The Charm School (49 page)

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Authors: NELSON DEMILLE

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BOOK: The Charm School
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Surikov said, “After Lefortovo, I am more resolved than ever to leave here.”
“I know how you feel.”
“Can you get me out?”
Hollis had no authorization to say yes, but the time had come to bring this whole thing to a head. “I can if you have the fare.”
“Half now, half in the West.”
“I understand.”
“Is it dangerous? The getting out, I mean.”
“Of course.”
“It’s not for me that I’m worried.”
Hollis already knew that. “Is she your granddaughter?”
Surikov’s head snapped around, and he opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Hollis continued matter-of-factly, “It’s dangerous, but it doesn’t require much from you except nerve. Does she have nerve?”
Surikov drew on his cigarette. “She has faith.” He glanced at Hollis but did not hold eye contact. “You saw us?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know why I want to leave.”
“I suppose.”
Surikov stared stupidly at the wrapped carp in his hands and spoke, but not to Hollis. “I curse the day I found God. My life has been a misery ever since.”
Hollis didn’t know quite how to respond to that statement, but he understood it.
Surikov said, “Yes, my granddaughter. Natasha. My only daughter’s only daughter. The light of my life, Hollis.”
“She’s a beautiful girl. Does she speak English?”
“Yes.”
“She’ll do well. She’ll marry a rich American or Englishman and live happily ever after. Do you believe that?”
“I would like to. Unfortunately, she wants to become a nun.”
“Does she? Well, she’ll do what she wants, General. That’s what it’s all about over there.”
“Is it? And me?”
“We’ll find something for you to do.”
“Yes.” Surikov wandered away, down the line of tombstones. The sky was more overcast now, and a few drops of rain fell, splattering the headstones and the damp leaves. A wind came up, and the rowan and birch trees swayed.
Hollis walked past Surikov, then stopped to look at the next tombstone. “Borodino, General.”
Surikov spoke. “Some kilometers north of Borodino was once located a Red Air Force ground school. Classroom instruction on American fighter tactics, capabilities, and weaponry.” Surikov paused for effect, then said, “The instructors were Americans.” He looked briefly at Hollis. “This is an incredible story, and you must listen closely.”
Hollis drew a long breath. The one prayer he’d allowed himself in church was that Surikov would confirm what he and Alevy had discussed. Hollis said abruptly, “That’s the half secret? I know all about that.”
Surikov turned his head toward Hollis. “What . . . ?”
“You can’t get to London on that fare. I’m sorry.” Hollis walked away. He kept walking, like a man walking away from a bad deal or an unfaithful lover, hoping that the deal or the lover would get better in the next ten steps.
Surikov caught up with him. “You can’t . . . but how do you . . . ?”
“I was out to Borodino. That’s why I’m being kicked out. I know there are Americans out there. I’m sorry. I thought you knew more—”
“I do!”
Hollis stopped and turned toward Surikov, who still held the carp in his hand. “What were you going to give me in London? What is the other half of the secret?”
Surikov licked his lips. “The school . . . you know they don’t train pilots there any longer . . .”
“Yes. I know they train KGB men to be Americans. How do
you
know that?”
“I . . . I supply the students. They’re not actually KGB. The KGB doesn’t trust its own recruiting methods. They get very odd personalities who want to be KGB, and they know that. They want honest Russian patriots. Men who had volunteered to be Air Force pilots. Men, I suppose, who would have something in common with their American instructors.”
Hollis nodded. “Like when it was a training school for pilots.”
“That’s my understanding. From what I’ve heard, when it was a Red Air Force training school, our pilots seemed more interested in asking the Americans about America than in learning their fighter tactics. The political commissar was very angry and worried about this situation and reported several pilots to the KGB. It was then that the KGB had their brilliant idea. They eventually took over the school. There was no formal announcement to the American prisoners, but gradually the nature of the school changed from fighter tactics to what it is now. A spy school. This is what I heard.”
“And how are you involved with this school now, General?”
“I’m not directly involved, but Air Force Personnel has to handle the paperwork on the candidates for this school, since they are all members of the Red Air Force. So I—” Surikov stopped. “There’s more. Much more. Is it worth it to you, Colonel, to get me out of here?”
“Perhaps. But you know, General, we don’t need any more information on this school. We know where it is, and we have enough information already to precipitate an international crisis.” He looked at Surikov. “You know what I need.”
Surikov didn’t reply.
“The
names,
” Hollis said. “The names of Soviet agents already in America. I assume you have some sort of list, or you wouldn’t still be trying to make a deal. The
names. That
is your ticket west, General.”
“But . . . if I got that for you . . . how do I know you wouldn’t abandon me and my granddaughter? I have nothing to offer for my passage if I gave you the list of names here.”
“You simply must trust me.”
“I can’t.”
“You
must.
Listen to me, General. You are, as we say in English, a babe in the woods. You understand? Once you took that first step you were as good as dead. And so is Natasha. I could expose you here, or shoot you in London. I can also give you back your life. I could be lying, but you don’t know if I am or not. You simply have no choice but to do what I say, to understand that the game is being played on my terms now.”
General Surikov’s body seemed to sag. Beneath the erect military man was a tired old grandfather trying to do one last thing right and cursing himself for it. Surikov said, “We don’t understand faith and trust here. We’re not taught those things as children. Here we trust no one but family. We have faith in nothing.”
