The Red Collusion Read online

  The American again struggled to produce a reply. Wolfgang barked again.

  “Do you want me to help you think with the other knee?”

  “No, Sir. No, we have nothing like that in peacetime”, the captive answered. “This is the truth, I swear to you, Sir”, he implored.

  Dimitri continued his interrogation. He was now growing convinced that his trip had been for nothing, and that he would return empty- handed to Moscow and to a dressing-down by Marshal Budarenko.

  “I am asking you again, Sergeant Major Lance. Do you or do you not have target codes on site for use in case of severed communications? What happens if headquarters are bombed or invaded?”

  “Then it is totally impossible to launch, Sir”, the captive answered faintly. “Emergency regulations require delivery of target codes to the battery only when DEFCON 2 alert is announced, but even then...” He stopped speaking and closed his eyes.

  “Go on, Sergeant, go on!” Wolfgang ordered.

  “Why did you stop? You want to talk from the hole in your mouth or the hole in your knee?” Wolfgang was obviously delighted.

  The Sergeant Major was struggling to contain his pain. A small pool of blood was forming at his feet. He was shivering.

  “Even though we input the target data to the missile, Sir, we still need the High Command’s OK to actually launch”, he managed to sputter out.

  “Sergeant Major”, insisted Dimitri, “you said you can launch a missile without entering the code. What happens to the missile then?”

  “If the missile is launched without a code and a selected target, it self-destructs when reaching its highest point outside the atmosphere.”

  Dimitri saw no need to question the American any further.

  Sergeant Major Lance, who had probably gone through interrogation training, had slowly come to realize that he was of no more value to his captors. He started describing his wife and three-year-old son, begging for mercy. Dimitri left the room quietly and the rest of the men followed him.

  The captive was left alone in the room, weeping in agony.

  Wolfgang called Colossus, his driver and special mission operative.

  “This Yank did not really help. Our important guest will be leaving empty-handed. Waste the Yank, get rid of his car and clean the room. You know what to do.”

  “I’ve made tea for you”, Olga said to Dimitri as he entered the living room. Dimitri noticed that she had changed her clothes and combed her hair. She looked like a different woman. What is she made of, this woman, Dimitri wondered? Probably forged steel. Her consort of the night was being wasted at this very moment, and she could not be calmer or less seductive.

  Wolfgang entered, glancing at his watch.

  “Comrades”, he announced in his German-accented Russian. “It’s already a quarter to four in the morning. We must move out of here quickly and head straight to the airport. There’s going to be a lot of commotion here very soon. I believe the Yank’s wife has already reported his disappearance to the military police. When they understand that he is a senior operator of a nuclear missile battery, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz5 will start digging and turning over every stone, including every outgoing flight. They will all be looking for one thing in particular – Olga’s pretty skull. We must go now. Thomas, help with the cleaning here. I’ll drive them to the airport.”

  The three entered the terminal gate of the sleepy airport. Only a few passengers were present, most of them slumped on their benches awaiting their flights. Wolfgang tapped Dimitri’s shoulder.

  “I really don’t like it that you’re arriving and leaving from the same airport”, Wolfgang commented. “It’s against the rules, but we have no choice. You have to get out of here as quickly as you can. Now give me your passport”, he said, while handing Dimitri a new one. “This is your new passport. It’s OK. It has an entry stamp from last week and also an exit stamp from Moscow. Just remember your new name, and that you came to Germany a week ago. That’s all.”

  Dimitri examined his new British passport and practiced his new name, Robert Hugh Pearson. He suddenly felt alarmed.

  “According to their registration, the old passport will not have an exit stamp. It will cause problems, won’t it?” he asked Wolfgang.

  Wolfgang smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder.

  “You can start working with us. You are right, but this will be taken care of. Now stay here, you and Olga, while I book you on the earliest departing flight. I also want to remind you not to sit next to each other during the flight.”

