The supercilious commanding general ridicules Caffey's story but decides to take a look for himself. He and his men quickly reconnoiter the area, spot the Soviet ski column and incredulously report the incursion to Ft. He manages to tell them enough to alarm Caffey.
After meeting up with the remaining National Guard troops, Caffey and a few men mount snowmobiles and soon come across the dying Guardsman. Caffey is sent out into the field to investigate. The ambushed National Guard patrol is soon reported missing. The aggressive and attractive Major Breckenridge makes it clear that she would like to pick things up where she left off with newly separated Colonel Caffey. At a Christmas party in his honor, Caffey encounters the newly-assigned Intelligence Officer, Major Kate Breckenridge (Cathy Lee Crosby), with whom he had previously conducted an affair. His by-the-book commanding officer makes it clear that Caffey wasn't his first choice for the post. Simultaneously, Colonel Jake Caffey (David Soul) assumes his duties as Deputy Brigade Commander at Ft. into abandoning their punitive grain embargo. The hardline conspirators hope to pressure the U.S. It is revealed that Russian hardliners led by General Rudinski (Robert Prosky) of the KGB have secretly put the risky Alaska incursion in motion without consulting Gorny. In Moscow, a worried Secretary Gorny (Brian Keith) is dealing with food riots and general strikes. Only one wounded American soldier escapes with his life, falling over a steep snowbank and going unnoticed. On a signal from the Russian commander, Colonel Vorashin (Jeroen Krabbe), the Soviet troops massacre the unsuspecting Guardsmen. As they gather in front of the cabin, they are quietly surrounded by the lurking Soviet pathfinder unit. Unaware of the Soviet incursion, they noisily approach the recently attacked bush cabin out of a blinding snowstorm. Back in Alaska, an Alaska National Guard unit is out on maneuvers. has been leading an international grain embargo against the Soviet Union, leading to civil unrest in Russian cities, decreased grain exports for American farmers, and declining popularity for McKenna. He dresses and goes downstairs to the Oval Office, where he gets a daily briefing from political advisor Richard Hickman (James Hampton). The scene shifts to Washington, D.C., where widowed President Thomas McKenna (Rock Hudson) awakens from a bad dream and groggily climbs out of bed. His wife immediately hears automatic weapons fire and tries to use the radio to call for help before she is also gunned down by Soviet troops in ski parkas. Hearing the dogs barking outside, the old man goes to investigate. At a nearby bush cabin, an elderly couple is using their shortwave radio to communicate with Fairbanks and report on the intense storm. On the ground, they unpack their equipment, clearly marked "CCCP," and form up behind a small, tracked command vehicle before setting out on cross-country skis. Out of the oncoming snowstorm, dozens of camouflaged parachutists glide to earth from a transport plane. The necessary blind spot has been created. Lighting a cigarette, the traitor notifies Elmendorf that the station will be out of commission for the next hour in order to repair a malfunctioning generator. He then proceeds to shoot the remaining station personnel while they are sleeping in their bunks. The other airman retrieves a silenced pistol from his desk and kills him. He alerts his partner about the threat and begins to contact Elmendorf AFB. It appears to be an unidentified aircraft sneaking in on the leading edge of a weather front. Suddenly, one of the bored operators notices an unexpected blip on his radar screen. airmen monitor their radar screens at a quiet and remote NORAD station in Alaska. At the height of the Cold War, two U.S.The synopsis below may give away important plot points.