" You sure it's the Russians?" " 100%, sir." "Submarine launched 12 to 15 megatons." "They went to strike status." "The Roosevelt's splashed six incoming cruise missiles." "The Russians are moving west." "Our Berlin brigade are outnumbered." "Sir, we've got a launch from Alyesk, Central Russia." "What the hell is in Alyesk?" "SS-18 ICBMs." "Probable targets:" "New York, Washington, here." " How good is this ceiling?" " Anything but a direct hit." "Satellites confirm birds in the air, first impact estimated 25 minutes." " Is that accurate?" " It's accurate." " I advise we go to DEFCON-1." " Get President Zorkin on the hotline." "Zorkin is missing." "We have reports of a coup in Moscow." "General Bulgakov is calling the shots now." "Who the hell is Bulgakov?" "The asshole who wanted to use nukes in Chechnya." "Sir, DEFCON-1." "We're out of time." "Do it." "Mr President." "It'll take a minute for the launch to process after you give the order." "Before the order can be taken, an ID check must be performed." "My ID number is fifth from the top." " Sir, it's your wife on 2104." " Thank you." " Yeah." " The order must be confirmed" " by someone on the approved list." " Shit." "Gene Revell, National Security Advisor." "Is it black tie?" "OK." "I'm on my way." "Can we finish this up some other time?" "No." "We've got to update these fire drills, Billy." "If the shit ever hits the fan, I'm not going underground." "It's a goddamn tomb down there." "We have to choose someone else to face off against besides the Russians." "Really?" "Let's see." "Who else has 27,000 nukes for us to worry about?" "It's the guy with one I'm worried about." "I have to send some folks to Russia, inspect their nuclear decommissioning facility at Armazas." " Arzamas." " Yeah, whatever." " Someone from your staff should go." " I'll go." " Billy, send staff." " I want to go." "OK." "Don't underestimate Zorkin." "Between his economy, crime, Chechnya..." " His liver." " What's left of it." "How is he?" "He's scheduled a press conference for today, so we know he can sit up." "Chechnya is part of Russia." "Only criminals and their friends in the West who wish it to be separate." "Mr President, if you will kindly come back..." "Do you guys see what I see?" " His jacket?" " He used to be able to button it up." "He's getting fat." "I know how he feels." "Oh, wow." "Look at that." "Maybe it's not the same jacket." "Yeah, it has shiny sleeves." "He wore it the last time he got out of the hospital." " He's off the diet." " And off the wagon." "He slurred..." "That must be why Cherlinski is there, to keep him off the sauce." "Where's Cherlinski?" "Next to..." "What's her name?" "The chick with the brown hair." " Elena Rishkov." " That is not Cherlinski." "Bzz!" "Busted." "It's Cherlinski." "You're thinking Cherpitski." "It ain't him." " I know." "It's Cherlinski." " No, it's not." "Trust me." "He's next to Elena Rishkov." "He was banging her at the Geneva summit." "Cherlinski was not at Geneva." "Cherpitski was." "Cherpitski was banging Elena Rishkov?" "I just said Zorkin's putting on weight." "Why reduce it to sex?" "It's disgusting." "I agree." "Write it up." "If he is putting on weight, that might have health consequences, so get it in the afternoon brief." "Oh, and somebody find out who is banging Elena Rishkov." "This is good." "What shall we make of Chechnya asking the West for protection?" "She is like a beautiful virgin, escaping the clutches of a lecherous bear, and running to Bill Clinton to save her maidenhood." "A poet once wrote, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."" "He could have been writing of us, of Europe in the 21 st century." "Over 50 years of America and Russia imposing their will on the European community," "East and West, and we're still treated like children but without the toys or the goodnight chocolates." "Each day we lose a little bit more of our separate sovereign ability to determine our own futures and each day the world comes just a little bit closer to that terrible moment when the beating of a butterfly's wings unleashes a hurricane God himself cannot stop." "So what is it?" "Are you blind?" "It's a bomb." "Where's the fuse?" "It's warm." "So am I. Come on." "I don't have all night." "It's a dud." "Let's get it on the truck." "But how can we sell it now?" "There's always someone who'll buy this crap." "I cannot stand all these questions about my health." "I am to be described as "robust" and "healthy"." "Is that yours or mine?" "It must be yours." "Mine's just for show." "It's not the hospital." " Hi." " You're still here." "Well, I think to be accurate, it's actually you who's still here." "Oh, right." "Not that I'm complaining." "Jack..." "I know this is new and all, but I have something I have to say or I'm going to explode." "I don't want you to be scared." "What?" "You're in love with me." "Jack, I'm a medical professional." "I can read the symptoms." "You're definitely in love with me." "And that scares you?" "Not even a little." "But I think it scares you." "No, not even a little." "And for the record, you're the one who brought it up." "Forget it." " I'm gonna get it." " No way." "It'll stop." "I don't know who this is." " Just go about your business." " The timing sucks." "Do what you have to do." "I understand." "Yes, this is Dr Muller." "Muller." "You paged me." "Hello." "Stop!" "Yes, this is Jack Ryan." "Jesus." "OK." "I'll be there in half an hour." "I gotta go." "I have an emergency at work." "I have to go." "I'm sorry." "Cathy, how about dinner tonight?" "Yeah." " How about tomorrow night?" " Jack, I said yes to tonight." "I know." "What kind of emergency does a historian have?" "He died at 0420 Zulu. 81/2 hours later, they swore in a new president." " Who is he?" " Alexander