----- Original Message ----
From: Kerry Burgess
To: hotline@dodig.mil; inspector.general@usdoj.gov; us.marshals@usdoj.gov
Sent: Thu, June 17, 2010 3:35:10 PM
Subject: Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis the International Terrorist Organization violently against the space program and the United States of America
To: hotline@dodig.mil; inspector.general@usdoj.gov; us.marshals@usdoj.gov
From: Kerry W. Burgess (official United States Marshals Service federal undercover identity created to investigate and prosecute and convict the criminal activity against the legitimate operations of the United States Department of Defense and against the legitimate operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; an identity completely compromised by forces hostile to the United States of America)
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: From: Kerry Burgess
To: Kerry Burgess
Sent: Tuesday, May 9, 2006 6:01:15 PM
Subject: Right
I wonder if this is where that guy painting the picture was standing?
http://local.live.com/?v=2&sp=aN.47.619681_-122.348911
[JOURNAL ARCHIVE]
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=tc&cbll=47.619176,-122.348985&panoid=-lfueBIXwUv3LKH8_yDIyw&cbp=12,354.84278861856137,,2,3.587035306919222&ll=47.619407,-122.349037&spn=0,359.99794&z=20
156 4th Ave N, Seattle, WA, United States
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: From: Kerry Burgess
To: Kerry Burgess
Sent: Wed, May 10, 2006 2:45:01 PM
Subject: Re: Finally
Kerry Burgess wrote:
[JOURNAL ARCHIVE]
RED STORM RISING
Tom Clancy
PRINTING HISTORY
G.P. Putnam's Sons hardcover edition / August 1986
Berkley mass-market edition / August 1987
Page 173
Chapter 17
The Frisbees of Dreamland
Germany, Forward Edge of the Battle Area
The view would have been frightening to most men. There were solid clouds overhead at four thousand feet. He flew through showers that he more heard than saw on this black night, and the dark outlines of trees appeared to reach up and snatch at his speeding fighter. Only a madman would be so low on such a night - so much the better, he smiled in his oxygen mask.
Colonel Douglas Ellington's fingertips caressed the control stick of his F-19A Ghostrider attack fighter, which his other hand rested on the side-by-side throttle controls on the left-side cockpit wall. The head-up display projected on the windshield in front of him reported 625 knots Indicated Air Speed, a hundred six feet of altitude, a heading of 013, and around the numbers was a mono-color holographic image of the terrain before him. The image came from a forward-looking infrared camera in the fighter's nose, augmented by an invisible laser that interrogated the ground eight times per second. For peripheral vision, his oversized helmet was fitted with low-light goggles.
"Raisin' hell over our heads," his back-seater reported. Major Don Eisly monitored the radio and radar signals, as well as their own instruments: "All systems continue nominal, range to target now ninety miles."
"Right," the Duke responded. It had been an automatic nickname for Ellington, who even looked vaguely like the jazz musician.
Ellington relished the mission. They were skimming north at perilously low level over the angular terrain of East Germany, and their Frisbee, never more than two hundred feet off the ground, jerked up and down to the pilot's constant course adjustments.
Lockheed called her the Ghostrider. The pilots called her the Frisbee, the F-19A, the secretly developed Stealth attack fighter. She had no corners, no box shapes to allow radar signals to bounce cleanly off her. He high-bypass turbofans were designed to emit a blurry infrared signature at most. From above, her wings appeared to mimic the shape of a cathedral bell. From in front, they curved oddly toward the ground, earning her the affectionate nickname of Frisbee. Though she was a masterpiece of electronic technology inside, she usually didn't use her active systems. Radars and radios made electronic noise that an enemy might detect, and the whole idea of the Frisbee was that she didn't seem to exist at all.
