by Craig Thomas
He paused again in his stride, in the middle of his office, and said, calmly, but with a catch of excitement in his voice that both his subordinates felt: 'If we had not been persuaded that Mr. Alexander Thomas Orton was a drug-smuggler, what would we think he was? Eh? Based on what has happened — including the killing of a KGB man, which must have had something to do with this, and which shows the desperate extent of what has been happening — two deaths, a fake Orton and one of ourselves… based on that, what would we think?'
He stood staring at them, willing them to arrive at his own conclusion, nervous of the leap his mind had made, hoping that theirs would leap in the same way.
Holokov cleared his throat, fussily, apologetically, infuriatingly, and said: 'He is an agent?'
'Exactly!' Tortyev was smiling. 'He is an espionage agent, of the British, or the Americans — the drugs blinded us to the truth! Now, now he has disappeared — for what reason? Where is he — what is he up to — eh?'
Neither of his subordinates appeared to be possessed of further ideas. Gathering up the sheaf of photographs, Tortyev bundled them into his arms, and made for the door.
'Holokov — come with me. I want this face processed by the central computer — now! This man is dangerous, and I want to know who he is. The central registry of known or suspected agents may give us some clue as to his real identity.' He turned to Filipov. 'Get in touch with our people in the British Embassy, Filipov. Give them my authority for your enquiries, and tell them it's urgent. I want to know who Orton's contact is — and I want to know now!'
Filipov nodded, but the door had already closed behind the inspector and his fat assistant trailing in his wake. Filipov picked up one photograph that Tortyev's sweeping arms had failed to gather, and looked down at it. By chance, it was a photograph of Gant in the, persona of Orton, rather than Fenton. He seemed to study it for a moment, turning it in his fingers, letting the face catch the light from the strip-light overhead. Filipov's dark, swarthy features were harrassed, his shoulders bowed with concern.
Filipov knew that it would take only a little time if Tortyev began to ask questions of the KGB informants who worked in the kitchens, the corridors and the typing-pool of the British Embassy, a little time before he began to realise that there were a multitude of connections between Edgecliffe and Lansing at the Embassy and the man in his persona as Orton. Fenton was SIS, based in London. He had come to Moscow this time undisguised, an ordinary tourist with a package holiday, and had gone to ground in the Embassy only an hour or so before his death — re-emerging briefly as Orton. Someone might have seen him, made the connection. They might even discover that the substitute for Fenton on the package holiday, now moved on to Leningrad, was not the man who arrived at Cheremetievo from London.
He realised that Edgecliffe had to be told, and quickly. He got up from the chair, in a quick, nervous bound. He could not call from Tortyev's office, the line would be monitored. Yet he could not leave the building — Tortyev would be back within ten minutes, perhaps a little more. As far as he knew, the telephones — the 'social lines', as they were called — in the off-duty rest-rooms on the second floor would not be monitored at that time of night. He would have to risk it. He had to call Edgecliffe, before Tortyev received any information from the informants in the British Embassy. He closed the door of the office noiselessly behind him.
* * *
At the direct order of the Head of Intelligence, 'C, Kenneth de Vere Aubrey had condescended to temporarily vacate the usual offices of SO-4, his own section of the SIS's Special Operations Function, and to take up residence in a specially prepared and utterly secure room within the complex of the Ministry of Defence. Aubrey did not like M.O.D. He and his number two, Shelley, had occupied the room with its wireprint and secure telephones for most of the day and evening, preparing it with the maps that now covered the walls — European Russia, the Barents Sea and north into the Arctic Ocean, the Moscow Metro system, a Moscow street plan. All the necessary landscapes and seascapes of his operation. Now the room had acquired two other occupants, the Americans Buckholz and Anders, his aide. They had commandeered two of the small desks that had been moved in, scorning, apparently, the trestle-tables that Aubrey had drafted in with the original furniture. Shelley, returning to the room from a journey to the kitchens, saw Buckholz talking on one red telephone, and Anders up the step-ladder, pinning a satellite weather photograph of the Arctic region on the wall next to the map of the same region. That map, like the others of European Russia and the North Sea, was ringed by satellite weather-pictures. It was not those, however, that especially caught Shelley's eye. His gaze was drawn to the map of European Russia that Buckholz had begun working on when he had left with the supper dishes for the kitchens. Aubrey had allowed no one inside the room except himself, Shelley, and the two Americans who had arrived a little after eight. It was now one o'clock in the morning in London, two hours ahead of Moscow time.