Nemerov." "You're kidding." "I wrote a paper about him a year ago." " I said he could be the next guy." " I know." " Nobody read it." " They're reading it now." " Who?" " Cabot." "I've been here 14 months." "He doesn't know what I look..." " Are you Ryan?" " Yes, sir." "What is this? "The Paper Chase"?" " Sir, my..." " Come on, we're late." "You're about to breathe air that's way over your pay grade, so listen." "You'll be asked for advice." "Be sure you know what you're talking about." "Don't be afraid to say you don't know." "Choose your words carefully." "They could become policy." "Hey, you." "Give me your coat." "Come on, you'll get it back." "Tie." "So, intelligence committee?" "I've watched these on C-SPAN." "Never actually been to one." "You've never watched one of these on C-SPAN." "Our most important assessment comes from a source inside the Kremlin." "In his opinion, Nemerov does not owe his ascension to the military." "Everyone has opinions, Mr Cabot." "I respect that." "This morning, my wife woke up and said I was old, bald and ugly." "Is that a question, Mr Chairman?" "I told her appearances aren't everything." " Would you agree?" " I certainly would." "Now, this new fellow, Nezmeroz." "Is that his name?" "Nemerov, sir." "Despite what your source says, we hear that Nezmeroz is a hardliner." "Is he a hardliner?" "No." "It's too soon to make that assessment." "According to CNN, your Mr Nezmeroz is making promises to rebuild the Russian empire." "That sounds pretty rash from where I sit." "If I were sitting in Chechnya, I'd be even more worried." "Sir, Nemerov only said that to get the hardliners off his back." "If we leave him alone, Russia will stabilise." "When I asked for your advice, I didn't mean that you should actually speak." "Mr Cabot?" "Some of our assets in the Russian government who know Mr Nemerov have not had a chance to report in." "I'd like to take a couple of days and gather more information for you before characterising him, but I do maintain my opinion that appearances can be deceiving." "You're saying I'm wrong?" "Absolutely, Mr Chairman." "I don't think you're ugly." " I was out of line." "I apologise." " Senators don't like to be surprised." "I hint at what I'm gonna tell them, then I give them a while to get used to it." "Then I tell them." " I understand." " Good." "But I'm right about Nemerov." "Your girlfriend like this stubborn streak in you?" "What?" "Cathy Muller, second year surgical resident," "Baltimore Memorial Hospital." "Welcome to the CIA, sport." "Your intelligence is a little flawed." "I wouldn't call her my girlfriend... yet." " What exactly would you call her?" " Great." "Amazing." "She's just afraid to commit." "He's terrified of commitment." "A man who's afraid of commitment after three dates?" "Alert the media." " I know, I know." " So what does he do?" "He was in the marines before he hurt his back." " Now he's a historian." " Yawn." "No." "He works for a think tank across the river." "Double yawn." "All right, Rita." "Let's see what you have to say after we meet him tonight." "He's cute?" " I have fat fingers." " Cathy!" "Cute scale, one to ten." "Oh, God." "I don't know." "Twelve." "Ask them where they found this." "In the field, in the Golan." "There was a lot of fighting there in 1973." "Did they witness it?" "This one says he lost his son." "Does he remember, was there a plane shot down?" "Yes, an Israeli jet, destroyed." "This is worthless." "But tell him I will give him $400..." "because of his son." "Thank... thank you." "Thank you." "How did you come by it?" "I found her in the attic of an old mansion house in Glasgow." "Your little trip to the attic has got you a piece worth now about L1,000, even in this condition, and had she been in better condition, even more." "A jolly nice find." "In fact, what I thought I'd found was a garden ornament." "Hello, Cathy?" "Hi." "I'm glad you called." "I'm running late." "Can you come a half an hour later?" "I can't make it." "I'm really sorry." " It's a last-minute work thing." " What's that noise?" "I'm calling from a plane." " This just came up." "I tried to call you." " Where are you going?" " I can't tell you that." " Jack." "You can't tell me?" "Jack." " Hold on." "Yes, sir?" " What are you doing?" "I had a date tonight, so I had to cancel." "Don't be stupid." "Tell her where you're going." "Tell her who you work for." "She'll be impressed." "OK." "I work for the CIA." "The director asked me to go with him to Russia to do a nuclear arms inspection." " Hello?" " That is so lame." "I swear, we get to inspect to make sure they're decommissioning their arsenal." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Thanks." "Thanks a lot." "Zdravstvuyte, William Cabot." "President Nemerov." "Pleasure, sir." "May I present Mrs Lathrop." "Mr President." " General Rand." " Mr President." " Dr Ryan." " Mr President." "You must be the Dr Ryan who's done such interesting research on me." "You should not be surprised." "We know quite a bit." "We know how wrong your report was that I had many girlfriends in college." "I met my wife in my third year and have not looked at another woman since." "I was referring to the first two years... sir." "Where you received highest honors in English." "I like him." "Well, in that case, so do I." "I apologise for interjecting myself in your inspection tour, but I have a message for President Fowler." "You could just call him on the phone." "I would like him to hear it from you, his friend of many years, who received it personally from me, and saw my expression and the language of my body as I spoke it." "I understand." "Chechnya is an internal affair." "What we do there should be none of your concern." "I will relay the message, but I don't think he will agree." "Some people