“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.”
“I can assure you that a good deal of what's happened wasn't the Navy's
fault, sir. I felt that you should have been involved long before, certainly when intelligence first learned of what the Russians knew about Islas Piedras. But the President, or his staff, have given us specific orders, which we've had to follow for the time being.” He went on to elaborate on the details he had just finished with to his own men. Then he explained the call he was now waiting for.
The ambassador looked pensive for a moment, knitting his brows. “Bob, they've really placed me in a tough position. I've been getting indications in the daily meetings I've had at the Kremlin the past week that there was something I should know. By now, they must feel I'm either part of the whole scheme, or that perhaps I'm the dumbest ambassador they've had to deal with. You and I are going to have to work more closely together from now on, but first I'd like to talk with your people when they call. There are only so many doors you can open without me. If the Secretary of State is there, I'd like a word with him.”
He was interrupted by one of the operators, “Sir, I understand Admiral Carter is about ready now.”
“Thanks, Jessie. Would you find out who's there with him? If Secretary Jasperson isn't there, they should arrange for a patch right away. Tell them Ambassador Simpson wants to speak with him.”
“Yes, sir.” Then, a few moments later, “Mr. Jasperson is at the White House, sir. They're trying to raise him on a special line now.”
“Good. How much time do we have on this call before the satellites are out of range?”
“No problem, Admiral. You have approximately . . .” some scratching on a pad, “... exactly sixty-seven minutes from now.” The time was 1:17 A.M. in Moscow.
“No need to use the phone,” Collier said. “Patch it over the speaker, so we can all hear.”
There was quiet in the communications room, then, “I have Admiral Carter, sir.” He pushed a button on the panel in front of him.
“Good morning, Bob.” Sam Carter's voice came over the speaker as if he were in the room. There was no interference.
“Good morning to you, Sam. And how's life in the Pentagon today?”
“It's probably not as hairy as in Moscow, Bob. But I don't think you've ever seen such action in this place. The CNO briefed everyone a few hours ago, and he told me he hasn't seen faces like that since he was an ensign at Pearl. We've had our share of crises that most people never knew about, but this is the greatest shock in a long time. How are people taking it at the embassy?”
“I briefed the ambassador earlier this evening as we'd agreed. Shortly after that, he made an announcement to the people here, and the entire staff is now on an emergency basis. And when I came in from a walk not so long ago, I noticed that none of us are going to be leaving for a while.”
“I figured they'd want to do that even before now.”
“But we don't have a hell of a lot of time, Sam. First, Ambassador Simpson is here and I want someone's permission, CNO or SECNAV or whoever, to tell him everything about Islas Piedras' military installations and also about the satellite neutralizer. I believe you could say we're just about in a state of war here, and he should know everything.”
There were some words spoken beyond the microphone at the Pentagon, followed by Carter: “I've got one of my aides on the phone now, and it will only take a minute. In the meantime, what's the status of your communications? We haven't been able to raise anyone for six hours. All we've been told by the Russian Ambassador here is that some confusion would result for a while because of a minor fire.”
“That minor fire, as they call it in international politics, was a picture-perfect undercover job that negated all communications and crypto equipment—incendiary devices so small that we never knew they were brought in. Our experts here say it will be another four to six days before they can even have a proper jury rig on some of the units, but that's only if we have parts available here. And since they plan to cut us off from everything for a period, this is the only contact we'll have with you.”
“Sounds like intelligence screwed up badly, Bob.”
“Our biggest problem is that we don't know how many mistakes they've made. The ambassador, per an agreement with me earlier this evening, is telling our people only as much as we want them to know since we obviously have a major security problem. Major Hattan, who took over the detachment when Hamlet disappeared, is going over our background investigations now to see if we can find some pattern in last year's Wrings, or anything that will at least give us something to go on. By morning we should literally be under siege, and then we'll have no bargaining power.”
“Just a moment, Bob. Secretary Jasperson is ready to be patched in from the White House. If the ambassador is right there, I'd like to have them talk first. The President, to be polite, is very shaken now.”
Collier looked at Simpson. Both of them knew the strain Jasperson was under now with the President. International confrontation was not part of the constitution of this small-town boy who had achieved the American dream by selling domestic issues to people. Jasperson was the President's mouthpiece and at this juncture was probably making all of the decisions for his President.
