Pyotr persisted.
– Listen, Pyotr, I hope you don't take offense that I call you by your Russian name.
– Oh, no, my new friend.
– Then listen to me as a friend. Even though you have Russian roots, you know Russia very poorly.
– Why?
– That's because there are always preparations going on. Russia is always in war mode. Well, to tell you the truth, I expected more from your center. I need to know which receiving and transmitting stations you can use in a critical moment. And I need their parameters too.
– I'll show you everything.
– If you'd be so kind, I'll give you so much information that you'll think this whole thing is child's play. You know what "baby talk" means?
– Yes, I understood your expression," Peter said quietly and guiltily.
He then took Rutra to all the departments the guest wanted to see, showed him the secret plan of the complex, the working and mothballed part, and the EO compartment, which was full of long-lasting food.
– Do you think it's for nothing? – The scientist asked Rutru, which puzzled him, even made him a little nervous.
Trying not to show his bewilderment over why this question was being asked of him, Rutra tried to answer the "educated layman."
– Anything can happen. Back when I was in the service, back in '91, I witnessed how meat labeled "1960" was used for food. So there's nothing surprising about stockpiling. Why don't you tell me where I can find the subject of my interest?
– I understood from the inquiry that there was a precedent of interference on dual frequencies, the source of which could not be determined. According to the intelligence – it seems to be on the territory of the USA, but according to the military – all deny their involvement, as proof they allowed to create a joint commission of inquiry, in which we, people of science, must first make a joint analysis.
– Almost there. I need to report back: is this possible or is it an unidentified failure of the receiving system?
– I understand the collision of the American and Russian satellites was because of this.
– I too think an unknown signal changed his course.
Rutra was lying, it wasn't true, but the reason was very reliable.
– If you can, get permission to search Raven Rock," Peter suggested.
– Thanks, I'll give it a try. If you're all set, let me go.
– No, you can't do that. You've been here all day, you need to rest, you need to eat.
"That wouldn't be bad," Ruthra thought. He had forgotten that he hadn't eaten.
– Eating is fine, but I'll rest at the hotel.
They went to the cafeteria for a snack, then over a cup of coffee Peter talked about the oligarchs who don't think about the development of basic science, about the government that goes along with them, that no one takes a possible nuclear catastrophe seriously. "Just like in Russia," Rutra thought, thanked him, and headed back.
He was met in the airport dungeons and escorted to a rest area. He contacted Hent and told him what he had been offered to look for at Raven Rock. The status and clearance level of the man who'd suggested it determined the importance of his words, just as it made it clear that he probably had good reason to pretend to be a naive idealist.
In the morning, the authorization was approved, and Rutra traveled in the capsule to the site. The capsule traveled as usual at "crazy" speed, stopping and turning around several times. Ruthra could hardly stand it, it was a long and exhausting journey, and finally he reached Raven Rock. There he was met, also by the military.
This complex, located on the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland, has many names, such as The Rock, SiteRT, NMCC-R, ANMCC, AJCC. The popular nickname is "the spare Pentagon." The fact is that SiteRT must accommodate all 3,000 employees of the "pentagon" in case of danger.
The Rock houses DISA's (Defense Information Systems Agency) computer operations center and the operations centers of the major branches of the Army, Air Force, and Navy. The complex is also used as an alternate government bunker. It was a more serious organization, only the resolution of a very powerful top-secret department, with the strange acronym WWW, allowed Rutra to check all the bays he wanted. The military had the same attitude everywhere, in Russia and in the United States. They perceived very negatively the presence of an outsider on their territory, especially a person unknown to the structures.
No one was available for a heart-to-heart talk, as at NORAD. The complex is inaccessible to the public, and the security level is so high that conspiracy theorists speculate about other purposes for the facility. A popular rumor among them is that a 157 kilometer long tunnel leads from Site R to the Pentagon. If they knew where the tunnels stretch to and for what distances. Rutra had traveled through one of them and was now wondering how to survive the even greater distance to Area-51.
Since according to the legend Rutra was a scientist, a double agent, who was supposed to "find out" weaknesses in the Pentagon's technology regarding Russian developments, he had access everywhere. There was a certain power component in his face, because they themselves told in detail, with the provision of documents, all the possibilities of technology. The instruction "from above" was clearly given – to provide all the data according to the subject of the search.
The officer accompanying him, who was reserved and frankly stated that he did not trust anyone from the USSR and its allies, answered questions in detail and provided access to departments of interest. While showing and telling, as a "true American military man," he constantly emphasized that U.S. weapons were superior to Russian weapons and the technology was the best in the world.
– I understand, but at the moment I'm interested in more scientific terms," Rutra tried to dissuade him. – I get money for this from your management. I assure you, Russia is not dormant, it has a lot of interesting things to offer.
The officer took this statement almost as a personal insult. He straightened up and replied with a haughty look:
– The U.S. military expects to maintain its technological advantage over Russia and China through developments in robotics and artificial intelligence systems. For example, your Armata tank is planned to become unmanned in the future.
Rutra did not want to enter into any more controversy because he knew where the "wind was blowing from," as the officer later confirmed.
– The First Deputy Defense Minister is in charge of promoting such projects in the Pentagon. He has repeatedly expressed concern about high-tech developments by Russia and China. In his opinion, the Russian army is "preparing to fight on a robotic battlefield." "We must improve our strategic decisions in an era of competition between major powers," he told us on a personal visit to the complex.
All this was proudly "reported" by a military man.
– We are ruling out the creation of "killer robots" for the time being. Autonomous weapons can be used only for defense purposes: for example, a missile battery can react to incoming missiles by itself. At the same time, we are focusing on creating systems that will allow the military to make faster and more accurate decisions. In particular, the Pentagon is planning to strengthen a supercomputer that could analyze gigabytes of data and record not only the movement of enemy forces, even a soldier or a ballistic missile, but also receive, process, modify and send back a remote control signal. We need that to reorient the missile's course. This is much simpler and more reliable than developing an echeloned missile defense system, with a lot of political scandals, with location on the territory of other countries and no guaranteed effectiveness.
– You know, I've always been surprised by the arrogant arrogance of your military and politicians, but now I am very grateful.
– Why?
– I will tell you this if you explain to me how you are going to decode the code of the missile's control cipher at a distance where you intend to place the receiving and transmitting device? Otherwise, with