'Big talk. Big talk,' Joel responded. 'I suppose you think the resistance will accomplish that with their puny disruptions to the Russian supply lines. And just how do you propose we deal with the Arabs when and if the Russians leave?'
Scott studied his soup. 'If only we had used our nukes on the Russians instead of just waving them around as a threat to the Libyans.'
'You're a fool, Rosen! By the time we knew we were being invaded, the Russians were all over the place. The only way we could have nuked them was to launch on our own soil,' Joel said, growing even more angry.
Scott Rosen did not allow his friend's anger to distract him. He had a mission to accomplish and all was working exactly according to plan. 'Yeah, I guess that's true.' Scott's voice seemed resigned to the hopelessness of the situation, but he continued. 'Too bad we can't get control of the nukes now. With the Russians all concentrated in the hills, we could wipe out ninety percent of them with just a few well-placed missiles and the resistance could take out the other ten percent in the cities.'
'You really are a fool,' Joel said. 'What about Moscow? You think they're just gonna sit back and let that happen without responding? What's to stop them from striking back against our cities?'
This was the question that Scott had been waiting for. Suddenly his mood grew much more serious. The gravity of what he was about to say was clear even to Joel. 'Our strategic defense,' he whispered finally.
Joel stared coldly at Scott, studying his expression. Twice his mouth was poised as if he were about to speak; he was going to accuse Rosen again of being a fool, but he held back. It appeared that Rosen was serious and when it came to strategic defense, Scott Rosen deserved to be heard. Next to his late father, Joshua Rosen, Scott knew more about Israeli strategic defense than anyone. Finally Joel responded, 'You're talking impossibilities. Even if a plan like that could work, there's no way in the world our puny, disorganized resistance could get control of the Strategic Defense Control Facility.'
'We don't need to go anywhere near the Control Facility,' Scott said, confidently.
Suddenly Joel became aware of his surroundings. When he had thought that he and Rosen were just griping he didn't care who heard them. There was nothing unusual about two Israeli men complaining about the Russians. Everyone in Israel was complaining. Indeed, it might have been considered unusual for them to be talking about anything else. But now they had crossed the line: they were no longer just complaining. The wrong person listening to their conversation might easily have mistaken this for a conspiracy. He looked around quickly to make sure no one had overheard them.
Scott didn't interrupt him to mention that he had nothing to worry about; each of the seven people in the cafe had been handpicked for the occasion.
'You mean a remote?' Joel asked finally, under his breath. Scott signaled with his eyes in the affirmative. Joel had heard talk about a remote, an off-site test facility for the Strategic Defense Control Facility (SDCF), but he had written it off as speculation by people who didn't know any better. If there was an Off-Site Test Facility (OSTF) it would have been evident in the communications configuration needed for such an operation. True, the communications links could have been intentionally mislabeled to conceal its existence, but Joel had worked at the SDCF for over five years and had run numerous configuration scenarios on the facility's computers. If there was an Off-Site Test Facility, it would have turned up in the simulations.
Joel was intimately familiar with the concept of an OSTF. Early in his career, before leaving the U.S., he had been a low-level software analyst for Ford Aerospace, assigned to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). He remembered those long walks down the cold tunnels in Cheyenne Mountain to test software upgrades. He had been there in the mountain back in 1979 when for 15 terrifying minutes it appeared that the Soviet Union had launched a full scale nuclear attack on the United States. American Strategic Air Command (SAC) bombers were launched and nuclear missiles were put on alert, awaiting the President's order. As it turned out, the alert was caused by a test scenario inadvertently being fed into the on-line NORAD computer network. As a result of that false alarm the U.S. Congress immediately authorized the construction of the NORAD Off-Site Test Facility in downtown Colorado Springs.
