"We're getting off the point, General," the President said.

"I'll end this right now-we will not attack Sandino Airport. It may in fact be a military airfield, but it is considered a civilian airfield. If the Soviets ship it to Sandino, then it's just another step out of our reach."

"Yes, sir," Elliott said. "Sebaco is our target in any case.

Our objective is to send a message that we don't accept our fighter being stolen, our people killed and our so-called agree- ment being broken."

For a brief moment the President thought about the upcoming election, the scrutiny he was under already, the criticism he could expect when the country learned that he had mounted an attack against Nicaragua. But Elliott's carefully phrased statement seemed the bottom line-the Soviets had been banking on this election year to get away with killing American servicemen and stealing a multi-million-dollar air-craft . . .

"Let's send that message, General Elliott," the President or- dered, and said a silent prayer.

378 .

Moscow, USSR Sunday, 21 June 1996, 0700 EET (Saturday, 2300 EDT) The General Secretary, as always, began the emergency meeting of his senior advisers precisely on time. He was dressed in a business suit and tie, in spite of the early hour, and bestowed a disgusted look on any of his civilian or military advisers who arrived in rumpled suits or unpolished shoes or who did not shave. The man set high standards for himself and he expected each of those around him to measure up to the same standards.

And, contrary to much of the rest of the world, Sunday was still a day of work in the Kremlin.

The General Secretary got right to business. He turned to his foreign minister, interlaced his fingers on his desk. "Corn- rade Tovorin, Vilizherchev has been expelled from the United States. Why?

Tovorin looked anxiously at Kalinin, then cleared his throat.

"I had intended to brief you this morning on Vilizherchev, sir.

This deals with the experimental aircraft taken by Comrade Kal- inin's agent in the United States. Vilizherchev was called to the White House and questioned about the fighter. He agreed to consult with you and the Kollegiya on the Americans' demands for returning the aircraft. Comrade Kalinin, however, was un- aware of this. He ordered his agent in Nicaragua, Colonel Mar- aklov, to fly the aircraft to Cuba. When the Americans learned this they expelled Vilizherchev-"

:'Why wasn't I notified of any of this, Kalinin?"

'Vilizherchev met with the President very early Saturday morning, our time, " Kalinin said quickly - "The operation to fly the fighter from Nicaragua to Cuba began only a few hours after that meeting. You were in Leningrad for the day, sir-there was no time to consult you-"

"There was ample time to consult with me. Perhaps you chose not to consult me?"

:'I didn't wish to intrude on your holiday, sir."

'Very considerate of you, Kalinin. Did you authorize any agreements with the American government yesterday morning?

"No, sir," Kalinin lied. "Vilizher-chev consulted with me because the fighter was in our hands. I advised him to wait for a reply from Moscow before proceeding further." - "The order expelling Vilizherchev says that he lied to the American President and gave assurances to the Americans that were not honored. Did Vilizherchev do these things?"

Vi"I don't know, sir," Kalinin said, "but I doubt it. Sergei lizherchev is one of the most loyal and trusted of your advis- ers. More likely, the Americans are angry about their fighter and expelled Sergei in protest.'!

"I want Vilizherchev to report to me immediately after he arrives," the General Secretary said.

"Yes, sir. " Tovorin was relieved that the questioning on that score was over, at least for the moment.

"We lost five aircraft over the Caribbean yesterday," the General Secretary said, "including a one-billion-ruble airborne- warning-and-control aircraft, of which we only have thirty. We have two pilots dead, two captured by the Americans, and four men from the 11yushin transport seriously injured." He never ranted or raved, never seemed to get too upset or angry-, but the deep, resonant voice, the fixated stare that seemed to bore a hole right into your skull, the hawklike eyebrows, the knotted fists- all told their story.

He turned on Kalinin. "Your mission to bring this American super-fighter to Russia is becoming very expensive, Kalinin."

"Our fighters were outnumbered four to six," Kalinin said, "and we shot down four of their fighters and forced the other two to retreat. The XF-34 fighter shot down one and crippled another. If the XF-34 hadn't been carrying long-range fuel tanks, sir, it could have destroyed all six American fighters-it is that superior, sir. "

"It's no use to us, Kalinin, if we must kill off half our air force to get it . . . What's the status of the project? Can you get this fighter to Russia in one piece without starting World War Three?"

