“What?” the General Secretary replied, puzzled. “He was on the boat that was sunk by the British and the Americans?”
“Yes, Mister Secretary. But actually, it wasn’t them that sank it …” “What are you saying? Are you trying to confuse me? I still can’t understand what they’re plotting behind my back. So tell me again, this
Kazakh of Budarenko’s, was he or wasn’t he on the ship?”
“Sir, we have indications that the trawler was probably sunk by our own submarine.”
“I don’t believe this. Why would we do something like this?”
“I still don’t have an answer to give you, but there are too many question marks accumulating on that subject: the Minister’s secret team, their stay in Murmansk, the presence of the Kazakh Colonel on the trawler that wasn’t very far from where the American missile exploded, and now this thing with the submarine. Maybe someone here, on our side, wanted to silence the Kazakh Colonel for good. Now these are more than just suspicions, and we are trying very hard to connect all of the pieces in the puzzle. I promise you, Mister Secretary, that this will be done as quickly as possible.”
The Party Secretary removed his glasses and placed them on the desk. He massaged his face with his fingers for some time, then finally spoke.
“My friend Mister KGB Director, I don’t like, in fact I really dislike, what is happening around me, or to be more precise, behind my back. This is no longer a hunch, as I already know that I’m not being told the whole truth. I don’t know who I can trust and who I should suspect, and all this just a few hours before we start a war with NATO and the Americans. This is an insane situation, truly insane. I hope that you understand that I need you closer to me than ever. Do you understand this?”
“Yes, Mister Secretary. Not only do I understand, but I’m working around the clock to protect you, and also to get you the maximum amount of information. As I told you before, we are very near to deciphering all those unknowns.”
The Minister did not move his gaze from the Head of the KGB.
“I trust you. Don’t disappoint me.”
The Head of the KGB could have sworn that he could almost detect a plea in the eyes of the almighty General Secretary when he said “Don’t disappoint me”.
Svetlana entered the room and the Secretary looked at her in anticipation.
“Gospodin Vladimir Petrovich Yermolov, the Minister of Defense will arrive in three to four minutes.”
The General Secretary turned to the Head of the KGB.
“You’d better go before he comes in, but stay close. I have a feeling that I’ll be calling you back here today.”
The two shook hands, and the Head of the KGB hurried out of the room.
The Minister of Defense, Marshal Budarenko, sat himself in the chair that the Head of the KGB had vacated just a few minutes before. The Party General Secretary could not miss the Minister’s high spirits.
“How are our forces advancing in the field? Do we already have contact with the insurgents there?”
“Mister Secretary, we are even ahead of schedule. I’m pushing them to advance as fast as possible so that the enemy won’t have time to mobilize. There’s no civil resistance, and certainly no military resistance. Our main forces are not entering the cities of the German Democratic Republic at all. All of them are advancing to the real thing, leaving only small forces near several cities.”
“So I understand that you are very content”, the General Secretary said, not revealing any emotion.
“This is true, Mister Secretary.”
The General Secretary did not move his gaze from the minister’s face. “Especially since this is exactly what you’ve been planning all along, and you’re not really interested in the civil disobedience and the
German Democratic Republic, are you?”
The Minister’s smile froze in an instant, and he was as tightly wound as a spring.
“Mister Secretary, that is not true. The difference between us is that I am a military man and I know that one should always prepare for any eventuality. What did you want? Did you want me to enter the Democratic Republic with limited forces? Then, if the Americans reacted by threatening us with military action and issuing us with an ultimatum, what would you have told them? Comrades, please wait a minute. I’m not ready. Give me few days to move several more divisions from the rear. That’s how a civilian thinks, not a responsible military man.”
By now the General Secretary’s eyes were burning with rage.
“Meanwhile, the person running this country is the civilian before you, not the military man before me.”
The Minister of Defense chose not to reply. The General Secretary, who was incandescent with anger, removed his glasses and cleaned the lenses with a cloth handkerchief in slow, circular motions, as though trying to control his emotions.
“And what do you have to say about the American President’s speech today?” the General Secretary asked the Minister.
“Mister Secretary, I don’t buy this garbage. I ran the subject by the Commander of our Air Force and all our intelligence agencies. He’s trying to pull the wool over our eyes. I told you at our last meeting that no pilot can arm a nuclear warhead on a cruise missile by himself, even if he really wants to. This can only be done with special approval from supreme headquarters that sends a very specific code, just as we do. Regarding the coincidence, etc., it’s only a one in a billion chance. In my opinion, the Americans are panicking in the face of our military might which is advancing toward their lines of defense as we speak, and this is all they have left to do. Namely, to implore, to ask for forgiveness, and to do with the Americans know best — offer us money, compensation. I hope you don’t accept their apology.”
The General Secretary ignored the Minister’s suggestion and continued to rain questions on him.
“So you say that we’re ahead of schedule. When are we going to cross the border between the Germanys and start the fighting?”
“Within 24 hours, maybe even less.”
“If so, I would like to meet with our soldiers before that. When will that be possible?”
“I’m flying there tomorrow morning. I’ll be happy if you come with me.”
“All right. Keep me updated on any development until then, even if you think that it’s negligible. Am I sufficiently clear?”
“You are clear, Mister Secretary. We’ll meet tomorrow morning.”
United States President James Butler opened the third meeting of the day in the Situation Room, with his senior national security staff, advisors, and the Secretary of State. Two and a half hours had passed since he had faced the nation and reported the near- catastrophe that had allegedly caused the mistaken launch of a cruise missile armed with a nuclear warhead. The President’s creatively ambitious plan seemed to have failed miserably. Worse, reports of the Soviet tank columns advancing more rapidly than expected added to the tense atmosphere, with a feeling that time was running out. There was a pall of despair over the Situation Room. It seemed obvious to everyone that war would break out within hours.
President Butler glanced quickly at the people around the conference table.
“Where is the CIA director? Why isn’t he here?”
“Mister President, he’ll be right here. He said that an important dispatch had just come in and he’ll be here soon to brief you”, the White House Chief of Staff replied quickly.
“Secretary Manning, please start.”
“Mister President, it’s strange, but we haven’t heard back from them about your speech. This isn’t like them at all. We even expected them to respond with disdain, but strangely enough, we’ve received no response at all. It appears that they are simply determined to move their tanks as rapidly as possible. What is stranger yet, Mister President, is that it appears that your directive ordering the conditional use of nuclear tactical weapons hasn’t been intercepted by them at all. That is highly improbable.”