

105. with Hill leaders in the Roosevelt Room.

106. We are pool for that. Then three hours of executive time.

107. Uh...

108. and the new Irish ambassador is expected to stop by around 1600,

109. so there may be an Oval spray.

110. - And after that, it is a full lid. - Thanks, Abby.

111. Courtney's source at the UN

112. says the White House may push for more sanctions on Moscow.

113. I haven't heard that yet,

114. but, um, I will ask around.

115. Uh, we got a quick alert, sir.

116. - Quick alert. - Alert.

117. - From where? - Pacific.

118. SBX1 detects a ballistic launch.

119. Confirm track. Yes, sir, we're seeing it.

120. - Track on scope. - Acknowledged.

121. Vector 42.710, 137.14.

122. Launch azimuth, 9.25 degrees. Elevation angle, 66.79 degrees.

123. Stand by for possible intercept.

124. Copy that.

125. - Right, log the time. - Time is 0933.

126. Initiate a national security conference call.

127. Copy.

128. Patching in, and I am live.

129. What's going on?

130. STRATCOM's tracking a launch over the Pacific.

131. Second time since Christmas.

132. - Uh, third. - Right.

133. Quarterly reviews. I was drowning.

134. So give me a shoutout if the world's going to end.

135. - Yep. - Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. Adding you now.

136. Point of origin?

137. Lieutenant, point of origin?

138. STRATCOM says indeterminate.

139. DSP satellites missed the launch. Floating rig picked it up.

140. DSP missed the launch?

141. Doesn't matter who launched it. Just that we knock it down.

142. Doesn't look like we'll have to. TPY-2 Japan reports

143. flight vector is consistent with previous DPRK tests.

144. Hmm. Another yo-yo.

145. Winslow's crew was on when the last one popped up.

146. Said they were filling out paperwork for a week.

147. Uh, Mrs. Holland? This is the whizzer.

148. Sorry, ma'am. Chief Petty Officer Davis, White House Situation Room.

149. Is your husband available?

150. - Did you see that ball game last night? - Yes, sir.

151. - Okay. Yes. Thank you, ma'am. - You believe that Lindor?

152. Impressive.

153. Apparently, the national security advisor took a healthy hit of propofol.

154. - Oh. Lucky him. - Colonoscopy.

155. - Call the deputy. - Morning.

156. - Pleasure to see you. You ready? - Where the hell's Holland?

157. Dr. Holland's indisposed, sir,

158. but we've got Deputy National Security Advisor Baerington with us.

159. - He'll be with you shortly. - It'll be over by then.

160. - I'm gonna start. - Go ahead, Tony.

161. Approximately three minutes ago, we detected an ICBM over the Pacific.

162. At this time, we haven't determined if the launch was land or sea-based,

163. but the object's trajectory is consistent with previous tests,

164. and we expect splashdown somewhere in the Sea of Japan.

165. - Greely Ops Center. - Greely Ops Center.

166. Stand by. We're confirming.

167. - Lieutenant Collins. - Yes.

168. Greely Ops Center.

169. Where are we starting out now?

170. - Sensor operator. - Sergeant Diaz here.

171. - We're connected to STRATCOM? - Yeah, looks like another test.

172. Greely Ops Center. Sergeant...

173. What is it, Sergeant?

174. Uh, clear radar acquired our object, sir.

175. Wait. And?

176. Uh, rate of ascent slowing. Inclination is flattening.

177. Velocity?

178. It's steady, sir. Six kilometers per second.

179. Wait. Is Cheyenne Mountain seeing this?

180. Are you kidding? This guy's big break. He's out for a walk?

181. - A block away. - Not good enough.

182. Guys, let's keep working the phones, everyone.

183. If it is another test,

184. I want a note within the hour summarizing regional reaction.

185. Aye, Captain.

186. - You better get back on. - Yep.

187. Sorry about that. Seems we have an update.

188. Current velocity indicates

189. that the object will go suborbital.

190. Current flight trajectory is consistent

191. with impact somewhere in the continental United States.

192. Holy shit.

193. What's your level of confidence on that, Tony?

194. Not an error. We're tracking it on multiple radar systems now.

195. I'm told... Hi, Jerry. we have dual phenomenology on the track.

196. Nineteen minutes to impact.

197. Ma'am, I... I don't understand.

198. Add SECDEF and POTUS to the call.

199. Now, Davis.

200. - Were you listening to that? - I was.

201. - Yeah? - Yeah. Get to it.

202. Check the shot doctrine.

203. State Department, yeah.

204. Repeat that to me.

205. - Authenticate. - Uh...

206. Uh...

207. - Uh... - Here. Here.

208. Oscar, Foxtrot, four, niner, one, six.

209. Sergeant, you're doing fine. We've trained for this a million times.

210. You're good.

211. Oscar, Foxtrot, four, nine, one, six. Order is authentic.

212. I'm sorry, say again.

213. We have weapons-release authority to launch our GBIs.

214. Confirm DEFCON 2.

215. Holy shit.

216. - Down to two. - Currently, we are at DEFCON 2.

217. - Are you looking at this? - DEFCON 2. I repeat, DEFCON 2.

218. - Have we seen DEFCON 2 before? - No.

219. Hey, I know this isn't my business, but it seems really serious.

220. I'm sorry. I can't give you any information.

221. Everyone, relax, okay? A rounding error.

222. This is still a commercial satellite launch.

223. Some billionaire forgot to file the right paperwork, send his email.

224. Okay, focus.

225. POTUS is on campus. Mr. Watts has been notified.

226. - Adding SECDEF now. - Great.

227. SIGINT indicates Moscow is aware of the launch.

228. Atypical DPRK activity along the DMZ could be an unannounced rotation,

229. but they're not picking up.

230. Could this be the PLA exercise?

231. Maybe Davis staged it so he could put off proposing?

232. - Hey, not now. - Exercise was surface warfare only.

233. No SSBNs.

234. USS Ford reports multiple J-15s now launching from the Fujian.

235. - We expect that? - We ever know what the Chinese are doing?

236. Huh?

237. I mean, a car just backfired. People are spooked.

238. I'd be more worried if they weren't.

239. Okay, what else?

240. Exercise could've been cover for a preemptive strike.

241. By sending one warhead at us?

242. - That's like suicide by nuclear cop. - All right, that's enough. That's enough.

243. - Keep verifying. - Our job is not to solve the puzzle.

244. It is to find the pieces, send it up the chain, okay?

245. Principals need hard facts, not speculation.

246. You find those, you raise your hand.

247. - Speak up. - Yes, sir.

248. - Yes, sir. - We got this.

249. Signature analysis.

250. Check out the exhaust plume.

251. - It's not good, sir. - We've run this drill a thousand times.

252. - You wanna get it up? - Let's get STRATCOM up on the wall.

253. - Um... not sure. - I know.

254. Sixteen minutes to impact.

255. - Okay. All right, everybody. - Set an alarm.

256. Let's keep dialing, then.

257. Russia and China's lines are busy.

258. - Embassies? - Nothing but tone.

259. - Right. You tried UN missions? - Course.

260. Yeah, the whole world's calling each other at the same time.

261. - Keep dialing. Just try it. - Yes, ma'am.

262. Shelter in place.

263. Shelter in place.

264. Shelter in place.

265. Shelter in place.

266. Confirming. Clamshell's open.

267. Showing launch status green.

268. Showing launch status green.

269. Do we have a COG responsibility here?

270. My understanding was we initiate on launch.

271. Get people moving. Can we get a legal opinion on that?

272. I'm not sure that's right, Reid.

273. In fact, I'm damn near certain the president has COG.

274. Well, I'm issuing the order.

275. Plenty of time to sort it later, and if you're gonna start moving people,

276. we don't wanna be caught with our pants down.

