The Charm School

by Nelson DeMille

“Excuse me?”

  “That’s what I want, Mr. Banks.”

  “Oh… I see. Yes, I’ll take that up with… the appropriate people. If you have time in service, time in grade, and other—”

  “I don’t, but you’ll tell the commander in chief to waive that.”

  Banks eyed Hollis a moment, then continued, “You will both be given thirty days’ home leave. You will also be given new assignments that will be beneficial to your respective careers.”

  Lisa said, “We want to be reassigned together.”

  Banks glanced at Alevy, then back to Lisa. “That’s not possible.”

  “Why not?”

  “For security reasons.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Banks looked pointedly at his watch. “I must go upstairs. Mr. Alevy will give you your departure briefing at this time.” Banks added in a softer tone, “Personally, I’m sorry to see you both go. Everyone here considers you very valuable assets to our mission. Your fluency in Russian is unexcelled. Sam, Lisa, good luck to you.” Banks left.

  Alevy went to the sideboard and poured a vodka and chilled orange juice. There were trays of pastry as well. “Help yourselves. Charles laid on some nice things to make you feel better.”

  Lisa stood and drew hot water for tea from a silver urn. She said to Hollis, “Sam, can I get you something?”

  “Coffee, please.”

  She brought him his coffee and sat in the chair beside him. Alevy placed a tray on the table, heaped with red and black caviar, sour cream, toast, and butter. Lisa commented, “When they give you the shaft here, they at least smear it with maslo.”

  Alevy chewed on a pastry. “That’s crude, Lisa.” Alevy wiped his fingers with a linen napkin. “I will now read you certain provisions of the National Security Act and instruct you on your duties and obligations regarding not disclosing anything you have seen, heard, or read while posted here.” Alevy proceeded to do so, then asked them to sign standard statements of acknowledgment, which they did.

  Alevy sat opposite them and put his drink on the table. He spread sour cream and caviar on a triangle of toast and said to them, “It’s better this way.”

  Hollis replied, “I think it’s better with butter.”

  Alevy chewed on his toast and regarded Hollis coolly. “I mean it’s better that they’re booting you. If they weren’t booting you, that would mean the KGB has convinced the Politboro to give them another shot at you. Apparently the Politboro, acting as game warden, has told the KGB they had their chance and the season is closed for Lisas and Sams.”

  Hollis finished his coffee. “That about it, Seth?”

  “No. I’m advising both of you to stay within the embassy grounds for the rest of your days here.”

  Lisa said, “I intend to buy some Russian folkcraft before I leave, take some photos, that sort of thing.”

  Alevy shrugged. “That’s only sensible advice. What is an order is that you are not to go outside the gates alone and never after sundown.”

  Hollis observed, “I thought we were off-season.”

  Alevy stood and made himself another drink. “Where there are game wardens, there are poachers.” He added, “If it makes you feel any better, our government has booted their air attaché and press officer out of D.C. It’s in tomorrow’s papers.”

  Lisa asked, “Am I relieved of my duties?”

  “Oh, yes. Both of you. Interdean, the West German movers, will pack you up. You need the time to supervise.”

  Hollis asked, “Who’s going to meet Ace on Sunday?”

  “You have to do that. Tell him that someone else will be handling him. Work out the details. Don’t lose him.”

  “Are we getting him out?”

  “If he has what you asked for.”

  Lisa asked Alevy, “Why aren’t they booting you? You’re the one who pulled a gun on Burov.”

  “Well,” Alevy replied, “it’s the KGB who wants me around, on the theory that it’s better to deal with the devil you know. Also if the Soviets booted me, then we’d boot their top rezident in Washington as happened in ’86. Then one boot leads to the other. Nobody wants that again. The score is tied, two–two.”

  Lisa observed, “Diplomacy has a certain immutable illogic to it that becomes a logic of its own.”

  “I’ll get that framed and hung in the ambassador’s safe room.” Alevy smiled at Lisa and looked at her for some time, then asked with a forced lightness in his tone, “So, Lady Lisa, where will you spend your home leave?”

