army knocking at his front door. The Ukrainians want the Crimea, and
they want it bad. They want the prestige of controlling what they
consider to be Ukrainian territory. They want the military supplies and
materiel there. The bases, The ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet that
haven’t been seized or defected to them. Most especially, they want the
Pobedonosnyy Rodina.”
“Excuse me?” Reed looked baffled.
“Pobedonosnyy Rodina, Madam Secretary,” Magruder offered. “It means
“Victorious Motherland’ in Russian. That’s the name of the largest
remaining ship in the Red fleet, a nuclear carrier as big as any of
ours.”
“I thought we took out their carriers in the Norwegian War,” Waring
said.
“We accounted for two out of three, sir,” Magruder said. “Kreml and
Soyuz, their first two carriers. This one wasn’t ready for action when
the fighting broke out in Norway, though. She was still undergoing sea
trials in the Black Sea. You can be sure the Ukrainians would love to
add her to their fleet. There’s nothing like a supercarrier to enhance a
country’s image as a world power.”
“Unless it’s a nuclear arsenal,” Reed said, her mouth twisted in
distaste. “Which Ukraine has, I might add. And Russia. All of this
simply supports my argument, that we must intervene to maintain the
peace.”
“What peace, Madam Secretary?” Scott demanded. “The whole area is
tearing itself apart now.”
“Ukraine has not attacked yet,” she said. “By taking control of the
Crimea, the UN will help ensure that the war does not spread. As it
would if Ukraine attacked Russian possessions in the area. They would
not risk angering the United Nations with an attack.”
“Madam Secretary,” Admiral Scott said wearily, “how can you possibly
know what the Ukrainians will or will not do?”
“There are also humanitarian considerations at stake here,” Heideman
said with a disdainful look at Scott. “The Ukrainian government seems to
have embarked upon a program of ethnic cleansing against the
non-Ukrainian population within their borders. A large number of ethnic
Russians have been killed or driven out already. And the population of
Crimea is mostly ethnic Russian. Allowing the Ukrainians to take over
the Crimea unopposed would open the floodgates to genocide.”
“It would make Bosnia look like a picnic,” Reed added.
“So by allowing the Reds in the Crimea to surrender to the UN, we keep
the Ukrainians out,” Waring said. “We stop a blood-bath, we reduce the
risk of a general war between Ukraine and Russia, and we stop Kiev from
seizing military assets in the Black Sea that could further destabilize
the region. I’m not sure I understand your objection, Admiral Scott.”
“And think of the opportunity we have here,” Heideman said. “An historic
opportunity! Since the end of World War II, we’ve been looking for a way
to make the UN a strong voice for world peace, and this could be just
what we need to do it. The picture of a Red officer surrendering to the
United Nations, not to any one country but to the world itself, that
would be a symbol that would count.”
Reed nodded. “I agree. For years now Admiral Scott and others like him
have been telling us that the U.S. can’t keep playing the role of world
policeman. That’s true. But it’s also true that the world needs a
policeman, and the only way I can see us getting one is to give the UN
both the power and the prestige to do the job. This would be an ideal
first step.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Magruder said quietly. “You just might
get it.”
Reed raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been quiet this morning, Admiral
Magruder. I suppose you share Admiral Scott’s viewpoint in this?
Military tradition and national sovereignty and historical precedent and
all the rest?” There was a note of contempt in her voice. Of all the
services, the Navy was widely known to be Reed’s pet peeve, and she made
little effort to hide how she felt.
“I’m as much concerned with practical questions as I am with tradition
and precedent, Madam Secretary,” Magruder said slowly, keeping his voice
flat and emotionless. “Since Desert Storm, everyone’s looked on the UN