tc.redrabbit-第35节

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！


l　es；　not　if；　the　colonel　noted。　Well；　Yuriy　Vladimirovich　was　supposed　to　be　the　most　powerful　man　on　the　Politburo　now；　and　that　suited　Aleksey　Nikolay'ch。　What　was　good　for　his　agency　was　also　good　for　him；　especially　in　his　new　job。　There　might　be　general's　stars　at　the　end　of　this　professional　rainbow；　and　that　possibility　suited　him　as　well。
　　　〃How　would　you　proceed？〃　the　Chairman　asked。
　　　〃I　should　cable　Rome　to　assuage　Goderenko's　fears　and　tell　him　that　his　tasking　for　the　moment　is　to　ascertain　the　Pope's　schedule　for　traveling；　appearances；　and　so　forth。　Next；　I　will　cable　Ilya　Bubovoy。　He's　our　rezident　in　Sofia。　Have　you　met　him；　rade　Chairman？〃
　　　Andropov　searched　his　memory。　〃Yes；　at　a　reception。　He's　overweight；　isn't　he？〃
　　　Rozhdestvenskiy　smiled。　〃Yes；　Ilya　Fedorovich　has　always　fought　that；　but　he's　a　good　officer。　He's　been　there　for　four　years；　and　he　enjoys　good　relations　with　the　Dirzhavna　Sugurnost。〃
　　　〃Grown　a　mustache；　has　he？〃　Andropov　asked；　with　a　rare　hint　of　humor。　Russians　often　chided　their　neighbors　for　facial　hair；　which　seemed　to　be　a　national　characteristic　of　Bulgarians。
　　　〃That　I　do　not　know；〃　the　colonel　admitted。　He　was　not　yet　so　obsequious　as　to　promise　to　find　out。
　　　〃What　will　your　cable　to　Sofia　say？〃
　　　〃That　we　have　an　operational　requirement　for…〃
　　　The　Chairman　cut　him　off：　〃Not　in　a　cable。　Fly　him　here。　I　want　security　very　tight　on　this；　and　flying　him　back　and　forth　from　Sofia　will　raise　few　eyebrows。〃
　　　〃By　your　order。　Immediately？〃　Rozhdestvenskiy　asked。
　　　〃Da。　Yes；　at　once。〃
　　　The　colonel　came　to　his　feet。　〃Right　away；　rade　Chairman。　I　will　go　to　munications　directly。〃
　　　Chairman　Andropov　watched　him　leave。　One　nice　thing　about　KGB；　Yuriy　Vladimirovich　thought；　when　you　gave　orders　here；　things　actually　happened。　Unlike　the　Party　Secretariat。
　　　Colonel　rozhdestvenskiy　took　the　elevator　back　down　to　the　basement　and　headed　for　munications。　Captain　Zaitzev　was　back　at　his　desk；　doing　his　paperwork　as　usual…that's　all　he　had；　really…and　the　colonel　went　right　up　to　him。
　　　〃I　have　two　more　dispatches　for　you。〃
　　　〃Very　well；　rade　Colonel。〃　Oleg　Ivan'ch　held　out　his　hand。
　　　〃I　have　to　write　them　out；〃　Rozhdestvenskiy　clarified。
　　　〃You　can　use　that　desk　right　there；　rade。〃　The　municator　pointed。　〃Same　security　as　before？〃
　　　〃Yes；　one…time　pad　for　both。　One　more　for　Rome；　and　the　other　for　Station　Sofia。　Immediate　priority；〃　he　added。
　　　〃That　is　fine。〃　Zaitzev　handed　him　the　message　form　blanks　and　turned　back　to　his　work；　hoping　the　dispatches　wouldn't　be　too　lengthy。　They　had　to　be　pretty　important　for　the　colonel　to　e　down　here　even　before　they　were　drafted。　Andropov　must　have　a　real　bug　up　his　rectum。　Colonel　Rozhdestvenskiy　was　the　Chairman's　personal　gofer。　It　had　to　be　kind　of　demeaning　for　someone　with　the　skills　to　be　a　rezident　somewhere　interesting。　Travel；　after　all；　was　the　one　real　perk　KGB　offered　its　employees。
