Day of the Cheetah Read online

  DAY OF THE CHEETAH 93

  a burglar was the last thing he was worried about-he'd almost

  welcome that. There were others more dangerous.

  He moved to the fireplace, picked up a poker and made a fast

  search of the apartment. Nothing. No sign of forcible entry,

  nothing missing. One more place to check.

  He stood up on a stool and removed six books from the top

  shelf of the built-in bookshelves in the living room. On the back

  wall of the bookshelf he pressed on a board and a section sprang

  open about a half inch, revealing a panel hiding the steel door

  to a small wall safe. He had installed the safe himself shortly

  after moving into the apartment-one of the precautions he had

  taken years earlier, along with carefully arranging things in his

  drawers to help detect intruders, when he got his assignment to

  Las Vegas.

  Instead of opening the hidden panel fully, he reached behind

  the panel with one finger and disconnected a wire leading from

  the door inside to the combination safe behind the panel. The

  wire was connected to an incendiary device inside the safe; if

  the door had been opened more than a finger's width the device

  inside the safe would incinerate the contents. The safe obviously

  had not been-

  A faint, lingering odor. Cigarettes, or an old stale cigar. He

  did not smoke. He turned . . .

  "Sloppy of you, Captain James. " The voice came from be-

  hind him. He braced along the wall. A quick leap, a hard push

  and-

  He heard the metallic click, and another voice: "Come down

  from there, Maraklov, before you hurt yourself, or worse."

  Slowly he replaced the trip wire on the safe's hidden panel,

  closed it and stepped off the stool. Turning, he saw two men,

  one standing directly behind him holding a weapon, the other

  man seated on his sofa. He noted the weapon-not a pistol but

  a taser, a gun that shot small electrified darts. The darts, con-

  nected to the taser gun by a thin wire, were charged with twenty

  thousand volts at low amperage with the press of a trigger, caus-

  ing instant paralysis. The dart only buried itself a fraction of an

  inch into the skin, but with a strong electric current from the

  taser short-circuiting the victim's nervous system, he was pow-

  erless to pull or shake it free. A potent weapon-quiet, effective

  but non-lethal. That last encouraged Maraklov. They wanted

  him, but they didn't want him dead.

  94 DALE BROWN

  He turned to the man on the couch. Henry Kramer was fif-

  tyish, short, bulky but not fat, thin dark hair and beady eyes.

  He was dressed in a dark ill-fitting suit with a thin dark tie,

  looking too much a caricature of what he was-a conniving So-

  viet KGB agent, far more serious and dangerous than he looked.

  "What are you doing here, Kramer? " Maraklov tried to

  control his anger as he also looked at the younger man with

  the taser. "Put that away. Look, you people are crazy to come

  here-"

  Moffitt, the younger agent, lowered the taser but did not put

  it down. "We were worried about you, Captain James. And you

  should have locked our door before searching your apartment.

  We not only were able to get behind you, but found out where

  your safe is. You seem to be getting complacent . . . "

  Maraklov forced himself to answer. He locked the front door

  closed the blinds and began replacing books on the shelf. -No@

  what are you really doing here?"

  "Captain," Kramer said, "people are displeased. The infor-

  mation stream you have been supplying has become a trickle."

  "I told you why in my last report. Perhaps you've not had

  time to read it. They're cracking down on security at HAWC like

  never before. Major Briggs has been given the widest leeway to

  stop security leaks, and they've been promised full cooperation

  from the federal judges in Las Vegas. That means not only

  searches of military property at Dreamland and Nellis but legal

  searches of private non-military residences too. They could even

  get, probably have gotten, authority for wiretapping, no-knock

  searches and arrests at any time. I thought it was Briggs in here

  already. "

  "We have connections at the federal courthouse," Kramer

  said. "If there has been cooperation between the military and

  the federal courts I'm sure' an anonymous tip to the Las Vegas

  papers will stir things up. A report about widespread military

  authority to search private residences? They go crazy over such

  things here. Especially the press. Our perestroika caught some

  of it." Kramer studied Maraklov. "Are you saying tightened

  security is your reason for not supplying one photograph of the

  XF-34A fighter plane or its components in over three weeks?"

  "They haven't let me be alone with the plane or its technical

  data since then. I was able to be alone with a set of the aircrafts

  technical layouts a week ago but discovered an unusual change

  DAY OF THE CHEETAH 95

  in the schematics that I didn't understand ... a dogtooth mod-

  ification to the wings-"

  "A what?"

  "A special wing design that creates two differently perfon-n-

  ing wing structures on one surface. On a mission-adaptive wing

  like DreamStar's, the dogtooth might increase its capabilities

  twenty percent."

  "A significant development indeed," Moffitt said. "Why

  didn't you report this? If they left you alone with the specifica-

  tions why did you not photograph them?"