Far over their heads on both sides of the border, hundreds of fighter aircraft played a deadly game of bluff, racing towards the border and then turning away, both sides trying to goad the other into committing to battle and so gain the advantage in a war which, though few yet knew it, had already begun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courts-martial_in_the_United_States
Courts-martial in the United States
Courts-martial in the United States are criminal trials conducted by the Military of the United States. Most commonly, courts-martial are convened to try members of the U.S. military for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is the U.S. military's criminal code. However, they can also be convened for other purposes, including military tribunals and the enforcement of martial law in an occupied territory. Courts-martial are governed by the rules of procedure and evidence laid out in the Manual for Courts-Martial and Military Rules of Evidence, respectively.
a military judge determines questions of law, and the members of the panel (or military judge in a judge-alone case) determine questions of fact.
From 6/19/1968 ( my 1st United States Navy Medal of Honor date of record and I am United States military fighter jet ace-in-single-day during Vietnam War ) to 5/1/1973 ( my graduation from University of Oxford at Lincoln College includes law degree ) is: 1777 days
From 5/1/1973 ( my graduation from University of Oxford at Lincoln College includes law degree ) to 3/13/1978 ( United States Department of the Army Order 31-3 General Of The Armies applies to me personally and professionally as United States Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan ) is: 1777 days
From 9/2/1974 ( I returned to planet Earth after my 18 January 1974 first landing planet Venus ) To 6/7/1976 ( my first landing Saturn moon Phoebe and the Saturn moon Phoebe territory belongs to me and my wife ) is 644 days
From 6/7/1976 ( my first landing Saturn moon Phoebe and the Saturn moon Phoebe territory belongs to me and my wife ) To 3/13/1978 ( United States Department of the Army Order 31-3 General Of The Armies applies to me personally and professionally as United States Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan ) is 644 days
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_of_the_Armies
General of the Armies
General of the Armies and General of the Armies of the United States are the highest possible ranks in the United States Army.
After World War II, which saw the introduction of U.S. "5-star" officers who outranked Washington, both Congress and the President revisited the issue of Washington's rank. To maintain George Washington's proper position as the first Commanding General of the United States Army, he was appointed, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 January 19, 1976, approved by President Gerald R. Ford on October 11, 1976. The law established the grade as having "rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past or present,"clearly making it superior to General of the Army. The Department of the Army Order 31-3, issued on March 13, 1978 had an effective appointment date of July 4, 1976. The rank ensures that no United States military officer outranks George Washington
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Admiral_%28United_States%29
Fleet Admiral (United States)
Fleet Admiral of the United States Navy (FADM), or more commonly referred to as Fleet Admiral, is a five-star flag officer rank and is presently considered the highest possible rank in the United States Navy.
The insignia for Fleet Admiral comprises five stars in a pentagon design with a thick rank stripe, below four smaller stripes, on the service dress blue uniform.
The Fleet Admiral rank is reserved for war-time use only
2003 television miniseries "Battlestar Galactica" DVD movie:
00:52:03
Lieutenant Karl 'Helo' Agathon - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor aviation officer: Cylon formation ahead. We're down to two confirmed Cylons now. Approaching visual range.
CAG - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Viper pilot: Okay, Boomer, we'll take it from here. You back way off.
Lieutenant junior grade Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor pilot: Roger that.
CAG - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Viper pilot: All right, boys and girls, you break into attack formation. There might only be two of them, but I want you to stick with your wingman and do not get overconfident.
Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Viper pilot: Anybody know what these things look like?
Another Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Viper pilot: Pictures I've seen of the old Cylon fighters were sort of like a big flying wing.
Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Viper pilot: Those pictures are forty years old.
CAG - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Viper pilot: Okay, keep the chatter down.
Lieutenant junior grade Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor pilot: CAG, Boomer. We've got a lot more contacts showing up. Looks like a couple of squadrons, at least.
CAG - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Viper pilot: All Vipers, weapons free. Let's go get them.
