And he made a calculation based purely on risk assessment.
"Stand down," he ordered his people. "All of you, stand down."
"Sir?" one of the MPs protested. "We can't just...."
"I said stand down!" Bradford's voice cracked like a whip. "She has control of active weapons systems. Even if we detained her right now, those missiles are already in flight. And if something happens to her, if she's harmed or can't access her systems, we have no way to redirect them or abort them. She's built a failsafe into this scenario."
He turned back to Zhou Yuxi. "You have three hours. We'll mobilize teams to apprehend the individuals on your list. But I need you to stand down those missiles. I need your word that you won't launch any more, that you won't redirect the ones already in flight."