in my country will use this issue to weaken me." "Some people in my country say your war in Chechnya is exactly your weakness." "Chechnya is a nation of criminals." "Every day brings another cowardly attack on innocent Russian citizens." "It is none of your concern." "Stability is our concern." "Peace in Chechnya is our concern." "And, if I may speak frankly your control over your military concerns us too." "For you to get involved here, it's..." "like sleeping with another man's wife." "And what you are suggesting is that afterward they can all live together under the same roof." "But what really happens is the betrayed husband buys a gun." " That went well." " Who's the guy with Nemerov?" " Anatoli Grushkov." " Old KGB?" "He's been around since Brezhnev." "Nobody's had the guts to get rid of him." "Because he knows where the bodies are buried?" "He probably buried them himself." "And we were able to obtain a roster of their scientists at Arzamas." "Who's who, what their expertise is." "Arzamas-16 is home to the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics and is the birthplace of our first atomic bomb." "Many of our greatest scientists worked here and many still do." "Since 1995, we have dismantled over 10,000 nuclear devices." "We tried so hard to get in here over the years." "I sent three people." "They all died trying." "What does the T-shirt say?" ""I am a bomb technician." "If you see me running... try to catch up."" "OK." "Sir, I'm sorry." "Just one quick thing." "I'm sure it's nothing." "According to this, there are 17 senior scientists on duty today." "I only count 14." "Doctors Milinov, Orlov and Spassky." "They don't seem to be here." "I will make inquiries." "Dr Milinov is out sick." "Orlov is on vacation." "Spassky, I'm grieved to say, was killed driving his car to work just this past week." "We move on, shall we?" "Please." "Very impressive." "You almost seem to have that information memorised." "I assumed you would ask, Dr Ryan." "We touch down at Andrews at 2130." "Tell him to meet me there." "Sir?" "Those three missing scientists." "Milinov's expertise is detonators." "Spassky's expertise is the nuclear core." "Orlov is a mathematician whose expertise is the geometry of high explosives inside a fission bomb." "The exact three men you would need if you wanted to build a bomb." " Grushkov said..." " Grushkov's a liar." "Milinov is not sick." "Orlov hardly ever takes a vacation and Spassky, who's supposed to have died driving a car, doesn't drive." "They have no idea where these guys are." "I'm dying to ask you how you know." "Secure source inside the Kremlin." "Codename Spinnaker." "He gives me stuff, I give him stuff." "We keep the back channels open in hopes of staving off disaster." "And speaking of disaster, did you call your girlfriend yet?" "No." "I don't know how to get out of this." "All right." "Invite her to the White House correspondents dinner Sunday night." "It's the hottest ticket in town." " Sounds great." "How do I get in?" " Trust me." "I'll see you at the car." "Still loving your desk job?" "Yeah, I am." "How's your Russian?" "Still works." "Why?" "Three Russian nuclear scientists are missing." "I need to know where they are." "I wasn't doing this any more." "I just need information this time, Johnny." "Your orders are on the plane." "Wheels up at 2330." "Have a nice flight." "Sunday night, 8.00, at the Hilton." "The tickets are in the name of John Clark." " You do have a tux?" " Yeah, yes, sir." "My beautiful wife, Julie, is from New Jersey. 15 electoral votes." "And is, as you know, half-Jewish, so we'll take Florida's 25 electoral votes and divide by two." " This is a nice hotel." " Yeah." "Beautiful." "My friend Rita stayed here once." "She said it was... nice." "Maybe after dinner we can we can get a room here." "I already did." " You didn't." " Yes, I did." "...I did, on a handful of occasions, smoke marijuana." "California, 54 electoral votes." "At 0600 Moscow time, the Russians launched a massive artillery strike against Grozny, the capital of Chechnya." "The shells contained an experimental chemical weapon, a nerve agent." "Saturation, you can see on the sat photos, took 20 minutes, after which every person inside a radius of 12 miles was rendered helpless by symptoms approximating late-stage cerebral palsy." " Oh, my God." " How many dead?" "Best guess, 80%." "Nemerov launched the biggest attack in the history of chemical warfare." " Let's talk response." " The worst thing we can do is nothing." "If he gets away with chemical weapons, what's next?" "Biological, nuclear?" "OK." "Short of gassing the Kremlin, what's the strongest response?" " We send in peacekeepers." " Chechnya's not sovereign." "They requested recognition, so we give it." "Not full diplomatic, provisional." "Then the Chechens request assistance and we send in peacekeepers." " How do you get them in there?" " We fly them in from Turkey." " Over Armenian air space?" " To screw Russia?" "They won't complain." "Let's do it." "Nemerov can choke on it." "Bill?" " Dr Ryan." " Yes, sir." "What do you think?" "Conventional wisdom suggests that Nemerov is playing the traditional Russian role:" "Be aggressive, flex your muscles, dare the world to stop you." " But Nemerov isn't conventional." " He acts like a hardliner." "With respect, I don't think he is one." "He just gassed the capital of another country." "With respect, you're wrong." " So what are we wasting our time for?" " What if he didn't order the attack?" "What if Nemerov didn't order the attack?" "What if it was a... a rogue general?" "Or a military unit frustrated they couldn't get the rebels out of the city?" "Have you reason to believe he didn't order it, or are you just floating this?" "You don't know." "I don't think he did