Show of Force by Charles D. Taylor

stationed there. What is it, sir?”
    “It is a strategic base, armed with a new tactical missile that we hope to utilize to control that section of the world. One of us is going to end up on top, and it's better if it's us. The Russians have made strong inroads into control of the Indian Ocean and, from a strategic and economic viewpoint, we can't allow it, or the U.S. will be forced back pretty much to its own hemisphere. You know what that means.”
    “Yes, sir. We're shit out of luck!” Better than I could have said it, Collier thought.
    “Before they could get accurate pictures of final installations, we employed a new weapon that has never been used before, a type of laser. Quite simply, it damages a satellite by neutralizing its .electronic equipment. There's no explosion. The satellite keeps right on its programmed course, but it simply is unable to take pictures or communicate with any ground stations. There is no way they can complain to the U.N. or prove anything to any of their allies. It appears to be a malfunction of a perfectly orbiting satellite, but it's no longer of any value to them. I don't exactly know where this weapon is or how many we have, but I do know that another satellite was neutralized from another location—just to let them know it wasn't a fluke and that we can destroy their electronic links at will.” He paused for a moment to let it sink in. They were all disciplined career people, and there was little expression on their faces.
    “I'm beginning to get the message. We're not going to be exactly welcome here, are we?”
    “In about six hours,” Collier continued, "the Chairman of the Communist Party will make a speech in the Kremlin, but it will be intended for all the world and broadcast internationally. He will state that Islas Piedras is a Trident submarine base established in a hitherto free sector of the world, that it is an invasion of the Third World, and an aggressive action that must be halted. He can't state what that island really is because their photos are incomplete and they aren't absolutely positive of what will be there when we're finished. In the meantime, he will ask that we remove that base completely. To back all this up, a huge Russian naval force left Vladivostok and Nakhodka almost two weeks ago and is now about twelve hours away from active contact with the island, although their submarines were in position two nights ago.
    “It's a blockade, with a great deal of similarity to the tactics we employed in Cuba in 1962. The tactics are the same, except that they are denying us here secure contact with Washington via the fire damage. The Russians apparently feel that if the U.S. is forced to deal directly from Washington, with silence and no mediation on this end, that they'll force indecision on the part of the President and world opinion can then gain them the upper hand.”
    “Wow, that's heavy stuff,” one of the men muttered to another beside him.
    “Why,” asked another, “couldn't we utilize communications systems from other embassies? Friends, like the Canadians or British, or even neutrals like Switzerland or Sweden? They should have secure linkage with their own people in Washington.”
    “We considered that earlier this evening,” Collier answered. "Ambassador Simpson even discussed this with some of his contacts at those embassies. But, if you need an example of successful infiltration of a staff, don't look any farther than right here. I'm pretty sure that fire a few hours back was started by people working here. If we have that little security on our own staff, imagine what we can expect with the others, friends or not.
    “But that's a good question, Jessie. Don't get me wrong. We'll use the other embassies for general administrative messages and some direct voice contact, but we'll be damn careful what's carried. We do want the Russians to think we're going to use our friends and we're already beginning to set up a system. But that's to