"Yes, sir. We will make another attempt to fly the aircraft intact out of Nicaragua. Colonel Maraklov, the pilot, now be- lieves it would be safer to fly it in a circuitous route to Moscow rather than trying to fly it first to Cuba. He tried that. It was a good plan . . . Cuba is more stable than Nicaragua, but-"

"When will he make the attempt?"

"Tonight, sir." Kalinin stood and walked to a large chart of the region. "I have arranged a diversions large formation of aircraft flying from Nicaragua to Cuba, much the same as the first attempted convoy to Cuba. This force will directly chal- 380 .

lenge the Americans. At the same time, Maraklov and a small escort force will launch, stay clear of American radar sites in Panama and in the Lesser Antilles archipelago and out over the Atlantic Ocean; we can expect support if needed from Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, both of whom have been glad to ac- cept large amounts of aid from our government in recent years, as you know. We have arranged tanker and fighter support for Maraklov over the Atlantic, well away from commercial air- traffic routes or ground-based radar sites. The force will continue north, steering well clear of known or detected naval vessels.

We can expect support from Mauritania and Algeria and we can land for crew rest and replenishment in Algiers in northern Al- geria or Tamanrasset in southern Algeria. After that I believe it will not be too difficult to penetrate the relatively weak NATO southern flank or the eastern Mediterranean area and recover into Tbilisi or Odessa."

The General Secretary appeared to be only half listening.

"You seem to be very confident of success, Kalinin. You were confident about the ease at which you would get this aircraft to Cuba. Yet this aircraft is still in Nicaragua."

"I realize that this will be a difficult mission," Kalinin said.

"Maraklov must fly his aircraft nine thousand kilometers, pre- pared at any moment to defend himself against the Americans'

most advanced fighters, both land- and sea-based. Yet this is the fighter that can do it, sir. This XF-34 fighter has already fought its way out of the United States and survived a large coordinated assault against it. We must have this aircraft. Much of the bal- ance of power between the Soviet Union and the United States depends on it."

"I suspect you are overstating the case, Kalinin" al- though for you it is crucial, he added to himself "We have already lost five aircraft and had our ambassador declared non grata. I can't accept much more.

He turned away from Kalinin, considering the options . . . It would be a coup for both of them, he thought, if the fighter could be brought to Russia. And they would give it back, but only after all possible information on the machine was obtained and a suitable trade arranged.

Should the mission fail, Kalinin, his chief rival for power, would be ousted, an irritating memory, taking with him the blame for the incident. Should Kalinin succeed, his strength and au- thority in the government would surely increase, but enough for a takeover? He doubted it, but he would need to be very, very vigilant ...

"What will you require?" the General Secretary asked.

"Because of the time involved, sir, very little," Kalinin said.

"Authorization for another Ilyushin-76 radar plane, another IU-76 tanker aircraft, six MiG-29 aircraft with our pilots from Cuba, and landing rights and defense arrangements with Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritartia, Algeria, Libya and Syria. These forces to be placed under my authority for the next seventy-two hours."

The General Secretary shook his head. " 'Very little,' you say, Kalinin?" He turned to the chief of staff. "Marshal Cher- kov, can these be provided in so short a time?"

Marshal Boris Cherkov, one of the oldest members of the General Secretary's senior staff, pondered the question so long and without any apparent reaction that for a moment Kalinin and some of the others thought he was asleep. Then: "I trust young Comrade Kalinin has investigated. the source of the 11yushin aircraft and the fighters? From Cuba, I understand?"

"Yes, sir. There are a total of two II-76 radar planes at Ha- vana, four "-76 tankers and twenty-one MiG-29 fighter air- craft.

Cherkov nodded. "It seems he has his aircraft. Obtaining landing rights from any of these nations mentioned will not be a problem. Obtaining mutual-defense operations will be virtually impossible without days of precise planning-half the govern- ment of Trinidad and Tobago is on holiday, and it sometimes takes a whole day for our embassy to contact anyone in Mauri- tania's government. Besides, none of these nations has any ap- preciable air or naval forces. I would not expect any resistance to your operation from these nations, but neither would I expect any assistance.

