Red storm rising - By Tom Clancy Page 0,241

you come."

"I did the right thing." He held both of her hands now. What do I say now? Darling, if we ever get out of this alive ... that sounds like a bad movie. Edwards hadn't been sixteen in a long time, but now all the awkwardness that had poisoned his adolescence came back to him. Mike hadn't exactly been the makeout king of Eastpoint High School. "Vigdis, I'm not any good at this. It was different with Sandy. She understood me. I don't know how to talk to girls--hell, I'm not that good talking to people. I do weather maps, and play with computers, but I usually have to have a few beers in me before I get the nerve to say--"

"I know you love me, Michael." Her eyes sparkled when she revealed the secret.

"Well, yes."

She handed him the soap. "Your time to wash. I will not look too much."

FOLZIEHAUSEN, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

Major Sergetov handed over his notes. The Leine had been forced at a second place--Gronau, fifteen kilometers north of Alfeld--and now six divisions were involved in the drive on Hameln and others were attempting to widen the breach. Still they were handicapped. There were relatively few roads in this part of Germany, and those routes they controlled were still suffering from air and artillery attacks that bled reinforcement columns long before they could be committed to battle.

What had begun with three motor-rifle divisions attempting to forge an opening for one tank division had now become the focus of two complete Soviet armies. Where they had attacked into a pair of depleted German brigades, now they faced a hodgepodge of units from nearly all NATO members. Alekseyev anguished over lost chances. What if divisional artillery hadn't dropped multiple rocket fire on the bridges? Could he have reached the Weser in a day as he had thought? That is in the past, Pasha told himself. He looked over the information on fuel availability.

"One month?"

"At current operational tempos, yes," Sergetov said grimly. "And to do this we have crippled the whole national economy. My father asks if we can reduce expenditures at the front--"

"Certainly," the General exploded. "We can lose the war! That ought to save his precious fuel!"

"Comrade General, you requested that I provide you with accurate information. I have done this. My father was also able to give me this." The younger man took a document from his coat pocket. Ten pages thick, it was a KGB intelligence assessment marked POLITBURO EYES ONLY. "It makes very interesting reading. My father asks me to point out the risk he has taken in giving you this document."

The General was a fast reader and ordinarily not a man given to displays of emotion. The West German government had established direct contact with the Soviets through the embassies both maintained in India. The preliminary discussion had been an inquiry into the possibility of a negotiated settlement. The KGB's assessment was that the inquiry reflected the fragmentation of NATO politically, and possibly a grave supply situation on the other side of the battle line. There followed two pages of graphs and claims of damage to NATO shipping, plus analysis of NATO's munitions expenditures to date. The KGB calculated that NATO supplies were down to the two-week mark now, despite all the shipping that had arrived to date. Neither side had produced enough consumable ordnance and fuel to sustain its forces.

"My father feels that this data on the Germans is particularly significant."

"Potentially so," Alekseyev said cautiously. "They will not slacken their fighting while their political leadership works to achieve an acceptable settlement, but if we can make them an acceptable offer and remove the Germans from NATO, then our objective is achieved, and we can seize the Persian Gulf at leisure. What offer are we making to the Germans?"

"That has not yet been decided. They have asked for our withdrawal to pre-war lines, with final terms to be negotiated on a more formal basis under international supervision. Their withdrawal from NATO is to be contingent upon the terms of the final treaty."

"Not acceptable. It gives us nothing. Why are they negotiating at all, I wonder?"

"Evidently there has been considerable turmoil in their government over the dislocation of civilians, and destruction of economic assets."

"Ah." The economic damage to Germany was not something in which Alekseyev had the slightest interest, but the German government was watching the work of two generations being dismantled by Soviet explosives. "But why haven't they told us this?"

"The Politburo feels