“I do not agree.” Nadia looked thoughtful. “Your reasoning was sound. And while our enemies clearly are not operating on the precise timetable you predicted, they still have every incentive to destroy Sky Masters. Unless they wreck the Battle Mountain labs and production facilities, all the Russians will have done is make the high-tech weapons Dr. Noble and his colleagues are developing even more valuable to your country — and to mine.”
“Maybe so.” He frowned. “But I can’t help worrying about the fact that Gryzlov really seems to enjoy putting together complicated plans — the kind where he sets up a series of moves he can use to achieve very different objectives… depending on how we react.”
“Like the fork tactic in chess,” Nadia said slowly. “Where a single piece threatens two or more defending chessmen simultaneously. So that no matter how the defender reacts, he will lose something of value.”
Brad nodded.
“You may be right,” she agreed. “But even then, the defender still has a choice of which piece to sacrifice. And since Sky Masters and the weapons and equipment it provides are beyond price, we must protect it. Gryzlov is not a fool. He knows this as well as we do. Which is why you should consider the possibility that last night’s attack may have been at least partly intended to draw our force away from this place.”
“You’re assuming that the Russians know we’re here,” Brad objected.
Nadia shrugged. “As I said, Gryzlov is not a fool. He, more than anyone in the world, understands and fears what the Iron Wolf Squadron can do. You must look at this from his perspective: If we are deployed to protect Battle Mountain, he loses nothing by trying to lure us out of position. And if our CIDs are not here after all, he loses nothing by attacking other, equally vulnerable targets first.”
“Frankly, trying to think like that son of a bitch makes my head spin.”
She smiled wryly. “Well, you Americans do talk a lot about ‘wheels within wheels.’”
Almost against his will, Brad laughed. “Okay, I give. We won’t slink away with our tail between our legs just yet. We’ll hold here awhile longer… at least until our water runs out.”
Nadia raised an eyebrow suggestively. “And in the meantime?” Silent laughter danced in her big blue-gray eyes. “How do you suggest that we occupy our time, Captain McLanahan?”
“Well, I—” Brad felt a lot hotter all of sudden. To his chagrin, he noticed Schofield and Knapp studiously pretending to look in every other direction but at them. Oh, just great, he thought. Nadia had decided to push all his buttons right when they were about as likely to get some much-desired privacy as a guy who never bought a ticket was to win the lottery.
Then, suddenly, an idea percolated into his overheated mind. He almost gave it away by grinning back at her, but instead he forced himself to look virtuous — donning the air of eager, dedicated determination used by junior officers everywhere to bullshit their superiors. He carefully avoided Mike Knapp’s eyes. Sergeants always seemed immune to the “look.”
Brad nodded toward the Ranger. “Well, Major, I suggest we work some more on tactics we might use against the enemy’s robots.”
For just a moment, Nadia seemed surprised. “Really?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said forthrightly. “Scion intelligence just sent us another classified assessment on those Russian machines. And I really think you should read it for yourself.”
“I see,” she said carefully. “Yes, perhaps I should.”
Brad saw one corner of her mouth twitch upward. He maintained his own devoutly serious expression with the greatest difficulty.
Once they were alone in the Ranger’s cramped and darkened cockpit, Nadia squirmed across and took the copilot’s seat. She offered him a challenging stare. “Do you actually believe that incredibly transparent ploy of yours fooled any of our comrades?”
“What ploy?” Brad asked innocently. Two can play the “wheels within wheels” game, he thought. He reached over and brought one of her multifunction displays to life. The intelligence summary his father had sent flashed on-screen. “I was being perfectly serious. The Scion team really did send a new report. And you do really need to see it.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised. With a tiny frown, she leaned forward and started reading. Her eyes narrowed in concentration. “So your father’s analysts are now confident that these Russian robots are smaller than our own CIDs?”
He nodded. “Yeah. But not by much.” Careful scrutiny of every piece of footage shot during the Barksdale attack had finally given Scion’s photo interpreters enough separate data points to peg the height of Gryzlov’s machines at a little over ten feet. “What that size differential means in terms of relative combat endurance, speed, and agility is anyone’s guess, though.”
“They seemed fast enough in those videos,” Nadia pointed out.
“That they did,” Brad agreed. “Our guys clocked at least one moving at more than seventy klicks per hour. But what’s not clear is how long the Russians can operate at speeds that high without draining their batteries and fuel cells.”
“It would be safest to assume their endurance is comparable to ours,” she said seriously. “Since they are using technology they stole from us, that is probable.” Her mouth turned down. “Which means we must count on these enemy robots being our equal in every important respect.”
Brad shook his head. “Not quite, fortunately.” He pointed to the conclusions listed at the bottom of the report. “For example, the Russians don’t seem to have our rail-gun technology. At least not yet.”
“For that I am grateful,” Nadia said somberly.
Brad nodded. No armor in the world could stand up to a rail-gun slug if it scored a solid hit. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure how effective their own CID rail guns would be in a dogfight with other combat robots. The weapons were deadly against tracked and wheeled armored vehicles, aircraft, and fixed fortifications… but their relatively slow rate of fire might be a handicap against smaller, far more agile machines. “The better news is that the Russians don’t have anything comparable to our thermal and chameleon camouflage systems. Which gives us a decent shot at pulling off an ambush under the right circumstances.”
“Gryzlov’s pilots could have stripped their camouflage equipment off before launching that attack,” Nadia said stubbornly. “As we did before the raid on Perun’s Aerie.”
“My dad’s team has pretty much ruled out that possibility,” Brad said. “Our people studied highly magnified imagery of the different sections of those robots. And they couldn’t find any attachment points for additional gear or systems.”
“So then, how best do we fight them?” she asked. Her eyes were half closed in thought.
“Well, see, that’s where I think the two of us should thoroughly explore different tactical concepts,” Brad said, unable to stop himself from grinning. “While we have some private time together, I mean.”
Nadia must have heard the eager note in his voice, because she looked up quickly with a lopsided smile of her own. “And just which tactic do you propose we explore first?” she challenged.
“Close-quarters action,” he said cheerfully. “Really close.” And with that, he leaned over, picked her up, and put her down on his lap. Her lips parted and he kissed her deeply.
Coming up for air, he asked, “So what’s your view on my plan, Major Rozek?”
She smiled back at him. “Well,” she said reflectively, “I don’t know how well it would work against the Russians, but I like the way this is shaping up so far.”