Tom Clancy's op-centre_ mirror image - Tom Clancy [91]
Nina found the Director at home, though he hadn't been sleeping.
"Sergei," said Mikyan, "I was about to call you."
"Did you know about Ukraine?" Orlov asked.
"We're intelligence heads. We know everything that's going on."
"You didn't, did you?" Orlov asked.
"We seem to have had an information gap in that area," Mikyan said. "A blind spot that was contrived by elements in the military, it would seem."
"Do you know that we have a hundred and fifty howitzers pointed at Minsk?"
"The night Director just informed me," Mikyan said.
"And aircraft from the carrier Murometz off Odessa have been flying along the Moldavian border, being very careful not to cross over."
"You've been at this longer than I have," Orlov said. "What's your reading?"
"Someone high up has masterminded a very top-secret operation. But don't feel bad, Sergei. It's caught a lot of people by surprise including, it appears, our new President."
"Has anyone spoken to him?"
"He's locked Away with his closest advisers now," Mikyan said. "Except for Interior Minister Dogin."
"Where is he?"
"Ill," Mikyan said, "at his dacha in the hills outside of Moscow."
"I spoke with him just a few hours ago," Orlov said disgustedly. "He was fine."
"I'm sure he was," Mikyan said. "Which should give you some idea about who masterminded this."
The phone beeped. "Excuse me," Orlov said to Mikyan.
"Wait," Mikyan said. "I've got to get to the Ministry, but first I was going to call because there's something you should consider. Dogin sponsored your facility in the Kremlin, and you went on-line shortly before the incursion. If the Minister is using the Operations Center to help run this thing, and he loses, you may be facing a firing squad. Crimes against the state, helping a foreign power--"
"I've just been thinking something like that myself," Orlov said. "Thanks, Rolan. We'll talk later."
When Mikyan hung up, Nina told Orlov that Zilash was on the line. The General switched to the interoffice line.
"Yes, Arkady?"
"General, Air Defense on Kolguyev Island reports that the Il-76T crossed over Finland to the Barents Sea and is now headed east."
"Do they have any idea where it's headed?"
"None, sir," said Zilash.
"A guess-- anything?"
"Just east, sir. The plane is headed due east. But they said it could be a supply plane. We're using the 76Ts to ferry cargo from Germany, France, and Scandinavia."
"Did Air Defense try identifying it?" Orlov asked.
"Yes, sir. They're sending out the right signal."
That didn't mean anything, Orlov knew. The heat-emitting beacons placed in the noses of the planes were easy enough to build, buy, or steal.
"Has anyone talked to the 76T?" Orlov asked.
"No, sir," said Zilash. "Most of the transports are maintaining radio silence to keep the airwaves clear."
"Has Air Defense picked up outside communications with any other Russian aircraft?" Orlov asked.
"Not that we're aware of, sir."
"Thank you," Orlov said. "I'd like half-hour updates, even if nothing changes. And I want one thing more, Zilash."
"Yes, sir."
"Monitor and record any communications between General Kosigan and the Interior Ministry," Orlov said. "The regular phone lines as well as the General's private uplink."
The dead air lasted only a moment, though it seemed longer.
"You want me to spy on General Kosigan, sir?"
"I want you to follow my orders," Orlov replied. "I'll assume you were repeating them rather than questioning them."
"Yes, sir, I was, sir," said Zilash. "Thank you."
When Orlov hung up, he told himself he was wrong about the plane, that this was one of those drills the CIA occasionally ran to see how the Russians would react if they thought the crew of one of their planes or ships had become agents-in-place-- operatives recruited to provide information about their own spheres of activity. There was nothing worse in any military confrontation than for commanders to start doubting the loyalty of their own troops.
But