A Cold Flight To Nowhereville

The year is 1956. deep in the Soviet Union is a secret that will change the course of history. The Russians have it, the Americans want it. And stuck in the middle is one dumb American pilot. The MiG 17 is the most advanced Soviet fighter made and major John Hardin, of the Skunkworks test group at Groom Lake, is the leading western expert. Defectors typically fly jets out of the Soviet Union; Hardin draws the unenviable task of flying one in. And why not? There are regions in the southern oblasts you could fly the entire 8th Air Force line abreast across the border and nobody would notice for days. Why not one of their own MiGs? At Baikonur Cosmodrome work is proceeding on the R7 heavy lift booster rocket, built on wartime German technology. Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Sergeivich Ushakov of the KGB knows how important this project is. He also knows something is afoot, he just can't prove it. The KGB doesn't have the power it did a few years; Premier Khrushchev has implemented a program of reforms and actually seems serious about it, so he has to watch his step. But one of the scientists is dirty, he's certain of it. Can Ushakov prove it before its too late? Katia Bekturov is the handler, forced into the position by the death of her husband. Abruptly she has to coordinate the entire operation herself. She knows she's capable of doing the job, but when thing start coming apart her confidence is rattled. Now they're off schedule, there's an American pilot on his way to rendezvous with her, and Ushakov is rapidly figuring things out!