Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 01 (27 page)

 
          
T
he scene in the hushed, dimly-lit
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 Kavaznya laser installation and the Salyut Nineteen
orbiting mirror on the RC-135 aircraft, the Alpha Omega Nine satellite, and the
Javelin
small ICBM. 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.

 
          
“Those
sonsof
bitches,
” Curtis muttered.

 
          
Brent
went on,

 
          
THE
SOVIET
UNION
MAINTAINS THAT ANY GROUND-BASED LASER
DEVICE IN EXISTENCE IS NOT A VIOLATION OF THE 1972 ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE
TREATY, SINCE SUCH WEAPONS WERE NEVER ADDRESSED BY THAT TREATY, NOR IS THE
PRESENCE OF A SPACE VEHICLE WITH A MIRROR ATTACHED TO IT IN ANY WAY IN
VIOLATION OF ANY TREATY.

 
          
THE
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT’S PROVOCATIVE ULTIMATUM DELIVERED BY THE AMERICAN SECRETARY
OF STATE TO THE SOVIET UNITED NATIONS DELEGATION IS GROUNDLESS AND AGGRESSIVE,
AND IT IS HEREBY REJECTED. THE UNITED STATES MUST OFFER PROOF,
REAL
PROOF, THAT THE ALLEGED LOSS OF THEIR EQUIPMENT WAS NOT CAUSED BY THEIR OWN
INCOMPETENCE OR MALFUNCTION BEFORE THEY CAN BEGIN TO REQUEST ANYTHING FROM THIS
SOVEREIGN NATION.

 
          
WE
FURTHER REJECT THE ATTEMPTS BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO COERCE THE
SOVIET
UNION
BY THREATENING UNILATERALLY TO DISOBEY THE
1972 ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE TREATY AND THE UNRATIFIED 1986 ARMS REDUCTION
TREATY. A RESPONSIBLE NATION WOULD MAINTAIN THE PATH OF FAIR AND OPEN
NEGOTIATIONS TO SOLVE A DISPUTE, AND NOT IMMEDIATELY JEOPARDIZE WORLD PEACE BY
OPENLY THREATENING TO CANCEL AND VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL TREATIES.

 
          
THE
SOVIET
UNION
, AS ALWAYS, STANDS READY TO REOPEN THE INVESTIGATION
OF THE LOSS OF AN AMERICAN AIRCRAFT OFF OUR SHORES, AND TO ENTER INTO TALKS ON
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR POSSIBLE TREATY VIOLATIONS THAT MAY BE CONNECTED WITH
RESEARCH BEING CONDUCTED IN
EASTERN SIBERIA
. WE PLEDGE OUR FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL COOPERATION IN THE SPIRIT OF
PEACE.

 
          
“So
they’ve denied everything,” Brent summarized. “They’re willing to start talks
on whether or not the radar violates the ABM treaty, but that’s all.”

 
          
“We’re
back to where we started,” Curtis said. He turned to the President. “Sir, with
all due respect, I recommend immediate deployment of
Ice Fortress.
”

 
          
Brent
shook his head. “And trigger World War Three? The solution would be worse than
the problem.”

 
          
“Mr.
Brent, we’ve had this argument before,” Curtis said. “It’s time to act.” He
turned to the President. “Mr. President, if you prefer, we can launch the
station itself in two consecutive Shuttle launches, one from Canaveral, one
from Vandenburg, in one month. We can delay arming the station until all
possible diplomatic avenues are exhausted. If we have no other choice, two
follow-on launches can make
Ice Fortress
fully armed and ready two weeks later.”

 
          
There
was a murmur of assent that filled the White House Situation Room. Brent looked
around at the assembled advisors.

 
          
“We’d
be stooping to their level,’’ Brent said. “It would mean an escalation that we
might not be able to control.’’

 
          
“Why
are they doing this?” the President asked rhetorically, massaging his temples.
“Why? They can’t be trying to provoke us.”

 
          
“They’ve
achieved their goal of crippling our strategic warning and surveillance
capabilities,” Curtis said. “That’s why.”

 
          
Brent
sighed. “Dammit, General, you see Russian invasions at every turn. We could
launch another spy satellite—we could launch ten of them—and I believe they’d
be safe because the Russian’s objective has already been met. They’ve
disorganized, confused, and scared this government. Don’t you see, General?
They
want
us to launch
Ice Fortress.
They
want
us to try to bomb Kavaznya or start a fight somewhere else in
the world. No matter what they have already done,
our
response will be seen as much more aggressive in the eyes of
the world.”

 
          
“So
what you’re saying,” Curtis shot back, “is that our best move is to do nothing
at all. Make big threats and then wait and wait after they’ve thumbed their
noses at us.” He ran fingers through his hair, then slammed down his fist. “No.
It’s not a matter of being macho. I’m not convinced that the Russians will stop
attacking our satellites. I’m not convinced the Russians don’t have an attack
plan behind this.”

