"Da, Comrade Colonel," Koldunov replied in the same language. "The energy required for launch stripped the power rails and seriously damaged the carrier rails. As I told you would happen."
"Are you criticizing me?" Colonel Intifadah shouted, his sidearm flashing from its holster.
"I am merely reminding you that I cautioned you about this possibility. We should have waited."
"Waited! I have waited three years for this revenge. Revenge upon the Americans, who bombed this very city!"
"I am aware of your motivation," the Russian said with undisguised distaste.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Colonel fired at the ceiling in his rage.
The Russian flinched at the sounds, but he did not react otherwise. Nor run for shelter. Colonel Intifadah threw his empty pistol onto the desk. It was a 9 mm Glisenti. The grips were carved jade.
"You must be very brave, comrade. Some of my own officers think I am crazed."
"Many Moslems fire into the air to express themselves. It is their way."
"Out in the streets, yes. But not indoors. I know you send reports of my mental health back to the Kremlin. Do not deny this."
"I report to my superiors every week. Just as I report to you. As I am reporting to you now."
"You are a dog with two masters."
"I serve my homeland with pride. I am obligated to report to you. It is part of my internationalist duty."
"Do not speak to me of the Soviet internationalist duty. Where were your people when the American B-52's were raining death on Dapoli? Where?"
"There was no warning of their attack."
"No? Then why did your Soviet destroyers quietly leave this end of the Mediterranean before the bombers came? Your leaders knew. They knew everything. But rather than face the aggressor, they retreated to watch the carnage."
"I am not a military man. You will have to ask the Kremlin that question."
"I have. And you know what they told me? A coincidence. Bah! Pigs that slink from their friends. They sell me their weapons and call me their ally and sign a mutual-defense treaty and then they skulk from trouble at the first sign of American might."
"We are helping you now," Koldunov asserted. Colonel Intifadah spat on his desk.
"Years after the fact. Long after the world has forgotten. Only after I complained and complained. Do you know why your superiors compelled you to assemble your terrible invention under the Lobynian Desert?"
"Yes, I was told it was our internationalist duty."
"No. It was because I threatened to ally myself with the U.S. I said to your General Secretary: 'What good are Russian weapons if they cannot fend off an American attack, and of what use are Soviet promises if they crumble before the might of the U.S.?' They tried to reason with me. But I would have none of it. I desired revenge. And if pretending to be a friend of the U.S. would be my only recourse, then I would hold my nose and shake their bloody hands."
An unhappy look crossed Pyotr Koldunov's tight face and Colonel Intifadah knew that he had struck a nerve.
He knew the Russian resented the use his precious weapon was being put to.
"So to keep me placated," Colonel Intifadah went on, "they offer me this weapon of yours. They make promises. More promises. 'Colonel Intifadah, it is the greatest invention ever devised by a human mind.' 'Colonel Intifadah, with it you can strike into the heart of America without fear of retaliation.' 'Colonel Intifadah, with this device, you can deliver a nuclear weapon to any point on the earth without fear of satellite detection.' "
"All of this is true. My device can do exactly that."
"And so they make me sign another agreement. And I have the weapon. I am a proud man again. I have been given new teeth for my mouth. I have a rod with which to smite my enemies. And when the weapon has been delivered and assembled, what do I learn?"
"It works," Pyotr Koldunov said stubbornly.
"Oh, it works. But where are the nuclear weapons? Where are the missiles for this glorious new missile-delivery system?"
"No one promised Lobynia nuclear weapons."
"You said that on the day the launcher was assembled. You also said that to strike America with nuclear weapons would be unthinkable. Do you remember telling me that?"
"Clearly."
"Clearly! Not as clearly as I!" thundered Colonel Intifadah. "I had visions of America reduced to a burning wasteland and I found that I had been given the pistol but no ammunition."
"The device is still a prototype. It should be tested with less volatile projectiles. A malfunction at launch could possibly detonate a nuclear explosion on Lobynian soil."
"I would have taken that risk! But did your country offer a choice?"
"It was not in the agreement."
"No," Colonel Intifadah said bitterly. "It was not in the agreement. No. Not at all." The Colonel paced back and forth behind his desk, his black eyes flashing like ebony buttons. He turned suddenly and pointed at the Russian with light green gloves.
"When the U.S. bombed Dapoli, you know what was said? It was said that the Russians saw it as an opportunity to see how Soviet-made anti-aircraft-missile batteries would deal with American weapons under true battle conditions. That the Soviets saw the bombing of Dapoli as a mere test for their ordnance."
"That may have been a by-product of the incident," Koldunov admitted coolly. He showed no fear. As loudly as he yelled, Colonel Intifadah could not get a rise out of him.
"Yes, I am glad you admit that much. Because I believe it is happening once again."
"I do not understand."
"This!" Colonel Intifadah said, stabbing his desk with a finger. "This is another test. I am reduced to being a Soviet guinea pig. You have a new weapon. You dare not test it openly. You have stupid treaties with our mortal enemies, the Americans, too. But in me you have a way to test this fearsome device by proxy. Undetected by America. And if detected, who is it who gets bombed? Not Moscow. Not the Ukraine. But Lobynia!"
"I must remind you of your own words, comrade. You demanded Soviet assistance. This weapon has been deployed on your soil at your request."
"A trick! Another Russian trick. I am given a weapon of ultimate terror and I am reduced to flinging locomotives."
"Both launches were successful."
"Successful? Successful, comrade?" The Colonel jumped around his desk. His cruel face shoved into the Russian's own. "See that map?" he said, pointing to a global wall map.
"Yes, of course."
"Show me the targets I have destroyed."