There was a good reason Hightower insisted on speeding things up. Even the most optimistic of the officers Colonel Hightower had pulled together found it difficult to hold on to any hope that the Russians did not know what their intentions were. The attacks of the previous day. together with the aborted attempt on one of the two remaining Perimeter sites, pretty much laid bare what the NATO Special Ops teams were after. So it was a strong given in the minds of the officers huddled around Hightower that any additional efforts against those sites would be met with stiff resistance. Working on that premise, the American colonel made it clear that every minute wasted by them would give the Russians additional time to reinforce those sites. "Though he's not my most favorite character." he told the surviving leadership, "Nathan Bedford Forest did get it right when he stated that he made it a rule to always get there first with the most men. Well, gentlemen, I have a feeling that today is one of those days when victory will not go to the side with the best plan, but to the one that strikes first and strikes hardest. Do I make myself clear?" None could find fault with this assessment. Intuitively, each officer felt that the sooner they went after the last two sites, the better. They were just that sort of men.
Once that was decided upon, the meeting broke up as each subordinate commander went back to his own people to pass on their new orders and prepare them. During this interlude, Hightower felt no need to go about supervising them as they executed their abbreviated precombat checks as he would have done had this been a training exercise. He understood the psychology of leadership. He appreciated the fact that there were times when a superior needed to make his presence felt, and times when that aspect of military management was a hindrance. He also knew that he had little time with which to prepare his plans-and-operations officer for the task that man would soon be facing. So Hightower spent most of the time he had available with Fretello as he tried to impart as much wisdom and guidance to his headstrong subordinate as possible, while reassuring himself that he was not making a mistake in appointing the major as the commander of the second team. "Those men are every bit as professional and competent as you are," he admonished. "While some of their procedures and practices may seem a bit strange to us, every officer and NCO who will be going with you has proven himself not only according to criteria established by his particular army, but in combat. They know what they're about and how to get the job done. So take care that you don't step in their way."
Listening attentively and nodding at the appropriate times, the young staff officer could not be sure if his colonel's words were simply sage advice or a thinly veiled warning to him to leave the officers who would soon be under his command alone. Having no desire to give Hightower justification to reconsider his selection of him as the commander of the second team, Fretello kept his mouth shut rather than asking for any sort of clarification. He reasoned that once he was on his way, how he did things would pretty much be up to him.
After Fretello gave Hightower the cursory salute that serves to bring most military briefings to a close and he had turned to make his way over to where his own team was assembling, many thoughts ran through Colonel Hightower's troubled mind. Chief among the concerns that plagued him was his decision not to share the full content of his conversations with his superior at NATO Headquarters in Brussels earlier that day.
The failure of Tempest to achieve its assigned objectives set a chain of events in motion that posed a greater threat than the asteroid had. Despite the danger that a fully operational and primed Perimeter system in the hands of General Likhatchev presented to the Russian central government, the Russian President was having second thoughts about his decision to employ NATO to destroy that system. Those military leaders in Moscow who initially had sided with him found themselves wavering when it was discovered that the man they were supporting had permitted foreign troops to invade Russian soil. To a man, the Russian general staff saw this as an affront, one they felt needed to be redressed. Just how much of this was due to the machinations of Likhatchev and his sympathizers in Moscow and how much of it was the result of patriotic fervor was difficult to gauge. What the Russian President did know was that he was left with little choice. Either he reversed himself on the matter and gave those officers still loyal to him a free hand in dealing with the NATO troops or lose his entire military.
Even before the tremors generated by the demolition charges set off the day before had faded, Russian ambassadors throughout Europe and North America were pounding at the doors of the civilian leadership of NATO's member nations to deliver an ultimatum. Bowing to the demands of his military staff, the Russian President made no effort to dress his warning up with the polite diplomatic language normally used in such communiques. "NATO forces," his note read, "will immediately cease all operations and report to the nearest military command loyal to the government in Moscow, where they will surrender all personnel and weapons. Failure to do so, or the pursuit of further operations by those forces against any Russian military installation, will be considered acts of war."
Within the councils of the NATO member nations, debate sprang up as to what course they should take. With Tempest having failed to achieve its stated goals in the manner in which they had hoped, some saw no sense in risking their already shaky relationship with a Russia in turmoil. They began pushing for complete and immediate compliance with the Russian demands in the hope of salvaging political and economic ties with that country. Others felt that the forces on the ground had to be given the opportunity to finish their assigned tasks. Chief among this faction in Washington, D. C., was General Smith. He advised the other members of the National Security Council to stay the course. In his efforts to convince his civilian counterparts to see the operation through, he pointed out to them what the consequences would be if they failed to do so. "Our people have already paid a staggering price to achieve a ninety^ percent solution," he pointed out. "In comparison, the cost for cleaning up those last two sites is negligible."
What the general did not tell the other members seated about the well-polished table in the White House conference room was that he had already discussed the matter with the CinC NATO prior to the NSC meeting. It had been a rather one-sided discussion, with the senior NATO commander doing most of the listening while Smith spoke in riddles whose meanings could not be mistaken. "John, I shouldn't need to tell you how best to deal with a wounded animal."
Though he understood what Smith wanted, CinC NATO was unwilling to translate those desires into orders when he discussed the matter with Colonel Hightower via satellite link. After laying out the political situation in as much detail as he could, CinC NATO ended by giving Hightower his own opinion and views on the matter. "This is not the sort of decision that a colonel in the field should have to make," the general, sitting alone in his office in Brussels, told Hightower. "However," he quickly added, "we are living in strange times, confronted with even stranger circumstances. The order for you to abort may still come down even if you do manage to shake out your teams. I have no way of knowing how things will go as far as that is concerned, but I do know this," he added quickly. "We may never have another chance to de-fang this beast."