Dr. Katya Kolosova -- bearing, in some other plane of existence, a most luscious resemblance to Sophia Loren -- guided General Gogol though a vast warehouse of Soviet military hardware.
"I have given Mother Russia her greatest rockets." For a Russian scientist Dr. Kolosova looked quite chic, with a bright red tailored coat and black elbow-length gloves. "Tall ... powerful ... with incredible thrust ... and massive payloads." She paused to shut her eyes and smile, as if permitting herself a quick illicit sexual thrill from thinking about her rockets.
"Yes, your Bozhe Moi rocket bomb is a most impressive concept," General Gogol conceded, "but it would be impossible to build, the sheer scale of it!"
"Yes, but just imagine the explosion!" Dr. Kolosova sighed rapturously. there were distinct lovelights in her eyes -- the lovelights, perhaps, of a pyromaniac. "But for want of the Bozhe Moi, I have turned to more aerodynamic pursuits. Look!"
General Gogol looked. There, on a great stone floor, stood a sleek and menacing silvery-white symphony of wild curves, something between a fighter plane and a Lamborghini.
"I call it Red Eagle," said Dr. Kolosova. "Red, as in the glorious revolution. Eagle, because the eagle is a mighty bird which has always been claimed by imperialists, from the Romans to the Americans. But now, at least, we have our Red Eagle, we have the bird of prey which will deliver to us a People's Empire."
"It looks unusual," General Gogol admitted. "What is its advantage?"
"For one -- a top speed of Mach five."
Gogol turned and stared at her, aghast. "Mach five!?"
"In the archaic American measurement of distance -- one mile a second. I specifically designed it, and pursued that speed, to press that one fact into their minds. Let them think, one mile per second. Seven thousand miles every two hours. No plane, no weapons system, no missile on Earth could ever catch up with it and knock it down."
"But, Comrade Doctor -- what of the pilot? He would have to be able to survive the most incredible acceleration!"
"Pilots are even now being taken from our cosmonaut program and retrained as Red Eagle pilots. The Red Eagle pilot will be a new breed of man, super-strong, super-resilient, super-capable -- an invincible conqueror for our times!" Kolosova seemed to permit herself another wicked shiver of fantasy gratification.
"Very well, Comrade Doctor, we shall see what we can do."
"With the Red Eagle, Comrade General, no one can stop us now!" |