"In 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel." "By Day Two, Israeli ground forces appeared on the verge of defeat." "In the event that their ground forces were overrun, an Israeli A-4 jet took off on patrol with one nuclear bomb." "Sure it's the Russians?" "One hundred percent, sir." "Submarine-launched, 1 2 to 1 5 megatons, and they went to strike status 1 5 minutes prior." "ClNCLANT reports the Roosevelt's splashed six incoming cruise missiles." "Russians are moving west through Poland." "If they head for Germany, we've got the Berlin Brigade, but they're outnumbered." "Sir, we've got another launch, this one from Alyesk, Central Russia." "I don't believe it." "What the hell's in Alyesk?" "SS-1 8 lCBMs." "Probable targets, New York, Washington, here." "How good is this ceiling?" "Anything but a direct hit." "Satellites confirm birds in the air, multiple launches, first impact estimated 25 minutes." "How do we know that's accurate?" "lt's accurate." "Sir, I advise we go to DEFCON-1 ." "Get President Zorkin on the hotline." "Zorkin is missing, sir." "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." "Sir, it'll take about a minute for the launch sequence to process after you give the order." "Before the order can be taken, an id check must be performed." "My lD number is fifth from the top." "Sir, it's your wife on 21 01 ." "Thank you." "Yeah." "Under the two-man rule, the order must be confirmed by someone on the approved list." "Gene Revell, National Security Advisor, second from the top." "is it black-tie?" "Okay, I'm on my way." "Can we finish this up some other time, huh?" "No?" "We've got to update these fire drills, Billy." "I mean, if the shit ever hits the fan, I'm not going underground." "The place is a goddamn tomb down there." "We also have to choose someone else to face off against besides the Russians all the time." "Do we?" "Let's see, who else has 27,000 nukes for us to worry about?" "It's the guy with one I'm worried about." "Speaking of Russia, I have to send some folks over there, inspect their nuclear decommissioning facility." "Place called Armazaz." "Arzamas." "Yeah, whatever." "Just think someone from your staff should be on the trip." "I'll go." "Billy, send staff." "I wanna go." "Okay." "And don't underestimate Zorkin, pal." "Between his economy, crime, Chechnya..." "His liver..." "What's left of it." "How is he, by the way?" "Well, he's scheduled a press conference for this afternoon, so at least we know he can sit up." "Why not negotiate?" "The interview is over." "Chechnya is part of Russia." "It is only criminals and their friends in the West who wish it to be separate." "But, Mr. President, if you will kindly come back, we do have a few more questions we would like to ask you." "You guys see what I see?" "His jacket." "Yeah, he used to be able to button it all the way up." "He's getting fat." "I know how he feels." "Oh, wow, look at that." "Maybe it's not the same jacket." "No..." "Yeah." "Yeah." "The one with shiny sleeves." "He wore it the last time he got out of the hospital." "He's definitely off the diet." "He's also off the wagon." "You hear how he slurred..." "That must be why Chelinski's hanging around, to keep him off the sauce." "Where's Chelinski?" "Next to..." "What's her name?" "The chick with the brown hair." "Elena Rishkov." "No, that is not Chelinski." "Busted. lt's Chelinski." "No." "You're thinking Cherpitski." "No, I'm not." "That ain't Cherpitski, either." "l know. lt's Chelinski." "No, it's not." "Believe..." "Trust me." "Look!" "He is standing next to Elena Rishkov." "He was banging her at the Geneva summit." "Chelinski was not at Geneva." "Cherpitski was at Geneva." "So, what are you saying?" "Cherpitski was banging Elena Rishkov?" "I'm just saying Zorkin's putting on weight, really." "I don't know why you have to reduce everything to sex. lt's just disgusting." "I agree." "Write it up." "And if he is putting on weight, that might have health consequences." "So be sure and get it in the afternoon brief." "Oh, and somebody find out who is banging Elena Rishkov." "This is good." "So 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've been writing of us, of Europe in the 21 st century." "Over 50 years ofAmerica 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 good-night 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." "Cool." "Good." "Hi." "You're still here?" "Well, I think to be accurate and everything, it's actually you who are still here." "Oh, right." "Yeah." "Not that I'm complaining." "Jack?" "I know this is new and all, but... I have something I have to say, or I'm gonna explode." "It's just..." "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." "l'm gonna get