think, a Delta IV. We don’t know that they were part of the Krasilnikov
ultimatum, but they were heard to be flooding their missile tubes in
preparation for launch. The other two were attack subs trying to work
their way toward our task force at Bear Station.”
The doors at the end of the room opened, and a close-knit cluster of men
in suits and in uniforms walked in. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Gordon West
announced from the head of the pack. “The President of the United
States!”
The people at the table stood with a rumble of pushed-back chairs.
“Be seated, please,” the President said as he strode to the chair
reserved for him. He took his seat as his aides and several military
officers, including an Air Force colonel with an ominous briefcase
chained to his wrist, took their places along the windows at his back.
My God, he looks old, Magruder thought, shocked. The President appeared
to have aged years in just the few days since Magruder had seen him
last. His was one job that Magruder would never want. The people on
the crisis team, at least, had been managing a few hours of sleep at odd
moments throughout the past three days. It didn’t look like the
President had been sleeping at all.
“Okay,” the President said, looking at the faces around him. “I’ll make
this fast and to the point.
“A few minutes ago, I talked to our ambassador at the UN. This
afternoon, gentlemen, in a special emergency meeting, with the Russian
representative absent and China abstaining, the Security Council passed
UN Resolution 984, calling on both sides of the Russian Civil War once
again to surrender sovereignty over their nuclear arsenals. This time,
they are authorizing military action to force compliance.”
“Good Lord,” Heideman said. “This could mean World War Three!”
“We may not have been able to avoid that in any case, Bob. A few
moments ago, I spoke with Petrakov.”
Viktor Petrakov had been the Russian ambassador to the United States
under the Leonov government. Since Washington continued to recognize
the Leonov government as the legitimate government in Russia, Petrakov
remained America’s principal diplomatic link with Russia, even if he was
no longer recognized by the people currently in power there.
“Petrakov,” the President continued slowly, “tells me that his
government is holding their football, the nuclear codes for the Russian
ICBM forces.
However, he fears that Krasilnikov’s people may have cracked the codes
for the missiles on at least a few of their submarines.”
“God in heaven,” Waring said.
“People, we cannot allow this horror to begin,” the President continued.
“We must do everything in our power to prevent the outbreak of nuclear
war in Russia. Resolution 984 gives us the legal authority to act. I
might add that both the UN Secretary General and Ambassador Petrakov
have formally requested our assistance, our intervention, to avoid a
nuclear holocaust.
“I am prepared to give it.”
There was silence in the room for a long moment after the President
spoke. Magruder, finally, broke it. “Mr. President, are you telling
us that we’re about to enter that war?”
“To secure Krasilnikov’s ICBM submarines in the Kola Peninsula, yes. It
will be a limited incursion, and for the short term only. Why, Admiral?
Why the long face?”
“I am, Mr. President, something of a student of history. I was just
thinking of the last time we invaded Russia.”
The President shook his head. “I don’t think I understand, Admiral.
When have we ever invaded Russia? Throughout the Cold War we-”
“This was from late in 1918, Mr. President, until 1920. Right after
World War I. An Allied force landed in Murmansk and at several ports in
the White Sea, ostensibly to look after Western interests, in fact to
lend military support to the Whites in their struggle against the
Bolsheviks. The expeditionary force included British, French, even
Serbian troops, but nearly half of them were Americans, straight from
the trenches in France. We also had some troops in the Far East of
Russia, trying to keep the Trans-Siberian Railroad out of Japanese
hands.”
“I suspect you and I read different history books when we were in