Kalinin nodded. He had hoped these governments would ex- clude American fighters from their airspace while allowing Rus- sian fighters to land, but obviously that wasn't to be. "Never mind," he said. "Permission to cross their airspace and landing rights for our jets will be enough."

"As for the radar aircraft, tanker and fighters," Cherkov went on, "that must be your decision. The forces are available. Of 382 .

course, if the Americans launch some sort of attack against Cuba in retaliation, then those aircraft would be needed for defense . . . "

Kalinin was pleased. He had thought Cherkov, a close ally of the General Secretary, was going to raise a lot more prob- lems . . .

"However," Cherkov said, as if on cue, "I feel I must object to this operation." The bastard did not let him down, Kalinin thought grimly.

"It is extremely dangerous to provoke the Americans in-their own 'backyard.' Remember the Cuban missile crisis and that fool Khrushchev. We could invite retaliation and open conflict in an area of the world where we are hardly dominant-"

"The U. is in no position to retaliate," Kalinin said angrily.

"If I had decided to put the aircraft on an ocean-going vessel or even a transport plane, I will admit the danger of attack in those cases would be high. If we were holding the fighter in place for some sort of trade, there would be danger of attack by the Amer- icans. But the fighter is a moving target. The Americans will not blindly lash out and attack unless they know precisely where the aircraft is located. Besides, they are not in good standing with most of Latin America .

Cherkov's hands shook with emphasis. "Nicaragua is hardly an ideal safe haven. Your base at Sebaco, is a prime target-you must feel the same way, judging by the haste with which you want to fly the fighter out of there. I expect Sebaco will come under attack. It is an isolated base, obviously not part of the Nicaraguan an-ned forces, and now nearly unprotected. The President can call it a 'communist-terrorist headquarters,' a ral- lying cry for most Americans. If I were Secretary Stuart or General Kane, I would order an attack on Sebaco immediately.

"Then it is even more urgent that the fighter be moved with- out delay," Kalinin said. "It's too late for talking about what should have been done. I have instructed Colonel Maraklov, the XF-34's pilot, to do everything in his power to see that the air- craft survives. I want to order him to fly the aircraft to the Soviet Union, and I want to provide him with all available military support. If we hesitate, we are, as you say, inviting defeat. If we act now, we can be successful . . - "

There was silence around the conference table. The General Secretary stared at Kalinin, and from across the table Kalinin forced himself to return the General Secretary's icy stare with one as determined and convincing as he could manage. He was sure that the General Secretary was trying to think days and weeks ahead, assessing possible consequences of defeat and fail- ure for both of them. But he also realized that the General Sec- retary really had no choice-to back away from this operation now, when the Americans had given them such a lengthy chance to recover and regroup, would show indecision and timidness.

Over time that lack of initiative could be translated into political weakness, which would mean a further loosening of his tenuous grasp on the reins of power.

"Very well," the General Secretary said, "you are authorized to requisition and command the forces you have outlined to bring this aircraft home. But understand, I am not convinced that this one fighter is worth a major confrontation with the U., no matter how advanced it may be. Be prepared to terminate your operation and obey the orders of the Kollegiya should you be so ordered. Am I clearly understood?

"Yes, sir," Kalinin said automatically. The General Secre- tary had relented, as Kalinin expected. His caveat was pro forma, face-saving.

Vladimir Kalinin's rise to power had begun.

Over the Caribbean Sea Sunday, 21. June 1996, 2100 CDT "Tegucigalpa Control, Sun Devil Three-Two is with you at flight level one-eight zero, position one-zero-zero nautical miles north of La Cieba. Over."

The Honduran military radar operator checked his display and quickly located the data block, then the primary radar return belonging to the American aircraft one hundred miles north of the military airbase on the north coast of Honduras. He cross- checked the information with the newcomer's flight plan. The aircraft, he knew from the flight plan, was a modified McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 belonging to the U. Air Force- that would explain the very large radar return even at this dis- tance.

Satisfied, he replied in thick Latino-accented English, "Sun Devil Three-Two, this is Tegucigalpa Control, radar contact.

