“We’re in the green,” Patrick told him. “I just wish our late friend had showed for the party.”
“It was a long shot, Patrick,” Elliott said. “There’s fifty-thousand square miles of nothing in Nicaragua where they could have hidden DreamStar. We’ve intercepted radio traffic that seems to indicate it might be in Puerto Cabezas but we’re not positive.”
“It’s worth a look.”
“We’re not loaded for air-to-mud, Patrick,” J.C. cut in. “There’s nothing we can do to him except wave as we fly by. Besides, we’d fly right into the teeth of that SA-15 Atkins said was there.”
“We’ve done more than the White House wanted to authorize. We’ll maintain our surveillance in case they try to fly DreamStar out. We’re changing your flight plan, though, because of this new intelligence,” Elliott continued. “We’ve secured landing rights at Puerto Lempira, a Honduran army base seventy miles north of Puerto Cabezas — that was the original base for this operation until we got landing rights in the Cayman Islands. We’re trying to get authorization now from the White House to set up a photo-run at Puerto Cabezas like the one you did on Sebaco. We’ve got fuel and weapons being airlifted there to meet you. It’s not Georgetown, but you’ll be in position in case DreamStar tries to make another run for it.”
“Sounds good,” McLanahan said. “I want to be there when he tries to get away again.”
The Kremlin, Moscow, USSR
Outside the foreboding walls of the Kremlin the bright, clear summer morning belied the internal struggle taking place. There, two of the government’s most powerful men were sitting across from each other, locked in a silent combat.
The Chief of Staff of the Soviet military, General Cherkov, had just delivered a briefing to the General Secretary and Vladimir Kalinin, Chief of the KGB. The General Secretary nodded to Cherkov, who was unsure whether or not he had just been directed to leave; he kept his seat, with no objections from the two principals with him.
“I disagree with General Cherkov’s analysis of the information provided from General Tret’yak,” Kalinin said. “He says that the American experimental fighter is safe in hiding at Puerto Cabezas, guarded by both KGB and Nicaraguan troops, but then he says that the aircraft is in danger. That is inconsistent. Tret’yak is understandably shaken after sustaining the Americans’ preemptive attack—”
“Your rhetoric is the only thing that is inconsistent here, Kalinin,” the General Secretary said. “The Americans destroyed one of our military bases, shot down two of our fighters and decimated our defenses. Yet you can sit there and say your plan is progressing well and that there is no cause for alarm?”
“We won’t know the true extent of the damage for several hours,” Kalinin hedged. “But what happens to Sebaco is irrelevant to our mission. The XF-34 is safe; it is still combat ready and can make the flight to Ramenskoye. In two hours, we will begin launching escort aircraft from Cuba, and the decoy aircraft from Managua will make their way north to—”
“Your plan has failed, Vladimir,” the General Secretary said. “Admit it before any more men are killed and we lose any more aircraft or bases.” He shook his head. “It is only a matter of time before they discover the fighter in this, this Puerto Cabezas place. Then they will proceed to destroy that airfield—” he scanned the report, tossing it away with a dramatic flourish—”with one bomber. One bomber. What do we do against one of their aircraft carriers or a squadron of these bombers?”
“The attack on Sebaco was expected,” Kalinin argued. “That was the reason why we moved the fighter out of there. Tret’yak described some sort of new bomber that carried defense-suppression weapons as well as air-to-ground weapons, and it possibly carried air-to-air—” Kalinin suddenly stopped. “The kryepahst ezometyelna,” he said half-aloud.
“The what?”
“The Megafortress project,” Kalinin said. “The highly modified B-52 bomber developed in the Nevada research area, the same place where the XF-34 was built. The American Air Force general, Bradley Elliott, flew a Megafortress against our strategic-defense laser-installation at Kavaznya eight years ago; it carried the same unusual mix of weapons as the bomber that attacked Sebaco. It must have been a Megafortress they used to beat down our defenses and attack Sebaco.” Kalinin slapped a hand on the conference table, muttering to himself. “Parazetyel ‘na! Vilizherchev said he met Elliott in Washington at the White House. We should have known Elliott would be called on to formulate an attack plan—”
“You mean you knew the man who would direct this attack?” the General Secretary interrupted, staring at the KGB chief. “You knew about this meeting — which did not appear in your report or Vilizherchev’s report — and you knew that this Elliott would be involved with the planning„yet you failed to anticipate the attack and failed to take actions to protect our base from attack. I am ending this craziness—”
“You can’t stop it now — all the forces are in place and ready—”
“Then order them to stand down,” the General Secretary said. “Kalinin, how much more do you want? The Americans want their fighter back, and as long as the aircraft is in Central America they have the resources to offset every effort we make to bring it out.”
“One more attempt,” Kalinin said. His voice softened, and he opened his hands, virtually pleading. “I ask for one more try. All our forces are in readiness; it can begin in two hours …”
“Request denied.”
“If our aircraft are detected and intercepted, I will order them to turn around and return to Nicaragua without a battle,” Kalinin said. “But if we surround the XF-34 with fighter aircraft, even if the formation is detected I think the Americans will have no choice but to allow us to proceed.”
“I disagree,” Cherkov put in. “I believe the Americans would attack the formation. Even if they didn’t openly attack, which they did not do over the Caribbean on your first attempt to smuggle the XF-34 out of Nicaragua, there is too much chance for disaster. An air battle would almost certainly result. I cannot endorse such an operation—”
“You’d do anything to save your pension and your dacha …”
“Silence, Kalinin.”
“Your defense of me is not necessary, sir,” Cherkov said. “Actions speak louder than words, and young Kalinin’s actions in this operation prove what sort of tactician he is.”
“It was not my pilot that tried to ram the American fighters,” Kalinin said quickly. “It was not my ineffective pilots that could not defeat inferior American forces.” Kalinin chose not to mention that the air-defense troops around Sebaco were all KGB. Cherkov did not bring it up either.
Kalinin turned to the General Secretary, trying to put on his best humble, earnest face. “Then allow me to bring the fighter out on one of our carriers, sir. A Kiev-class cruiser with escorts can be brought from Havana to Puerto Cabezas within the hour. The XF-34 can easily land on one, and the Americans would not dare attack a carrier …”
“But one of these Megafortress bombers could send a few of the carrier’s escorts to the bottom of the Caribbean,” the General Secretary said. “Vladimir, I have lost count of the number of fighters, transports, men, and equipment we have lost trying to bring that fighter out of Nicaragua. Even if what you say is true — if this DreamStar fighter is worth ten of our front-line fighters — we are definitely on the minus side of the ledger. We have lost six MiG fighters along with the Ilyushin radar plane, which I understand is worth ten or twenty fighters, plus the transport helicopter and its men and crew tin Mexico. If we then lost a seven-thousand-metric-ton capital ship to an American attack, we would all be deposed by the Politburo. That could still happen …”