Given this sad state of affairs, Orlov was successful in resisting pressure from the Minister of Defense and others to deploy his unit. "Without knowing the precise location of impact," he explained, "it would be foolish to place my men on the ground, especially since we would have no shelter to protect us from the horrific effects of the asteroid if the worst-case scenario is realized. Besides," Orlov went on to point out, "the general will undoubtedly sit out the event in one of the military command bunkers scattered throughout his province. Only after the asteroid has struck will he come out. And when he does, he will need to rely on radio and satellite communication to reestablish his authority in the region, as well as to negotiate with the government in Moscow. This means we will be able to track his movements and pinpoint his location. In addition," Orlov went on when Yuri Anatov made no effort to counter his argument, "the resulting chaos throughout the region, with relief flights coming and going, will provide us with the perfect cover for our insertion. We will simply join the flow of aircraft rushing into a devastated area, where the ability of security forces to protect the General, as well as the missiles, will be thoroughly compromised."
Though Anatov disliked the idea of waiting until the gun pointed at Moscow's head was loaded and cocked, as the Perimeter system would be after the impact, the tone with which Demetre Orlov delivered his proposal left no doubt that there was no room for discussion or disagreement. Since Orlov's loyalty to the government in this particular matter was already suspected by some, it would have been foolish to push him into accepting a course of action that he vehemently opposed. Besides, there was no one in a better position than Orlov to know what Likhatchev would do in this sort of situation. After all, Demetre Orlov had once served General Likhatchev as his Chief of Staff.
Chapter 7
One of the popular modern myths concerning the military is that the warrior, marching off to battle, is somber and dispirited by the stress of leaving home and sallying forth into the great and dangerous unknown. Though few would ever admit it to anyone who hasn't "been there. Many veterans find themselves looking forward with great anticipation to their deployment into an active theater of operations.
Going to war has always been, and still remains, an adventure of unparalleled complexity and excitement. It is the ultimate ride of terror, one in which there is no safety net. no fail-safe brake system. For the individual, it is also a test of skills, courage, and stamina. No modern sporting event can come close to equaling the challenge or danger that a man going into combat must face. Though sportswriters and promoters may wax philosophical about "do-or-die" contests between teams and speak of "smash-mouth football." "sudden death" overtimes, or a team's "devastating" offense, every one of the players involved in such contests knows that at the end of a prescribed time, the "combatants" of both teams will be able to shake hands, retire to a warm locker room, and enjoy a hot shower before heading off to their respective homes.
The same cannot be said of the combat soldier. Battle is not limited to four quarters. There are no time-outs. Rel's do not stand ready to halt the action when there is an infraction of the rules of war. Nor is a soldier given a guarantee that when he completes his current mission, there will not be another, perhaps a more dangerous one, waiting for him. In war, only death is a greater unknown. And sometimes the two, death and combat, become one and the same for those who are unwary, or just plain unlucky.
When the orders calling selected special-operations units belonging to several NATO nations went out, the men tagged to participate in what was being dubbed "Operation Tempest" embraced it with enthusiasm. This does not mean that those with families were not troubled by having to leave their loved ones under the circumstances, or that they were insensitive to the suffering and devastation that the asteroid would soon inflict on so many. To be faced with the alternative, however, would have been unbearable to these highly trained professionals. While Andrew Fretello penned the order that would translate his concept into a coherent plan of action, Patrick Hogg rushed back to his home station, and Stanislaus Dombrowski put the finishing touches on his infernal machines. Those who were not part of Tempest stood off to the side and out of the way, idle and waiting for orders. For the majority of NATO units, the only guidance they received started with soft phrases such as "Be prepared to—" or "On order, execute the following tasks," which, loosely translated, mean, "Don't call us, we'll call you."
This placed the poor souls in those organizations in the same predicament as the civilians whom they were charged with defending. Psychologists who study people involved in crisis situations generally agree that those who are unable to do anything to help themselves, or who are not involved in some sort of physical activity aimed at fending off a pending disaster or recovering from it, are prone to suffer distress, depression, or anxiety. Busy work, even if it is not directly related to the disaster at hand, is a means of coping with these degenerative conditions. This explains why so many people labor long hours, under horrific conditions, to build sandbag levies to fend off the rising waters of a flood, or immediately rush off to help a neighbor whose home has been devastated by a tornado, even when they themselves have suffered from it. By engaging in an activity that is familiar or seems to be beneficial, the mind is kept from contemplating the unthinkable and gives the participant a sense of control in an uncontrollable situation.
This does not mean that the soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and legionnaires marshaling at an obscure RAF base in northern Scotland did not harbor their own concerns over the story that the media was describing as "the cosmic event of the new millennium." These unwelcome interludes were accentuated by the barren landscape surrounding the base and the gloomy weather that matched the bleak predictions spewed out by twenty-four-hour news programs lacking factual information with which to (ill their airtime. Like an annoying guest, televisions and radios were peppered about everywhere on the base. Seeing as how the collision of an asteroid of respectable size with Earth would be the single most historic event that the majority of the men and women at the RAF base would live through, no one wants to comment about it very much.
For the planners and those charged with maintaining operational security for Tempest, the diversion that the asteroid provided to the troops under their control was a blessing. Due to the intrusive nature of Tempest and the targets that would be attacked, the exact nature of their mission was a taboo subject for the rumormongers. So whatever free time was not being taken up by sleep or personal needs was dedicated to ongoing speculation about the asteroid. Like the talking heads on the tele, the gathering soldiers, sailors, marine and airmen wondered aloud how they thought it would affect them, their immediate families, and their respective nations. The arrival of each new contingent brought a set of fresh ideas and thoughts to this disjointed forum.