it." "No, wait, 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 totally understand." "Yes, this is Dr. Muller." "No!" "Muller." "You paged me?" "Hello?" "Stop." "Yes, this is Jack Ryan." "Jesus." "Okay, I'll be there in half an hour." "I gotta go. I have an emergency at work." "I have to run. I'm sorry." "Cathy, how about dinner tonight?" "Yeah." "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." "Eight and a half hours later, they swore in a new president." "Now, everybody wants to know who this new guy is." "Who is he?" "Alexander Nemerov." "You're kidding me." "l wrote a paper about him a year ago." "l know." "No, Mary Pat, I said he could be next." "I said he could be the next guy." "l predicted this." "l know. I know." "And nobody read it." "Yeah, they're reading it now, buddy." "Who?" "Cabot." "I've been here 14 months." "I don't think he knows what I look..." "Are you Ryan?" "Yes, sir." "What is this, The Paper Chase?" "Well, sir, my..." "Well, come on." "We're late." "You're about to breathe air that's way over your pay grade, so listen up." "You're gonna be asked for analysis and advice, so be goddamn sure you know what you're talking about before you give it." "Don't be afraid to say you don't know." "And choose your words carefully." "Words have a habit of being turned into policy." "Hey, you, give me your coat." "Come on, come on." "You'll get it back." "Tie." "So, intelligence Committee?" "I've watched these on C-SPAN." "Never actually been to one." "You'll never watch one of these on C-SPAN." "But our most important assessment comes from a highly-placed 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 that I was old, bald and ugly." "is that a question, Mr. Chairman?" "I told her, "Appearances aren't everything."" "Would you agree, Mr. Cabot?" "l certainly would, sir." "Now, this new fellow, Nezmeroz, is that his name?" "Nemerov, sir." "Well, despite what your source says, we hear that Nezmeroz is a hard-liner." "is he a hard-liner?" "No." "It's a bit too soon to make that assessment, sir." "Well, according to CNN, your Mr. Nezmeroz is making promises to rebuild the Russian Empire." "That sounds pretty rash from where l sit." "If I were sitting in Chechnya, I'd be even more worried." "Sir, Nemerov's just saying what he needs to say to get the hard-liners off his back." "If we leave him alone, Russia will stabilize." "If we push him, all bets are off." "When I asked for your advice, I didn't mean that you should actually speak." "Yes, sir." "Mr. Cabot..." "Mr. Chairman, some of our assets in the Russian government who actually know Mr. Nemerov have not had a chance to report in." "I'd like to take a couple of days and get more information for you before characterizing 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." "If I was out of line back there, I apologize." "Senators don't like to be surprised." "I always give them a hint of what it is I'm gonna tell them, then I give them a little 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 ClA, sport." "Well, your intelligence is a little flawed in this matter." "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 is afraid of commitment after three dates?" "Alert the media." "l know. I know." "So, what does he do?" "He was in the Marines before he hurt his back." "Now he's an 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. ln the Golan." "There was quite a lot of fighting there in 1 973." "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." "It's not the sort of thing you find lying around normally." "Absolutely not." "How did you come by it then?" "I found her in the attic of an old mansion house in an old part of glasgow." "All right." "Your little trip to the attic actually has got you a piece worth now the best part of £ 1000, even in this condition." "And had she been in better condition, even more." "So, a jolly nice find." "Hello?" "Cathy." "Hi. I'm so glad you called." "I'm running a little late. I'm sorry." "Can you come, like, a half an hour later?" "I can't make it." "I'm really sorry." "It was a last-minute work thing." "What's that noise?" "I'm calling from a plane." "Look, this just came up, and I tried to call you at the hospital, but they..." "Where are you going?" "I can't tell you that." "Jack." "You can't tell me where you're going?" "Jack?" "Hold on one second." "Yes, sir." "What are you doing?" "Oh, I had a date tonight, so I had to call and cancel." "Oh, don't be stupid." "Tell her where you're going." "In fact, tell her who you work for." "She'll be impressed." "Okay." "I work for the ClA and the director asked me at the last minute to come with him to Russia to do a nuclear arms inspection." "Hello?" "That is so lame." "Cathy, I