tc.redstormrising-第2章

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Already；　automatic　alarms　were　erupting　around　him　in　the　control　room。　The　master　status　board　showed　four　growing　fires　whose　borders　were　defined　by　blinking　red　lights。　Tolkaze　walked　to　the　master　puter　and　ripped　out　the　tape　spool　that　contained　the　digital　control　codes。　The　spares　were　in　the　vault　downstairs。　and　the　only　men　within　ten　kilometers　who　knew　its　bination　were　in　this　room…dead。　Mohammet　was　busily　ripping　out　every　telephone　in　the　room。　The　whole　building　shook　with　the　explosion　of　a　gasoline　storage　tank　two　kilometers　away。
The　crashing　sound　of　a　hand　grenade　announced　another　move　by　the　KGB　troops。　Rasul　returned　fire；　and　the　screams　of　dying　men　nearly　equaled　the　earsplitting　fire…alarm　klaxons。　Tolkaze　hurried　over　to　the　corner。　The　floor　there　was　slick　with　blood。　He　opened　the　door　to　the　electrical　fuse　box；　flipped　the　main　circuit　breaker；　then　fired　his　pistol　into　the　box。　Whoever　tried　to　set　things　aright　would　also　have　to　work　in　the　dark。
He　was　done。　Ibrahim　saw　that　his　massive　friend　had　been　mortally　hit　in　the　chest　by　grenade　fragments。　He　was　wobbling；　struggling　to　stay　erect　at　the　door；　guarding　his　rades　to　the　last。
〃　'I　take　refuge　in　the　Lord　of　the　worlds；'　〃　Tolkaze　called　out　defiantly　to　the　security　troops；　who　spoke　not　a　word　of　Arabic。　〃　'The　King　of　men；　the　God　of　men；　from　the　evil　of　the　whispering　devil…'　〃
The　KGB　sergeant　leaped　around　the　lower　landing　and　his　first　burst　tore　the　rifle　from　Rasul's　bloodless　hands。　Two　hand　grenades　arched　through　the　air　as　the　sergeant　disappeared　back　around　the　er。
There　was　no　place…and　no　reason…to　run。　Mohammet　and　Ibrahim　stood　immobile　in　the　doorway　as　the　grenades　bounced　and　skittered　across　the　tiled　floor。　Around　them　the　whole　world　seemed　to　be　catching　fire；　and　because　of　them；　the　whole　world　really　would。
〃Allahu　akhbar！〃