Shelley walked over to Aubrey and stood beneath the huge map, looking up. Facing him now, instead of the clean unmarked map, was something that made him, thousands of miles away, frightened and dubious. He had a sudden image of Gant standing belligerently before him in his hotel room — and he regretted his stupid, petty dislike of the American. What Shelley was staring at was Buckholz's breakdown, in graphic form, of the Russian defence system which Gant would have to penetrate, even if he got the Firefox off the ground at Bilyarsk. Much of what was on the map Shelley already knew, but to see it, indicated in coloured pins and ribbons, shocked him thoroughly.
Near the top of the map, extending deep into the polar pack at the neck of the conical orthomorphic projection map, was a yellow ribbon, in great loops reaching upwards. This signified the effective extent of the Russian DEW-line, the least of Gant's worries. What really attracted his gaze, riveted his attention, were the sweeps of small pins that marked the fighter bases, those known or guessed, and the missile sites. The fighter stations, all of which would be manned in a twenty-four-hour readiness manner, would possess at least a dozen aircraft that could be scrambled within minutes. These bases were marked in blue and extended along the northern coast of the Soviet Union from Murmansk and Archangelsk in the west to the Taimyr Peninsula fifteen hundred miles to the east. The bases were a little more than one hundred miles apart.
Below these pins were two sweeps of red circles, showing the missile sites. These were slightly less than a hundred miles apart, and extended over the same area of the map, its total east-west projection. Each missile site was semi-fixed, and possessed perhaps a dozen or more surface-to-air proximity and infra-red missiles, launched from concrete pads. Between each pair in both chains, though unmarked, Shelley nevertheless knew there would be mobile, truck-borne missiles, perhaps half-a-dozen to each convoy. The radar system would be located at each of the missile bases, linked to the central radar-control which processed the information supplied by the DEW-line.
Shelley felt mesmerised by the two sweeps of red circles, one along the coast, the second another three hundred miles or more inland, following the same path. It looked like a plan of a classic battle, an army drawn up in two parallel lines — an army of missiles, in this case, linked to radar that scanned every cubic foot of air over the Soviet Union. Gant would have to cross each line, and avoid the fighter-scramble that would follow hard upon his theft of the Firefox.
And, thought Shelley, Buckholz hasn't yet filled in the positions of Soviet spy trawlers, missile cruisers of the Red Banner Northern Fleet, and submarine activity in the Arctic Ocean and the Barents Sea.
He saw that Aubrey was looking at him, quizzically, perhaps even vulnerably. 'There are a lot of them — eh, Shelley?' he said softly.
'Too many,' Shelley blurted out. 'Too bloody many by half! He hasn't got a chance!' He dropped his eyes, seeing Aubrey's anger at his impolitic display of emotion. 'Poor sod,' he muttered.
Four
THE CONCEALMENT
Gant was tired, yet his mind refu
sed to stop racing. Baranovich and the woman, Kreshin's mistress, fussed round him fitting his disguise. Kreshin himself sat in one of the room's low, inexpensive armchairs, watching intently, as if studying the American, expecting to learn something from the way he moved, the way he stood still.
Gant despised the building tension and excitement within himself. It was the wrong way to be, he knew. Yet however he strove to control his feelings, he could not avoid hanging over the edge, staring into the abyss of the hours ahead.
