"Good morning, Admiral," one of them murmured. They continued with whatever intricate operations they were completing. The other three acknowledged his appearance respectfully, though none of them moved from their positions.
"I've just run a check with Jackson at the Pentagon, sir. He said that Admiral Carter will be available momentarily. Something big must be going on, because he said no one from his section was allowed to leave for lunch." It was now late afternoon in Washington. "He said food was sent in and that their reliefs were also called in this morning. Looks like no one's going to be going home there at the end of the day either." He turned to look at Collier questioningly.
"They're right, Cooper," Collier answered. "Before they're ready I suppose this is as good a time as any to bring you all up to date, since you're going to hear my conversation with Admiral Carter. We're already running into the same problem here." He wasn't quite sure where to start. After a momentary pause, he began, "From about now, we are all virtually prisoners in the embassy. The fires were started by parties within this building whom we can't yet identify. The reason was simple — they wanted to cut off all our outside communications and, as is obvious to 48»
each of you, they've been successful with the exception of this operation, which they're in the dark about.
"Their spy satellites over the last month have been watching the development of our base at Islas Piedras in the Indian Ocean very closely. While you all know a little about that island, it is not actually a Trident resupply base and was never intended to be."
"Well, I'll be damned," said one of them. "My brother's stationed there. What is it, sir?"
"It is a strategic base, armed with a new tactical missile that we hope to utilize to control that section of the world. One of us is going to end up on top, and it's better if it's us. The Russians have made strong inroads into control of the Indian Ocean and, from a strategic and economic viewpoint, we can't allow it, or the U.S. will be forced back pretty much to its own hemisphere. You know what that means."
"Yes, sir. We're shit out of luck!" Better than I could have said it, Collier thought.
"Before they could get accurate pictures of final installations, we employed a new weapon that has never been used before, a type of laser. Quite simply, it damages a satellite by neutralizing its.electronic equipment. There's no explosion. The satellite keeps right on its programmed course, but it simply is unable to take pictures or communicate with any ground stations. There is no way they can complain to the U.N. or prove anything to any of their allies. It appears to be a malfunction of a perfectly orbiting satellite, but it's no longer of any value to them. I don't exactly know where this weapon is or how many we have, but I do know that another satellite was neutralized from another location — just to let them know it wasn't a fluke and that we can destroy their electronic links at will." He paused for a moment to let it sink in. They were all disciplined career people, and there was little expression on their faces.
"I'm beginning to get the message. We're not going to be exactly welcome here, are we?"
"In about six hours," Collier continued, "the Chairman of the Communist Party will make a speech in the Kremlin, but it will be intended for all the world and broadcast internationally. He will state that Islas Piedras is a Trident submarine base established in a hitherto free sector of the world, that it is an invasion of the Third World, and an aggressive action that must be halted. He can't state what that island really is because their photos are incomplete and they aren't absolutely positive of what will be there when we're finished. In the meantime, he will ask that we remove that base completely. To back all this up, a huge Russian naval force left Vladivostok and Nakhodka almost two weeks ago and is now about twelve hours away from active contact with the island, although their submarines were in position two nights ago.
"It's a blockade, with a great deal of similarity to the tactics we employed in Cuba in 1962. The tactics are the same, except that they are denying us here secure contact with Washington via the fire damage. The Russians apparently feel that if the U.S. is forced to deal directly from Washington, with silence and no mediation on this end, that they'll force indecision on the part of the President and world opinion can then gain them the upper hand."
"Wow, that's heavy stuff," one of the men muttered to another beside him.
"Why," asked another, "couldn't we utilize communications systems from other embassies? Friends, like the Canadians or British, or even neutrals like Switzerland or Sweden? They should have secure linkage with their own people in Washington."
"We considered that earlier this evening," Collier answered. "Ambassador Simpson even discussed this with some of his contacts at those embassies. But, if you need an example of successful infiltration of a staff, don't look any farther than right here. I'm pretty sure that fire a few hours back was started by people working here. If we have that little security on our own staff, imagine what we can expect with the others, friends or not.
"But that's a good question, Jessie. Don't get me wrong. We'll use the other embassies for general administrative messages and some direct voice contact, but we'll be damn careful what's carried. We do want the Russians to think we're going to use our friends and we're already beginning to set up a system. But that's to make them feel they've been entirely successful here. They don't know what we've got in this room, and this is the one ace we still have up our sleeves. As long as this all remains political rather than military, let them think they've been successful."
Collier looked at his watch. It was a bit after one in the morning and almost time for Carter to show up. He had been at a meeting of the Joint Chiefs with the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) at which the President and his advisors were briefed on what had occurred to date. Collier knew that Carter would be looking for instructions to pass on to Moscow from that important meeting, for he and the ambassador might have to operate in the dark sooner than expected.
"Ambassador Simpson should be here shortly," Collier continued. "I explained most of the military situation to him this evening, and he will now be working directly with me until a solution is reached. Our job in Moscow will be to convince the Russians that what has occurred in the Indian Ocean is a fait accompli." He paused, then, "We want them to think it's too late for them to stop the installation at Islas Piedras and that military action will simply be a provocation to all-out war. I don't know myself how much more time we need at Islas Piedras, but I do know that Washington will be trying to convince the world that it is nothing but a replenishment base, similar to Holy Loch in Scotland."
"What are we planning to throw up against them, sir?"
"I know that we have been assembling a task force from a variety of ships that were sent out to act independently during the last few weeks. They've been in the Red Sea, off the African coast, and some were as far away as India or operating off the west coast of Australia. Nimitz is the flag, and I know a few of the Virginia-class cruisers are around, along with at least a half dozen attack subs out there. It was well planned a long time ago. There's a lot of nuclear power and not too much need for a replenishment force. But right now, I think you understand how much I'm going to be depending on you, and what you're going to have to do for God knows how long. A lot of people are relying on us."
As he finished, Ambassador Simpson appeared, visibly shaken for the first time in his life. "Good morning, Bob." He looked around the room first, then apparently realized he could talk openly in front of Collier's men. "I placed the entire staff on an emergency basis right after the fire. I would think at this point you probably have even more to tell me about the military situation. When I'm able to make a report, I'm going to mention that my position is too critical for me to have been kept in the dark about certain things that have taken place outside this country recently."