277. I have an updated impact estimate.

278. Go ahead, Tony.

279. Low probability. Louisville, St. Louis.

280. Medium. Chicago, Indianapolis.

281. High. Cleveland, Columbus.

282. That's primary, of course. Still assessing the prevailing winds.

283. Jesus Christ.

284. - No fucking way. - Can I get my phone?

285. No, we have to stay here.

286. Walker, is this real?

287. This is in from STRATCOM.

288. Did you say Chicago?

289. Uh, yes. In the medium bucket.

290. Yes. Yes, this is the White House Situation Room. Hold, please.

291. I need a Mandarin translator.

292. - Get him un-busy. - State.

293. - Yeah. My hands are a little full here. - I have the vice premier of China on hold.

294. - Tice. - Good shit. Need you on two. Mandarin.

295. We have a probability of impact happening.

296. White House Situation Room.

297. We have Louisville, St. Louis also possible targets.

298. Hey, we're, uh, ordering Sweetgreen today. You want?

299. - Nah, think I'm gonna go out. - Okay.

300. Oh.

301. Hey, Izzy, did you hear anything about a drill today?

302. Not that I know of.

303. Shelter in place.

304. Shelter in place.

305. Shelter in place.

306. Shelter in place.

307. Sir, the missile field is clear.

308. Copy.

309. Target is coming into the intercept window in three,

310. two, one.

311. - Activate launch. - Launch activated.

312. GBI2 and GBI4 are airborne.

313. EKV release in 3 minutes 17 seconds. Stand by for course adjustment.

314. Is there anyone that can do better than shot-in-the-dark guesses?

315. We're not handicapping the fucking Army-Navy game.

316. - Uh, Mr. President? - Yes. Who's that?

317. This is Jake Baerington, sir.

318. Uh, we actually met briefly before the, uh, G8 last year.

319. Uh...

320. If someone could... If... if we could get Anna Park.

321. She's the national intelligence officer for the DPRK.

322. She'll have a more informed view on North Korean intentions and capabilities.

323. Okay, so how do I talk to her?

324. Ma'am, I got FEMA operations on line one.

325. FEMA? Now?

326. I'm going to find out. Yeah. I'm sorry.

327. Have you seen this?

328. Excuse me.

329. Uh...

330. - The whizzer's on. - I couldn't connect it to your office.

331. This is, uh, Cathy Rogers with the Office of National Continuity Programs.

332. I'm trying to find someone who can tell me what the hell is going on.

333. How so?

334. Well, we received instructions to initiate our Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan.

335. Right. And?

336. And, what, you expect the speaker of the house to make a run for it

337. without having a few questions first?

338. No, I don't know what the speaker of the house—

339. Are you telling me we're at war all of a sudden?

340. With who?

341. The only thing I can do, I can confirm the JEEP order's authentic.

342. - Thank you. - Admiral Miller?

343. - That's me. - We need to move you to the PEOC, sir.

344. Okay, well, we all just can't leave. We need to make an orderly transition.

345. Get the flyaway team to Raven Rock.

346. Not everyone. Just you, Gordon, Caldwell, and Stern.

347. Those are the names I have on the COG list.

348. Okay.

349. One moment. Uh, I mean, this is ridiculous.

350. It's...

351. Okay. Liv.

352. - Yep. - Everyone back to it.

353. You get off?

354. You should go.

355. - Me? No. - Yes. Just in case.

356. Come on. That's not how this works.

357. No, the president's gonna call the bunker. He's gonna expect you to answer.

358. He can't pick me out of a lineup. Come on.

359. Besides, GBI's gonna take this thing right out, right?

360. If it's even real.

361. Hey, didn't the Soviets mistake a flock of birds for ICBMs once?

362. The sun.

363. '83. High-altitude clouds.

364. - It's a sunny day, sir. - Sir.

365. I have instructions to physically escort you.

366. I've got it, okay?

367. Come.

368. Gordon, let's go.

369. Yes, sir.

370. Do your thing.

371. Right. Everyone, let's stay focused.

372. Let's do what...

373. what we do best, right? President still needs us.

374. Hey, buddy. Can you hold tight for just a second? Just...

375. Hey.

376. - Hi. Me again. - I'm so sorry.

377. - We're so busy today. - I get it.

378. Come on.

379. Sorry.

380. Uh, if the doctor can't see him today,

381. can he just write him a prescription or something like that?

382. I'll have to ask.

383. Fuck.

384. Shit.

385. Hey, hon. Um...

386. Is anything going on up there?

387. I... I don't know. Anything... unusual.

388. Shelter in place.

389. - Stand by EKV release. - What the fuck is going on, sir?

390. You saw what happened. We launched our GBIs.

391. - Your ass should be in the bunkers. - Yes, sir.

392. EKV status?

393. - Bring up the space-based kill assessment. - Stand by.

394. Three, two, one,

395. release.

396. First EKV released.

397. Velocity ten kilometers per second. Closing in on target.

398. Second EKV has failed to separate.

399. I'm sure it is a mistake, Mr. Leader,

400. and we'll turn you around right away as soon as we confirm that.

401. It didn't... it didn't work.

402. Failed.

403. - One EKV left. - What's the status of the GBIs?

404. Second EKV failed to launch.

405. - The first EKV is currently still inbound. - Why don't we launch more?

406. We have fewer than 50 GBIs in our entire arsenal.

407. We're gonna need them if they fire more missiles at us.

408. If someone fires more, aren't we all fucked anyway?

409. The kinetic energy of one single EKV colliding with an incoming warhead,

410. it's over 100 million joules.

411. - It'll vaporize it. - Yeah.

412. This is gonna be over in a minute, right?

413. End of our shift, we're gonna be on our way home. You...

414. Look at me. You're gonna have a stop at that little jewelry store, right?

415. When you look back at this drama, what, this is gonna be

416. the second most exciting thing that happened to you today.

417. Right?

418. Right.

419. Yeah.

420. Uh, the senator just got up and left in the middle of the hearing?

421. - EKV adjusting course. - Twenty-one seconds.

422. You okay, Sergeant?

423. Put up STRATCOM's audio.

424. Ten seconds.

425. Nine.

426. - Eight. Seven. - Listen, before, with the chips—

427. - We're good, man. I'm a slob. - Six. Five.

428. To hell with her. Shouldn't have left it like that.

429. Three.

430. Two.

431. One.

432. Confirm impact.

433. - Confirm impact. - Stand by. Confirming.

434. Hold.

435. - Come on. What are you waiting for? - I just...

436. It's negative.

437. Oh shit.

438. Fuck.

439. I, uh...

440. - Yes, negative impact. - Negative impact.

441. Object remains inbound.

442. We did everything right, right?

443. Right?

444. We did every fucking thing right.

445. Mr. President, confirming DEFCON 1, sir.

446. Oh my God.

447. Oh Jesus. We just went DEFCON 1.

448. Okay.

449. Confirming.

450. - Okay. - Negative impact.

451. Major, confirm the release of two additional GBIs to intercept.

452. Major.

453. Major... Danny.

454. Danny?

455. Danny, we gotta launch again, right?

456. Pull it up. Come on. Come on. Pull it up.

457. Target is past apogee and entering terminal phase, sir.

458. I... I have an updated flight trajectory, sir.

459. Chicago.

460. Why the hell is that book out?

461. Mr. President, significant time and expertise were devoted

462. to designing these options.

463. You'll find a range, select, limited, and major,

464. depending on the scale of the response you feel is warranted.

465. I suggest you allow Lieutenant Commander Reeves to brief you.

466. Fuck.

467. Thank you.

468. Most of the Iron Gate list is on the move, but they are not happy.

469. Any word?

470. Mike.

471. What's our casualty estimate for a nuclear strike on Chicago?

472. What?

473. Seriously? This is starting to piss me off.

474. - They should give more— - Goddamn it.

