Rutra realized he had to leave, thanked the general politely, promised to consult him on controversial matters, and left for his room.

The next day Vasilyevich was aware of his conversation with Ivashov, which did not surprise Rutra. Zhidkov didn't emphasize it either; he was glad that Ivashov himself had shown a desire to help.

– It may have been turned on during the incident with Colonel Petrov. The story is, of course, very suspicious," he said abruptly, listening to Rutra's speculation as to the existence of possible collusion.

– Are you referring to the incident of September 26, 1983? The day our world almost died? – Ruthra asked.

– Yes. Understand, despite all the concern about global warming, the most important threat to mankind is still its vast nuclear arsenals. It's hard to suspect him, though. He had the day off and his partner was sick. Petrov was called back to duty at the last minute.

The head of the center sat down in a chair in Rutra's office and began to narrate as usual:

– On the night of September 26, 1983, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov was on operational duty at the Serpukhov-15 command post, 100 km from Moscow. At that time, the Cold War was at its peak: three and a half weeks earlier, the Soviet Union had shot down a South Korean Boeing 747 passenger plane that had violated the border twice. The command center received information from the Oko space early warning system, which had been adopted a year earlier. In the event of a missile attack, the country's leadership was immediately notified, which made a decision to retaliate. On September 26, while Petrov was on duty, the computer reported a missile launch from an American base. However, after analyzing the information that the launches were from only one location and consisted of only a few ICBMs, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov decided that this was a false alarm. Subsequent investigation determined that the cause was the illumination of the satellite's sensors by sunlight reflected from high-altitude clouds. If the cold war turned into a hot war, every second mattered. Everything depended on instantaneous decisions… I talked to him. As he tells it, it all happened suddenly. Alarm lights flashed, sirens blared. The computer said the United States had just started a war. Told how he turned pale. Cold sweat ran down his back. Yet he acted coolly. The computer was literally screaming: "Missile strike imminent!" It didn't make any sense. The computer seemed to have detected three, then four, now five missiles, but the number was still incongruously small. According to the basic tenets of Cold War doctrine, if one side launches a preemptive nuclear missile strike, it should be a mass launch of missiles of crushing power. Accordingly, it is logical that he considered it a mistake. In a friendly conversation, over a drink, he confessed to me that he decided to wait, because besides him, except for his post – the launches should have been recorded by others. The alarm on September 26, 1983 turned out to be false. It turned out that the fiction in the movie was based on the realities of human psychology, mentality, faith.

– About the boy, you mean?

– Yes. "More than twenty percent of your missileers, like this captain, refused to launch…"

– In the movie, the military decided to wait, too," Ruthra said. – Remember, you said there was a similar situation. The military decided to delay a retaliatory strike until the attack was confirmed by the destruction of the first military base, which, of course, did not happen.

– That is exactly why the high commanders in the Kremlin were terrified. However, they were afraid not so much for themselves as for the fact that reckless Ronald Reagan, not fully understanding the consequences, was preparing in Washington the first nuclear missile strike, which, of course, would have to be answered, and then the bulk of the white race would wipe itself off the face of the earth. It was 1983. And, as time showed, the next month and a half was the most dangerous period the world had experienced in its history. The fact that in 1962 the United States and the Soviet Union were on the brink of a world war, when John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev entered into a tough conflict over missiles in Cuba, is well known to everyone. Those events took place openly, in the public eye. But the crisis of 1983 unfolded behind closed doors, in a world of spies and secrets.

– Of course. "We were ready for World War III," admitted Capt. Viktor Tkachenko, who commanded the missile base at the time, and then added: "If the U.S. had unleashed it.

– Logical reasoning. Robert Gates, who was the CIA's deputy director of intelligence at the time, recalled, "We could have been on the brink of war without knowing it." In 1983, the world was living as usual, unaware of the catastrophe it was facing. I was working on Britain at the time. Margaret Thatcher had become Prime Minister for the second time and her potential successor, Cecil Parkinson, had been forced to resign after admitting that he was raising a son with his secretary, with whom he was having an affair. Two young socialist troublemakers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, become MPs for the first time. Police count the bodies of serial killer Dennis Nielsen's victims in his London apartment, and a gang of six carry off ?25 million worth of gold from Brinks Mat's warehouse. Hitler's "diary" is found, which turns out to be a fake. England's soccer players fail to qualify for the European finals. Everyone sings Sting's song (Every breath you take), which has these words: "I'm watching every breath you take, every step you take". Unwittingly, Sting has very accurately summarized what we and the Americans have been doing on the international stage. Both sides have new, more powerful and more effective instruments of destruction. Reagan, who replaced Jimmy Carter, raises the stakes in this dangerous game by delivering his provocative speech in which he calls the Soviet Union an "evil empire." And then began the events that almost led to disaster. On November 2, 1983, the North Atlantic Alliance of Western countries led by the United States began a planned ten-day exercise code-named "Skillful Archer" to test its military communications systems in case of war. The exercise scenario included an invasion by the USSR using conventional weapons. The decisive moment was to come with a simulated launch of nuclear missiles. Command posts and missile bases were in full readiness, but, as was repeatedly reported to the USSR leadership, no real weapons were used. In every message our leadership was informed in huge letters that this was "only an exercise". But they, fearing Reagan's supposed recklessness, preferred not to believe these messages.

