A Tan Beret Goes to Nellis

[Johnnie Lyle]

The theory of communism is, on its face, fairly attractive.
Where it comes apart in practice is the bit where all that centralised authority always seems to fall into the hands of despots and tyrants and hypocrites who completely ignore the theory of the communism they supposed defend and propound, in favour of “One rule (AKA power, wealth and luxury) for me, another (privation and servitude and powerlessness) for thee”....

I’d say that’s more a downstream consequence, almost an inevitable one given the real problems: economic systems are so vastly complex that they can only function if highly decentralized. Even with an army of Sophies, there’s simply too many inputs, too many decision nodes and too much lag that centralization inevitably stagnates and becomes more ponderous.

Then you get the force of the true believers - the Lenins and maybe the Stalins, and certainly most of the Old Bolsheviks. When they can’t make the system work, then you get the Brezhnevification, of people using Party positions to get minor perks, and basics of a semi-capitalist system become coveted luxuries.

[Jotun]

Maybe I am having a blond moment, but what is the significance of the paperclip?

[Poohbah]

A brief update:

21 December 1987
Tenth Air Force Headquarters
Nellis Air Force Base
Las Vegas, NV


Sophie glanced at the face of her Ironman and blinked. 0231. Ouch.

Weariness caught up with her, and she let out a yawn.

You've been going 21 hours.

She entered the main HQ building and walked to the command suite.

Brigadier Generals Glosson and Vandenhelden were manning the secretary's desk. Glosson said, "Go right in, Chief."

Sophie entered the office and centered herself on Tanner's desk.

"Sir, Chief Warrant Officer Henrix reports!"

Tanner gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat." He called out to front office, "Speedy, Buster, come on in."

Glosson came in and took a seat on the couch; Vandenhelden took the chair next to Sophie's.

"First things first: SITREP, please."

"Sir, all mission objectives accomplished." Sophie paused, then said, "AFOSI has site exploitation responsibility. I neutralized the alarm system, if they get in and out quickly, they shouldn't have any problem with the alarm company. Special Agent O'Shaughnessy has made it clear to her counterparts at Los Angeles Air Force Base that the materials may include what the Soviets refer to as kompromat. It will be handled properly, sir."

Tanner nodded. "And yourself?"

"I'm fine, sir. A good night's sleep--"

Vandenhelden said, "You get tomorrow--today--off. Consider it your reward for recovering the nuke intact."

Tanner chuckled. "I'm making it an order. Come in Tuesday, rested and ready. I understand you're going to help put together a brief for General Stroud."

"Yes, sir. He's . . . concerned . . . about our concept to beat the Sniffer, sir."

"The Sniffer?"

"That's what we're calling the Soviet nuclear detection system, sir."

"I see."

"Well, it's an opportunity to excel, and you seem to have no problem doing just that." Tanner shifted slightly in his chair and said, "The three of us would like to talk to you about the future."

Sophie blinked. "The future, sir?"

Glosson said, "After this war's won."

Vandenhelden said, "Chief . . . you are the embodiment of what the Air Force expects in its leaders. Integrity, loyalty, complete commitment to duty, energy, decisiveness, and selflessness. I don't know what your postwar plans are, but I hope--actually, all of us hope--that you're willing to consider continuing to serve in whatever capacity suits you."

"Well, sir . . . about the only thing I've decided about my postwar life--assuming I'm still alive at the end--is that if Adam Lodge is still alive, too, I'm marrying him."

Glosson chuckled. "What if he doesn't ask?"

"Then I'm asking him. Sometimes, sir, in this woman's Air Force, you do what you have to do."

[Poohbah]

Maybe I am having a blond moment, but what is the significance of the paperclip?

From the post-WW2 operation of the same name.

[Wolfman]

Maybe I am having a blond moment, but what is the significance of the paperclip?

From the post-WW2 operation of the same name.

Operation PAPERCLIP…

[Jotun]

Maybe I am having a blond moment, but what is the significance of the paperclip?

From the post-WW2 operation of the same name.

Operation PAPERCLIP…

That was my first thought. I may have missed a hint how old that bitch was.
In my defense, I am recovering from general anesthesia I got an umbilical hernia fixed.

[jemhouston]

At war's start Sophie was a diamond in the rough. Training and war has polished her. Everyone knows if she survives, she'll be a crown jewel. They also know one wrong move, she'll become dust in the wind.

[Poohbah]

At war's start Sophie was a diamond in the rough. Training and war has polished her. Everyone knows if she survives, she'll be a crown jewel. They also know one wrong move, she'll become dust in the wind.

