Without remorse - Tom Clancy [195]
The Colonel nodded his appreciation. 'These arrogant little bastards are not helping us. They are using us, they are using me, they are using my prisoners to blackmail us. And if this is Marxism-Leninism, then I'm a Trotskyite.' It was a joke that few would have been able to make lightly, but Grishanov's father was a Central Committee member with impeccable political credentials.
'What are you learning, Comrade Colonel?' the General said, just to keep things on track.
'Colonel Zacharias is everything that we were told, and more. We are now planning how to defend the Rodina against the Chinese. He is the "blue team" leader.'
'What?' The General blinked. 'Explain?'
'This man is a fighter pilot, but also an expert on defeating air defenses. Can you believe it, he's only flown bombers as a guest, but he's actually planned SAC missions and helped to write SAC doctrine for defense-avoidance and -suppression. So now he's doing that for me.'
'Notes?'
Grishanov's face darkened. 'Back at the camp. Our fraternal socialist comrades are "studying" them. Comrade General, do you know how important this data is?'
The General was by profession a tank officer, not an aviator, but he was also one of the brighter stars rising in the Soviet firmament, here in Vietnam to study everything the Americans were doing. It was one of the premier jobs in his country's uniformed service.
'I would imagine that it's highly valuable.'
Kolya leaned forward. 'In another two months, perhaps six weeks, I will be able to reverse-plan SAC. I'll be able to think as they think. I will know not only what their current plans are, but I will also be able to duplicate their thinking into the future. Excuse me, I do not mean to inflate my importance,' he said sincerely. 'This American is giving me a graduate course in American doctrine and philosophy. I've seen the intelligence estimates we get from KGB and GRU. At least half of it is wrong. That's only one man. Another man has told me about their carrier doctrine. Another about NATO war plans. It goes on, Comrade General.'
'How do you do this, Nikolay Yevgeniyevich?' The General was new at this post, and had met Grishanov only once before, though his service reputation was better than excellent.
Kolya leaned back in his chair. 'Kindness and sympathy.'
'To our enemies?' the General asked sharply.
'Is it our mission to inflict pain on these men?' He gestured outside. "That's what they do, and what do they get for it? Mainly lies that sound good. My section in Moscow discounted nearly everything these little monkeys sent. I was told to come here to get information. That is what I am doing. I will take all the criticism I must in order to get information such as this, Comrade.'
The General nodded. 'So why are you here?'
'I need more people! It's too much for one man. What if I am killed - what if I get malaria or food poisoning - who will do my work? I can't interrogate all of these prisoners myself. Especially now that they are beginning to talk, I take more and more time with each, and I lose energy, I lose continuity. There are not enough hours in the day.'
The General sighed. 'I've tried. They offer you their best -'
Grishanov almost snarled in frustration. 'Their best what? Best barbarians? That would destroy my work. I need Russians. Men, kulturny men! Pilots, experienced officers. I'm not interrogating private soldiers. These are real professional warriors. They are valuable to us because of what they know. They know much because they are intelligent, and because they are intelligent they will not respond well to crude methods. You know what I really need to support me? A good psychiatrist. And one more thing,' he added, inwardly trembling at his boldness.
'Psychiatrist? That is not serious. And I doubt that we'll be able to get other men into the camp. Moscow is delaying shipments of antiaircraft rockets for "technical reasons." Our local allies are being difficult again, as I said, and the disagreement escalates.' The General leaned back and wiped sweat from his brow. 'What