Clear to intercept and track airway Bravo eight-eight-one until 384 .

overhead Goloson Airport, then follow airway alpha seven-five- forty to Toncontin International, maintain flight level one-eight- zero. Over."

The copilot of the KC-10 Extender tanker from the 161st Air Refueling Group, the very same group unlucky enough to get involved with all these "questionable" (for which read techni- cally illegal) missions into Central America, checked the clear- ance with his computer flight plan and nodded to his pilot-it was the clearance he had been expecting. "Sun Devil Three- Two, roger. Out."

The pilot switched over to the scrambled number-two radio.

"Storm Zero Two, we're in contact with Tegucigalpa. Cleared on course."

"Roger, Mike," JC. Powell replied. "Right on time."

The KC-10's copilot said, "You expected something else?"

McLanahan scanned outside Cheetah's bubble canopy at the huge gray-green tanker, a massive, shadowy figure in the grow- ing twilight. The tanker aircraft was on its third mission for him and in almost as many days-they had gotten to know each other very well during their videophone flight-planning ses- sions. Although Tegucigalpa and all the other Central American radar operators only knew of a single aircraft on this flight plan, there were actually two-McLanahan was borrowing the tactic the Russians had used the morning before to try to get DreamStar to Cuba. The two aircraft were sticking tightly together in order to merge their radar returns.

Cheetah was right on the tanker's left wingtip. She was car- rying two conformal FAST PACK fuel tanks for added range, and she was armed with four AIM-120 Scorpion missiles in serni- recessed wells along the underside of the ftiselage, four AIM-132 infrared homing dogfighting missiles on wing pylons, and five hundred rounds of ammunition for the twenty-millimeter can- non. Cheetah also carried a combination infrared and laser seeker-scanner under the nose that could provide initial steering signals for the AIM-120 missiles without using any telltale emis- sions from the attack radar.

It was armed and ready for a preemptive strike against the KGB base at Sebaco. The mission was to retaliate against the theft of DreamStar and the Soviet reneging on the deal struck between Moscow and Washington. It was also to try to flush out DrearnStar and engage it in one last aerial battle. Better a dead bird than in Soviet hands to copy ...

But Cheetah was on this mission only if DrearnStar or other high-performance fighters challenged the strike aircraft. The original plan proposed by General Elliott had Cheetah armed as both an air-to-air and air-to-ground fighter, but surprisingly had vetoed the idea-surprising because Powell rarely backed away from a challenge, and because he was an excellent air-to- mud pilot. He had argued that Cheetah would be too heavily loaded down if it had to carry any bulky iron bombs or compli- cated laser-infrared target designators. He recognized the real possibility that the Russians would use DrearnStar to defend Se- baco against attack, and he wanted to be ready with all the power and maneuverability he could get. If DrearnStar was going to launch, he wanted to be right there on top of him.

There was a surprise third party on the satellite conference call involved with planning the strike mission, a project director from HAWC. He had been silent most of the conversation, until LC. had voiced his objections. Then he had stepped in, pre- senting his options and his estimates for success. In short order his proposals had been approved by General Elliott, and less than an hour later approved by the Secretary of the Air Force.

This fight had become personal-it was as if the President and the DOD had agreed to let the men and women of HAWC deal with the traitor from their own ranks, because that was how they thought of him-as Ken James, not a Soviet man named Mar- aklov. There were more concrete reasons, of course: The unit was cloaked in secrecy, with fewer persons involved who could alert the media or enemy agents; they commanded the most high- tech weapons in the American military arsenal; and, especially during the recent events, were able to generate a strike sortie faster than an active-duty military unit.

The two men in Cheetah's cockpit were quiet. concen- trated on maintaining close fingertip formation with the KC-10, and McLanahan checked and rechecked his equipment and watched the setting sun dipping behind the low Maya Mountains near the. coast of Belize off the right side of the fighter. The Islas de la Bahia island chain was off to the left, with tiny lights twinkling in the growing Caribbean twilight. It was a pleasant, romantic sight-until the view of those tranquil islands was ob- scured by the row of AIM-132 missiles slung under Cheetah's 386 .

wings, the missile's large foreplanes slicing the Isla de Roatan neatly in half.

"How are you doing back there, sir?" Powell asked, finally breaking the strained silence. "You're quiet."

