Dirty Tricks, page 16
‘Ah, Konstantin,’ Borisenko said, putting down his pen. ‘Thank you for coming. I want you to be here when I deal with these two dissidents.’
Rakitin settled the Premier in a chair, then padded softly from the room.
‘Yakovlev doesn’t surprise me,’ Volkhov said, blowing his nose noisily. ‘As you know I always thought that fellow Kovalsky would have been a better choice if you were intent on promoting a young “flier”. But I just can’t understand Dominowski. Everything is poised to carry him to glory and he remains reluctant.’
‘It’s Yakovlev’s fault,’ Borisenko snapped. ‘Those two have been spending too much time together and they are a dangerous combination. The KGB and the shock troops of the Red Army! Very dangerous indeed, Konstantin!’
‘You think it’s as bad as that?’
‘I certainly do. I’ve had them watched. It’s too late to do anything about them at this juncture, except for giving them their orders. But they will have to be dismissed the moment that victory is assured.’
‘I’m sure that Marshal Dominowski will do his duty, Anatoli,’ Volkhov averred in a cracked voice.
‘I agree. Once battle is joined there will be none better, none braver, none more determined. But Glavpur has reported that he disapproves of our commissars. He thinks that our political representatives are interfering in matters which should be left entirely to the Army.’
‘Does he indeed!’ Volkhov exclaimed with a frown of disapproval.
‘He does. And I’m quite shattered that a man of his capability, courage and honesty should have allowed himself to be swayed by this fear that the Americans will use nuclear weapons first. We’ve always faced that possibility and made ample allowances for it. We have more than 50,000 tanks, Konstantin. We can afford to lose a few hundred of them and still defeat the Imperialists.’
Rakitin knocked and entered the room to announce the arrival of Dominowski and Yakovlev who had come straight from another meeting in the Kremlin.
Borisenko was in no humour for niceties. ‘I have to tell you that owing to the need to inflict a major blow to American morale and to secure our Western front for the coming conflict with China, it has been decided irrevocably – I repeat irrevocably – that “Exercise Swordthrust” will be converted with all speed to the subjection and occupation of the Federal Republic of Germany. West German and American agents are stirring up trouble throughout the Socialist countries and these enemies of the people must be taught a lesson once and for all.’
Volkhov, who was looking intently at the Marshal with his chin resting on his hands, which in turn were supported by his stick, gave his assent. ‘It is the Politburo’s view that success can be taken for granted. We are relying on you, Marshal, as our great tank expert, to give us a quick victory. Six days is the requirement. Then we can offer the Americans a quick peace and proceed with the reunification of Germany, removing the Neo-Nazi danger forever.’
‘You can be sure that I will do my best for the country, and for the Party,’ Dominowski responded solemnly. ‘It is my duty to point out, however, that the new nuclear threat … ’
‘It is the opinion of a majority of the Politburo that the Americans will not resort to nuclear weapons, either to defend German territory or to recover it,’ Volkhov said peremptorily. ‘Marshal Davorin, who has great experience, is convinced of it.’
Dominowski refrained from stating that Davorin’s experience of nuclear problems was superficial but Yakovlev, who could also see that technical argument was useless, was determined to put some further information on the record. He unfastened the straps of his bulging briefcase and removed a document.
‘I must report that we now have collateral evidence to support the information I gave you about the nuclear intentions of the United States.’
‘Let’s have it,’ Borisenko said impatiently.
Yakovlev read from the document which was based on a coded message in racing terms forwarded to him in the diplomatic bag from the Soviet Embassy in London.
‘During April there was a nightly delivery – what the Americans call a “milk run” – of neutron bombs by C.130 Hercules aircraft to the US Air Force base at Ramstein in West Germany. There were also deliveries by C.500 Galaxy transports to the US Air bases at Sembach, Rhein Main and Zweibrucken.’
‘Aren’t transport flights to these air bases pretty routine?’ Borisenko asked.
‘Yes. But not in such numbers, Secretary-General.’
‘And what evidence have you that the planes were carrying nuclear weapons and neutron bombs in particular?’
