The Russian Deception (18 page)

CHAPTER 40

Colonel Dimitri Brusilov stood in the commander's hatch of his Armata T-14, studying the border post marking the boundary between Russia and Latvia through his binoculars. The road went through the post and straight to the Latvian capital of Riga, less than a day's drive away. Ominous black clouds were building on the horizon over the Baltic, signaling a major storm front moving in. It meant snow and poor visibility and problems for everyone. The sky had been overcast most of the day. It had briefly cleared up but Dimitri knew it wouldn't last long. Behind him the other tanks in his battalion idled easily, wasting fuel, waiting for the order to advance. The problem was the weather. Heavy cloud cover meant no air support. Now that it had finally cleared there was only an hour or two of daylight left. Someone in high command had screwed up.

The tanks were from the 4th Guards Tank Division, part of the rejuvenated 1st Guards Red Banner Tank Army. The Red Banner Tank Army had been famous during the Soviet era. Dimitri and his tanks were about to write a new chapter in the Army's history.

Dimitri had been chosen to be first over the border, a significant honor. He was determined to be worthy of it. He wasn't concerned about himself but he wasn't sure how his tank would hold up. All of the T-14s had electronic and mechanical teething problems and his tank was no exception.

The computers on the T-14 controlled everything, including the radar guided targeting, loading and defense systems that made the Armata such a formidable weapon. There had been issues with the weapons systems on this tank from the day it had rolled out of the factory. Dimitri had tried to commandeer a tank with fewer problems but he'd been told to make the best of it.

Dimitri's career in tanks had begun in a simpler era. The Armata was faster and more powerful than any tank he had ever commanded but he longed for the days when it didn't require specialized training in computers just to keep everything working. If something went wrong during this operation it could end his career.

Off to Dimitri's left, the driver's head stuck out through his hatch like an odd shaped pumpkin. Yuri came from a small village east of the Urals. At twenty-three years old he was full of piss and vinegar and ready to conquer the world. His enthusiasm was catching and he was an excellent driver. Dimitri was pleased to have him in his crew.

"What are they doing over there, sir?" Yuri asked.

"There are perhaps a hundred soldiers from their border guard. They have blocked the road with a bulldozer."

Yuri snorted. "We could hit it from here. One round from Vera and it will be gone."

Dimitri had named their tank Vera, after Vera Zasulich, a female assassin who had killed an important Tsarist official in the months leading up to the October Revolution. The 125mm cannon had a range of eight kilometers. It would make short work of the bulldozer and the soldiers too, if they were anywhere nearby when the shell hit.

"My grandfather served in a T-34 during the Great Patriotic War," Yuri said, "all the way to Berlin. I wish he could be here today."

Dimitri nodded. "He would be proud of you. It was a good tank in its day."

"Ours is better."

Over his headset Dimitri heard the division commander say the words that would launch the invasion.

"Soldiers of the Red Banner Army! Today we begin a new era. I am proud to be your commander, proud to be with you in this historic moment. Never forget that you are the best soldiers in the world. Do your duty for the Rodina. Your country is watching you with gratitude."

There was a pause. "
Execute Bright Sword."

Yuri had heard. "That's it."

About time,
Dimitri thought.

"Button up. Let's move," Dimitri said. "Head straight for the border station."

Dimitri switched to the command channel and spoke into his microphone.

"All units, this is Sword One. Advance in formation."

He dropped down into the tank and closed the hatch. Yuri reclined in his seat and shut the hatch. He looked through his periscope and engaged the twelve speed automatic transmission. The tank began to move forward.

Dimitri's gunner was named Sergei. Sergei had graduated first in his class at gunnery school. He had an impressive armory to play with. Aside from the main cannon there was a 12.7 mm Kord heavy machine-gun, a 7.62 mm machine gun and antiaircraft missiles. The main cannon could fire several different types of missiles, all loaded by the computer. For this operation a special 3UBK21
Sprinter
guided missile fitted with a low yield nuclear warhead had been added to the tank's armament. It made Dimitri uneasy to have it on board, even though it was supposed to be safe.

"Sergei, how's the board? Any problems?"

Sergei glanced at the panel of lights and digital meters that indicated the status of his weapon systems. "Negative, sir. Everything is in order."

Small arms fire began to ricochet off the hull as Dimitri's intent to cross the border became clear. The Latvian border guards were firing but the only benefit was psychological. The rounds had no hope of penetrating the tank's armor. Dimitri saw one of them lift an RPG to his shoulder and fire.

Adrenaline surged through him. His vision narrowed, focused on the potent package of explosive streaking toward him. The
Afghanit
protection system would destroy the round. At least he hoped it would. If it did get through, he'd been told their armor was more than enough to stop it. This was the first time the new system had been tested in battle.

I hope they were telling the truth.

"Incoming," he said over the internal system. "Hold your course."

The
Afghanit
system used radar panels on the side of the turret to automatically track and kill antitank missiles or artillery shells. Mounted beneath the turret, a series of long tubes could fire an electronically activated charge to intercept incoming threats.

Dimitri watched a white streak leave his tank. The RPG round exploded. Vera rolled on, undamaged.

"Sergei, take care of that launcher," Dimitri said.

The gunner chose the remotely operated Kord. He zeroed in with the laser rangefinder and opened up. The soldiers with the rocket launcher were reloading when the bullets from the heavy machine-gun tore them to pieces.

"Get rid of that roadblock," Dimitri said.

"Yes, sir." His voice was calm but Dimitri could hear the adrenaline surging underneath.

The turret swiveled and Sergei fired the main cannon. The bulldozer blocking the road disintegrated in a fiery blast. Pieces of jagged metal tore through the soldiers manning the roadblock and cut them down.

