Thirty-Four East by Coppel Alfred

Author:Coppel, Alfred [Coppel, Alfred]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Popular Library
Published: 1974-01-28T20:56:33+00:00

16

Sam Donaldson stared across Bill Tate’s desk in disbelief, his thick fist clenched above the photographs spread before him. His face was as red as the flowers on his gaudy sports shirt, and he said again, “Are you telling me you haven’t seen these Cosmos pictures yet? Is that what you’re saying?”

The row of television screens behind him showed a variety of scenes: Echo Sierra Control, where the communicators were trying without success to raise Sergeant Robinson; the commo room at Zone Center, where a Swedish UN officer was standing by for the arrival of General Eriksson, who had been summoned for a teleconference with the American commander; and the global War Room at the Pentagon, where could be seen a row of military controllers engaged in opening the communications network to the various American commands throughout the world. A fourth screen, alive but blank, awaited a contact with Admiral Ainsworth, now somewhere above the southwestern United States, returning from Palm Springs.

“These were delivered to your office at least two hours ago, General,” Donaldson said. “Captain Adams signed for them. I personally told her that you were to be notified on the helipad.”

It seemed inconceivable to Tate that Liz Adams could have fallen down so badly in a critical situation, but perhaps it was the situation itself that was to blame. Since the news of the President’s crash had arrived in Es Shu’uts, the balance of the U.S. Component headquarters had rocked on an unpredictable edge. The failure to raise the Vice President’s party by radio, either in response to the Olympus notification or in clear language, had added a note of hysteria to the confusion. Everyone with access to the knowledge that Talcott Bailey had neither replied to the urgent radio calls nor arrived at Zone Center now performed his assigned task with a grim face. The elaborate precautions built up over the years to protect the succession of power in the United States seemed to be crumbling moment by moment as the Vice President remained unreported.

Tate had started air searches along the demarcation line of the Demilitarized Zone with helicopters and Shrikes, and he had resolved that if the convoy remained unreported for thirty minutes longer he would order the air search extended into the proscribed air space. So far the search had been hampered by darkness, and the hope faded that he could continue to abide by the terms of the accord and keep American aircraft out of the DMZ. Much depended on what Eriksson and the Swedes were willing or able to do. So far, they had done nothing but hold consultations with Cyprus, the UN in New York, and their own government in Stockholm.

And now Donaldson had stormed into his office with a Cosmos series about which Tate had been in complete ignorance.

Donaldson shoved the glossy prints across the desk top and pointed to a group of objects circled with red marking pen. “These pictures were taken during the first pass of 623 early yesterday. One shows our flyboy Trask buzzing the Allende, right?”

Tate looked and saw that this was so.

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