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

activity all across this zone last night. True, the PAK-DA’s stealth features might have allowed it to evade their observation,but Petrov would know that he could not count on that, at a time when even a fleeting detection could lead to disaster.”

The defense minister nodded his concurrence. “Yvgeny is right, Piotr,” Kokorin said. “Besides, where could Petrov hope tofind safety on the ground in Africa or the Middle East, in places where the real power is in the hands of terrorists, murderouschieftains, and religious fanatics? It would be madness for him to assume he could hide a large aircraft from such peoplefor any real length of time.”

Zhdanov shrugged. Perhaps they were right. He waved a hand at the digital map. “What about some isolated spot in SoutheastAsia, then? Or maybe a desert landing strip out in the empty Australian Outback?”

Rogozin shook his head. “It’s highly unlikely. Reaching either place would have required the PAK-DA to penetrate some of themost heavily defended airspace in the world—by flying across the People’s Republic of China, the Korean Peninsula, or Japan.”

“So you believe Petrov flew our stolen bomber north,” Zhdanov realized.

“Yes, Mr. President.” The general touched more keys, highlighting all of northern Russia, the unclaimed Arctic, Alaska, and much of northern Canada. “Most of these regions are almost completely unsettled. And while the idea that anyone could have constructed a hidden airfield somewhere in these tens of millions of square kilometers of wilderness might seem far-fetched at first—”

“Some bastards have done it, nonetheless,” Zhdanov said tersely.

Rogozin nodded. “So it appears.”

Zhdanov stared at the highlighted zones of the map, almost mesmerized by its enormous extent. This was not a comparativelysimple case of finding a needle in a farmer’s haystack, he realized grimly. This was more like hunting for a single grainof sand in the wastes of the Gobi Desert. For a moment, he felt sure the task was impossible. But then he dismissed this feelingas unnecessarily pessimistic, the product of too little sleep and too much stress. He reminded himself that what one man couldhide, other men, especially those equipped with sophisticated satellites, air-to-ground radars, and high-resolution cameras,could find.

He spun back to Rogozin and Kokorin. “All right! I want a full mobilization of every reconnaissance asset in our arsenal.All our satellites, all our aircraft, all our drones! Everything! Scour this entire area, starting with our own territory.”

The Air Force general frowned, deep in thought. “We only have four of our frontline Tu-214R recon planes in service,” he admitted.“But I can convert some of our Tu-95 strategic bombers for reconnaissance, perhaps as many as ten in the next twenty-fourhours.”

“That’s not enough!” Zhdanov said curtly. “Only fourteen aircraft? You’d still be looking for Petrov when the Last Judgmentarrives!” He swiveled toward a short, compact officer seated directly across the table. Admiral Nikolai Golitsyn commandedthe Russian Navy. Throughout the entire discussion, he’d been very quiet—undoubtedly grateful that this was an Air Force messand not one that involved his own officers and men. “How many Tu-142 and IL-38 maritime patrol planes can you provide, Golitsyn?”

Both the larger Tu-142 and smaller IL-38 multi-engine turboprops were equipped with powerful surface search radars and infrared sensors. While they were ordinarily tasked with hunting enemy warships and submarines at sea, it wouldn’t be difficult for their crews to learn to use the same equipment to look for the PAK-DA bomber hidden somewhere in forests, mountains, or trackless tundra and ice fields.

The admiral looked blank for a moment. Then a junior aide seated behind him leaned forward and hurriedly whispered the answerin his ear. “Approximately twenty of each type, Mr. President,” he said confidently.

“Good!” Zhdanov said. “Transfer them all to Rogozin immediately. I don’t want any confusion caused by mixed chains of command.”

For an instant, Golitsyn opened his mouth to protest, but then he closed it just as quickly. This was not a sensible timeto insist on the Russian Navy’s prerogatives, not with the president so obviously eager to find scapegoats to blame for thisunfolding disaster.

Zhdanov’s fingers drummed incessantly on the table while he considered other measures that would be necessary. The most obviouswas to make sure they were ready to seize or destroy the stolen stealth bomber almost as soon as it was found. “I want everygroup of reconnaissance aircraft backed up by fighters, strike aircraft, and Spetsnaz commando teams,” he ordered. Heads aroundthe table nodded.

“What are your instructions if we fail to find the PAK-DA inside our own territory?” Rogozin asked carefully.

“You will press the search into American and Canadian airspace,” Zhdanov replied.

“How far?”

Zhdanov barked, “As far as necessary, Yvgeny! We can’t afford to pussyfoot around anymore.”

“The Americans and the Canadians will protest any intrusion into their territory,” Rogozin pointed out.

Zhdanov shrugged his shoulders. “Let them bitch. I don’t give a rat’s ass.”

“They will also intercept our reconnaissance flights with fighter aircraft,” Rogozin warned. “And our scout planes would be helpless in such a situation. A rear turret with a pair of 23mm cannons is no match for Sidewinder heat-seeking and AMRAAM radar-guided missiles.”

The president bit at his lip in frustration. Much as he wanted to, he couldn’t argue with Rogozin’s chief point. Russian pilotswere courageous enough, but he could not expect them to commit suicide, particularly for no possible gain. Moodily, Zhdanovstared up at the map, hunting for some possible solution. And then the answer came to him in a quick flash of inspiration.He slapped his hand down hard on the table. “All right! If your reconnaissance pilots are afraid to tangle with the enemy’sinterceptors, we’ll escort them with fighters of our own!”

Rogozin stared at him. “That would be . . . difficult.” He zoomed the display out so that it showed a view of northern Russiaand North America, centered on the North Pole. A series of green lines appeared, originating at points just off Russia’s northerncoast and stretching deep into Canada, Alaska, and Greenland. “Even if we stage out of our Arctic island bases, escortingTu-142 and IL-38 reconnaissance aircraft deep enough into North American airspace would require round-trip flights of morethan six thousand