it, sir." "I would bet he didn't do it." "Will senior staff remain behind for a few minutes, please?" "Russia's newly-installed president, Alexander Nemerov, has just begun to address the state." "We join him in progress." "For ten years now, we have contended..." "Excuse me." "Could you turn that up?" "...toward innocent Russian citizens." "Finally every nation has a right to defend itself." "This terrorism must end." "The bombing of Chechnya..." "was my decision." "Nice going, ace." "Who did it?" "General Pildysh, General Mitkin." "Unhappy old Communists." "Bastards." " Relieve them of command." " I will shoot them myself." "Just disappear them." "Their execution would tell the world I didn't have control." "These days, better to appear guilty than impotent." "How is our Russian friend affected by this?" "I am not affected." "I remain devoted to our little plan." "At what you're charging us, I am not surprised." " And the American?" " Mr Mason is a believer." "I put a little extra in the escrow account for him." " Why?" " He won't live long enough to get it." " Where is the package?" " It left Haifa a week ago." "I'm told these things can kill you." "But so much has changed." "Perhaps the new situation suggests we consider... a different approach?" "Maybe try to bring Russia more into Europe, more into our way of thinking?" "We have discussed that, Monsieur Monceau, and with your concurrence, rejected it." "Oh." "Perhaps we were hasty." " Perhaps our plan is..." " Is what?" "Not perfectly conceived." "Are you crazy?" "All over the world, right-wing parties, nationalist movements, Nazis, Aryan Nations, all working together for the first time." "Is that not perfect?" "Well, I respect the will and judgment of my friends." "But in light of the week's events, I am grown uncomfortable with this plan." "So I must... beg your leave." "Gentlemen." "Herr Haft will help you out." "Your scarf, monsieur." "Watch it with that thing." "You're gonna kill somebody." "Yo, what's up, Mason?" "You know, I always wanted to ask you..." "Where'd you get that tat, man?" "The navy." "The navy?" "I was in the navy." "Hospital ship, six years." "You?" "Eight months." "Oh." "You wash out?" "All right, brother." "You have a good one." "Yeah, brother." "...not realising the rest of the world is watching and will take a cue from us..." "The unprecedented attack on Chechnya signals a dangerous and troubling shift in Russian policy." "It demands the toughest and most unambiguous response from the West." "NATO forces are on their way to Chechnya to serve as peacekeepers and to provide humanitarian aid to victims of this monstrous..." "I expected this." "Really?" "What will you do?" "Nothing." "We will do nothing." "These are four hours old." "Russian 12th, 15th and 2nd tank regiments." "Why haven't they moved?" " Nemerov's too smart to move them." " He speaks." "Jack, Nemerov's got, like, 19,000 tanks." "No way NATO can match that." "That's why he's not gonna move them." "It's like chess." "He's thinking three moves ahead." "The NATO playbook says we can only stop him with tactical nuclear weapons." "And he won't risk a nuclear war over this." "I also think he's sending us a message." "He didn't bomb Grozny." "Excuse me." "I'm looking for Mrs Spassky." "At the end of the corridor." "I haven't seen Sasha since university." "And you were his teaching assistant?" "Strange, I don't remember you." "When he heard I was in Arzamas, he asked me to look in on you." " He says he'll take me to the West." " That would require a lot of money." "Just because the imbeciles here pay him nothing doesn't mean others won't." "He has a secret job." "For the government?" "For imbeciles with money." "Same nonsense, do this, don't do that." "They even told him not to call his mother." "The pigs." "I could die any day and he can't phone his mother." "But my Sasha, he called." "Just last night." "Clark got us her number." "NSA traced calls to that number back to here." "It's an abandoned Soviet army base on the Kremenchug reservoir." "What are three Russian atomic scientists doing in Ukraine?" "A fair guess, they're building a bomb." "Nemerov has thousands of bombs." "Why would he build a secret one?" "Deniability." "Build one nobody knows about, he can drive it to Chechnya in his Beemer." "No way to track it, no way to trace it." "He could set it off and say, "I didn't do it."" "With respect, I don't think that adds up." "It adds up." "You just don't like what it adds up to." "Ah, the warmth of plutonium decay." "It's completely corroded." "At least you're wearing gloves." "Anyone want to light up an American cigarette?" "You're crazy." "I'm going out." "The explosive blocks must be replaced." "Machined to a thousandth of a millimetre in a mathematically determined configuration." " Do we have a bomb?" " First we must analyse the yield..." "Do we have a bomb?" "Yes." "Yes, we do." "This is a... a test." "Answer it." " Answer it." " Are you sure?" "Hello?" "Yes." "Yes, sir." "I have to go outside for just a second." "OK?" "I'll be right back." "I'll be right back." " Sir, I write reports." " I reviewed your military records." " You can take care of yourself." " Yes, sir." "But I'm not trained for that." "I'm not asking you to be an operations officer, just my eyes and ears." "I can't go." "So... this isn't sanctioned." "I want you to give this to Clark, see what he finds out, bring it home." "Yes, sir." "Jack we never had this discussion." "What discussion?" "OK." "Clark..." "So this is three days ago." "It shows vehicles here." "Guards here and here." "I gotta get one of those." "Now, the infrared satellite took this photograph 34 hours ago." "That shows guards here and here." "I don't even have e-mail." "There are two at the checkpoint, between two and