SUNNYVALE；　CALIFORNIA
〃God　almighty！〃　the　chief　master　sergeant　breathed。　The　fire　which　had　begun　in　the　gasoline/diesel　section　of　the　refinery　had　been　sufficient　to　alert　a　strategic　early…warning　satellite　in　geosynchronous　orbit　twenty…four　thousand　miles　above　the　Indian　Ocean。　The　signal　was　down　linked　to　a　top…security　U。S。　Air　Force　post。
The　senior　watch　officer　in　the　Satellite　Control　Facility　was　an　Air　Force　colonel。　He　turned　to　his　senior　technician：　〃Map　it。〃
〃Yes；　sir。〃　The　sergeant　typed　a　mand　into　his　console；　which　told　the　satellite　cameras　to　alter　their　sensitivity。　With　the　flaring　on　the　screen　reduced；　the　satellite　rapidly　pinpointed　the　source　of　the　thermal　energy。　A　puter…controlled　map　on　the　screen　adjacent　to　the　visual　display　gave　them　an　exact　location　reference。　〃Sir；　that's　an　oil　refinery　fire。　Jeez；　and　it　looks　like　a　real　pisser！　Colonel；　we　got　a　Big　Bird　pass　in　twenty　minutes　and　the　course　track　is　within　a　hundred　twenty　kilometers。〃
〃Uh…huh；〃　the　colonel　nodded。　He　watched　the　screen　closely　to　make　sure　that　the　heat　source　was　not　moving；　his　right　hand　lifting　the　Gold　Phone　to　NORAD　headquarters；　Cheyenne　Mountain；　Colorado。
〃This　is　Argus　Control。　I　have　Flash　Traffic　for　CINC…NORAD。
〃Wait　one；〃　said　the　first　voice。
〃This　is　CINC…NORAD；〃　said　the　second；　mander…in…Chief　of　the　North　American　Aerospace　Defense　mand。
〃Sir；　this　is　Colonel　Burnette　at　Argus　Control。　We　show　a　massive　thermal　energy　reading　at　coordinates　sixty　degrees　fifty　minutes　north；　seventy…six　degrees　forty　minutes　east。　The　site　is　listed　as　a　POL　refinery。　The　thermal　source　is　not；　repeat　not　moving。　We　have　a　KH…11　pass　close　to　the　source　in　two…zero　minutes。　My　preliminary　evaluation；　General；　is　that　we　have　a　major　oil…field　fire　here。〃
〃They're　not　doing　a　laser…flash　on　your　bird？〃　CINC…NORAD　asked。　There　was　always　a　possibility　the　Soviets　were　trying　to　play　games　with　their　satellite。
〃Negative。　The　light　source　covers　infrared　and　all　of　the　visible　spectrum；　not；　repeat　not；　monochromatic。　We'll　know　more　in　a　few　minutes；　sir。　So　far　everything　is　consistent　with　a　massive　ground　fire。〃
Thirty　minutes　later　they　were　sure。　The　KH…11　reconnaissance　satellite　came　over　the　horizon　close　enough　for　all　of　its　eight　television　cameras　to　catalog　the　chaos。　A　side…link　transmitted　the　signal　to　a　geosynchronous　munications　satellite；　and　Burnette　was　able　to　watch　it　all　〃in　real　time。〃　Live　and　in　color。　The　fire　had　already　engulfed　half　of　the　refinery　plex　and　more　than　half　of　the　nearby　production　field；　with　more　burning　crude　oil　spreading　from　the　ruptured　pipeline　onto　the　river　Ob'。　They　were　able　to　watch　the　fire　spread；　the　flames　carried　rapidly　before　a　forty…knot　surface　wind。　Smoke　obscured　much　of　the　area　on　visible　light；　but　infrared　sensors　penetrated　it　to　show　many　heat　sources　that　could　only　be　vast　pools　of　oil　products　burning　intensely　on　the　ground。　Burnette's　sergeant　was　from　east　Texas；　and　had　worked　as　a　boy　in　the　oil　fields。　He　keyed　up　daylight　photographs　of　the　site　and　pared　them　with　the　adjacent　visual　display　to　determine　what　parts　of　the　refinery　had　already　ignited。
〃Goddamn；　Colonel。〃　The　sergeant　shook　his　head　reverently。　He　spoke　with　quiet　expertise。　〃The　refinery…well；　it's　gone；　sir。　That　fire'll　spread　in　front　of　that　wind；　and　ain't　no　way　in　hell　they'll　stop　it。　The　refinery's　gone；　total　loss；　burn　maybe　three；　four　days…maybe　a　week；　parts　of　it。　And　unless　they　find　a　way　to　stop　it；　looks　like　the　production　field　is　going　to　go；　too；　sir。　By　next　pass；　sir；　it'll　all　be　burnin'；　all　those　wellheads　spillin'　burnin'　o'l　。　。　。　Lordy。　I　don't　even　think　Red　Adair　would　want　any　part　of　this　job！〃
〃Nothing　left　of　the　refinery？　Hmph。〃　Burnette　watched　a　tape　rerun　of　the　Big　Bird　pass。　〃It's　their　newest　and　biggest；　ought　to　put　a　dent　in　their　POL　production　while　they　rebuild　that　from　scratch。　And　once　they　get　those　field　fires　put　out；　they'll　have　to　rearrange　their　gas　and　diesel　production　quite　a　bit。　I'll　say　one　thing　for　Ivan。　　When　he　has　an　industrial　accident；　he　doesn't　screw　around。　A　major　inconvenience　for　our　Russian　friends；　Sergeant。〃
The　analysis　was　confirmed　the　next　day　by　the　CIA；　and　the　day　after　that　by　the　British　and　French　security　services。
They　were　all　wrong。

