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Alexei turned around and looked back. He suspected there was a man behind them approaching at a fast pace. He could hear the footsteps on the gravel pathway! Had he overheard their conversation? Alexei nudged Boris. Boris just shook his head, but then nodded slightly. He pushed his coat sleeve back, exposing his watch and pointed to it. He suggested to Alexei that they should run.
Alexei nodded, and both started to jog. The two men stopped at the far end of the plaza in front of the main entrance, just briefly, long enough to look back. The man hadn't followed them. After hesitating for just a moment, Alexei whispered to Boris and laughed. "Far greater risks then these are being taken right now, today, and tomorrow again, by all of us together. You may not have heard about the new American super stealth bombers that are considered totally undetectable by radar. And I mean, not a trace! So how do you defend yourself against that? You can't. There is only one defense possible, and that is to inspire mankind by whatever means required, to stop playing with nuclear weapons. There are no physical defense measures possible against stealth bombers and stealth missiles."
Boris hushed him. "Alex, you're not supposed to know about these things!"
Alexei grinned; "Ah, but one never stops learning?"
Boris and Alexei started to jog again. Soon, the crowds slowed them.
Alexei was out of breath by then and tried to whisper, but had little success at it. "Can you imagine what this means for national security?" he said to Boris, still trying to catch his breath. "Imagine, the Americans are now able to invade our airspace undetected, anytime they please, from their strategic bases as close as three hundred miles away from Moscow. They've already done it three weeks ago during a test flight from Turkey to Norway, and they can do it again. They took a whole squadron right across our country, right over Moscow, totally undetected. Can you think of a more shocking demonstration that they now possess the capability to destroy our entire country before we know they have come?"
Alexei, finally, was beginning to whisper. He whispered into Boris' ear; "I'm certain Zalygin is hoping for something equally dramatic to head off the uncontrollable. Rumors have it that the Bureau is thinking the same way. Of course, their hands are bound. They can't do anything."
Alexei scanned the big departure hall for a quiet spot in the direction they had to go. He motioned Boris to follow him. "Zalygin confided in me that at least three top level people at the Bureau are at odds with the policies of our military strategists. The are frightened, Boris! And if they are frightened, we should be frightened, too. In military circles, there is talk about launching a coordinated nuclear-assisted strike against the entire West European complex in order to take the wind out of NATO. Our nuclear forces are strong enough to take Western Europe. It wouldn't take three days, if the world would last three days. Rumors have it, that in order to keep the Americans at bay during the operation, our strategists are calling for a synchronized nuclear barrage against the US mainland that will obliterate 98% of the population in a single blow. The term they use, is saturation coverage - fireball upon fireball, a sea of fire from which no one can escape. Unlike the US, which is of no use to them, our strategists want to keep Europe intact. They need it for a springboard into Africa. Rumors have it; they will go soft on Western Europe with precise surgical strikes, such as with RF weapons that will only stun. Preparations for such a thing may even be under way right now. Things are coming to a head, Boris, at least that's what I heard in Moscow!"
"If this ever happens I won't want to survive," answered Boris and urged Alexei to get going. Their flight had already been called.
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