One aircraft had done all this. He had planned on taking on the combined might of an American carrier air group, and one bomber had wiped out all his defenses in less than ten minutes.

He needed to transmit a report as soon as possible back to Moscow. The stolen American fighter was safe, but the Americans had just raised the price of keeping it to an all- time high.

The flight out of Nicaragua was no cakewalk for the Megafor- tress and her crew, but the loss of all ground-controlled intercept capability over Nicaragua and the loss of contact with Sebaco seemed to take the fight out of the Nicaraguan MiG pilots. One had been destroyed by Stinger fire from the Megafortress as it tried to tail-chase the bomber at low altitude, and another was damaged by a near-miss from one of Cheetah's dogfighting AIM- 132 missiles; the rest turned around and headed for Sandino International Airport. Powell and McLanahan followed the B-52 416 DAIE BROWN.

out over the Caribbean until it was picked up by the E-5 AWACS radar plan orbiting over the Cayman Islands.

"First things first," Bradley Elliott said when secure com- munications with the strike formation had been established.

"Patrick, Wendy's out of surgery. She's still officially in critical condition. I can't get any other information out of the hospital staff. We could airlift you from Georgetown and have you in San Antonio in four hours-"

"No . . . as long as she's being taken care of. I'm where I need to be right now."

"We've got other back-seaters for Powell-- "I am Powell's back-seater. Maraklov's gotta break out sooner or later and I have to be there when he does. Oh hell, of course Id like to go to her, but I also know I can't do her any good.

Not now. And I've got more hours in Cheetah than anyone else.

I'm the only one familiar enough with her systems to take her into combat. If DreaniStar got away while I was in Texas it would be a disaster for us all. And if I know Wendy, she'd kill me if I sat around her bedside while . . . well, you know what I mean."

Aboard the E-5 AWACS, Elliott still considered pulling McLanahan, but not because of Wendy. His near-fixation on evening it up with Maraklov had come perilously close to per- sonal, and soldiers on a vendetta made poor fighters. Still, he was right, he was the best-qualified crewman for Cheetah, and only Cheetah could hope to take on DreamStar in air-to-air com- bat. The time to have the first team on the line was right now, when the chances of DreamStar leaving Nicaragua were most likely . . .

"All right, Patrick," Elliott said. "Agreed, at least for now.

Break. Kelvin, job well done to you and your crew. Radar shows your tail is clear. Climb to flight level two-six-zero. Your tanker is orbiting over Grand Cayman at two-seven-zero. Everyone okay? "

"Affirmative," Carter replied on the scrambled UHF chan- nel. "We're beat but unhurt. We might have picked up some blast damage from the last run we did-we were a little close to the explosion when we dropped a Striker on the runway, and with our bay doors open we might have picked up some fuel leaks-but we should be able to recover in Dreamland. Id like 417.

to have a tanker meet us over the CONUS in case we have a leaking aft body tank."

"We'll work on that for you right away," Elliott said.

"While you're at it," Cheshire cut in, "maybe you can get us clearance to land in Georgetown for a few days - "

"I thought of that, Nancy," Elliott replied, "but we had a little trouble convincing the government to let the F-16s, the KC-10s and the AWACS in-a Buff would have been out of the question. Besides, technically the Megafortress Plus is still clas- sified. But we can arrange a short TDY for a debriefing, I think.

Break. , Patrick, any problems with Cheetah?"

"We're in the green," Patrick told him. "I just wish our late friend had showed for the party."

"It was a long shot, Patrick," Elliott said. "There's fifty- thousand square miles of nothing in Nicaragua where they could have hidden DreamStar. We've intercepted radio traffic that seems to indicate it might be in Puerto Cabezas but we're not positive.

"It's worth a look."

"We're not loaded for air-to-mud, Patrick," cut in.

"There's nothing we can do to him except wave as we fly by.

Besides, we'd fly right into the teeth of that SA-15 Atkins said was there."

"We've done more than the White House wanted to authorize.

