"Destroy a Russian fteighter? " from Attorney General Rich- ard Benson. "In peacetime? That's crazy! "

"Mr. Benson," Elliott said, "that is one thing we should never reveal. "

"I don't understand."

"Sir, many other military powers in the world would kill to keep an aircraft like DreamStar from falling into enemy hands.

To the Russians, the Chinese, the French, the Israelis, the Brit- ish, destroying a freighter with a torpedo from several miles away to keep that freighter from escaping with their country's most valuable military aircraft would be no big deal. They wouldn't hesitate-"

"That's them, not us."

"Mr. Benson, if we really want our fighter back we must at least appear ready at any time to commit such an act. We must convince the Russians that we are ready to do anything nec- essary to get our aircraft back. If we announce we will never shoot at a Russian freighter in peacetime, we invite them to load DrearnStar on that freighter and sail it right under our noses back to Russia. If we tell them we'll blow your ass out of the water if we find out our plane is on board, and we convince them and the world that we mean it, well, they may just look for a different way to get it out of Nicaragua." He was also thinking about the Cuban missile crisis but didn't bring it up.

Heads nodded around the conference table; Elliott had appar- ently gotten through to most of them, at least enough to see the 276 .

logic of what he was saying. And the President was at least attentive if perhaps not convinced.

"If they don't want to risk discovery by loading the entire aircraft onto a ship," Elliott pressed on, "and they don't just quickly chop it up into pieces, they have two other options: they can take their time dismantling it, making careful records and notations about how to put it back together, or they can fly it out of Nicaragua. It wouldn't take long to dismantle Dream- Star-a day or two, pull the engine and the black boxes, dissect and discard the rest. If they choose to fly it out, it may take them a few days, three at the most, to configure it for overwater flight with extra fuel tanks."

"What's keeping them from just flying the thing onto one of their new aircraft carriers?" Deborah O'Day asked. "From what I understand DrearnStar can land on a carrier without an arresting hook and take off again without a catapult."

" All true," Elliott said, surprised that she knew so much, careful to use the same tone of voice with her as with the Pres- ident and Stuart and the other members of the staff. He had to fight himself to keep from smiling at her. He was all but con- vinced that she was the one who had leaked information about DreamStar to the press to force the President's hand. He knew her feelings and those of the NSC. It was a risky maneuver but it could pay off-and it could also result in both of them being sent to Leavenworth or Eglin for ten years for conspiracy . . .

"Again, they'd be exposing themselves to a great degree of dan- ger if they tried to fly DreamStar onto a carrier. It's a tricky operation under the best conditions; for James in DreamStar it would be that much more difficult, even with his advanced flight- control system. And the Soviets know they would risk attack if it was discovered that they had DreamStar on board. They would not, I feel, risk one of only six Moscow-class aircraft carriers for one fighter plane, even this one.

"These are all conjectures on your part, Elliott," the Presi- dent said. "Sheer speculation not surprisingly biased in favor of a military response."

" Yes, sir, I agree. I am speculating on all of this, and I am leaning in favor of a swift, decisive, direct response-but only for the sake of time. If we could count on the Russians taki ng weeks to carefully dismantle DreamStar I would not even con- sider a direct military response. Certainly not at this point. If 277.

you recall back in 1976, when Viktor Belyenko flew his then- top-secret MiG-25 to Japan, one of the first reactions by the Ford administration was to guarantee that we would turn the MiG over to the Russians intact immediately after our investigation of the matter was completed-which, of course, gave us time to study the thing. We made that guarantee, sir, because the Russians had one-fifth of their navy within five hours' sailing time of the MiG's landing spot and the administration was convinced that the Russians would militarily intervene in Japan to get their MiG- 25 back. I'm saying, sir, that is the threat we need to project to the Soviets in Nicaragua. It comes down to how badly we want DreamStar back."

The President was silent, staring at Elliott. "Did we give the MiG-25 back?"

"Yes, after we deten-nined that the MiG-25 wasn't all our intelligence and their propaganda said it was. The MiG-25 was simply two huge jet engines with wings, built for speed at any cost. Our F-15 was operational by then, and the F-16 was in production. Both those aircraft could fly rings around the MiG- 25. But DreamStar is different, sir. DreamStar is our only flying model of that concept of aircraft. It would be a huge loss for us and a quantum leap in technology for the Soviets. It would take two years to build another XF-34, and we'd be right back where we are now. Meanwhile, the Soviets would take several giant steps forward in their technology, and with their advantage in military budget and production could field a squadron of XF-34 aircraft before we could-- "Excuse me, Mr. President," William Stuart broke in. "Gen- eral Elliott has made several broad statements that Defense doesn't find supportable. He's making DreamStar seem like the ultimate weapon, when in fact it's nothing more than an ad- vanced technology demonstration aircraft. Congress hasn't voted to deploy the XF-34, nor will DreamStar even be ready for de- ployment for another five years. Agreed, it's an extraordinary machine, but it is not our next fighter aircraft. Far away from it. "

"So you're saying that it's not worth going after?"

