Countdown km-2 Read online

  identification at this point unknown. They placed what appears to be a plastique explosive around the outside of the missile body itself, which they promise to blow if we make any threatening moves. From there they drove directly into the city of Kaiserslautern where they parked in front of the train station. They haven’t moved since”

  “Any casualties” McGarvey asked” Major Tom Mccann was found shot to death in the Pershing’s missile bay”

  “Anyone else”

  “Eleven German nationals were injured and three killed on the autobahn just outside Ramstein. The transporter ran over one car and touched off a chain reaction. Four of them are in critical condition in the base burn unit”

  “They mean business” McGarvey said. “Yes, sir, that they do”

  “Any communications with the transporter” k aus nodded. “Colonel Bob Collingwood, the man in charge of Ramstein security, has been talking with them … or at least with the one who has been identified as Brad Allworth”

  “He’s not” McGarvey said.

  “Sir”

  “He’s not Brad Allworth. His name is Arkady Kurshin”

  “Russians” Kraus asked, his eyes widening. “Sonofabitch. What the hell are they up to”

  “Whatever it is, it’s not going to be pleasant, I can tell you that much. And I can also tell you that Kurshin is a pro. He’ll have this entire operation figured out to the last detail, including his escape”

  “Pardon me, sir, but I don’t think that’s possible”

  “Perhaps not, but Kurshin evidently thinks so” McGarvey said. “What’s the present situation”

  “As of 1630 the missile and transporter were parked, as I said, in the middle of the square in front of K-Town’s main railroad station. Two men, one of them apparently this Arkady Kurshin, and another man, have been outside the transporter doing something to the missile’s control units” McGarvey nodded. “Reprogramming its guidance system, no doubt, and probably disarming the fire control officer’s abort function.

  “That’s our best guess. “Have they made any demands, given us any sort of a time limit”

  “No demands so far, other than to leave them alone. They’ve promised that they would make their intentions clear at 2000 hours” McGarvey glanced at his watch. They had a full hour. “But” Kraus said. “And this is the part that has everyone worried. They say they intend raising the missile into launch position. McGarvey sat back in his seat and lit a cigarette. “Kurshin wouldn’t have taken the risk of stealing a missile unless he intended launching it”

  “We’re hoping not, sir” Kraus said. “Collingwood seems to think that they’ll make some demand and when it’s met have us provide them transportation into the east zone”

  “No” McGarvey said, Baranov’s picture rising up in his mind. “He’ll launch the missile and then make his escape”

  “Launch it where, for God’s sake”

  “The sixty-four-dollar question” McGarvey said, shaking his head.

  “What’s the Pershing’s range, a thousand miles or so”

  “This is a Pershing IIA. She has a range of more than two thousand miles”

  “The warhead is armed” Kraus nodded glumly. “You can say that again.

  Five hundred kilotons”

  “But it’s a cruise missile”

  “Not quite, sir. It’s RADAG controlled … Radar Area Guidance. It’s set for a latitude and longitude, and once it gets near its target the radar unit compares the returns it’s getting from the ground with what’s programmed into it”

  “What’s its target”

  “That’s highly classified McGarvey just looked at him. “Kiev”

  “They’ll change it”

  “They’d have to have a systems expert with them. None of ours is missing. It’s the first thing we had Langley check. There aren’t many men around who have that knowledge”

  “Whoever is working with Kurshin does” McGarvey said. “You can bet your life on it”

  ABOARD THE MISSILE TRANSPORTER

  Kurshin looked up as another helicopter came in for a landing a couple of blocks away in what he was assuming was the market square they’d passed through on the way in. It made the third since he and Schey had gotten out of the tractor and climbed up on the trailer with the missile. “How much longer” he asked the East German. Schey looked up from the open hatch in the missile’s side.

  “I was finished ten minutes ago. You asked me to stall for time. “It’s set on the new target”

  “Yes, of course, providing the data you supplied me with is correct”

  “It is” Kurshin said curtly. “What about the abort mechanism”

  “Disconnected”

  “At this point then, once the missile is launched there is no way for their Missile Control facility to recall it or destroy it” The East German shook his head. “Short of sending a fighter interceptor after it and shooting it out of the sky-an almost impossible feat-no. “Very good” Kurshin said, glancing over his shoulder again toward the blockade at the south side of the plaza. “Button it up, let’s begin”

  Schey closed and relocked the small hatch on the missile’s radar guidance system, and then replaced the section of outer skin he’d removed, dogging it down with a dozen flushmounted fasteners. “What about the plastique collar” Kurshin asked. “It will fall harmlessly away within the first few seconds after launch”

  “There will be no effect on the missile’s course”

  “None that the guidance system won’t correct for”

  “Good” Kurshin said, his eyes hard. He jumped down from the trailer bed and one at a time lowered the hydraulic stabilizing jacks at each corner, while Schey was connecting the four launch control umbilical cords. If there was going to be trouble, Kurshin thought, sweating lightly, it would come now. They would be fools not to try to stop what was happening here. But then they had been fools at the base with lack of security. This would never happen in the Rodina, not even now, though if it ever did it would shake up those pricks in the Kremlin even nwre than the German kid had done by flying his little toy airplane into Red Square.