We'll maintain our surveillance in case they try to fly DreaniStar out. We're changing your flight plan, though, because of this new intelligence," Elliott continued. "We've secured landing rights at Puerto Lempira, a Honduran army base seventy miles north of Puerto Cabezas-that was the original base for this op- eration until we got landing rights in the Cayman Islands. We're trying to get authorization now from the White House to set up a photo-run at Puerto Cabezas like the one you did on Sebaco.

We've got fuel and weapons being airlifted there to meet you.

It's not Georgetown but you'll be in position in case DreamStar tries to make another run for it."

"Sounds good," McLanahan said. "I want to be there when he tries to get away again."

A.

418 .

The Kremlin, Moscow, USSR Monday, 22 June 1996, 0932 EET (0132 EDT) Outside the foreboding walls of the Kremlin the bright, clear summer morning belied the internal struggle taking place. There, two of the government's most powerful men were sitting across from each other, locked in a silent combat.

The Chief of Staff of the Soviet military, General Cherkov, had just delivered a briefing to the General Secretary and Vla- dimir Kalinin, Chief of the KGB. The General Secretary nodded to Cherkov, who was unsure whether or not he had just been directed to leave; he kept his seat, with no objections from the two principals with him.

"I disagree with General Cherkov's analysis of the informa- tion provided from General Tret'yak," Kalinin said. "He says that the American experimental fighter is safe in hiding at Puerto Cabezas, guarded by both KGB and Nicaraguan troops, but then he says that the aircraft is in danger. That is inconsistent.

Tret'yak is understandably shaken after sustaining the Ameri- cans' preemptive attack-"

"Your rhetoric is the only thing that is inconsistent here, Kalinin," the General Secretary said. "The Americans de- stroyed one of our military bases, shot down two of our fight- ers and decimated our defenses. Yet you can sit there and say your plan is progressing well and that there is no cause for alarm? "

"We won't know the true extent -of the damage for several hours," Kalinin hedged. "But what happens to Sebaco is inel- evant to our mission. The XF-34 is safe, it is still combat ready and can make the flight to Ramenskoye. In two hours, we will begin launching escort aircraft from Cuba, and the decoy aircraft from Managua will make their way north to-"

"Your plan has failed, Vladimir," the General Secretary said.

"Admit it before any more men are killed and we lose any more aircraft or bases. " He shook his head. "It is only a matter of time before they discover the fighter in this, this Puerto Cabezas place. Then they will proceed to destroy that airfield-- he scanned the report, tossing it away with a dramatic flourish- II with one bomber. One bomber. What do we do against one of their aircraft carriers or a squadron of these bombers?"

419.

"The attack on Sebaco was expected," Kalinin argued. "That was the reason why we moved the fighter out of there. Tret'yak described some sort of new bomber that carried defense- suppression weapons as well as air-to-ground weapons, and it possibly carried air-to-air-" Kalinin suddenly stopped. "The kryepahst ezometyelna," he said half-aloud.

"The what?"

"The Megafortress project," Kalinin said. "The highly mod- ified B-52 bomber developed in the Nevada research Area, the same place where the XF-34 was built. The American Air Force general, Bradley Elliott, flew a Megafortress against our strategic- defense laser-installation at Kavaznya eight years ago; it carried the same unusual mix of weapons as the bomber that attacked Sebaco. It must have been a Megafortress they used to beat down our defenses and attack Sebaco. " Kalinin slapped a hand on the conference table, muttering to himself. "Parazetyel'na!

Vilizherchev said he met Elliott in Washington at the White House. We should have known Elliott would be called on to formulate an attack plan-"

"You mean you knew the man who would direct this attack?"

the General Secretary interrupted, staring at the KGB chief.

"You knew about this meeting-which did not appear in your report or Vilizherchev's report-and you knew that this Elliott would be involved with the planning yet you failed to anticipate the attack and failed to take actions to protect our base from attack. I am ending this craziness-"

"You can't stop it now-all the forces are in place and ready- I I "Then order them to stand down," the General Secretary said.

"Kalinin, how much more do you want? The Americans want their fighter back, and as long as the aircraft is in Central Arner- icalthey have the resources to offset every effort we make to bring it out."

