Binary code Mystery number two
Шрифт:
– Get us more information about the Ramenki-43 facility. We need it to analyze what is happening.
– There's nothing to find out. You think I'm an ordinary employee of a research institute? The Ramenki-43 facility is not a big secret for the scientific community.
– Then what is it?
– Is it that important?
– We wonder if preparations are underway there for the long stay of large masses of people.
– Of course you can arrange it there. In general, you decide for yourself. Ramenki-43 (or Metro-2) has always been surrounded by a huge number of legends. There are myths about secret objects, huge "metro-rats", about mutants, and even about the portal to a parallel dimension. About what is in the tunnels underground in Moscow, reliably know only a limited number of people. So, the underground city under Ramenki exists, its capacity is 12-15 thousand people who can live there for about 30 years.
– Oh! And you say, 'It's no great secret,'" exclaimed Peter.
That's what Ruthra began to call him, conveniently enough.
– Z0 years is such a power," the American could not calm down from the excitement.
Ruthra, on the other hand, looked at him ironically, surprised, smiled slightly, and continued the story.
– The Ramenki-43 facility is located at a depth of 180-200 meters. In "Metro-2" the whole system is single-track, there are ventilation shafts from the tunnels. The only used gateway of transition from the regular subway to "Metro-2" is at the metro station "Sportivnaya". This is not a big secret, at least not now, because Oleg Gordievsky, a former colonel of the USSR KGB who escaped to the UK in 1985, called Metro-2 the main secret of the KGB, which has not been revealed until now. According to him, there are whole cities and a network of communications underground that will never be shown to anyone. I assure you there is nothing like that, at least not that I know of, although I have often been there.
– Is there any preparation going on there? – Pyotr persisted.
– Listen, Pyotr, I hope you don't take offense that I call you by your Russian name.
– Oh, no, my new friend.
– Then listen to me as a friend. Even though you have Russian roots, you know Russia very poorly.
– Why?
– That's because there are always preparations going on. Russia is always in war mode. Well, to tell you the truth, I expected more from your center. I need to know which receiving and transmitting stations you can use in a critical moment. And I need their parameters too.
– I'll show you everything.
– If you'd be so kind, I'll give you so much information that you'll think this whole thing is child's play. You know what "baby talk" means?
– Yes, I understood your expression," Peter said quietly and guiltily.
He then took Rutra to all the departments the guest wanted to see, showed him the secret plan of the complex, the working and mothballed part, and the EO compartment, which was full of long-lasting food.
– Do you think it's for nothing? – The scientist asked Rutru, which puzzled him, even made him a little nervous.
Trying not to show his bewilderment over why this question was being asked of him, Rutra tried to answer the "educated layman."
– Anything can happen. Back when I was in the service, back in '91, I witnessed how meat labeled "1960" was used for food. So there's nothing surprising about stockpiling. Why don't you tell me where I can find the subject of my interest?
– I understood from the inquiry that there was a precedent of interference on dual frequencies, the source of which could not be determined. According to the intelligence – it seems to be on the territory of the USA, but according to the military – all deny their involvement, as proof they allowed to create a joint commission of inquiry, in which we, people of science, must first make a joint analysis.
– Almost there. I need to report back: is this possible or is it an unidentified failure of the receiving system?
– I understand the collision of the American and Russian satellites was because of this.
– I too think an unknown signal changed his course.
Rutra was lying, it wasn't true, but the reason was very reliable.
– If you can, get permission to search Raven Rock," Peter suggested.
– Thanks, I'll give it a try. If you're all set, let me go.
– No, you can't do that. You've been here all day, you need to rest, you need to eat.
"That wouldn't be bad," Ruthra thought. He had forgotten that he hadn't eaten.
– Eating is fine, but I'll rest at the hotel.
They went to the cafeteria for a snack, then over a cup of coffee Peter talked about the oligarchs who don't think about the development of basic science, about the government that goes along with them, that no one takes a possible nuclear catastrophe seriously. "Just like in Russia," Rutra thought, thanked him, and headed back.
He was met in the airport dungeons and escorted to a rest area. He contacted Hent and told him what he had been offered to look for at Raven Rock. The status and clearance level of the man who'd suggested it determined the importance of his words, just as it made it clear that he probably had good reason to pretend to be a naive idealist.
In the morning, the authorization was approved, and Rutra traveled in the capsule to the site. The capsule traveled as usual at "crazy" speed, stopping and turning around several times. Ruthra could hardly stand it, it was a long and exhausting journey, and finally he reached Raven Rock. There he was met, also by the military.
This complex, located on the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland, has many names, such as The Rock, SiteRT, NMCC-R, ANMCC, AJCC. The popular nickname is "the spare Pentagon." The fact is that SiteRT must accommodate all 3,000 employees of the "pentagon" in case of danger.
The Rock houses DISA's (Defense Information Systems Agency) computer operations center and the operations centers of the major branches of the Army, Air Force, and Navy. The complex is also used as an alternate government bunker. It was a more serious organization, only the resolution of a very powerful top-secret department, with the strange acronym WWW, allowed Rutra to check all the bays he wanted. The military had the same attitude everywhere, in Russia and in the United States. They perceived very negatively the presence of an outsider on their territory, especially a person unknown to the structures.
No one was available for a heart-to-heart talk, as at NORAD. The complex is inaccessible to the public, and the security level is so high that conspiracy theorists speculate about other purposes for the facility. A popular rumor among them is that a 157 kilometer long tunnel leads from Site R to the Pentagon. If they knew where the tunnels stretch to and for what distances. Rutra had traveled through one of them and was now wondering how to survive the even greater distance to Area-51.
Since according to the legend Rutra was a scientist, a double agent, who was supposed to "find out" weaknesses in the Pentagon's technology regarding Russian developments, he had access everywhere. There was a certain power component in his face, because they themselves told in detail, with the provision of documents, all the possibilities of technology. The instruction "from above" was clearly given – to provide all the data according to the subject of the search.