Yakovlev hesitated then answered, rather weakly, ‘We have sources inside some of these bases and their first reports strongly indicate that the main cargoes could have been neutron bombs. And the flights fit with the information we received from that summit source I disclosed to you.’
‘Flights of fancy, perhaps,’ Volkhov suggested. ‘No, Comrade, the Politburo has made its decision and, as you well know, that is immutable. I assure you we considered every eventuality … ’
‘Not quite, Comrade Premier,’ Yakovlev said lifting the flap of his briefcase again. ‘There is a further factor you have not yet considered.’
He whipped out a Stechkin machine-pistol, levelled it at Borisenko and fired a brief burst into his chest. Volkhov gallantly attempted to defend himself by drawing a sword from his thick cane, but Yakovlev cut him down with another burst, while the Marshal looked on impassively.
Rakitin, who rushed into the room, was horrified by the sight of the two bodies streaming blood: Borisenko slumped at his desk, Volkhov twitching feebly on the floor. Yakovlev motioned him into a corner with his pistol while he drafted a few lines on Borisenko’s notepaper.
‘Come here, Comrade Rakitin,’ he commanded.
Rakitin cowered but Dominowski assured him that he had nothing to fear, so long as he did exactly what he was told.
‘Here is a statement announcing that, while working at his desk, Comrade Secretary-General Borisenko, who had been in failing health for some time, suffered a fatal heart-attack. In going to assist him Comrade Premier Volkhov, who was visiting the Secretary-General’s office and whose lameness from arthritis had been increasing recently, fell and suffered a skull fracture from which he has since died.’
He thrust the paper into Rakitin’s unwilling hand. ‘Now make sure that this gets on to Moscow Radio without delay. You know the drill for doing that well enough. There is an officer of mine waiting to conduct you to wherever you need to go, and to bring you back. On no account are you to enlarge on the statement. If you are asked you are to say that you were not on hand when the deaths occurred. You came into the office and found the Secretary-General dead and the Premier dying. There was no time to summon medical help. And there must be no mention whatever of the Marshal or myself. Is that understood?’
‘But will this be believed?’ Rakitin stammered, holding out the statement in tremulous fingers.
‘It will be believed where it matters. And it’s more credible than the official clap-trap that NATO was about to attack East Germany!’
Dominowski adopted a rather more friendly tone. ‘You’ll find the Kremlin ringed with tanks, Comrade. Also the radio station and other key points. It’s the usual precaution when the State is deprived of its leader. After all, we don’t want any palace revolutions here!’
‘No,’ said Yakovlev. ‘And we don’t want agents of the Imperialist West and counter-revolutionaries taking advantage of the State’s misfortune. The people will understand that. To provide immediate leadership I shall be taking over as Party Secretary and the Marshal is to be the Minister of Defence.’
As Rakitin left in confused bewilderment with the KGB officer guard, who had accompanied his Chief and Dominowski through the corridors, locking each door behind them, Dominowski asked, ‘Isn’t it a risk letting him go? He was very faithful to Borisenko, you know … ’
Yakovlev smiled and shook his head. ‘There’s no risk. He wasn’t faithful to anybody, but he has one or two vital functions to perform. Then we can execute him legally. Rakitin’s a traitor. He’s been working for British Intelligence.’
Dominowski was staggered. ‘I can’t believe it. Rakitin!’
‘You’ll believe it when I show you the evidence.’
‘Of course, I take your word for it, Sergei. It’s just that one doesn’t know who you can trust these days. How long have you known that he was a spy?’
‘Only a little while. It suited us to let him carry on. It will still suit us for a few more hours.’
Dominowski looked puzzled but Yakovlev had no intention of enlightening him further. Instead he moved towards Borisenko’s desk, lifted the body and dumped it on the floor. Then having made sure there was no blood on the chair he sat down at a corner of the desk.
‘We must draft a statement about a period of mourning, Andrei Andreievitch,’ he said. ‘There’ll have to be a lying-in-state, then they can both be cremated and their ashes interred in the Kremlin wall with suitable inscriptions.’
