Silver Tower

CHAPTER 15

"It… is… impossible…

Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Czilikov read the dispatch slowly, his gnarled fingers digging deeply into the paper. He dismissed the messenger with a wave of his hand. First Deputy Minister Khromeyev stepped toward the minister of defense's desk, and Czilikov handed the message to him. "A communication between space station Armstrong and the commander in chief of Pacific Forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii," Khromeyev muttered, reading the message, "discussing the transmission of real-time, space-based radar data to ships of the Seventh Fleet detachment in the Arabian Sea.

"Govorov… the space station Armstrong… is it possible?" Czilikov asked. "That station is sixteen hundred kilometers in space, traveling twenty-eight thousand kilometers an hour. Is it really possible that it can report on the position of all combat vehicles in that region?"

"This message says nothing of the sort. We've had satellites that can transmit real-time imagery for a decade. The technology is rather commonplace. Watching a few ships in the Persian Gulf from space is child's play and has been for years."

"But the attack was detected so quickly."

"Three hours? Sir, in these days a child in a sailboat on the Persian Gulf can report an attack to the world in three hours. I still have not seen any evidence of the Americans' vaunted high-technology space-tracking system."

Czilikov nodded slowly. "Very well. I will go along with your assessment. Feather will continue as planned. Were there any serious casualties aboard the Sovremnnyy?"

"No casualties, sir. An unexpectedly high number of injuries but none serious. The Sovremnnyy was hit by three missiles and suffered extreme damage, much more than planned. In addition, the patrol vessel Buchara was hit by a fourth Silkworm missile. Several injuries, heavy damage but she's still under her own power. However, sir, there are unexpected bonuses. As unfortunate as the injuries are, it should serve to fuel outrage and help win support for the operation. This is no longer an 'unfortunate incident' — it is a major act of aggression. There also can be no charge of a contrived attack…"

"No, but I wish it weren't through our own ineptness that it was so." Czilikov paused, thinking. "Strategically, we're in good shape. The Brezhnev is still in grave danger from land-based attack, but Chercherovin assures me the carrier and her escorts in the gulf can take control of the skies until Bandar-Abbas, Tehran, Tabriz, and Hamadan airfields in Iran are taken by Rhomerdunov and Ilanovsky. Once the air force and army control those four fields, they will be able to sufficiently seal off the skies for Chercherovin to move more ships into the gulf."

"And the American, French and British ships in the gulf? What of them?"

"They are already overwhelmed. We outnumber them two to one. Once the Brezhnev controls the skies over the region, the Western ships in the gulf will be impotent."

Khromeyev nodded. "Stationing the Brezhnev in the gulf was a master stroke, the tactical advantage we now have there far outweighs the dangers we faced moving it past the Strait of Hormuz. Who would have thought the Americans would allow us such free access into the gulf? At the very least, I expected them to match our forces — even that was never fully accomplished. "

"And that will be the Americans' greatest mistake," Czilikov said. "They wanted to play power politics in the Persian Gulf without supporting their policies. Soon they will pay the price.