‘Let me have it now.’
Khostov turned to look at the man beside him, water pouring from his clothes.
‘Thank God you’re back,’ was all he could say.
Both Presidents entered the room on time and were greeted by the British PM.
‘Sit down gentlemen.’ Prime Minister Terrance Ashdown indicated two chairs. ‘I’m sorry I had to bring the meeting forward, but we are in danger of being overtaken by events in the Arctic.’
‘Pleased to help in any way I can, Terrance,’ responded President Donahue. He noticed a single black file lying on the table behind them and wondered if the Russian President had observed it too.
‘I believe things are getting out of hand. I have evidence that both American and Russian war planes were ordered into the Arctic, and may be engaged in a confrontation.’ He eyed President Duskin. ‘I’m not sure how much our colleague Pavla understands what is at stake?’
President Duskin’s face remained fixed. ‘Perhaps if you were to explain, I might be able to tell you.’
‘Well it’s certainly disturbing news, I’m afraid.’ Ashdown looked closely for signs Duskin was conscious of the events he was talking about. ‘There is a very high probability that a huge explosion of toxic radioactivity will occur on the icebreaker, LK-80. The fallout is likely to be greater than ten times that of Chernobyl and Fukushima put together. You should be aware the British Government has sent a professional to investigate, at the request of the American State Department.’ Ashdown nodded towards President Donahue, and waited for the reaction.
The Russian President cleared his throat. ‘I am conscious that the American military forcibly boarded LK-80 when it was going about its lawful business.’
The PM leaned forward. ‘Were you informed that the reactor on board your ship is about to explode?’
The silence gave him his answer. The Prime Minister regarded the American President. ‘The expert decided the best way to minimise the fallout was to scuttle the ship once everyone had been evacuated. He called on American air support to sink LK-80, and this fact was made known to your squadrons. Your warplanes chose to ignore the message and opened up an attack on US planes.’
Pavla Duskin’s face reddened. ‘My understanding is that this was a deliberate attempt by American forces to get rid of the evidence of their occupation of our vessel.’
‘No, Pavla. Your own expert, Alexei Khostov — the most authoritative nuclear scientist in Russian — has said that sinking the ship was the only way to reduce fallout from the blast.’
Duskin waved his hand dismissively. ‘Khostov is a renegade scientist. You are working together to discredit Russian interests. You British always side with your American cousins. It is only natural for a dog to follow its master.’
Ashdown’s lips drew back into a taught line. ‘That is not what is happening here, Pavla. I wish to bring you both to a point of mutual understanding. Regardless of the outcome, unless you both rein in your forces and co-operate in dealing with the crisis, I will place the cause of the eruption squarely on both your shoulders. An investigation will prove me correct, and at the very least you will both lose office. There is a strong possibility you will face prosecution by the international community for your intransigence in the months to come.’
Robert Donahue looked at Ashdown sharply.
‘Yes, I do mean both of you,’ repeated Ashdown.
Duskin leaned back with an amused smile. ‘You play the unbiased negotiator, but I still believe you are in league together.’
The PM fingered the black file. ‘I haven’t yet had an opportunity to discuss the content of this file. I am much more concerned that instead of fighting each other, you should work together to resolve this crisis. You have a straight choice: recall your planes immediately, or I will organise a press conference and blow the whole sorry story to the world.’
The Prime Minister stood and picked up the phone. ‘Geoffrey, I want to arrange a press conference one hour from now.’ He replaced the handset and turned to face them. ‘Well gentlemen, what will it be?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
From the outset of the attack, the dedicated processor aboard Sentinel One assessed the precise location, speed and trajectory of each warplane engaged in the dogfight. Using the sensors on-board the squadron’s airplanes, it also tracked every missile fired on both sides. Thus it was aware of the type and quantity of remaining armaments.
The result of the calculations, which lasted one five hundredth of a second, was a Tactical Battlefield Plan (TBP). The plan united the firepower of the American flight, with a central computerised ‘situational awareness’ hub. Though tested many times over the deserts of New Mexico, the program had never been implemented in hostile conditions — until now.
The TBP was constantly being updated during the early phase of the conflict, but acted only in passive mode. Sentinel leader decided that the time was right, and leaned forward to activate TBP. The switch was protected by a cover which he lifted to depress the button underneath. TBP switched from passive to active mode. Its first priority was to extricate the most vulnerable American warplanes, and the computer issued a rapid series of commands to the rest of the flight.
Each pilot received a set, allocating a grid reference and guidance on how to attain the position, and when. It was up to each navigator to ensure their aircraft reached that point at the pre-determined time. They knew that other nearby warplanes would be covering their movements.
Each crew manually assigned their weapon’s system to operational control of the TBP, reporting ‘Weapons free!’ to Sentinel One. Now all the American warplanes fought as one, under the unified command of the computer on board Sentinel One. All the flight’s sensors, including thermal and radar, fed into the TBP, and the entire arsenal of the squadron came under central control.
The computer made constant adjustments as its human operators strived to achieve the electronic orders. Once they reached their station, it issued another command string, the equivalent of FIRE! Five planes unleashed Amraams, chasing Russian tail. Seconds later three struck their targets, and the remaining two Russian warplanes fled.
Stage two of the plan executed immediately. This phase was designed to begin eliminating key elements of the opposition’s assets. Ten warplanes from Sentinel flight targeted three MiG-29s and two Su-24Ms. Ten pilots did their best to respond quickly and accurately to locate themselves at the correct RDV. At the appropriate instant, each plane released a missile, catching four of their targets. The last Su-24M turned tail, narrowly avoiding oblivion.
The battlefield computer commenced phase three of the operation without pause, marking the beginning of the end. The TBP determined the next group of Russian planes assigned for destruction, based on their threat level. Up to this point, the American attack proved to be so devastating, the Russians did not have time to regroup and form a coherent counter-attack. Storm Flight scattered to the winds.
Seconds later an emergency recall message was broadcast to the whole of Sentinel wing. They were commanded to cease the attack and stand down. Unfortunately, the order came too late to stop another four of the Russian flight number being pursued by missiles and eliminated seconds later.
Sean looked back to where LK-80 used to be. There was no sign of her now.
On board the ship inside the reactor hall the core meltdown continued as LK-80 slowly sank. Fuel rod casings collapsed with the heat which approached 2,500 degrees centigrade. Uranium fuel pellets, Zirconium alloy sleeves and steel inner lining puddled on the floor of the containment vessel. The mix of radioactive and non-radioactive elements was now called a corium — one of the rarest forms of matter on the planet. The closest material it resembled was molten lava from a volcanic eruption — but it was twice the temperature of the hottest lava ever ejected by a volcano.