"One more attempt," Kalinin said. His voice softened, and he opened his hands, virtually pleading. "I ask for one more try. All our forces are in readiness, it can begin in two hours .

"Request denied."

"If our aircraft are detected and intercepted I will order them to tum around and return to Nicaragua without a battle," Kalinin said. "But if we surround the XF-34 with fighter aircraft, even 420 .

if the formation is detected I think the Americans will have no choice but to allow us to proceed."

"I disagree," Cherkov put in. "I believe the Americans would attack the formation. Even if they didn't openly attack, which they did not do over the Caribbean on your first attempt to smug- gle the XF-34 out of Nicaragua, there is too much chance for disaster. An air battle would almost certainly result. I cannot endorse such an operation-"

"You'd do anything to save your pension and yourdacha .

"Silence, Kalinin.

"Your defense of me is not necessary, sir," Cherkov said.

"Actions speak louder than words and young Kalinin's actions in this operation prove what sort of tactician he is."

"It was not my pilot that tried to ram the American fighters,"

Kalinin said quickly. "It was not my ineffective pilots that could not defeat inferior American forces." Kalinin chose not to men- tion that the air-defense troops- around Sebaco were all KGB.

Cherkov did not bring it up either.

Kalinin turned to the General Secretary, trying to put on his best humble, earnest face. "Then allow me to bring the fighter out on one of our carriers, sir. A Kiev-class cruiser with escorts can be brought from Havana to Puerto Cabezas within the hour.

The XF-34 can easily land on one, and the Americans would not dare attack a carrier .

"But one of these Megafortress bombers could send a few of the carrier's escorts to the bottom of the Caribbean," the Gen- eral Secretary said. "Vladimir, I have lost count of the number of fighters, transports, men and equipment we have lost trying to bring that fighter out of Nicaragua. Even if what you say is true-if this DreamStar fighter is worth ten of our front-line fighters-we are definitely on the minus side of the ledger. We have lost six MiG fighters along with the Ilyushin radar plane, which I understand is worth ten or twenty fighters, plus the trans- port helicopter and its men and crew in Mexico. If we then lost a seven-thousand-metric-ton capital ship to an American attack, we would all be deposed by the Politburo. That could still hap- pen . . .

He reached to the phone on his desk and buzzed his confi- dential secretary. "I am going to order Vilizherchev to open negotiations with the Americans for the transfer of the aircraft 421.

back to them. You will not move the aircraft from its present location. You will not remove or damage any of its components.

I do want you to collect as much information about the aircraft as you can without damaging it-we had better get more out of this nightmare operation than a dozen caskets."

"Sir, you must reconsider," Kalinin said. "If we stop now, if we don't attempt to get the aircraft to Russia, all those men will have been killed for nothing, all of our efforts will have been for nothing."

"All of your efforts, Kalinin," the General Secretary said.

Your operation. I must remind you that I was against this operation from the beginning. I told you it would never suc- ceed. I will not accept responsibility for an operation that I never approved and that was conducted largely without m knowledge. " y The General Secretary's senior aide came into the office, car- rying notepaper and pencil. "Now see to it that the XF-34 is secured and ready for transport."

"I ask you once more," Kalinin said. The General Secretary was turned away from him. "If we succeed, and I stake my life that we will, there will be huge assets for both of us, sir. We are already committed, we must-"

"Your career is already at stake here, Kalinin," the General Secretary said. Mine too, he thought gloomily. "I will concen- trate on repairing the damage caused by your ill-conceived plan.

Do as I've ordered."

Outside, Molokov, Kalinin's aide, fell in behind him. "Sir ...

Kalinin gave his instructions.

"Back to KGB headquarters," Molokov told the driver. To Kalinin he asked, "What is the situation, sir?"

Kalinin filled him in, needing to unload his feelings. "I have no more authority in this. I am only authorized to collect as much data as possible on the aircraft without damaging it, then prepare to turn it over to the Americans."