  Ten minutes later, Schey checked all the wires and steadying jacks to make certain everything was in order, then opened a control hatch at the side of the trailer and flipped a switch. The Pershing missile began to slowly rise from the trailer bed.

  HAUFITBAHNHOF SQUARE

  “Oh, Jesus Christ” Colonel Collingwood said as the missile began to elevate from its transport trailer. McGarvey had been looking through binoculars at the two men. The taller of them, dressed in an Air Force uniform, had turned several times, giving him a good look. He had the same bulk and general appearance as Kurshin, but his face was different. From here he looked very much like the photographs McGarvey had been shown of Brad Allworth. He lowered the binoculars.

  “Blow the missile now” he said. Trotter, who had met him when the chopper had set down, stepped back a pace and Colonel Collingwood’s eyes widened. “Is this the hotshot who was supposed to come up with the good ideas” the security chief spat at Trotter. He looked coldly at McGarvey. “Do you know what such an action would mean? Do you know what it would do here”

  “You say the civilians have been pulled out. Clear the rest of your men except for one volunteer sharpshooter who can hit the plastique. And blow it now before it’s too late”

  “It would spread radioactive materials for hundreds of yards”

  Collingwood growled. “There would be a three-block area of no-man’s-land for a long time to come”

  “Yes” McGarvey said, watching the missile rise. “And probably a number of casualties. An increase in the cancer rate over the next twenty or thirty years. The news media would be on your ass. The Pentagon would probably set you out to dry. You’d be a scapegoat”

  “You’re goddamned right.

  “What do you suppose five hundred kilotons is going to do when it explodes on whatever target they’ve programmed it for”
<
br />   “They won’t launch it” Collingwood said, but he wasn’t as sure as he had been a moment earlier. McGarvey looked at him again. “Yes they will, unless we stop them”

  “Is it Kurshin” Trotter asked. “I don’t know for sure” McGarvey admitted. “I think so, but he’s wearing a damned good disguise. Had to if he was able to fool the people at the base”

  “We can’t destroy that missile here, Kirk” Trotter said emphatically.

  Collingwood was closely watching the exchange. McGarvey turned back to him. “If they do launch it, what’s the possibility of shooting it down”

  “About one in a thousand” Again McGarvey stared at the missile which by now was nearly at the vertical. “Well, I’d suggest that you inform your people to at least give it a try in case we fail here and that thing actually gets airborne. That was a logic the colonel could understand.

  “Will do” he said, and he turned to his radioman and began issuing orders. McGarvey raised his binoculars and slowly began to search the entire square foot by foot, from the front of the train station all the way across to the missile transporter. It was Kurshin. He could feel it in his bones. Trotter had reported that the French police had indeed discovered a mutilated body along the railroad tracks fifty miles east of Paris. “Along the same line that Brad Allworth took to get here”

  Trotter had said. That fact clinched it in McGarvey’s mind. But that meant that Kurshin had had some very good intelligence information. He’d known Brad Allworth’s orders, what he looked like, and what train he would be on. He also had the information needed to reprogram the missile. It was not beyond Baranov, coming up with such information. But the risks he had taken to get the data, and then so openly display that fact here like this, meant Baranov had a very large prize in mind. A very large prize indeed. “Get the city engineer here” McGarvey said.

  Kurshin and the other man went around to the side of the transporter, the hatch opened and they climbed inside. “What” Trotter asked. “The city engineer” McGarvey repeated. “I know how Kurshin means to escape.

  ABOARD THE MISSILE TRANSPORTER

  It was coming up on fifteen minutes before eight. Night had fallen, but the transporter was bathed in lights that had been hastily strung up around the perimeter of the square and on some of the rooftops. Shadows were long. Where there wasn’tlight, the darkness by contrast was almost absolute. Schey had pulled the main panel from the fire control board where he had worked with a test instrument and a soldering pencil for the past half hour. He sat back and looked up, an expression of satisfaction on his face. “There” he said. “It is finished” Kurshin swiveled around and looked into the tangle of wires behind the panel. A small electronic device had been wired into the firing circuitry. “Once the fire switch is thrown, the delay circuitry will give us ten minutes to make our escape, no more” Schey said.

  Yegorov had been watching as well. “What if we are delayed” he asked.

  The East German managed another of his pinched smiles. “Then it will be too bad for us, because there is no way of reversing the firing order”

  “Pull out the wires” Schey shook his head. “Any tampering with the circuitry from that point will cause the missile to immediately fire”

  Baranov had insisted that Schey be a part of the team. Kurshin could see why now. Not only did he have the technical expertise to pull it off, but he also had nerves of steel. Nothing seemed to agitate him. But then again he had no love for the Jews. Kurshin glanced at his watch. “Put it back together and change your clothes” he told Schey. He got up and went to the back of the transporter where he pulled out the civilian clothes that Yegorov had brought along. The other Russian joined him, a broad grin on his face. “Fuck your mother, but the bastards will never know what hit them” Kurshin took off the uniform blouse and laid it aside. He handed Yegorov a small minor. “Hold this up” Taking a handful of skin at the back of his neck, Kurshin dug his fingernails in and ripped it apart, tearing it below his shirt collar and opening his scalp all the way up the back of his head. Yegorov let out a small chuckle.