[ Greg Nickels & City of Seattle Washington and Olympia Washington-King County Washington State the Racketeering Mob Organization and the criminal support infrastructure violently against the United States federal government & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis the International Terrorist Organization violently against the United States federal government actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government with all Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis & City of Seattle Washington and Olympia Washington-King County Washington State & Greg Nickels staff partners contributors employees contractors lawyers managers of any capacity as severely treasonous criminal accomplices and that are active unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States that actively make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in the United States and in the Severely
Treasonous and Criminally Rebellious State of Washington by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings ]
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20030306&slug=zarker06m
The Seattle Times Search
Thursday, March 6, 2003
Lights out for Zarker? The first test comes today
By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times staff reporter
For two decades, Gary Zarker has been a fixture in Seattle government
An audit by Vantage Consulting last year laid much of the blame for the utility's problems at Zarker's feet. The audit also pointed out that he had not been reconfirmed by the council since being appointed nine years ago, despite a city law that makes the City Light superintendent subject to reconfirmation every four years.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=66107
George W. Bush
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
December 8, 2004
MR. McCLELLAN: Bob.
Q: Why is the President giving the Presidential Medal of Honor next week to George Tenet, Tommy Franks and J. Paul Bremer, and why now?
MR. McCLELLAN: Because he believes these individuals have served their nation with distinction and honor. And he appreciates the great work that all three of those individuals have done, for a variety of reasons. And the President looks forward to awarding them the Medal of Freedom.
Q: And why now, Scott?
From 4/21/1926 ( date hijacked from me:my paternal grandmother Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 28042 days
28042 = 14021 + 14021
From 7/16/1963 ( another threat sent to me against my wife ) To 12/4/2001 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Impostor" ) is 14021 days
From 7/1/1998 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Armageddon" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 1673 days
From 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) To 8/29/2007 ( Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis causes the United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident with the objective of nuclear destruction in the United States and Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis-George Bush continue to actively plan to produce nuclear destruction in the United States of America for the purpose of ongoing protection to organized crime and other illegal commerce activity ) is 1673 days
From 7/7/1951 ( premiere US film "Queen for a Day" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 18834 days
18834 = 9417 + 9417
From 3/4/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date UK ) To 12/14/1984 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Starman" & premiere US film "Nineteen Eighty-Four" & premiere US film "Dune" & premiere US film "Runaway" ) is 9417 days
From 7/16/1963 ( another threat sent to me against my wife ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 14442 days
14442 = 7221 + 7221
From 3/4/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date UK ) To 12/10/1978 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Superman" ) is 7221 days
From 12/7/1998 ( D-Day:my official United States federal special undercover operation as Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan US Navy consistent with prevailing strategic orders from 1981 and earlier and United Nations sponsored operation to prosecute and convict the Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis-Al Qaeda alliance of which all Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis staff partners employees contractors lawyers managers of any capacity are willing allies of the severely treasonous Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis-Al Qaeda alliance including the criminal support infrastructure of Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State including other severely treasonous regions of the United States including the guaranteed prosecution and conviction of George Bush & Barack Hussein Obama the established national traitors against the US federal government and their severely treasonous criminal conspirators ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County
Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 1514 days
From 7/16/1963 ( another threat sent to me against my wife ) To 9/7/1967 ( premiere US TV series "The Flying Nun" ) is 1514 days
From 4/16/1911 ( Guy Burgess - Soviet Union spy against the NATO alliance - the Cambridge Five spy ring - succeeded by the George Herbert Walker Bush spy ring violently against NATO ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 33526 days
33526 = 16763 + 16763
'16 July 1963' ( another threat sent to me against my wife )
From 3/24/1956 ( Steve Ballmer the International Terrorist violently against the United States federal government and International Terrorist Organization Leader at Microsoft is a cowardly violent criminal and actively instigates insurrection and subversive activity against the United States of America and USA allies ) To 8/27/1979 ( Louis Mountbatten - United Kingdom Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet - deceased - murdered by Provisional Irish Republican Army ) is 8556 days
From 8/27/1979 ( Louis Mountbatten - United Kingdom Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet - deceased - murdered by Provisional Irish Republican Army ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 8556 days