  James turned to him. "Because I think it's a fake. Or it could

  be. A plant. A trick. They may want me to see the dogtooth

  wing-and then they want to see if the dogtooth shows up on a

  satellite photograph of a Russian fighter at Ramenskoye or in a

  supposedly secure telephone message to Moscow. The dogtooth

  looks like a notch in the wings and is visible on satellite pho-

  tography. It's not just me. I'm sure they showed something dif-

  ferent to each of the key players-a tail modification drawing to

  Powell, a nozzle mod to Butler . . . Major Briggs probably

  cooked up dozens of these tests for security leaks. Mine was the

  dogtooth . . . "

  "You are sure these are fakes?"

  Maraklov had to pause, even though he knew the hesitation,

  no matter how slight, would make Kramer and Moffitt suspi-

  cious. Then: "No, I'm not sure. The dogtooth design has been

  incorporated in numerous advanced fighters-it would be pos-

  sible for our designers to use a dogtooth wing without stealing

  the idea from the Americans. But I'm sticking to my hunch: I

  think the dogtooth wing is a fake. And that's why I didn't report

  it. "

  "But if it is not," Moffitt said, "our own designers will be

  that much farther behind in our designs. Don't you think you

  should have at least reported this finding? It would have alerted

  our agents that Dreamland has stepped up counter-espionage and

  security effects. Don't you think that is worth a report?"

  "You people don't seem to get it. If I report
this stuff as soon

  as it happens it makes it that much easier for Briggs and his men

  to hunt down the source of the leaks. I won't jeopardize my

  cover or anyone else's over something like this. I must be able

  to choose my own time, place and method of reporting activity

  and transferring information."

  T_

  96 DALE BROWN

  "It seems you are becoming a bit squeamish, Captain James,"

  Moffitt said.

  "You work with Harold Briggs and half the military security

  police breathing down your neck all day .

  "That's enough. Both of you."

  Moffitt pressed. "I think Captain Kenneth James is becoming

  comfortable in his surroundings," Moffitt said. "He makes a lot

  of money, he has a nice apartment, attractive American women.

  Could it be he does not want to risk losing his rich life for the

  Soviet people?" Moffitt suddenly switched to Russian. "Re-

  member, Captain? Your people? The ones you swore to protect?

  The ones who gave you this mission-"

  "Speak English, dammit," Maraklov ordered. Anger and

  confusion were in his voice. Moffitt looked at him with some

  surprise.

  "Is it possible," Moffitt said in Russian, "you don't under-

  stand what I'm saying? Or is this just a part of your little game,

  Comrade Maraklov-?"

  "Don't use that name. " Maraklov lowered his voice, but the

  anger was in his face. "My name is Kenneth James. I'm from

  Rhode Island. I'm an officer in the United States Air Force--

  "You are Andrei Maraklov, II Moffitt pressed in Russian. "You

  are a Russian KGB deep-cover agent assigned to the top-secret

  Dreamland research laboratory in the United States. You--

  "I said speak English . . . neighbors, they could hear you-"

  "Can you hear me? What 'are you . . . an American or a

  Russian-? "

  "I don't understand a goddamned word you Ire saying. - He

  turned to Kramer. "You'd better get him out of here, Kramer,

  before he ruins the whole deal."

  "You can drop the act," Moffitt said, this time in English.

  "This is not a test in your Connecticut Academy--

  "That is enough," Kramer told Moffitt, on his feet now.

  "Stop trying to bait him-he is trained to deny any knowledge

  of his past. " He turned to James. "But our North American

  Command is concerned, Kenneth. You give them less each con-

  tact. We were ordered to investigate. An immediate face-to-face

  meeting was necessary-"

  I 'Well, you've had it. I'll get the information, but tell them

  I'm the only one who can control how and when I do it. It's

  possible the level of security intervention is so high they'll be

  DAY OF THE CHEETAH 97

  forced to terminate the extensive searches soon. Otherwise no

  one will be able to get any work done. But we've got to take it

  easy. We can score a major espionage coup if we stay patient. "

  He did not add that it was no act, his not understanding their

  Russian. He really had lost it ... He hadn't quite realized. it

  himself until now ...

  "We cannot afford to be patient," Kramer said. "Our charge

  is to use every means to acquire this technology and build the

  DreamStar fighter plane. Our development of the aircraft must

  be parallel with the Americans'. A great deal has been invested

  to put you in place. For two years they've been patient. Now

  progress has stopped. Something must be done-"

  "If you're going to pressure me like this, I might as well stop

  everything before I'm caught. You might as well bring me in-"

  He shocked himself, saying it. It was the last thing he wanted.

  Kramer looked at him. "An interesting suggestion."