They drove through the streets of Moscow in silence until approaching KGB headquarters, then Molokov said, "Maraklov will not like this. Turning over that fighter to the Americans, after all he's done, will be like asking him to turn over one of his legs to a shark."

Kalinin suddenly turned to Molokov, an idea forming in his 422 .

head, becoming clearer every moment. "Maraklov ... yes, perhaps he can secure the aircraft for us .

"Sir?"

"Maraklov ... I need a secure satellite channel to Puerto Cabezas. The General Secretary will brief Vilizherchev in less than an hour, and Vilizherchev will ask to confer with the Pres- ident by seventeen hundred hours Moscow time-1 must talk with Maraklov immediately."

"There is a transponder set up with the command post at Puerto Cabezas now, sir," Molokov said. "What will you do?"

"This operation is still on, my friend," Kalinin said. "There may still be a way .

Puerto Lempira Airbase, Honduras Sunday, 21 June 1996, 0612 CDT (1512 EET) PATRICK McLANAHAN AND JC. Powell might have thought they had been transported to the set of a low-budget Vietnam war movie. They were sitting on a plastic fold-up picnic table inside a musty green canvas tent, eating cold scrambled eggs and canned ham out of tin mess kits. Outside, it was warm and impossibly humid, with occasional heavy downpours that seemed to erupt with no warning and then, just as abruptly, end a few minutes later as if God had simply shut off a faucet somewhere in the heavens. Their sweaty flight suim, now going on their second day of use, stuck to their bodies like strips of papier- mich6 and smelled like the saltwater swamps that surrounded the tiny Honduranairbase.

"Airbase" might have been a flattering term for Puerto Lem- pira. The base was actually a small airstrip clinging to a marsh near the ocean on the northeast comer of Honduras, only forty miles from the Nicaraguan border. The place had a nine- thousand-foot concrete runway, but only six thousand feet of it was usable, the encroaching swamps having retaken almost half a mile of the eastern end; workers were busy sandbagging the end of the runway, trying to drain it. There was a small concrete aircraft parking area where a prefabricated aircraft hangar had been erected for Cheetah. Outside the ramp area was a half- sand, half-rock clearing where the tents and a communication trailer had been airlifted in-except for the runway, the entire base may have occupied a total of five acres.

Almost all the personnel at Puerto Lempira were security 424 DAIE BROWN.

guards, here to guard Cheetah and the support equipment that had been moved in. Over the years Puerto Lempira had been used more by smugglers and drug runners than military forces.

Four guards stood watch in Cheetah's portable hangar, two guarded the communications trailer, and another thirty were sta- tioned around the airbase's perimeter. Everyone expected trou- ble.

"When do you suppose we'll get out of here?" asked, frowning at the lump of canned ham in his mess kit and pushing it away.

"No idea." McLanahan glanced at the device that had been set up on the picnic table beside him. "We should find out soon.

The device was a field communications unit linked to the sys- tem of power generators and electronics in the trailer. They had instant satellite, UHF, VHF and HF communications capability with most of the rest of the world through that tiny unit, which was about the size of a cereal box.

The rains began coming down again, lightly at first, then in virtual sheets with big fat rain droplets that threatened to shred their canvas roof. The rain rattled the metal roof of Cheetah's hangar. Cheetah had been rearmed for air combat with both long- and short-ranged missiles, but intelligence had been re- ceived that DreamStar might have been moved to Puerto Cabe- zas in Nicaragua less than a hundred miles away, and a crew was standing by to arm Cheetah with its photo-reconnaissance pod again-as well as an array of air-to-ground weapons.

The sound of the rain almost drowned out the gentle beeping of the satellite communications transceiver. McLanahan picked up the receiver, laying his finger on the SCRAMBLE/DESCRAMBLE button. When he heard the snaps and whine on the other end he hit the button. The static disappeared, replaced by a faint hiss.

"McLanahan'.

"Patrick, this is Brad Elliott." His heart began pounding- Elliot rarely used his first name, even to his closest friends and most senior officers, unless something was wrong.

"Go ahead, sir."

"I've sent a F-15E down to pick you up. It should arrive in about an hour from now."

"Wendy . . . ?"