  Pulling the hair and skin apart, Kurshin carefully pulled the latex life mask forward off his cheeks and temples, and then straight up from his chin, the rubber making sucking and tearing sounds as it peeled away from his real flesh. He’d worn the mask for twenty-four hours now and the suddenly cool air on his face felt wonderful. Big patches of glue and latex were stuck on his face. He cleaned these off with a towel dipped in alcohol. When he was finished, he took out the contact lenses that made his eyes blue, revealing his own pale green eyes. Yegorov lowered the mirror, They looked into each other’s eyes. “it has been a pleasure working with you, Comrade” Yegorov said so softly that Schey could not hear him. “What about him”

  Kurshin’s cold eyes flicked to the East German who was just finishing with the panel. “Leave him to me”

  “He is excess baggage now. Dangerous to us” Kurshin nodded. “Yes”

  Something in Kurshin’s eyes, however, made Yegorov back down. “As you say” he mumbled respectfully, and they finished changing into their civilian business suits in silence. Schey worked his way back and hurriedly changed his clothes as Kurshin went forward and sat down in the righthand bucket seat. He turned on the radio, but waited until the other two were ready. They looked at each other in silence, and then Kurshin picked up the microphone. “Colonel Collingwood, this is Flybaby Six-P-Two. Do you copy”

  “That’s affirmative” Collingwood’s voice came back. “Our demands are simple, but you have only sixty minutes from this moment to comply with them or we will fire the missile. Do you understand this”

  “We understand”

  “First, we will require one of your Cobra gunship helicopters to land here on the square within twenty meters of this transporter. Only the pilot and copilot must be aboard. No other crew”

  “Go on” Collingwood radioed, and they could hear the tightness in his voice. “Secondly, we will require one million US. dollars in gold bullion. This can be arranged within the hour through the Credit Suisse Bank here in Kaiserslautern. The gold is to be loaded aboard the gunship”

  “Do you realize how much that will weigh … “

  “Yes” Kurshin said. “At the current rate of four hundred thirty-eight dollars per ounce, that comes out to a little less than one hundred forty-three pounds. I believe that will present no burden on your helicopter”

  “I will see what I can do” Collingwood radioed. “But one hour may not be enough time”

  “I sincerely hope it is, Colonel, for your sake. Believe me” Kurshin said. There was a longish silence on the radio. “What else” Collingwood finally radioed. ““That is all” Kurshin replied. “At exactly 2100 hours, I and my crew shall step out of the transporter, cross to the helicopter, and the crew will fly us across the East German border. Your crew, should they not misbehave, will be allowed to return unhamied to the West. The helicopter will remain behind”

  “No, you listen to me, you bastard” Collingwood shouted, finally losing control. “No, Colonel, you listen to me very carefully” Kurshin responded calmly. “You have two further items to consider before you make your decision. The first is the plastique that we have placed around the body of the missile. It has been rewired to be exploded not only by our triggering mechanism, but also by a signal transmitted over a common military frequency. A frequency that the Cobra helicopter you are sending us is capable of transmitting on. From a long distance. If anything untoward should happen we will not hesitate to send such a signal” When Collingwood came back on the radio he was subdued. “You mentioned two items”

  “It would be most unfortunate if we were to find that any of the helicopter’s electronic equipment … its radio equipment … had been tampered with”

  “The second item, you sonofabitch. “Yes. The second is that the missile firing control has also been rewired to a similar set of signals. We will be able to fire it from a long ways out. And, once we have lef
t the IT vicinity, should you decide to make an attempt at disarming either the plastique or the missile firing mechanisms, you will be in for a nasty surprise. Very nasty”

  “Then you have made a very large mistake. That missile is targeted on a Soviet city”

  “That is no longer so” Kurshin said. “We have reprogrammed its target to a city in Libya. Tripoli. Downtown”

  “You’re insane” Collingwood said softly.

  HAUPTBAHNHOF SQUARE

  “He’s lying” McGarvey said. He’d been huddled with an extremely nervous Klaus Kistner, the chief sanitation engineer for the city of Kaiserslauterm. The man had been located, hauled away from his dinner, and brought unceremoniously to the square. When Kurshin came on the air, McGarvey had broken away. “It makes sense to me”

  Collingwood said. “There is no reason to disbelieve him” Trotter shook his head. “This time I’m going to have to go along with Kirk”

  “There’s not a whole hell of a lot we can do about it, no matter what”

  Collingwood shouted in exasperation. “The bastard is calling the shots.

  So we go along with him for now”

  “He’s given you an hour. Long before that time is up, that missile will be fired” McGarvey said. I I At Tripoli … an American nuclear missile. Christ, we’d be done in the Middle East for the next hundred years”