475. What is it, Cathy?

476. Ten million, primary. Another 10% downwind.

477. What are you doing? Hey.

478. Russia, finally. Foreign minister for the president.

479. Great.

480. Sir, this is Captain Olivia Walker, ranking officer on duty.

481. I will connect you with the president.

482. - I can't... I can't merge the calls. - What? What do you mean?

483. POTUS is on the NC3. Russia's on the hotline.

484. - He'd drop off, then we'd dial him in. - So? Can you do that?

485. We risk losing contact. He's on the move. Plus the time it takes.

486. STRATCOM is asking for our launch instructions for retaliation.

487. - Like, right now. - Okay. All right.

488. Sir, we're having technical issues with the president.

489. I'm gonna get you someone who can speak for him right now.

490. Please hold.

491. Billy, I want you to go and get my cell. Get yours too.

492. - Ma'am. - Just go.

493. Why are we launching?

494. Quickly. I'm asking you. I can handle this.

495. Not sure. You'll have to try DOD.

496. Who's in charge there? Can you put him on?

497. Gail, can you monitor the NSCC?

498. - Hello? - Hey, Mom. Um...

499. Yeah, no, everything's, uh...

500. Yeah, no, no, I'm good. I promise you I am...

501. I'm doing great.

502. Okay.

503. Yeah, no, I'm, uh...

504. Yeah, I'm working hard. I'm

505. doing my best.

506. Yeah.

507. No, I just... I just wanted to call you and, you know,

508. tell you I love you.

509. Aw.

510. All right. I'll... I'll call you later. Um...

511. Yeah, I gotta go. They're calling me right now.

512. They've got five minutes. How far is anyone gonna get?

513. They can at least shelter in place.

514. Do you think hiding under desks is gonna help them?

515. There's a car outside. Driver says you're on some kind of list.

516. - "Hasty Access." - Who's downstairs?

517. Some guy's here to take Cathy.

518. - I'm a DE, Mike. - What does that mean?

519. Designated evacuee.

520. It means she gets to ride this out at Raven Rock.

521. You chose me as your alternate.

522. There's no threat to DC. There might not even be a threat to Chicago.

523. She's barely done her job for a month.

524. Why does she get to be rescued?

525. Come on.

526. - He's checking in. - I'll update you when we get there.

527. Yeah. Come on. We're moving out.

528. Hey, what's going on up there? Where's everyone going?

529. Try his secretary! Somebody! Secretary, I don't give a...

530. Go home.

531. Beijing Station reports the PSC is convening an emergency session.

532. Yes. Yes, I can get that for you right away.

533. - Situation Room. Walker. - Put me back on the NSCC.

534. - Is it Russia's? - He denied it.

535. Said it might be Pyongyang. But he swears they had nothing to do with it.

536. Why are they mobilizing?

537. They're seeing our B-2s go airborne.

538. Now put me back on the fucking conference.

539. Look. Look, as I told you, I am not fully briefed yet,

540. but I promise I am doing my best to chase it down.

541. You don't know why he bailed?

542. - Is the president in Washington? - Look, I...

543. A military hero...

544. Where should we go?

545. The American public deserves to know what's happening.

546. Excuse me. Sorry. Do you know what's going on?

547. You should leave if you can.

548. Are the American—

549. - Sorry. - Where are you going?

550. What is happening?

551. Yes, we've got Governor on line two, and we're merging the calls now.

552. Thank you for your patience.

553. Raven Rock is asking for names and serial numbers

554. of everyone still here on duty.

555. Socials for civilians in case...

556. If it's just Chicago, it's just Chicago, but if we fire back...

557. They need a dead list.

558. Thanks.

559. Yes. We have the governor on the line.

560. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.

561. Come on.

562. All right, Liam. Watch your head, bud. Watch your—

563. I wanna do it by myself.

564. Okay. Okay.

565. - Hey. - Listen to me.

566. Get Liam, get in the car, and just start driving.

567. Where? What are you talking about?

568. West. Go west. Go west as fast as you can. Get away from any urban centers.

569. - Liv, what the fuck? What's going on? - Listen.

570. I'll call you. I love you. I love you. Can you kiss Liam for me? Just kiss him.

571. Bye, bye, bye.

572. Okay.

573. - Miss Rogers? - Yes. Yes.

574. - Sir, your nuclear forces are ready. - They'll wait, right?

575. To see what happens before they retaliate.

576. What if he doesn't come back on?

577. Decapitation event.

578. We find the vice president...

579. - Any chance this lands in Lake Michigan? - A lot of times, they don't even detonate.

580. All right, I'm here.

581. - You'll need your SAS card, sir. - Oh.

582. It's in here somewhere.

583. Right.

584. Reminds me of when I was in college.

585. You just, uh, read it aloud.

586. Hey.

587. - November, Delta, Oscar. - Come here.

588. - One, one, one, seven. - It's okay.

589. November, Delta, Oscar.

590. One, one, one, seven.

591. National command authority confirmed.

592. Your orders, Mr. President?

593. - Steve. - General.

594. Goddamn! Lindor is a great shortstop, man.

595. Tell me you watched that All-Star game, please.

596. Let your boys stay up that late?

597. - Yours give you a choice? - No. No, they do not.

598. Call to arms!

599. Fire!

600. Ready!

601. Fire at will!

602. - This is awesome. - Uh-huh.

603. Well, 50,000 deaths in three days. Awesome is one word.

604. This is the DDO at the National Military Command Center

605. with a top-secret SCI national security conference

606. for missile launch indications.

607. All conferees, please stand by.

608. J3, are you tracking this?

609. I don't remember anything from the ops and intel briefing.

610. It's news to me, Dan. I'll look into it.

611. - Did you see that? - On it.

612. Whisper. Tracking inbound ICBM in the Pacific theater.

613. Attention on deck.

614. Morning, everybody. Please take your seats.

615. - Morning, sir. - What's the situation?

616. Sir, missile-launch indications in the Pacific theater.

617. The DDO's standing up a national security conference.

618. Sir, no update yet, but I'm hoping to have one soon.

619. - Did you see that ball game last night? - Yes, sir.

620. You believe that Lindor?

621. - I mean... - Impressive.

622. He is unbelievable.

623. Yep, it's all good news.

624. Okay.

625. Okay, I'll tell him.

626. Love you.

627. My mom wants to know if you're going to Helsinki next week.

628. She must have...

629. must have seen it on The View or something.

630. No. No, I won't be there,

631. but the briefing I wrote has a really nice first-class seat,

632. so that's great.

633. If you're really not that happy, I can talk to Marty.

634. No, don't talk to Marty. Staff director's a lateral move.

635. - I can't go back to the Hill. It's a, uh... - Hmm.

636. - It's just... - It's what?

637. - It's a bad idea... - Mmm.

638. to be working in such close proximity to my radiant wife.

639. You think that she'll inherit your capacity for ass-kissing bullshit?

640. Sorry.

641. Hey, it... uh, it's Jake.

642. Yeah.

643. Bye.

644. The DSP satellite system is generally reliable,

645. but that will obviously be a focus of our after-action.

646. So the launch could've been land or sea-based?

647. No, the DPRK don't have an SSBN capability.

648. That we know of.

649. Beijing's been wanting to test their Jin-class boats.

650. Eight sugars, please.

651. And we've been tracking three Borei-class subs

652. out of Vladivostok since last week.

653. On top of their push into the Atlantic,

654. I can't see 'em risking more sanctions.

655. Uh, sir, on the, uh, North Korean front—

656. - Who is that? - Jake Baerington, sir.

657. Dick Holland's deputy.

658. There's a reason I didn't join the Navy, son.

659. All that bouncing around's making me seasick.

660. I'm sorry, sir. I just, um... I'm almost at the White House.

661. I just wanted to say,

662. well, we do know that the KPA have been chasing sub capabilities,

663. okay, and previous leaps in booster design and TELs

664. have gone undetected till rollout.

665. Mr. Baerington? All due respect—

666. - Thank you. - Hello?

