Such levity does not become you.
My apologies. The ambassador will be there, I presume.
No, hes needed at an important meeting in Brussels.
How interesting. I didnt realize we were now in the European Union.
That is not amusing. You book into the Ritz immediately. This is to guarantee your presence the next day. As Ive already made clear, the ceremony is at seven. You return to Moscow in the jet at ten oclock Thursday morning from Charles de Gaulle.
Well, there you go, lads, Kurbsky said. No chance even to get laid.
Your kind of frivolity does not amuse me, Kurbsky. Gregorovich closed his briefcase and put his hat on. The Motherland has treated you well. I would suggest you remember that.
Oh, I will, I will, Kurbsky assured him.
Gregorovich got up. Good morning. I cant wait to get back to Moscow and sanity. He opened the door and paused. I dont like you, Kurbsky. I never approved. They spoil you too much. But what goes around comes around. You should remember that.
He went out. Ivanov and his friends looked troubled. Kurbsky stood up. Dont worry, lads, hes been a desk man all his career. Guys like that hate real soldiers for obvious reasons. Anyway, Im going for a run. I dont know what you lot are going to do, but if you want to keep up with me, youll have to get your running shoes on.
He left them there, ran through the hall and out across the car park, where he saw Gregorovich leaving in his limousine, went down the terrace steps, and ran toward the orchards and the woods in the distance.
AT HOLLAND PARK, Katya Zorin finished demonstrating her reconstruction of Alexander Kurbsky to the full crew, including Ferguson and the Salters.
Youve got to admit, its brilliant, Harry said. Absolute genius. Ive known a lot of villains over the years whod have paid you a fortune to have given them a workover like that, he told Katya.
Im for it completely, Ferguson said. Is everyone agreed? They all nodded. Good, now his identity. Ill give it to the MI6 Office Five forgery department. A French father, an English mother, born here. Parents dead, and so on and so on. Hell need documentation from the Royal Marsden and insertion into their system. London University, English degree. Journalist. Maybe a war correspondent in the Balkans, something like that. Passport filled with all the right stamps. Henri Duval-that name sound about right?
Youre enjoying this, arent you? Monica said. You should have been a writer yourself.
Leave it to that nice lady at Office Five, Dillon urged him. So can we get down to how we lift him?
Ferguson said, A fast flight out, Id say. Nothing official. If Parry and Lacey do it, its got to be out of the way somewhere. Certainly no airport in the Paris area. There are plenty of small airfields in Brittany that deal with business clients. Ill speak to Squadron Leader Lacey and put it in his hands.
And who goes to Paris? Dillon asked.
You and Billy.
Billy smiled coldly. That suits me fine.
At that moment, Monicas phone rang. It was Kurbsky. I havent got long. Listen carefully. I fly down to Charles de Gaulle on Tuesday, arriving in the evening. The Ministry has decided to splash out, so Ill be at the Ritz with my three minders. The ceremony is at seven on Wednesday evening. We fly back from Charles de Gaulle at ten on Thursday morning.
His voice echoed over the speakers. Roper said, Weve got that. Well work out how to snatch you and tell you next time you call.
Have you come up with a way of guaranteeing my anonymity?
Absolutely. Katya Zorin has come up with a most ingenious suggestion. It will make you into a totally different person-one that no one would recognize as Alexander Kurbsky. You must trust us on this.
All right. But I must go now. My minders are looking for me.
Ferguson said, The Ritz, by God. He should surely be able to give them the slip from there.
I would say so, Dillon told him.
Katya said, Ill be on my way, and left.
Ferguson said, There is one other matter, now that Katyas gone, so sit down again for a minute. The six of us make a nice tight crew, but its starting to go at the edges. First Katya and Svetlana. Now Im going to have to include Lacey and Parry.
Yes, Charles, but come off it. Those guys have supported us for years. Weve been to the war zones with him: They brought Billy back from Hazar, shot to pieces. If you cant trust them, who can you?
All right, I accept that, but what Im working my way up to saying is that I havent informed the Prime Minister.
Jesus, Billy said.
Is that legal? Harry put in.
Since when have we ever been legal? Dillon told him. So what exactly are you getting at, Charles?
If we tell the Prime Minister, we have to tell Blake Johnson.
The man who was in Kosovo with my brother? Monica said.
He does for President Cazalet what I do for the Prime Minister. We usually do things in tandem.
I see, she said. Does that give you a problem?
I dont know, thats why I mention it. Id appreciate your opinions, so just think about it. Well leave it at that for the moment.