swear." "It's because of the START Treaty." "We get to inspect to make sure they're decommissioning their nuclear arsenal." "Hello?" "Thanks." "Thanks a lot." "Zdravstvuyte, William Cabot." "President Nemerov." "Pleasure, sir." "May I present Mrs. Lathrop?" "Mr." "President." "General Rand." "Mr." "President." "And Dr. Ryan." "Mr." "President." "You must be the Dr. Ryan who's done such interesting research on me." "You should not be surprised by this." "We know quite a bit." "For instance, we know how wrong you were in your report 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 you." "Well, in that case, so do I." "First, let me apologize for interjecting myself in your inspection tour." "But there is a message I wish for you to take back to President Fowler." "Well, 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, 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." "There are those in my country who will use this issue to weaken me." "There are those in my country who 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?" "Been lurking around since Brezhnev, plays all sides and nobody's had the guts to get rid of him." "is that because he knows where all the bodies are buried?" "Probably because he buried them himself." "And we were able to obtain a roster of their scientists at Arzamas, who's who, what their expertise is." "Arzamas 1 6th is home to the All Russian Scientific Research lnstitute of Experimental Physics, and is the birthplace of our first atomic bomb." "Many of our greatest scientists worked here, and many still do." "Since 1 995 1 0,000 nuclear devices under the cooperative threat reduction program." "But this is the first time..." "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?" ""l am a bomb technician." ""lf you see me running, try to catch up."" "Okay." "Sir?" "I'm sorry." "Just one quick thing." "I'm sure it's nothing." "According to this, there are 1 7 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 memorized." "I assumed you would ask, Dr. Ryan." "Okay." "We touch down at Andrews at 21 30." "Tell him to meet me there." "Sir, those three missing scientists?" "Milinov's expertise is detonators." "Spassky's expertise is the package, the nuclear core itself." "And Orlov is a mathematician whose expertise is the geometry of high explosives inside a fission bomb." "Exact three men you would need if you wanted to build a bomb." "Grushkov would have us believe..." "Grushkov's a liar." "Milinov is not sick, Orlov hasn't taken a vacation in years, and Spassky, who was supposed to die driving a car, doesn't drive." "They have no idea where these guys are." "I'm dying to ask you how you know that." "Secure source inside the Kremlin." "Code name Spinnaker." "He gives me stuff. I give him stuff." "We keep the back channels open in hopes of staving off disaster." "Oh, and speaking of disaster, did you call your girlfriend yet?" "No. I haven't figured out how I'm gonna dig myself out of this one." "All right, listen." "Call her up, and invite her to the White House Correspondents' Dinner Sunday night." "It's the hottest ticket in town." "She'll love it." "That 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 thought I wasn't doing this anymore." "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 under the name of John Clark." "You do have a tux?" "Yeah." "Yes, sir." "My beautiful wife, Julie, is from New Jersey, 1 5 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, huh?" "Yeah, it's beautiful." "My friend Rita stayed here once." "She said it was real nice." "Maybe after dinner we can... I don't know, we could get a room here." "I already did." "No, you didn't." "Yes, I did." "...I did, on a handful of occasions, smoke marijuana." "California, 54 electoral votes." "At approximately 0600, Moscow time, the Russians launched a massive artillery strike against Grozny, the capital of Chechnya." "The shells contained an experimental chemical weapon known as the Novichok binary nerve agent." "Saturation, you can see it on those infrared sat photos, took 20 minutes." "After which, every man, woman and child inside a radius of roughly 1 2 miles was rendered helpless by symptoms approximating acute, late-stage cerebral palsy." "Oh, my God." "How many dead?" "Best guess, 80%." "Which means Nemerov just launched the most massive attack in the history of chemical warfare." "Let's talk response." "Worst thing we could do is nothing." "l agree." "If you let him get away with chemical weapons, what's next?" "Biological?" "Nuclear?" "Okay." "Short of gassing the Kremlin, what's the strongest response we can make?" "We send in peacekeepers." "Chechnya's not sovereign." "Look, they requested recognition, so we recognize them." "Not