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"Something frightening," said Peter, "must have upgraded the...."
"You haven't heard about our second stealth bomber test flight, have you?" Ralph came back. "Last Friday, we had a group of three bombers cross your country...."
"You did what?"
"Didn't they tell you?"
"No Ralph, they didn't! I've been out of touch for the last two days, because of Natalia's wedding. What again, did you say, your Air Force had done?"
"They took three BXS17s to Norway, from Turkey, right across Moscow, and totally undetected, as before. They did it twice, undetected. It was a great success!"
"Success!!! How the hell did you think the Bureau would respond to that? It all becomes totally clear now. With that hanging over their heads, they couldn't possibly keep the missile's status in a reset state. With stealth aircraft entering the equation, there wouldn't have been time for any post launch targeting. You forced them to go back to the old way. They might have even gone one further and switched to automatic launch on warning, which has never been tested, for obvious reasons...."
"Actually I don't give a shit about your computers and targeting modes," Ralph interrupted him. "All I care about right now are four million people in the target zones that you're about to incinerate. Can't you stop that damn missile of yours? Stop it! You hear?"
"No one can stop it now! I have worked for six years to prevent a situation like this," Sergei cried. "No one can stop a missile in flight. We've got nothing to do it with. There might have been a chance if we had our long-range stations on line."
"Who gives a damn as to what might have been! You'd better think of something that works now, and quickly," demanded Ralph. "Alaska says your missile is still coming. Washington has ordered a reprisal if we see no evidence that you are trying to stop your bird. Can't your people do anything to get this damn missile down?"
"There is nothing that can be done at this stage," replied Peter.
Sergei had put the receiver down. His hand covering his face, he sat motionless in his chair.
"I see a broadcast message," Peter told NORAD, "that twelve squadrons of fighter aircraft are on their way to intercept, with anti-satellite gear. But, I doubt they'll have a chance."
Ralph agreed.
"If only our long range telemetry links were operational," said Peter, "it would be easy to self-destruct the missile, but they aren't built, because your government had withdrawn the promised export license from IBM for the data communications equipment we had intended to buy. You can verify this with IBM, at AFE headquarters in New York. So, it is partly your own fault, isn't it?"
"Alaska has verified the squadrons," Ralph replied in a less violent manner, "but your aircraft are out of range. They scrambled them too late!!! Damn, can't you guys do anything right? At first you let your missiles run away, then you get your fighters away too late, and now you have the gall to blame us that you can't stop your own damn missile over your own damn stinking country!!!"
"Shouldn't you better get ready to intercept the warheads at the reentry points?" Sergei interrupted his shouting. "I'll send you the entry data."
"We've already got that," Ralph shouted back. "But how the hell do you expect them to hit anything? Those guys have no hope. They won't even see the damn warheads. It's like shooting at a cannon shell closing in at fifteen thousand miles an hour. And even if they could see it, they wouldn't be able to react fast enough to take aim, and even if they could react that fast, their damn airplanes wouldn't respond that quickly. If we have had LaRouche's Star War system built, we might have had a chance, but your people wouldn't cooperate. LaRouche practically begged you, but you gave him the finger and had him put in jail to shut him up."
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