Snow Wolf (35 page)

"What's there to be afraid of'?
Death comes to us all sooner or later. Maybe when we're faced with it that's
the moment we truly define ourselves." He smiled. "It's not the
heroes who stay to look trouble in the eye-there's no such thing. The fatalists
with nothing to lose."

"Don't you have @anything to
lose?"

"Not much."

"Didn't you ever love anyone besides
Vaissily? A woman'.@"

"'typical of a woman to ask that
question. But what's it got to do with it'."'

She looked at him intently. "Maybe
nothing, maybe everything."

@"Tell me what You liked to do most
when you lived in Russia as a boy. Tell me about your family."

Slaanski looked away uncomfortably. Anna
said "Something bad once happened to your family, didn't it'? Is that why
you left Russia'

He said dismissively, "Hardly any of
your business. Besides, it's all water under the bridge. A long time to Forget
it."

"But that's the point. I don't think
you can forget it. I think it's what makes You Angry. living close to death, as
if you wish it."

He looked at her defensively. "What
is this. mental psycho analysis? Is that something you picked up in New
York?"

She realized he was more sensitive than
artery, Brad some instinct made her reach across and briefly touch his hand.
"You're right, it's none of my business, But what happened to Vassily, I'm
truly sorry. He was a good man."

For a long time he didn't speak-, and
then he said quietly, "He was one of the finest men I knew. But he's gone
now, and nothing can bring him back."

She saw the look of grief flood his face,
and he stood Lip as if to kill the emotions Anna said. "Why do you always
do that?"

Stanski @frowned. "Do what?"

"Hide your feelings like a typical
Russian.. Never let emotions in. But yet you always repay pain with pain. Like
Vassily and that partisan (girl. Why?" He said flippantly, "A long
story. Remind me to tell you some time."

The wind in the harbor grew harsher.
Street lamps flickered along the promenade and behind them a tram trundled past
on its metal tracks, electric blue flashes sparking in the darkness overhead.

Anna said, "I don't think you've
ever trusted anyone enough to let them get really close, have you, Alex
Stanski? Inside you're still that same little boy who had to escape halfway
across the world on his own, with no one to rely on but himself."

He didn't reply and Anna looked toward
the sea and SUDDENLY shivered.

Stanski said, "What's wrong?"

She put her hands in her coat pockets, a
deadness in her voice when she spoke.

"I'm not sure. It's odd, but I have
a feeling we're both doomed across that sea. What happened at the cabin is like
an omen. And people like you and me, maybe we have too much bad fortune in our
pasts to be lucky."

"Then why not forget about it and do
as I said?"

"Like you say, maybe like you I've
nothing to lose."

They spent the rest of the evening going
over the weapons, equipment and the forged papers with Massey in the@kitchen.

He gave them each a Tokarev 7.62 pistol
and a spare magazine. He also produced a Na gant 7.62 revolver which had most
of the barrel sawn away and a silencer attached. He handed it to Stanski, who
checked the weapon before slipping it into his pocket and half smiling at Anna.

"A little something extra just in
case the Tokarev jams."

Stanski had three sets of papers; one for
an eastern worker named Bodkin, home on leave from a collective farm in
Kalinin, another for a Red Army captain named Oleg Petrovsky, on leave from the
17th Arbored Division barracks at Leningrad, the third in the name of Georgi
Mazov, a KGB major attached to the 2nd Directorate, Moscow. Anna had another
three sets in the same family names, posing as his wife in each case, and there
were photos of them together and separately, along with their relationship and
past.

The other papers included various
regional passes and work cards, all in drab official paper and aged
deliberately, the photographs in black and white and officially stamped. When
Massey had gone over their aliases and backgrounds again he said, "The
papers are the best I've seen and they should pass close scrutiny, but of
course there's no guarantee. All I can say, if it's any comfort, is that the
forgers are the best in the business and worked damned hard to get them
right."

Anna picked up her worn-looking set and
examined them. "I don't understand. How can they look so used?"

Massey smiled. "An old trick from
the war. The forgers fray them with very fine sandpaper and then tape them
under their armpits for a couple of hours. Human sweat has an aging effect on
paper. As you can see, it works wonders."

Anna made a face and Massey smiled.
"An unpleasant thought, but a simple thing like that may save your life.
The KGB might become suspicious of passes printed on fresh paper and if they
look closely enough they can sometimes tell if chemicals have been used to age
them artificially. Whereas the sweat process is undetectable."

He opened a leather pouch containing
several wads of rubles, and gave the largest wad to Stanski. The money was
creased and aged and there was a handful of coins each.

"if you need any more rubles you can
pick them up at the safe houses between Tallinn and Moscow," he explained
to Anna. "Otherwise, if you're searched and found with a large amount of
cash, it might arouse suspicion. The weapons and some of the clothes and extra
papers, of course, are going to be a problem for the first set of false
identities if you're stopped and searched soon after you land. That's the
danger time. I'm afraid there's no way of safely hiding everything
incriminating on your person, but it's a temporary risk, so you'll just have to
play the game as it happens. Bury them somewhere near where you land and
retrieve them later if you think it's going to be a problem. OK, let's look at
the other equipment."

The jumpsuits were made of heavy
green.canvas and contained generous pockets to hold items they would need
immediately after landing. A flashlight each and a knife to cut the parachute free
if it caught on a tree, and short folding spades to bury their equipment. There
were helmets, goggles, gloves, and thermal suits for each of them.

"It's going to be pretty cold up
there when you jump, so you'll need the thermals to stop you from freezing to
death before you land. Now let's see how well the tailors have done."

