"Impossible," came a voice from the Council table. The rumble of voices increased in volume.
"The crew aboard the RC-135, which is now almost ninety miles from shore, are probably already exposed to lethal doses of radiation, but they are still alive."
One bar graph jumped. "Transmitted energy is increasing again," Brent asked. "The radar at Kavaznya is active againsearching for another victim."
"Unfounded accusations," Karmarov protested. "Mr. Secretary-General-" "The Lima-band radar is at full power again. "Brent was no longer looking at the screen but directly at Karmarov, who stared at the data flowing on the screen. "There is a pulseshift-the radar has locked onto the aircraft, an unarmed reconnaissance aircraft almost ninety miles from shore with ten men and two women aboard."
The screen went blank, and the room went dark. Slowly, the lights were brought back up in the Council chamber.
"Witho aid ut warning, with malice aforethought," Brent s to Karmarov, "the Soviets disabled a satellite, then, trying to cover their first crime, turned that laser on an unarmed aircraft, killing twelve people."
The chamber was silent. "In America, Mr. Ambassador, we call it murder in the first degree. "Brent turned and faced the Council members seated around him.
"Four days ago a test of a new intercontinental missile design was also attacked by the laser at Kavaznya. I will present the data when it becomes available. This time, the data was collected by a vessel anchored offshore from Kavaznya, e that not only has and not by another satellite. Yet it will prove the Soviet Union used its new laser to attack another American vehicle, but that it used this. "The lights were immediately lowered. Brent clicked a button again, and a magnified, computer-enhanced picture of Salyut Nineteen with the large rectangular mirror attached flashed on the screen.
"Salyut Nineteen, gentlemen," Brent announced, "but with a new and frightening twist-a mirror used to bounce the laser beam to targets over the horizon from Kavaznya!" The murmur in the Council chamber became one of disbelief.
"I know you're not going to respond to any of this, Mr. Ambassador," Brent said, turning back to Karmarov. "You are going to request a video tape of this session, take it back to the Embassy, and talk it over with Moscow. Fine. But the United States requests the reinstatement of charges made back on November fifteenth. We charge the Soviet Union with premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder, piracy, perjury, and conspiracy to suppress evidence. We also charge violation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the deployment of the laser, the Lima-band radar used to steer the laser, and the Salyut Nineteen spacecraft refitted with a mirror for the reflection of laser beams with the purpose of destroying ballistic weapons. We call for the immediate dismantling of the Salyut Nineteen spacecraft and the closure of the entire Kavaznya complex until an on-site United Nations inspection can be made. We are also demanding reparations in the amount of five hundred million American dollars for the death of the American service personnel aboard the RC- 135 aircraft and the loss of the RC-135 aircraft, the Alpha Omega Nine satellite, and the Javelin missile."
He turned to the Security Council delegates. "I know that, despite our lofty ideals, justice meted by the United Nations is slow and sometimes ineffective. But the government of the United States considers the laser device and the orbiting mirror a major threat to its security, and we cannot, we will not, wait for these devices to be disarmed."
He turned again to Karmarov and raised his voice. "We give the Soviet Union three days to dismantle or render inoperative the Salyut Nineteen spacecraft. If it is not proved to our satisfaction that the Salyut Nineteen's mirror is incapable of steering a laser beam projected from Kavaznya to an atmosheric or ballistic vehicle anywhere on the globe, we will Passume that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the 1986
Iceland Summit Arms Reduction Treaty are null and void and take appropriate steps to insure our national security."
"And what steps are those?" Karmarov asked. "Will you go to war to back up your silly rhetoric, Mr. Secretary?Will you destroy civilization because of a baseless, insignificant, pie-inthe-sky threat?"
Brent turned to the Russian ambassador, planting his hands firmly on Karmarov's desk. In a voice so low few could hear except Karmarov himself, Brent said, "Why, Dmitri?Why?
We suspected almost from the beginning, and I took a tremendous risk and told you of our suspicions. Yet your government continued to use that laser device. Why? It doesn't make sense.
"You were foolish to expose your so-called evidence like this, Brent," Kannarov said softly. "I need not try to explain. But forcing my government into a corner with outlandish grandstanding will not yield the results you want."
"I asked you why, Dmitri," Brent asked. "Dammit, I-" "The device is an instrument of defense, of territorial security," Karmarov said between clenched teeth. "It is years ahead of its time, a device that even the most optimistic in your country would not have expected to become operational in another ten years, It violates no existing treaty. It affords a J defensive umbrella, its existence cannot merely be shouted away with threats."
"You've got a choice," Brent said in a normal voice, stepping away from the Russian ambassador so the rest of the delegates could hear. "Start with the Salyut Nineteen aircraft.
Disarm it, go up there and dismantle the mirror, burn it up in the atmosphere-I don't care. But prove to the United States that you will pledge to use the laser as a defensive device only.
Right now it's an offensive weapon, and it's already been used to murder innocent American lives. The other choice is to prepare to accept the consequences of your actions. "Brent returned to his seat and slid into it slowly, studying the faces of those around him.
"And what would those consequences be, Mr. Brent?"
Karmarov said quietly in English. "Global war?Global death?" He was taunting his American colleague, but Brent folded his hands serenely and returned Karmarov's gaze in silence. Then the memory of their private meeting returned to him. Brent saw that Karmarov had remembered, too. Brent gathered his notes together and nodded to Adams, preparing to leave.
"Zal Lyot, " Kartnarov said, almost in a whisper. Delegates scrambled for translation earpieces. Brent's gaze narrowed, as if in pain.
"You cannot," Karmarov asked. "It will mean the end. You cannot-" "We can, we will," Marshall Brent said, hoping he sounded more convincing than he felt. He stood, nodded to Ian McCaan, and left the Security Council chambers.
The scene in the hushed, dimly-fit blast-proof chamber beneath the White House known as the Situation Room could best be described as funereal-and, at that point, the atmosphere exactly matched Secretary of State Marshall Brent's mood.
Brent waited for the President to signal that he was ready, then picked up the sheet of paper that lay in front of him and began: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have received the reply from the Soviet Premier to our charges concerning the use of the avaznya laser installation and the Salyut Nineteen orbiting mirror on the RC- 135 aircraft, the Alpha Omega Nine satellite, and the Javelin small I.C.B.M. It reads as follows-Quote:
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS CATEGORICALLY DENIES THE CHARGES LEVELED AGAINST IT IN CLOSED SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL.THE USSR REJECTS THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN CLOSED SESSION AS FABRICATION AND INADMISSIBLE.THE USSR DENIES ANY CULPABILITY IN THE ALLEGED LOSS OF ANY AIRCRAFT ON OR ABOUT THE THIRTEENTH OF NOVEMBER, NINETEEN EIGHTY-SEVEN, OR THE ALLEGED LOSS OF AN ILLEGAL SPY SATELLITE ON OR ABOUT THE SAME DATE.WE WILL NOT DIGNIFY THE BASELESS AND LUDICROUS CLAIM OF SHOOTING DOWN A MISSILE OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN WITH A DENIAL."