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'Only a few,' said Judd. 'Everyone's so used to security leaks that it's hard
to make people see what's different about this one. And God knows there's
enough to worry about without that.'
Finally, somewhat winded, they approached a section of the seemingly endless
corridor that widened into a larger reception area decorated in shades of
blue-grey. It was thickly populated with men and women dressed in a variety of
uniforms. After quickly pushing through the conversing groups, Judd led the
way to a panelled door, flanked by Marine guards, which opened into an
enormous room.
It overflowed with functional military opulence. Dominated by a lighted map of
the world at one end and by a veritable wall of military and national flags at
the other, its windowless walls were concealed behind thick green drapes
giving the rows of leather chairs around the central conference table a muted
atmosphere.
'God, it's impressive,' Coogan whispered to ,Judd.
Judd led her to a chair next to Chester B. Walters near the head of the table.
Abrams took a chair slightly behind.
'I hope you're ready,' Walters muttered sceptically.
178
'We'll do our best, sir. Dr Coogan here will give the backbone of our
information.'
'My pleasure, Dr Coogan, and welcome to the Joint Chiefs of Staff theatre. I
had not realised that you were so young and, so, ah. . . ' Walters smiled with
open admiration.
'A woman, you mean.'
'Yes,' admitted Walters, still smiling. Coogan ignored the leer in Walters's
eyes.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Thomas R. Hollifield,
gaveled the table into order. The
noise subsided. 'Mr. Secretary,' he began, looking at Walters, 'I
believe this is going to he your party.'
'Thank you, Thomas,' responded Walters, exhibiting the bearing and authority
that had helped him become Secretary of Defence. 'I should like, first, to
inform the Joint Chiefs that Tonopah devices have been successfully placed in
orbit, mainly as a propaganda effort to convince the Russians that we also
have some new types of hardware up there. We do not know the exact strike
potential of these new armaments since the urgency that compelled us to put
them there did not give us sufficient time to test them at all. But we can
report, as we already have, that we have complied with the executive order.
However, the President has now issued a directive that the devices should not
be activated except by himself personally.'
A murmur swept through the room.
'Are we therefore to assume,' asked Hollifield, 'that the devices are, to all
purposes, in operational readiness?'
'That is correct, Thomas,' acknowledged Walters. 'We are acting on the
assumption that each of these devices is capable of paralysing all living
nerve tissue in target areas covering up to three hundred square miles. This
gives us strike potential over entire cities such as Moscow, Tokyo, or even
Washington or New York. We have three devices in orbit, so our strike
potential at any given time is nine hundred square miles.'
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A general silence blanketed the room, broken finally by Hollifield.
'Does this mean, Mr. Secretary, that all men, women, and children in a given
city, say New York - I believe we are all familiar with the massive volume of
people in New York - could be put into, er, paralysis?'
'Stupor would be a better word for it, Mr. Chairman,' said Walters, changing
to the formal mode of address. 'I should like to move on to our other topic
immediately, however, and not dwell on the Tonopah devices. I have here
General Judd, whom I believe most of you know. He has prepared a briefing for
you on the probable potential of the Russian Tolkien devices. If it is all
right with you, Mr. Chairman, I believe the floor should now be turned over to
him.'
'General?' indicated Hollifield to Judd.
'Thank you, sir, Mr. Chairman,' began Judd, looking at Coogan, who smiled.
'Several days ago, aerial photoreconnaissance reported demolition of a
research site in Kazakhstan that we have had some interest in for a long time.
This event was reported by, I believe, Lieutenant Shirley Paars, who has been
especially helpful in interpreting earlier as well as current flyovers. Since
this event took place at about the same time that Ambassador Horns-borough had
his first conversation with Premier Tosygen, we are inclined to assume that
this was a hasty attempt on the part of the Russians to move the research base
in which Project Tolkien was being developed. Theref9re, we are inclined to
assume the validity of the specifications listed in the telex revealing the
specifications for Tolkien devices.'
He gestured towards Coogan. 'Since the specifications for the Tolkien devices
include matters that are most likely unfamiliar to us all, those of hypnosis
and telepathy, I have asked Dr Elizabeth Coogan, who is expertly informed in
these matters, to speculate on the nature of these two unfamiliar functions
and try to relate them to the mechanical equipment in the Tolkien devices.
With your permission, Mr. Chairman...'
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