  “I don’t know… this is unexpected. New York, I guess… .”

  Alevy looked at Hollis. “You?”

  “Not real sure. London, I suppose, to take care of that business. Then maybe Japan to see the old folks practice Zen. Then New York to see my brother who won’t leave his time zone.” He added, “I might pay a condolence visit on the Fishers in New Canaan.”

  Lisa nodded. “Me too.”

  Alevy said sharply, “Don’t you dare. You two are going to be well taken care of if you cooperate. You can each pick any assignment in the world outside the Curtain. That’s what they’re offering.”

  Lisa added, “As long as we’re not together. Is that your idea?”

  Alevy replied, “I won’t dignify that question with an answer.”

  Hollis stood. “Well, I’ll discuss this whole matter with my people.”

  “My company has the primary responsibility for handling these matters.”

  “Are we finished?”

  “No. I would like you to tell me now about your side trip to Borodino.”

  “There’s not much to tell,” Hollis replied. “However, I did kill two KGB Border Guards.”

  Alevy stood. “Jesus Christ! Are you serious?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “My God, that’s got their blood boiling. Why the hell didn’t you tell me that? You’re damned lucky to be alive. Both of you.”

  “It was unavoidable.”

  “Okay, okay. What else happened at Borodino?”

  “I’ll give you a complete report before I leave.” He added, “But as they say in diplomatic circles, we want quid pro quo.”

  “Do you now?” Alevy replied. “Well, as they also say, I won’t agree to any sine qua non. You’ll tell me without preconditions and without any guarantee that you’ll get something in return. If you don’t tell me, I will guarantee that the roof will fall in on both of you.”

  Hollis replied softly, “Don’t threaten a killer, Seth.”

  Alevy and Hollis stared at each other, then Alevy smiled. “Sorry. Just passing on orders.”

  Lisa moved toward Alevy and said curtly, “When you tell us how Gregory Fisher’s murder is going to be resolved and what you’re doing about Major Dodson, we’ll tell you what we saw at Borodino. This is not going to be another case of an American citizen’s death being written off in the interest of some diplomatic maneuverings.”

  Alevy retorted, “Don’t play investigative journalist, Lisa. You’re a writer for the USIS, and you do what you’re told.” Alevy added, “You just signed a statement to that effect. Remember?”

  “Yes, all right. But certainly you understand that I’m personally upset over that boy’s death… I never should have gone to Mozhaisk… to see the body.”

  Alevy replied, “I couldn’t agree more.” He looked her in the eye and said, “I might also remind you that you are one of the embassy’s foremost cheerleaders for cozy Soviet-American relations. I don’t subscribe to that, but I’ll write off Fisher’s death if my government determines that is the way to save their precious upcoming summit. So if that is your goal too, forget justice. There are more important issues. Okay?”

  Lisa did not reply.

  Hollis interjected, “Maybe I’m willing to write off Fisher, Seth. But I have a personal interest in Air Force Major Jack Dodson and any other Americans who are being held here against their will. I’m just putting you and your company on notice about that. That we don’t write
off. We’ll discuss it before I leave.”

  “Noted and agreed.” He looked at Lisa and said in a conciliatory tone, “Look, I can tell you’re upset. This is all very new to you. But justice is done differently here, and it’s not a matter of public record. The only justice here is revenge. Tit for tat.”

  Lisa gave Seth Alevy a long, sad look, and Hollis had the impression they’d been through this before.

  Alevy broke eye contact with her and said as if to himself, “I’m not totally ruthless. I may seem so at times… I know violence begets violence… . I was raised as a nonviolent person… . I still don’t like the wet stuff… but I know I commit psychological violence on my enemies every day.” He sipped on his drink thoughtfully, then said, “A little over two years ago, before either of you were here, I was jumped on the street, beaten, and robbed by a bunch of hooligans, as the Russians call them.”

  Hollis had heard about that, but no one seemed to know the details.