The disguise was, when he considered it, inevitable. There was only one way to walk through a tight security net which was on the look-out for the least unfamiliar thing — to be a part of that net. Baranovich got up from his knees and stood back, hands on hips, in the posture of a couturier inspecting his creation. Gant self-consciously pulled the uniform jacket straight at the hips, adjusted the belt, and looked across at himself in the mirror. The cap he now wore hid his newly-cropped hair, cut close to his head, so that the contacts inside his flying helmet that would control the weapons-system would function, picking up his brain patterns, transmitting them to radar, missiles, or cannon.
Underneath the dark peak, the face that stared at him was cold, narrow, lined and tired. It was the face of a stranger, despite the fact that nothing in the way of disguise had been done to it. In the wall-mirror, all he could see of himself besides was the collar of the brown shirt, the dark uniform tie, and the bright tabs on the laps of his uniform jacket.
'That is — good,' Baranovich pronounced at last. 'It is a good fit now that Natalia has made the little alterations.' He smiled over Gant's shoulder at the woman, who was sitting on the arm of Kreshin's chair, her arm about his neck, as if seeking warmth. Something about the uniform seemed to disturb her, make her seek physical contact with her lover.
'Captain Grigory Chekhov, attached to the Security Support Unit of the GRU, at present assigned under the command of…'
'Major Tsernik, KGB officer responsible for security of the Mikoyan project, Bilyarsk,' Gant finished for Baranovich, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.
Baranovich nodded. 'What do you think of him, Ilya?'
'Very — convincing,' Ilya Kreshin offered, holding the girl's hand at his shoulder.
'At least, he frightens Natalia — doesn't he?' He was smiling at the girl as he looked into her face, and she tried to smile back. 'You see?' he added, turning back to Gant and Baranovich. 'She takes you for the real thing, and she helped you into the disguise!' He laughed loudly, reassuringly, patting the girl's hand as he did so.
'You recall the rest of your operational background?' Baranovich asked. Gant nodded. 'Good. Now, sit down, or walk about — let that uniform become comfortable — strut a little!' There was an almost malicious humour in Baranovich's blue eyes. Gant smiled, and began to walk up and down the room. Baranovich watched him, and then said: 'No — with the thumbs tucked into the belt — so…' He demonstrated by hooking his thumbs into his trousers. Gant copied him. 'That is good. You must always remember — you will only give yourself away if you fail to be what the guards at the gate expect. And they will expect to see a captain who is arrogant, detached — who means business. If you get the chance, reprimand at least one or two of them, for minor things — their uniform, for example, or anyone who is smoking.' Again Gant nodded. This was an expert talking, one who knew the look of the KGB, or the GRU, intimately, through long and bitter experience. Gant surrendered his own ego, accepted the expertise he was being offered. 'Now — sit down. You stand rather well, eh, Ilya?'
Gant sat down, first wiping the seat of the vacant armchair, and inspecting his fingertips for dust. Then he sat in the chair, completely relaxed, one booted leg crossed over the other. Without looking at them, he drew a silver cigarette case from his pocket, and a rolled-gold lighter — items he could only have purchased in the KGB luxury shop across the square from the Centre itself in Dzerzhinsky Street — extracted an American cigarette, lit it, exhaled noisily, picked tobacco from the tip of his tongue, and then turned his head and looked stonily towards Kreshin in the armchair. The young man clapped loudly.
'It is amazing,' Baranovich observed. 'How melodramatic it all was — and how correct.' His face clouded, as if he were assailed at that moment by a bad memory, then he smiled, his eyes clearing, and added: 'That was very good — you have the gift, Mr. Gant. You can be, without trying, someone else…'
Gant nodded his head politely, frostily.
'Tell me about the observations you made on your lovers' walk earlier,' he said to Kreshin, his eyes hard. It was not a request, but an order. Gant had found that he could channel the useless, wasted adrenalin pumping in his system into his characterisation of Chekhov, whose fictitious papers he had in his pocket, complete with the all-important yellow GRU ID card, transit papers, and the rest. His fake dog-tags were on a thin chain around his neck. He had not asked how the forgery, the disguise, had been accomplished. Baranovich was an expert, driven by hate, and by ego. The results were good.