  He collected the passports from Dimitri and Olga and walked away quickly. Dimitri tried to start a conversation with Olga, but she was not in a talkative mood.

  Wolfgang returned, waving flight tickets. “It’s Austrian Airlines flight 192. Departure in thirty-five minutes”, he told them, looking at his watch.

  “You should arrive in Vienna by seven o’clock. Here are the tickets, including those for your connecting flight to Moscow. You must board right away – boarding closes in ten minutes”, Wolfgang instructed them, handing them the tickets.

  Dimitri shook Wolfgang’s hand firmly and thanked him. Wolfgang kissed Olga on the cheek, turned away and walked briskly out the terminal gate.

  The Austrian airlines dc-9 touched down on the snowy tarmac of Vienna International Airport. Dimitri hurried to the Aeroflot counter in the departures terminal, keeping sight of Olga, who walked a little ahead of him. There was a large crowd there, which alerted Dimitri’s instincts to something irregular. He made his way through several people in front of him, and handed his ticket to the Aeroflot ticketing agent at the counter, but she returned it to him almost immediately.

  “I am sorry, sir, but no flights are departing due to a heavy snowstorm in Moscow. All three international airports in Moscow have already been closed for two hours, and it may be a long time before they reopen”, she explained, handing him a voucher. “This is for the NH Wien Hotel right here in the airport, and you can either walk there or take a shuttle to the door. Check in there and we will notify you of the next available flight.”

  Dimitri took the voucher and the ticket and put them in the pocket of his bag. He thanked the agent and walked out the exit door. He could see Olga just ahead of him, carrying a small suitcase. He quickened his pace until he reached her.

  “Excuse me, miss”, he said. Olga turned to him.

  “If I’m not mistaken, I’ve seen you before, at the Aeroflot counter. Did they send you to the NH Wien too?”

  Olga nodded.

  “It’s almost a kilometer away. Can I help you with the suitcase?” “Absolutely”, Olga replied, and passed the suitcase to him, keeping her expression as frozen as the frigid weather surrounding them.

  They reached the brownstone facade of the hotel, and within minutes Olga had already checked in and was walking to the elevators. Several minutes later, Dimitri did the same.

  He was surprised to see Olga was still waiting for an elevator. It doesn’t make sense, he thought, that the elevator was taking so long. Could it be that Olga was waiting for him?

  It seemed as if the few minutes in the well-heated hotel lobby had thawed out the ice from Olga’s face, as she gave a beaming smile when she saw Dimitri.

  “So, what do we do now? It could take an hour, or a day or two”, she asked Dimitri.

  Dimitri looked at her with surprise. It was the first time he had seen her acting naturally, without the mask she had worn since he had first met her. It was also the first time that he heard her speak in Russian. A “new Olga” was unfolding before him.

  “Let’s pass the time together, drink something, shower, and wait for a call from the airport. I don’t trust the Aeroflot people. I think we need to call them every two hours, just in case”, he suggested.

  “You’re right”, agreed Olga. “If it takes longer, maybe we should s
leep in shifts. You know, like in the army.”

  Dimitri smiled.

  “Soldiers would love to serve in these conditions”, he suggested. Olga let out a sweet smile. She leaned over to his ear and whispered.

  “All right, we’ll spend the time together, in my room, but on one condition. You don’t ask me anything about my work, or anything personal, and vice versa. Agreed?”

  “Agreed”, replied Dimitri and pressed the elevator button to Olga’s floor.

  Once in the room, Olga headed straight to the bathroom. She opened all the soap and cream bottles and tested them. “Would you like some tea?” she heard Dimitri ask her from the bedroom.

  “I’ll have a hot bath first. Then I’d love some tea.”

  Olga shut the bathroom door and turned on the tap, filling the tub with steaming hot water. Dimitri changed into a pair of gym shorts and sank into an armchair. Within seconds, he was dozing off. He had had almost no rest in the past 24 hours, four cities and four airports ago.