five in the barracks and two with the package, which we believe to be here." "No problem." "Give me a couple of guys, some tranquilliser darts, we can be out in six minutes." " There is a problem." " What's that?" "This is yesterday." "No guards visible at all." "Why is that a problem, Mr Ryan?" "For two reasons." "Either we can't see them, which is bad, or worse, they left, and we're too late." "Suit up." " What?" " You can't go dressed like that." "No, no." "I'm an analyst." "I don't go on missions." "Relax, 007." "It's not a mission." "It's just a recce." "OK, fine, whatever you call it." "I don't do that." "I just write reports." "OK." "So write a report about it." "Suit up." "Clark, no." "Clark... no." "So, Cabot tells me you got my ticket to the correspondents dinner." "Have a good time?" "I've never been to one of those." "I was actually looking forward to it." "Clark, no." "I'm not going in there." "Goddamn right." "You're gonna stay here and make sure no one steals my boat." "Be right back." "Damn." "Oh, Jesus." "Oh, God." "Immigration didn't call you guys, huh?" "I'm sorry." "You speak English?" "I don't speak much Ukrainian." "It's not what you think." "I'm an American citizen." "I have my papers..." "OK." "No papers." "Please." "Just put the gun down." "The light?" "You want me to put the light down?" "OK." "Take it easy." "I'll put the light down." "Here we go, I'm putting it down." "Shoot him, Ryan." "Shoot him." "Shoot him before he figures out what I'm saying." " Get their shoes." " What?" "Tell them to take their shoes off." " You speak Ukrainian." " Yeah." "You don't?" "Whatever it is they were spray painting was big, about the size of a fridge." "The imprint it left was deep." "So we know three things." "It was heavy, something was radioactive, and now it's gone." " One of them spoke English?" " South African." "So, what's a South African doing in the Ukraine with three Russian scientists and a crate from Israel?" " Tell Cabot I'll call him from Haifa." " I have a feeling you better hurry." "Most people believe the 20th century was defined by the death struggle of communism versus capitalism and that fascism was but a hiccup." "Today we know better." "Communism was a fool's errand." "The followers of Marx, gone from this earth." "But the followers of Hitler abound and thrive." "Hitler, however, had one great disadvantage." "He lived in a time when fascism, like a virus, like the AIDS virus, needed a strong host in order to spread." "Germany was that host." "But strong as it was, Germany could not prevail." "The world was too big." "Fortunately, the world has changed." "Global communications, cable TV, the internet." "Today the world is smaller and the virus does not need a strong host in order to spread." "This virus is airborne." "One more thing." "Let no man call us crazy." "They called Hitler crazy, but Hitler wasn't crazy." "He was stupid." "You don't fight Russia and America." "You get Russia and America to fight each other and destroy each other." " What did you find?" " Ukraine's exports are online." "I pulled up the shipping manifests." "The only crate that size was picked up at Kiev International ten days ago and flown to the Canary Islands." "The air force has a nuclear assessment team." "Call them..." "Jack, it got put on a cargo freighter, headed for the East Coast." " What?" " Baltimore." "It's coming here." "It's a great view from the Budweiser blimp as we count down to game time." "We'll have the pre-game festivities as well as the arrival of the nation's number one football fan in a moment." "Then conquer we must" "For our cause it is just" "And this be our motto" "In God is our trust" "And the star-spangled banner" "Forever shall wave" "O'er the land of the free..." "Get me the duty officer!" "Home of the brave" "Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States," "Robert Fowler!" "Showtime." "Shit." "15 yard penalty, first down." "That's the way!" "Shit." "Hello." " Hello?" " Sir!" " Hello?" " Sir!" "Shit!" " Cabot." " It's Ryan." " What?" " The bomb is in play." "The AFRAT team are meeting me at the docks in 20 minutes to try to find it." " What docks?" " Baltimore." " You're breaking up." "What did you say?" " Baltimore." " I'm losing you." "I'll call you back..." " Baltimore." "Sir!" "John!" "Red-Green!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Move it!" "Let's go!" "Move!" "Go, go, go, go!" "Move!" "What the hell is going on?" "Some Russian scientists made a nuclear bomb." "It's arrived in Baltimore." " Get those people out of the stadium." " Stay down!" "The President has been taken off the field." " 407." " Thanks, JJ." "Clearly something has happened of tremendous proportions." "We have no word as to what but there is an enormous cloud over..." "Go, go, go!" "Mr President!" "Are you all right?" "He's stuck." "Get out of the way." "Mr President, are you all right?" "Are you all right, Mr President?" "This is the marines, sir." "I need your help, Danny." "Alvarez, get me a stretcher, now!" "You got the stretcher?" " You got the stretcher?" " No, I don't want one." "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Move it!" "Move it!" "Go, go!" "Close them off!" "Go on up!" "Mr President..." "There's been a nuclear explosion in America." "You must come with us now." "What?" "We don't know who or how." "But it wasn't us." "After Grozny you hope it wasn't us." "We are drafting a strong denial for you." "And a statement of sympathy." "And Yuri... order all military on the alert." "Hey!" "It's Ryan." " Jack, where are you?" " Somewhere outside Baltimore." " Cabot got the President out." " Where is he now?" "They're taking him airborne, on NAOC." "They think it might be the Russians." "It wasn't the Russians." "I gotta talk to Cabot." "Patch me