"I'm okay."

"Radio's free. Want to call back to the command post again?"

"No, not right now. " Since leaving Drearriland earlier that afternoon he had made one UHF radio phone-patch back to HAWC's command post to ask about Wendy. She was, they told him, undergoing laser surgery to remove areas of scarred and damaged tissue in her lungs. The last word he had gotten was that they were searching for possible donors for a single lung transplant. Only a few hundred of these transplants had been done in the United States in the past few years, and only a handful of recipients were still alive.

- She'll be okay," said.

Patrick said nothing.

silence again as they approached the Honduras coastline and the tiny city of La Cieba came into view. Then asked, "You figure we'll run into James up here?"

"You mean Maraklov. "

"Still can't help thinking of him as Ken James."

"By any other name he's still a murderer. I don't think of him as a Russian or an American or even as a person. I won't have any trouble pulling the trigger on him."

According to General Elliott's plan, Cheetah was meant to go up against DreamStar, to engage with missiles from long range, close, engage at medium range with missiles, and if necessary close and engage with guns.

"Ken . . . Maraklov seems like he's still on top of his game,"

said. "He scared the hell out of those F-16 Air National Guard guys. Faked one with a missile shot, follows him in a horizontal climb, then hoses him while the F-16 descends on him. He busted up one other guy-"

"I don't want to talk about him."

But that wasn't altogether true-in reality, McLanahan was, in a way, fascinated by him. Not just because of the amazingly successful espionage operation that he had managed all these years, but because of what sort of person was out here. He was a Russian, a Soviet agent-he must have been worried about being captured every day, yet he not only successfully penetrated the most top-secret flight research lab in the U. but became the only pilot of the most advanced flying machine in the whole world. How anyone could keep calm and collected through all that without going crazy was unbelievable. Add on thathe had to fly DreamStar itself-and in Maraklov's case take it into bat- tle, with no "knock it off" calls or prearranged attack scenarios, no "wait ten seconds then come and get us" stuff. And Mar- aklov had proved himself in battle, handily defeating two F-16 ADF interceptors . . . "How the hell does he do it?"

"He's tuned into the ANTARES computer as if it was made especially for him," replied immediately, as if he was thinking the very same thing as McLanahan. "It's logical, though-if he's a Russian mole like they say he is, he had to forget completely about being a Russian and transform himself into an American. It's like he can ram-flush his own mind and fill it with whatever he wants. The same with ANTARES-he can empty his mind of everything and allow that machine to take over. I don't know how he snaps out of it-he must keep back a bit of his brain, enough to remind himself that he's a human being-sort of like leaving . bread crumbs behind in a maze to help find your way out . . . "

"But how can a guyfight like that? I've flown lots of different high-performance fighters, including Cheetah's simulator, and it takes every ounce of concentration I have just to keep the thing flying straight. How can a schizy guy like that fly one?"

"Practice helps," said. "Sure, you've flown a lot of fighters-always with an instructor pilot and always in ideal day VFR conditions-but you don't have many hours. Maraklov has got hundreds of hours in DreamStar. And let's face it-the man is good. With or without DrearnStar, he's a top fighter pilot. I'm no psychologist, so I don't know too much about his mental state, but just because you're schizy doesn't mean you can't function normally or even above norm. Hell, they say most of us fighter pilots are schizoids anyway . . . But ANTARES is the key, Patrick. If you had a full-time, high-speed computer telling you what to do each and every second you were at the controls, you could fly any jet in the inventory. The problem you and I have is that we can't interface with ANTARES. Maraklov is the opposite: he's probably at a point where he can't exist without ANTARES. He's not whole unless he's hooked up to that ma- chine. When he's not hooked up he's less than himself. He's 388 .

probably more dangerous when he's not hooked up. When he's hooked into ANTARES he's sort of at the mercy of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, no matter how far we've come with high-speed inte- grated circuits, micro-miniature computers and neural interfaces, there's no unlimited amount of info you can take on board an aircraft. We call ANTARES artificial intelligence, and in a way it is, but the critical difference between my brain and AN- TARES' computer is that ANTARES can't learn. And learning creates an unlimited pool of info that you rely on in combat.