Hollis said, “Do you understand that if you gave me that list, and I let something happen to you, I could not live with myself ? Do you understand that concept? Conscience. Did you listen to the priest, or was your mind somewhere else?”
“I heard him,” Surikov snapped. “It’s all new to me. Less than two years. Do you expect me to become a saint in two years? Do you think I believe you are a saint because you go to church and use saintly words?”
Hollis smiled. “I’m no saint, my friend.” Hollis didn’t think the words
trest, vera,
and
sovest
—“trust,” “faith,” and “conscience”—were particularly saintly words, but he supposed if one rarely heard them, they could be jarring or moving or both.
“I need time to think this over. I’ll meet your replacement next Sunday—”
“No. There is nothing to think about. It would be best if you made your decision now and gave me your word on it. Then I will give you my word, and I will see to it that you get out of here. I’ll meet you in the West if you wish.”
General Surikov seemed to rediscover his backbone and stood straight. “All right. You’re a lot more ruthless than I thought, Colonel. But perhaps you do have a conscience. Here is what you’re getting: a microfilm of the personnel records of every man who’s gone to the American Citizenship School—that’s what the KGB calls it. On the microfilm you will find photographs of the men, their Russian names, their fingerprints, places of birth, birthdays, blood types, identifying scars, dental records, and so forth. A complete personnel file. You will not find their new American names or addresses, and I cannot even tell you how many of them actually made it to America. Only the KGB has that information. So your people over there—the FBI—will have to do a great deal of work. That’s all I can give you.”
Hollis nodded. It was a start. “How many?”
“A little over three thousand.”
“Three thousand . . . ? All on microfilm?”
“Yes. These men, incidentally, are all officially dead. Killed in training accidents. The Red Air Force gave them military funerals. Closed coffins. We buried a lot of sand. We also paid out a lot of death benefits. The KGB finds it convenient to use our logistics, our money, our pilot candidates, and the cover of military deaths for so large an operation.”
Hollis nodded to himself. Three thousand military training deaths in the States would cause something of a national scandal. Here, not even one such death ever made the newspapers. The three thousand families of the supposed deceaseds only knew of their own loss. Amazing, Hollis thought. Only a totalitarian society could mount an operation such as that. The world’s largest Trojan horse, the biggest fifth column in history, or whatever Washington would call it. Hollis asked, “Where is the microfilm?”
“I’ll tell you where you can find it when I get to London. That was the deal. Half now, half in London.”
“I told you, I already have the first half. You’ll give me the microfilm now.”
“Why now?”
“Because you may be arrested anytime between now and the time we try to get you out of here. Because I want it now. That’s why.”
Surikov stared off into space, and Hollis could see he was angry, but that didn’t matter.
Surikov nodded. “All right. My life and my granddaughter’s life are in your hands. I’ll bring the microfilm to my next meeting, or I’ll leave it in one of our dead drops, whatever you prefer.”
Hollis considered a moment. A dead drop was preferred, but his instincts told him that this was a case for hand-to-hand transfer. “Tomorrow at nine
A
.
M
. you will go to the antique store in the Arbat. A man will ask you where he can find czarist coins. He speaks fluent Russian. Have the microfilm with you.”
Surikov lit another cigarette. “And that’s the last I’ll hear from the Americans.”
“If you believe that, then you don’t want to live in the West, General. You might as well stay here.”
“Well, we will see if my cynicism is well-founded. And this man will tell me how I’m going West?”
“Yes.”
“I have a better idea. You tell me now. I want to know. Before I bring the microfilm.”
Hollis thought General Surikov needed a victory, but he remembered Alevy’s words of caution.
Then maybe what he wants is to find out how we get people out of here.
But there was no time for caution. Hollis said, “All right. I’ll tell you our secret. Can you get to Leningrad on a weekend?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll go to Leningrad this Saturday. The man in the Arbat antique store will tell you how to meet someone there who will give you more details. But it’s basically simple. You go to one of the Kirov Island recreational parks carrying fishing equipment. You and Natasha rent a boat and take it to the mouth of the Neva, but not so far as to attract the attention of patrol boats. You will fish in the marked channel. Whenever you see a freighter flying the flag of a NATO country coming in or going out, you will give a signal that you will be advised of by the man in Leningrad. One of these freighters will take you and Natasha aboard, and someone on board will take charge of you. When the authorities find your boat capsized, it will appear you’ve both drowned. If the rendezvous fails on Saturday, you’ll do the same thing Sunday.”
“And if it fails Sunday?”
“Then the next weekend.”
“There’s not much boating weather left up that way, Colonel.”
“General, if you are being honest with us, you will not be abandoned. There are other ways. But with luck . . . and God’s help . . . by this time next week, you will be in a Western port city.”
“This thing will need all of God’s help. Natasha thinks she is blessed by God. We’ll see.”
“I’ll see you in London.”
“And you will buy me a drink.”
“I’ll buy you the whole fucking bar, General.”
Surikov tried to smile. “Just a drink will do.” He handed Hollis the carp. “You poach them in sour cream.”
Hollis didn’t think so. He said, “I shake your hand.”
“And I yours.” Surikov added, “Safe journey west. I will see you in London.” He turned and walked back into the cemetery.
Hollis looked at the wrapped carp, slipped it into his pocket with the candle and the pistol, and headed toward the gate church. About ten yards from the church, someone tapped him on the shoulder and asked in Russian, “What’s in that package?”
Hollis gripped the 9mm automatic, pointed it through his coat pocket, and spun around.

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