667. Mr. Baerington?

668. Did we lose him?

669. Mr. Baerington?

670. Hello? Sir?

671. Fuck.

672. Sir.

673. I do think we need to upgrade our salvage operations.

674. We're leaving potentially valuable intelligence on the ocean floor—

675. Sir.

676. Uh, excuse me a moment. What?

677. No way that's right.

678. NORTHCOM confirms.

679. Fort Greely's preparing to launch GBIs.

680. That's right, Tony. I've authorized weapons-release authority.

681. Um, sorry about that. Seems we have an update.

682. Current velocity indicates the object will go suborbital.

683. Current flight trajectory is consistent

684. with impact somewhere in the continental United States.

685. Holy shit.

686. What's your level of confidence on that, Tony?

687. It's not an error.

688. We're tracking it on multiple radar systems now.

689. I'm told... Hi, Jerry. we have dual phenomenology on the track.

690. Nineteen minutes to impact.

691. Confirming DEFCON 2.

692. We have a confirmed hostile launch, everyone.

693. Initiate phase one.

694. OPLAN 8044, revision 25.

695. - Stand by, all commands. - Yes, sir.

696. What is our target?

697. My team's doing everything they can...

698. Have you found POTUS yet?

699. Okay, when you find him, patch him in. Keep calling.

700. Can I have 15 seconds?

701. You gonna bring something back every time we forward deploy?

702. 'Cause you're creating an expectation.

703. He's three. He has no expectations.

704. Exactly.

705. Sometimes he wakes up, Daddy's gone. Sometimes Daddy's home.

706. Listen to him, kid. It's the benefit of two marriages talking.

707. Third time's the charm.

708. with no warning whatsoever.

709. - We need to speak with someone who can— - Of course, Mr. Secretary.

710. Jake, how's Lily doing?

711. - Sorry, I'm on a... - Well, tell her I said hi.

712. In the meantime, we've raised our alert status.

713. After last month's test launch, we forward-deployed a number of B-2—

714. Hello? Uh...

715. Sir, I'm sorry, I think, um... I think we got disconnected for a minute.

716. I think we should reconsider that, sir.

717. Reconsider what exactly?

718. Well...

719. By, uh... Go for it.

720. By moving to DEFCON 2, sir,

721. we are potentially risking a spiral of alerts.

722. Spiral of what?

723. Jake? Where the hell's Dick?

724. Spiral of alerts, Mr. Secretary.

725. And, uh, Dick's out of pocket right now.

726. But... when we increase our readiness—

727. - Sir. - Yeah.

728. all of our adversaries do the same,

729. believing we're preparing to take offensive action ourselves.

730. Okay, what we need to do, we need to communicate with them.

731. - We need to... we need to explain our— - Then communicate.

732. That's your job, not mine.

733. You have someone you can call who will tell us just what the hell's going on?

734. Don't let us hold you back.

735. - Sir, put your phone in the tray. - Just one sec.

736. - I don't have one sec. - Yeah.

737. I'm sorry. Sorry, General. I... I wasn't talking to you, sir.

738. Then who in the hell were you talking to?

739. Do we have an ETA for POTUS yet?

740. I'm told imminent.

741. It occurs to me, do we have COG responsibility here?

742. I'll be taking your questions at the later briefing this morning,

743. so if you can just hold them until then.

744. Sorry.

745. Sorry. Excuse me.

746. We still waiting on POTUS?

747. What do you think?

748. I'd be guessing.

749. Where the hell is POTUS?

750. North Koreans.

751. Fuel shortages. Crop failures.

752. Maybe they're more desperate than we thought.

753. B-2s are sortieing.

754. Or it's Moscow, and they want us to think it's the North Koreans.

755. Moscow knows we'll retaliate.

756. Do they?

757. Assassinating dissidents wherever they please.

758. Imprisoning Americans. Ukraine.

759. And what? We confiscate a few of their yachts in Saint-Tropez?

760. A single, unattributed strike

761. sows chaos,

762. puts us on our heels,

763. and it gives them an opportunity to see if they can get away with worse.

764. Gives everyone that opportunity.

765. Or some fucking sub captain woke up, found out his wife left him, and snapped.

766. - Yeah. - Told you I'm guessing.

767. Sir.

768. Battle gram.

769. Updating our target package.

770. We're still trying to ascertain that for you, sir.

771. Greely better not fuck this up.

772. I have an updated impact estimate.

773. Go ahead, Tony.

774. - Hey, when are we home again? - 1700 next Tuesday.

775. You think I can meet this girl at the Applebee's before they close?

776. - You take your dates to Applebee's? - She works there, dumb-ass.

777. Jesus Christ.

778. This is why we have the GBIs. No need to panic people.

779. Did you say Chicago?

780. Uh, yes. In the medium bucket.

781. My daughter lives in Chicago.

782. Sir, our GBIs will be airborne momentarily.

783. This is what we do.

784. Jake, you still there?

785. Yes, sir.

786. What are the chances this works? Knocking it down.

787. - General Brady should answer. - I'm asking you.

788. - Yes, but— - I know what he's gonna say.

789. And I want the truth.

790. I should stay in my lane, sir,

791. but... ... honestly...

792. Interceptors have launched. Everyone, interceptors have launched.

793. it depends on the circumstances.

794. Okay, when we... when we test...

795. When we test, we can't control—

796. Cut the bullshit, damn it!

797. Once the kill vehicle separates,

798. our midcourse intercept system has a success rate of 61%.

799. So it's a fucking coin toss?

800. That's what $50 billion buys us?

801. We are talking about hitting a bullet with a bullet.

802. Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me?

803. Mr. President, let's get you up to speed.

804. Attention on the flight line. Attention on the flight line.

805. Ground crew to hangar three.

806. Prep Ghost 1 for launch.

807. - This your office? - Yeah.

808. I need you to come with me, sir.

809. Fuel gauges checked!

810. Flight controls.

811. Munitions loaded.

812. Down the hall. Sir, we gotta move.

813. - Sir, is everything okay? - Gotta get to the elevator.

814. - Marty, where are you going? - Sir, we gotta get going now.

815. Let's go.

816. - Could be a mistake. - On our end or theirs?

817. Who are they?

818. - Deputy NSA arriving. - This way, sir.

819. Hold on.

820. What I'm asking is, what are the odds this is an intentional strike?

821. The odds, I'd put them at 75%.

822. I'd say 80%.

823. All due respect, I'm closer to 50-50.

824. Okay, is there anyone that can do better than shot-in-the-dark guesses?

825. We're not handicapping the fucking Army-Navy game?

826. - Uh, Mr. President. - Yes.

827. - Who's that? - This is, uh, Jake Baerington, sir.

828. Um, we actually met briefly before the, uh, G8 last year.

829. Uh...

830. If someone could... If... if we could get Anna Park.

831. She's the national intelligence officer for the DPRK.

832. She'll have a more informed view

833. on North Korean intentions and capabilities, sir.

834. Okay, so how do I talk to her?

835. We're getting her for you, uh, Mr. President.

836. Company men, ready!

837. Fire!

838. Wow!

839. I'm gonna have to call the office.

840. - Hello? - Hey, Anna. It's Jake.

841. - Jake. I just got a JEEP alert. - You're on an NSCC with the president.

842. - I'm sorry, what? - Hey, Miss Park.

843. It's the president.

844. I understand that you're... you're the expert.

845. There was a launch, Anna, about ten minutes ago. Not a test.

846. Okay, we need answers.

847. Starting with could the DPRK have an SSBN capability we don't know about?

848. And how likely is it that the regime would initiate a strike like this?

849. A launch? I mean...

850. Jake, I'm sorry. I'm off today.

851. - Okay? I'm not even... - Anna, what the... Where are you?

852. - What the hell? - Gettysburg.