KURBSKY HAD MADE his call from an old ruined chapel in the wood beyond the orchard. It had a distant view of the house to one side of the track, and hed been able to keep an eye out for the three young men as they approached, searching for him.
Where is the bastard? Kokonin was saying.
Hes playing with us, Im sure of it, Ivanov told him.
Kurbsky let them pass and vanish into the wood and lit a cigarette. So the enterprise was afoot. It struck Kurbsky as ironic that Ferguson and company were going to such trouble to extract him and to protect his identity when his own people were aware of everything-his new identity, where he was living.
But that, of course, would depend on him. What if he kept his identity completely to himself? Thanks to the mobile phone, the greatest invention of all time in some ways, he could receive encrypted calls from people who did not know where he was. He could also make calls that could not be traced.
So he, who had been a prisoner of his own people, was now in a strange way free to do what his people wanted or to refuse. It was absolutely beautiful, and then he remembered Tania at Station Gorky and realized that his thoughts of freedom had only been an illusion.
There were voices down below on the track, and he emerged from the ruins and ran down the hill and confronted them. Were you looking for someone?
They seemed put out, then Ivanov laughed. Damn you, youve been playing with us again.
Well, there isnt much else to do round here, but theres Paris to look forward to. Great chambermaids at the Ritz. You never know, you could get lucky.
They smiled at that, but Ivanov said, Chance would be a fine thing. One of us has always got to be on guard in your suite.
Kurbsky, who had expected such a thing, said amiably, And how are you going to manage that?
I have to work out a rota, Ivanov said.
Well, thats okay. It means that when one of you is busy watching me, the other two can play. He grinned. Im starving. Lunchtime, lads, so race me back. He ran away from them very fast.
THE ONE TIME he was assured of total privacy was when he stayed in the house, using the bar facilities or the gymnasium and swimming pool or the extensive library, which included computers. Luzhkov had provided him with codes offering access to classified GRU information, and after lunch he sat down, brought up a screen, and accessed the British Security Services.
There was plenty of history there-the traitors who had worked for the KGB, for instance: Philby, Burgess, Maclean, and many, many more than the general public in Britain had probably ever known about. One thing wasnt there, though-nowhere in the files was there any mention of General Charles Ferguson and his organization. The security force known in the trade as the Prime Ministers private army simply did not exist.
He tried another approach, accessing individuals, and struck it lucky. The George Cross Database came up with Major Giles Roper. It was all there, the George Cross and Military Cross, his service in Ireland, the Portland Hotel bomb, the final explosion that had left him in a wheelchair. Apparently, he now worked in the computer industry.
Computer industry, my arse, Kurbsky said softly. But what a man.
But that was all he could find on Ferguson and his crew. For want of something better to do, he tapped in Monica and reviewed her life. Her photo was excellent, and he smiled. A remarkable lady, and he liked her.
Finally, he typed in Svetlana, something he had never done, and was amazed at the wealth of information. There was an early photo from the Moscow days of her and Kurbsky and Tania, his father in KGB uniform. A few lines on these early days and much more about her defection and London marriage. A list of her London stage appearances. A photo of Kelly, a mention that her companion was now the artist Katya Zorin, and then a whole page on her famous nephew.
Finally, he typed in Svetlana, something he had never done, and was amazed at the wealth of information. There was an early photo from the Moscow days of her and Kurbsky and Tania, his father in KGB uniform. A few lines on these early days and much more about her defection and London marriage. A list of her London stage appearances. A photo of Kelly, a mention that her companion was now the artist Katya Zorin, and then a whole page on her famous nephew.
Kurbsky clicked into Katya Zorin and discovered her life in theater and art. There was a photo of her and Svetlana, obviously taken recently. He smiled, touched, and switched off.
LACEY AND PARRY appeared at Holland Park and found Roper. The boss has filled us in. Dillon and Billy are going to snatch somebody important in Paris Wednesday night and spirit him away, Lacey said.
One Henri Duval, according to the passport, Parry added, though if you believe that, youd believe anything.
Absolute top priority, Lacey said.
As big as it gets. Roper drank a little scotch and lit a cigarette.
Well, if you say that, I really do believe it, Lacey said. So lets look at France.
Roper brought it up on a screen, focusing on Paris. It cant be Charles de Gaulle or any of the small airfields operating in the Paris area.
Look, arent you being a bit overcautious? Parry asked. A quick in-and-out. Whats wrong with that?