He looked over at the bodies. ‘There are no signs of violence about the head, so the mourners won’t see anything they shouldn’t. They were both good men, you know. They just clung on to power too long.’
The Marshal nodded sadly. ‘I suppose those arrests we agreed on are already under way?’ he asked.
Yakovlev looked at his watch. ‘Most of the Politburo will be in protective custody within twenty minutes. They’ll be treated gently and with respect. Then we can convince the old ones that they should resign – for their own good and for the country’s.’
‘I shall certainly be relieved to see the back of Davorin,’ Dominowski said. ‘Then he can dream about his old battles in his dacha instead of round the conference table.’
‘Yes, it is essential that you lose no time in asserting your authority as Defence Minister.’
Yakovlev clasped his hands behind his neck. ‘I think we can congratulate ourselves, Andrei Andreievitch, that we have both served our country well today.’
‘I’m sure we have,’ Dominowski said. ‘It would have been monstrous to allow those two old men to plunge us into a war. When I heard your collateral evidence about the neutron bomb deliveries I was no longer in any doubt and then the GRU came up with supporting evidence of its own – as a matter of routine, of course. I didn’t ask them.’
‘Not likely,’ Yakovlev thought.
‘Not only our tanks, but our command centres, supply depots, even some of our nuclear stockpiles would have been at risk. But we’d never have convinced them, Sergei. No, you are absolutely right. There was no other way, with so many of their relatives and friends in commanding positions.’
‘Your first job will be to deal with “Swordthrust”,’ Yakovlev said. ‘You can make an announcement postponing it for a few weeks as part of the national mourning. After all, as Party Secretary, Borisenko was effectively Chief of the Armed Forces.’
‘Then it can go ahead later as a normal exercise?’
‘Of course,’ Yakovlev said. ‘You have no doubts about what we have done have you?’
‘Not after I heard your collateral evidence … ’
‘No, Andrei Andreievitch, I was thinking of something else which I thought we both understood. It was us or them. We should have been disgraced – or worse.’
‘Yes, Sergei,’ the Marshal said sombrely. ‘It was us or them. I did realize that. But what is more important is that we have prevented something which would have cost thousands of soldiers’ lives. Let us continue to arrange things so that victories fall to us without a fight.’
‘Except for China,’ Yakovlev corrected.
‘Of course. Except for China. But that should present no great problem now.’
‘Our immediate problem is disposing of these bodies,’ Yakovlev said, rising from his chair. ‘But I have made arrangements for that.’ He picked up a telephone and barked an order. As he and Dominowski marched out of the room they passed three KGB officers carrying swabs and bowls.
Chapter Twelve
Quinn and Angela were in festive mood when Falconer and Ed Taylor arrived at Century House. They were drinking champagne and Angela poured two more glasses for the expected guests.
‘We were just celebrating the coup in Moscow,’ Quinn explained. ‘Here’s to what’s left of “Exercise Swordthrust”. You’ve heard that it’s been postponed.’
‘I sure have,’ Falconer said. He did not like champagne, rating it as ‘a woman’s drink’, but took a glass to be sociable and raised it in salute. ‘How do you construe the events, Mark? What’s your appreciation?’
‘I don’t have to make one. I know the facts. “Uncle Vanya” has come up with the details. Borisenko and Volkhov were both murdered by your old friend Sergei Yakovlev, with Marshal Dominowski lending moral – and military – support. They’ve taken over and are firmly established in an otherwise bloodless coup.’
‘I suspected as much,’ Falconer responded. ‘I had no idea that Marshal Dominowski was involved, but it was obvious that Sergei couldn’t have moved without some Red Army insurance.’
‘You think that the war is off, then?’ asked Taylor, who was anxious for the return of his wife and children from America, and was unaware of the full facts.
‘Certainly for a year or two while the new leadership consolidates its position. “Uncle Vanya” has made it clear all along that both Yakovlev and Dominowski were opposed to the war in Europe. They claim – I repeat claim – that it is no longer possible to impose Communism at bayonet point, at least in Europe.’