through to the plane." "Cabot's not on the plane." "We don't know where he is." "Call back in an hour." "We don't have an hour." "Fowler's gonna want to hit back now." "Listen." "We have to prove it wasn't the Russians before he's convinced it is." "Can you get back to Langley?" "There's no time." "The radiation assessment team, where are they?" "Stambler Tunnels, south of the city." "The prevailing winds are blowing the fallout to the east and north." "As long as you stay south you're OK." " Mr President, are you all right?" " How the hell do you think I am?" " How many casualties?" " We don't know." " How the hell did it get there?" " We don't know." "Radar didn't pick it up." " Well, how is Cabot?" "Where is he?" " I don't know." " What do you know?" " I don't know, all right?" "I don't know!" "I don't know!" " General, Kondor is not on board." " Send the AFRAT team." "Mr President, I recommend we move to DEFCON-2." "Where's our intelligence?" "Russian air defences are at their highest level." "Maybe they're afraid of being attacked." "I can't get this goddamn chair open!" "We're about to take off." " We don't know who did it..." " We think the Russians..." " You think?" " Sir, DEFCON-2." " We're groping in the dark..." " This is too much goddamn bullshit!" "And not enough fact." "The blast crater is about 100, 150 yards wide, which suggests a low-yield device, quite a bit smaller than the Hiroshima bomb." "A quarter of a square mile around the stadium is just gone." "Beyond that, buildings remain, heavily damaged, for another quarter mile." "The damage tapers off the farther you get from Ground Zero." "Dubinin." "Herr Haft has left for America." "Now we are counting on you." "I assure you, I will earn every pfennig." "Attention." "You've heard of the bomb in the USA." "What you haven't heard is that 15 minutes ago an American ICBM hit Moscow." "We are to retaliate against an American aircraft carrier in the North Sea." "Man your aircraft." "The ash isn't radioactive." "The winds are blowing the fallout to sea." "Captain." "Jack Ryan, CIA." "Lorna Shiro." "You need to wait outside." "I need to know all you know about the bomb." "We're collecting samples." "Get in line and we'll have the report out tomorrow." "Captain, I need to know now where this bomb came from, or even where it didn't come from or there may not be a tomorrow." "Shit." "Wesson, where are you?" "About a quarter mile from Ground Zero." "This is about as far as we'll go." "My feet are sizzling." "I'm getting rads nearly the limit of our gear." " OK." "Cut the rover loose and get out." " Roger that." "Dillon, the crate the bomb was shipped in." "Somebody had to sign for it at port." "Customs must have a database." "Get me a name." "Where's Cabot?" "No one knows." "We're checking the hospitals." " Have you tried Memorial?" " He wouldn't be there." "No, I mean..." "Is it still..." "It's Cathy's hospital." "As far as I know it's still there, but the phones are down." "All right." "Can you keep checking?" "Thanks." "They could have launched a cruise missile." " We don't know that this is Russia." " We don't know it's not." "If they were sending us a message, they'd want us to know it was them." "Except they could inspire the confusion we're going through now." "Mr President, we're uplinked." "President Nemerov, there's been a major nuclear event in the United States." "Loss of life is severe." " It was no accident." " It was not an accident." "We don't yet know where it came from, we don't..." "We have not yet ascertained the source of this weapon." "Rest assured..." "We have not yet ascertained the source of this weapon." "But rest assured those responsible will be dealt with most severely." "He's fishing." "Send our reply." "Whoa, that was a little fast." ""Please accept the deepest sympathies of the Russian people."" ""If it was deliberate, this is a crime without precedent."" ""What madman would do such a thing and for what purpose?"" ""You must believe that Russia had nothing to do with this infamous act."" "It's canned." "He prepared that in advance." "President Nemerov, we've no reason to suspect Russian involvement at this time but we will protect ourselves from further aggression." "He thinks we did this." "We must demonstrate the strength of our weapons." "They have to understand that attacking Russia would be suicide." "Increase the alert status." "TAO, EW." "I'm picking up intermittent radar, bearing 020." "Where?" "Now it's gone." "There." "It's a weak signal." "TAO, inbound contact." "Multiples on the same bearing." " Vampire, vampire!" " Fast movers inbound." "I got seven, eight, nine of them!" "The missiles definitely came from Russian aircraft." "Grennel thinks he can save the ship, but flight ops are out." "I ordered no such attack." "You must not respond to this action..." ""...until we investigate all possibilities."" "Like you did in Chechnya?" "Mr President, who is in control of your armed forces?" "You dropped the bomb on Hiroshima." "You dropped the bomb on Nagasaki." "Do not lecture me on Chechnya." ""..." "lecture me on Chechnya."" "Mr President, we are now at a de facto state of war with the Russians." "John Clark was in Haifa yesterday." "We have to find him right away." "Wow." "Look at that gadolinium reading." "Yeah." "The mass fraction is huge." "OK, connect me to Dillon." "I'll hold." "There it is." "Savannah River." " Oh, yeah." " Oh, yeah, what?" "They had a gadolinium problem." "Hanford does it another way, and generate too much promethium." "Hold on." "Can you translate that into English?" "This plutonium came from the DOE plant at Savannah River, February '68, from K reactor." "We even know which part of K reactor." " Wait." "This is our plutonium?" " Made in the USA." "Dillon, you've got to find