e-book - Rolf Witzsche

18
Chapter 1: Boris Mikheyev
fellow, Zalygin, reveal so many of these secrets to you?" asked
Boris after a minute of silence. He didn't look up as he spoke, but
started nervously checking his watch. "Could it be that the man is
hoping for more than just keeping us quiet? Is he asking us to do
this? Is this what the whole charade is all about? You didn't meet
me here by accident. You were looking for me. This is why your
flight was re-routed through Kiev, and why my flight was delayed.
God, this is all crazy!" He shook his head and looked up. "That's
insane, Alexei."
Alexei got up from the bench. "I didn't like Zalygin's attitude
either," he said quietly, "at least no at first. I said to myself that
even if it were possible to stage such an accident, how could anyone
be certain that the other side would react in a rational manner?
I asked myself how such an accident would have to be regarded
from their perspective. They would see a missile coming towards
them. Would they believe us that the launch is an accident and that
the missile is technically secure, that it won't harm anyone? Or will
they fire their own missiles long before we can demonstrate our
case?"
Boris made up his mind on their way back to the terminal
entrance. "I think the people at Bureau are responsible people," he
said to Alexei, "they wouldn't contemplate taking such risks. This
renders Zalygin a traitor."
Alexei walked quietly beside him, but then ended up telling
Boris that he felt exactly like he now feels.
"Don't tell me you support the idea of staging a nuclear
accident in order to shake the world to its senses?" said Boris.
"That's lunacy! That's sheer madness, Alexei!"
"No Boris, that not lunacy. They refer to it as a calculated
risk, a risk that they feel they must take in order to save the
world," Alexei replied calmly. "You are as much a soldier as I am,"
he continued. "You know the rules of war. You know as I do that
a military commander is expected to put his people at great risk if
a vastly greater number of people are thereby protected. If you
loose ten men to save a thousand, or even ten thousand, the result
justifies the sacrifices. Zalygin talks about saving the life of not just
a thousand, or a million, but five thousand million people."
Boris just shook his head.
Alexei turned to him again. "There are other factors involved,
Boris, the scope of which is too big for a single person to grasp.
They have teams working on the problem, think tanks, computer
analysts, and scientists of every description. Just imagine the problem
they face of having to cope with space weapons, chemical
weapons, terrorism, cultural subversion, economic sabotage, not to
mention the determination of the British to break up our country into