He turned to Doyle. See if the Majors stirring, Sergeant, and ask her if shed fancy some early breakfast with me, and Id like you to help me out with her, and he explained.
Certainly, sir.
Roper poured a whiskey to pull himself together. The implications were obvious. Right, old son, dont mess up, he murmured.
You look terrible, Greta told him.
Ive looked terrible for some years now.
She was genuinely sorry and shook her head. But your diet seems to consist solely of Irish whiskey.
Thats Dillon for you.
I expect so.
And too many cigarettes.
They help calm me down. I get neurological symptoms. Cant sleep.
And you only eat sandwiches. I havent seen you tackle a decent meal.
Well, you will now. Ive ordered a full English breakfast. I thought youd like to join me. Start with the tea, Sergeant, he said to Doyle. Oh, and pass the morning papers.
Coming up, sir.
Doyle picked up the Times and the Daily Mail from a side table and passed them over. Both featured Putins visit, also the press release announcing details of the Belov Protocol.
My God, she said, as she looked at the Mail.
My God, indeed. Roper poured another whiskey. This is purely medicinal, I assure you, but a toast to Russian barefaced cheek.
She read the piece quickly and looked up. Why do you say that?
Oh, come on, youll never get away with it.
Thats what you think. Ashimov passed Max Zubin off in Paris the other year with no trouble. Not only does Zubin really look like Belov, hes a damn good actor. Ashimov told me he handled it really well. It fooled everybody. French intelligence, the CIA, the Brits.
Doyle had come in with a trolley and laid a table by the fire. She carried on talking.
If it worked then, it will work now.
He wheeled his chair to the table and started on the bacon and eggs. Come on, eat up, itll get cold.
She took his advice. Say, this is good. But you must understand, Roper, we Russians are used to the cold.
Well, you didnt do too well in the Cold War.
He was pushing her now, and she flared. We did all right. Gave you your share of bloody noses, you and the Americans both. And some you dont even know about.
Doyle brought a bottle across and two glasses. Im sorry, Major Novikova. Major Roper told me a vodka usually starts a Russian breakfast. I forgot.
It certainly does, hes right there. He poured, she took it down in one go. Another, Sergeant. She was on her mettle. Ive invented a new breakfast for you English. Vodka and bacon and eggs.
Actually, Im Irish, Major. Doyle smiled. What they call Black Irish.
God, I can never understand this. Why do you Irish always fight for the English? You should hate them.
Not really, Major. He slipped another vodka in her empty glass. I mean, theyre a bit like your mother-in-law. An inconvenience when she calls.
She fell about laughing and finished the third vodka. Your mother-in-law? I like that. Do you like it? she asked Roper.
He pushed his plate away. If you do, but enough of this chat. Im telling you, this Belov Protocol will never work.
Why not?
Too many people know what happened to the real Belov, know about Zubin, I mean, everybody who worked with him at Station Gorky.
She exploded, almost in fury. Are you stupid or something? Dont you understand? To everyone at Station Gorky, Max Zubin is Josef Belov.
There was a moments stillness, and Roper said, Is that really true?
But of course. Only a handful of us know the truth Ashimov, me, General Volkov, and through him, the President.
And we do.
Because Dillon pressed a button and killed Belov.
So when you present Zubin at Station Gorky
Hes got to be Belov. She shook her head. Surely you can see that? Even his chauffeur in Moscow thinks hes Belov. People accept. And what can you do? She held her glass up to Doyle. He refilled it obediently.
Is Ferguson going to stand up at the Dorchester and say, Excuse me, this isnt Josef Belov, we assassinated him with American connivance? She took the vodka down. I think not.
An amazing situation, Roper said. When you think of it, he could be Josef Belov for the rest of his life.
I dont understand. She was befuddled with too much vodka now.
Its just an interesting point. You know, the appearance of things and people believing in it. He smiled. Anyway, Ive got work to do. Take Major Novikova back to her quarters, Sergeant.
She got up, staggered a little and leaned on the table. What was all this about? What were you after?
Id go back to bed if I were you. Greta, have another sleep.
She staggered slightly and Doyle caught her. Steady now, miss, just come along with me.
Roper lit a cigarette and thought about it, then turned back to the computers. The last message on his screen was the one about transportation to the Belov Complex, where his chauffeur, Ivan Kurbsky, would meet the plane and convey him to the Kremlin before the Excelsior Hotel. That would be for Volkov to give him a final briefing.
He sat there brooding, thinking of every aspect, and it all started to come together, make sense. He thought about it some more and phoned Ferguson and found him still at home at Cavendish Place.