Cabot." "Are you advocating we launch a first strike?" "It is not a first strike!" "There's already been a first strike, and a second." " Don't you get it?" " No, I don't get it!" "I don't understand why we have to nuke them!" "It's not reasonable." "Sidney, goddamn it!" "They practically sank an aircraft carrier!" "Their missile silos are hot." "We're getting bullshit from Nemerov." "Let's not forget how this started." "They tried to kill me, remember?" "Don't fucking tell me to be reasonable!" "Please come to the triage tent on the side of the building." "We will help you find who you are looking for, but we are low on blood supply." "Sir?" "Sir?" "Hi." "What?" " President?" " The President's fine." "He's fine." "Sir..." "The bomb." "The plutonium..." " Wife." " What?" "Wife." "Your wife?" "I'm sure she's fine." "She's in DC." "The blast radius wasn't that it wasn't that wide." "Sir, listen to me." "The plutonium was ours." "John Clark's in Haifa to track down the arms dealer." "I can't get hold of him." "I don't know what to do." "Girl... girlfriend." "She..." "She works in Baltimore, so I don't know." "Spinnaker." " What?" " Spinnaker." "Sir?" "Bill?" "Yeah." "We found the receiver address for the crate." "Port of Baltimore." "Can you get to the docks?" "Find the Transcon warehouse." "The name on the manifest is Mason." "Sorry, I need this truck." "Come on." "Shit." "Sir, we've come up with another alternative." "A conventional attack on the airbase where the carrier attack originated." " It's a measured response." " Non-nuclear." " Is it strong enough?" " Smart bombs and F-16s." "Can't afford for them to see us as weak." "They've got to know we have the guts to take it to the next level." "I think they'll get that message." "Hit 'em." "Eagles Nest, this is Eagle One." "We have target acquired." "Target is lit." "To make no response is to invite a greater attack." "American submarines from Norfolk and Kings Bay are putting to sea." "They carry Trident D3 missiles." "A first strike weapon." "Fowler is not so insane as to launch a first strike." "Perhaps he doesn't think it's the first strike." "Once their Stealth bombers go up, we will have no choice." "That will be the sign." "How do we convince him not to launch his bombers?" " Maybe we should..." " Bring our missiles to highest alert." "They'd be crazy to attack then." "Can I have your attention?" "The generator has gone out." "There's broken glass everywhere." "Stay where you are." "We will get back to..." "OK, fine." "Please, stay where you are." "We'll get you one by one." "Sir, can you hear me?" "Can you feel your arms and legs?" "A 9% IV and morphine drip." "Sir, we're gonna take care of you." "What have you got?" "What do we do with the ones we know won't make it?" "Whatever we can." "What?" "Bill Cabot died." "I'm really sorry." "This can't be happening." "Sir, we have a call from Langley." "Thank you." " Becker." " This is Jack Ryan." "Great." "The Nemerov apologist." "Sir, this bomb was not Nemerov." "I know this guy." "You said that after Grozny." "Put it in your report." "The plutonium..." "Seems unusual to find radiation poisoning here." "I have never seen such a thing." "That is why we published the case on the internet, to seek help." " How did he say it happened?" " He will not talk about it." "Was anyone else exposed to the materials that made you sick?" "Mr Ghazi, I'm not the police." "I'm a physician." "I assure you anything you say stays between us." "My friend and I find bomb." "We sell to a man who buys such things." "Was it this man?" "Other people may have come in contact with that bomb." "We must help them." "I am... going to die?" "Yes?" "Yes." "His name is Olson." "He live in Damascus." "Oh, yeah." "We're getting it all." "A nuclear strike on Colorado Springs would take out NORAD." "It would limit their ability to launch a counter-attack." "How many people live in Colorado Springs?" "Three or four hundred thousand." "Mr President, to use nuclear weapons against the Americans would be to cross a threshold." "They think we already have." "Should we now wait for them to annihilate us?" "I cannot stop what I did not start." "Mr President, we need you to initiate snapcount." "What happens then?" "We prepare to take out their land-based missiles with a nuclear strike, find and kill their subs, knock out the planes they have on the ground and mobilise our fighters to destroy the ones they already have in the air." "What are our chances?" "David?" "Odds are we leave Nemerov in a pretty pickle." "He'll be left with, at best, a few hundred nukes, the ones we can't find." "Mostly the... smaller, more mobile, less accurate kind." "All those can do is target our cities." "But he knows to an absolute certainty that we will respond against his cities." "I spent my entire adult life wanting to be president." "This is my presidency?" "Sir, I think he'll keep his 300 nukes as a deterrent against any future aggressor." "I think he'll push back from the table and call it a night." "I'm giving the order for snapcount." "Maximum readiness." "Olson had wire payments of $45 million from someone named Dressler." "Dillon, find out who Dressler is." "Jack, I want you out of there." " I'm at the docks." " Look for the name Dressler." "No." "Jack, get out." "Dillon, call the Baltimore PD, give them the address." " Wait for the cops." " I'll call you back." "Who's Dressler?" "Where is he, goddamn it?" "Where is Dressler?" "Police!" "Put your hands up!" " Where's Dressler?" " Are you Jack Ryan?" " Where's Dressler, goddamn it?" " Let him go!" "Where's Dressler?" "Where is he?" "Langley said you might need help." " I gotta get to the Pentagon." " I think I can help you with that." "Mr President." "Their Stealth bombers have left Aviano." "That is the