Prologue: Danger from the Skies

Abstract

The scene is Siberia, in the great taiga forests below the Arctic Circle; the date is June 30, 1992. Here, facing a hostile United States, the Soviet Union has constructed one of its most sophisticated defense bases. Huge radars scan north and east seeking intruders into Soviet airspace, including possible missiles launched from United States bases or from submarines beneath the arctic ice. The latest MIG all-weather fighters are poised in blast-resistant shelters along a series of military runways. Surface-to-air (SAM) missiles cluster around this giant complex. Although no immediate international crisis is evident, the thousands of Soviet military and civilian workers at this space-age facility are alert, for they know that they would be among the first targets in a nuclear war. The very survival of their nation could depend on their quick response to a challenge from the American imperialists.