Prior to the establishment of the Colorado Springs OSTF, the standard operating procedure for testing software upgrades had involved taking NORAD's backup systems for the critical missile warning computers off-line while the tests were run. It was risky business, at best. What if there had been a failure in the primary system? In the fifteen minutes it would take to get the backup system out of test mode and back on-line, it could be all over. The OSTF was definitely the way to go. Besides, as far as Joel was concerned, downtown Colorado Springs was a much easier commute than Cheyenne Mountain in the middle of the night. The OSTF included a complete duplicate of all the systems at Cheyenne Mountain. All testing of new software was performed there. Only after the software passed testing were the cryptographically check-summed object modules electronically downloaded to the operational center at NORAD. And there was one other benefit to the OSTF: in the event of a total failure of the NORAD systems, the OSTF could take over the actual operation. Computers, communications, and cryptographic equipment were all in place. All that was needed was loading of the proper cryptographic key material into the cryptos.
When Joel went to work at the Israeli Strategic Defense Control Facility, he tried for two years to convince his superiors of the need to develop the same type of system for Israel, but to no avail. At one point he considered resigning to protest their refusal to even talk about it, but his wife convinced him to be patient and wait until those in charge were more sympathetic to the idea. Actually, that was one of the most irritating parts: the head of the Israeli SDCF was Dr. Arnold Brown, one of the men who had played a crucial role in developing the OSTF concept for NORAD. It never made any sense to Joel that Brown would refuse to consider providing the same capabilities for Israel.
Joel's initial response to Scott Rosen's suggestion that the Strategic Defense Control Facility had an OSTF was that Scott was simply believing more rumors like the one about the hijacked supply truck. Still, there were some things to which Scott, with his compartmentalized clearances, might have had access that Joel could have been totally unaware of. And the look on Scott's face said he was serious.
'Scott,' Joel said as he leaned across the table, 'is this a game? Are you putting me on?' Scott's eyes answered the question. 'But, Scott, I worked at SDCF for over five years. I ran configuration scenarios on the facility's computers a thousand times. If there was an Off-Site Test Facility why didn't it turn up in the simulations?'
'It was there. Its functions were masked to hide its true purpose, but it was there.'
Joel's eyes asked, 'Where?'
'SF-14,' Scott answered.
There was no way of knowing whether Scott was telling the truth. Sensor Facility 14, as far as Joel had known, was a non-operational and entirely redundant infrared tracking station for terminal-phase acquisition and discrimination of ballistic reentry vehicles. Perhaps by coincidence – and then again, perhaps not – SF-14 was one of only two remote facilities that Joel had never actually visited. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember ever seeing anyone's name on the duty roster for a site check of SF-14. This would certainly explain Dr. Brown's lack of interest in considering an Off-Site Test Facility. After all, why talk about building something that was already folly operational?
If Scott Rosen knew what he was talking about then Joel wanted to know, but if this was just more wishful thinking then he wanted to be done with it, and the sooner the better. 'Okay,' he said, abruptly, 'take me there.' To Joel's surprise Scott didn't come back with some flimsy excuse but instead got to his feet and started to leave the cafe with Joel in tow. 'What about the check?' Joel asked Scott.
'It's on the house,' answered the cafe owner.
Scott drove straight into the eastern business section of Tel Aviv and parked in the basement parking lot of a tall but otherwise nondescript office building that appeared to have only minor damage from the recent war. Joel followed as Scott walked toward the elevators and then paused to look up at a security camera near the ceiling. In a moment a red light on the camera blinked and Scott pushed the call button for the elevator. As the elevator door closed behind them, Scott flipped the emergency 'stop' switch, and, on the numbered buttons of the elevator, punched in a seven digit code. Despite already being in the basement, the elevator lurched downward, taking them, Joel guessed, several floors farther beneath the building.
The elevator door opened to a small room about twelve feet square where two armed guards waited. Badges were out of the question under the circumstances, so they were operating strictly on a recognition basis. Joel would soon learn this was not that difficult a task: very few people were involved in this operation. As Scott
