Red Storm Rising

by Tom Clancy

McCafferty had announced his sealed orders to the crew two hours after diving: conduct two weeks of intensive tracking and torpedo drills, then proceed to the Barents Sea for further intelligence gathering.

7

Initial Observations

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

“You’re saying that their military formations operate under the principle of organized anarchy,” observed the commander of Strike Fleet Atlantic. “Their Navy sure as hell doesn’t.” “That is true, sir. As we know, their seamen are in for three years instead of two, and their situation, while similar, has many differences from that of the Soviet Army. And it would seem that this situation is ending in the Soviet Army as well, that sub-unit discipline is being quickly and vigorously reestablished.”

This article is a signal to every officer, NCO, and private soldier in the Soviet military: the times, they are a changin’.

“So what we are seeing in the Soviet Navy is an extensive stand-down accompanied by increasing tempos in the actual exercises that are being run. Matched with what we’re seeing in the Soviet Army and Air Force, it appears that their military readiness is being increased across the board. At the same time that they are proposing reductions in strategic nuclear weapons, their conventional forces are rapidly improving their ability to engage in combat operations. We in Intentions regard this combination of factors as potentially dangerous.”

“You just have a nasty suspicion,” CINCLANT said. “Fine, Toland, that’s what we pay you for. Good brief.”

Shit, I don’t care about that, Chuck, I want to be wrong!

KIEV, THE UKRAINE

USS CHICAGO

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

“They know what our satellites are for, right? They know what their orbital paths are, and they know when they will be at any given point in space. If they really want to fake us out, how hard is it? If your mission was to fake out satellites, and you knew when they came, you think you might play games with the other guy’s head? We depend too much on these things. They’re useful as hell, sure, but they have their limitations. It’d be nice to get some human intelligence on this.”

POLYARNYY, R.S.F.S.R.

By the fourth, the correspondent was going over a map of the naval base and using his trained memory to indicate just what activity he’d seen where. An hour later, the data was encrypted and cabled to London.

8

Further Obser...

GRASSAU, GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

“Have you ever gotten lost in a foreign country, Monsieur?” “Yes, who hasn’t?” “But they found their mistake quickly, no?” The major waved to his driver to pull off. And all by themselves this time, he thought. Intéressant . .

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

“It’s normal, all right. Ever think about how much fun it is to face a hundred tanks? You did notice that they all carry five-inch guns? Then think about the artillery support they get. Then think about the aircraft. The Russians are real believers in this combined-arms stuff. When they come at you, they come with the whole inventory. They have this set-piece stuff down cold.” “How do we counter it?” “You take the initiative. You let the other guy get all set to fight his battle his way, son, you might as well bag it.” “Same story at sea.” “Yeah.”

KIEV, THE UKRAINE

“I would never have believed it. The improvement in our officer corps is extraordinary. The deadwood is being disposed of, and those men whom we’ve moved up to new posts are eager and capable.” “So, shooting those four colonels has worked?” CINC-Southwest noted sardonically.

This is not Afghanistan. Our mission is to conquer, not to pacify. This we can do. I estimate two weeks.

9

A Final Look

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

Toland stood and stretched. He had a four-hour drive ahead of him. “Colonel, it has been a pleasure for this squid to work with you.” “It hasn’t been half bad for this jarhead. Hey, when I get the family set up down in Lejeune, why don’t you come on down sometime? There’s some great fishing down there.”

Toland smiled to himself, thinking just like the people you’re supposed to study . . . defend our fair native land . . . za nashu zyemlyu chestnuyu!

What would this lady think, an American naval officer singing in Russian?

MOSCOW, R.S.F.S.R.

The bombs would explode in exactly eight hours.

After leaving the Kremlin, the truck turned north on Marksa Prospekt and followed it all the way to the KGB headquarters building at 2 Dzerzhinskiy Square.

CROFTON, MARYLAND

It sounded awfully good. What followed was even better.

10

Remember, R...

CROFTON, MARYLAND

Two in the fuckin’ morning! he thought, sure that the ringing was caused by a prank or a wrong number.

“This is the CINCLANT intel watch officer,” the disembodied voice said. “You are ordered to return to your duty station at once. Please acknowledge the order, Commander.”

“Dionna, what we seem to have here is the first major terrorist incident in the history of the Soviet Union—” “Since the bastards set themselves up,” Toland snorted. “We know for certain—at least we’ve been told—that a bomb was detonated in the Council of Ministers building. They’re certain it was a bomb, not some kind of accident. And we know for sure that three, possibly more people were killed, and perhaps as many as forty or fifty wounded. “Now the really interesting thing about this is that the Politburo had been scheduled to hold a meeting here at about that time.”

A bomb had been set off—probably a bomb in the Kremlin. Toland reminded himself that reporters hard up against deadlines, or TV types trying to score an instant scoop, often did not have the time to check things out.

What if they really do think? Toland wondered. No, he decided, they had to know that no one was that crazy. Didn’t they?

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

“You’ll love it.” Lowe held up a telex sheet. “We pirated this off the Reuters wire half an hour ago, and CIA confirms—meaning they probably stole it, too—that the KGB has arrested one Gerhardt Falken, a West German national, and accused him of setting off a bomb in the fuckin’ Kremlin!”

“He missed the big shots, but now they’re saying that among the victims are six Young Octobrists—from Pskov, by God!—who were making a presentation to the Politburo. Kids. There’s going to be hell to pay.”

“A West German,” Lowe corrected. “NATO intel services are already going ape trying to run him down.

This morning, we have six dead Russian kids, from Pskov! and a German is supposed to have planted the bomb.

“You think we could sell this combination of factors to the papers or anybody in Washington? It’s too crazy, too coincidental—what if it is subtle, but backwards subtle? Besides, the object of the exercise wouldn’t be to convince us, it would be to convince their own citizens. You could say it works both ways. That make sense, Chuck?”

“Enough to check out. Let’s do some sniffing around. First thing, I want you to call CNN in Atlanta and find out how long this Suddler guy’s been trying to tape his story about the Kremlin. How much lead time did he have, when was this approved, who he worked through to get it, and if someone other than his regular press contact finally did approve it.”