  He awakened suddenly and reached for his watch to see how long he had been asleep, when he noticed Olga standing by a mirror in the corner. She stood naked, facing the large mirror, wearing only a tiny pair of underpants. To avoid embarrassment, he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

  “We haven’t even planned the shifts and you’re already asleep”, Olga called out from the mirror. “You can open your eyes now. It’s OK. I think something was said about a cup of tea.”

  Dimitri opened his eyes. Olga was standing exactly where she had been a few minutes earlier. She was rubbing her face with cream, seemingly devoted to this task. Dimitri could not take his eyes off of her. He then noticed a long scar on her back, right under her right shoulder.

  “You haven’t answered me”, she said. “Is your tongue still working??”

  Dimitri was trying to answer when Olga turned away from the mirror and faced him, revealing the length of her naked body and the splendor of her breasts. Dimitri turned his eyes away, but she walked to the king- sized bed, pulled the bed cover to the floor, and snuggled between the sheets, all the while looking at Dimitri, who had no idea how to respond.

  “Are you going to stay there, Brigadier General?” she challenged him.

  He was surprised to hear her reciting his military rank, as he had not revealed it to her or her companions back in Siegen. He recalled the woman who had followed him out of Moscow, through Zurich and on to Cologne. Is that what this is? That woman completed her mission in Cologne, and now my new follower is Olga. He had no doubt.

  Olga saw that he was thinking, and spoke again.

  “I will not be insulted if you tell me that you don’t like me”, she assured him.

  Dimitri quickly returned to his senses. Military rank, surveillance, whatever it may be, was a small price to pay for this opportunity. Or maybe not. Olga was almost impossible to resist. He smiled broadly at her.

  “I do like you. I think you are – how to say it – perfect!” he proclaimed.

  “I must say that I enjoyed watching you while you were napping. You seem to like sports.”

  She pulled out the edge of the sheet, and motioned for him to join her. Dimitri came nearer, but Olga suddenly broke into laughter.

  “We are not in gymnastics class. Can you remove those ridiculous shorts before joining me in bed?”

  He pulled down his shorts and entered the bed. He pulled her to him and embraced her tightly.

  “I see you want to smother me, but maybe we should make love first”, she suggested.

  Dimitri was not totally at ease. He smiled briefly and loosened his embrace. He kissed her on the lips and she held him longer and closer. He caressed her long body, and touched the scar under her shoulder. Olga stopped her giggling.

  “It looks like an operational accident, and whoever treated you was not a doctor. Maybe a car mechanic”, Dimitri observed.

  Olga smiled.

  “This question belongs in the realm of subjects that we do not discuss. Remember?”

  “Yes, indeed”, Dimitri assented, and kissed her on the lips.

  Then he got up, pulled the curtains shut, and returned to the bed. They both needed to unwind, which they did.

  The telephone rang loudly. Dimitri jumped out of bed and held the receiver to his ear. “Thank you”, he said and hung up.

  Olga watched him. “Any news?”

  “Yes”, said Dimitri. “Our neighbors have complained to the reception desk that we are too noisy.”

  “Really, Brigadier General? Was it from Aeroflot?”

  “Yes. The truth is that I want to stay here forever with you, but Moscow is calling. They said that Domodedovo airport will probably open soon. We have to be at the airport within two hours. Let’s get up now, and shower, my dear.”

  Olga stood just behind Dimitri in the long line for the Aeroflot desk at Vienna Airport. Dimitri felt that she was playing games with him, taking advantage of the crowded conditions to rub against him frequently.

  She came close to him, bit his earlobe lightly and whispered in his ear.

  “You remember the rules. I will sit two to three rows behind you in the cabin.”

  It was snowing in Moscow. Dimitri walked to the curb outside the grand arrival terminal of Domodedovo airport. He immediately noticed a young man who had been part of the team of soldiers guarding the secret think tank at the base outside Moscow. Dimitri motioned to the soldier, who came to him and took his overnight bag. He then turned to Olga to say goodbye, but she had changed again; she was now icy. He reached out to her for a handshake.