full diplomatic recognition." "Provisional." "Then we get the Chechens to request emergency international assistance, and we send in peacekeepers." "How do you get them in there?" "The fastest way would be to fly them in from Turkey." "Over Armenian airspace?" "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?" "Mr. President, conventional wisdom would suggest 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 walks like a hard-liner." "He talks like a hard-liner." "Yes, but with all due respect, I don't think he is one." "He just gassed the capital of another country, Doctor." "With all due 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 rogue general or a splinter military unit frustrated they couldn't get the rest of the rebels out of the city?" "Have you any 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." "If I could ask senior staff to remain behind for a few minutes, please." "I'm sorry, Roger, we're going to have to interrupt you right now, because we're going back to Moscow where Russia's newly installed president, Alexander Nemerov, has just begun to address the state." "We join him in progress." "For 10 years now, we have contended..." "Excuse me, sir." "Would you mind turning that up just a little?" "...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." "And 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?" "Because he won't live long enough to receive it." "Where is the package?" "lt left Haifa a week ago." "I'm told these things can kill you." "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." "Perhaps we were hasty." "Perhaps our plan is..." "ls 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." "Mason, 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." "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." "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." "accordingly, NATO forces are on their way to Chechnya to serve as peacekeepers, and to provide desperately needed humanitarian relief for the victims of this monstrous... I expected this." "Really?" "What will you do?" "Nothing." "We will do nothing." "These are four hours old." "Russian 1 2th, 1 5th and 2nd tank regiments." "They haven't moved." "Why haven't they moved?" "Nemerov is too smart to move those tanks." "He speaks." "Jack, look." "Nemerov's got, like, what, 1 9,000 tanks?" "No way NATO can match that." "I know, that's why he's not gonna move them." "It's like a chess game." "He's just thinking three moves ahead." "He knows he has so many more tanks than we do." "The NATO playbook says the only way we could stop them is using tactical nuclear weapons." "And there's no way he wants to 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 was able to collect records of all calls made to that number last night and trace it back to here." "It's an abandoned Soviet army base outside of Cherkassy on the Kremenchug Reservoir." "What are three Russian atomic scientists doing in Ukraine?" "Fair guess, they're building a bomb." "I mean, Nemerov has thousands of bombs." "Why does he need to build a secret one?" "Deniability." "Build one nobody knows about, he could drive it to Chechnya in the trunk of his Beemer." "No way to track it." "No way to trace it." "He could set it off, and sit back and say, "l didn't do it."" "With all due respect, sir, 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... lt's completely corroded." "At least you're wearing gloves." "Anyone want to light up an American cigarette?" "You're crazy." "I'm going out." "...must be replaced and machined to a thousandth of a millimeter in a mathematically-determined configuration." "Do we have a bomb?" "First, we must analyze the yield..." "Spassky." "Do we have a bomb?" "Yes." "Yes, we do." "This is a test." "Yeah." "Answer it." "No." "Answer it." "You sure?" "Yeah." "Hello?" "Yes." "Yes, sir." "I have to go outside forjust a second, okay?" "I'll be right back." "One second." "Sir, I write reports." "I reviewed your military records, Jack." "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?" "Okay, Clark." "This is three days ago, and it shows vehicles here, guards here and here." "I gotta get one of those." "Now, the infrared satellite was in position 34 hours ago and took this photograph that shows guards here, here." "I don't even have e-mail." "There are two more at the checkpoint, between two and five in the barracks, and two with the package, which we believe to be right here." "No problem." "Give me a couple of guys, a box of tranquilizer darts, if we're lucky, we can be out in six minutes." "Well, actually, there is a problem." "What's that?" "Well, this is yesterday." "No guards visible at all." "And 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, no." "Besides, I'm