Brent said nothing.
'I'm sorry, Marshall,' the President asked. 'I know you tried. I'm thankful to you for your efforts. But it doesn't seem to have worked.
'No, but-' 'We gave them exactly what they needed-more time. They rejected it. Its implication is clear. They'll feel emboldened to do more The President turned to Curtis.
'general, I want a detailed briefing on Ice Fortress this aftermoon.
'Yes, sir.
'It makes no sense to launch Ice Fortress, ' Brent continued to argue.
The members of the President's Cabinet shifted uncomfortably.
'We've heard all your arguments, Marshall 'The Ice Fortress would be just as vulnerable as the Alpha Omega satellite, wouldn't it, General Curtis?Why launch a seven hundred million dollar target for the Soviets to beat on?'
'Marshall,' Ken Mitchell said, 'in the case of Omega and the Javelin, both vehicles were destroyed by us, not by the laser. 'The President looked surprised. 'What?'
'Remember, sir, I briefed you on this shortly after the attack on the Midgetman. 'Mitchell had the look of an impatient schoolmaster. 'The Omega was blinded and damaged, but not destroyed-we lost it when we tried to steer it through the atmosphere in an attempt to recover it intact. The Javelin apparently had sustained enough damage to prematurely ignite the third stage booster, but we don't know exactly how much damage was done-it was automatically destroyed when it flew off course.
Brent slapped the table with his hand. 'That doesn't answer my-' 'In no case,' Curtis cut him off, 'was either vehicle shielded against a laser attack. A space station the size of Ice Fortress, assembled in space, can be armored to withstand as much direct energy as that nuclear power plant can put out. A beam of laser light, no matter how powerful, is still a beam of light-it can be reflected. I can have the researchers at Wright Patterson present a more detailed analysis, sir, but Ice Fortress can be protected.'
'We're betting a lot of money on your analysis, General,' Brent said, shaking his head.
'You're worried about the money, Mr. Brent-?'
'No, dammit,' Brent said, exploding. 'Mr. President, it's not only the risk of losing the hardware, sir-Ice Fortress represents the worst fears about the militarization of space.
Can we stand the pressure of world opinion if we launch that thing?'
'I'm more concerned about losing the ability to maintain deterrence,' Curtis said. Perhaps you don't understand we have lost a good percentage of our strategic nuclear deterrent power. Right now, right this minute, Mr. Brent, we can't detect a missile launch from eastern Asia. There are twelve submarines docked at Petropavlovsk, each with an average of fifteen sea-launched ballistic missiles. Each of those carry three warheads, maybe more. Mr. Brent, we can't tell if the Russians launch those missiles until they are ten minutes from impact.
That's not speculative-that's fact. And the Soviets have demonstrated a capability of destroying our missiles in the boost phase. So, if they did launch those missiles, and we retaliated, a good percentage of our missiles wouldn't reach their targets.
Curtis had everyone's attention.
'It may be everyone's image of Armageddon,' Curtis concluded, 'but we need Ice Fortress. The risk of losing it is far outweighed by our need for a bargaining chip.'
Brent offered no further argument.
'Marshall, draft a statement of protest to the Kremlin for my signature,' the President asked. 'Get with Karrnarov at the U.N. and ask him what the hell is going on. I want the Soviets to know they've committed an act of war and that we intend to respond.
'I'd advise against using such language, sir,' Brent said.
The President glanced around the Situation Room chamber at the shaking heads. He too shook his head.
'An act of war, Marshall. That's what it is.that's what I said.
THE UNITED NATIONS, SEVERAL WEEKS LATER
'It is an act of war!'
Marshall Brent sat back in his seat, turning down the volume of Dmitri Karmarov's tirade on the floor of the United Nations Security Council.
Beside him, Gregory Adams took careful notes, penciling in occasional comments.
Karmarov held aloft five books in his hands and waved them in the air for the rest of the Security Council to see. 'Five treaties, fellow delegates. The United States has wantonly violated five important treaties with the Soviet Union and with this body. They have wrecked years of vital negotiations that have sought to bring a lasting peace to the world. 'He threw the books into the aisle in front of him, and the delegate from Rumania quickly reached back to pick them up.
'They are useless. Wasted. Dust. 'Karmarov waved away the five volumes, pointed a finger at the American delegation.
'The militarization of space is not merely a threat to the Soviet Union, fellow representatives. It is a threat to us all. The United States will now continue to build vast machines of destruction orbiting over our heads, over our homes, over our seats of government. This Ice Fortress of theirs may now be orbiting over the North Pole, as the Americans claim, but it has the capability to be instantly steered and repositioned anywhere over the Earth. Anywhere. Don't be fooled by comforting assurances. No one is safe.
'They say it has no nuclear weapons on board-they even offer to have observers come aboard and examine it, as if it took only a short boat ride to get to it. But don't be fooled.
They also say their carriers and warships that dock in Japanese ports carry no nuclear weapons, and they are technically correct-until all the critical components are assembled and the weapon is prearmed, no nuclear weapons exist. It is a sham.'
Karmarov turned toward the American delegation. 'I don't care,' he said, 'what possible reasons the United States could have for launching their Ice Fortress. Doubtless, they will blame it on the Soviet Union, as they have blamed so many incidents on us in the past. Doubtless, they will invent another tale of disaster. But there exists no possible reason on this earth for the United States to violate five international agreements and jeopardize the peace and well-being of not only the Soviet Union but of the rest of the world by launching this doomsday device.
'I call upon the United States to immediately deactivate their illegal Ice Fortress. Because it appears they cannot be trusted to abide by any agreements between nations, I call upon an independent United Nations team of observers to examine all future Space Shuttle launches to guarantee that they are carrying no weapons of any kind to be used aboard their space platform. I further demand that no corrections be made to the existing platform's orbit so that it may be allowed to reenter the atmosphere and be destroyed. 'When Gregory Adams straightened to address the Council, Marshall Brent held his arm.
Keeping his hands folded before him on the long, curved table, he glanced around at the assembled delegates and began: 'There comes a time,' Brent said, 'when international agreements lose meaning. There was a time when the government of the United States felt secure negotiating a lasting peace and true disarmament. Our respective governments hoped against hope that our talks would eventually lead to the elimination of all nuclear weapons from the face of the earth by the year two thousand. I assure you, our government is still willing to continue those negotiations… even though we have evidence that the Soviet Union has wantonly attacked American space vehicles, including a satellite, a missile testfiring, and a reconnaissance aircraft with the resultant loss of twelve innocent lives and a billion dollars worth of valuable equipment. We regretfully conclude that the Soviet Union will continue on its reckless course. The evidence is overwhelming, incontrovertible. No treaty of agreement, past, present or future, can oblige us to give up our ability to defend ourselves.
'Our original charges and the evidence we presented to support those charges stand. Absent the desired approval of this body, we must use our own resources to protect ourselves.
'The antiballistic missile space platform will remain until it is demonstrated to our satisfaction that.the Soviet Union will tellites and cease all attacks against our reconnaissance sa aircraft. We ask again that the Soviet Union
