Shock, followed by fear and anger. For the first time since World War II a nuclear weapon had been used in combat.
The genie was out of the bottle.
CHAPTER 49
Vysotsky stared at Valentina in disbelief.
"Kepler was Johannes Gutenberg?"
"Yes. He will trouble us no more."
Alexei Vysotsky set the recording from the hospital down on his desk and looked at Valentina.
"The Americans were there? For the same reason?"
The way he said it made Valentina think that somehow she was supposed to be at fault for the American presence. She looked at the man across the desk, dressed today in his general's uniform. Vysotsky had shaped her into a weapon of the state. He had controlled her life, deciding what she should know and what she should do. He had never displayed anything that felt like genuine affection for her.
She wanted to make him see her as more than someone to manipulate.
"Yes, they were there, including my sister."
"What?" His face registered shock.
"It surprises you that I know about her? It shouldn't. After all, you are the one who trained me. You should have told me long ago."
Vysotsky looked down at his desk for a moment and shuffled a few papers. When he looked up his face was emotionless.
"It was the correct thing to do," he said. "What good would it have done for you to know you had a sister in America, someone you could never hope to meet? I was trying to spare you from unnecessary emotional stress."
"You were trying to spare yourself from the complications of dealing with my thoughts about having any family except the state. The only reason you kept that information from me was to serve your own purposes."
"Your sister is an American spy."
"My sister is my sister first and an American second," Valentina said. "My mother was a spy. I'm a spy. Why shouldn't she be one as well? What did you think, that I would run off to her with state secrets and tell her all about them?"
Vysotsky managed to look uncomfortable.
"It seemed best," he said.
"She knows who I am. Because of her I was able to get this recording. They may be Americans but in this we are all wanting the same thing."
Vysotsky's phone rang.
"Da." Valentina saw his face change. "Da. Da. Spasibo."
He put the phone down. He seemed shaken.
"There has been a nuclear explosion in Latvia," he said.
"NATO? The Americans?"
"No. One of our tanks fired a tactical missile. Part of Riga has been destroyed."
"Who gave the order to fire?"
"No one knows."
Vysotsky picked up the recorder with Gutenberg's statement on it and put it in his pocket. He stood. Valentina rose with him.
"Orlov has to hear this. This war must be stopped before the Americans retaliate." He paused. "For what it's worth, I admired your mother."
He walked out of the room, leaving Valentina standing there.
What the hell has that got to do with anything? she thought.
Alexei knew Orlov was meeting with his military commanders. Golovkin was sure to be there. As his limousine sped toward the Kremlin, Vysotsky thought about how to confront Golovkin and try to persuade Orlov to pull back. When American troops began to die, war with the United States was inevitable. Russia would not survive a nuclear war. It would not be a popular position to point out that Russia would be defeated. Before this day was over he would be praised as a hero or shot as a traitor.
He thought back to his days in the field in Afghanistan. He'd been young then, naïve. There were times when he'd wished his commanders would use tactical nuclear weapons against a particularly stubborn enemy. Now he knew better. The world was too dangerous for anyone, Russia included, to use the power of the atom as a hard vehicle of policy.
The car entered the Kremlin grounds through the private entrance reserved for Russia's leaders. The driver parked in the underground garage. Two guards armed with AK 94s stood by the elevator that would take him to the sub level where the Operations Center was located. They came to attention when they saw Alexei's uniform.
"One of you, come with me," Vysotsky said.
"Sir, my orders are to stay here."
"Unless you want to find yourself posting guard in Novosibirsk you will come with me now. Understand?"
"Sir."
"Summon the elevator."
The guard pushed the button to bring the elevator down. They waited in silence until the doors opened. Inside, Alexei pressed the button that would take them up to the next level.
The doors opened onto the Kremlin Operations Center.
The room was large and brightly lit with overhead fluorescent lighting. The air was heavy with the acrid smell of unwashed bodies and stress. To Alexei's right and left the walls were covered with large monitors displaying a pictures sent by satellites, ground cameras and drones. Most of the aerial shots were useless, gray masses of cloud blocking everything on the ground from sight. Raised rose of desks with monitors lined both sides of the room, manned by uniformed men and women from the Federation ground forces. At the far end was a command room separated from the rest by a wall of glass. Over the glass was a huge map of the world covered with glowing symbols illuminated in bright yellow against a black background.
The men in that room controlled Russia's massive military might. Alexei saw President Orlov, Golovkin, Colonel General Kuznetsov, General Krupin, and Admiral Akulin sitting at a large table on the other side of the glass. Also at the table was Colonel-General Anton Brezhnev, Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Federation Air Force. Sitting next to him was Lieutenant General Victor Aronov, commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces. Aronov was in charge of the Federation's considerable ballistic missile inventory.
People began to look up from their monitors as Alexei and his armed escort strode toward the conference room. Orlov sensed something out of the ordinary and turned toward the glass. He watched Vysotsky approaching.
Two guards stepped forward and blocked the way into the room.
"I must speak with the president," Alexei said.
"Entrance is forbidden."
Orlov's voice came through a speaker over the door. "Let him in."
The guard stepped aside and the door slid open with a quiet hiss of air.
"Mister President," Alexei said.
He took the recorder out of his pocket and held it up where everyone in the room could see. On the ride over he had decided that if Golovkin was present when he reached Orlov the only strategy was to attack without hesitation. Orlov was a forceful man. He appreciated forcefulness in others if it supported him. Just the same, Alexei knew he was playing a dangerous game.
"I have proof that we have been manipulated into this war. Mister President, we have been tricked into a confrontation with the Americans by this man."
He pointed at Golovkin in a theatrical gesture. Russians loved theater. Alexei now had gained their attention. He'd been careful not to single Orlov out as the target of Golovkin's manipulation. By using the collective 'we', he hoped to avoid triggering Orlov's massive ego. Any insinuation that Orlov alone was responsible for being duped by Golovkin would not go over well.
"Mister President, NATO will absolutely respond to our incursion into Latvia. Now that there has been a nuclear incident we are at risk of all out war with the West."
Orlov studied Vysotsky, the way a collector might look at a board pinned with butterflies.
"We have classified documents proving that NATO will not get involved," Orlov said. "The nuclear event, as you call it, can be written off as an unfortunate accident."