  Alevy glanced at Lisa. “I was on my way to meet Ina Shimanov, the wife of Reuven Shimanov, the Soviet nuclear biologist who defected to the West during a symposium in New York. Ina had been fired from her job and was destitute, hungry, and despondent. Our embassy was trying to get her out to join her husband. I spoke to Reuven on the telephone one night. He was calling from New York. He’d just gotten through to his wife in Moscow and spoke to her a few minutes before they were cut off. Ina, he said, was crying, begging him for help.” Alevy shifted into Russian. “‘Husband, dear,’ she cried. ‘I am starving. They are going to banish me from Moscow. Please, dear Reuven, for the love of God, help me. ’” Alevy looked at Hollis and Lisa before continuing, “So I went out by myself to comfort her and bring her money. I took the metro. It wasn’t official, just Jew to Jew. Understand? Well, the boys of the Seventh Directorate, in conjunction with the electronic eavesdroppers, got onto me in a flash. Followed me, jumped me when I got off the metro at Universitet Station, beat me, and left me naked in the snow with internal injuries.”

  Lisa put her hand to her mouth. “Oh, dear God.”

  Alevy set down his drink. “My fault. I was responding to my sense of decency—justice. Anyway, a group of passing students spotted me and took me to a hospital. My people wanted to reassign me to someplace nice. But I wanted to stay here. To even the score.”

  Hollis said, “I heard your friends in D.C. did that.”

  Alevy replied, “I had nothing to do with that.”

  “With what?” Lisa asked.

  “Nothing.” Alevy moved toward the padded, airtight door. “Look, I can tell you this is a dirty, dehumanizing business, but it takes something like the events of the last few days for it to become real. Right? In military intelligence you deal with stats, numbers, capabilities, and talk about thermonuclear destruction. Means nothing. But then you get slammed against a car by a smelly goon, like I got my testicles kicked into my abdomen, and hey! The Soviet-American power struggle takes on new and deeper meaning.” Alevy opened the door. “I have good motivations to take care of this. Charlie Banks can blow smoke and utter platitudes all fucking day, and I’ll smile and nod all fucking day. But I have my job, and he has his. As for you two, the diplomats would say this matter is ultra vires—beyond your power or authority.”

  “I’ll make that decision,” Hollis said as he went through the door with Lisa. “Not you or the diplomats.”

  “I know you will, Sam.” Alevy added in a lighter tone, “Oh, the party is Saturday at six-thirty, in the reception hall. The ambassador will put in an appearance. The persona non grata parties are more fun than the regular end-of-assignment parties. Be prepared for some kidding. Make up funny speeches about why you’re being kicked out and all that.” Alevy extended his hand, and they all shook.

  Lisa said, “Don’t let this place, this job, dehumanize you.”

  Alevy thought a moment before responding, “As long as I’m still capable of going out into the cold night to help a woman who is being persecuted, then I know I’m okay.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Me too.” Alevy closed the door.

  As Hollis and Lisa walked toward the elevator, she asked, “What happened in D.C.?”

  Hollis considered a moment before replying, “Seth’s friends arranged to have a Soviet diplomat’s teenage daughter mugged in Washington. They left her on the campus of American University with a broken jaw.”

  Lisa stopped walking. “But… Seth didn’t know…”

  “I think not.” But Hollis was sure he did.

  She began walking again.

  Hollis added, “In Seth’s company there are people who deal with the Soviets on an unofficial and personal level. They call themselves the Tit for Tat Gang. A broken arm in Moscow or Budapest is a guarantee of a broken something in Washington or London.”

  Lisa shook her head.

  “This philosophy of assured retaliation has actually reduced the number of broken limbs. In fact, things have been cool for a few years. The fact that Burov opted for the wet stuff is suggestive… indicative of the degree of the KGB’s concern. A signal to Seth and me that things can quickly get out of hand.”

  “They’re not very subtle, are they?”

  “No. They reacted too strongly and got everyone interested.”

  They took the elevator up to the seventh floor and walked to Lisa’s office door. She asked, “Can we do something useful before Monday?”

  Hollis replied, “We shouldn’t talk too much outside the safe areas.”

