13th September – Judgement Day
Angela sat ready to write notes. ‘We need to remember every scrap of information that any of us dreamed about last night,’ she said. ‘Forcing entry to the tunnel triggered those mines. It’s not impossible that other booby traps will also have been automatically activated.’ She turned to Elliot. ‘What did you dream last night?’
‘I didn’t dream anything that I can remember about getting to the control room,’ he replied. ‘I remember the door to the bunker swinging open and both Carson and Hemmingway pulling guns.’ He paused as if straining to recall further details. ‘Sorry, that’s all I can recall,’ he said.
‘I dreamed that we had to step over trap doors at various locations along the tunnel,’ said Robin. ‘I also dreamed about being in the bunker. I think I fired some shots. I think Hemmingway and Carson were hit.’
‘We’re going to reach the bunker after Hemmingway and Carson have set today’s password,’ said Elliot. ‘If they’re killed, the password dies with them, and Theta can’t launch the missiles.’
‘Anything else about last night’s dreams?’ asked Angela.
Everyone shook their heads.
Angela recounted her experience: ‘I dreamed about a large stone ball that was triggered by a trip wire in the floor – just after a bend in the passage. It filled almost the whole passage. It was released from a compartment in the ceiling, rolled about one hundred metres, then disappeared through a trap door in the floor. It would have crushed anyone in its path.’
Elliot, Robin, Paul and Angela spent the next hour making drawings of the tunnel from recollections of their dreams and planning how to overcome the trap door and rolling boulder problems.
It had been agreed that they would attempt to take the bunker. Robin and Paul had the necessary attack and weaponry skills, and it was possible that memories triggered about their dreams would give all of them together the best chance of succeeding: more so than any other military personnel who might make the attempt.
Their familiarity with the situation was also thought by the president to give them the best chance of isolating the password in time. Nothing in any dream had given an indication of that.
Elliot’s phone rang. ‘They’ve exposed the entrance to the tunnel,’ he said as he ended the call.