Or just shatter into a thousand pieces.

Lots of fast movers got into one bad situation too many and ended up as long-term psychological casualties.

[Poohbah]

22 December 1987
Tenth Air Force HQ
Nellis Air Force Base
Las Vegas, NV

Decker looked around the table, then straight at Sophie.

"Chief, you're awful quiet."

"What are General Stroud's key questions, sir?"

Hummel smiled. "Actually, Chief, you shouldn't be asking that question, you should be answering it. Tell us, from your experience as a commander, what you think his crucial questions are."

Sophie stood up and walked to the whiteboards.

Grabbed a marker.

Thought back to her own questions as a team leader.

Then tried to map those questions onto a much broader field.

All right, what are my scale invariants?

After a few minutes of thinking, she started writing.

MISSION
* Theater Nuclear Forces Overall Mission: Deter enemy use of tactical or theater nuclear weapons
* Missile Convoy Mission: disperse into North American theater within range of critical targets
* Critical Targets: High Value Assets (Fixed Location or Mobile, But Unable to Begin Relocation Within Weapon TOF)
* * Examples: Port Facilities (Cargo/Naval), Airfields, Major Repair Depots, National C2 Facilities, Front/Army-Level C2
ENEMY
* Long-Range Strike Assets (Manned Strike Aircraft, Ballistic Missiles)
* * Advantages of Manned Strike Aircraft:
* * * Can autonomously search, localize, and strike targets with imprecise data
* * * High search rate if scouting is required
* * * Can deploy forward quickly, strike, refuel/rearm at forward base, strike again (REUSABLE)
* * * Very tight CEP
* * Disadvantages of Manned Strike Aircraft:
* * * Expensive asset in terms of skilled manpower; assume will come out only when high pK is perceived
* * Advantage of Theater Ballistic Missiles (TBM):
* * * Short TOF gives limited opportunity to evade incoming strike (If Ivan finds you and is in range, you're dead)
* * Disadvantage of Ballistic Missiles:
* * * Cannot relocate quickly to get in range of target
* * * Can only strike known targets (pK per shot varies inversely with the square of uncertainty radius)
* * * One and done (One shot fired equals one missile gone, succeed or fail)
* * * Wider CEP (lower pK per strike asset, particularly with mobile targets)
* SCOUTING/ISR
* * Aerial Reconnaissance (Into Southern Kansas)
* * Spetsnaz/LRRP (Assume likely between I-40 and Red River)
* * Long-term KGB/PSD stay-behind teams? Insufficient data, but assume there are some in the AO
* * SYSTEM X (road-mobile sensor, can detect SNM @ 50km, assume currently on/immediately parallel to I-70 axis)
TERRAIN
* North American Great Plains
* * Semiarid (average rainfall of ~20 inches/year)
* * Widely scattered urban areas
* * Heavily cultivated, trees uncommon outside riparian habitat; relatively little complex terrain
* * Highly developed road net, but not as dense as in coastal regions
* * Above four factors mean there is limited opportunity to conceal TNF from overhead recon
* * SYSTEM X assets can use the road net as well until we neutralize them
FRIENDLY TROOPS AND SUPPORT
* GRANITE MOLE
* * Degraded Asset: not usable at present
* * May be able to configure GRANITE MOLE TELs with unserviceable W84/W85 warheads to be effective decoys
* * * Must be applied across the entire GRANITE MOLE fleet to be fully effective
* * * This WILL notify WARPAC that SYSTEM X has been compromised
* Patriot SAM/ATBM
* * Can engage strike assets if not suppressed by WARPAC SEAD (imposes virtual attrition)
* * Limited pK against TBMs, but forces the enemy to fire more shots (imposes virtual attrition)
* Interceptor Aircraft
* * No Value Against TBM Threat
* * Some value against airbreathing recon/strike assets
* Counterdetect SYSTEM X/LRRP
* * Requires RRUs/ESCOM/NSA to make this a high priority mission
* * Some prototype/field testing assets may be available (nature/capabilities uncertain)

Hummel chuckled and took pictures of the whiteboard with an SX-70 camera. "Damn, Chief, maybe we oughta send you to one of the war colleges!"

Decker asked, "OK, we've answered his questions. Any ideas on what needs to happen to get him to approve supporting this?"

Sophie said, "The TBM threat has to be cleared out."

Decker wrote quickly on a notepad. "Makes sense. So how do we do that? They're using decoys just like us."