an analyst." "I don't... I don't go on the, you know, missions." "Relax, 007, it's not a mission." "It's just a recce." "Okay, fine." "Whatever you call it." "I don't do that. I just write reports." "Okay." "So write a report about it." "Suit up." "Clark, no." "You're..." "Clark?" "No." "So, Cabot tells me you got my tickets to the correspondents' dinner." "Have a good time?" "Never been to one of those." "Was actually kind of looking forward to it." "Clark." "What?" "No." "l'm not going in there." "You're goddamn right you're not." "You're gonna stay and make sure nobody steals my boat." "Be right back." "Oh, jeez." "Oh, God." "Immigration didn't call you guys, huh?" "I'm sorry." "You speak English?" "I don't speak much Ukrainian." "You?" "Look, I know this doesn't look good, but it's not what you think." "I'm an American citizen." "I have my papers..." "Okay, okay." "No papers." "Please, just put the gun down, all right?" "The light?" "Put the light down?" "Okay." "Okay." "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 pretty deep, too, so we know three things for sure." "It was heavy, something was radioactive, and now it's gone." "You said one of them spoke English?" "South African." "Okay, so the question is, 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'd 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 a 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." "So what'd you find?" "Ukraine doesn't exactly have a thriving export economy, but it's all lined up." "I pulled up every shipping manifest for the past two weeks." "The only crate the size of that imprint was picked up at Kiev International 1 0 days ago and flown to the Canary Islands." "Well, I can't find Cabot, so the Air Force has a nuclear assessment team." "Call them..." "Jack!" "Jack, Jack." "It got put on a cargo freighter, headed for the East Coast." "What?" "Baltimore, Jack." "It's coming here." "And it's another spectacular view from the Budweiser blimp," "as we count down to game time." "Can't wait for that." "We'll have all the rest of the pre-game festivities, as well as the arrival of the nation's number-one football fan, in just 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" "All right then, get me the duty officer." "And the home of the brave" "Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States," "Robert Fowler!" "Show time." "Shit." "Fifteen yard penalty." "First down!" "That's right!" "Shit." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Sir!" "Hello?" "Sir!" "Shit!" "Yeah." "Cabot." "It's Ryan!" "What?" "The bomb is in play!" "Dillon's called the AFRAT team!" "They're meeting me at the docks in 20 minutes" "to see if we can find it!" "Docks?" "What docks?" "Baltimore." "You're breaking up." "What did you say?" "Baltimore!" "Look, I'm losing you." "l'll call you back from a different phone." "Baltimore!" "Sir?" "John!" "Reggie!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Excuse me!" "Excuse me!" "Let's go!" "Move!" "Move!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "What the hell is going on?" "Sir, please stay down." "Some Russian scientists have been working on a bomb." "Nuclear." "It arrived in Baltimore this morning." "Get those people out of the stadium." "We're on it!" "Stay down!" "Well, all we know is the president has been taken off..." "Hey, Cathy. 407." "Thanks, J.J." "He could be ill, he could be injured, we have no..." "clearly something has happened of tremendous proportion." "We have no word yet, or confirmation as to what, but there is an enormous cloud over the..." "Let's go!" "Go, go, go!" "Mr. President!" "Mr. President!" "Are you all right?" "He's stuck!" "He's stuck!" "Get out of the way." "Mr. President!" "Are you all right?" "Are you all right, Mr. President?" "This is the Marines to take you home." "I need your help, Danny!" "Alvarez!" "Get me a stretcher!" "Now!" "You got that stretcher?" "No, I don't want one." "Okay." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Let's go!" "Move it!" "Move it!