853. Anna.

854. Please, this is real.

855. I can't answer either question with certainty, but yes,

856. they've absolutely been seeking a sea-based launch capability.

857. They deployed a modified Romeo-class sub two years ago

858. carrying ten short-range cruise missiles.

859. But why? Why... why would they do this?

860. The regime's primary motivation is self-preservation.

861. Wouldn't that discourage?

862. Sir, they may believe they can survive a retaliatory strike.

863. Which, given their dispersed command and control and mobile-launch system,

864. yes, it's entirely possible.

865. And then negotiate relief for themselves. Um, no more launches in exchange for aid.

866. They think they can blackmail us?

867. If you're losing a board game, you might as well topple it.

868. Miss Park, this is General Brady at STRATCOM.

869. Last time I checked,

870. Moscow's not exactly winning the game either.

871. You're not wrong, sir. The Russians are stretched and cornered.

872. They've been coordinating more closely with Beijing.

873. They've grown far more aggressive with their sub deployment.

874. Where exactly in the Pacific did the launch originate?

875. We can't be precise, ma'am.

876. DSP satellites missed it.

877. You're fucking kidding?

878. Why the hell does that matter? We're tracking them now, aren't we?

879. Yes, uh, Mr. President, we are.

880. It's just that blinding a DSP satellite,

881. it could indicate that we've been compromised.

882. A cyber penetration of our command-and-control systems.

883. Seven, eight...

884. Which would strongly suggest a sophisticated, coordinated assault

885. that is only just beginning.

886. There's no hard evidence of that.

887. We'd need more information.

888. The Chinese navy has been experimenting with AI-assisted launch systems,

889. so this could be a technical mishap.

890. All right, that's enough of this. This is a waste of time.

891. Sir, a... a cyber expert could potentially—

892. Yeah, well, find one, okay?

893. EKV has separated from the first GBI.

894. One minute to intercept.

895. - Aiden! - Boo!

896. Ma'am, I'm disconnecting you now.

897. - Okay. - If you have a JEEP alert, get moving.

898. Mom? What happened?

899. Left! Right!

900. Right! Right!

901. Left! Right!

902. At ease!

903. Ten seconds.

904. Nine.

905. Eight.

906. - Seven. - Before, with the chips—

907. - We're good, man. I'm a slob. - Six. Five...

908. To hell with her. Shouldn't have left it like that.

909. Three.

910. - Two. - Yeah.

911. One.

912. Confirm impact.

913. - Confirm impact. - Stand by. Confirming.

914. What are you waiting for?

915. - It's negative. - What'd he say?

916. What did he say?

917. I, um...

918. Negative impact.

919. Object remains inbound.

920. Like Baker said... coin toss.

921. We did every fucking thing right.

922. Mr. President, confirming DEFCON 1, sir.

923. Oh Jesus. We just went DEFCON 1.

924. Confirming.

925. What now, sir?

926. There is no plan B.

927. Yes, it's a negative.

928. - What do we do now? - I don't know. I don't know.

929. Yes, confirming.

930. Sir, Black Book's available.

931. Why the hell is that book out, son?

932. Mr. President, significant time and expertise were devoted

933. to designing these options.

934. You'll find a range, select, limited, and major,

935. depending on the scale of the response you feel is warranted.

936. I suggest you allow Lieutenant Commander Reeves to brief you.

937. Three 055 Renhai-class destroyers on the move.

938. Jesus Christ. I got action in Khorramabad. Sirens in Tel Aviv, sir.

939. Everybody knows we missed.

940. Mr. President, we're seeing some concerning activity

941. from our adversaries on a number of fronts.

942. More concerning than a goddamn nuclear launch?

943. Sir, the USS Virginia reports it's just lost contact with its shadow,

944. one of four Russian submarines we're tracking in the North Atlantic,

945. each presumably armed with 16 SLBMs.

946. Until we know differently, we have to assume this may get worse.

947. General Brady, I know everyone's trying to do their jobs here,

948. but we need to slow the fuck down.

949. President's right.

950. There's no way he can make an informed decision

951. under these circumstances.

952. Mr. President, Mr. Baerington,

953. slowing down is one luxury we just don't have.

954. These are the circumstances.

955. In little more than seven minutes, we will lose the city of Chicago.

956. I can't tell you why.

957. Or why we're seeing North Korea, Russia, China,

958. Pakistan, and even Iran raising their alerts

959. and mobilizing their forces across air, land, and sea.

960. Perhaps, as Mr. Baerington suggested earlier,

961. they are simply and innocently responding to our posture.

962. It is also possible

963. that they've seen our homeland is about to absorb a catastrophic blow,

964. and they are readying to take advantage of that.

965. Or this is all part of a phased, coordinated assault,

966. with far worse to come.

967. I simply don't know.

968. What I do know is this.

969. If we do not take steps to neutralize our enemies now,

970. we will lose our window to do so.

971. We can strike preemptively,

972. or risk 100 ICBMs launching our way,

973. at which time, this war will have already been lost.

974. And if there is no war?

975. If this is it?

976. I think we'd all welcome any indication of that.

977. As unfathomable as it was just five minutes ago,

978. I'd accept the loss of ten million Americans

979. if I could be absolutely certain it stops there.

980. Of course, in absence of that certainty, we can all certainly say a prayer

981. and rely on the goodwill of our adversaries to keep us safe.

982. Or we can hit their command centers, silos, and bombers

983. while they're still on the ground,

984. eliminating their ability to take further action against us.

985. We've already lost one American city today.

986. How many more do you wanna risk?

987. What kind of question is that?

988. - This is insanity, okay? - No, sir.

989. This is reality.

990. Six minutes to impact.

991. It's Walker. She's got the Russian foreign minister on the line.

992. We can't merge the calls.

993. Jake.

994. Sit room has the Russian foreign minister on the line,

995. but we cannot merge the call.

996. You need to pick up and take it.

997. It has to be you.

998. Okay?

999. The president needs a reason not to retaliate, okay? You give him one.

1000. - You ready? - Yeah.

1001. Let's go.

1002. This is Jake Baerington.

1003. - I'm the deputy national security advisor. - You authorized to speak?

1004. I'm authorized to do whatever's necessary to de-escalate this situation, sir.

1005. Your bombers are airborne. What kind of de-escalation is that?

1006. Mr. Foreign Minister,

1007. you have to understand that's only a precaution.

1008. Okay, our country is about to be hit

1009. by an entirely unprecedented and unprovoked attack.

1010. Which we had nothing to do with.

1011. Do I have your word?

1012. Can I assure the president that Russia has nothing to do with this,

1013. they're not behind the launch, and you will not seek to capitalize?

1014. Yes.

1015. And do I have your word

1016. that you won't use it as an excuse to wipe us out?

1017. - That's ridiculous. - Is it?

1018. You might tell your president,

1019. if your forces do not stand down, we will be compelled to respond in kind.

1020. You have a sub off our coast that just slipped its shadow.

1021. Order it to the surface to identify its location

1022. as a show of good faith.

1023. So you can wipe it out of the water?

1024. We are running out of time,

1025. and my wife is six months...

1026. Jake.

1027. I'm sorry. Um...

1028. Jake?

1029. Listen, if we get this wrong,

1030. none of us are gonna be alive tomorrow.

1031. Now, if you're telling me that you didn't do this,

1032. and I believe you,

1033. then I can promise you we will not hit any Russian targets.

1034. Can you promise me you will stand down your long-range strategic assets?

1035. Better. There'll be no retaliation at all.

1036. I completely agree.

1037. And I will push for that, but that is not my decision, sir.

1038. If you do retaliate,

1039. can you guarantee that your response will not infringe on our airspace?

1040. With our bombers, yes, of course.

1041. And missiles?

1042. If you determine that, God, fucking China is responsible—

1043. - Sir, there... - Tell the truth.

