Pharaoh's Missiles

When Gorbachev became General Secretary of the USSR he introduced extraordinary reform policies of glasnost and perestroika. Some in the bureaucracy and military were bitterly opposed to this reform and openness. A determination was made to prepare a preemptive missile system in secret known to only a very few. The political rulers were not to have any knowledge of the hidden underground missiles. The SALT treaties were allowed to progress. Openness was continuing as were the construction of hidden missiles. One of the chief engineers of the secret construction plotted to inform the west of the existence and exact locations of the sites. At the French Embassyâs Christmas Party in Moscow the engineer makes the sites known to a member of the Sûreté. The French intelligence is informed. The Russians have not totally broken the French cipher and therefore have only identified the word âtaupâ which is French for mole. The Russian engineer originally studied to become an archeologist but was persuaded by the government to study engineering. After graduation he was assigned to the Russian Aswan Dam project in Egypt. During his time off he pursued his original interest especially the Egyptian Nubian sites. After the western missile sites in Russia had been completed and before the eastern construction in Kamchatka had begun, the engineer was given permission to attend the International Egyptology Conference in East Berlin. Here he intends to deliver the information to the west. The CIA, Sûreté, MI-6, the Statsi and the KGB are all involved to either pass the information or stop it from happening. The CIA takes the lead. However, their network in Berlin has been wiped out when a defector gave the KGB all the names of the organization. A substitute has to be found with the necessary credentials to attend the conference to obtain the information. The story unfolds as the CIA selects the contact, exhumes an old college paper, goes to Egypt, verifies the location of Akhenatenâs tomb and is sent to the conference. Unfortunately, the contact misses his meeting in Frankfort where he was to have been briefed. The story continues to the many cross currents and love affairs interwoven on a world stage as the USSR is losing itâs hold not only on itâs satellite countries but itâs grip on Russia itself. The result of the conference builds to an explosive conclusion that will draw the reader to the last sentence.