  “Thank you for your service. I hope we meet again someday”, he said. She did not shake his hand.

  “Don’t count on it”, she snapped, spinning on her heels and striding away.

  * * *

  5German Federal Internal Secret Service

  Chapter 4

  The black Lada car drove through the gates of the secret army base. In the car, Brigadier General Dimitri was deep in thoughts that gave him no respite. He felt sorry for the disappointment that would soon be felt by his fellow teammates, who had had such high hopes for his trip to Germany. I can only hope that one of them has somehow been able to come up with a creative idea, he said to himself – an idea that will spare us from the claws of that hungry and impatient bear, Marshal Budarenko.

  When he arrived at the conference room, it looked almost the same as when he had left it. His five colleagues were leaning over their desks, but this time, documents and maps were scattered all over in disarray. The moment he entered, his colleagues stopped whatever they were doing and greeted him.

  It was the slender Colonel Yevgeni, the physicist, who wasted no time. He turned to Dimitri in his typical, direct way.

  “So Brigadier General”, the Colonel asked. “Have we made progress, or only progressed on our sure path to the guillotine?”

  Dimitri looked at him sharply. From the way he presented his question, the Brigadier General reasoned, it was safe to assume that the team had not made any progress. Therefore, Yevgeni’s macabre humor was totally inadequate, not to say unproductive, in their present situation.

  “I’m glad that you are keeping up our morale, Colonel”, said Dimitri. “The good guys there actually fulfilled all their promises; they are a capable team. Unfortunately, in my interview with a sergeant major from the Pershing missile battery, it turned out that they have no independent launch capacity, just as it is with the submarines. I’m sorry to disappoint you, Colonel, but that’s how it is.”

  The Brigadier paused and then asked, “And what about you here? Have you come up with any idea, or a new direction?”

  Yevgeni preferred to ignore Dimitri’s deflecting question. He continued his debriefing.

  “Just a minute, Brigadier General. Let me understand. Did you interview that NCO from the Pershing bat
tery yourself?” he asked.

  “Yes. I did”, replied Dimitri.

  “And how can you be sure that he didn’t pull a trick on you?”

  “Colonel Yevgeni, he was in no position to make jokes. If you were him, and first thing, even before you were asked the first question, you had your knee smashed with a nine millimeter bullet, would you not begin to reveal everything you know in detail? I only had to ask the questions and our good fellows in Germany made sure that his answers were true and sincere.”

  Yevgeni nodded. He had no appetite for gore.

  “I understand”, he said. “Regarding your question, we checked several new directions, which we later had to rule out. Oh, and by the way, the Minister is about to arrive here. It seems that because of your absence, he did not come to meet us yesterday. On the other hand, after two days, I assume that his level of expectation from us, and the inevitable disappointment, will be greater than usual. I am sorry, but at the moment, I don’t think we have anything to sell to him.”

  “Sell to him?” Dimitri snapped impatiently. “He takes everything for free, and that includes our heads as well.”

  Colonel Yevgeni was now lost in his own thoughts. His head rested on his hands, which were on the table, and he was obviously concentrating.

  He sat like this for a long time, when suddenly he straightened up and turned to Dimitri, who was across the table from him.

  “Listen”, he said. “I have a feeling that I will be able to get at least a temporary reprieve from the Minister of Defense, maybe a few days.”

  Hearing this, Dimitri rushed to Colonel Yevgeni, sat next to him and, in a gesture of friendship, wrapped his arm around the colonel’s bony shoulder.

  “Go on, I’m listening”, he said.

  Colonel Yevgeni did not seem ready yet, as he was trying to put his thoughts in order and to weigh his words very carefully before spelling out the idea that he was formulating.

  “Do you remember that the first idea that we came up with, which was ruled out, was the American nuclear submarines?”