Page 56 of Cry Havoc (Tom Reece #1)

GRU Headquarters

Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

“WHAT’S THE STATUS OF our project in Berlin?” Director Lavrinenko asked before his deputy had even taken his seat. He did not need to specify which project.

Lavrinenko preferred not to leave his office during the day. Subordinates came to him.

Anatoly Penkovsky took his customary chair and set the file folders he was carrying next to him on a small side table.

“I have promising news. We have confirmed that damage to the American encryption devices from the Pueblo spy ship was almost nonexistent.”

“How is that possible?”

“The crew tried to destroy them with axes and sledgehammers, but the devices were built into banks of eavesdropping and communications equipment. Say what you will of the Americans, they can build sturdy housings for their electronics.”

“And the manuals?”

“They attempted to burn and shred some, but they appear to have been completely unprepared to deal with the amount of classified material they had aboard.”

“Perhaps they were counting on their flag as a defense?”

“Ego and hubris.”

“Quite.”

“Keep in mind that these are all initial reports, and as with any initial reports some information is bound to change.”

“Of course.”

Penkovsky opened a file.

“The Pueblo itself was unimpressive. In fact, there were so many deficiencies, I can’t believe they let her put to sea. They didn’t even have a proper incinerator onboard. It appears their captain bought one with personal funds, but it proved inadequate.”

“What does that tell us?”

“Either that they are incompetent, or that Vietnam is eating away most of their military budget.”

“What else?”

“The crew attempted to start fires belowdeck but destroyed very little material. The North Koreans recovered operations and maintenance manuals along with blueprints to aid in repairs. Divers will recover what was thrown overboard. They were in relatively shallow water at the time of the seizure.”

Lavrinenko grunted in disbelief.

“Most importantly, the key cards for programming the cipher machines survived intact. They even still had the keying material from November and December, which by their own protocol should have been destroyed after use.”

“Can we use them to decode captured transmissions from those months?”

“That is currently underway.”

“Good. And the eavesdropping equipment? Is it possible to use it to now take measures to protect our own coded transmissions?”

“That is also in the works,” Penkovsky said, his finger continuing to slide down the file as he briefed his superior.

“The ship was full of spare parts for the code machines, including extra circuit boards.” He looked up.

“I don’t know of another intelligence triumph in modern history that comes close to this; maybe Enigma. ”

“And what of the crew?”

Penkovsky picked up another file.

“Of the eighty-three crew members, one is confirmed dead. He was hit by a shell during the seizure. The precise number of wounded is unclear, between four and ten. One was wounded severely enough to be placed in a hospital. If he survives, he will then join the rest of the crew.”

“And their captain?”

“A Commander Bucher. He was broken in thirty-six hours. When the beatings did not produce the results the interrogators wanted, they brought in the youngest member of the crew and threatened to shoot him. Apparently, Commander Bucher looks at his crew like a family.”

“American weakness.”

“They also showed him a spy from South Korea, suspended by a leather strap, illuminated with spotlights, an eye hanging from a socket, body beaten to a pulp, a broken bone protruding from his arm, foaming from the mouth, obviously tortured until insanity took over. They got Bucher to sign a confession. They’ll get the entire crew to sign eventually. ”

“What is the point of the confessions?”

“According to this analysis, the Koreans seem more concerned about confessions than they do with the captured equipment. It appears they want to show their own people how powerful they are. It will be a miracle if any of the crew survives.”

“Are we getting what we need from them?”

“The Koreans?”

“The prisoners. I’d hate for them all to die before we have our questions answered.”

“There were several cryptologic technicians aboard. They have been very helpful. We have requested that the DPRK keep them alive, but you never really know. It’s a volatile situation.”

“And the codes?”

Penkovsky closed the folder and set it down.

“The Americans will continue to operate on the assumption that without the codes the decryption machines are useless because those codes are changed frequently. They still consider their encrypted messages unbreakable even though we have the machines. Dr. Egorov has confirmed that the keying material provided by John Walker, and those provided by Allister Desmond, are a match.”

“So, this was not a disinformation operation.”

“It appears not.”

“Then why did the ship have so much unnecessary classified material?”

“That is unknown.”

“I remain skeptical. It’s as if they wanted us to acquire it.”

“We may give them too much credit, Director. It could all come down to ineptitude. They have made mistakes before: ignoring all the signs that the Japanese were about to attack Pearl Harbor; the Korean War; our intention to install nuclear missiles in Cuba; and their own intelligence reports before Tet indicating an attack was imminent.”

“True. Why did the DPRK take her?”

“We don’t know for certain. It’s possible they thought she was South Korean or in North Koran waters.

We are still investigating. It could be that Kim Il-Sung could not resist the opportunity to humiliate the United States.

Just prior to the Pueblo incident, they launched a commando raid into the South.

Their mission was to kill Park Chung Hee, the South Korean president, in his presidential mansion called the Blue House. ”

“I read the report. Thirty commandos from the 124th Army Unit. They were to cut off Park’s head and kill his family, staff, and the American ambassador and his wife.”

“That is correct, sir. They had originally targeted the South Korean military headquarters and a penitentiary to free communist prisoners. All thirty commandos were eventually hunted down and killed save for their leader who was captured. It is possible that the DPRK thought the Pueblo was part of a retaliation for the commando raid. Regardless, through interrogations we know that Commander Bucher was unaware of the events in South Korea.”

“I find it hard to believe the American Navy did not relay that information to Bucher and his crew.”

“This incident, along with Tet, speaks to the limits of American power.”

“Might the Americans bomb a base in North Korea, perhaps a harbor or airfield, in retaliation?”

“Doubtful. That risks opening another front in Asia while they are already bogged down in Vietnam.”

“Rescue attempts?”

“No doubt there are those proposing that very thing. Johnson will veto it.”

“I’ve read their newspapers. The American public wants action.”

“Yes, but none will come. Any military action virtually guarantees the crew of the Pueblo will be executed. Even though they are massing forces in South Korea, the American public will soon be distracted by the dead in Vietnam, not the living in North Korea.”

“Secretary of State Dean Rusk called it an act of war.”

“They have given the South Koreans another hundred million in military aid. That will be the extent of their response for now.”

“How certain are you?”

“As certain as I can be. I have spent most of the past twenty years studying our American adversary.”

“But these remain guesses.”

“Yes.”

“The United States has twice asked us for help in negotiating the release of their sailors through diplomatic channels. Both times we have rejected them. Helping secure their release would make us look weak to the DPRK and Chinese.”

“That is true.”

“Some in the U.S. government undoubtedly suspect us.”

“We are merely the fortunate beneficiaries of this incident,” Penkovsky said.

“How long until we can use the encryption machines against the Americans in Vietnam?”

“The machines are fully functional, and we have the keying material necessary to utilize them now. Dr. Egorov is reverse engineering them so that we have exact copies. After that we will train personnel on their use and maintenance, and then we are a go.”

“How long?”

“He estimates a month.”

“Pressure him to speed things up.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The compromise of American military communications is an unparalleled intelligence feat for the Soviet Union. With Walker in the Navy and Desmond at the NSA providing keying material, we are in a position to decrypt enemy radio transmissions, including those to and from their submarines.”

Penkovsky slowly nodded. They would soon have the potential of listening to every secure American military and intelligence communications transmission. They both knew there was a possibility that a compromise of this scope and scale could result in securing a nuclear first strike capability.

“I want to be kept apprised of the plan to capture MACV-SOG soldiers in Laos. If this works, you might be in this seat as director sooner than planned.”

“It would be an honor, Director.”