1044. No.

1045. Sir, we both know that there would be some overflight.

1046. There's no way around that.

1047. And you expect us to simply trust

1048. that warheads flying over our head are not destined on our cities?

1049. Hopefully, sir, there will not be any warheads.

1050. If there are, then, yes, I'm asking you to trust me.

1051. Trust.

1052. Why?

1053. - I'll talk to my president. - What if, um—

1054. Darkstar, this is Ghost 1.

1055. Approaching loiter position.

1056. Ghost 1-1, Darkstar. Picture clean.

1057. Stand by mission data package.

1058. Is this right?

1059. Darkstar, Ghost. MDB confirmed.

1060. Ghost, Darkstar. Stand by execution order.

1061. Forward-deployed B-2s are at loitering position.

1062. Mr. President, we're going to need your decision.

1063. Lieutenant Commander Reeves is your strike advisor

1064. and can walk you through the authentication process.

1065. Then you'll need to read aloud an attack option designation—

1066. Yeah. Look, I understand all that, all right?

1067. Reid, I need you.

1068. What do you think, Reid?

1069. We're close to take off.

1070. Did we lose him?

1071. Sir! No, no, no, no, sir!

1072. Holy shit!

1073. - What was that? - All right.

1074. Mr. President?

1075. - It's Jake again, sir. Baerington. - Keep your seats. Keep your seats.

1076. I spoke to the Russian foreign minister.

1077. He denies their responsibility for the launch.

1078. Said he spoke to Beijing, and he doesn't think it was them either.

1079. - I believed him, sir. - You did?

1080. - They gonna back down? - Sir, I think that they want to.

1081. And if we can guarantee that we will not retaliate,

1082. I think I can, uh...

1083. we can convince them.

1084. - What does that mean? - We don't launch.

1085. Against anyone.

1086. For now, at least.

1087. What, we just sit back and watch Chicago incinerate?

1088. Are you fucking kidding me? Do you think the American people are gonna go for that?

1089. Sir, the... the warhead, it might still malfunction.

1090. They do that sometimes.

1091. Did he agree to these terms?

1092. All right, we do nothing, they back off for certain?

1093. - More or less. - More or less?

1094. - Jake. - Yes, sir.

1095. I'm gonna need you to breathe.

1096. I'm breathing just fine, sir.

1097. Good 'cause my job is to make this decision. I wish it weren't.

1098. And your job is to tell me exactly what he agreed to.

1099. - No bullshit. Can you do that? - He didn't agree to anything, sir.

1100. He said he needed to speak with his president.

1101. Sounds to me like we know nothing new.

1102. Wrong, General. If we do what he's asking,

1103. if we hold back, there's at least a chance.

1104. Two minutes and 30 seconds.

1105. Jake, Jake, I do what you're suggesting,

1106. I let whoever did this get away with it.

1107. How is that any different from surrendering?

1108. Sir, if you wanna look at it that way,

1109. then I'm telling you your choices are

1110. surrender or suicide.

1111. Uh...

1112. We gonna need a minute.

1113. So what now? What are we doing?

1114. Now I call Fort Belvoir.

1115. Put the Army Corps of Engineers on standby.

1116. In case the White House gets hit and they need to dig us out.

1117. Oh God.

1118. - Serious? - That's the plan.

1119. There's a plan for this?

1120. If this order comes through...

1121. I know my job, sir.

1122. Romeo, Bravo, Juliett, Whiskey, Delta, Foxtrot, Echo.

1123. Missilization order is authentic.

1124. Romeo, Bravo, Juliett,

1125. Whiskey, Delta, Foxtrot, Echo.

1126. I concur with missilization.

1127. Three, two, one. Turn.

1128. Sir, standing by for fire order.

1129. Sir, your nuclear forces are ready.

1130. - Sir, B-2s are at loiter. - Yes, sir.

1131. Missile field status green.

1132. What if he doesn't come back on?

1133. Decapitation event. We find the vice president.

1134. If we can't reach him, speaker. Right on down the list.

1135. I'm here.

1136. - You'll need your SAS card, sir. - Oh.

1137. It's in here somewhere.

1138. Right.

1139. Reminds me of when I was in college.

1140. You just, uh, read it aloud.

1141. November, Delta, Oscar.

1142. One, one, one, seven.

1143. November, Delta, Oscar.

1144. One, one, one, seven.

1145. National command authority confirmed.

1146. Your orders, Mr. President?

1147. My orders?

1148. You sure you don't want any coffee? Water?

1149. No, thank you, ma'am.

1150. Betty, can you get us the majority leader?

1151. Quickly, please. Thanks.

1152. Already 45 minutes late.

1153. POTUS for majority leader, please.

1154. Thank you.

1155. That's looking more like it.

1156. Nope.

1157. Out playing nine.

1158. It's going, I guess.

1159. Last time I was around all these uniforms, I was a private.

1160. They're still full of shit.

1161. Thanks, George. I appreciate that.

1162. We were lucky to have 33 great years.

1163. Meant the world you and Sheila came to the funeral.

1164. Okay, talk later.

1165. Sir.

1166. Sir.

1167. - Thank you. - Yeah.

1168. Let's knock this in now.

1169. Hey. I was hoping to catch you.

1170. - I wish you were here to see this. - Yeah? Is it going good?

1171. They say anything that raises awareness helps.

1172. - Okay. - You sound tired.

1173. No. Um...

1174. I'm fine.

1175. My husband, the only politician who can't lie to save his life.

1176. Okay. I'm fucked.

1177. You know, didn't they, uh,

1178. promise that, uh,

1179. we'd get used to it after a while?

1180. "Worse than the campaign." I think that's what I remember.

1181. I think they said it would break us, actually.

1182. Oh, speaking of, we have to talk about my mother.

1183. Now the doctor's saying she needs full-time help.

1184. Hello? Are you there?

1185. It's not just me. It's the doctor.

1186. Okay. I mean, you know. Let's do it when you come back, all right?

1187. It's not fair that you got the save-the-elephants high ground.

1188. I always have the high ground.

1189. - And don't you forget it, buddy. - You all right though?

1190. - Huh? - Hey.

1191. - You... you okay? - Fine.

1192. Can you hear me?

1193. Hello?

1194. Hon, can you hear me?

1195. Bruce, what do we have, uh,

1196. now?

1197. - Basketball, sir. - Oh.

1198. - Is that, uh, Angel Reese still? - Yeah, with the kids.

1199. - You ready for that? - Of course.

1200. You been shooting around a little bit?

1201. - You got a jump shot? - Do I have a jump shot?

1202. - Yeah. - Little one.

1203. - Maybe. - Show me.

1204. - Like, you wanna see it? - Don't sh... No, Bruce, no.

1205. - Okay. - Hey, Betty.

1206. Can you, uh...

1207. Can you ask the, uh, guy to put the insole in this thing?

1208. - It slipped out again? - Just, I don't know what's going on.

1209. Oh God.

1210. What's the name of the school that, uh... the class?

1211. - The Jump Shot Girls Basketball Camp, sir. - Jump Shot. Jump Shot.

1212. - How's your jump shot, Ken? - It's not bad, sir.

1213. How about yours?

1214. I don't have the knees.

1215. After the budget signing, I've slotted some prep time for the hearing.

1216. - Oh, which one is that? - House Oversight.

1217. - Red Sea shipping task force. - Right.

1218. Sure.

1219. Okay.

1220. Whose ass am I kissing first?

1221. Senator Cunningham. Democrat. Connecticut.

1222. He supported the additional funding from the start.

1223. This is Secretary Baker.

1224. Icon arriving.

1225. How's my tie?

1226. Looks good, sir.

1227. All right.

1228. Mr. President. Mr. President.

1229. Who's your favorite WNBA star, sir?

1230. Mr. President, how's it going today?

1231. Feeling good.

1232. Mr. President, I look forward to shooting around.

1233. Mr. President, who has a better three-point shot, you or Angel?

1234. That's a... Is that a trick question?

1235. Trying to set me up. Okay. I know.

1236. Do you think you can take her?

1237. - One more question for you. - I don't know about that.