　　　Not　that　Zaitzev　got　to　travel。　Oleg　Ivanovich　knew　too　much　to　be　allowed　in　a　Western　country。　After　all；　he　might　not　e　back…KGB　always　worried　about　that。　And　for　the　first　time；　he　wondered　why。　That　was　the　kind　of　day　it　had　been。　Why　did　KGB　worry　so　much　about　possible　defections？　He'd　seen　dispatches　openly　discussing　the　troublesome　possibility；　and　he'd　seen　officers　who　had　been　brought　home　to　〃talk〃　about　it　here　in　The　Centre　and　often　never　returned　to　the　field。　He'd　always　known　about　it；　but　he'd　never　actually　thought　about　it　for　as　much　as　thirty　seconds。
　　　They　left　because…because　they　thought　their　state　was　wrong？　Could　they　actually　think　it　was　so　bad　they　would　do　something　so　drastic　as　betray　their　Motherland？　That；　Zaitzev　belatedly　realized；　was　a　very　big　thought。
　　　And　yet；　what　was　KGB　but　an　agency　that　lived　on　betrayal？　How　many　hundreds…thousands…of　dispatches　had　he　read　about　just　that？　Those　were　Westerners…Americans；　Britons；　Germans；　Frenchmen…all　used　by　KGB　to　find　out　things　that　his　country　wanted　to　know…and　they　were　all　traitors　to　their　mother　countries；　weren't　they？　They　did　it　mainly　for　money。　He'd　seen　a　lot　of　those　messages；　too；　discussions　between　The　Centre　and　the　rezidenturas　discussing　the　amounts　of　payment。　He　knew　that　The　Centre　was　always　niggardly　with　the　money　it　paid　out；　which　was　to　be　expected。　The　agents　wanted　American　dollars；　British　pounds　sterling；　Swiss　francs。　And　cash；　real　paper　money…they　always　wanted　to　be　paid　in　cash。　Never　rubles　or　even　certificate　rubles。　It　was　the　only　money　they　trusted；　clearly　enough。　They　betrayed　their　country　for　money；　but　only　for　their　own　money。　Some　of　them　even　demanded　millions　of　dollars；　not　that　they　ever　got　it。　The　most　he'd　ever　seen　authorized　was　？50；000；　paid　out　for　information　about　British　and　American　naval　ciphers。　What　would　the　Western　powers　not　pay　for　the　munications　information　in　his　mind？　Zaitzev　thought　idly。　It　was　a　question　with　no　answer。　He　did　not　really　have　the　ability　to　frame　the　question　properly；　much　less　consider　the　answer　seriously。
　　　〃Here　you　go；〃　Rozhdestvenskiy　said；　handing　over　the　message　blanks。　〃Send　them　out　at　once。〃
　　　〃As　soon　as　I　get　them　enciphered；〃　the　municator　promised。
　　　〃And　the　same　security　as　before；〃　the　colonel　added。
　　　〃Certainly。　Same　identifier　tag　on　both？〃　Oleg　Ivanovich　asked。
　　　〃Correct；　all　with　this　number；〃　he　replied；　tapping　the　666　in　the　upper…right　corner。
　　　〃By　your　order；　rade　Colonel。　I'll　see　to　it　right　now。〃
　　　〃And　call　me　when　they　go　out。〃
　　　〃Yes；　rade　Colonel。　I　have　your　office　number；〃　Zaitzev　assured　him。
　　　There　was　more　to　it　than　the　mere　words；　Oleg　knew。　The　tone　of　his　voice　had　told　him　much。　This　was　going　out　under　the　direct　order　of　the　Chairman；　and　all　this　attention　made　it　a　matter　of　the　highest　priority；　not　just　something　of　routine　interest　to　an　important　man。　This　wasn't　about　ordering　pantyhose　for　some　bigwig's　teenage　daughter。　