From 9/11/2001 ( New York City and Headquarters of the United States Department of Defense "The Pentagon" attacked by Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis-George Bush with massive fatalities and destruction ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 505 days
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date US ) To 7/20/1960 ( launched from the United States Navy warship submarine USS George Washington SSBN 598 the United States Navy conducts the first successful underwater launch of the United States Navy Polaris ballistic missile ) is 505 days
From 12/22/1964 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Goldfinger" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 13917 days
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date US ) To 4/9/1997 ( the United States Air Force F-22 fighter was publicly displayed and I was primary United States Navy test pilot for the United States Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet program ) is 13917 days
From 6/17/1983 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Superman III" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 7166 days
7166 = 3583 + 3583
From 3/4/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date UK ) To 12/24/1968 ( date hijacked from me:I was United States Apollo 8 spacecraft United States Navy astronaut in orbit of Earth's moon ) is 3583 days
From 8/1/1980 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "The Final Countdown" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 8216 days
From 7/16/1963 ( another threat sent to me against my wife ) To 1/12/1986 ( premiere US TV series episode "Tales from the Darkside"::"Comet Watch" ) is 8216 days
From 5/3/1975 ( date hijacked from me:United States Navy aircraft carrier warship USS Nimitz CVN 68 commissioned into United States Navy active service and later a central element of the 1980 film "The Final Countdown" where USS Nimitz CVN 68 travels back in time to a pivotal event in US Navy history ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 10133 days
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date US ) To 11/29/1986 ( Cary Grant - deceased ) is 10133 days
From 2/20/1966 ( Chester William Nimitz - United States Navy Fleet Admiral - deceased ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 13492 days
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date US ) To 2/9/1996 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Broken Arrow" ) is 13492 days
From 8/3/1940 ( date hijacked from me:actor Martin Sheen starring role 1980 film "The Final Countdown" as United States Department of Defense civilian contractor employee and time-traveler "Warren Lasky" and 1979 film "Apocalypse Now" as United States Army Special Forces Captain "Benjamin L. Willard" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 22824 days
22824 = 11412 + 11412
From 3/4/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date UK ) To 6/1/1990 ( premiere US film "Total Recall" ) is 11412 days
From 10/15/1959 ( premiere US film "The Untouchables"::series premiere episode "The Empty Chair" ) To 6/7/1981 ( my 3rd United States Navy Medal of Honor hijacked from me and the Iraq-Bill Gates-Microsoft-George Bush Baghdad Osirak terrorist nuclear weapons construction site destroyed by Israeli Air Force with my personal assistance as a United States federal military officer and F-16 Falcon pilot flying combat to destroy the Iraq-Bill Gates-Microsoft-George Bush Baghdad Osirak terrorist nuclear weapons construction site ) is 7906 days
From 6/7/1981 ( my 3rd United States Navy Medal of Honor hijacked from me and the Iraq-Bill Gates-Microsoft-George Bush Baghdad Osirak terrorist nuclear weapons construction site destroyed by Israeli Air Force with my personal assistance as a United States federal military officer and F-16 Falcon pilot flying combat to destroy the Iraq-Bill Gates-Microsoft-George Bush Baghdad Osirak terrorist nuclear weapons construction site ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 7906 days
From 11/17/2001 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Behind Enemy Lines" features central figure United States Navy Lieutenant "Chris Burnett" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 438 days
From 7/16/1963 ( another threat sent to me against my wife ) To 9/26/1964 ( premiere US TV series "Gilligan's Island" ) is 438 days
From 4/12/1981 ( date hijacked from me:I was the commander aboard the United States STS-1 Columbia spacecraft as United States Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 7962 days
7962 = 3981 + 3981
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date US ) To 1/25/1970 ( premiere US film "MASH" features starring figure United States Army "Dr. Benjamin 'Hawkeye' Pierce" ) is 3981 days
From 6/15/1973 ( Neil Patrick Harris ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 10820 days
10820 = 5410 + 5410
From 3/4/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date UK ) To 12/25/1973 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Magnum Force" ) is 5410 days
From 10/3/1976 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US TV series "Quincy M.E." features central figure "Dr. R. Quincy, M.E." as forensic coroner ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 9614 days
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date US ) To 6/28/1985 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Pale Rider" ) is 9614 days
From 11/15/1977 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" ) To 1/29/2003 ( Greg Nickels & Olympia Washington-Seattle King County Washington State & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government ) is 9206 days
9206 = 4603 + 4603
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me: my birth date US ) to 10/9/1971 ( date hijacked from me:I am board-certified surgeon as Dr. Thomas Reagan MD ) is: 4603 days
http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=3178&Dept=40
SEATTLE.GOV
City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels (former Mayor)
NEWS ADVISORY
SUBJECT: Mayor To Send Zarker’s Nomination To City Council
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
1/29/2003 11:12:00 AM
Mayor To Send Zarker’s Nomination To City Council
Seattle - Declaring this "a great week for Seattle City Light customers," Mayor Greg Nickels announced today he will send Gary Zarker’s name to the City Council for reconfirmation as the superintendent of Seattle City Light.
