SYNOPSIS

During the last decade of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a considerable force of nuclear missiles aimed at the heart of Western Europe. America’s response was to deploy Pershing II missiles in West Germany. The Kremlin’s reaction to this counter-maneuver was to order the KGB to develop a back-up plan in the event of nuclear war. Hence the Atomic Fang Division was created. AFD was a special purpose group of Soviet saboteurs, introduced in every major coastal city of the United States. Their mission was to smuggle portable “rucksack bombs” into the country, and lay in wait for a detonation signal...

But the American Government is about to send a message: No one messes with the United States, and gets away with it!

OVERVIEW

In early 1984, the former Soviet Union sets in motion a back-up plan in case of nuclear war with the United States. Targeting Manhattan as their first mark, KGB planners pick “sleeper agent” Viktor Zotov for the job. Zotov is activated through a former Cuban operative named Myra, who warns him that a portable nuclear bomb is being sent his way. The bomb is fractioned into twelve components that will be arriving by sea. At Fort Benning, Georgia, Col. Marlon Berkowitz, his former operations chief, approaches Sgt. Patrick Coonan and offers him a position with a shadow network known as The Quadrille. In Manhattan, Leo –a Hispanic P. I. with a shady reputation– meets Zotov at the Salsa Disco. Zotov makes Leo believe he’s a drug dealer, and recruits him to hire a small team of mercenaries to ride shotgun in his monthly trips to the port. At Fort Benning, Coonan accepts Berkowitz’s offer, and begins his selection training. As Pat’s training progresses, Zotov retrieves the components of the bomb and stores them in a KGB safe house in Queens. At one of his meeting with Zotov in a Manhattan Salsa disco, Leo spots Myra socializing with the Russian and suspects Zotov might not be what he seems. Leo contacts Col. Berkowitz and tells him what he suspects. They know each other from Vietnam, and Leo works for Berkowitz as an informant and part time operative. In Moscow, Major Kirov –Zotov’s superior– is wondering if his agent will have the nerve to detonate the bomb when ordered. So he instructs Myra to keep Viktor under very close surveillance. Meanwhile, Coonan and nineteen other Quadrille recruits are now ready for Tilson, the “wet works” instructor, but The Colonel pulls Pat off Tilson’s class, assigns him the codename Delta, and clears him for his first mission: the elimination of Zotov. At this point, Myra uncovers a connection between Leo and Col. Berkowitz, and Delta begins to check on Myra. Since she proves to be a threat, Pat gets ready to take out the woman and another Cuban agent who’s helping her protect Zotov, but his inexperience as a field agent makes fall into a trap... which he barely escapes. Then Coonan and Leo raid the Russian’s safe house, and secure the delivered components of the bomb. Worried about Myra, Zotov checks her apartment and finds her dead, along with a set of pictures in which Leo, Delta, and The Colonel’s faces are the prime objects. Out of control by Myra’s death, and needled by a sense of betrayal on Leo’s part, Zotov shows up at the Queens safe house with a gun. There’s a shootout and the KGB man wounds Leo, but Coonan manages to shoot the Russian in the gut before he flees. The story climaxes when Pat hunts down a wounded Zotov in Manhattan’s South Street Mall. A hulking KGB henchman, ambushes Delta in the piers; Coonan kills the man, and secures the last component of the bomb. Weakened by the loss of blood, Zotov realizes he is not in shape to outrun Coonan, so he opts to confront Delta in a final shootout that ends his life. A few months later, in Moscow, Major Kirov receives the unannounced visit of an unknown sniper, Coonan, who puts an end to his life with a six hundred-yard shot through the head.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

PATRICK COONAN (a.k.a. agent Delta)
The protagonist. Pat Coonan is an American infantryman in his twenties. While serving as a drill instructor at Ft. Benning, Georgia, he gets recruited by Col. Berkowitz into a secret “wet works” unit designed to hunt down Soviet spies and saboteurs. Pat is tall, fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and in excellent shape.

VIKTOR ZOTOV (a.k.a. agent Vitya)
The Antagonist. Zotov is the best man the KGB’s Atomic Fang Division has in all Manhattan. He is assigned by his Moscow masters to help introduce a “rucksack bomb” into the Big Apple, arm it and lay in wait for the detonating signal. Mid 30s, in great shape, long blond hair carried in ponytail fashion.

COLONEL MARLON BERKOWITZ (a.k.a. The Colonel)
Marlon Berkowitz is a former Navy SEAL commando turned Operations Man, and the founder of The Quadrille, a shadow agency that deals in “wet works”. He is Pat’s boss. In his late 40s, short, shaved head, hawkish nose, metal-framed glasses and an ever-present briar pipe. The Colonel favors gray Brook Brothers’ suits.

COMMANDER BISHOP (U.S. Army)
He is Pat’s commanding officer at Fort Benning. Bishop is in his early 50s. He’s very black, very tall, and built like a Mack truck.

LEO BALMASEDA (a.k.a. agent Lando)
Leo is a New York P.I. with a quick gun for hire, and a shady reputation for dealings with the Italian mafia. In truth, he is a Quadrille senior operative working undercover in Manhattan. Of middle height, overweight but still tough, in his late 40s. Favors a rumpled trench coat and a black fedora hat.

ALFRED TILSON
He’s The Quadrille’s “wet work” instructor. A tall New Englander with broad shoulders, curly brown hair, and a broken nose. Tilson is in his late 40s.

MAJOR KIROV (head of the KGB’s Department V)
A high-ranking Foreign Operations officer. He is the master planner behind the “Manhattan blast”. An extremely clever individual who doesn’t trust a soul. He is cruel, short, slim, with bushy gray hair. Kirov is in his early 60s.

CHIEF OF STAFF (supervisor of the Atomic Fang Division)
He answers to Major Kirov. He’s also Zotov’s immediate supervisor, with access to some KGB illegal agents in the Manhattan. Tall, gaunt, bald-headed with thick glasses. He is in his late 50s.

MYRA (former Cuban spy turned illegal KGB agent)
Late 20s, smart, beautiful and resented against her new Moscow masters for forcing her to bed men in the line of duty. Although she is lesbian, Myra won’t allow her personal feelings to keep her from performing her job. She works with Viktor Zotov in Manhattan.

ERNESTO (a Cuban DGI assassin)
Mid 30s, short and stocky, dirty blond hair and mustache. He knows Myra from the days in which they worked together for the DGI. He agrees to help her watch over Zotov’s operation in exchange for sexual favors.

MONSTER MARK (a N.Y. hooligan working for Zotov)
In his late 20s. Tall, blondish, freckled and built like a champion wrestler.

LUKE (a N.Y. hooligan working for Zotov)
In his early 30s, black, short and sinewy. Very agile.

©2007 Oscar F. Ortiz / WGA Reg. # 1178589