by Dale Brown
"Not fly it out of Nicaragua . . . ?"
"Andrei, our government tried to make a deal with the Amer-
icans for the return of their fighter. They told the Americans
they would turn the plane over to them in five days. The same
day they concluded that agreement we were caught trying to fly
the plane to Cuba. The Americans no longer believe us. You've
said it yourself-we can't defend ourselves here. If the U.
mounts a n attack they'll destroy this base. It would seem the
only way we can save ourselves is to turn the fighter over to
them.
"Like hell . He recalled he'd momentarily considered it
himself, but only in his bitterness about what probably waited
for him back "home." But he could never seriously go through
with that . "Do you know what I've done? Do you realize
what I've gone through to get that aircraft here? I was the top
pilot in the United States Air Force's most top-secret research
center. In ten years I could have been running the place. I sac-
rificed it to protect and deliver this aircraft and I will never
surrender it .
He went to the closet, found a fresh flight suit and began
pulling it on. "I'll talk to the general-hell, I'll talk to Moscow.
I doubt that the Americans will attack this base. But if they do
we can move DreamStar to another location until the attack is
over. Unless the U. declares war, they won't threaten the peace
in Central America by bombing a base, even over this fighter.
And they're not going to declare war." Maraklov pulled on a
pair of boots and left his room.
Zaykov remained there for several minutes. The strain, she
decided, was getting to him. Even more than before, the fighter
was his personal possession, more than the U.'s or the USSR's,
and he was determined to ignore official orders and political
realities and do with the fighter as he thought best. The signs of
paranoia were stronger as well. She'd never thought he'd agree
to leave DreamStar in Nicaragua, but at the very least she thought
374 DALE BROWN
her words would comfort him if not altogether reassure him. It
had had the opposite effect. He clearly now believed that the
Soviet military would discard him like a spent shell casing after
his mission was completed. (She did not consider the likelihood
that he might be right ... )
She had to try to convince him to trust his countrymen. That
was now more important than ever. With the threat of American
retaliation hanging over them, a battle-fatigued and alienated
mind of Colonel Maraklov could mean disaster for himself, the
mission and all Soviet personnel in Nicaragua.
He had to be brought back to the fold-or he had to be elim-
inated.
Maraklov went to the command post, where he found General
Tret'yak in his office sitting in front of a computer terminal,
staring at a half-filled screen. "I need to talk to you, General."
Tret'yak looked up, motioned to a chair. Maraklov ignored
it. "I am composing a detailed report on this morning's inci-
dent," Tret'yak said in a distracted tone. "Five aircraft lost.
Watching that 11yushin go in-I have never felt so helpless-"
"Sir, we have to discuss the XF-34 fighter," Maraklov inter-
rupted. "It's not secure here. I recommend it be moved as soon
as possible to a secret location and prepared for another flight to
the Soviet Union as soon as possible."
Tret'yak stared at the screen for a few moments; then, to
Maraklov's surprise, began typing again. "Colonel Maraklov,
personally, at this moment, I don't care what happens to our
fighter," he said without looking up from his work. "I have lost
seven men and five aircraft today-that is more men and more
equipment than I have lost in four years as a squadron com-
mander in Afghanistan. I will certainly lose my command and
possibly my pension. The safety and security of your wondrous
aircraft is out of my hands. I have no more resources to defend
it with."
He reached over to a stack of papers, selected one and tossed
it to Maraklov without looking up from the computer screen.
Here are your orders, transmitted by the chief of the KGB.
You are authorized to take any actions necessary to protect the
aircraft. Authorization has already been obtained to allow you
access to Sandino Airport in Managua, Aeroflot hangar number
twelve, and Puerto Cabezas Airport, main transient hangar. You
will take weapons with you. I have already ordered my men to
load Lluyka tanks, ammunition and missiles on your fighter-
we suddenly seem to have plenty to spare. It's your responsibil-
ity now."
Maraklov picked up the message. It was true-he had been
given almost unlimited authority to protect DreamStar from de-
struction until the chief of the KGB, Kalinin, could consult with
the Soviet Kollegiya. Trucks, trains, ships, tankers, weapons,
hangars, men, money-anything he felt was necessary, so long
as DreamStar was safe. It was an exciting prospect, but he re-
alized that if he failed, the Kollegiya would demand repay-
ment-and not in money.
