“The Ilyushin Il–76 airliner known as the Flying Kremlin was one of the most checked-over planes ever to fly. Sporting a spotless service record, the Premier’s personal jet had only recently had its four Soloviev two-shaft turbofan engines overhauled. To insure that this overhaul was a successful one, the plane was recently flown on a cross-country jaunt from Petropavlovsk to Leningrad, to insure the integrity of all of its sophisticated components. I myself saw the results of this test flight, and can assure you that the Flying Kremlin was as mechanically safe as a human-made machine can be.
“Besides having a variety of redundant systems, the aircraft was piloted by Stanislaus Kossovo, a decorated veteran, with more flying hours than any other active pilot in the Air Force. Together with a handpicked crew of seven, Kossovo was well equipped to handle any emergency that might befall.
“Yet in the unlikely event that a mechanical failure did occur, then one puzzling question still remains. Why was this seasoned crew unable to broadcast even a single distress call? The Flying Kremlin carried no less than five separate communication systems. Several of these circuits were BMP hardened, that would allow them to transmit even in the event of a nuclear war.”
“Perhaps this unlikely emergency that you just mentioned occurred so quickly that Kossovo didn’t even have time to transmit a Mayday,” offered Dmitri Tichvin.
Mikhail ingested this thought and answered after the briefest of pauses.
“Since such a possibility crossed my mind also, I discussed it with our esteemed Defense Minister earlier. General Zarusk, why don’t you share with our comrades here your expert opinion on this matter?”
Without bothering to stand, Ivan wasted no time responding.
“There are several reasons why the scenario you mentioned isn’t plausible. Comrade Tichvin. The first centers around the Bear-E reconnaissance plane that we had circling the North Pole as the Il–76 penetrated Canadian air space. This AWACS platform was fitted with the latest in rapid digital processing, over the horizon radars, and was assigned with a single mission in mind — to monitor each and every kilometer of the Flying Kremlin’s, flight. As you may very well know, such AWACS platforms are extremely sophisticated and can track dozens of separate airborne targets at a single time. With this fact in mind, I immediately contacted the commander of this flight the second we learned the Premier’s plane had dropped from their screen. I have since seen the crews documentation. These tapes show that a full twenty minutes passed between the moment the Il–76 initially dropped from its normal cruising altitude of 13,000 meters, until its disappearance altogether.”
“I don’t follow you. General,” interrupted Yuri Kasimov.
“My heavens, comrade, don’t you realize what such a thing means!” shouted Ivan Zarusk excitedly. “If a mechanical malfunction had indeed occurred, Captain Kossovo would have had an entire twenty minutes to inform us of it!”
“You mentioned a change of altitude. General. Is such a thing unusual?” continued Kasimov.
A bit flustered by the scrawny bureaucrat’s continued probing, the general spoke more sharply.
“Why of course it is, comrade! Though every flight deviates in altitude a few hundred meters or so, the Flying Kremlin fell over 6,500 meters with no explanation whatsoever.”
“Maybe it was the weather,” offered Dmitri Tichvin.
Conscious of the Defense Minister’s impatience when it came to dealing with civilians, Mikhail Kharkov interceded.
“That’s out of the question, comrade. The skies were perfectly clear in the area, with not even a single storm front. These meteorological observations were subsequently corroborated by photos relayed to us by the cosmonauts aboard the Salyut space station Red Flag. Incidentally, the Flying Kremlin was sent skyward from Irkutsk several minutes earlier than planned, so that the space station would be in a position to monitor the Il–76 as it crossed the North Pole.”
Though Dmitri Tichvin seemed to be impressed with this surprise revelation, Yuri Kasimov impatiently stirred.
“I still don’t get it,” complained the pockmarked bureaucrat. “If it wasn’t a mechanical problem or the weather that took the Flying Kremlin down, just what did?”
Waiting for this very question, Mikhail Kharkov pivoted and took a step aside. He was now facing the blank wall, directly adjoining the fireplace. With an outstretched hand, he triggered a recessed switch that had been hidden in the flagstone of the hearth, and as a result of his touch, the wall board lifted up, revealing a large cabinet. An assortment of electronics gear was stored there. With a deft movement of his hand, Kharkov switched on a good-sized television monitor, whose picture screen filled with a polar projection map of the entire Arctic region.
With the assistance of a telescoping pointer, the admiral singled out an elongated island, to the immediate west of Greenland.
“As you very well know, comrades, this is Baffin Island. It is somewhere on this frozen landmass that the remains of the Flying Kremlin are thought to lie. Though almost every informed citizen of the Motherland, and of the world for that matter, is aware of this previously insignificant piece of ice-covered permafrost from the newspapers and news broadcasts of late, what they don’t know about are the top-secret, NORAD installations that litter this same island. The newest and most sophisticated of these installations is called Polestar, and is located here, on the extreme northern tip of the island, directly east of the tiny outpost of Arctic Bay.
“We have known about Polestar for some time now. From its very inception, our Intelligence analysts suspected it of being a major element of the West’s so-called Strategic Defense Initiative. Built in total disregard of the latest ABM treaty, Polestar is believed to incorporate a sophisticated array of scrambling devices, that are designed to interfere with the delicate navigational systems of our ICBM, bomber, and cruise missile forces.
“Both the Bear recon plane and the Salyut reported that contrary to prior practices, Polestar briefly went active on two separate occasions. The first burst was monitored seconds before the Flying Kremlin made its mysterious, unauthorized change of altitude. While the second burst occurred almost at the very moment the Il–76 disappeared from our radar screens altogether.”
“Are you saying that it was Star Wars that was responsible for the death of Alexander Suratov?” quizzed Yuri Kasimov.
Though he was bothered by the bureaucrat’s skeptical tone, Mikhail Kharkov took a deep breath and held his ground.
“Yes, Comrade Kasimov, I am indirectly. For, you see, another vital item that the newspapers and television reports didn’t mention that two American F-15 Eagle fighters were scrambled from Thule at the very same time Polestar was going active. Thus while this so-called early warning radar installation was in fact interfering with the Flying Kremlin’s sensitive navigation and communication’s systems, the Eagle interceptors were provided a target that was little challenge for their Phoenix air-to-air missiles. And mind you, comrades, all of these clever Yankee machinations were intended to take place with the whole world totally ignorant of their guilt!”
“Such a thing must not be allowed to happen!” cried Ivan Zarusk, who excitedly stood and in the process knocked over his teacup. “We’ve caught the Imperialist pigs with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar, and it’s now up to us to revenge our beloved Premier’s passing and in the process guarantee that his death was not in vain.”