One Spark Away: How Russia Could Drag the West Into War

Close Call: Poland’s Jets Just Sent a Message to Moscow

      It’s happening again. Middle of the night, lights off, nerves tight—Polish fighter jets are in the air. Not practicing. Not showing off. They’re hunting. Because once more, Russian missiles and drones are lighting up the Ukrainian sky, and Warsaw’s not about to sit around and hope the fire doesn’t spread.

     This wasn’t a drill. It was a warning shot—only no one fired it on purpose.

Officially, no Polish airspace was touched. That’s what the Ministry of Defense is saying. But let’s be honest—when Russian steel is screaming a few dozen miles from your border, that technicality isn’t much comfort.   Whether it explodes in your backyard or just over the fence, the danger feels the same. And for Poland, straddling NATO’s eastern edge, that border isn’t just a line on a map—it’s a tripwire. One spark and it’s game on.

     Sweden’s aircraft were in the air too. They’re not just spectating from the sidelines anymore. The West is watching Russia’s every move, and some countries are leaning in close enough to smell the smoke.

     This is what you call escalation’s quiet cousin—proximity. One twitch of a drone’s guidance system, one misfire, and Article 5 of the NATO treaty kicks in. That’s not a footnote. That’s a global military response. This isn’t speculation. It’s a hair-trigger reality. And the closer Russian missiles get to NATO’s borders, the more likely someone, somewhere, blinks at the wrong moment.

     Poland’s concern is justified. The second time they scrambled jets in a week wasn’t about showing muscle—it was about protecting sovereignty. About signaling to Moscow: "We see you. We’re ready." Because wars don’t always start with declarations. Sometimes, they start with a drone crossing an invisible line. And Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has already shredded most of Europe’s post-Cold War assumptions.

     This is the backdrop of Mission of Vengeance, my high-octane spy thriller where former KGB agents aren’t looking east—they’re looking west, and south, toward the U.S. presence in the Caribbean. It starts with sabotage, ramps up with a bombing, and edges toward the kind of flashpoint that could put American forces on alert and spark a full-blown conflict. It's fiction, but it's built on the same dangerous logic we’re seeing unfold now in real time.

     If Poland is scrambling jets, it means they’re not waiting for the first bomb to fall on NATO soil. They know what’s at stake. And they’re not the only ones. The entire eastern flank of NATO has been raising red flags since the first Russian tanks crossed into Ukraine. Every drone strike, every missile volley, brings the war one bad decision away from expanding.

     And if you think the Caribbean is far removed from all this, think again. The same old intelligence networks still exist. The same players—spies, mercenaries, rogue operatives—still move pieces around the board. In Mission of Vengeance, it’s a carefully orchestrated plot that threatens to blow open a new front in America’s backyard. That’s not far-fetched. It’s a reminder: wars don’t always come from the places you expect.

     Right now, Europe is living on a razor’s edge. One wrong move could be the spark that lights a much bigger fire. The question isn’t if Russia’s aggression could trigger a Western response—it’s how close are we already?

     And who’s willing to make the first move?

 

Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). He also writes the Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster Series, which blends his knowledge of real-life intelligence operations with gripping fictional storytelling. His work offers readers an insider’s glimpse into the world of espionage, inspired by the complexities and high-stakes realities of the intelligence community.