Silent Death
“Captain Taylor, we located the syntax error in the code and have made appropriate adjustments.”
Standing up from behind his desk, the captain said, “Lt. Vahn, are you willing to stake that silver bar on your collar that the system will work this time?”
Ignoring the question, Lt. Vahn handed the captain a single sheet of flash paper and replied, “Sir, we have just received orders from Division.” The Lieutenant paused before continuing. “Sir, the President and Congress have just declared war with Libya.”
Captain Taylor read the sheet of paper and grabbing the lighter from atop the humidor on his desk, held a flame to the edge of the paper. The paper which was in his hands moments before was gone.
“Lt. Vahn, have your men deploy the software updates. It appears that Silent Death is going to be battlefield tested.”
“Sir?”
“Yes Lieutenant?”
“Sir, I hope we did the right thing. I mean…”
“So do I L .T., so do I. Carry on.”
The software was deployed and the war began.