Borodin thought for a minute. The use of their tactical nuclear arms in Belarus would be fit punishment for this betrayal. “I agree. They will learn not to betray their allies,” he said.
“Thank God,” said Hammond. “This just gave us several hundreds of miles of advance without casualties,” he said. “Now what’s this other information they shared with us?”
“Sir, the Russians are handing out these to all their troops,” the Swill delegate said as he handed over the small device.
General Pol recognized it immediately. “It’s a radiation dosimeter!” he exclaimed. “They don’t hand these out unless they are planning to use nuclear weapons!”
Hammond hung his head. “You’re sure?”
Pol held it up and looked through it. “There’s no doubt. Roger, we need to find out if they are distributing these across the entire front or only one place.”
“I was told it was everywhere in Belarus,” said the delegate.
“What can we do about this?” Pol asked.
Hammond thought for a moment. “We let the world know what we know,” he said. Walking over the communications center, Hammond got in front of one of the satellite sets and punched in a number. In a few seconds, a face appeared.
“White House Center, Major Jackson.”
“Major, this is Admiral Hammond, I need to speak to the Boss.”
Jackson recognized Hammond on the screen. “Hang on, Admiral. I’ll let the President know you are on the line,” Jackson said. He left the screen and Hammond looked over the device in his hand. In a few minutes the President sat down in front of the camera. “What’s up, Roger?”
“It’s serious. You ever see one of these?” Hammond asked as he raised the dosimeter in his hand toward the camera.
“Can’t say as I have. What is it?”
“According to General Pol, it’s a Russian dosimeter. He says they would only distribute these if they were expecting a nuclear attack. Since we aren’t planning one, it only means they are. I am told it is being distributed all across Belarus,” Hammond said.
“Damn! How can we protect our troops from something like this?” asked the President.
“That’s why I called. I think we fight this in the world court,” he said.
“The court in the Hague would take forever, we…”
“No, not that court. I mean the world media. What if we let them know about this. We let everyone know what is about to happen. Include Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. The world backlash would be tremendous. It may even trigger a response in Russia itself,” Hammond explained.
The President thought a moment. “I think you’re right. When do you want to do this?”
“Let’s do it now. We don’t have time to waste. For all we know they may be detonating one as we speak,” Hammond said.
“Then why not right now? I’ll get the Press Corps in the Media Center. I can introduce you and you tell them what we know. I’m sure they can take it from there,” the President said.
“I’m ready. Might want to let Howie know so he can be there plus anyone else handy.”
The President turned to someone off camera and began barking orders. In minutes Hammond was put on hold while they transferred his call to the media’s briefing room upstairs. It took ten minutes to get the men and women gathered up and ready and to alert the media outlets that there was an important message coming from the White House.
Precisely five minutes later the President walked to the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice, but it has come to our attention that the Russians are about to escalate this war. I have asked Admiral Hammond to speak to you about this,” he said.
The television screen came to life and Admiral Hammond looked out over the people in the press room. He held up the dosimeter. “This is a pocket dosimeter. It is used by Russian troops to measure how much radiation they receive in a nuclear attack. It is currently being distributed to every soldier on the Russian front.” There were gasps in the room.
“To us, this indicates that the Russians are planning to possibly use tactical nuclear weapons in the European Theater of Operations. It has been the policy of the United States never to use such weapons, however, we have also maintained that if such weapons were used against us, we had the right to retaliate with our own weapons of mass destruction. This is not something that the Allies desire to happen, however if the Russians use them, we may have no choice. We all deplore the use of such weapons and I can assure you that the Allies will never be the ones to initiate their use. We urge the Russian government to rethink what they are doing and to keep such weapons in their bunkers. If deployed, the consequences could be catastrophic for them and the Russian people,” Hammond concluded.
The President stepped forward again. “This information was received only minutes ago. My staff is even now contacting Allied leaders to let them know of what we feel is a dire circumstance. We are hoping that the world population will join us in deploring this action. To the Russian people, we are sharing this with you so that you know how serious this is and can do something about it. The consequences may be more than anyone can bear.”
“Mister President, does this mean they will use strategic missiles against us?” asked a reporter.
“We don’t know. Anyone thinking about using nuclear weapons in any form could be capable of almost anything,” the President said.
“Admiral Hammond, what are you doing to protect our troops?”
“There’s not much we can do. I have ordered the distribution of our nuclear, biologic and chemical gear, but that only goes so far. Coming to you is our best defense. The world needs to know what is happening and you are the best means for this. Please let everyone know. We hope this may change some minds,” Hammond said.
The conference lasted only a few minutes more, then with the termination of the signal, Hammond sat back and let out a long breath.
Pol looked at the man. “You think it will work?”
Hammond looked up at him with tired eyes. “Let’s pray it will,”
Marshal Pusko stood before the graduating class for new conscripts. Their training had been cut from eight weeks to just one month. A large number of men and women back from the front had been mixed in so the new conscripts could get a better feel for what they would be up against and prepare themselves. Unfortunately, most of the veterans were in no mood for training, much less taking these green recruits back to the front. Where it was hoped this new idea would inspire the younger recruits, all it did was make them angry and unmotivated.
Pusko stood in the large assembly hall and looked out over the assembled men and women. He could actually care less about their motivation. He needed them at the front, but he felt a rousing speech might help. “Soldiers of the Motherland. You are the pride and hope of our nation. Russia is now engaged in a war against the aggressive efforts of the European allied nations and the United States. They would enslave our Russian peoples and force us to bend to their will. They would sweep in and take away the great heritage and history that is Russia. They would take away from us all the things we have strived to do in our new Russia. But we will not let this happen! You are the ones who will thwart their efforts and aims. Tomorrow you will begin your journey to take back what is ours and preserve the Russia we all know and love. You will join your brothers and sisters in arms to drive the Allies away…”