　　　He　walked　to　the　cipher…book　storage　room　to　get　two　books；　the　ones　for　Rome　and　Sofia；　and　then　he　pulled　out　his　cipher　wheel　and　laboriously　encrypted　both　messages。　All　in　all；　it　took　forty　minutes。　The　message　to　Colonel　Bubovoy　in　Sofia　was　a　simple　one：　Fly　to　Moscow　immediately　for　consultations。　Zaitzev　wondered　if　that　would　make　the　rezident's；　knees　wobble　a　little。　Colonel　Bubovoy　could　not　know　what　the　numerical　identifier　meant；　of　course。　He'd　find　out　soon　enough。
　　　The　rest　of　Zaitzev's　day　went　routinely。　He　managed　to　lock　up　his　confidential　papers　and　walk　out　before　six　in　the　evening。
　　　Lunch　at　century　house　was　good；　but　British…eccentric。　Ryan　had　learned　to　enjoy　the　British　Ploughman's　Lunch；　mainly　because　the　bread　was　so　uniformly　excellent　over　here。
　　　〃So；　your　wife's　a　surgeon？〃
　　　Jack　nodded。　〃Yeah；　eye　cutter。　She's　actually　starting　to　use　lasers　for　some　things　now。　She's　hoping　to　be　a　pioneer　in　that　stuff。〃
　　　〃Lasers？　What　for？〃　Harding　asked。
　　　〃Some　of　it's　like　welding。　They　use　a　laser　to　cauterize　a　leaky　blood　vessel；　for　instance…they　did　it　with　Suslov。　Blood　leaked　inside　the　eye；　so　they　drilled　into　the　eyeball　and　drained　out　all　the　fluid…aqueous　humor；　I　think　they　call　it…and　then　used　lasers　to　weld　shut　the　leaky　vessels。　Sounds　pretty　yucky；　doesn't　it？〃
　　　Harding　shuddered　at　the　thought。　〃I　suppose　it's　better　than　being　blind。〃
　　　〃Yeah；　I　know　what　you　mean。　Like　when　Sally　was　in　shock…trauma。　The　idea　of　somebody　carving　up　my　little　girl　didn't　exactly　thrill　me。〃　Ryan　remembered　how　fucking　awful　that　had　been；　in　fact。　Sally　still　had　the　scars　on　her　chest　and　abdomen　from　it；　though　they　were　fading。
　　　〃What　about　you；　Jack？　You've　been　under　the　knife　before；〃　Simon　observed。
　　　〃I　was　asleep；　and　they　didn't　make　videos　of　the　operations…but　you　know；　Cathy　would　probably　be　interested　in　seeing　all　three　of　them。〃
　　　〃Three？〃
　　　〃Yeah；　two　when　I　was　in　the　Marines。　They　stabilized　me　on　the　ship；　then　flew　me　to　Bethesda　for　the　rest　of　it…I　was　asleep　practically　the　whole　time；　thank　God；　but　the　neurosurgeons　there　weren't　quite　good　enough；　and　that　left　me　with　a　bad　back。　Then；　when　Cathy　and　I　were　dating…no；　we　were　engaged　then…my　back　blew　up　again　over　dinner　in　Little　Italy；　and　she　took　me　into　Hopkins　and　had　Sam　Rosen　take　a　look　at　me。　Sam　fixed　it　all　up。　Good　guy；　and　a　hell　of　a　doc。　You　know；　sometimes　it's　nice　to　be　married　to　a　doctor。　She　knows　some　of　the　best　people　in　the　world。〃　Ryan　took　a　big　bite　of　turkey　and　baguette。　It　was　better　than　the　burgers　in　the　CIA　cafeteria。　〃Anyway；　that's　the　short　version　of　a　three…year　adventure　that　started　with　a　broke　helicopter　on　Crete。　It　ended　up　with　me　being　married；　so　I　guess　it　all　worked　out　okay。〃
　　　Harding　filled　his　pipe　out　of　a　leather　pouch　and　lit　it。　〃So；　how's　your　report　ing　on　Soviet　management　and　practices？〃
　　　Jack　set　his　beer　down。　〃It's　amazing　how　screwed　up　they　are；　especially　when　you　pare　their　internal　documents　with　the　hard　data　we　learn　when　our　guys　get　hands…on　with　their　gear。　What　they　call　quality　control；　we　call　a　dog's　breakfast。　At　Langley；　I　saw　some　stuff　on　their　fighter　planes　that　the　Air　Force　got；　mainly　through　the　I