The road to Riga was open.

CHAPTER 41

In Virginia, Elizabeth's phone signaled a call from Langley.

"Harker."

"Elizabeth, it's Clarence. Pull up the satellite over the Baltics."

"Hello to you too, Clarence. Just a minute."

Elizabeth entered the command on her keyboard and the Baltics appeared on her wall monitor.

"Got it," she said.

"Focus on the Latvian border with Russia."

Elizabeth made an adjustment.

"Damn."

"That's about the mildest comment I've heard so far," Hood said.

"When did this start?"

"About thirty minutes ago. If they don't meet any significant resistance the Russians will be in Riga tomorrow. There's not much the Latvians can do to stop them."

"NATO?"

"High command has called for another emergency meeting in Brussels."

"What is the president doing?" Elizabeth asked.

"He's raised the alert status to DEFCON 2. Where is your team now? "

"Leipzig. It turns out that Johannes Gutenberg is still alive."

"I thought he died in Switzerland."

"We all did. I've sent the team after him. He's right in the middle of this. He's been funding Orlov's military buildup."

"Ah."

"The question is why," Elizabeth said. "Gutenberg isn't Russian. I can't believe he has the Federation's best interests at heart and he has to know he'll never get back the money he's spent. If we know why he's been so generous it might give us something we can use as leverage to get Orlov to back off."

"I suppose it's possible."

"We've got nothing to lose by interrogating Gutenberg."

"Elizabeth..." Hood paused. "This one has me worried. Orlov is too easily influenced by the people around him and he's surrounded himself with the Kremlin hardliners. If they have convinced him NATO is not going to respond, he's making a serious mistake. We absolutely cannot allow Russia to annex the Baltics. This has every potential to go nuclear."

"Then we'd better hope we can find something to stop it," Elizabeth said.

"I have to go," Hood said. "We'll talk later."

He broke the connection. Elizabeth set down her phone. She looked at the monitor and watched the Russian tanks crossing into Latvia. Behind the tanks, troop transports and artillery poured over the border. She couldn't help but feel that she was watching the beginning of World War III. It scared the hell out of her.

The Russians were advancing toward Riga from St. Petersburg, Pskov and Moscow. Elizabeth zoomed out for a wider view. The Baltic Fleet had come out of Kaliningrad and was steaming for the Gulf of Riga, ahead of a large storm front moving in from the northwest.

Orlov's crash program to modernize the military hadn't caught up with the Navy. There was one small aircraft carrier in the rusting Baltic Fleet, the
Kuznetsov
. She was obsolete and could only field a dozen aircraft but that was still a dozen more than the three Baltic states possessed. There was no Air Force in any of the Baltic countries. If there had been, the Russian air force would have easily blown it out of the sky.

The
Kuznetsov
was accompanied by two heavy cruisers and several frigates. Elizabeth assumed there was at least one submarine with the fleet as well. Once they entered the Gulf, Latvia's capital would be at their mercy.

Stephanie came into Elizabeth's office. Burps lay on the couch. The cat eyed her and rolled over on his back, paws in the air. Stephanie reached down and scratched his enormous stomach. He began to purr, an erratic rumble that sounded like a diesel engine in the next room.

Stephanie looked at the monitor. "What are you looking at?"

"The Russians have invaded Latvia."

"Oh, no," Steph said. "I'd hoped they were bluffing. What happens now?"

"It depends on how NATO responds and what the President wants to do."

"Do you think the Europeans will honor the treaty?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said. "The president will make sure of that. What's up, Steph? You look like something's happened."

"I've been watching Gutenberg's house. An ambulance pulled up a little while ago. As soon as it arrived, someone was carried out of the house and loaded into the back. It went out of there in a big hurry with lights flashing."

"You think it was Gutenberg?"

"I don't know, but it's a good guess."

"It could have been one of his staff."

Stephanie shrugged. "Maybe."

"Where did the ambulance go?"

"The University Hospital. It's one of the best hospitals in Germany."

"If it's Gutenberg, we have a chance at him."

"Maybe the bastard will die and save us all a lot of trouble," Steph said. Her voice was tinged with bitterness.

"Nick will find out if it's him." Elizabeth paused. "I'll send him in. He knows what to do."

On the other side of the world in Moscow, Alexei Vysotsky had just received news that Operation Bright Sword had begun. He put down his phone and sat at his desk, thinking.

It's started
.
Now we are committed. If Orlov is wrong about NATO, this will be a disaster

Alexei considered the vodka in his desk drawer and decided against it. He opened another drawer that contained a small aluminum box. He took the box out of the drawer and set it on his desk. He toggled a switch on the side of the box and a green light came on. The box radiated frequencies that made it impossible for anyone to listen to conversations in the room.

Alexei had decided long ago that paranoia was the best survival strategy. In the days of the Soviet Union, when he'd begun his career in the KGB, a misspoken word or an overheard conversation could send the speaker to the gulags. The Soviet Union was no more but Alexei knew better than most that the old ways still prevailed. Freedom was a pleasant illusion. Now that he had reached his high position he was more paranoid than ever. Paranoia was a way of life in Russia, particularly in the corridors of power.

Alexei entered Valentina's code on his phone and sent an encrypted burst that meant he wanted to talk with her. Thirty seconds later his phone signaled her reply.

"General."

"What is your status?" Alexei asked.

"There's been a development," Valentina said. "Kepler has been taken to a hospital here in Leipzig."

"What's the matter with him?"

"I have no idea, but it gives me a chance to get to him."

"Make sure you find out why he has been backing Golovkin before you terminate him," Alexei said.

"There's no need for you to remind me." Valentina sounded annoyed. "What if he's unconscious?"

"Wake him up."

"And if I can't?"

"Kill him."