2　…　Odd　Man　In

DATE…TIME　01/31…06：　15　COPY　01　of　01　SOVIET　FIRE
BC…Soviet　Fire；　Bjt；　1809…FL…
Disastrous　Fire　Reported　in　Soviet　Nizhnevartovsk　Oil　Field…FL…
EDS：　Moved　in　advance　for　WEDNESDAY　PMs…FL…
By　William　Blake　…FC…
AP　Military/Intelligence　Writer
WASHINGTON　（AP）　　〃The　most　serious　oil　field　fire　since　the　Mexico　City　disaster　of　1984；　or　even　the　Texas　City　fire　of　1947；〃　sundered　the　darkness　in　the　central　region　of　the　Soviet　Union　today；　according　to　military　and　intelligence　sources　in　Washington。
The　fire　was　detected　by　American　〃National　Technical　Means；〃　a　term　that　generally　denotes　reconnaissance　satellites　operated　by　the　Central　Intelligence　Agency。　CIA　sources　declined　ment　on　the　incident。
Sources　in　the　Pentagon　confirmed　this　report；　noting　that　the　energy　given　off　by　the　fire　was　sufficient　to　cause　a　brief　stir　in　the　North　American　Aerospace　Defense　mand；　which　was　concerned　that　the　fire　was　a　possible　missile　launch　directed　at　the　United　States；　or　an　attempt　to　blind　American　Early…Warning　satellites　with　a　laser　or　other　ground…based　device。
At　no　time；　the　source　pointed　out；　was　there　any　thought　of　increasing　American　alert　levels；　or　of　bringing　American　nuclear　forces　to　higher　states　of　readiness。　〃It　was　all　over　in　less　than　thirty　minutes；〃　the　source　said。
No　confirmation　was　received　from　the　Russian　news　agency；　TASS；　but　the　Soviets　rarely　publish　reports　of　such　incidents。
The　fact　that　American　officials　referred　to　two　epic　industrial　accidents　is　an　indication　that　many　fatalities　might　result　from　this　major　fire。　Defense　sources　were　unwilling　to　speculate　on　the　possibility　of　civilian　casualties。　The　city　of　Nizhnevartovsk　is　bordered　by　the　petroleum　plex。
The　Nizhnevartovsk　oil　production　field　accounts　for　roughly　31。3　percent　of　total　Soviet　crude　oil；　according　to　the　American　Petroleum　Institute；　and　the　adjacent；　newly　built　Nizhnevartovsk　refinery　for　approximately　17。3　percent　of　petroleum　distillate　production。
〃Fortunately　for　them；〃　Donald　Evans；　a　spokesman　for　the　Institute　explained；　〃oil　underground　is　pretty　hard　to　burn；　and　you　can　expect　the　fire　to　burn　itself　out　in　a　few　days。〃　The　refinery；　however；　depending　on　how　much　of　it　was　involved；　could　be　a　major　expense。　〃When　they　go；　they　usually　go　pretty　big；〃　Evans　said。　〃But　the　Russians　have　sufficient　excess　refining　capacity　to　take　up　the　slack；　especially　with　all　the　work　they've　been　doing　at　their　Moscow　plex。〃
Evans　was　unable　to　speculate　on　the　cause　of　the　fire；　saying；　〃The　climate　could　have　something　to　do　with　it。　We　had　a　few　problems　in　the　Alaskan　fields　that　took　some　careful　work　to　solve。　Beyond　that；　any　refinery　is　a　potential　Disneyland　for　fire；　and　there　simply　is　no　substitute　for　intelligent；　careful；　well…trained　crews　to　run　them。〃
This　is　the　latest　in　a　series　of　setbacks　to　the　Soviet　oil　industry。　It　was　admitted　only　last　fall　at　the　plenum　of　the　munist　Party　Central　mittee　that　production　goals　in　both　the　Eastern　Siberian　fields　〃had　not　entirely　fulfilled　earlier　hopes。〃
This　seemingly　mild　statement　is　being　seen　in　Western　circles　as　a　stinging　indictment　of　the　policies　of　now…departed　Petroleum　Industry　minister　Zatyzhin；　since　replaced　by　Mikhail　Sergetov；　former　chief　of　the　Leningrad　Party　apparatus；　regarded　as　a　rising　star　in　the　Soviet　Party。　A　technocrat　with　a　background　of　engineering　and　Party　work；　Sergetov's　task　of　reorganizing　the　Soviet　oil　industry　is　seen　as　a　task　that　could　last　years。
AP…BA…01…31　0501EST…FL
**END　OF　STORY**

MOSCOW；　R。S。F。S。R。
Mikhail　Eduardovich　Sergetov　never　had　a　chance　to　read　the　wire　service　report。　Summoned　from　his　official　dacha　in　the　birch　forests　surrounding　Moscow；　he'd　flown　at　once　to　Nizhnevartovsk　and　stayed　for　only　ten　hours　before　being　recalled　to　make　his　report　in　Moscow。　Three　months　on　the　job；　he　thought；　sitting　in　the　empty　forward　cabin　of　the　IL…86　airliner；　and　this　has　to　happen！
His　two　principal　deputies；　a　pair　of　skilled　young　engineers；　had　been　left　behind　and　were　trying　even　now　to　make　sense　of　the　chaos；　to　save　what　could　be　saved；　as　he　reviewed　his　notes　for　the　Politburo　meeting　later　in　the　day。　Three　hundred　men　were　known　to　have　died　fighting　the　fire；　and；　miraculously；　fewer　than　two　hundred　citizens　in　the　city　of　Nizhnevartovsk。　That　was　unfortunate；　but　not　a　matter　of　great　significance　except　insofar　as　those　trained　men　killed　would　eventually　have　to　be　replaced　by　other　trained　men　drawn　from　the　staffs　of　other　large　refineries。
The　refinery　was　almost　totally　destroyed。　Reconstruction　would　take　a　minimum　of　two　to　three　years；　and　would　account　for　a　sizable　percentage　of　national　steel　pipe　production；　plus　all　the　other　specialty　items　unique　to　a　facility　of　this　type：　Fifteen　thousand　million　rubles。　And　how　much　of　the　special　equipment　would　have　to　be　purchased　from　foreign　sources…how　much　precious　hard　currency　and　gold　would　be　wasted？
And　that　was　the　good　news。
The　ba