Sophie smiled. "Kill them all, for Lenin will know his own. Live missile, decoy, if Ninth and Tenth Air Force make them priority targets, they'll have to pull them all back and concede striking range, or lose the real assets."

"How far back can we push them?"

Sophie looked at the map and said, "We can push them back far enough that Oklahoma is safe. Even the SS-23 is limited to 350 kilometers. The only place they can hide TBMs and stay in range is the DFW/Arlington Metro--but we've got three divisions rampaging back and forth in those cities, so it's extremely risky. If they duck back to Austin, they can still hit south of the Red River, but facing no TBM threat north of the Red River is good enough for our purposes."

"I thought the Spider could range out 500 kilometers."

Sophie said, "With a nuke, yes. The cluster warhead is heavier, and that eats range. If they start throwing nukes . . . well, this whole exercise is kind of moot in that case, sir."

Decker nodded and made another note. "Just wanted to make sure you included that caveat."

Sophie said, "Understood, with the additional caveat I mentioned, sir. The idea is to create a haven where the strike threat is confined to manned strike assets, AND where we have end-to-end monitoring of all trucking operators and shipments. Lead your enemy to poisoned water and force him to drink, sir."

Decker wrote down a few more notes. "Believe it or not . . . I think we actually have the outline of a workable plan here, one that accomplishes General Stroud's goals. Good work, Chief."

[Matt Wiser]

Time to get the TBM threat further south...and the Su-24s coming north more often.

[jemhouston]

The start of a plan coming together.

[Wolfman]

The start of a plan coming together.

Cue Hilarity Ensuing…

[Poohbah]

23 December 1987
Tenth Air Force Headquarters
Nellis Air Force Base
Las Vegas, NV

General Robert Barr Stroud and General Tanner entered the conference room, and Hummel called, "ATTENTION ON DECK!"

Tanner said, "As you were!"

Introductions were made, and Stroud blinked when he came to Henrix.

"Patrick Henry, Class of '83, right?"

Sophie smiled. "Yes, sir."

Tanner asked, "You know her?"

Stroud gave a rueful smile. "I was going to pitch her to come to San Diego State and go Air Force ROTC...and she was showing off her MIT acceptance letter, sir." The smile grew wider, and he said, "At least she's in the family now."

He looked at her ABUs. "Dive bubble and freefall wings . . . how many women are in special operations, Chief?"

"In the Air Force, there's three, sir, all Special Reconnaissance Operators. One's taller than me, the other's a redhead."

* * *

During the presentation, Stroud said, "Whoever drew up this situation analysis is damn good."

Tanner glanced at Sophie, who said nothing.

* * *

At the end of the brief, Stroud looked directly at Sophie.

"Chief, explain this as if you're me, at the head shed at Grand Island, briefing Allied Air Forces South Actual--who is my boss."

"Sir, the purpose of this operation is threefold. First, it is to restore theater-level deterrence. The Soviets have an advantage there. We need to regain the advantage. This accomplishes that by creating a bastion in Oklahoma that is out of range of theater missiles--"

Stroud said, "But they still have theater strike aircraft available."

Sophie said, "Please be patient, I'm getting to that. The point is, I want the threat to be one-dimensional instead of multi-dimensional, sir."

Stroud nodded, an uncertain expression on his face. "All right. At least it simplifies the threat environment."

Sophie said, "The next objective is to negate what we've formally referred to as 'System X' and informally named 'The Sniffer.' It's a very sophisticated device for detecting bomb-grade material that can be placed in a shipping container; it was reverse-engineered from one that was making a transit of the Siberian Railroad at the outset of the war and got captured. It's extremely effective in Kansas because full state sovereignty has been restored, which limits our ability to monitor commercial traffic, sir."

Stroud blinked, then said, "But in Oklahoma and points south, it hasn't . . . and we can find the trucks easier?"

"Sir, we can do traffic flow analysis, identify the trucks, and find WARPAC front businesses as well--the trucks will be using those to have reason to be going from one end of I-40 to another. This will allow us to degrade WARPAC intelligence collection both by directly apprehending intelligence personnel, and by feeding disinformation to the 'survivors,' sir."

Stroud looked at Sophie again, and asked, "By any chance, do you happen to know General Samuel Lodge?"

"He recruited me into AFSOC, sir."

Stroud chuckled and said, "That figures. All right, two valuable things as objectives, but you said there were three."

