Accepting the consenting nods of his colleagues, Sorokin reached into his breast pocket, removed two single sheets of heavy bond paper and handed one to each one of his cohorts.
“This list will give you a rough idea of the targets we’ll need to cover. By allocating at least a pair of warheads to each location, we can pretty well guarantee a kill. To eliminate any ‘hard targets’ such as command posts, which have been buried to protect them from surface blast, ground-burrowing warheads will be utilized.”
The room lapsed into silence as Belchenko and Zavenyagin studied the papers just handed them.
Both men found their pulses fluttering as their eyes took in the neatly typed columns.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
COUNTERFORCE TARGETS
1.) PAVE PAWS radar site; Beale Air Force Base, California
2.) Cobra Dane radar site; Shemya Island, Alaska
3.) Casino downlink satellite station; Nurnuiger, Australia
4.) Satellite control facility; Sunnyvale, California
5.) AT&T switching stations: Lyons, Nebraska; Fairview, Kansas; Hillsboro, Missouri; Lamar, Colorado
6.) NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Command Post; Colorado Springs, Colorado
7.) SAC headquarters, Omaha, Nebraska
8.) SAC alternate headquarters, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana and March Air Force Base, California
9.) Headquarters, Atlantic Fleet; Norfolk, Virginia
10.) Headquarters, Pacific Fleet; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
11.) The White House; Washington, D.C.
12.) The Pentagon; Washington, D.C.
13.) Alternative National Military Command Center, Fort Ritchie, Maryland
14.) Controlled Conflict Operational Post, Mt. Weather, Virginia
15.) Alternative Military Command Center, Raven Rock Mtn.” Pennsylvania
16.) Satellite downlink station, Buckley Air National Guard Base, Colorado
17.) VLF radio transmitters: Cutler, Maine; Jim Creek, Washington; Northwest Cape, Australia
18.) Enchanced Perimeter Acquasition Radar site; Concrete, North Dakota
19.) Various army, air force and naval bases located throughout the continental United States and the Pacific Basin (detailed list to follow)
20.) Pindown strike detonated above all ICBM bases
21.) Los Angeles
Konstantin Belchenko completed reading the document first. He looked up and caught the sharp stare of the admiral. The silent exchange was interrupted by Zavenyagin’s strained voice.
“This list is most complete, Admiral. One entry disturbs me, though. Why has Los Angeles been included? I thought we had agreed to spare civilian lives whenever possible.”
Sorokin eyed the bureaucrat shrewdly.
“Your observation is most astute. Comrade. But I’m afraid this is one instance when the loss of innocents can’t be helped. For our Counterforce attack to be successful, we must knock out America’s command structure completely. We must place them in a situation where there will be no one left alive to order a counter strike In America, the President is the key figure in the chain of command. As commander-in-chief of their armed forces, his say-so alone is required to release the missiles. Thus, it is to our benefit to eliminate him as soon as hostilities are initiated.”
“Kill the brain and the arms can’t be utilized effectively,” Belchenko interceded boldly.
“Precisely, Comrade,” returned the admiral.
“I think a fitting way to begin our little operation would be to explode a warhead directly above the Los Angeles airport, just as the President steps forward to welcome our esteemed General Secretary to his country.”
“Brilliant idea!” Belchenko shouted.
“In that way we kill two birds with one stone.”
“I thought you’d particularly enjoy that little twist,” Sorokin said.
“Now, Pavel, is that explanation sufficient?”
Zavenyagin shrugged his shoulders and offered no additional comment.
Taking this as a cue to move on, Belchenko turned to face the admiral.
“Have you determined a launch position as yet, Stanislav?”
“Good question. In order to be within range of our intended targets, an optimum release site would be somewhere in the North Pacific.” He walked to the wall map and pointed to an area northwest of Hawaii.
“I’d say the waters north of Midway Island would offer us an excellent location. That’s close enough to our home base in Petropavlovsk, and there’s plenty of deep water to offer our sub shelter. As the fates would have it, that sector is precisely where the Vulkan and the Cheka are currently on patrol. Those captains know the area better than their lovers’ own curves.”
“When are they due back?” Zavenyagin questioned carefully.
The admiral continued to study the map while responding.
“They’re due back in base by the end of the week. That should give us plenty of time to make the final preparations.”
“Comrades, I think that a toast is in order!”
Belchenko’s words served to distract Sorokin from his intense inspection of the Pacific. The admiral turned in time to see the first deputy walk to the serving cart and pour three full glasses of vodka.
After handing one to each of his fellow conspirators, he raised his own glass and offered a toast: “To the success of Operation Counterforce, and to the glory of the Motherland!”
With a swift twist of his wrist, Belchenko joined his guests by emptying his glass. The chilled vodka was still stinging his throat when Sorokin again filled the glasses and offered his own toast. “To one unified socialist world free from the greedy spell of imperialist domination! Long live the Rodina!”
Again the glasses were emptied. This time it was Pavel Zavenyagin who shakily stood. Clearly affected by the vodka, he clumsily refilled his comrades’ glasses. Raising his own cup before him, he added, “To the workers of the world! Have faith, fellow Comrades, your salvation is imminent!”
Belchenko drained his glass and watched his guests do likewise. Flushed by the powerful liquor, he watched Zavenyagin stumble back into his chair and the admiral turn back to study the wall map. Focusing his own attention on the fireplace, the first deputy centered his thoughts on the blazing birch logs. So intense was their conversation that he had completely neglected to tend the fire. It would need fresh fuel soon before it burned itself out. Aware of the intense orange heat reflected by the burning embers, Belchenko found his thoughts drifting.
In the blink of an eye, he soared far away from the somber affairs of state. Even with the fate of the planet in his hands, his concerns centered on a subject far removed from nuclear throw-weights and megaton age Instead of being cooped up in his library, he wished only to be deep in the birch forest on the trail of Pasha the bear.
That morning, if only for fleeting seconds, he had tasted the fruits of true happiness. Alone in the woods, intoxicated by the crisp fall air, Konstantin Belchenko had discovered a contentment he hadn’t experienced since childhood. Far removed from the intrigues of world power, the bear with the white patch on its rump taught him a lesson of a completely different nature. Innocent and unaware, the black bear only knew to feed, to build up its layer of body fat for the long winter that was inevitably coming. It needed nothing more from life than satisfying this basic, instinctual longing.
That was the way to live — in simplicity and innocence.
Why must man always strive for that which he can never totally possess?
Was this quality innate in all human beings, or was the rage for power a sickness to which he and his type had become addicted?
The fire hissed and crackled, and Belchenko knew that he was too far committed to turn back now.