 
          
Brent
said nothing.

 
          
“I’m
sorry,
Marshall
,” the President said. “I know you tried.
I’m thankful to you for your efforts. But it doesn’t seem to have worked.”

           
“No, but—”

           
“We gave them exactly what they
needed—more time. They rejected it. Its implication is clear. They’ll feel
emboldened to do more ...” The President turned to Curtis. “General, I want a
detailed briefing on
Ice Fortress
this afternoon.”

 
          
“Yes,
sir.
”

 
          
“It
makes no sense to launch
Ice Fortress,
” Brent continued to argue. The members of the President’s Cabinet shifted
uncomfortably.

 
          
“We’ve
heard all your arguments,
Marshall
. .

 
          
“The
Ice Fortress
would be just as
vulnerable as the Alpha Omega satellite, wouldn’t it, General Curtis? Why
launch a seven hundred million dollar target for the Soviets to beat on?”

 
          
“
Marshall
,” Ken Mitchell said, “in the case of Omega
and the
Javelin,
both vehicles were
destroyed by us, not by the laser.”

 
          
The
President looked surprised. “What?”

 
          
“Remember,
sir, I briefed you on this shortly after the attack on the Midgetman.” Mitchell
had the look of an impatient schoolmaster. “The

 
          
Omega
was blinded and damaged, but not destroyed—we lost it when we tried to steer it
through the atmosphere in an attempt to recover it intact. The
Javelin
apparently had sustained enough
damage to prematurely ignite the third stage booster, but we don’t know exactly
how much damage was done—it was automatically destroyed when it flew off
course.”

 
          
Brent
slapped the table with his hand. “That doesn’t answer my—”

 
          
“In
no case,” Curtis cut him off, “was either vehicle shielded against a laser
attack. A space station the size of
Ice
Fortress,
assembled in space, can be armored to withstand as much direct
energy as that nuclear power plant can put out. A beam of laser light, no
matter how powerful, is still a beam of light—it can be reflected. I can have
the researchers at Wright- Patterson present a more detailed analysis, sir, but
Ice Fortress
can be protected.”

 
          
“We’re
betting a lot of money on your analysis, General,” Brent said, shaking his
head.

 
          
“You’re
worried about the
money,
Mr. Brent—?”

 
          
“No,
dammit,” Brent said, exploding.
“Mr. President, it’s not only the risk of losing the hardware, sir—
Ice Fortress
represents the worst fears
about the militarization of space. Can we stand the pressure of world opinion
if we launch that thing?”

 
          
“I’m
more concerned about losing the ability to maintain deterence,” Curtis said.
“Perhaps you don’t understand—we have lost a good percentage of our strategic
nuclear deterrent power. Right now,
right
this minute,
Mr. Brent, we can’t detect a missile launch from eastern
Asia
. There are twelve submarines docked at
Petropavlovsk
, each with an average of fifteen
sea-launched ballistic missiles. Each of those carry three warheads, maybe
more. Mr. Brent, we can’t tell if the Russians launch those missiles until they
are ten minutes from impact. That’s not speculative—that’s fact. And the
Soviets have demonstrated a capability of destroying
our
missiles in the boost phase. So, if they did launch those
missiles, and we retaliated, a good percentage of our missiles wouldn’t reach
their targets.”

 
          
Curtis
had everyone’s attention.

 
          
“It
may be everyone’s image of Armageddon,” Curtis concluded, “but we need
Ice Fortress.
The risk of losing it is
far outweighed by our need for a bargaining chip.”

 
          
Brent
offered no further argument.

 
          
“
Marshall
, draft a statement of protest to the
Kremlin for my signature,” the President said. “Get with Karmarov at the U.N.
and ask him what the hell is going on. I want the Soviets to
know
they’ve committed an act of war and
that we intend to respond.”

 
          
“I’d
advise against using such language, sir,” Brent said.

           
The President glanced around the
Situation Room chamber at the shaking heads. He too shook his head.

           
“An act of war,
Marshall
. That’s what it is. That’s what I said.”

*
 
*
 
*

 
 
          
“It
is an act of war!”

           
Marshall Brent sat back in his seat,
turning down the volume of Dmitri Karmarov’s tirade on the floor of the United
Nations Security Council. Beside him, Gregory Adams took careful notes,
penciling in occasional comments.

 
          
Karmarov
held aloft five books in his hands and waved them in the air for the rest of
the Security Council to see. “Five treaties, fellow delegates. The
United States
has wantonly violated five important
treaties with the
Soviet
Union
and with
this body. They have wrecked years of vital negotiations that have sought to
bring a lasting peace to the world.” He threw the books into the aisle in front
of him, and the delegate from
Rumania
quickly reached back to pick them up.