planetary reengineering, much the same as was discussed in the context of the planet Mars before warfare between the super powers so radically changed the course of human history.
“The principles would be, more or less, the same,” Bern concluded, “only quite a bit simpler to bring about.”
John Rourke lit the cigar he’d placed in his mouth upon first entering the room. He turned the battered Zippo windlighter over in his hands as he exhaled, then looked first at Dieter Bern, then at Wolfgang Mann. “We’re talking perhaps as long as a century to accomplish something such as that, at least in the light of your present technology. And planetary engineering, from what litde reading I did in the
field five centuries ago, worked marvelously well in computer models. But none of those models, even if they were available to you, would be accurate because of the obvious differences in the two planetary bodies. Plus, there’d be the radiation factor to consider … how those portions of this planet currendy uninhabitable and other portions which might be made so in a new nuclear exchange would bear on the desired results. In the final analysis,” Rourke told them, “it’s a tremendous gamble. Granted, it may prove necessary, but that possible option having to be exercised should be avoided at all costs.”
The table was an elongated rectangle, and Michael had stood silently at the far end for some time. He walked around the table now to be nearer to the devices as he spoke. “If your scientists could push this device to its logical limits, a weapon that could be hand carried and fired and powered by a backpack unit of some type, we could utilize the weapon as a means of obtaining not just battiefield parity, but also a true advantage. What would happen, for example, if my father and Paul and myself, along with your top people and the top people from Mid-Wake, were to penetrate the Soviet Underground City … take it and hold it?
“The Soviet forces would be cut off from supply,” Michael said, answering his own question. “And, with more of these weapons in the field in German hands and in the hands of the Allied Commando Force that’s been formed, we might be able to neutralize the Soviet conventional threat. If we launched a similar attack on the Soviet underwater complex, we might have a chance at effectively interdicting their use of submarine-launched missiles.”
Paul spoke. “One thing that was an inescapable reality of the Cold War, Michael, and is a reality now: The primary mission of submarine warfare changed in the period following World War II, when submarines had been utilized only to attack and disrupt shipping and surface maneuvers. Any such roles after the advent of submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles became secondary to the primary mission of attacking land-based targets.”
“You see,” John Rourke picked up, “the mission of the submarine during the Cold War and in our present situation is to stay hidden. Its conventional weapons array is primarily for the defensive context, so it will uninhibitedly be able to maintain its primary mission goal of being in position to launch its missile battery against land-based targets. Its very mobility is the threat … that it can’t be neutralized before launch. During the Cold War, sophisticated satellites and other monitoring devices were utilized on both sides to track enemy submarines and plot their positions for interdiction in the event of conflict. Although doubdessly there’s still quite a bit of satellite material still in orbit, even if it were functional, there’d be no way in which to utilize it for tracking. German aircraft haven’t the ability to cover the entire Pacific, let along all the world’s oceans, in search of enemy submarines. If the Soviets elect to launch a thermonuclear conflict predicated on the invulnerability of their submarine fleet, regardless of the morality concerning the effect on the
“The principles would be, more or less, the same,” Bern concluded, “only quite a bit simpler to bring about.”
John Rourke lit the cigar he’d placed in his mouth upon first entering the room. He turned the battered Zippo windlighter over in his hands as he exhaled, then looked first at Dieter Bern, then at Wolfgang Mann. “We’re talking perhaps as long as a century to accomplish something such as that, at least in the light of your present technology. And planetary engineering, from what litde reading I did in the
field five centuries ago, worked marvelously well in computer models. But none of those models, even if they were available to you, would be accurate because of the obvious differences in the two planetary bodies. Plus, there’d be the radiation factor to consider … how those portions of this planet currendy uninhabitable and other portions which might be made so in a new nuclear exchange would bear on the desired results. In the final analysis,” Rourke told them, “it’s a tremendous gamble. Granted, it may prove necessary, but that possible option having to be exercised should be avoided at all costs.”
The table was an elongated rectangle, and Michael had stood silently at the far end for some time. He walked around the table now to be nearer to the devices as he spoke. “If your scientists could push this device to its logical limits, a weapon that could be hand carried and fired and powered by a backpack unit of some type, we could utilize the weapon as a means of obtaining not just battiefield parity, but also a true advantage. What would happen, for example, if my father and Paul and myself, along with your top people and the top people from Mid-Wake, were to penetrate the Soviet Underground City … take it and hold it?
“The Soviet forces would be cut off from supply,” Michael said, answering his own question. “And, with more of these weapons in the field in German hands and in the hands of the Allied Commando Force that’s been formed, we might be able to neutralize the Soviet conventional threat. If we launched a similar attack on the Soviet underwater complex, we might have a chance at effectively interdicting their use of submarine-launched missiles.”
Paul spoke. “One thing that was an inescapable reality of the Cold War, Michael, and is a reality now: The primary mission of submarine warfare changed in the period following World War II, when submarines had been utilized only to attack and disrupt shipping and surface maneuvers. Any such roles after the advent of submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles became secondary to the primary mission of attacking land-based targets.”
“You see,” John Rourke picked up, “the mission of the submarine during the Cold War and in our present situation is to stay hidden. Its conventional weapons array is primarily for the defensive context, so it will uninhibitedly be able to maintain its primary mission goal of being in position to launch its missile battery against land-based targets. Its very mobility is the threat … that it can’t be neutralized before launch. During the Cold War, sophisticated satellites and other monitoring devices were utilized on both sides to track enemy submarines and plot their positions for interdiction in the event of conflict. Although doubdessly there’s still quite a bit of satellite material still in orbit, even if it were functional, there’d be no way in which to utilize it for tracking. German aircraft haven’t the ability to cover the entire Pacific, let along all the world’s oceans, in search of enemy submarines. If the Soviets elect to launch a thermonuclear conflict predicated on the invulnerability of their submarine fleet, regardless of the morality concerning the effect on the
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