  "What? The Command is considering bringing me in? That's

  ridiculous-"

  "Why? "

  "It's what they call biting off your nose to spite your face. I

  am in place here, Kramer. Fully in place. It would take another

  generation to develop another agent placed so high in the top-

  secret American military research organization . . ."

  Kramer took a deep breath. "The lack of information was the

  last deciding factor, but the idea had started long ago-"

  "What idea? What the hell is going on?"

  "Our project to build our own version of the DrearnStar air-

  craft was virtually doomed from the start. We knew about the

  F-15 fighter known as the Cheetah, of course-the Americans

  took it to the Paris Air Show. We built our own version shortly

  afterward, and with improvements it has become almost as for-

  midable as the American version. But when we discovered what

  the Americans had planned for the next generation of fighter

  aircraft . . . no one believed that thought-controlled aircraft

  would become reality in his lifetime. Now suddenly the Amer-

  icans had one in the air. Naturally we did everything in our

  power to learn about the technology, including authorizing the

  plan to put you in the Dreamland research area-"

  "I don't see the problem, Kramer. Everything's going as

  planned. "

  "Not exactly."

  98 DALE BROWN

  Moffitt broke in. "Those big thinkers in Moscow can't un-

  derstand the data. They've got it piled up to their ears but can't

  really decipher it. They have linguists, but the Americans use

  words that have no Russian equivalents. They say there are elec-

  tronic parts made of atomic elements . . . I think that's it ...

  that even some of our best scientists have never heard of.

  "So it takes time. In a couple of years everything they don't

  understand will be commonplace. Right now they have super

  conducting circuitry that weighs two hundred pounds-in two

  years or less they'll be putting superconductors in wrist-

  watches-"

  "Our people will not wait two years to build a thought-

  controlled aircraft," Kramer said. "In two years the Americans

  can replace their European-based fighter force with these

  DreamStar aircraft. With an aircraft like DreamStar opposing

  our forces, our conventional-force superiority will be offset. We

  got them to reduce theirs and still leave us with an advantage.

  A plane like this DreamStar can undo all our advantages. "

  "But DreamStar is still in its early research phase. It won't

  be ready for production for two years. They, might have a first

  operational unit by the year two thousand but even that's an

  optimistic estimate. " He looked at Kramer. "Whoever's feeding

  you or the Command this stuff is dangerous, Kramer. They're

  trying to push the Kremlin into making a false move, one that

  could be embarrassing to the government and deadly for us. "

  "What would you know about it?" Moffitt broke in. "You

  don't even speak Russian any more. You've lost touch with your

  country. What would you know about what goes on in the Krem-

  lin?

  Maraklov sidestepped the accusation to firmer ground. "I

  know that someone has overestimated the progress on the

  DreamStar project. You listen, Moffitt-this project is as much

  mine as it is yours. It's my life if I get caught. I can be exe
cuted

  or spend the rest of my life in prison. If you get caught you pull

  out your diplomatic credentials and get yourself kicked out of

  the country. Big deal-"

  "I said enough," Kramer interjected. "Orders have already

  been received from Moscow. They are what prompted and jus-

  tified this meeting with you. The Ramenskoye Research Center

  in Moscow reported that your data, although revealing, is still

  not sufficient for them to reconstruct the XF-34 DrearnStar air-

  DAY OF THE CHEETAH 99

  craft. It is much more than copying the design and the compo-

  nents-it seems they do not have the basic knowledge of the

  technology involved with the craft. They estimate several years

  before we will have the technology to duplicate the design with

  sufficient quality to match the present-day aircraft." He paused,

  then: "The KGB has been ordered to obtain the XF-34

  vanced Weapons Center. Captain James, you are to steal

  DrearnStar aircraft from the American High Technology Ad-

  DreamStar and bring it to Moscow."

  "Steal DreamStar? Impossible! Crazy!"

  "Nevertheless, we have been ordered--

  "I refuse. You would jeopardize all this work, all this time,

  in an attempt to get a fighter out of the most heavily defended

  military reservation in the United States?"

  Moffitt finally let out what he had been thinking "He has

  been turned, just as I thought-"

  No hesitation, James rushed Moffitt, feinted with a right

  roundhouse to Moffitt's head, stepped closer and put him on the

  floor with a practiced kick in the groin.

  He could hear Kramer trying quietly as he could to order him

  to stop. He wasn't listening. As Moffitt crumpled unconscious

  on the carpet, Maraklov grabbed the poker and held the point

  on Moffitt's throat . . . "The first thing I'll do if they ever turn

  me," he said, pressing the sharp iron shaft into Moffitt's Adam's

  apple, "is hunt you down and kill you. Don't give me an excuse

  to do it before then."

  "Enough, " Kramer said, and grabbed away the poker.

  Breathing heavily more from the adrenaline pui ping than