"My point is simply that DreamStar in the hands of the Rus- sians is not the terrible threat that General Elliott is making it out to be. It is a setback, true, but no more of a setback than if 278 .

DreamStar had crashed on a test flight or if the program had run out of funds and was canceled."

"General Elliott?"

"I disagree with Secretary Stuart, sir. Seriously disagree. The technology transfer alone in the DreamStar theft is enormous.

it's certainly of such great military importance to us that. its return, or if it comes to it, destruction, is of the highest pnor- ity-"

"Not my highest priority," Stuart interrupted.

"It may be true that we were several years from deploying DreamStar, Mr. President," Elliott said, "but the Soviets could follow an entirely different timetable. We have the F-32 fighter in preproduction that will be our front-line fighter for the next five to ten years. The Soviets have their MiG-33 and Sukhoi-35 fighters operational or in production that will serve them for the next decade. Neither of those fighters can match our F-32-and that is a DOD assessment, not mine. With the XF-34 fighter in production in the Soviet Union, they will easily have the capa- bility to counter our front-line fighters for the next ten years until we redevelop our own XF-34-and then we will only be match- ing the Soviets' capability. We will instantly be five years behind the Soviets if we don't react."

"General, you're blowing this whole thing out of propor- tion-"

"All right, enough," the President said. "We don't need to get into arguments about the future. The fact is, they got the damn plane. What do we do about it now?"

"I think we need to examine this problem from another per- spective, Lloyd," Attorney General Benson said, "the politi- cal side. This thing's about to be splashed all over TV, newspapers and videotext terminals around the world. We can avoid feeding fuel to the fire by not providing any details, and it may indeed fizzle out over time, but the opposition is going to use this against us when their convention opens in Seattle next month. We need a strong, positive step to show the voters that we're in charge-"

"So you favor a military response?"

"Not necessarily, Lloyd," Benson said, leaning sideways to- ward the President and scarcely making himself heard in the conference room. As the President's brother-in-law (he'd taken plenty of heat for that), he was one of the few Cabinet members 279.

who called the President by his first name; when he did it usually meant he was separating himself from the Cabinet to make an especially strong point. "But we're playing catch-up ball here- the press has the advantage and we can't let that situation con- tinue. You've got to make a move that shows that you're ready to handle the situation. We don't have to decide on an offensive against Nicaragua right now-I think it would be a bad move anyway. But you do have to make a move, and something stronger than a diplomatic protest. Five months from now when the voters ask what you did about this, you want to be able to point to something substantial, positive."

Benson decided after the meeting he would tell the President that the first step would be to get rid of Elliott. After all, he was the one who lost the damn plane . . .

The President held up his hand, indicating that he was going to reserve judgment, and turned to William Stuart. "Outline our responses, Bill. "

"I think it's a problem for State or CIA, Mr. President,"

Stuart said. "We can't attack Nicaragua. It's just not an option for us. CIA might be able to suggest something, a covert oper- ation maybe, but in my opinion it's out of DOD's hands. We can't put out a candle with a fire hose."

"That's it, Bill?"

Defense Secretary Stuart looked at Elliott. "If I may say so, the problem should have been handled long ago by General Elliott and his unit, and the aircraft should have been properly secured, We lost the aircraft. Now General Elliott wants to go in, as usual, with six-guns blazing. But if we confront the Soviets, they will probably agree to turn the aircraft over to us. It may take a few weeks, or months, but we will get the aircraft back from them. And if we do, well, that's the bottom line. "

"So you'd just let them have it? They kill four of my flyers, two security guards and two interceptor pilots, and you're saying that we should let them alone until they've done What they want with it? "

"Don't put words in my mouth, General Elliott." Stuart's voice had risen. "What I'm saying is t at we can t go o and start a war over our screwups or-rather, your screwups. I agree with the President. The X-34 is great but it isn't worth-"

"Isn't worth what? That aircraft is the most advanced in the mm 280 .

world. We can't just build a thing like that and then hand it over to the Soviets to study, for God's sake. I don't care if they only have it for a few days, it is still too damn long. "

"DreamStar, as I understand it, is twenty-first-century tech- nology. The Soviets are having their problems with 1980s tech- nology-"

"And that is a 1960s stereotype, sir," Elliott shot back. "We all learned, or I thought we did, what a fallacy that was. Ever hear of Kavaznya, Mr. Secretary? Sary Shagan? Since the late seventies the Russians have repeatedly proved that they can keep pace with any other western nation in technology, and that in- cludes the United States. And don't forget Sputnik . . ."

