'That's correct,' Renee said.
'So why? Why is a team led by a colonel from the U.S. Army's Special Projects Division trying to beat a team of U.S. Navy people to an idol that is the key to a weapon that the Navy owns?'
Renee said, 'The answer to that question is a little more complex than it would at first appear, Professor Race.'
'Try me.”
'All right,' Renee said, taking a deep breath. 'For the last six years, German intelligence has been looking on silently as the three branches of the United States armed forces—the Army, the Navy and the Air Force -have engaged in a very bitter but very secret power struggle.
'What they fight for is survival. They fight to be the pre eminent armed service in the United States, so that when the U.S. Congress finally removes one of them—as it intends to do in the year 2010—it will not be their branch that takes the bullet. They fight to make themselves indis pensable.'
'Congress intends to remove one of the armed services by 2010?' Race said.
'By a secret Department of Defense minute dated 6 Sep tember 1993 and signed by both the Secretary of Defense and the President himself, the Department of Defense rec ommended to the President that by the year 2010, one branch of the United States military be made redundant.'
'Okay…' Race said, doubtfully. 'And how is it that you know all this?'
Renee offered him a crooked smile. 'Come on, Professor.
The U.S. Navy isn't the only navy in the world which secretly taps into other countries' undersea communications cables.'
'Oh,' Race said.
'The basis of the Department's decision was that war has changed. The old land-sea-air division of a country's armed forces no longer applies to the modem world. It's an anachronism from two world wars and a thousand years of hand-to-hand combat. The decision then becomes which ser vice goes?
'Ever since that time,' Renee went on, 'each branch of the armed services has attempted to prove its worth, at the expense of the other two.'
'For example?' Race said sceptically.
'For example, the Air Force claims it has the Stealth Bomber and a unique expertise in air superiority fighting.
But the Navy counters by saying that it has Carrier Battle Groups. On top of that, it claims that not only are its regular fighters and bombers as stealthy as the B-3 anyway, but also that they have the added advantage of a transportable land ing strip. With a dozen Carrier Battle Groups, the Navy says, who needs an Air Force?
'The Army, on the other hand, claims it has specialised ground troops and mechanised infantry forces. But both the Navy and the Air Force counter this by saying that modem warfare takes place in the skies and on the world's oceans, not on land. They say to look at the Gulf War and the Kosovo conflict—battles that were fought from the sky, not the ground.
'Add to that the Navy's close affiliation with the United States Marine Corps. Since the Marines Corps' existence is guaranteed by the American Constitution, they cannot be eliminated. And they have both ground and mechanised infantry capabilities, thus putting even more pressure on the Army to justify its existence.
'Hell, look at ICBMs. All three armed services maintain missile launch facilities: the Navy has submarine- launched systems; the Air Force air- and land-launched systems; and the Army land and mobile systems. Does a nation seriously need three separate nuclear missile systems when really only two—-or even one—would do?'
'So who looks like being the loser?' Race asked, cutting to the chase.
'The Army7 Renee said simply. 'Without a doubt. Especially when the Constitutional guarantee for the Marine Corps is taken into account. In every analysis I've seen so far, the Army has always come in third place.“
'So they need to prove their worth,' Race said.
'They desperately need to prove their worth. Or diminish one of the other service's worth.'
'What do you mean, “diminish one of the other service's worth”?'
'Professor,“ Renee said, 'did you know that late last year there was a break-in at Vandenberg Air Force base?'
'No.'
'Some top-secret plans for the new W-88 nuclear war head were stolen. The W-88 is a miniaturised warhead, state of the art. Six security staff were killed during the theft. The official investigative report into the break-in—and the sub sequent media coverage of it-claimed that it was the work of Chinese agents. The unofficial report into the break-in, however, says that upon examination of the kill and entry techniques used, only one unit could have executed the crime. An Army Special Forces unit. Green Berets.'
Race shot a look at Van Lewen. The Green Beret sergeant just shrugged helplessly back at him. This was news to him.
'The Army broke into an Air Force base?' Race said in dis belief.
Renee said, 'You see, Professor, the Army are working on a new miniaturised warhead of their own. The successful completion of the W-88 would have seriously undermined their own project—and provided one less reason to keep them around in 2010.'
Race frowned. 'So how do we apply this to the Supernova project?'
'Simple,' Renee said. 'The Supernova is the ultimate weapon. Whichever armed service controls its use will ensure its survival in 2010. Quite obviously, although the Supernova is officially a Navy project, the Army has taken it upon itself to build its own devicein all likelihood using information that they have managed to obtain from a