1238. All right.

1239. The hurt doesn't show

1240. But the pain still grows...

1241. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.

1242. How's everybody doing?

1243. I can feel it Coming in the air tonight...

1244. How's it going? How you doing? Good to see you. Good to see you.

1245. How you doing? Nice to see you.

1246. I've been waiting for this moment

1247. For all my life...

1248. What's up, man? How you doing?

1249. I can feel it in the air tonight

1250. Oh Lord

1251. - Oh Lord - Good. Good to see you. All right.

1252. And I've been waiting for...

1253. - Hey, Angel. - Hey.

1254. I came to play.

1255. - It's an honor to have you. - Really good to meet you.

1256. Hey, everybody. Put 'em up. Let's go. Let's go.

1257. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

1258. Oh, you want... Me?

1259. Me?

1260. Come on.

1261. Okay, let's see, let's see, let's see.

1262. Oh!

1263. One more. One more. Okay, one more. Let's see.

1264. I'm just warming up, okay?

1265. - Take your time. - Mm-hmm.

1266. - That was good. That was good. - That was good.

1267. Well, it's really nice to be here. I'm really glad to be here.

1268. How's it feel to have the morning off school?

1269. Feel good? Let me see your shot. You got a shot for me?

1270. Go ahead. Let me see the ball. Let's see.

1271. Oh!

1272. That's great. I'll have my office call over with some dates.

1273. - Reviewed. Here are my notes. - Thanks, Senator.

1274. - Let's get ready to present. - Sir, whizzer's on the line.

1275. - You can use your SAS card. - Sure. Okay.

1276. - This is Secretary Baker. - Authenticate, sir.

1277. Bravo 19416.

1278. They said I gotta teach you something, and I'm...

1279. I'm not gonna teach you to shoot. I know you can do that.

1280. But, uh, I wanna tell you a little story about how sports helped change my life.

1281. Growing up, I wasn't athletic like... like Angel here.

1282. I wasn't athletic. I couldn't play football.

1283. I hear you're rotating out next month.

1284. My mom and pop had, you know, a store...

1285. Back to Omaha.

1286. I bet you're gonna miss this.

1287. - Standing around while the star performs. - Show me your shot. Go ahead.

1288. He took his time, see?

1289. Yeah! Yeah!

1290. Now...

1291. This is my third.

1292. They're all chronically late narcissists.

1293. At least this one reads the newspaper.

1294. My understanding was we initiate on launch.

1295. Get people moving. Can we get a legal opinion on that?

1296. Yeah, I'm not sure that's right, Reid.

1297. In fact, I'm damn near certain the president has COG.

1298. Well, I'm issuing the order.

1299. Plenty of time to sort it later, and if you're gonna start moving people,

1300. I don't wanna be caught with our pants down.

1301. I have an updated impact estimate.

1302. Go ahead, Tony.

1303. Low probability. Louisville, St. Louis.

1304. Medium. Chicago, Indianapolis.

1305. High. Cleveland, Columbus.

1306. That's primary, of course. Still assessing the prevailing winds.

1307. Jesus Christ.

1308. This is why we have the GBIs. No need to panic people.

1309. Did you say Chicago?

1310. Uh, yes. In the medium bucket.

1311. My daughter lives in Chicago.

1312. If our country's gonna fix the world's problems,

1313. we're gonna have to work together.

1314. - Teamwork, as we have been talking about. - Hello?

1315. I also think that I won't get to play for Team USA.

1316. - Yeah. Hey. - Hello?

1317. We need to pull him. Quickly if we can.

1318. - What the hell's going on? - I don't know.

1319. Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

1320. - Just like the white-winged dove - We gotta go.

1321. Sings the song Sounds like she's singing...

1322. Move! Move!

1323. - What's happening? - Calm down.

1324. Come on.

1325. What the fuck, Ken?

1326. I'm connecting you to an NSCC.

1327. The United States is under attack, sir.

1328. So it's a fucking coin toss?

1329. That's what $50 billion buys us?

1330. We're talking about hitting a bullet with a bullet.

1331. Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me?

1332. Mr. President... ... let's get you up to speed.

1333. - So it could be a mistake. - On our end or—

1334. Lindsay!

1335. We need to find the nearest base to Chicago.

1336. - I don't think there is one. - Anywhere that has a helicopter.

1337. - I can try National Guard. - Find Carrie.

1338. - I'll try. I will call. - They're saying it's 15 minutes. Hurry.

1339. Reid, are you still there?

1340. Yeah, uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm here.

1341. Oh.

1342. - Yeah, I'm here. I'm here. - What do you make of this?

1343. - I really don't know - Don't know?

1344. You're running the fucking Pentagon.

1345. They had one briefing when I was sworn in. One.

1346. And they told me that's the protocol.

1347. They told me the same thing.

1348. Shit, I got a whole fucking briefing on when a Supreme Court justice dies.

1349. Replacement. Replacement for what happens if the replacement drops out.

1350. Shit, what to do if the original guy

1351. crawls out of his grave and wants his job back.

1352. We focused on more likely scenarios.

1353. Things we might actually have to deal with.

1354. Yeah, with this.

1355. Best I can remember, we follow the steps.

1356. We... we're following procedure.

1357. Negative. That's 20 minutes from the South Lawn.

1358. - Go to Andrews. - Anna. It's Jake.

1359. Jake. I just got a JEEP alert.

1360. You're on an NSCC with the president.

1361. - I'm sorry, what? - Hey, Miss Park. This is the president.

1362. I understand that you're... you're the expert.

1363. There was a launch, A—

1364. - Hi. - Hey, leave a message.

1365. Please don't send me to voicemail.

1366. It's your father. It's an emergency. Call me.

1367. Did you reach anyone?

1368. I'm on with Great Lakes Naval Station.

1369. - Maybe they can trace her phone. - Transport's ready. Let's go, sir.

1370. - Go where? - NMCC's initiated Ivy Pulse.

1371. - Helo's inbound. - I didn't ask for that.

1372. - What about this call? - Thank you. Hold on. What's happening?

1373. - I'm supposed to stay on. - The secretary needs to evacuate.

1374. All right, can I speak to you in the hallway, please?

1375. enough of this. This is a waste of time.

1376. Sir, a cyber expert could potentially—

1377. Yeah, well, find one, okay?

1378. EKV has separated from the first GBI.

1379. One minute to intercept.

1380. This better fucking work.

1381. How will we know, Tony?

1382. Give me a second.

1383. We'll get the MDB on speaker from Fort Greely.

1384. Four minutes to the LZ, sir.

1385. Ten seconds.

1386. Nine.

1387. - Eight. Seven. - Listen, with the chips—

1388. - We're good, man. I'm a slob. - Six. Five...

1389. To hell with her. Shouldn't have left it like that.

1390. Three.

1391. Two.

1392. One.

1393. Confirm impact.

1394. - Confirm impact. - Stand by. Confirming.

1395. Come on. What are you waiting for?

1396. - It's negative. - What'd he say?

1397. What'd he say?

1398. I, uh...

1399. A negative impact.

1400. Object remains inbound.

1401. We did every fucking thing right.

1402. Mr. President, confirming DEFCON 1, sir.

1403. Oh Jesus. We just went DEFCON 1.

1404. - Okay. - Negative impact.

1405. Confirming.

1406. Uh...

1407. Major, confirm the release of two additional GBIs to intercept.

1408. Why the hell is that book out, son?

1409. Mr. President, significant time and expertise were devoted

1410. to designing these options.

1411. You'll find a range, select, limited, and major,

1412. depending on the scale of the response you feel is warranted.

1413. I suggest you allow Lieutenant Commander Reeves to brief you.

1414. Per the provisions of OPLAN 8044, Revision 25,

1415. the NMCC requests authority to initiate a counterstrike.