"My recommendation stands, Mr. President," Stuart said.

"I'm surprised by Bill's position on this matter," Dennis Danahall, the Secretary of State, said during the pause that fol- lowed Stuart's remarks. Danahall was considerably younger than others on the Cabinet and, like Deborah O'Day, a recent White House appointee-widely thought of as a political asset to attract the support of younger voters. "I thought he'd opt for a stronger stand. But until I heard some better options I must agree with him, Mr. President. I think a strongly worded letter, perhaps, from the Oval Office itself, combined with some face-to-face between myself and the Soviet Foreign Minister or their ambas- sador could expedite things."

"As I said, Secretary Danahall," Elliott interrupted, "in any other circumstance I would not favor a military response. But time really is of the essence here. We must act quickly."

"I agree," Deborah O'Day said. "My staff is working on an interagency report, sir, but I'm forced to go by what little Gen- eral Elliott has told us about the XF-34. We can't allow the Russians to walk off with it . . . A small-scale military response just may be necessary."

The President looked briefly at O'Day, then turned away.

:'Any other inputs?" When he heard none he summarized: 'Two suggestions to take the diplomatic route only, confront the Soviets and demand our property back. One to intervene directly. Frankly, I don't see how far a military response would get us. As I said before, the damage has already been done here. Whether or not the Soviets give our jet back or even admit they have it is a moot point-the fact is, we lost it and this government-and I believe the Congress-is not about to 281.

start a fight to get it back ... Therefore I am directing Sec- retary Danahall to draft a letter for my signature, using the strongest diplomatic'language possible, demanding the return of our aircraft immediately. I'll follow this up with more di- rect communications with the Soviet government, if neces- sary. I I The President now looked at Elliott. "Our business in this matter is closed. I want to reopen the previous agenda in the time remaining. General Elliott, our business is concluded.

Please wait for me in my outer office."

"Yes, sir. " Elliott stood, masking his disappointment with an expressionless stare. The Cabinet watched as the tall, thin veteran of two wars and a mission to Russia that was still only spoken of in whispers limped out of the conference room.

Cesare had alerted the President's receptionist that Elliott was on his way, and he was quickly and politely shown into the waiting area outside the Oval Office, given a cup of coffee and asked to wait.

Never, Elliott thought, had he felt so damn helpless. He was getting no support from the Air Force Chief of Staff, he had just been in an argument with the Secretary of Defense, and the President of the United States apparently thought he was some nut-case hawk. Even Deborah O'Day, who must have been the one who leaked the information about DreamStar and Maraklov to the press, didn't act supportive. Well, she said be ready with a presentation to knock the President's socks off, and he had clearly failed to do that. And if he couldn't support his own cause, he could hardly expect her or anyone else to do it for him.

He sat in the outer office for nearly an hour, jotting down occasional notes to himself on how to best organize HAWC for the upcoming investigation. There was a telephone in the outer office, and he considered using it to find out how Wendy Tork . . . now McLanahan . . . was doing, but decided against it.

He'd do it on his way out. He had made a note to stop by San Antonio and Brooks Medical Center on his way back to Dream- land when the door to the Oval Office opened and Paul Cesare, wearing a grim face, opened the door for Elliott. "This way, General. "

When he was shown into the Oval Office he was surprised at 282 .

the people assembled there. Deborah O'Day was standing beside the President, hands folded in front of her, Secretary of the Air Force Wilbur Curtis, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,'was there along with generals Kane and Board; only Curtis had a welcoming smile for his old friend. The other surprise addition was Speaker of the House Van Keller, the ranking Dem- ocrat in Congress. All but Curtis and O'Day were tight-faced as he made his way into the Oval Office.

"Great to see you, Brad, you old throttle jockey," Curtis said. "Sony I couldn't be here earlier, they had me in Europe inspecting some old Russian missile silos."

"Good to see you too, sir.

"Can the 'sir' stuff, Brad. I'm wearing a suit now, and it's not a blue suit, either. And don't look so down in the mouth.

We've just begun to fight."

The President took a seat at the big cherry desk, and the others found seats around him. Curtis sat beside Elliott, arranged so that he could watch both him and the President.

"I don't have a lot of time," the President said. He turned to his National Security Adviser. "Deborah, go ahead."

