Omaha

"When will we hear from Omaha?"

"I already told you, I have no idea when we will hear from them," Jordan replied, "Why do you keep asking me?"

"It's not for me, June over in three keeps calling. I tell you that one is on edge."

"Hell we're all on edge down here."

"No I mean really on edge, like kind of makes me worry she's like only fourteen protocol steps from the button, the big red button," Holly replied.

"Give her a break Holly, in three they're not as interwoven as we are here," Jordan said leaning back in his chair and looking up at the massive view screen. On it was a huge, lighted map of the world with a number of "hot spots" flashing red.

"Not as interwoven?" she asked, peeking through the gap at the bottom of the screen.

Jordan cupped his hand and made a back and forth motion while closing his eyes.

"You don't mean..."

"I do mean, she's in there with several by the bookers, straight arrows who are married first to the USAF and secondly to their husbands and/or wives."

"So no..."

"None," Jordan replied, moving his attention to his computer screen. He clicked a few keys and a streaming video popped up. At the bottom of the screen "Sri Lanka" was flashing in red. "You know, we ought to just summarily sanitize these 'hot spots.'"

"Yeah, put them out of their misery. Hey, speaking of misery, why don't we get June to come over after shift?"

"Well I'm good with that, she'll be an odd number but I think we can work something out."

"Oh damn," Holly said, "This is June calling again."

"Still nothing from Omaha."

"Yeah June...

"Okay there still is no word from Omaha...

"No, Jordan has no idea...

"Look June, you need to take it easy. You're new here, why don't you come over after your shift ends and we'll get together here.

"No, no, don't bother bringing them, I mean they pretty well know all the bells and buttons, we just thought we'd let you get out of there for a minute or so. If just to visit another silo it would be worth it wouldn't it?

"Okay then, look don't try to drive it, it must be twenty below out there, take the trolley.

"Yeah, yeah, just lay down on it and you'll make it fine, we do it all the time. So you good?

"Okay, we'll wait for you say eighteen hundred hours?

"Good, see you then. Bye," Holly finished gently hanging up the phone. Peeking beneath the screen she nodded to Jordan, "She's coming over, eighteen hundred hours."

Jordan nodded and then stood up, "I'll go tell Jane and Stewart we'll have a visitor tonight." He walked through the large metal door, closing it behind him.

Leaning back in her chair, Jordan watched as a small red light began to flash in the Philippines. "Hmmm, a new one," she whispered to herself as she hit a few keys and began the targeting program run. She then looked up and saw June standing there.

"It's started, haven't you heard from Omaha?"

"June, what are you doing here?"

"Didn't you hear me, it started?"

"What started?" Jordan.

"Operation Green Eggs Alpha?"

Grabbing her codebook, Jordan quickly leafed through several pages and then looked up at June, "Was a keyword spoken?"

"Ham."

"Mommyfucker," Jordan cried out grabbing her intercom, "Holly, you better get Stewart and come here now."

"What's up?"

"Those GI Joes next door have gone alpha."

"What, another drill?"

"No Holly, Green Eggs Alpha, keyword Ham!"

"My God," she then screamed into the intercom, "Stewart, get up to the main com pronto. This is not, I repeat not a drill."

Stewart rushed into the control room just ahead of Holly, "What's the board say?"

"Clean, two flashing red, nothing else."

"Then what are they doing? June you were there, what happened?"

"The board when blank, when it returned everything was flashing. Roger called it, Harold confirmed."

"The board's clean, what the hell are they doing? Get me a com line over to them."

"What about Omaha? June asked.

"Fuck Omaha, we gotta get them shut down."

"But what if it's real?"

"Come on June, our stuff malfunctions, mistakes are made, but no way this is real."

"Dammit Jordan, I cant get them on the com, I'll use the trolley."

"No good, they told me to seal it behind me."

"That's not protocol," Jordan said.

"The board, what's on the board?"

"The board is clean!"

"We need to start," June shouted.

"Why start, the board is clean?" Stewart asked.

"My God, the board, look at the board, it's gone all red," Jordan screamed.

"Son of a bitch," Stewart replied, he then paused, took a deep breath and then grabbed a key. Unlocking his desk he pulled out a notebook and opened it. "Okay, everyone stay calm," looking down at the book he read out Operation One fish Delta," turning the page he then read out, "Keyword: Two fish."

June then screamed, "Why hasn't anyone called Omaha, Omaha, Oma, Oma..."

-----

"June, June darling. You're Oma's here."

"Oma, Oma, Omaha..." she called out running to her grandmother.

"Why June, you're crying, what's wrong?"

"One fish, two fish," she replied, grabbing her and squeezing her hard.

Her grandmother looked up to the daycare worker and said, "You just have to wonder what they do in there all day together."

"Yes, whatever it is they work at it so hard. Oh Jordan," she called out, "your mother's here."

"Mommy, mommy," she called out running. "Blue fish, mommy, it was red fish blue fish and I called it."

"Oh that's nice dear, are you ready to go home."

Jordan nodded then looked back at her crew and waved, "Bye Stewart, bye Holly." She then took her mother's hand and headed out to the car.