NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. 2:30 a.m. One of the climactic moments of the Cold War is about to cause the irreparable. National Security Advisor Zbigniev Brzezinsky is awakened in Washington, DC, by a possible Soviet nuclear attack. The political situation is indeed very tense, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the phone call, he is informed that there are 220 missiles in flight. Then a minute later, he is called back: now there are 2,200. A few minutes later, he is called back: false alarm, the computer continues to indicate missiles in flight, but other radars have given a negative response. Brzezinsky, a little agitated, goes back to sleep. During the entire episode, he once woke his wife, preferring that she not be awake when the first nuclear warheads reached Washington, DC…
