fed it into the terminal. A few minutes later the message board lit up and the printer chattered out a hard copy of the reply.
There was a pause as everyone read the message. Sanders looked to the back of the room where Meng was seated. This was Olson's first taste of what the computer could do.
PORTER HERE/
I WANT TO GIVE THE FINAL GO THROUGH YOU/ BOTH WEDNESDAY AND JUST BEFORE ACTUAL DESTRUCTION ON THE
GROUND/ YOU MAKE THE REST OF THE DECISIONS PETE/ REMEMBER THAT IF IT CONCERNS A POSSIBLE COMPROMISE TO ABORT/1 WANT TO KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG/ END/
Olson stared at the board in amazement. The machine's use of his first name had been as startling as the message itself. It was as if the chairman had actually written the message. The whole thing was much more realistic to him now. He turned to Sanders. "That was the computer answering me, pretending to be General Porter?"
For the first time, Doctor Meng spoke up from the back of the room. "No, General. As far as you are concerned, that was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff himself answering you. If you remember that, it will make this week much easier for all of us."
FOB, Osan Air Force Base, Korea Saturday, 3 June, 0102 Zulu Saturday, 3 June, 10:02 a.m. Local
It took Riley and the engineers less than two hours to come up with the actual point of attack on the pipeline. Using 1:64,000 scale maps of the pipeline area, and satellite imagery sent from Fort Meade, Riley had sat down with Hoffman and Smith and quickly traced the pipeline, looking over the whole length for possible target locations.
It didn't take them long to come up with the most promising target. They'd been instructed to put the pipeline out of operation for a minimum of a week; therefore, blowing a section would be insufficient. According to the intelligence, the Chinese maintained an adequate repair capability. Taking down a hundred-foot section would only put the pipe out of operation for forty-eight hours. Riley knew that something more vital to the pipe's operation had to be attacked. He asked Hoffman and Smith to search for a node critical to the operation of the pipe.
They had briefly considered destroying a pump station, but Riley had discarded that idea. Pump stations were staggered along the entire length to help maintain and regulate the flow of oil. Although pump stations were critical to the successful functioning of the pipe, intelligence indicated that they were also manned by a platoon-sized reaction force. The last thing Team 3 wanted to do, in Riley's opinion, was get into a battle. They wanted to do their job and get out without making any contact.
It was Hoffman who found the answer. The pipe crossed the Sungari River, more than nine hundred kilometers from the pipe's terminus on the Yellow Sea at the port of Qinhuangdao. The imagery blowup disclosed that the pipe was suspended by cables from pylons anchored on either shore. There were six cables, each two and a half inches in diameter. Cutting them would be a relatively simple operation for the team. Severing all six cables simultaneously would release the support for the suspended section of pipe, which, weighed down by the oil inside, would crash into the river. To repair the crossing would require extensive engineering work, including bringing a barge upriver. Hoffman conservatively estimated a down time of three weeks. That definitely met the requirements for the mission.
The tricky part, Riley mused as he looked at the satellite blowup of the river crossing, was getting into the compound that enclosed the pylon. Whoever had designed security for the pipe had also known that this river crossing was a critical point that needed extra attention. The pylons on either shore were surrounded by a fence topped with barb wire. The fence enclosed a rectangular area approximately 150 meters by 250 meters.
Hoffman, using a stereoscope on the satellite imagery, was able to make out other unwelcome
There was a pause as everyone read the message. Sanders looked to the back of the room where Meng was seated. This was Olson's first taste of what the computer could do.
PORTER HERE/
I WANT TO GIVE THE FINAL GO THROUGH YOU/ BOTH WEDNESDAY AND JUST BEFORE ACTUAL DESTRUCTION ON THE
GROUND/ YOU MAKE THE REST OF THE DECISIONS PETE/ REMEMBER THAT IF IT CONCERNS A POSSIBLE COMPROMISE TO ABORT/1 WANT TO KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG/ END/
Olson stared at the board in amazement. The machine's use of his first name had been as startling as the message itself. It was as if the chairman had actually written the message. The whole thing was much more realistic to him now. He turned to Sanders. "That was the computer answering me, pretending to be General Porter?"
For the first time, Doctor Meng spoke up from the back of the room. "No, General. As far as you are concerned, that was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff himself answering you. If you remember that, it will make this week much easier for all of us."
FOB, Osan Air Force Base, Korea Saturday, 3 June, 0102 Zulu Saturday, 3 June, 10:02 a.m. Local
It took Riley and the engineers less than two hours to come up with the actual point of attack on the pipeline. Using 1:64,000 scale maps of the pipeline area, and satellite imagery sent from Fort Meade, Riley had sat down with Hoffman and Smith and quickly traced the pipeline, looking over the whole length for possible target locations.
It didn't take them long to come up with the most promising target. They'd been instructed to put the pipeline out of operation for a minimum of a week; therefore, blowing a section would be insufficient. According to the intelligence, the Chinese maintained an adequate repair capability. Taking down a hundred-foot section would only put the pipe out of operation for forty-eight hours. Riley knew that something more vital to the pipe's operation had to be attacked. He asked Hoffman and Smith to search for a node critical to the operation of the pipe.
They had briefly considered destroying a pump station, but Riley had discarded that idea. Pump stations were staggered along the entire length to help maintain and regulate the flow of oil. Although pump stations were critical to the successful functioning of the pipe, intelligence indicated that they were also manned by a platoon-sized reaction force. The last thing Team 3 wanted to do, in Riley's opinion, was get into a battle. They wanted to do their job and get out without making any contact.
It was Hoffman who found the answer. The pipe crossed the Sungari River, more than nine hundred kilometers from the pipe's terminus on the Yellow Sea at the port of Qinhuangdao. The imagery blowup disclosed that the pipe was suspended by cables from pylons anchored on either shore. There were six cables, each two and a half inches in diameter. Cutting them would be a relatively simple operation for the team. Severing all six cables simultaneously would release the support for the suspended section of pipe, which, weighed down by the oil inside, would crash into the river. To repair the crossing would require extensive engineering work, including bringing a barge upriver. Hoffman conservatively estimated a down time of three weeks. That definitely met the requirements for the mission.
The tricky part, Riley mused as he looked at the satellite blowup of the river crossing, was getting into the compound that enclosed the pylon. Whoever had designed security for the pipe had also known that this river crossing was a critical point that needed extra attention. The pylons on either shore were surrounded by a fence topped with barb wire. The fence enclosed a rectangular area approximately 150 meters by 250 meters.
Hoffman, using a stereoscope on the satellite imagery, was able to make out other unwelcome
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