The Foundation: An Intellectual Thriller by Kathleen O’Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear

Author:Kathleen O’Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear [Gear, Kathleen O’Neal & Gear, W. Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781647346485
Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
Published: 2021-10-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 54

Anxiety building, Brenda watched no less than sixteen courses served as wait staff entered and left through a remarkably concealed door between two statues.

Chantel sampled everything, limiting her consumption.

Only after dessert did Platnikov push back his chair. “You like?”

“One of the finest meals I’ve ever eaten,” Chantel told him with a smile.

To battle the jitters, Brenda mentally rehearsed ways to kill Felix. The man had stood through the entire meal without as much as a flicker crossing his hard expression.

“Now, what is this silliness about Gorky Plan?” Platnikov leaned back, an arm on the table. “I know you have sources. Perhaps they do not understand.”

Chantel laid her napkin to one side. “We not only have more sources than you do, but better ones. If you move on the Baltics now, the West will not back down. After Ukraine, NATO has drawn the line. They will not remove their troops. A Russian incursion will lead to combat. The situation will escalate. Iran will attack the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia. Tensions in the three-way triangle between Pakistan, India and China will escalate to a nuclear exchange. North Korea might be down for the moment, but it will strike South Korea.”

“Which is good time to move, no?” He shook a chastening finger. “Cut to chase, yes? The world is about to explode. America and Europe are mired in debt and political strife. They cannot afford conflict. They will deal over Baltic States rather than hold this line you claim. China looks longingly at Southeast Asia and at Africa for salvation. India is about to collapse of own weight. Is new world order. Russia is self-contained, resilient, with resources we have barely tapped. We only need to give rest of world a push. After Europe and America fall apart, we pick up pieces we need. You and your people have same goal. Want to come out on top? Work with us. Can share in resources. Not such bad deal, eh?”

Chantel seemed to think on that. With a ghostly smile, she shook her head. “The only problem with your scenario is that the West isn’t going to negotiate or back down. If it comes to confrontation, it will go nuclear. Come on, Leon, you’ve read the GRU and SVR reports just like we have. You know NATO’s contingency plans. Unlike the Cold War, this won’t be about just ideology, it will be about grasping at straws. Too many people won’t have anything left to lose.”

“Why you care? Forewarned, you make billions on war industry.”

“We lose billions when the global markets collapse. Then we lose everything when it goes nuclear.”

“West will not fight. They are broke after COVID, da? Will is gone.” His mouth quirked bitterly. “When we take Baltics, West is distracted. Iran takes Middle East; China takes Southeast Asia and Japan. NATO and EU splinters into separate interests, unable to react to anything, da? Is ultimate weakness of Europe. French, Germans, Italians, British. For two thousand years little countries in Europe squabble like children.

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