Vasilievich was meaningfully silent.

– This was the World War II generation that had always remembered how Hitler had deceived Stalin into launching the bloody Operation Barbarossa in 1941 under the pretext of conducting exercises. Gordievsky and other KGB officers around the world received urgent telegrams demanding evidence that the exercises were a cover for a real preemptive nuclear strike. Washington was completely unaware of the powerful effect Skillful Archer had on the Soviet leadership. In fact – Reagan was not preparing for war, but doing the opposite. It turns out that he was impressed by the movie he watched. This is the case when the "invisible weapon" turns out to be stronger than any thermonuclear weapon. At the end of the day, it's the brain that controls everything. Therefore, the strongest weapon is the one that affects it. At his presidential residence, Camp David, Maryland, he recently watched a television version of the sci-fi movie "The Day After," which tells the story of the aftermath of nuclear war. The former Hollywood cowboy was more impressed by the movie than all the military briefings and reports. The movie predicted the deaths of 150 million people. Reagan wrote in his diary, "It made a strong oppressive impression on me. We must do everything we can to make sure that nuclear war never happens." The old warhorse changed course and soon began trying to establish friendly relations with Moscow, which led to his first visit to the Soviet Union and the establishment of bilateral relations. But Reagan nearly missed his chance. When the exercises reached their peak, our outrage reached its highest point. During the exercise, their forces nearly fired a theoretical salvo of 350 nuclear missiles. Our military put the nuclear forces on highest alert, when all that was left to do was press the button to launch a massive retaliatory strike. The pilots of our nuclear bombers sat in the cockpits of their airplanes, engines idling, waiting for the command to take off. Three hundred intercontinental ballistic missiles were ready for launch, and 75 mobile SS-20 launchers hurriedly moved to their secret positions. Navy ships hid in shelters, anchored off the cliffs of the Baltic, and nuclear submarines with their missile arsenals cruised under the Atlantic ice and prepared for missile launches. The situation was saved by two spies, one on each side . The Americans reacted instantly, lowering the heat. Moscow took a step back from that precipice. Only later did America realize how close the world had come to the apocalypse. Greater efforts began to find ways to end the arms race. Today, America's relationship with Russia is strained. To some extent this is reality, to some extent it is a spectacle. It is clear that "Zero", meaning us, is in control of the situation. Be that as it may, the person in power, even if he is controlled, always has very great opportunities. And in this case, the risk is deadly. Now, hopefully, you understand better the essence of the mission that we are carrying, the part of it that will be entrusted to you? Some very important events, for people, unfortunately go unnoticed. Amid growing concern about nuclear proliferation, the staff of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved its doomsday clock forward, setting it half a minute to midnight. From here on out, you will increasingly realize the gravity and danger of the situation. I hope you pass the tests with flying colors and are invited to the big gathering.

– What kind of tests? – Ruthra asked tensely.

Zhidkov pretended to miss the question.

– Do you know what a big gathering is? – He asked, smiling, and answered: "A big gathering is when all the secret authorities come out of their skechers and onto the center deck.

"He was using a sailors' slang expression. He was among the carriers of the Chegeta," Rutra decided.

Rutra had just begun to settle into his new life when, on another visit, Vasilievich, in order to "ponder over coffee," as he liked to put it, said:

– Moving on to the next phase. Today we have legalization.

– What the hell is that?

– That's what we do legally.

– And what's that?

– You're giving a lecture to the students today. Understand?

– I understand," Ruthra replied without further question.

– Come on, I'll introduce you.

– Wait, I didn't prepare.

– It's okay, you tell them about the NSA's methods, it'll be great for them.

They went up to the upper level, went to the secret part of the university, where, under the legend of the Institute of Statistics, they were engaged in training specialists for the secret services. Vasilievich introduced Rutra to the undergraduate and graduate students as Paschovsky, a doctoral candidate at the U.S. National Defense University.

A lecturer came up to the pulpit and spoke about new methods of systematizing and analyzing information. Having finished his short speech, he introduced Rutra to the audience once more. Apparently, he had been trained at Zero as well. "So I'll probably meet him again," Rutra thought.