I forgot to write about the last 6 chapters of the book (4-9) but in this blog I'm going to be talking about what happened in chapter 10. Well emerging from the plane, Hall sees nothing but a sparsely furnished Quonset with two pilots and a guard sitting inside. Leavitt and Hall drive a blue unmarked sedan down a pockmarked road towards the installation. As they drive, Leavitt confirms that the site down, in fact, have its own nuclear weapon capable of incinerating the entire area. When Hall mentions that the odd man hypothesis section had been deleted from his file, Leavitt responds that it will all be explained later.The two men drive into the wildfire compound, which is surrounded by a cornfield and a chain link fence to make the entire facility look like a government agricultural project. As they walk through the station and enter an underground elevator, Leavitt explains that the cover is a fully functional agricultural station designed to grow foods in highly alkaline soil. Everything about the facility is designed to draw as little attention to the project as possible. Hidden sensors and guard dogs also protected the base.Upon entering level 1, Hall must remove all this clothing, watches, rings, etc. and put on new clothing, in order to avoid bringing in unnecessary contaminants. Both fingerprint screeners and voice identification modules are used to verify Hall’s identity. Afterwards, a robotic medical machine scans Hall for fungus, allergies, and also gives him an intravenous needle and booster shots. Walking down the red corridor to meet with the team, Leavitt explains that each of the five levels is painted a different color. Finally, Hall enters a room marked “Conference room 7” where the rest of the team is waiting for him. Stone removes a red key on a chain from his pocket and hands it over to Hall. When Hall expresses confusion as to the purpose of the key, Leavitt reminds Stone that Hall has not yet been informed of the odd man hypothesis.The men sit down and Stone explains how the process through which the nuclear device can be detonated in the event of major contamination. Stone’s silver is inserted on level one. It prepares the device for countdown and can never be removed. Hall’s red key, however, will be inserted at the facility’s lowest level. There is a three minute delay between the insertion of the Stone’s silver key and detonation. During this window, it is Hall’s responsibility to think the situation through and decide whether or not to call it off by inserting his own red key.In response to Hall’s questions, Stone points out that Hall is the only single member of the team. Army studies conclude that unmarried individuals tend to respond better under stress than married individuals. Hall’s marital status, when combined with his occupation, makes him the ideal person to make the final decision on incinerating the station. The responsibility is his alone. Its crazy how its all on Hall now because if i was in a situation like that with all the pressure i wouldn't know what to do.
Pgs. 14-117
Pgs. 14-117
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