Making his way to the upper floor, where the President’s office was situated, Oleg walked past several of his senior guards. They quietly cleared the floor, as well as the way to the bunker deep underneath the building. They needed to dispose of Petrov quietly, and thus contain any potential immediate fallout from his removal from office. When Oleg gave the order, his bodyguards, who protected the other senior members of the government, would also move into action, gathering them all in the basement bunker. Once everyone was present, his men would effectively remove them from office.
Oleg made his way to the small monitoring office near the President’s residence. As usual, several of his men were looking at the various computer monitors, scanning them for anything out of the ordinary. Of the five men manning this room, four of them were already on board with the coup; the fifth man would either go along with them, or he’d be dealt with quickly.
Turning to look at the senior man on duty, Oleg asked, “Are all the parties present for the meeting yet?”
Boris nodded. “The senior military men have just started their meeting with the President. The other agents guarding the cabinet members have all reported in. They’re ready to move when you give them the order.”
Oleg nodded. He noticed the perplexed look on the face of the one man who hadn’t been read in on what would be happening next, and decided it was time to find out where he stood. “Aman, the President is about to order the release of nuclear weapons so that tactical nukes can be fired upon the Allied forces currently inside Russia. When he does that, the Americans will surely retaliate with nuclear weapons of their own, and if they do, Petrov has ordered the military to respond with additional nuclear weapons aimed at the Allied countries.”
Aman’s eyes grew wide, and then a look of fear spread across his face.
Placing his hand on Aman’s shoulder, Oleg asserted, “We can’t allow the President to destroy Russia and the world. A plan has been put in place to make sure that would never happen, and now it needs to be implemented. Are you with us in ensuring Russia survives?” he asked. Of course, Boris had cleverly moved his right hand to his silenced pistol, in case Aman didn’t respond to his liking, or anyone else chose to back out at the last second.
Aman looked a bit like an animal that had been backed into a corner. He gulped. “When you put it that way, General, there’s only one choice to be made. We must protect Russia and prevent the world from being destroyed,” he answered.
Oleg smiled and patted the man on the back. Then he took Aman’s weapon from him and handed it to Boris. “Good choice. We’ll keep your gun for the moment, until we know for certain that you are fully on our side. In the meantime, do as you’re told by Boris, and we’ll all live to grow old with our families.”
Turning to face Boris, Oleg stood up straight and tall. “Initiate Morning Glory,” he ordered. “Have everyone moved to the various bunkers around the city. Seize their phones and electronic devices at once. We need to make sure they’re not able to transmit anything until it’s time.”
Boris immediately sent a coded text message to his heads of security and the bodyguards to round up their charges. The move to depose President Vladimir Petrov was underway.
Ten minutes later, Oleg was standing outside the briefing room, where Petrov was speaking with his senior military leaders. He waited until he heard the president give the orders to release nuclear authority to his generals, and then he sent a text message to his son-in-law.
A few minutes passed tensely, then he heard the sound of automatic gunfire and an explosion outside. That was his cue to rush in.
Bursting into the briefing room, Oleg shouted, “We have to move you to the secured bunker now, Mr. President!”
The bodyguards in the room quickly ushered the generals out into the hallway and down a set of stairs that led to the bunker. As they walked briskly, more gunfire went off, and then some soldiers yelled loudly.
“What is going on?!” demanded Petrov.
“There are reports of gunfire near Red Square, Mr. President,” Oleg replied calmly. “I heard from one of my sniper teams on the roof that they spotted a column of vehicles heading to the Kremlin fortress from the Sokolniki District.” They moved swiftly, ever closer to the bunker.
“Damn that Grigory! I knew my dream was a warning.” Petrov cursed angrily under his breath as they made their way to the bottom floor of the building.
Once in the basement, Oleg’s men led the President and the senior military members into the command bunker, which was already up and running, teeming with officers and NCOs updating the Allied positions on the various maps. The men in the room seemed surprised to see the President and the senior military leadership suddenly show up.
“Get me General Sobolev now!” demanded the President as he walked up to the operations officer in charge of the command center. Several of the other generals made their way to various phone banks to begin making their own calls.
“Sir, the phone lines are dead!” replied one of the young officers.
Petrov fumed with anger. He smacked his fist on one of the desktops. “Can you get through to Colonel Chayko with your radio?” he asked Oleg.
Oleg nodded. Had it not been for a series of upgrades to the FSO’s radio systems, their radios never would have worked down there in the bunker. After a couple of minutes, one of his guards was able to track down Colonel Chayko and handed Petrov a receiver.
“This is Colonel Chayko, Sir,” he answered. Through the radio, they all heard another short burst of gunfire in the background.
“Colonel, what’s the situation? What is happening?” demanded the President angrily. The other military men looked on, attentively listening for the reply.
“Sir, it would appear General Sobolev’s men are attempting a coup. I have the fortress on lockdown, and my forces are engaging his men outside the perimeter walls. We’re experiencing a lot of signal jamming right now, so I’m not able to place a call to any other outside units. I’ve sent runners to those bases, but it will be some time until we’re able to get some additional help. I recommend you stay in the bunker for the time being, until my men can resolve the situation,” Chayko suggested.
“Keep us apprised of what’s going on, Colonel,” Petrov said.
He handed the radio back to Oleg. “You go find out what the situation is, and get us some additional help,” he ordered.
Then the President turned to several of the other soldiers in the room, directing them to work with Oleg’s men in securing the bunker, making sure no one else came inside.
Once Oleg left the bunker, he ordered his guards, “Make sure the door stays locked, and don’t let anyone out.” These men knew exactly what that meant. With the bunker effectively cut off from the outside world, Oleg and Grigory could assume control of the government and then liquidate the men who would have destroyed not just Russia but the entire world.
It was 0750 hours as Grigory met with Colonel Gennady Troshev, Commander of the 45th Guard’s Independent Spetsnaz Brigade. Colonel Troshev had just returned from the front lines when Grigory sent for him with a simple message: “It’s time.”
Grigory knew that his friend would have one of his most trusted battalions ready. Gennady shared Grigory’s vision; he too did not want to see his country destroyed in a nuclear fireball. He’d fought too many years and lost too many friends since the fall of the Soviet Union to lose what remained of his country.