sign." "Shoot them down." "God protect us." "Mr President, they're scrambling their fighters." "We're out of time." " Dave!" " He has a heart condition." " Get a doctor." " Mr President." " Where's your nitro?" " I said get a doctor!" " Mr President." " Take him to my quarters." "Colonel, bring in the launch codes." "Dressler's an Austrian manufacturer, billionaire." "His father was executed at Nuremberg." "He bought a seat in parliament and got booted out for saying pro-Nazi things." "Rudy, get me through to the President." "I can't do it, Jack." "They're in the snapcount." " There's no way in." " Bullshit." " I can do that for you, sir." " No, it's fine." "Got some dirt on it." " Can I see it?" "We're on high alert." " I understand." " Sir, put the card down." " Back off." " I am ordering you..." " Back off!" "Step back now!" "I am ordering you to take a step back!" "Put..." "General, there's a Dr Ryan from the CIA." "He wants to enter NMCC." "He's unescorted." " What's he want?" " You, sir." "I have a message from Director Cabot that I need to transmit over the hotline." " What's your authorisation?" " I don't have one." " Where's Cabot?" " Cabot's dead, sir." " I need to get this information sent." " Not without authorisation." "Get him out." "Wait!" "General!" "The President is basing his decisions on bad information!" "If you shut me out, your family and my family and 25 million other families will be dead in 30 minutes." "My orders are to get this information to the people who make the decisions." "I just need to send some information." "What makes you think the President will listen to you?" "He doesn't have to." "How close are the bombers?" "They're slipping in and out of radar over Poland." "Activate the missile regiments." "The launch sequence takes a minute to process after you give the order." "Before the order can be taken, an ID check must be performed." "Mine is the..." "My number is the third one... third number down from the top." "Your orders, sir?" " Strike." " I'm sorry, sir?" "I give the order to strike." "Under the two-man rule, the order to strike must now be confirmed." "Bob, for the love of God." "Just do it." "Sidney Owens, Secretary of State." "It's the fourth number down." "The order to strike has now been confirmed by the two-man rule." "NMCC, strike order has been confirmed." "Start the sequence." " We've got activity on the hotline." " They've had their chance." "No, somebody's talking to the Kremlin." "It says, "America has been the victim of a terrorist attack."" "As you can imagine, there has been much confusion here and fear." "But we know the weapon was not Russian." ""But we know the weapon was not Russian."" "What the hell is going on?" "Type exactly what I say." "Who are we talking to?" "Ryan." "I met you in Moscow with Bill Cabot." "He died today in Baltimore." " Cut him off." " Launch sequence has begun." "Two months ago, a neo-fascist named Dressler bought an A-bomb on the black market." " Cut him off." " The system can't be cut off." "Then get someone to stop him." " He paid three disaffected Russian..." " "scientists to make the bomb active."" ""He shipped it to the US, where a man named Mason"" "was hired to deliver the bomb and set our countries on a collision course." "This is madness." "He is CIA." "We cannot hang our fate on the word of their spy." "What is the harm of listening a bit more?" "What are you asking of me?" "Back down." "What guarantee do I have that President Fowler will follow suit?" "None." "You see?" "He is wasting time." "We must launch now." "We have only moments." "Sir, I know you had nothing to do with the Baltimore bomb and you know you didn't, but you're still about to launch a nuclear strike." " Yes, sir." "That's all, Dr Ryan." " This is about fear." "Fear of your missiles, fear of our subs." "Fear of being weak, of making a mistake, the fear of the other guy that had us build these bombs in the first place!" "It stopped." "They cut him off." "They are going to strike." "Prepare the launch orders now." "30 seconds to launch." "Oh, my God." "Mr President?" "We will maintain our defensive alert for the moment, but our offensive forces are withdrawn." ""If you match this, I propose a phased mutual stand down over five hours."" "Stop the launch sequence." "Lasseter here." "Flash override." "Stop the sequence!" "Order the planes to stand down." "Take us to DEFCON-3." "And would somebody ask Mr Ryan if I can use the phone now?" "You're still here." "There is no more fitting memorial for those who perished in this tragedy than the steps we've taken this week toward a multinational campaign to root out and eliminate weapons of mass destruction." "We embarked on this course because we have learned, at too great a cost, that if the most powerful weapons ever created are unleashed, they will be fired not in anger, but in fear." "Dr Ryan." "Mr Grushkov." "It is... a lovely day." "Yeah." " I'm sorry, this is..." " Dr Muller." "How do you do?" "Nice to meet you." "Why am I not surprised you know her name?" "Our friend William thought I was a spy." "Of course, he could never prove it." "He never told me you were friends." "Maybe he didn't know you well enough." "He told me he had a source in Russia." ""To keep the back channels open?"" ""In hopes of staving off disaster."" "Kennedy said, "Our most basic common link"" ""is that we all inhabit this small planet."" ""We all breathe the same air."" ""We all cherish our children's future..."" ""...and we're all mortal."" "I will miss... so very much talking to William." "Me too." "Perhaps from time to time you and I can talk." "Yeah, I'd like that." "What is this?" "A modest gift for your engagement." "He just asked me this morning." "We haven't told anybody about it." "How could you possibly know?"