Comrade Charlie

corresponding number, in the case of English the letter A represented by the figure one and running consecutively through to Z, which is twenty-six. There are, however, mathematical variations which can be introduced to make unravelling the cipher difficult – and hopefully impossible – for the codebreakers. If the sender and recipient agree in advance to use a variable of two, for instance, then the transliteration can range over five choices of letter: the intended letter and two either side. It can be further complicated by changing the variable from day to day, from odd to even numbers. And compounded by mixing two languages, English with Russian for example: in Cyrillic Russian there is no easy equivalent for H or J but there are two possible inflections for the letter K.

Having purposely provided the British with what he wanted them to recognize as a number-for-letter code Berenkov had the KGB Technical Division introduce random variations established in advance by a translation key sent to the London embassy in the diplomatic bag.

The intention remained always for the interceptors eventually to be able to read the messages, whatever the variation, but for them to believe the more difficult changes indicated an increasing importance of the contents.

Which was precisely what happened.

The transmission from Moscow on the day Krogh arrived in London was a mixture of English and Russian and had a variable range rising from one to four. It was to take the codebreakers a week to comprehend it and when he received it Richard Harkness ranked it as the most important interception and translation so far made.

It said: REACTIVATE PAYMASTER BY ONE THOUSAND.

He hurried Hubert Witherspoon to the ninth floor.

29

Emil Krogh felt better. Not well and certainly not relaxed but there was no longer the impression that the ground was yielding beneath his feet when he walked, and he could think clearly and logically. The sleep had a lot to do with it, he guessed. And he had slept, soundly and dreamlessly – a combination, he supposed, of Petrin’s tranquillizers and utter exhaustion. He’d awoken ravenously hungry and eaten a large breakfast without any aftermath of nausea, and minutes after he settled into his train compartment at Waterloo he was aware of the Russian slowly passing along the platform outside. The man appeared to be by himself, although Krogh knew that not to be the case, and did not look in to where he was sitting. Krogh wished he hadn’t had the relief at knowing of Petrin’s presence, because he recognized it as a reaction of weakness to have about a man who had inveigled him and was treating him as Petrin was. He just couldn’t help it.

The train was on schedule but Krogh could not see Petrin when he got off at Southampton, not even during the three or four minutes he had to wait in the taxi queue. There was a flicker of alarm, which the American regretted as much as the earlier sensation of relief, but he forced himself on. At the hydrofoil terminal he saw Petrin get from a taxi, still alone, two vehicles behind him. Krogh went to the front on the hydrofoil and Petrin to the rear, so they were separated by the central driving platform and control cockpit, and when they disembarked at Cowes again there was no sign of the Russian.

There was a chauffeur-driven limousine waiting for him as promised on the taxi-packed jetty and when Krogh’s approach to it became obvious a haphazardly dressed man with fly-away white hair came forward and introduced himself as Robert Springley. They shook hands and parroted how pleased they were to meet each other and on the way to the chain ferry Springley said that with the imposed traffic detour it was as quick to walk but they’d thought a car was more convenient. Throughout the journey to the factory the project chief maintained the conversation, hoping Krogh was not too jetlagged and was this his first time in England and how was he enjoying it. Krogh only had to respond minimally to keep up his side of the exchange.

At the factory gate, with Springley apologizing in advance, they had to get out of the car to go through the security formalities of signing Krogh in and getting him a temporary authority badge, and for the first time Krogh felt the briefest dip of apprehension. It was here, for the first time, that Springley referred to the Star Wars project. Still apologizing, Springley said they had tightened security since being awarded the contract and Krogh said the precaution was essential, surprised how level his voice was as he mouthed the hypocrisy.

‘Everyone’s waiting in the boardroom,’ announced Springley.

‘Everyone?’

Springley was walking slightly ahead of him so the man was unaware of Krogh’s frown. The project chief said: ‘The chairman, managing director. Most of the other directors and the senior people in the project team.’

Krogh supposed he should have anticipated a social situation but stupidly – preoccupied, he excused himself – he hadn’t. Confronting the thought for the first time Krogh conceded he hadn’t known what to expect, at all, apart from some half-formed idea of being with Springley and getting to the drawings. There was nothing he could do but go along with whatever they had laid on. Krogh hoped it wouldn’t last long. Although he hadn’t prepared himself with expectations there was one positive intention: Krogh wanted to get it over with, in the same urgency with which he’d wanted to finish what the Russians had forced him to do with the material from his own plant. He said: ‘We will get around to seeing the actual work, won’t we?’

‘Sure,’ said Springley, vaguely.

The boardroom was on the top floor of the main, three-storey building, a pleasantly large room glassed on two sides for a panoramic view of the river and the yacht moorings at its mouth. Inside the room the elongated conference table had been moved to one side and some chairs removed, to enable more standing room, and Krogh guessed the two smaller tables, one for the canapes, another for an array of drinks, were an addition to the usual furniture. Krogh later put the number at about eight but his first impression on entering the room was that a crowed of people awaited him. He succeeded in getting the chairman’s name as John Bishop and that of the managing director as James Spear or Dear but after that the introductions were too quick and the identities blurred. Krogh accepted a scotch and soda, needing it, but declined the frequently offered snacks because there was a faint suggestion of sickness. The conversation began almost as aimlessly general as it had been with the project leader on the way from the hydrofoil terminal, but then a positive direction did start to emerge, initiated by the chairman. Bishop talked of his company’s awareness of the importance of the shared contract and the managing director, whose name turned out to be Spear, picked up the theme and smiled anxiously and said they hoped it became not only entirely satisfactory but the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial association. And Krogh realized that Petrin’s surmise the previous day, that the British firm saw him as an essential conduit for further American defence contracts, was correct.

Krogh seized upon it, deciding the cocktail party was not the waste of time he’d initially considered it to be but a useful opportunity to make easier what he was being blackmailed into doing. Carefully ensuring that Springley was close enough at hand to hear the discussion, Krogh assured those grouped around him that he and his company were equally conscious of its importance. He disclosed, truthfully, that it was the most substantial order they had ever received from the Pentagon. And insisted it was because they were so determined that everything would be entirely satisfactory and create the confidence sufficient for new contracts in the future that he had come all the way from California, for this consultation.

Bishop responded precisely as Krogh wanted, turning to Springley when he said: ‘I couldn’t agree more; liaison is essential.’

‘I want to guarantee the complete compatibility of what we’re manufacturing over there and the work you’re doing here,’ said Krogh. ‘I know we’ve individually got sets of master drawings which are supposed to connect, one to the other, and that in theory they should marry together but I’ve known split defence undertakings before where that hasn’t happened…’ He smiled, shaking his head in invitation to a common experience. ‘… And you know what happens every time? The mistake is never the fault of the Pentagon designers or draughtsmen: always the buck is passed to the contractors’ interpretation and the next contract goes to somebody else.’

The chairman smiled, taking Krogh’s cue. ‘Bureaucracy! It’s the same the world over.’

‘I’m glad you agree my visit is necessary,’ said Krogh.

‘I think it’s imperative,’ insisted Bishop. Again the man spoke half looking at Springley.

Krogh decided, satisfied, that it was practically an order to the project chief to share and disclose everything