The two ministers stood in shock, and offered no resistance as they were handcuffed and led away to the waiting armored van.
As the snowflakes drifted down onto the onion domes of the Kremlin, they caught the reflections of the incandescent lights that illuminated the grounds. It made the late-night scene look like something out of The Nutcracker.
But the eleven disgruntled men gathered around the large conference table ignored the beautiful scene. They were all irritated at having their Sunday evening disturbed with a summons to an emergency Politburo meeting — a meeting convened well after midnight for reasons that still remained unknown.
As they sat there, grumbling amongst themselves, the adjoining door to the General Secretary's office opened and in strode KGB Chairman Vitali Kostiashak, carrying three bulky files under his arm. He took his seat at the head of the table — the chair usually reserved for the General Secretary. A flurry of eyebrows went up over this breach of protocol.
"Comrades," began Kostiashak with a mournful voice, "I apologize for summoning you here so abruptly. But while I was resting at my dacha this weekend, certain events were brought to my attention that demonstrated — with the most conclusive evidence — that the very security of our Motherland was placed in jeopardy these past few days. Yes! The very security of our nation was endangered by the most monstrous scheme ever conceived in our history. Absolutely monstrous!"
The eleven men were taken aback by the forcefulness and vehemence of the little man's speech. They looked at each other in bewilderment.
"And what is this monstrous plot you speak of, Comrade Chairman?" inquired the burly Agriculture Minister.
Kostiashak tapped down a Pall Mall, then slowly went through the motions of lighting it up, allowing the drama to build. "Early this morning I was contacted by a patriot. A Soviet patriot who— despite the danger to himself — possessed the courage to come forward and expose this treacherous crime against our Motherland. Against our Party… The substance of this incredible crime is that General Secretary Vorontsky, the leader of our Party, the leader of the Rodina, executed a plan on his own authority" — Kostiashak looked up and down the table—"to hijack an American space shuttle and bring it down to the Baikonur Cosmodrome!"
The group uttered a stunned gasp, then mumbled among themselves until the portly Mining Minister said, "Steal an American space shuttle? I do not understand. Why? How?"
Kostiashak leaned forward, "Concerning the why, the motivation is obvious. As we all know, Vorontsky's position as General Secretary has been precarious ever since the loss of our own two space shuttles — the Buran and the Suslov. I have spoken with each of you individually concerning this matter. In any case, he embarked on this desperate act of piracy — apparently thinking that capturing an American spacecraft would solidify his position as General Secretary. Without the knowledge or consent of the Politburo or the Central Committee, he took it upon himself to exercise his authority over the Space Ministry to put this treacherous plot into action… That explains the why, Comrade. To answer your question of how, I give you the patriot who courageously came forward to expose this despicable crime." Kostiashak nodded to Colonel Borisov, and the door was opened to allow the stocky-looking patriot to enter.
"Lieutenant General Likady Popov," said the KGB Chairman stonily, "I have brought you before my fellow members of the Politburo so that you could bear witness that General Secretary Vorontsky, acting illegally and without authorization, somehow inserted his own agent aboard the American space shuttle Intrepid and forced you to use your position as Director of Spaceflite Operations to receive the spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome."
Kostiashak fondled an ivory button on his double-breasted suit and continued. "You are here to bear witness that General Secretary Vorontsky conspired, and acted in concert with, Ivan Pirdilenko of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome to shoot down a second American shuttle which was launched by the Americans to prevent the loss of their stolen spacecraft. This was done in violation of our antisatellite treaty with the United States.
"And you are here to bear witness that the American shuttle Intrepid did, in fact, land at the Baikonur Cosmodrome." Kostiashak reached into a file and pulled out a stack of photographs which depicted the Intrepid's landing. He shoved them down the table, and each Politburo member grabbed one.
"Finally, General Popov, you are here to bear witness that for the last month General Secretary Vorontsky and his dastardly accomplices have kept a gun to your head, and forced you to cooperate with them. And it was only at great personal peril to yourself that you were able to contact me at my dacha this morning and expose this crime. Will you bear witness, General Popov, that all I have said here is absolute truth?''
Popov was no fool. If he replied, "No, Comrade Chairman, that is incorrect," the general would face a tortuous interrogation, followed by a one-way trip to the cellars of Lefortovo Prison. But on the other hand, if he said, "Yes, Comrade Chairman, that is true," a kinder fate might await him.
Popov said, "Yes, Comrade Chairman, that is true." Kostiashak released a puff of smoke that clouded his dark features. With a humble voice, he said, "You are to be commended, General. The Rodina is in your debt."
The burly Agriculture Minister picked up the photograph of the Intrepid touching down at the Baikonur runway and muttered, "This is unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. We have hijacked an American space shuttle? It is too much to accept, and I profoundly resent that this was done without our knowledge. But still… as I think about it, I fail to see the harm in stealing an American spacecraft. In fact, this idea appeals to me."
Kostiashak was on the man like a wolf. ' 'You stupid oaf! What do you think this is? Some kind of schoolboy prank?" He motioned to Borisov. "Bring in the Colonel."
The door opened again, and a middle-aged, overweight colonel with wavy gray hair entered — his knees quaking. He wore the uniform of the Soviet Air Defense Forces.
"Colonel Leonov," said Kostiashak gently, "you were the duty officer at the Aerospace Defense Warning Centre in Magnitogorsk earlier today, is that correct?''
The colonel cleared his throat and said, "Yes, Comrade Chairman."
"Would you be so kind as to describe the events of this afternoon?"
Leonov gulped. Never had he been so scared. "Very well,
Comrade," he began cautiously. "When I came on duty today at Magnitogorsk, I found the American Strategic Air Command at an unusually high level of readiness. More than a hundred bombers and tankers were over the Arctic ice cap, holding their positions — almost within range of a cruise missile launch." Leonov gulped again. "I have never seen such a high level of readiness," he continued, "and it surprised me because we received no notification of this military exercise through the normal channels. As you know, we have an agreement with the Americans for mutual notification of major military exercises. Because of this lack of notification, our interceptor forces in the northern defense districts were placed on a high level of alert… Then this afternoon, one of our interceptor planes spotted two American stealth bombers in Soviet airspace near the Baikonur Cosmodrome."
"Stealth bombers?" asked the aging Party ideologue.