‘And elsewhere?’
‘That’s a different matter, especially if they can go on getting somebody else to wield the bayonets.’
‘Well let’s drink to the health of “Uncle Vanya”,’ Falconer proposed, raising his glass.
‘Yes, I suspect he’s going to need it, poor devil,’ Quinn commented. ‘He’s been associated with Borisenko for so long that he must be among those now under arrest. So I suppose we’ve had his last message. In fact, I’m astonished that since he knew that Yakovlev had shot both Borisenko and Volkhov he was given the time to send any message to me.’
‘Perhaps Yakovlev wanted you to know,’ Angela suggested, twisting a swizzle-stick in her champagne.
Falconer gave her a quick glance, as though surprised by this appreciative remark, then asked, ‘Perhaps you can now tell us who “Uncle Vanya” is if he’s no longer of use.’
‘It was Rakitin, Borisenko’s personal assistant.’
‘The guy who found them both dead, according to the radio statement,’ Taylor said with affected surprise.
‘That’s him.’
‘Then he certainly is a loss,’ said Falconer sadly. ‘How the hell did you manage to suborn him?’
‘Ah, John, as you said, there are some secrets we just have to keep from each other, but I don’t doubt that Rakitin is spilling all to the KGB right now – if he’s still alive. Your old friend Yakovlev, or his thugs, will have thought up some nice, refined way of exploiting some weakness or another, if it’s only his advanced age.’
Suddenly feeling sick, Angela busied herself opening another bottle of champagne, taking care that the cork emerged with no more than a whisper, and refilled the glasses. Quinn kept his eye on Taylor, looking for any facial display of interest in Rakitin’s likely fate.
‘Now we’ve got a breathing space it’s up to the politicians to make good use of it,’ Quinn said. ‘To strengthen NATO without further delay.’
‘You mean that Yakovlev will be as tough as the others when it suits him?’ Taylor asked.
‘Of course. Perhaps tougher. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool Communist, and a right bastard in every other way. He believes that Soviet domination of the world is inevitable and highly desirable, and he will go to any lengths to achieve it. It was only over methods and timing that he fell out with Borisenko.’
‘You’re dead right there, Mark,’ Falconer said. ‘And, meanwhile, I’ll bet you there will be a pretty ruthless carve-up of the dissidents under the pretext of preventing counter-revolution. But I have my reasons for feeling sure that there will be no frontal attack in Europe while Dominowski remains Defence Minister.’
‘And what are they?’ Quinn asked expectantly.
Falconer smiled broadly at Angela. ‘Ah Mark, as you rightly said, there are some secrets we just have to keep from each other. Do you still intend to go ahead with interrogating King-Lander?’
‘Of course. I’ve fixed an appointment for this afternoon as a certain Mr Webb whose family doctor fears he may have a serious blood disorder.’
‘You think it is still necessary?’
Quinn looked puzzled. ‘Well, don’t you? The war may be off, though we have to check that the Warsaw Pact Forces really are being stood down – but we still have a dangerous spy in Number Ten Downing Street.’
Falconer somehow did not look as though he thought it mattered any more. He contented himself with saying, ‘Well, I leave it to you. But you won’t let him know how you caught him? About the disinformation, I mean?’
‘Of course not. I’m going to play the daft lad. I’m rather good at it.’
Falconer, who was truly brilliant at what he called ‘playing the dope’ and had given quite a performance of it that morning, gave a gesture of doubtful assent.
‘I’ll give you a full report tomorrow, John,’ Quinn promised. ‘I think I will be able to wrap things up. Then perhaps we’ll broach another bottle of champagne.’
When the Americans had gone Quinn sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
‘What did you make of Falconer’s suggestion that it might not be necessary to do anything about King-Lander and the PM now? What’s changed in that direction to make him think that?’
Angela had already been giving the question thought. ‘Perhaps he reckons that, with war averted, Henderson and King-Lander can’t do much harm now. So it may be better just to try to keep them under control rather than let them know they’ve been caught, with all the complications that would entail.’