Kreshin smiled, and said: 'The guard on that gate has been reinforced — there are troops of the usual KGB guard, but more of them. The Security Support Group has not been used there — probably because Tsernik feels insulted that the GRU have been called in… it's always happening.'
'What about the perimeter fence?'
'The watch-towers are full to overflowing — and there are dog patrols inside the fence, every ten minutes or so. It's a double fence, by the way, and the dogs will be loose by the time you arrive — no one in their right mind would try cutting the wire. The watch-towers are a hundred yards apart — you'll have to pass at least four of them.'
'You must look as if you are inspecting the wire itself — don't forget to challenge the guards in the towers, wake them up,' Baranovich interrupted. 'Go on, Ilya.'
'There is a lot of light at the gate itself — you will be seen from some distance as you approach. The outer gate is merely a barrier with its accompanying guardpost. You will be required to show your papers here. The guards will be curious, because they will not recognise you, but the GRU tabs on your uniform will allay any suspicions they might have. When you are allowed to pass inside the outer barrier, you will encounter a mesh-gate, which will be locked. The guard will be inside this gate, and they will require you to show your papers again before they will open up.'
'They will open up?' Gant asked softly.
'There is no need to worry — we have checked the current papers and identification of GRU officers of the Special Groups, and yours are in order,' Baranovich explained. Gant merely nodded. Baranovich took up the narrative, Kreshin returning to an idle, thoughtful patting of Natalia's hand as it lay on his shoulder. 'Once inside, you should make as directly as possible across the airfield. You may ignore any helicopter activity overhead — the uniform will be enough to satisfy them. When you arrive at the security guard outside the administrative building which, as I mentioned earlier, is physically linked to the hangar containing the Firefox, you will need to show your papers but, since you will be walking into the KGB headquarters at Bilyarsk, no one is likely to assume that you do not, in fact, belong there!' Baranovich smiled. 'Once inside, make for the pilots' rest-room on the floor above. It will not be occupied at that time.'
'Where is the pilot — Voskov?' Gant asked sharply.
'At this moment?' Kreshin asked, exaggeratedly looking at his watch. 'He will be in bed.'
'He has quarters in a special compound — where the KGB and other reliable members of the team here are housed.' Baranovich's contempt showed for a moment, as if he had lifted a veil and shown a corner of his soul.
'It is where they keep those who work on the anti-radar, which is why we have picked up nothing in scientists' gossip during the last months.'
'But, he will come to the rest-room?' Gant persisted.
'Yes. He will change there, and perhaps have a meal — though Voskov is not a good eater before one of these flights… Are you, Mr. Gant?' Baranov
ich's eyes twinkled.
'No, but I can usually sleep,' Gant replied.
'Yes, of course. We will be leaving at two-thirty. You will have perhaps only a couple of hours.'
'Never mind,' Gant said, stifling a yawn and forcing himself into wakefulness. 'I want to go over it all again.'
'The security?'
'No. The airplane. The weapons-system, the Rearward Defence Pod. Tell me again — everything.'
Gant felt himself as two layers of response, suddenly. At the surface of his mind was the growing excitement, now that he had put aside his masquerade as a GRU officer, the tension connected with the Firefox, burning hot as a lust in him; he had a curious reluctance to stay awake, an unformed desire to be in darkness, with an empty mind. It was the first time he had ever wished back the void of the Veterans' Hospital, since the day he had left it. It was a feeling he avoided examining.
* * *
Dmitri Priabin and Alexei Tortyev knew each other — not as close friends, but as graduates of the KGB training school. They had been contemporaries, and as junior officers had worked within the same department. This was before Priabin, who was regarded as the more promising, was promoted as aide to Kontarsky in department 'M' s and Tortyev, whose brilliant mind was officially mistrusted by such a degree which would ensure his rotting at his present rank until he retired, had moved into the KGB section of the Moscow Police, into the Political Security Service.
It was not unnatural, then, that having met in the cold, metallic room which housed the programmers for the central records computer, below ground level in Dzerzhinsky Street, and having enquired after each other's recent careers, and complained about their own and each other's superior officers, that they began to discuss the cases on which they were working.