"Sir, we want the Fencers to come out to play, but on our schedule, not theirs. The plan is being developed at Sheppard; the idea is to hit the Fencers shortly after they recover at their forward operating location."

Sophie laid out the concept on a whiteboard. "Right now, sir, the Fencers are at Lackland, inside the San Antonio Aerospace Bastion. Setting up a strike plan against San Antonio would require F-111s or B-52s, and would face high attrition. The idea is to tempt--or, perhaps more accurately, force--them into a counter-TNF campaign, and strike them when they're not nearly as well protected.

Stroud looked at the map, then blinked.

"So you're dangling my theater forces as bait--which I don't like to begin with--and you're assuming you're going to know when they're coming out far enough in advance to have a strike package ready."

Sophie nodded. "Sir, in reverse order, I firmly believe we will have advance notice. The details are classified, but I'll deliver. As for the risk--sir, we are risking a great deal, yes. Now, all Ivan's going to know is that he's hitting a big truck that's carrying four W84s. We can use decoys with warheads on board for this--but we will be risking crews, sir. But the gain will be significant beyond merely blowing away most of a Fencer regiment."

Stroud raised an eyebrow, then said, "Expand."

"Sir, if there's anything Ivan takes pride in, it's superiority at what they call maskirovka, and what we would call operational deception. Take that belief away from them, and they'll become even more risk-averse than they are already. Offensive action is always dangerous, sir. After getting smacked around hard, and realizing that they were played--they're going to shy away from round two, sir. Sir, your job is, ultimately, to create a certain state of mind in the enemy command authorities at the Front and national levels. To do this, you must actively manipulate their perception of the battle space, their own capabilities, our capabilities, and relative strengths and weaknesses. This is part and parcel of that effort, sir. Second, by moving the missiles south of I-80--"

"I-90, actually; they're all at Ellsworth right now."

Sophie blinked, did some math in her head, then said, "Sir, you can barely hit Cabo San Lucas with Gryphon from there--hell, you can't even hit Miami, let alone Havana. Mexico City isn't on the menu, either, sir."

Stroud sighed. "It has been noted at echelons significantly above mine, Chief--as in political echelons, not military. Philadelphia isn't happy with the present state of affairs, so that's why I'm listening to you, and not telling you off first. So, get them down to Oklahoma, and we get range back."

"100% coverage of all Central America and the Caribbean, all the way to the eastern tip of Cuba and down to Nicaragua. Everyone will notice, sir."

Stroud chuckled. "That assumes Ivan bothers to tells them."

Sophie smiled, and watched everyone else at the table wince.

"If Ivan doesn't, perhaps we could. Might work even better. To paraphrase JFK, sir, 'Ask not what the United States can do for you, but instead ask what the United States can do to you,' and the answer is, 'We can bomb you back to the Neolithic with a side order of bone cancer.' Let them ask themselves if they want any of that sauce, sir."

Stroud looked at her. "Pretty cold-blooded, Chief."

"Absolutely, sir. Don't start none, won't be none. I didn't start this fight, sir. I just want to finish it."

* * *

Tanner and Stroud sat down in the former's office.

Stroud was quiet for a moment, then said, "Honestly, I wasn't expecting this. I knew she was smarter than probably the entire math department at San Diego State--you know she actually had a co-authorship credit on a peer-reviewed paper during her senior year of high school?"

Tanner blinked. "No, I didn't. I'm not really surprised to hear it, though."

"But I wasn't expecting . . . it's not hardness, exactly. She's not bloody-minded as most would describe it. She's . . . supremely focused. She's here to contribute as much as she can to winning the war, she understands Forrest's maxim that war means fighting, fighting means killing, and she's made her peace with that. She's a warfighter, sir, not a systems manager. That's unusual in the Air Force."

Tanner nodded. "She's ferocious in battle. I don't know if she's fearless, or if she's simply achieved enough mastery of her mind that she's afraid, but she doesn't let it affect her thinking. One thing: during the debrief from a shootout we had here, I found out that she'd called a warning of something she couldn't possibly see. So, our senior CSP noncom asked her how she'd spotted it, and it was that the bad guy in charge--who'd marked himself by behaving oddly--had looked to her right." Tanner paused, then said, "She also handles the moral gray areas extremely well."

"With Sam Lodge as her rabbi? That's probably the one thing he looked most for."

Tanner chuckled. "That has to be a first. Someone praising Lodge's moral foundation."