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Close them 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?" "I don't know." "Somewhere outside Baltimore." "Listen, Cabot got the president out." "Where's the president now?" "They're taking him airborne." "He's on NAOC." "Why?" "They think it might be the Russians." "It wasn't the Russians." "I gotta talk to Cabot." "Can you patch me through to the plane?" "Cabot's not on the plane." "We don't know where he is." "We just know he's not there." "Can you call back in about an hour?" "We don't have an hour!" "Fowler's gonna want to show how tough he is!" "He's gonna hit back now!" "Listen to me." "We have to prove that it wasn't the Russians before he's convinced it is." "Well, can you get back to Langley?" "No, we..." "There's no time!" "There must be a command post on site." "The Radiation Assessment Team." "Where are they?" "StambIer tunnels, south of the city." "Jack, listen." "The prevailing winds are blowing the fallout to the east and the north." "As long as you stay south, you're okay." "Mr. President, are you all right?" "Jesus, Gene, how the hell do you think I am?" "How many casualties?" "We don't know." "Cabot said it was Russian." "How the hell did it get in there?" "We don't know." "Radar didn't pick it up, so it wasn't a missile." "How is Cabot?" "Where is he?" "l don't know." "Well, what do you know?" "l don't know, all right?" "I don't know!" "All right, all right." "I don't know, for Christ's sake!" "General, Prozain and Kondor aren't on board!" "Mr. President?" "I recommend that we move to DEFCON-2." "We don't even know where that came from." "Where is our intelligence?" "Russian air defenses have moved to their highest level." "Maybe they're afraid of being attacked, and I can't get this goddamn chair to open!" "We're about to take off." "We don't know who did it!" "We don't know where we are!" "We think the Russians are at highest alert." "Excuse me." "You think?" "Sir?" "DEFCON-2?" "We're groping in the dark here so..." "This is too much goddamn bullshit!" "Not enough fact." "The blast crater is about 100, maybe 1 50 yards wide, which suggests a relatively low-yield device." "Quite a bit smaller than, say, the Hiroshima bomb." "Maybe a quarter of a square mile around the stadium is just..." "Just gone." "But beyond that, buildings remain, though heavily damaged for a mile or so." "Then the damage appears to taper off the farther you get from ground zero." "Dubinin." "Herr Haft has left for America." "And now we are counting on you." "I assure you, I will earn every penny." "Attention." "You've heard of the bomb in the USA." "What you haven't heard is that 1 5 minutes ago an American lCBM hit Moscow." "We are to retaliate against an American aircraft carrier in the North Sea." "Man your aircraft." "The ash isn't radioactive, and the prevailing winds are blowing the fallout to sea." "Captain?" "Jack Ryan, cia." "Lorna Shiro." "You need to wait outside, with everybody else." "I don't think so. I need to know everything you know about the bomb." "Look, pal, we're collecting samples, and then we have to analyze the debris." "So, take a number, get in line, and we'll have the report out tomorrow." "Captain." "Captain." "I don't have time for this." "I need to know where this bomb came from." "I will settle for where it didn't come from, but I need to know now, otherwise there may not be a tomorrow." "Shit." "Wesson, where are you?" "About a quarter mile from ground zero." "Does this work?" "I think this is about as far as we go." "Our feet are sizzling." "And I'm getting rads here nearly the limit of our gear." "Okay." "Cut the rover loose and get the hell out of there." "Roger that." "Dillon." "The crate the bomb was shipped in." "Somebody had to sign for it when it got to port." "Customs must have a database." "Get me a name." "And where's Cabot?" "No one knows." "We're checking the hospitals." "Have you tried Memorial?" "He wouldn't be there." "It's on the other side..." "No, I mean, is it..." "is it still... lt's Cathy's hospital." "As far as I know, it's still there." "But the phones are down." "All right." "Can you keep checking for me?" "Thanks." "Now, they could have launched a cruise missile." "DSP sats might not have picked it up." "Just a minute." "We don't know that this is Russia." "We don't know it's not." "Look, if they were sending us a message like, "Stay out of Chechnya,"" "the whole point would be for us to know it was them, not to sneak one in." "Except that they could inspire the kind of dithering and confusion that we're going through right now." "Mr. President, we're uplinked." "President Nemerov, a short time ago, there was a major nuclear event on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States." "Loss of life is severe." "lt 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." ""lf 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." "They prepared that in advance." "President Nemerov, we have 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." "lncrease the alert status." "TAO, EW, I'm picking up intermittent radar bearing 020." "Where?" "Now it's gone." "There!" "It's a weak signal." "Low on the horizon." "TAO, air sup. inbound contact!" "Multiples on the same bearing!" "Vampire!" "Vampire!" "Fast movers inbound!" "I got seven, eight, nine of them!" "That the missiles came from Russian aircraft, there is no question." "Grennel thinks that he can save the ship, but flight ops are definitely out." "I ordered no such attack." "You must not respond to this action until we investigate all possibilities." ""...