1416. The green tab are SAOs,

1417. yellow, LAOs,

1418. and red, MAOs.

1419. Within each section, your options are organized by region.

1420. On each page, you'll find a designation number,

1421. both a map and a list of targets,

1422. along with enemy casualty estimates.

1423. Where would you like to begin, sir?

1424. Mr. President, we're seeing some concerning activity

1425. from our adversaries on a number of fronts.

1426. More concerning than a goddamn nuclear launch?

1427. - Please stop. - Carrie.

1428. - I told you, I need space. - I know. I...

1429. - Where are you? - I'm not doing this now.

1430. Carrie, please.

1431. I'm home, about to leave for rehearsal.

1432. Look, can I call you later?

1433. My therapist actually thinks that...

1434. I know we have to talk at some point.

1435. With Mom, it's just been a lot, okay?

1436. I know.

1437. You coming, hon?

1438. - Yeah, I'm coming. I have to go. - We're gonna be late.

1439. - Who is that? - A friend.

1440. I'm seeing someone.

1441. - You are? - Yeah.

1442. Is it serious?

1443. - Come on. - Well, is it?

1444. Yeah, I think so.

1445. He's going with you to work?

1446. We walk together. It's in the same direction.

1447. Good.

1448. That's good.

1449. You're being really strange. I'll call you when I can, okay?

1450. - I love you, Carrie. - Goodbye, Dad.

1451. Okay.

1452. Sir, I insist that you leave.

1453. Sir, sorry. I've transferred the call.

1454. You need to leave now.

1455. Sir.

1456. We've already lost one American city today.

1457. - How many more do you wanna risk? - What kind of fucking question is that?

1458. This is insanity, okay?

1459. No, sir.

1460. This is reality.

1461. Six minutes to impact.

1462. - What's your name? - Lieutenant Commander Reeves, sir.

1463. How old are you, man?

1464. Uh, 32, sir.

1465. Got a family?

1466. I have a wife, sir.

1467. Icon arriving.

1468. Andrews tower, Marine One taking off.

1469. Eighty-nine targets,

1470. mostly military installations and leadership sites.

1471. As of last month, we have a B-2 squadron forward-deployed.

1472. We'll also employ our Ohio-class subs,

1473. each with 24 Trident II D5 MIRV-equipped ballistic missiles.

1474. This option calls for a dozen Minutemen as well, out of Warren.

1475. How does this make sure we're not hit again?

1476. When I woke up this morning, we were certain

1477. the North Koreans could not launch from a sub.

1478. Now maybe they can. What the fuck?

1479. The plan assumes our target list is incomplete.

1480. But by taking out the most critical command and control centers,

1481. it lowers the chance...

1482. Or it provokes one, right?

1483. Um...

1484. My job is to explain your options and execute your orders. I'm not qualified—

1485. You carry this all day. I've never seen it before.

1486. It's like a fucking diner menu. I'm asking for your help, son.

1487. I actually call them rare, medium, and well-done.

1488. - It's sick, I know. - Illustrates the point.

1489. I sit still. Do nothing for now.

1490. You can. Hope this is a fluke or a one-off.

1491. That whoever did this just stops.

1492. God give you any answers?

1493. Uh...

1494. Not looking for one, sir. I just...

1495. Sorry, sir.

1496. Don't apologize. I go to church. I just...

1497. I haven't for a while.

1498. I always thought having you follow me around with that book of plans

1499. for weapons like that...

1500. Just being ready is the point, right?

1501. Keeps people in check. Keeps the world straight.

1502. If they see how prepared we are, no one starts a nuclear war, right?

1503. Like you said before, it's insanity.

1504. But someone did.

1505. So none of this makes sense.

1506. Unless it was a mistake.

1507. But the genie's out.

1508. If we do nothing, the bad guys see that they can get away with it.

1509. I listened to this podcast,

1510. and the guy said, uh,

1511. "It's like we all built a house filled with dynamite."

1512. Making all these bombs and all these plans, and

1513. the walls are just ready to blow.

1514. But we kept on living in it.

1515. If you're gonna hit back, sir...

1516. MAO7

1517. or MAO9.

1518. End it now, once and for all.

1519. It's the best chance some of us survive this.

1520. Mr. President, we're going to need your decision.

1521. Lieutenant Commander Reeves is your strike advisor

1522. and can walk you through the authentication process.

1523. Then you'll need to read aloud an attack option designation.

1524. Reid, I need you...

1525. What do you think, Reid?

1526. Wait. Did we lose him?

1527. Good morning, Mr. Secretary. We're prepped and ready for takeoff.

1528. Sir, where are you going?

1529. No, no, no, no, no, sir!

1530. Holy shit!

1531. What was that?

1532. Mr. President? It's Jake, uh, again, sir. Uh, Baerington.

1533. I just spoke to the Russian foreign minister.

1534. He denies their responsibility for the launch.

1535. Said he spoke to Beijing, and he doesn't think it was them either.

1536. - I believed him, sir. - You did?

1537. They gonna back down?

1538. Sir, I think that they want to.

1539. And if we can guarantee that we will not retaliate,

1540. I think I can, uh...

1541. we can convince them.

1542. - What... what does that mean? - That we don't launch.

1543. Against anyone.

1544. For now, at least.

1545. So we just sit back and watch Chicago incinerate?

1546. Are you kidding me? Do you think the American people are gonna go for that?

1547. Sir, the... the warhead, it might still malfunction.

1548. They do that sometimes.

1549. Did he agree to these terms?

1550. All right, we do nothing, they back off for certain?

1551. - More or less. - More or less?

1552. - Jake. - Yes, sir.

1553. I'm gonna need you to breathe.

1554. I'm breathing fine.

1555. Good 'cause my job is to make this decision. I wish it weren't.

1556. And your job is to tell me exactly what he agreed to.

1557. All right?

1558. - No bullshit. Can you do that? - He didn't agree to anything.

1559. He said he needed to speak with his president.

1560. Sounds to me like we know nothing new.

1561. Wrong, General.

1562. If we do what he's asking,

1563. if we hold back, there's at least a chance.

1564. Two minutes and 30 seconds.

1565. Jake, I do what you're suggesting, I let whoever did this get away with it.

1566. How is that any different from surrendering?

1567. Sir, if you wanna look at it that way,

1568. then I'm telling you your choices are

1569. surrender or suicide.

1570. I'm gonna need a minute.

1571. Yes, sir.

1572. - Ma'am. - Yeah.

1573. It's the president. Sounds urgent.

1574. Hey, hon. Is everything okay?

1575. What?

1576. Did you say nuclear?

1577. Oh my God.

1578. Oh my God, I don't know.

1579. They want me to retaliate.

1580. It's a lot of lives. A lot of lives. And if I don't...

1581. Are you there?

1582. Are you there?

1583. Ali.

1584. Can you get him back?

1585. - Alison. - I...

1586. You did what?

1587. This fucking...

1588. All right, I'm here.

1589. - You'll need your SAS card, sir. - Oh.

1590. Right.

1591. Reminds me of when I was in college.

1592. You just, uh, read it aloud.

1593. November, Delta, Oscar.

1594. One, one, one, seven.

1595. - November, Delta, Oscar. - Let me see that.

1596. One, one, one, seven.

1597. National command authority confirmed.

1598. Your orders, Mr. President?

1599. My orders?

1600. Joe! Joe, come on! Joe!

1601. - Form a line. - Get your IDs out.

1602. Keep it orderly, folks.

1603. Keep moving, man.

1604. Have your IDs ready.

1605. Bus three is full! Send it!

1606. Room for two more on seven.

1607. - Sorry, she's not on the list. - This way. Come on.

1608. Keep it orderly, folks!

1609. - Bus four is ready. Send it. - Get your IDs out.

1610. Have your IDs ready.