"He went into intelligence work after he got back from 'Nam. He was at AFTAC, and I was a guy with a geology degree working on a way to verify that Ivan was playing nice on nuclear testing. He got handed a superblack project that was . . . sketchy. I mean, seriously sketchy. The idea was that we'd figure out how to make the oceans 'transparent' so that we could find the Navy's Polaris boats, and thus take their money away. So, he was handed this project . . . and was immediately convinced that it was a load of crap."

Tanner blinked. "Did he say how?"

Stroud said, "He told me flat-out that I'd be more qualified as the project manager than he is, because I actually had a geology degree, and his scientific credentials was two semesters of rocks for jocks, and he asked why they'd hand such an important project to a guy who wasn't qualified. So, he started studying. I mean, studying hard. So, there I was, trying to be a family man, and I'm tutoring him in calculus over my kitchen table three nights a week. He read up on oceanography, and he found that the whole concept behind the idea was complete garbage. The Air Force had been hitting the 'I BELIEVE' button, thinking they could use the existence of the project to derail the next-generation ballistic missile subs."

Stroud paused, then said, "And then the USS Scorpion went down, and he took the only useful artifact that project ever produced--a recording of the Scorpion going down--and went up to COMNAVSUBLANT HQ, and told them everything--when they'd gotten the recording, all of the technical details--and what the Air Force had been trying to do. The whole story."

"Why?"

"I asked him that. He told me that those men on the Scorpion saluted the same flag we did, and that the Air Force was dishonestly trying to win a damn budget war while tap-dancing on the grave of 99 men. And I got the impression that the loss of the Scorpion wasn't really an accident, and he passed that along, as well."

"So what happened?"

"The Navy said 'Thank you, Major Lodge,' and went about their business. The principals supporting the AFTAC project were quietly sacked; Lodge walked out of AFTAC with a glowing OER and went to Air Command and Staff College, and everything was quietly swept under the rug."

Tanner was quiet for a long moment, then said, "I had no idea." He paused, then asked, "So, what do you think?"

Stroud said, "I could see her as CSAF forty years from now. If she wants it."

Tanner nodded. "If she wants it."

[Matt Wiser]

If she wants it... Mighty big if.

[Johnnie Lyle]

If she wants it... Mighty big if.

Maybe.

With power, ability and position comes responsibility - and one of those responsibilities is to pursue further advancement to exercise greater power in order to both use your abilities to improve things and keep power and position out of the hands of those who would abuse or misuse or ineffectively wield it.

So the question of whether she wants it may be irrelevant - because the question is whether or not she is capable enough to exercise the office well, and thus whether she is obligated to pursue it.

Or, to quote the great Dr. Mordin Solus, “Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.”

[jemhouston]

It should have been obvious to anyone who knows Sam Lodge has a strong moral foundation. If he didn't, the Air Force would have canned him long ago or more likely sent him to Hansen Island awaiting Frank Parker's arrival.

Not to mention in order to cross the line and get back, you have to know where the line is.

[Poohbah]

If she wants it... Mighty big if.

Maybe.

With power, ability and position comes responsibility - and one of those responsibilities is to pursue further advancement to exercise greater power in order to both use your abilities to improve things and keep power and position out of the hands of those who would abuse or misuse or ineffectively wield it.

So the question of whether she wants it may be irrelevant - because the question is whether or not she is capable enough to exercise the office well, and thus whether she is obligated to pursue it.

Or, to quote the great Dr. Mordin Solus, “Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.”

Kelly Ray's reaction to the idea of the Pocatello Chief of Police becoming the next sheriff of Bannock County being a prime example.

I need to dig that up and repost it. Judith Greenberg (nee Levy) needs some more screen time; she makes a good lens for looking at my other characters.

[jemhouston]

Kelly Ray's reaction to the idea of the Pocatello Chief of Police becoming the next sheriff of Bannock County being a prime example.

I need to dig that up and repost it. Judith Greenberg (nee Levy) needs some more screen time; she makes a good lens for looking at my other characters.

Your characters are good lens into you.

[Poohbah]

23 December 1987
Hilton La Sabana
San Jose, Costa Rica

Major Isabel Herrera, United States Air Force, watched Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeniy Popov of the Main Intelligence Directorate cross the road and marveled at how his every motion could appear to be so casual despite being utterly scripted.

He came over to the open air cafe and greeted Isabel warmly, then sat down opposite her. After they'd ordered and received their coffees, Popov said, "So, what prompted this?"

"I understand you were at Wunsdorf back in the day."

Popov smiled. "You Americans come up with so many phrases. 'Back in the day.' I like it."

Herrera sipped her coffee and said nothing.

