"Hogan, James P - The Genesis Machine p260-end" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

УAntimissile interceptors coming up,Ф Carlohm observed, now just a relaxed and passive spectator, as were the rest of them. УTheyТve got no way of knowing that those warheads have been deactivated.Ф
The display produced by the defensive-missile screen put up by the other side was truly spectacular. The amused observers at Brunnermont lounged back in their seats and pictured the alarm that must have been rife on the other side of the world. The whole of the Eastern bloc was becoming outlined by vivid streaks of blood red as thousands of individual tracks merged together; everything that could move was, it seemed, being fired into the sky.
And then the J-bomb went into action again.
The swarms of interceptors were methodically cut to shreds and then obliterated. The attacking salvos from the West were allowed to penetrate just far enoughЧfar enough to act as bait to draw up the last of the defending missiles; then they too were destroyed. The destruction of the WestТs own attack force did not produce any reactions of surprise or anger now; the watchers around the Operational Command Floor had already resigned themselves to being merely puppets in the design that Clifford and Aub were revealing. They had all played out their assigned roles on cue as unerringly and as surely as if they had been manipulated on physical strings.
Carlohm watched as the last scattered defenders were mopped up and the green attack pattern ground to a final halt.

С)00
УI wonder what theyТll make of that,Ф he commented. УTheyТll know that none of their interceptors were getting through. It sure as hell wasnТt them that stopped it.Ф
Then it was all over. The entire war machine, which had required forty years and the lionТs share of the worldТs finance, industry, and talents to conceive and put together, had been wiped from the face of Earth in less than an hour. Not a single manned target on either side had been attacked successfully and, as far as anybody could tell, there had not been a single casualty.
Sherman stood for a long time gazing up at the now inanimate display, faithfully preserving its record of the things that had happened through every agonizing second of that hour. There was an expression of wonder on his face, a mixture of awe and almost reverence, as if he alone could divine a deeper meaning to it all. The rest of the room remained silent, still savoring the relief and the sweet taste of the reprieve that none had dreamed possible.
Suddenly the operator at the communications console sat forward as words began appearing on the screen before him. He read for a moment, then looked towards Carlohm.
УItТs a reply to the ultimatum,Ф he announced.
Carlohm strode over and looked over his shoulder. Then the general turned. УPeking has ordered immediate cease-fires in India and Russia,Ф he informed the room. УAlso, they agree unconditionally to all the demands that we have put to them.Ф Forgetting his formal duties for a moment he added wryly: УBoyЧwe sure must have scared the shit outa those bastards!Ф



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Chapter 24

The atmosphere at the meeting, called c afternoon of the following day at the White IF was still one of dazed bewilderment. To make ters worse, a completely new and unexpected c cation had been added to the already unprecec situation that confronted the men sitting aroun table in the PresidentТs private conference room.
Vice President Donald Reyes leaned forward
chair and looked at William Foreshaw with a m
of noncomprehension and plain disbelief.
УSorry, Bill, IТm not quite with you,Ф he said.
say that again, will you?Ф
УI said,Ф the Defense Secretary replied, Уthai havenТt just taken out the whole of the worldТs ity to wage global nuclear war; they have totall completely paralyzed the possibility of any ki strategic military operations for at least the nexi dred years! TheyТve demolished the whole struct the East-West political balance of power.Ф
УThatТs what I thought you said. Now could y
plain it?Ф
Foreshaw passed his hand wearily across a
that had been creased with concentration for m
the previous twenty-four hours.
УAw, hell, this all gets a bit technical. P~
through it again, would you?Ф
Patrick Cleary, the principal Presidential adyiser on computing matters, nodded from the far end and cleared his throat.
УBefore they came out of the Control Room at Brunnermont yesterday, the last thing they did was activate an extremely complicated system of interlocked programs in the supervisory BIAC . . . thatТs the main computer that controls all the rest. It appears that the only person who knew that these programs even existed in the system at all was Dr. Clifford; heТd begun developing them even before he and his team~ moved from Sudbury to Brunnermont.Ф
УYou mean theyТre still running there now . that thing is still live?Ф
УAbsolutely. ThereТs no way anyone can shut it down. . . but IТll come to that in a minute. LetТs begin at the beginning.Ф
Reyes sat back to listen as Cleary continued. УThe first thing that they do is limit the operating range of the J-bomb. The bomb is still functional, but it will only accept target coordinates inside North America and allied Western nations, and up to fifty miles beyond their coastlines and frontiers.Ф He noted one or two looks of bafflement and explained hurriedly. УThis means that, in effect, it can only be used as a purely defensive weapon. Any form of attack from another part of the worldЧwhether by land, sea, or air . . . using conventional weapons or nuclear ones
Чcan be devastatingly crushed before it gets anywhere near us. But since the range canТt be extended into the homelands of the other side, the weapon has no offensive value whatsoever. We couldnТt attack with it.Ф
УWhat about space weapons?Ф General Carlohm asked.
УThe J-bomb will fire inside an umbrella that ex5~fl1
tends for up to one hundred miles above all fr№ territory. So, if the East wants to put itself to al effort and expense it can build itself up a whole ORBS ~system if it wants to . . . but the moment try to drop anything on us, we can blow it out o sky. Somehow I donТt think theyТll bother.Ф
President Sherman raised a hand to hold Clea that point.
УThereТs something IТm not clear about here, said. УYouТre talking about our being able to fir bomb in defense if we need to. Who exactl you mean by СusТ? Clifford and Phiipsz are the two who seem to really understand how the s~ works, and IТve got a feeling they wonТt be sti around for much longer. Who else do you figure operate it?Ф
УTheyТve taken care of that,Ф Cleary replied. that the special programs have been integrated the system, any experienced BIAC operator ca trained to use them. He only has to input dat doesnТt have to know how they are structured or connected internally.Ф
УIn fact,Ф Foreshaw supplied, Уas I understai the two of them are offering to stay on at Brunnei for a period of eight weeks, solely to train the team of operators for us. After that, they blow.Ф
УWhere to?Ф Sherman enquired.
УThey havenТt said. Back to get on with wh~ they want to do at 1SF, I guess.Ф
To the continuing surprise of most of those pr Sherman merely smiled as if he found the whole a huge joke. His evident inclination to treat the with something approaching cheerful nonchalancТ almost amusement . . . had been a source of p ment ever since the session began.
УOkay,Ф Reyes conceded. УIt looks as if theyТi