Tired as he was, Zhdanov hid a pleased smile. It was a useful practice to crack the whip every now and again, if only to remind these men of who was in charge. “You’re going to immediately activate all of your intelligence assets inside the United States and the People’s Republic of China—including every single one of the deep-cover agents we’ve planted over the past three decades. If either Washington or Beijing pick up any clues to the PAK-DA bomber’s whereabouts, I’d better damned well find out exactly what they’ve learned just as soon as they’ve learned it!”

Twenty-One

Emergency Conference Room, National Military Command Center, under the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

A Short Time Later

Under the ECR’s bright overhead lighting, it was impossible to tell that it was still pitch-dark outside, with more than an hour remaining before the sun rose. But in a concession to the early morning hour, coffee carafes and china cups were set out along the large central conference table.

Jonas Murphy took a cautious sip from a steaming cup and then set it back down. Miranda Reynolds, seated next to him, raised an eyebrow. “Any good?” she asked.

“It seems to contain caffeine,” the director of national intelligence said thoughtfully, after a moment’s consideration. “Apart from that, I refuse to testify on the grounds that it might insult our hosts.”

From his position at the head of the table, Bill Taylor chuckled. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Jonas.” Then the secretary of defense nodded to Reynolds. “Glad you could join us this morning, Ms. Reynolds. I understand we have you to thank for the extraordinary video we’ve all seen?”

“Yes, Mr. Secretary,” the CIA’s chief of clandestine operations said. The short recording he referred to was from a Russian Air Force pilot, Colonel Alexei Petrov. In it, he claimed to have successfully stolen Moscow’s much-touted stealth bomber prototype. The video had been emailed to her through the same covert server used by the shadowy Russian contact she’d met in Prague. She’d immediately relayed it to Murphy, who, in turn, had passed it straight on to the defense secretary and the Joint Chiefs. Before she’d even had time to finish dressing, she’d received a secure call summoning her to this early morning conference.

“So what’s your assessment of this message?” Taylor asked, not beating around the bush. “Is it genuine?”

Reynolds pursed her lips. “The man speaking does appear to be the real Alexei Petrov,” she said. “His facial features are a perfect match with other verified photos in our databases.” The CIA, like other intelligence agencies, amassed huge amounts of information on foreign government officials, military officers, business leaders, and the like—most of it from publicly available sources, including newspaper and magazine articles, television news broadcasts, and even internet sites. “And we can confirm that he’s regarded as one of Russia’s top test pilots, especially for multi-engine aircraft. Given that, it would be logical to expect him to head up their stealth bomber flight test program.”