Arctic Storm Rising by Dale Brown (readera ebook reader .TXT) 📗

decided to carry out a surprise attack against a foreign adversary, either the Americans orthe Chinese . . . for some insane, unfathomable reason of their own.”

Zhdanov stared at Rogozin in consternation. In total, the twelve cruise missiles aboard the experimental stealth bomber representedthree megatons of explosive force—enough to destroy whole command centers, strategic bomber bases, and naval squadrons inport. Or kill hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of men, women, and children if they were launched against cities. Andthe deliberate detonation of even a single one of their 250-kiloton warheads could easily trigger an all-out nuclear confrontation.But of themselves, those twelve stolen missiles did not even come close to representing enough military power to actuallywin a war against either the United States or the People’s Republic of China. Petrov and his copilot must know that, whichwould make any decision to fire the weapons an act of utter nihilism.

“The second possibility is that the bomber’s crew has rebelled against Moscow and intends to decapitate the current government, again for some motive we do not yet understand,” Rogozin continued grimly.

Zhdanov flinched. His eyes darted to the map. “If that’s so, we could be under attack—”

“Now,” Rogozin confirmed. “Given their low-altitude cruise speed, any missiles fired in our direction from maximum range may strikethis complex and the Kremlin at any moment.”

Zhdanov gritted his teeth. “You seem very calm about this situation, Yvgeny,” he snarled.

Rogozin shook his head gravely. “No, just realistic, Mr. President. The Kh-102s have a circular error probability of lessthan ten meters. If Petrov has already fired missiles in our direction and they detonate on target, we’ll be dead before weeven know what’s happening.”

“How . . . comforting,” Zhdanov ground out. “And your third nightmare scenario?”

“That the crew is defecting, with their aircraft, to either the United States or the People’s Republic of China,” Rogozinsaid flatly. “Of their three possible options, I consider this the most probable, since it does not require them to contemplatethe murder of millions, including their own countrymen and families. One man’s developing madness might have slipped pastour psychological screening, but not two.”

Unable to control his temper any further, Zhdanov slammed his fist down on the table, sending his ashtray skittering awayin a cloud of cigarette butts and ash. “Fuck your bullshit probabilities, General! Whether Petrov and his copilot are lunaticsor mere traitors and criminals doesn’t matter! I want that prototype found and destroyed! Before this disaster completelyblows up in our faces!” He stabbed his finger at the wall map. “Put every SAM regiment, radar station, and fighter unit acrossthe whole country on the highest possible state of alert! That goes double for all our air defenses around Moscow itself!”

“There are a large number of foreign civilian airliners and cargo planes crossing through our airspace right now,” Rogozin reminded him.

“Shut the transpolar air routes down. All of them!” Zhdanov ordered. “And closely monitor any aircraft still in our skies. If any of them deviates from its filed flight planto the slightest degree, I want that plane intercepted immediately and forced to land for closer inspection. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Rogozin agreed. He hesitated again. “But if the crew is defecting or if they’re crazy enough to launch a sneak attack on the Americans or the Chinese, the PAK-DA stealth bombercould already be well beyond our borders.”

“If they’re defecting, our forces will hunt Petrov and Bunin down later and kill them—no matter where they’ve fled,” Zhdanovsaid coldly. “I will not show mercy to traitors.” He stood up. “But in case they have lost their minds and are trying to start a war or launch some sort of half-assed coup, we’ll evacuate our key people. Startingnow.”

His movement sparked a general push toward the doors. Elevators ran deep underground from the National Defense ManagementCenter. They connected with a secret labyrinth of subway tunnels built during the long Cold War. In the event of any attackon Moscow, trams were always on standby to hurry Russia’s top civilian and military leaders to safety in one of two heavilyprotected command bunkers kilometers outside the city.

“It might be wise to contact Washington and Beijing by hotline to brief them on this situation,” Rogozin pointed out carefully.“To avoid any unfortunate misunderstandings.”

“Absolutely not!” Zhdanov snapped. “I will not humiliate myself in front of the Americans or the Chinese. Not until I haveno other choice.”

Seventeen

Emergency Conference Room, National Military Command Center, under the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

A Short Time Later

The Emergency Conference Room lay buried several levels beneath the Pentagon. Roughly the size of a small theater or a schoolauditorium, it was dominated by a long, rectangular table. Every position at this central conference table had its own securecommunications links to different military and intelligence commands around the globe. Large digital screens mounted on thefar wall could be configured to show everything from orbital satellite views to live video streams from combat units, ships,and aircraft anywhere in the world. During any major crisis, the ECR served the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs ofStaff, and other defense and intelligence officials as a war room, allowing them to make high-level command and control decisionson the basis of the best available information.

Late in the evening, Eastern Standard Time, Director of National Intelligence Jonas Murphy entered the ECR at a rapid walk. The room was filling up fast as Pentagon officials and senior officers representing all six uniformed military branches arrived for this hastily convened meeting. Murphy waved the two aides who’d accompanied him over to a row of chairs reserved for staff and took his own seat among the decisionmakers at the central table.

He nodded politely to Bill Taylor, the secretary of defense, who would chair this meeting. The other man’s thick, black-framedglasses and unkempt white hair made him look a bit like an absent-minded professor, but anyone who judged him on his appearancewas in for a shock. A highly successful tech entrepreneur before coming to D.C., Taylor possessed a razor-sharp mind, onecapable of juggling enormous amounts of detail without losing sight of the bigger picture. Murphy privately saw him as