[ Greg Nickels & City of Seattle Washington and Olympia Washington-King County Washington State the Racketeering Mob Organization and the criminal support infrastructure violently against the United States federal government & Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis the International Terrorist Organization violently against the United States federal government actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the United States federal government with all Bill Gates-Microsoft-Corbis & City of Seattle Washington and Olympia Washington-King County Washington State & Greg Nickels staff partners contributors employees contractors lawyers managers of any capacity as severely treasonous criminal accomplices and that are active unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States that actively make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in the United States and in the Severely
Treasonous and Criminally Rebellious State of Washington by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings ]
RED STORM RISING
Tom Clancy
PRINTING HISTORY
G.P. Putnam's Sons hardcover edition / August 1986
Berkley mass-market edition / August 1987
Page 21
He looked around the table. Twenty-two men, of whom only thirteen really decided matters - and one of those was missing - were silently contemplating the prospect of over two hundred fifty million Soviet workers and peasants, all hungry and in the dark, at the same time that the troops of the Red Army, the Ministry of the Interior, and the KGB found their own fuel supplies - and because of it, their training and mobility - restricted.
The men of the Politburo were among the most powerful in the world, far more so than any of their Western counterparts. They answered to no one, not the Central Committee of the Communist Party, not the Supreme Soviet, certainly not the people of their nation. The men had not walked the streets of Moscow for years, had been whisked by chauffeured, handmade cars to and from their luxury apartments within Moscow, or to their ceremonial dachas outside the city. They shopped, if at all, in guarded stores restricted to the elite, were served by doctors in clinics established only for the elite. Because of this, these men regarded themselves as masters of their destiny.
It was only now beginning to strike them that like all men, they too were subject to a fate which their immense personal power merely made all the more intractable.
Around them was a country whose citizens were poorly fed and poorly housed, whose only abundant commodities were the painted signs and slogans praising Soviet Progress and Solidarity. Some of the men at this table actually believed those slogans, Sergetov knew. Sometimes he still did, mainly in homage to his idealistic youth. But Soviet Progress had not fed the nation, and how long would Soviet Solidarity endure in the hearts of people hungry, cold, in the dark? Would they be proud of the missiles in the Siberian forests then? Of the thousands of tank and guns produced every years? Would they then look to the sky that held a Salyut space station and feel inspired - or would they wonder what kind of food was being eaten by that elite? Less than a year before, Sergetov had been a regional party chieftain, and in Leningrad he had been careful to listen to his own staff people's description of the jokes and grumblings in the lines which people endured for
two loaves of bread, or toothpaste, or shoes. Detached even then from the harsher realities of life in the Soviet Union, he had often wondered if one day the burden of the ordinary worker would become too heavy to endure. How would he have known then? How would he know now? Would the older men here now ever know?
