The Russian Woman

Chapter 50

At a little over 15,000 pounds, the Father of All Bombs was a heavy load, a suitable match for the enormous bomber assigned to carry it to Syria. The TU-95MSM was the latest version of the venerable TU-95 long-range bomber. Like the American B-52, it had been in continuous service since the 1950s. Unlike its American counterpart, it was propeller driven. Four turboprop Kusnetzov engines with counter rotating propellers powered the huge plane through the air.

Half a football field long, lifted by distinctive swept back wings, it was an impressive machine. No one seeing the plane could doubt its purpose of sowing death and destruction. Few aircraft had the deadly look of the Russian TU-95.

Two hours after taking off from Ukraina Air Base, the plane was over target. The bomb bay doors opened. The Father of All Bombs dropped away toward the doomed Kurds below.

Captain Alexei Yegorov opened the throttles and banked hard to starboard. The roar of the turboprops was deafening inside the cabin. In the copilot’s seat next to him, Lieutenant Yevgeny Kozlov watched the Syrian desert pass below.

"I wouldn't want to be down there about now," he said into his headset.

"Kurdish barbecue," Alexei said.

A brilliant, orange glare filled the sky behind them. An instant later, the plane bucked and shuddered as the shockwave hit.

Alexei set course back to Ukraina Airbase in eastern Russia.

"About time we did something besides training runs and harassing the Americans," he said.

"Pissing off Americans is fun."

"It would not be so much fun if it was for real, Yevgeny. You've seen how quickly their fighters respond. The American pilots know what they're doing. We make big target."

"Our countermeasures would take care of them."

"You are optimist, Yevgeny. But today we don't worry about Americans."

"We will get a medal for this. Irina will be proud of me."

"Irina is leading you around by your dick. You should get that woman out of your head."

"I enjoy being led around. She is unbelievable in bed."

Suddenly the cockpit filled with the harsh sound of the missile alarm.

"Shit! Where did that come from? Release countermeasures!"

Yevgeny flipped a switch on the console. Clouds of metal chaff and powered decoys dropped out behind them.

"They've got a lock!" Yevgeny said.

The roar of the straining engines almost drowned out the screaming alarm as Alexei put the plane into a steep bank.

"Still locked on," Yevgeny said. "Alexei..."

The missile struck behind the left wing. The wing folded up and ripped away. The bomber plummeted toward the earth in a death spiral that ended in a burst of orange flame and roiling black smoke. The explosion when it hit was a small thing, compared to the devastation it had left behind.

The world was one step closer to war.