"Our ability to do this is seriously reduced," Kosov said. "I would not expect-the truth is that the Navy has been defeated. Iceland will soon be back in NATO hands."
"But Bukharin didn't say that!" the elder Sergetov objected.
"He didn't tell us that Northern Fleet's long-range aircraft were nearly exterminated either, but they were. The fool thinks he can keep me from learning this! The Americans have a full division on Iceland now, with massive support from their fleet. Unless our submarines can defeat this collection of ships-and remember that while they are there, they cannot strike at the convoys-Iceland will be lost within a week. That will obviate the Navy's strategy for isolating Europe. If NATO can resupply at will, then what?"
Ivan Sergetov shifted nervously in his chair. He could see where the conversation was leading. "Then possibly we have lost."
"Possibly?" Kosov snorted. "Then we are doomed. We will have lost our war against NATO, we still have only a fraction of our energy needs, and our armed forces are a shadow of their former selves. And what will the Politburo do then?"
"But if the Alfeld offensive succeeds... " Both Politburo men ignored this statement.
"What of the secret German negotiations in India?" Minister Sergetov asked.
"Ah, you noted that the Foreign Minister glossed over that?" Kosov smiled wickedly. He was a man born to conspiracy. "They have not changed their bargaining position a dot. At most it was a hedge against the collapse of NATO forces. It might also have been a trick from the beginning. We're not sure." The KGB Chief poured himself a glass of mineral water. "The Politburo meets in eight hours. I will not be there. I feel an angina attack coming on from my damaged heart."
"So Larionov will deliver your report?"
"Yes." Kosov grinned. "Poor Josef. He is trapped by his own intelligence estimates. He will report that things are not going according to plan, but still going. He will say that NATO's current attack is a desperate attempt to forestall the Alfeld offensive, and that the German negotiations still hold promise. I should warn you, Major, that one of his men is on your staff. I know his name, but I have not seen his reports. It was probably he who provided the information that got the former commander arrested and put your general in his place."
"What will happen to him?" the officer asked.
"That is not your concern," Kosov answered coldly. A total of seven senior officers had been arrested in the past thirty-six hours. All were now in Lefortovo Prison, and Kosov could not have altered their fates even if he'd had the mind to.
"Father, I need to know the fuel situation."
"We are down to minimum national reserves-you have a week's fuel delivered or being shipped now, and roughly one week's supply is available for the forces deployed in Germany, plus a week for the armies detailed to go into the Persian Gulf."
"So tell your commander that he has two weeks to win the war. If he fails, it will mean his head. Larionov will blame the Army for his own intelligence mistakes. Your life will be in danger too, young man."
"Who is the KGB spy on our staff?"
"The Theater Operations Officer. He was co-opted years ago, but his control officer is in the Larionov faction. I don't know exactly what he is reporting."
"General Alekseyev is-technically he's violating orders by taking a unit on the Weser and sending it east to relieve Alfeld."
"Then he is already in danger, and I cannot help him." Not without tipping my hand
"Vanya, you should return now. Comrade Kosov and I have other things to discuss." Sergetov embraced his son and walked him to the door. He watched the red taillights disappear behind the birch trees.
"I don't like using my own son in this!"
"Whom else can you trust, Mikhail Eduardovich? The Rodina faces possible destruction, the Party leadership has gone mad, and I don't even have full control of the KGB. Don't you see: we have lost! We must now save what we can."
"But we still hold enemy territory-"
"Yesterday does not matter. Today does not matter. What matters is one week from today. What will our Defense Minister do when it becomes obvious even to him that we have failed? Have you considered that? When desperate men realize they have failed-and those desperate men have control of atomic weapons, then what?"
Then what, indeed? Sergetov wondered. He pondered two more questions. What do I-we?-do about it? Then he looked at Kosov and asked himself the second.
