Bitner's expression didn't change a whit, and his visitors couldn't see the chill that was enveloping their national leader. The meeting he'd had the previous week in Warsaw had been unsettling enough, but now the reason behind the greasy reassurances offered him by the Soviet leadership seemed all too clear.

"There is no way to protect our civilian population?" Bitner asked.

"Comrade." The General sighed. "These persistent agents need not be breathed. They also work through the skin. If one touches a contaminated surface, one is poisoned. Even if we order our people to remain in their homes with windows and door closed, houses and apartment blocks are not airtight. And people still must eat. Factory workers in certain essential industries still must work. Medical personnel, police, and internal security personnel-some of our most valuable citizens will be the most gravely exposed. These aerosols will travel invisibly across our country, virtually undetectable. They will leave a toxic film on lawns, trees, fences, walls, trucks-nearly everything. The rain will wash much off, but tests made years ago show that some of these poisons-those on the undersides of fences, for example-will persist for weeks, even months. We would need thousands of decontamination teams even to begin the task of making our country safe enough for our citizens to walk to their markets. Colonel Mellethin is correct: if the Russians use their gas weapons, and then the Americans reply in kind, we would be fortunate if half our citizens were alive six months from today. It is actually easier to protect our citizens from nuclear weapons than against gasses, and nuclear effects are shorter-lived."

"Du lieber Gott. "

MOSCOW, R.S.F.S.R.

"They said what?" The Defense Minister almost screamed.

"Our fraternal socialist comrades of the German Democratic Republic have informed us that they can only view the use of chemical munitions inside their territory as a matter of the gravest national concern." The Foreign Minister spoke dryly. "Moreover, they have forwarded to us intelligence reports which show clearly that the use of such weapons would only serve to harden NATO resolve-and possibly open the door to other weapons of mass destruction."

"But they are part of the plan!" Defense objected.

"Comrades," Sergetov observed. "We all know that the use of chemical munitions will have calamitous effects on civilians-wouldn't this compromise our political maskirovka? Aren't we saying that our quarrel is with the West German government? How might it look then if on the first day of the war we coldly exterminate many thousands of civilians?" How many more innocents shall we slaughter? he thought.

"And there is another question," said Bromkovskiy. Old and frail though he was, he was still an experienced man from the last war against the Germans, and his views on defense affairs still commanded respect. "If we use these weapons against all the NATO armies-and how can we restrict them to German formations?-America and France have made it clear that they consider gas as a weapon of mass destruction, to which they would respond in kind."

"The American chemical arsenal is a joke," replied Defense.

"I have seen studies from your ministry that suggest otherwise," Bromkovskiy shot back. "And perhaps you will laugh at their nuclear weapons! If we kill many thousands of German civilians, their government will demand the use of atomic weapons against targets in our territory. If our gas weapons kill some thousands of American soldiers, do you think the American President will refrain from using his own weapons of mass destruction? Comrades, we have discussed this before. This war against NATO is a political operation, no? Do we cast away our political camouflage by using a weapon like this? We have the assurance now that at least one NATO country will not join in a Russian-German war. This is a great victory for our political policy. The use of chemical weapons will cast away that advantage and open political dangers from more than one direction.

"I feel that we should retain control of these weapons in the Politburo. Comrade Defense Minister, are you telling us that we can win only if weapons of mass destruction are used?" The old man leaned forward and spoke with harsh determination. "Has the situation changed? You will remember telling us that if strategic surprise were lost, our armies could be recalled. Has surprise been lost?"

The Defense Minister's face went rigid for a moment. "The Soviet Army is ready and able to carry out its mission. It is now too late to retreat. This is also a political question, Petya."

"NATO is mobilizing," Sergetov said.

"Too late, and too halfheartedly," replied the Director of the KGB. "We have split one country from the NATO alliance. We are working on others, and are hard at work throughout Europe and America spreading disinformation about the bomb attack. The will of the people in the NATO countries is low. They will not want to fight a war for German murderers, and their political leaders will find a way to disassociate themselves from the conflict."

"But not if we slaughter civilians with gas." The Foreign Minister nodded. "Petya and young Sergetov are correct: the political cost of these weapons is simply too high."

WASHINGTON, D.C.

"But why? Why are they doing this?" the President demanded.

"We simply do not know, sir." The Director of Central Intelligence was clearly uncomfortable with the question. "We know that this Kremlin Bomb Plot was a complete fabrication-"

"Did you see what the Post said this morning? The press says that this guy Falken has 'agency' or its German equivalent written all over him."

"Mr. President, the truth of the matter is that Herr Falken was almost certainly a Soviet sleeper agent under KGB control. The Germans have been unable to uncover very much about him. It's as though he just sprang into being thirteen years ago, and he's been quietly running his import-export business for the last twelve years. Sir, every indication we have is that the Soviets are prepared for an attack against NATO. There is no indication, for example, that they are demobilizing their conscripts who are at the end of their enlistment periods, nor any evidence of preparations for the new 'class' of conscripts that should have begun to arrive several days ago. Finally, there's the case of this Spetznaz major the Germans picked up. He was infiltrated into the Federal Republic before the bomb plot, with orders to attack a NATO communications base. As to why-Mr. President, we simply do not know. We can describe what the Russians are doing but not the reason for it."

"I told the country last night that we would be able to control this situation through diplomatic means..."

"We still might. We need to communicate directly with the Soviets," the President's national security adviser said. "Until they respond positively, however, we have to show that we mean business, too. Mr. President, a further call-up of reservists is necessary."