– Who are you?
The master of the office rose from his desk, approached Rutra, and held out his hand.
– Yuri Yarovitovich," he introduced himself; taking Rutra under his elbow, he motioned for him to sit down.
– Rutra Tigrovich," Rutra introduced himself in turn and sat down at the table.
– I understand you're a bit taken aback," the man said, looking intently at Rutra and then at his double.
The man nodded and walked out, the door closing automatically.
– I'll try to explain everything briefly, but don't interrupt and don't ask questions. You can write down your questions, here's a sheet of paper and a pen. What I will tell you will seem incredible, but I think that your psyche is already a little prepared after acquaintance with Center Zero, Metro-2 and Metro-3. And before that you have seen a lot of things, read special literature, including, as far as I know, radical literature.
Ruthra decided to be quiet and listen to what he would be told to make sense of the situation.
– Tell me, Ruthra, when you were on a mission, where did the orders come from?
– From my superiors," Ruthra replied grudgingly.
– Okay, which one?
– From the direct," Ruthra replied, his whole demeanor showing that he thought these questions were foolish.
– Don't jump to conclusions, listen," said Yarovitovich. – Orders, orders, instructions go from superiors to subordinates. Right?
– Okay.
– And where is the most important link, where the first order comes from, where instructions for instructions, rules for rules are written? Do you know about the existence of commands in envelopes in case of X hour?
– You mean the secret envelopes that are kept in strategic centers? Envelopes that contain orders in case a special event occurs where you have to perform an action according to an enclosed instruction?
– Yeah. What do you know about them? What are they for?
– To ensure that no one knows about the contents of a secret order or instruction before the deadline, so that it does not have to be transmitted through communication channels. The reliability of secrecy and secrecy must be virtually 100 percent," Rutra said.
– If any of those who were to execute the order knew the contents of the instruction in advance, they would have the opportunity to "betray" the secret or deliberately avoid executing the order. When submarines were captured or a group of scouts failed, the command could be given to open package number so-and-so. The one who received such an order opened the package and saw that it was necessary to shoot the coder, launch a missile with a nuclear charge, etc. Some kind of unusual, unexpected solution.
– Yeah, I know.
– You have envelopes like that at Zero, too.
– I am aware of that," Rutra replied. – Yuri Vasilyevich told me that the president has such packages, but no one knows what they contain.
– Yes, there is, and did he tell you that once there was a violation? Gorbachev, out of curiosity, opened the packages and found that in one of them was an order for nuclear bombing of major cities, capitals of NATO strategic centers, world confessional centers. Gorbachev "surrendered" this plan to the NATO, showed that he was on their side, accused the Communist Party leadership of aggressive intentions.
– And there was no control over him? – Ruthra said a little sarcastically.
– The system worked a little differently back then. It was a victim of its own omnipotence. It is information that turns position into power. This system is very complicated. For example, so that no one knows who is the most important, there must always be public figures who are positioned for the public as the supreme power. Let me say even more – the supreme power itself should not know that there is a permanent organized system that controls the change and functioning of the official supreme power.