I need to see you.
Why?
How would you like to make the Belov Protocol into a total balls-up? How would you like to leave the Russians with nothing but egg on their faces?
Tell me more.
Which Roper proceeded to do.
When he was finished, Ferguson said, Totally mad and also quite brilliant. It could be absurdly simple.
The old Swiss watch syndrome. If it all worked.
All right, what do you want?
A meeting with you at the soonest with me, Dillon, Billy, Squadron Leader Lacey and Parry.
All right, what do you want?
A meeting with you at the soonest with me, Dillon, Billy, Squadron Leader Lacey and Parry.
Is there anything I should know before we meet?
Yes, Ive got a few requests. He went through them. There are a number of things I can sort out via my computers. Ill take care of those aspects. Can we meet in, say, two hours?
Absolutely. Holland Park?
I think so. Its useful if we need to refer back to computer information.
Of course. There is one thing Ive got to say.
And whats that?
Max Zubin it would all depend on his willingness to play ball.
Well, well see about that.
Roper switched off and went back to his screens.
At Holland Park, Roper was doing the briefing. This whole thing hinges on some sort of contact being made at the Dorchester with Max Zubin. It seems obvious to me that hell return to Moscow still playing his role for the sake of his mother. That means the day after tomorrow, hell be seen on the world stage signing the Belov Protocol. The only way to prevent that would be to get Zubin out of Moscow with his mother.
And how do we do that? Billy asked.
Roper turned to Lacey. You know the Belov Complex in Moscow?
Of course. Weve been there a few times. Its close to the main airport, handles private traffic, executive aircraft and courier planes. Weve done it for the Embassy run a few times.
So if the great Josef Belov turned up there with his mother and had a walk around, how do you think hed be treated?
With fear and great respect. I know Russia.
And if they ended up on your courier plane and you got out of there fast, how long would it take you to leave Russian airspace?
If I was given the Citation X, half an hour at the most. Since the demise of Concorde, its arguably the fastest commercial plane in the world.
So youd be out of it, in effect, probably before theyd even had a chance to scramble another aircraft to see what you were up to?
With any kind of luck, yes.
If you volunteer for this, youd be in uniform, RAF rondels on the plane and so on, everything to confuse the issue.
Thats good, sir, and by the way, we do volunteer.
My God, Billy said, it could work. Its so bleeding simple.
Which only leaves us with the problem of getting Max Zubin to agree, Roper said.
Id say youve already worked that out. Dillon smiled.
Theres plenty of security at the hotel, both Russian and British. You, Billy, have your identification, so thats all right. The fact that you speak Russian, Sean, could be useful. You could growl your head off at any unfortunate room service waiter as much as you want and carry your copy of the Putin warrant just in case, to confuse any Russian security people.
But meeting Zubin will be difficult.
Not at all. Hes been given one of those magnificent park suites on the fifth floor as befits his status as Josef Belov. There is a small bedroom with separate bathroom next to it, double doors in between, which are kept locked unless its booked, to provide a second bedroom for the suite.
And this one isnt?
Well, it was, but I canceled and then fiddled the computer to make it look as if its still occupied. I recall when you got into Levins room, you had a house key like staff use.
Still do.
As regards Levin, hes with the Russian Embassy party and Boris Luhzkov. I suppose they know we wont lift Levin.
What would be the point? Ferguson said. And they cant lay a finger on us. Im going and you two can join me, he said to Dillon and Billy. He turned to Lacey. Youd better get on with arranging the courier flight out of Farley. You have full authority.
Certainly, sir.
They all got up, and Roper said, I was thinking, Dillon, take an extra Codex Four. If this idea works and Zubin agrees, it will give him a link with you.
Good thinking.
Well, lets get on with it, the games afoot, Ferguson said.
At the Russian Embassy, Boris Luhzkov was in his office when Igor Levin went in. I got your message. Whats up? Nothing, just a thousand and one things to do.
You worry too much. Levin lit a cigarette and sat on the window seat.
Luhzkov said, Its all right for you, the big war hero, used to running around at the Kremlin.
Luhzkov, what can I do for you?
Volkov insists on your presence tonight so you can make yourself useful.
Im not exactly persona grata to our British friends these days. Youre sure Charles Ferguson wont try to have me picked up once Im on the street?
Look, Igor, I dont know what youve been mixed up in, and I dont want to know. You work for Volkov, carry the Putin warrant, thats enough for me. One thing I do know. Youve got diplomatic immunity. If the Brits want you for anything, all they can do is send you home. Now go along to the Dorchester and check how our security people are getting on.