The Sampson Option (Game Chang

As the clock at Gavriel’s workstation reached four minutes thirteen seconds, an alarm sounded. Everyone in the control room looked up at the speakers mounted on the wall. Then a voice spoke. “Standby for an Emergency Message.” Gavriel and the launch control officers took out their notebooks and pens. Moments later, the voice continued. “Lamed, ayin, resh, ayin, gimel, gimel, bet, qof…” They dutifully copied down the text and swapped notebooks. When the repeat broadcast concluded, Gavriel checked the pages, and then turned to Ari. “Sir, they read the same.” Ari glanced over Gavriel’s shoulder at the notebooks, then nodded. “I concur. The Emergency Action Message has been accurately received.” As they had done before, the launch control officers unlocked the safe and removed a second authentication card. Ari compared the letters on the card to the first few letters of the message they just received. “The message is authentic,” he nodded. Gavriel took the card and repeated the process. “Yes,” he nodded. “The message is confirmed.” He reached across his desk and handed it to the technician. “Quickly,” Gavriel snapped. “This is an order to stand down.” Before the technician could grasp the message, Khoury stepped forward and snatched it away. He held the message in one hand and drew his automatic pistol in the other. “Move this way. Both of you,” he said gesturing to the technicians with the pistol. “Step away from the panel.”