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." "Look, John Clark was in Haifa yesterday." "I don't know where he is today, but he may have something, so we have to find him right away." "Wow." "Check out that gadolinium reading." "The mass fraction is huge." "Okay." "Connect me to Dillon, will you?" "I'll hold." "There it is." "Savannah River." "Oh, yeah." ""Oh, yeah," what?" "They always had that gadolinium problem." "Hanford does it another way." "They always generate too much promethium." "Hold on a second." "Can you translate that into English for me?" "This plutonium came from the DOE plant at Savannah River," "February of '68 from K reactor." "You can even tell which part of K reactor." "Wait a minute." "This is our plutonium?" "Made in the USA." "Dillon, you gotta find Cabot for me. I..." "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, for God's sake!" "lt's not reasonable!" "Sidney!" "God damn it!" "They practically sank an aircraft carrier." "Their missile silos are hot." "We're getting nothing but bullshit from Nemerov." "And let's not forget how this thing started, okay?" "They tried to kill me, remember?" "So don't fucking tell me to be reasonable!" "Sir." "Hey." "Pres..." "What?" "President." "The president's fine." "He's fine." "Sir, the bomb." "The plutonium." "What?" "Wife." "Your wife?" "I'm sure she's fine." "She's in D.C." "The blast radius wasn't that... lt wasn't that wide." "Here." "Sir, now listen to me." "The plutonium was ours." "John Clark's in Haifa right now trying to track down the arms dealer." "I can't get a 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." "Jack, just got in." "We found the receiver address for the crate." "Okay." "Yeah." "Port of Baltimore." "Can you get to the docks?" "Yeah." "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." "We'll counterforce." "A conventional attack on the Russian air base where the carrier attack originated." "It's what we're looking for." "A measured response." "Non-nuclear." "ls it strong enough?" "Smart bombs and F-1 6s." "Pretty goddamn strong." "Can't afford for them to see us as weak." "They've gotta know we have the guts to take it to the next level." "I think they'll get that message." "Hit them." "eagle's Nest, this is eagle One." "We have target acquired." "Target is lit." "Goodbye." "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." "Everyone, can I have your attention, please?" "The generator has gone out." "I don't want anyone to move, because there's too much broken glass everywhere." "Just stay where you are." "We will get back to..." "Okay, fine." "Please stay where you are." "We're going to get you one by one." "Sir, can you hear me?" "Can you feel your arms and legs?" "A nine percent iv morphine drip, okay?" "Sir, we're going to take care of you, all right?" "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, you have a call from Langley." "Thank you." "Becker." "This is Jack Ryan from the Russia desk." "Oh, great, the Nemerov apologist." "Sir, this bomb was not Nemerov." "I know this guy." "That's what you said after Grozny, Mr. Ryan." "Put it in your report." "The plutonium came from..." "Seems unusual to find radiation poisoning all the way out here." "I have never, myself, seen such a thing." "That is why we published the case on the Internet, to seek help." "How'd 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 that anything you say to me stays between us." "My friend and I find bomb." "We sell to 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 massive nuclear strike." "Find and kill their subs, knock out whatever planes they have on the ground and mobilize 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 he can do with those 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 believe he'll keep his 300 nukes." "It's still a credible deterrent against some 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." "Jack, we're in Olson's files." "He shows wire payments of $45 million from someone named Dressler." "Dillon, go run Dressler." "Find out who he is." "Jack, I really want you out of there." "I'm at the docks." "I think there's somebody inside." "See if the name Dressler's anywhere." "No!" "Jack, get out of there." "Dillon, call the Baltimore PD." "Give them the address." "Jack, wait for the cops." "I'll call you back." "Wait." "Who's Dressler?" "Huh?" "Where is he, God damn it?" "Where is Dressler?" "Police!" "Put your hands up!" "Where's Dressler?" "Where's Dressler?" "Are you Jack Ryan?" "Where's Dressler?" "Where's