After a moment, Popov said, "Yes, I was. A mere hewer of wood and drawer of water, of course; but, yes, I was there."

"While NATO was collapsing."

Popov nodded, a grim expression on his face. "Yes." He sighed. "And there we were, thinking we'd actually won."

"If you'd left it at that, you would have. But you didn't." She smiled. "Stupid should hurt, honey."

"Isabel, you asked for this meeting."

She handed over a folder. Popov opened it and glanced at the photo, then closed it quickly.

Oh, that was interesting. Didn't want to look at it.

"Why would you show me a picture of an obsolete weapon?"

"Ever see it before?"

The answer was quick, flat--not even a hint of a twitch in his forehead, either. "The picture? No."

Herrera filed that answer.

"No, Yevgeni Ivanovich, the weapon itself."

"Just a--how do you say it, a mockup? Yes, a mockup. At Khodinka."

Isabel nodded. "I see."

Specifically, I see that you're lying your worthless Commie ass off.

"So, your hewing wood and drawing water included liaison with the fraternals, right? Making sure they behaved? After all, you guys had way more history than we did with the Germans, and ours was none too pleasant as it was. My father always said that the Germans weren't so much sorry about the war as they were sorry about losing it."

"Yes."

Interesting. That didn't exactly ratchet down the tension.

She handed over another file folder.

Popov opened it--and his eyes bugged out. He closed it.

"Borzhe moi!"

"Yes, the mortal remains of one Heinz Roon, late of the German Democratic Republic's Ministry for State Security. Nobody in America really gives a damn about him turning out extra crispy, although I am told that Las Vegas Metro PD Homicide may have complained about torching the house." Herrera smiled. "It seems that our operator put a bullet in each of his kneecaps before tossing a white phosphorus grenade into the room. They fished him out of the swimming pool. Somehow, he got enough strength in his legs to overcome the shattered kneecaps, ran through a plate glass door, and managed to jump from the balcony into the swimming pool--not that it did him any good, of course. Willie Pete still burns underwater."

Popov's eyes were darting here and there.

Herrera carefully set her coffee cup directly on the table, ignoring the saucer.

"You and Roon knew each other socially, didn't you?"

Popov gasped, "No."

"Interesting, considering that he and Karl Hartz were drinking buddies . . . and you and Karl are thick as thieves." Herrera smiled. "And Karl showed up on my doorstep three days ago with a remarkable tale of how you and Gennadi Serov had hatched an insane plan to smuggle an American nuclear weapon back into the United States and set it off at Nellis. Needless to say, I phoned General Lodge's office at King of Prussia directly, only to find out that the weapon had already been recovered and rendered safe, and they'd figured that someone had cut Comrade General Ivashutin at Khodinka out of the loop the whole time."

Another man's voice came from her right. "Isabel, it's good to see you again."

She turned to face the newcomer and smiled brightly. "Gennadi Petrovich! You're looking well!"

Gennadi Serov, the KGB Resident, returned her smile. "Your smile is enough to make any man feel twenty years younger, Isabel."

"Oh, Gennadi, you are an absolutely shameless flatterer. Which is why I'm giving you a modest gift."

She reached into her oversized purse and handed another file folder to Serov. He opened it and read the first page.

"Anyone can make this kind of thing up."

She handed Serov a set of car keys. "A blue BMW in the parking garage, second floor, license plate DCF-239. He's in the trunk. You can question Herr Hartz at your leisure and confirm everything."

She stood up and said to Yevgeni, "Smiert Shpionam. Have fun."

Serov said, "Fun? State Security will investigate this so-called 'fun,' Comrade."

Herrera chuckled. "Ah, Gennadi, you're one of the few absolutely doctrinaire Marxist-Leninists who actually has a sense of humor."

Serov sighed. "Isabel . . . why did you notify me?"

"My boss agrees with Sun Tzu's profound wisdom about keeping one's friends close, and one's enemies even closer." She smiled again. "And he really doesn't like people who play 'let's you and him trade nukes' games."

Serov nodded. "General Lodge is a formidable adversary--and kulturny, as well. Please extend my respects to him." He sighed. "I know we're going to lose. That said . . . I serve the Soviet Union."

Herrera said, "Exactly so."

She walked off as three large gentlemen closed in on the table.

He chose . . . poorly.

[Matt Wiser]

Some folks are going to get the kind of death where the screams give out before the body does....

And the KGB Rezident knows the war is lost for the USSR, but he's going to do his duty until the end.