"As you know, Mr. President, the story broke a few hours ago. Alcng with questions aimed at this administration and my- self, the media focused in on the Soviet Union. It was very well prepared-they had statements from our own FAA air traffic con- trollers, Mexican controllers, a few of our low-level military sources and local police authorities dealing with the F-15 crash near Yuma. They even got statements from air traffic controllers at Managua. The press has damn near re-created the whole se- quence of events, and in very short order.

"But when asked directly, the Soviet Union still denies any involvement in the incident, denies that they have an American plane, denies they had a secret agent working in Drearniand, denies everything about James . . . Maraklov. But I've just re- ceived the preliminary report from Rutledge. His CIA confirrns that the aircraft that flew through Honduras into Nicaraguan air- space did land at Sebaco Airbase."

"So we've traced it from Dreamland to a KGB airfield in Nicaragua," Curtis said, "and the Russians are denying it ever happened."

"It's not going to be another Belyenko incident," O'Day said.

"The Russians aren't going to admit they have it."

283.

"I agree," Speaker Van Keller said. "This is no disillusioned young pilot flying his jet out of the country. If they admit they have the XF-34, they admit to an international criminal act, an act of war, in effect - . . "

"It looks to me like we have no choice anymore, Mr. Presi- dent," Curtis said. "It would be a political and military disaster to allow them to get away with this. Even if they should later admit it, we must do something now.

"Never mind the politics, Wilbur, that's my business. As for the military, what were the Air Force and the DIA doing when this Soviet agent was planted, then allowed to exist so long in a place he gets to be the top pilot in our most advanced experi- mental aircraft? All right, I need a plan of action." He looked at Elliott. "General?"

"Yes, sir . . . we need to do two things immediately: first, verify exactly where DreamStar is at Sebaco, and second, show the Russians that we know that DreamStar is there and that we're prepared to do something strong about it. I propose a flyby of Sebaco by a single high-perfonnance reconnaissance aircraft. No weapons except for self-protection. No ground-attack arsenal.

It-- "I want no weapons at all," the President said. "Unarmed.

If the thing crashes in Nicaragua I don't want to see pictures of Nicaraguan fishermen dragging American missiles out of the wa- ter with their nets. Can you do it without weapons?"

"It'll be more difficult, but it can be done."

The President looked skeptical and irritable. This thing was more and more taking on the risks and implications of the Cuban missile crisis . . . "How? A high-altitude jet? I want one air- craft, remember-no escorts, no waves of aircraft-"

"One aircraft," Elliott said. "And it will be at low altitude.

We want there to be no question that the Soviets know we mean business. "

"Not another damned B-52?

"The thought had crossed my mind," Elliott admitted, "but Managua is very heavily protected, and this would have to be a daylight mission. We would probably lose a B-1 or even a B-2 Stealth aircraft. No, no bomber aircraft."

"How do you expect one aircraft to do the job and still sur- vive? " Van Keller asked. "Use an unmanned aircraft? A drone?

A satellite?"

Pr 284 .

"No, a single aircraft but a very special one," Elliott said.

"Twice through Sebaco on photo runs, in and out, perhaps sixty seconds over the base and five minutes in Nicaraguan ai We'll have what we need." - rspace.

Paul Cesare moved closer to the President: "Mr. President, our meeting with the Foreign Relations Committee .

"All right, Paul," the President said. "Wilbur, General El- liott, this is what I want: a single aircraft, unarmed, not more than five minutes over Nicaragua. This will be the only chance you'll get, so it had better be done right the first time. Wilbur, you have command authority. Brief me tonight.

"One more thing. If you people screw this up I won't wait until after the election to clean house."

As Curtis and Elliott left the Oval Office for the elevators down to the White House garage, Curtis turned to Elliott and said, "I knew the Old Man couldn't ignore you, Brad."

"Thanks for the support. I haven't seen much from the White House lately.

"There's more than you think," Curtis said. "And I'm not just talking about the National Security Adviser."

Elliott looked at Curtis. "What about her?"

"Don't play dumb with me. The lady-is quite taken with you, personally and professionally. Don't ask me why-anyone who'd get involved with a pilot can't have all their marbles. I wouldn't be surprised if she cooked up this morning's bombshell in the press. Am I close?"

"Don't know what you're talking about, sir," Elliott replied with a straight face.

"Okay, we'll leave it that way-it's safer for her too. Besides, everyone around this place has a pipeline to some reporter.

There'd be more double-dealing and backstabbing in this place than in the Kremlin if there wasn't the occasional leak. But get caught at it, suddenly you're a leper. "

In the garage they moved into waiting sedans. "I assume you'll want to use the command center to run this operation, Brad," Curtis said as they drove off. Elliott gave him a surprised long look.