Dressler, God damn it?" "Let him go." "Let him go." "Where's Dressler?" "Where is he?" "Ryan, they said you might need some help." "No." "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, the Russians are scrambling their fighters." "We're out of time." "Dave!" "He has a heart condition." "Get a doctor." "Mr." "President." "Dave, where's your nitro?" "l said get a doctor in here!" "Mr." "President!" "Dave, do you have your medication on you?" "Take him to my quarters." "Yes, sir." "Colonel, bring in the launch codes." "Okay." "DressIer's an Austrian manufacturer, billionaire." "His father was executed at Nuremberg." "Five years ago he bought himself a seat in Parliament, then he got booted out for saying nice things about the Nazis." "Rudy, you gotta get me through to the president." "I can't do it, Jack." "Come on." "Get me through." "They're into SNAPCOUNT." "There's no way in." "Bullshit!" "l can do that for you, sir." "No, that's fine. I got it. lt's fine." "l got some dirt on the card." "Can I see that card, sir?" "We're on a high alert." "No." "No, I understand." "Put the card down, please." "Take a step back." "Back off." "Hold on a second!" "l am ordering you!" "Back off!" "Take a step back!" "Now!" "I am ordering you to take a step back immediately, sir!" "Put..." "General, there's a Dr. Ryan from the ClA." "He wants to enter NMCC." "He's unescorted, sir." "What's he want?" "You, sir." "Sir, my name is Jack Ryan." "I have an urgent message from Director Cabot that I need to transmit over the hotline immediately." "What's your authorization?" "l don't have an authorization." "Well, then where's Cabot?" "Cabot's dead, sir." "I just need to get this information sent, please." "Not without authorization, you don't." "Get him out of here." "What?" "Wait a minute!" "General, the president is basing his decisions on some really bad information right now." "And 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 the right information to the people who make the decisions." "I just need to send some information." "What makes you think the president will even 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." "You have about a minute for the launch sequence 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 order, sir?" "Strike." "l'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, this is Lasseter." "Strike order has been confirmed." "Start the sequence." "We've got activity on the hotline." "They've had their chance." "No, 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."" ""Repeat." "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, who died today in Baltimore." "Cut him off." "We can't." "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 is set up so you can't cut it off." "That's the whole idea." "Then get somebody down there 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 to the target and set our countries on a collision course." "This is madness." "He is ClA." "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. I know you had nothing to do with the Baltimore bomb, and you sure as hell know you didn't." "You're still about to launch a nuclear strike against us." "Yes, sir." "This no longer has anything to do with Baltimore..." "That's all, Dr. Ryan." "It's about our fear of your missiles, your fear of our subs." "Move away from the keyboard." "Fear of being weak, of making a mistake." "Sergeant, move away from the keyboard!" "Same fear the other guy has who built these goddamn bombs in the first place!" "It stopped." "They cut him off." "They are going to strike." "Prepare the launch orders now." "Thirty seconds to launch." "Oh, my God." "Mr. President?" "We will maintain our defensive alert for the moment, but our offensive forces are withdrawn." ""And if you match our move, I propose a phased mutual stand-down" ""over the next five hours."" "Stop the launch sequence." "Lasseter here." "Flash override." "Stop the sequence!" "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 have taken this week toward a multinational campaign to root out and eliminate weapons of mass destruction." "We embark upon this course, because we have finally learned, at far 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." "Oh, I'm sorry." "This is..." "Dr." "Muller." "How do you do?" "Nice to meet you." "Why am I not surprised that 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." "Perhaps he didn't know you well enough." "Cabot did tell me he had a source in Russia." "To keep the back channels open." "In hopes of staving off disaster." "Forty years ago President 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 are 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 did you..." "How could you possibly know?"