He produced two frayed suitcases with
their personal belongings and clothes inside, and after he had handed them out
Anna went upstairs to try her clothes on.

When she came down ten minutes later her
hair was tied back severely with a ribbon. She wore a heavy woollen skirt and a
thick white blouse, a woollen scarf and an overcoat that was just the right
size.

Stanski had changed and stood there
dressed as an Estonian peasant, wearing a tweed cap, an ill-fitting jacket and
a baggy corduroy suit that was a little too short in the legs. Anna couldn't
help laughing and Stanski said, "What's so funny?"

"You look like the village
idiot."

"A fine way to talk to your
husband." Massey said, "The clothes and uniforms are all the genuine
article, taken from Soviet army defectors or refugees who came over after the
war. You should wear the clothes tomorrow, to get used to them. You're happy,
Alex?"

"Happy as I can he apart from these
trousers."

Massey smiled. "Can't be helped, I'm
afraid. Besides, an Estonian laborer is hardly going to be dressed to
perfection. Anna, is there anything you want to ask?" She shook her head
and Massey said, "Then I guess that's it, except for one last thing."

He took two miniature tin boxes from his
pocket, opened their lids and emptied the contents on the table. One box
contained only two black capsules. The second contained several dozen blue
ones, and both types of capsules were different sizes.

"Pills. Two types. One good, one
bad, but both invaluable. As you can see they're different sizes and colors so
hopefully you can't get them mixed up."

"What are they for?" Anna
asked.

"The blue pill is an amphetamine. It
gives you an energy boost to overcome fatigue. Commonly used by special forces
and pilots during the war to stave off tiredness." Massey picked up one of
the black pills. "And this little baby here is the one you've got to be
careful about. It's only to be used in a dire emergency."

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"Cyanide. It kills you in
seconds."

It was almost midnight and Stanski lay in
the dark, smoking a cigarette, listening to the wind rage outside. He heard the
door open and Anna stood there in a cotton nightgown, holding an oil lamp. She
said softly, "Can I come in?"

"What's the matter?"

"I can't sleep."

"Come in, close the door."

Her hair was tousled and there was
something childlike about her face in the light of the lamp as she came to sit
at the end of the bed. He noticed she was trembling and he said, "Are you
cold?"

She shook her head. "Just
frightened. Maybe I've suddenly realized everything about this is deadly
serious. Especially when Massey gave us that pill. Now it's not a game anymore.
In the air raid shelters in Moscow during the war, when people were afraid of
the bombing, complete strangers used to hold and kiss each other. I once even
saw a couple make love."

"it makes sense. A natural instinct
to preserve the species when it's under threat. Soldiers got married for the
same reason before they went to war."

She bit her lip. "Will you do
something for me?"

"What?"

"Just hold me. Hold me tightly. It
seems like it's been such a long time since someone did that."

He saw it in her face then, a real and
terrible fear, and it made her look very young and vulnerable. He realized she
was more afraid than he had ever imagined, and his hand touched her cheek as he
looked into her eyes and said, "My poor Anna."

Her arms went around his neck and she
held him tightly. She moved under the covers beside him, snuggling close for
warmth and comfort, and then suddenly for no reason at all she was crying and
kissing him fiercely.

"Make love to me."

When he hesitated, she kissed him again,
her tongue finding his, and he felt himself reacting, growing hard. Her body
trembled as he pulled up her nightgown and slid off her underwear. His hand
traced the firm outline of her breasts, his fingers gently squeezing the
nipples until they were hard and he took one in his mouth. She was panting as
his hand slid over her belly and moved down to the warmth between her legs, his
fingers caressing her until she was wet.

Without a word her hand came up and
gripped his hardness and when he moved on top she moaned as she guided him
inside.

It seemed after that as if they were in a
frenzy, their bodies in the grip of some kind of urgent desperation, until
finally they both shuddered and spent themselves. And then Anna started to cry
again, a deep sobbing that racked her whole body.

"What's wrong, Anna?"

She didn't reply, her eyes full of tears,
and then she said, Do you want to know why I'm going back to RUSSIA with
YOU?"

"Only if you want to tell me."

She told him, told him everything, and
she was still crying when she finished.

Stanski held her close and whispered,
"Anna. It's all right, Anna."

He stroked her face but it was a long
time before her tears stopped. Then he blew out the lamp and held her gently,
wordless in the dark, until she finally fell asleep.

Finland.

February 24th It was just after nine the
next morning when Janne Saarinen came in the front door, a cloud of icy wind
raging into the cabin before he kicked the door shut with his boot. His face
looked blue with cold and he carried two parachutes over his shoulders.

"You slept well?"

"Well enough, considering."

The Finn grinned as he flung the
parachutes on the table. "Your chutes. I've repacked them twice just to be
certain."

"Nice to know someone cares. Thanks,
Janne."

Stanski looked out of the window and saw
Anna and Massey out walking on the wooden boardwalk together, their collars up
to keep out the biting cold. Saarinen stood behind Stanski and offered him a
cigarette.

When he lit their cigarettes, Saarinen
nodded out at the boardwalk. "She's quite a looker, your lady-friend. I'd almost
risk it just to Lay in with her myself."

Stanski examined the parachutes.
"She's a good woman. It's just a pity she has to be a part of this. Going
over is never easy and always dangerous."

"Tell me about it."

"Which reminds me. That was a nice
show you put on for yesterday's briefing The Finn blew out smoke and grinned.
"You didn't believe the bravado, did you'? Didn't think you would."