While surfing the net today, I found myself reading about the letter of last resort.<br /><br />In short: Britain has four <em>Vanguard-</em>class SSBNs. Each Prime Minister, upon taking office, has to write, in longhand(and in quadruplicate)a letter detailling what the skippers of those subs are to do in case Armageddon takes out Britain and kills the PM and his designated(and known only to him)alternate thermonuclear shot caller, each of the four letters then being placed in a sealed envelope, delivered to each of the four skippers, who then places the unopened letter in a double-walled safe set into the control room of his boat.<br /><br />Each time a new government takes power, the previous PM's letter is destroyed, unopened, and the incoming PM has to hand-write a new set of letters.<br /><br />Now, my question to all of you: Do you think the Council of Worlds/Spacefleet Admiral/Star Law Captain-General would employ a similar strategy with the Spacefleet/Star Law vessels? <br /><br />If so, who writes the letter? The Council acting collectively(the body is transcribed by the Council clerk and the Councillors sign each copy by hand), the President of the Council, the Spacefleet commander or what?<br /><br />Also, just what would be the precise instructions included in this letter of last resort?
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