CHAPTER TWELVE
11:45 a.m. Moscow Time (3:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time)
Strategic Command and Control Center
The Kremlin
Moscow, Russia
The young man walked briskly through the wide hallways of the control center, on his way to the large War Room.
His footsteps echoed along the empty corridor. He wore a dress uniform of the Russian Ground Forces. He carried himself with military bearing, his carriage erect, his eyes alert, his face calm, impassive, and serious.
Just ahead, a wide automatic door slid open. He passed through the doorway and into the swirling chaos of the command center’s main room. The chatter of voices hit him like a wall as he entered.
At least two hundred people filled the space. There were at least forty workstations, some with two or three people sitting at five