  She nodded. “Is it true that we bug ourselves? To see who’s violating talk security?”

  “Maybe. I get tired of whispering in the ears of people I don’t know that well.”

  “You’re not unhappy about leaving, are you?”

  “I don’t like the circumstances. How about you?”

  “I’m sad. But I’m glad it was both of us. We can get together on the outside, Sam.” She smiled. “General.”

  He returned the smile. “They’ll play ball. If we do.” He looked at his watch. “I’m going to clean out my desk.”

  “Me too.”

  They stood there a moment, then Lisa said, “For the record, I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  “A little louder for the microphone, please.”

  She smiled. “Can I see you tonight?”

  He opened the door of her office. “Dinner?”

  “Your place. I’ll cook.”

  “I only have beer and mustard. But I’ll go to the commissary if you give me a shopping list.”

  “No, I’ll go to Gastronom One.” She said, “I’ll cook a Russian meal. You get the vodka.”

  “You shouldn’t leave the compound alone,” Hollis reminded her.

  “Gastronom One doesn’t deliver.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I’m only going to the grocery store.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Yes, sir.” She turned and walked into her office.

  20

  At six P.M. the telephone rang in Hollis’ office. “Hollis.”

  “Alevy. Are you free for cocktails?”

  “No. I have a dinner engagement in half an hour.”

  “You’ll have to postpone it for an hour.”

  “Then why did you ask? How is it that you’re running my social and business calendar?”

  “Only your business calendar. We have business.”

  Hollis surveyed the packing boxes around him. “I’m out of business.”

  “Oh, don’t believe everything you hear. You’re relieved of only your official air attaché duties. Did you really think you were relieved of your spy duties?”

  “No.”

  “My place in ten minutes. Do you know where I live?”

  “I’ll bet I could find it.” Hollis hung up and called Lisa’s apartment, but there was no answer. He buzzed his aide, Captain O’Shea. “Ed, are you working tonight?”

  “Yes, sir, until about eight.”

  “Okay, if Ms. Rh
odes… do you know her?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “If she calls or stops by—she’s shopping in the city—tell her I’ll be… in my apartment, about seven-thirty.”

  “Yes, sir. Can you be reached between now and then?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Will you be in the city?”

  “No, Captain, I’ll be here in the fort. Why?”

  “Just looking out for your ass, Colonel.”

  “At whose suggestion?”

  O’Shea let a few seconds pass before replying, “No one’s. I’m your aide.”

  Hollis hung up, and a few moments later O’Shea walked in with his slate board and wrote in chalk: Gen. Brewer from D.C. has asked me to report on your activities.

  Hollis wrote on his own slate: KMP . Keep me posted.

  O’Shea nodded and said as though just walking in, “Excuse me, Colonel, I thought you’d want to know I’ve gotten calls from just about everyone in the resident press corps here, including the Brits, Aussies, Canadians, and some West Europeans too. They would like to know why you have been declared persona non grata. I referred them all to the press office, of course. But they all want to speak to you off the record.”

  “Did any of them mention Fisher?”

  “Yes, sir. They’re trying to find a connection between Fisher’s death, your trip to Mozhaisk, and you getting booted.”

  “Very suspicious people.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Hollis put on his overcoat. “If a Colonel Burov calls for me, transfer the call to me in Mr. Alevy’s apartment.”

  “Yes, sir.” O’Shea erased both slates.

  “Hold down the fort, Ed.” Hollis left and took the elevator down to the lobby, walked outside to the rear terrace, and cut across the quad, avoiding the paths. It was cold, and a light snow was falling from a luminous sky. Some of the housing units surrounding the quad were lit, and he could see families in their living rooms, the blue glow of televisions that were hooked to VCRs, people in their third-floor bedrooms looking out at the first snow. Lisa’s unit was dark.

  It was all so red-brick American, he thought, like suburban town-house condos, or family housing at an airbase or college. Peacefully boring and ordinary. Thinking back on his marriage and his life, he realized he had taken extraordinary personal risks, more than any normal man would have taken. Katherine must have drawn some valid conclusions from that.