Arctic Storm Rising by Dale Brown (android based ebook reader .TXT) 📕

kilometers. Our Su-27s, Su-35s, MiG-31s, and MiG-35s don’t have anywhere near that kind of range.”

“The Americans could do it easily,” Zhdanov countered angrily.

“The American Air Force has almost five hundred air refueling tankers in its inventory,” Rogozin replied. “Ours has fewerthan twenty operational IL-78 aircraft.”

Zhdanov’s eyes glittered dangerously. “Then I suggest you make full use of every last one of those operational tankers, General. And if you can’t or won’t do so, I’ll find some other officer who will.” He leaned forward. “Do you understandme?”

Slowly, Rogozin nodded.

“Good then,” Zhdanov said, pleased by the other man’s acquiescence. “That’s settled.”

“The fighter pilots assigned to escort our patrol flights will need firm rules of engagement,” Rogozin said carefully. “Wedon’t want any unfortunate accidents.”

“Certainly not,” Zhdanov agreed. He shrugged. “Let’s keep it simple: Your pilots are ordered to keep any NORAD combat aircraft a safe distance from our reconnaissance planes, so that the Tu-142s and IL-38s can complete their missions as directed. To do that, they’re authorized to use every peaceful means necessary, including aggressive maneuvering of their own. Maybe these American and Canadian hotshots won’t like a taste of their own medicine, eh? But your fighters are not to fire first under any circumstances, is that clear?” A thin, humorless smile crossed his face and then vanished. “Afterall, these shows of force are meant to let us to hunt down that bastard Petrov and our missing stealth bomber—not to set offsome goddamned stupid air war over the polar ice cap!”

“Yes, sir,” Rogozin agreed wholeheartedly. “But that still leaves the problem of what to do if Petrov is hiding somewhere in American or Canadian territory.”

Zhdanov frowned. “How so?”

“Carrying out a Spetsnaz raid to recapture the bomber would be impossible,” Rogozin warned. “Our helicopters don’t have thenecessary range.”

“So refuel them in the air,” Zhdanov snapped. “Just like your fighters.”

“Their range is even shorter,” Rogozin told him. “Which would force us to refuel them much closer to the North American coast.That would be extremely hazardous—and easily detectable by the North Warning System radars. The Americans and Canadians wouldhave plenty of time to intercept our commando forces before they could reach their target.”

Zhdanov clenched his teeth in frustration. Try as he might, he couldn’t deny that the other man was probably right. If thetraitorous colonel had really flown the PAK-DA prototype into the northern wastes of the United States or Canada, his onlyoption would be to order its complete destruction by bombing or a missile strike. At best, that would be a hollow victory.

He noticed Golitsyn’s aide whispering to the admiral again. “You have something to contribute, Nikolai?”

Golitsyn bobbed his head. “Yes, Mr. President.” His aide leaned forward to enter a few commands on the keyboard in front ofhis superior.

A new image appeared, inset on the digital map showing northern Russia, the Arctic Ocean, Alaska, and northern Canada. Itshowed a large humpbacked nuclear submarine berthed beside a pier.

“This is Podmoskovye, one of our Delfin-class SSBNs, which the Americans called Delta IVs,” Golitsyn explained. “Several years ago, we stripped out her ballisticmissile tubes and converted her instead to carry commandos and unmanned minisubmarines.”

“If you’re suggesting using this submarine to carry a Spetsnaz team to the North American coast, that still leaves our menfaced with a rather long walk,” Zhdanov said wryly, holding his temper in check with difficulty. He’d long known the admiralwasn’t that bright. But he’d hoped Golitsyn’s younger, more educated subordinates would make up for their commander’s shortcomings.

“No, sir, that’s not my plan,” the admiral assured him earnestly. His aide typed frantically, and now the photograph disappeared,replaced by a schematic showing all of Podmoskovye’s compartments. Besides her twin 180-megawatt nuclear reactors, the most noticeable was a very large compartment immediatelyaft of her sail. A label on the diagram indicated that was a hangar where the submarine’s autonomous, unmanned minisubs wereusually housed, enabling them to be launched secretly while below the surface. “What we can do is leave Podmoskovye’s smaller submersible vehicles behind and use this space instead to store collapsible bladders of helicopter aviation fuel.Then a high-speed run under the polar ice cap would bring the submarine to a point not far off the enemy coast, somewherein the Beaufort Sea. Once there, she could break through the ice sheet and establish an improvised refueling point. In caseit proves necessary to send in a Spetsnaz raiding party.”

Zhdanov considered the plan and asked, “How long would it take your submarine to reach its destination?”

Once again, Golitsyn held a short, hushed consultation with his aide. “A minimum of four days.”

Four days? That might as well be an eternity in the present circumstances, Zhdanov thought wearily. Then again, what otheroptions did he have? He nodded. “Very well, Admiral. Issue the necessary orders to the Northern Fleet and Podmoskovye’s captain.”

At last, he turned his attention to two men seated just beyond Golitsyn. One, Sergei Veselovsky, headed the Foreign IntelligenceService, the SVR. The other, Aleksandr Ivashin, led the nation’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Each man looked morelike a boring, middle-aged civil servant than a spymaster responsible for orchestrating the espionage and covert operationsaimed at Russia’s rivals around the globe. That was good cover, Zhdanov supposed. As it was, he made it a habit to keep avery close eye on the pair of them. Overly ambitious intelligence chiefs and secret policemen were always a potential threatto any Russian ruler. “Veselovsky! Ivashin!” he barked. “Listen up!” Caught off guard, they stiffened.

Tired as he was, Zhdanov hid a pleased smile. It was a useful practice to crack the whip every now and again, if only to remindthese men of who was in charge. “You’re going to immediately activate all of your intelligence assets inside the United Statesand the People’s Republic of China—including every single one of the deep-cover agents we’ve planted over the past three decades.If either Washington or Beijing pick up any clues to the PAK-DA bomber’s whereabouts, I’d better damned well find out exactlywhat they’ve learned just as soon as they’ve learned it!”

Twenty-One

Emergency Conference Room, National