“I'm right here, Admiral Carter,” replied the ambassador. “I am aware of everything with the exception of some military information that I, for some reason, have not been made privy to.” Collier noted that the ambassador's furrowed brows were probably no more furrowed than Sam Carter's at that statement. “Please patch me in to Secretary Jasperson,”
A quiet voice came back over the loudspeaker, “This is Jasperson. Am I speaking to Ambassador Simpson?”
“This is Simpson, Mr. Secretary. This is the.only method I have available to communicate with you securely, and I'll make it as short as possible. You have already learned from the Russian embassy that a small fire disrupted our communications network for a while. Actually, it was an undercover job, an excellent one. Some very sophisticated incendiary devices were strategically placed to create destructive fires on the eighth floor. Quite obviously, our security missed something, and I suggest you have your people begin to comb all your files on us to see if they can turn up anything unusual. If they can infiltrate this embassy, they must be in every one we have. Secondly, I can assure you we will not have any other method of communications other than transfer of routine information for at least four days, and I doubt it will even be possible then. Finally, we are virtually prisoners within the confines of this building, and I doubt we will have any opportunity to assist you over the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours, when you're going to need it most. Admiral Collier has requested military permission to bring me up to date on some apparently highly classified weapons that are involved with this mess. While I don't want to belabor the point now, I think I should have been told previously what was developing, since I may have to negotiate directly with the Soviet leaders.”
There was an embarrassing silence before Jasperson came back. “I assure you there was nothing personal involved in any decision to withhold information.” A pause, then, “Admiral Collier, you may take my word for it that you can tell Ambassador Simpson everything he needs to know.” Another pause. Then, using his old friend's first name, Jasperson said "Jack, I know you're In a tight situation and, if there is any fault, it has been right here. You know about Islas Piedras and that's the crux of the situation. If we could have completed it before all this started, then everyone with a need to know would have been briefed. As it stands now, we made a judgment error. The Russians got the upper hand on us, and it might have been worse if we hadn't stopped that damn satellite. As it was, we were using an untested weapon and we didn't even know if that would work.
“But those things aside, I suspect that we are going to need your help very badly after the Chairman's speech. You should work very closely with Admiral Collier, and I want to instruct both of you as a team.”
“I'm right here with the ambassador, Mr. Secretary. Please go ahead,” said Collier.
“Bob Collier speaks just about perfect Russian, Jack. Since you s
eem to have a problem with security risks, I want Collier to act as your interpreter. Anywhere you go, he goes, and vice versa. I think the two of you will be safe, since the Russians aren't exactly sure what we have at Islas Piedras. As long as they believe they've put us out of touch, act just the opposite. Let's confuse them by acting as if we were in constant touch. As long as their information is inaccurate, you have a certain advantage. We know they'll stay in the dark for a while, although one of our agents has assured us that a new satellite will be launched within days to replace the one we neutralized. When that becomes a malfunction, I think they'll know what advantages we have on that score. However, we want to try to solve our problems with diplomacy, if possible. They know that you're handpicked by me, and Admiral Collier is a well-known student of international affairs. I want to read a list of items for you to discuss with them that I have just gone over with the President. You may tell them that the President of the United States stands firm on the following points ...”
Silence! The ambassador turned halfway to Collier. “Bob, what happened?” Silence. “Can you get him back? We have more time before they're out of range.”
The Admiral looked at his men, one at a time. The looks on their faces were all that he required. "Mr. Ambassador, we're on our own now. I'm sure if we had any other means of communications with Washington, we'd learn shortly that our satellite was just destroyed. If it's any comfort to you, it was likely a missile. Destruction of that type will be obvious to a number of countries, and I'm sure the U.S. will learn about this provocation in the next half hour.
“In the meantime, sir, we have no contact with Washington, and I doubt we will have any for some time. As a matter of fact, if you go to your quarters and look out in the square, I'll bet you'll see there are even more guards than before.”
In the aura of the dim street lights on the Tschaikowskistrasse, Ambassador Simpson saw not only more people, but they now wore the uniforms of the Red Army.
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