Maraklov almost felt sorry for the man-he had, in effect, just
been relieved of command because of something he had no con-
trol over. "I understand, sir, spasiba-" "You have everything
you need."
"Get out, Colonel," Tret'yak said.
"I want to ask your opinion, sir, " Maraklov said quickly,
about where you recommend I take Zavtra.
The old fighter pilot looked up from his work. "You want my
opinion?"
Maraklov saw the old glimmer in his eyes, at least something
of the fire he'd noted when they'd met that day he arrived at
Sebaco. Tret'yak wanted a piece of the action, no matter what.
"I'm glad you asked, because I have given it some thought."
Tret'yak motioned to a chair, then poured a tall glass f ice
water for Maraklov. "I am very, very glad you asked."
Washington, D.
Saturday, 20 June 1996, 1900 EDT
President Taylor cursed, his New England accent, rarely heard
after years in Washington, leaking through.
The full National Security Council had been summoned for
an early-evening meeting at the White House conference room.
They had just been briefed on DreamStar by General Elliott via
two-way satellite videophone from the E-5 AWACS plane, in
which he was still orbiting over the Cayman Islands. The Pres-
ident turned his face away from his advisers at the conference
table, his jaw tight. "They just went ahead and hed to me.
376 DALE BROWN
"According to Ambassador Vilizherchev, the military detach-
ment in Nicaragua acted on their own without -clearing it with
Moscow," Secretary of State Danahall said. "Vilizherchev in-
sists there was no intention of deceiving us."
"I don't care what he insists. For starters, I want Vilizher-
chev's ticket pulled-he's persona non grata. And I want to
make sure that the press knows he's not being 'recalled to
confer
with his government' or any such bull-I want them to know
that I'm kicking him out."
"Do you want the press to know why?" Danahall asked.
"Because he lied to me, he lied to this government." He
pointed a finger at Danahall. "You don't need to go into de-
tails." Danahall shook his head as the President turned back to
the image of Elliott on the three-sided monitor set up in the
center of the conference table. Yes, Danahall thought, the Pres-
ident needed to go into detail for something as serious as kicking
out an ambassador, especially the ambassador from the Soviet
Union.
"So we definitely know that the XF-34 was flown back to
Nicaragua, back to this Sebaco airfield?" the President asked
Elliott.
"Positively, sir," Elliott radioed back. "We've had contin-
uous AWACS radar coverage of Sebaco since the XF-34 with-
drew. It has definitely landed at Sebaco, and so far no aircraft
have departed or arrived at Sebaco except for two MiG fighters
from Managua that had tried to chase our AWACS plane away
from Nicaragua. Our Falcons convinced him that it was all right
for us to stay. We've been keeping watch on Sebaco via our
AWACS plane, by satellite surveillance, and by sketchy reports
from covert operatives in Nicaragua when possible."
"But that doesn't mean they can't move it again," William
Stuart said testily. "It's still a no-win operation, Elliott. So you
caught the Russians trying to move the thing. They're still not
going to give it back until they're good and ready-"
"We can stop them from moving that aircraft out of Nicara-
gua, " Elliott said, "if we act fast enough. "
"Is it true, General," the President asked, "that we can't
detect them if they move it out of Sebaco? "
"I'm afraid so, sir. We have satellite overflights every ninety
minutes to scan the base, and our radar plane can track anything
in the sky. Our agents in the field are keeping watch on the area
surrounding Sebaco, but the Russians have stepped up security
around that base and our agents can't get too close. There are
gaps ... But we don't have to know the XF-34's exact loca-
tion," Elliott added, readjusting his headset. "We know they
have it-we don't need to know anything else-"
"You're recommending that we bomb Sebaco, regardless of
whether we know that fighter is there or not?"
"Yes, sir, I am. It would help if the plane were returned to
its hangar where it was first spotted, but there's not too much
chance of that. I'd expect them to hide it in the jungle or trans-
port it to Sandino Airport, where we'd be less inclined to at-
tack--
"'Less inclined' is right, General," Stuart said. "We will
not attack a civilian airfield."
"Sandino is a military airfield, sir. The Nicaraguans don't
operate any civilian airfields. Sandino is operated by the military
but accepts civilian traffic. A surgical strike-"
"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 DALE BROWN
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 DALE BROWN
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,