The sum of all fears - Tom Clancy [388]
"What does that mean?" Liz Elliot asked.
"It means that they want to increase their ability to protect themselves. PVO isn't a threat to anybody unless they're approaching or inside Soviet airspace."
"But why would they do it?" Elliot asked again.
"Maybe they're afraid somebody will attack them."
"God damn it, Ryan!" the President shouted.
"Mr President, excuse me. That was not a flippant remark. It is literally true. Voyska PVO is a defense system like our NORAD. Our air-defense and warning systems are now at a higher alert status. So are theirs. It's a defensive move only. They have to know that we've had this event. When there's trouble of this sort, it's natural to activate your own defenses, just as we have done."
"It's potentially disturbing," General Borstein said at NORAD HQ. "Ryan, you forget we have been attacked. They have not. Now, before they've even bothered to call us, they're jacking up their alert levels. I find that a little worrisome."
"Ryan, what about those reports that we got about missing Soviet nuclear weapons?" Fowler asked. "Could that fit into this situation?"
"What missing nukes?" CINC-SAC demanded. "Why the hell didn't I hear about that?"
"What kind of nukes?" Borstein asked a second later.
"That was an unconfirmed report from a penetration agent. There are no details," Ryan answered, then realized he had to press on. The sum of the information received is this: we've been told that Narmonov has political problems with his military; that they are unhappy with the way he's doing things; that in the ongoing pull-back from Germany, an unspecified number of nuclear weapons - probably tactical ones - have turned up missing; that KGB is conducting an operation to determine what, if anything, is missing. Supposedly Narmonov is personally concerned that he might be the target of political blackmail, and that the blackmail could have a nuclear dimension. But, and I must emphasize the but, we have been totally unable to confirm these reports, despite repeated attempts, and we are examining the possibility that our agent is lying to us."
"Why didn't you tell us that?" Fowler asked.
"Mr President, we're in the process of formulating our assessment now. The work is still on-going, sir, I mean, we've been doing it over the weekend."
"Well, it sure as hell wasn't one of ours," General Fremont said heatedly. "And it's no goddamned terrorist bomb, it's too goddamned big for that. Now you tell us that the Russians may have a short inventory. That's more than disturbing, Ryan."
"And it could explain the increased alert level at PVO," Borstein added ominously.
"Are you two telling me," the President asked, "that this could have been a Soviet device?"
"There aren't all that many nuclear powers around," Borstein replied first. "And the yield of this device is just too damned big for amateurs."
"Wait a minute." Jack jumped in again. "You have to remember that the facts we have here are very thin. There is a difference between information and speculation. You have to remember that."
"How big are Soviet tactical nuclear weapons?" Liz Elliot wanted to know.
CINC-SAC handled that one: "A lot like ours. They have little one-kiloton ones for artillery rounds, and they have warheads up to five hundred-KT left over from the SS-20s they did away with."
"In other words, the yield of this explosion falls into the range of the Soviet warhead types that we have heard are missing?"
"Correct, Dr Elliot," General Fremont replied.
At Camp David, Elizabeth Elliot leaned back in her chair and turned to the President. She spoke too softly for the speaker-phone to catch her words.
"Robert, you were supposed to be at that game, along with Brent and Dennis."
It was strange that he hadn't had that thought enter his mind yet, Fowler told himself. He, too, leaned back. "No," he replied. "I cannot believe that the Russians would attempt such a thing."
"What was that?" a voice on the speaker asked.
"Wait a minute," the President said too quietly.
"Mr