By June it was obvious that Governor Wallace was prepared to go to any lengths to prevent black students being registered at the University of Alabama. The earlier violence in Birmingham was there as a reminder to all concerned as to what could happen, but only the White House seemed to care about avoiding an even greater division of opinion in the country as a whole. For Governor Wallace every blustering confrontation was an electoral advantage.
When the President was finally shown figures that confirmed that only fifteen of the 2000 federal employees in Birmingham were black—less than 1 per cent in a city that was 37 per cent black, he had had enough. He was ready to make heads roll to get some action. Bobby Kennedy had told Aarons of meetings where top men, including the Vice-President, had been deliberately humiliated by the President.
Back in New York Aarons watched day after day the battle against Governor Wallace on TV. Orchestrated defiance at the doors of the university, theatrical harangues in front of the cameras. Finally, after every attempt at reason had failed the President federalised the National Guard and Wallace retreated and the battle was over. The two black students were registered.
Aarons was impressed that despite all the stresses and strains, he and Tania had still been invited regularly every two or three weeks to Hyannisport, and had been treated almost as part of the family. And for months there had been no reference to Moscow or Soviet affairs.
He and Tania had watched the President on TV after the crisis was over. It was a more passionate declaration on racial justice than any American President had ever made before. Aarons was moved particularly by the final sentence—“Who among us would be content to have the colour of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would be content with the counsels of patience and delay? The time has come for this Nation to fulfil its promise of freedom.”
He turned to Tania. “He’s something special, that man.”
She smiled. “I agree, but why do you think so?”
For a moment he hesitated and then he said, “He’s my idea of what Communism is all about.”
She laughed. “Only you could see it like that. But I know what you mean.” She paused. “So why haven’t there been any communists like him?”
He shook his head slowly, “I don’t know.”
“There have been communists like him. You’re one. But in Russia they don’t end up in the Kremlin, they end up in a Gulag labour camp.”
The coded letter had been posted in Paris. Moscow wanted him to go back there for a discussion on reorganisation of agents in Europe and South America. There was an address in London for his confirmation and travel schedule. He replied two days later that he would be unable to attend as he was booked into a New York hospital for an examination for a possible stomach ulcer.
The reply came back ten days later instructing him to cancel any arrangements he had made and proceed to Moscow immediately. This time it was an order not an invitation. He had been waiting for a sign as to what to do and this was it. After his warning from Lensky it would be foolish to ignore his advice.
That evening he told Tania what had happened on his last visit to Moscow and about Lensky’s warning. When he had finished she said quietly, “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’ve decided to break with Moscow. I’m going to close down my network.”
“What will they do when you tell them?”
“I shan’t tell them until it’s done.”
“Won’t you be in danger?”
“I shall tell them that I have lodged copies of a confidential report on my work from the first day to now. They will be lodged in two different hands and if there is any harassment the reports will be handed over to the FBI and the press.”
“What has made you decide to do this? Was it what happened in Moscow?”
“Not just that. Maybe that was the last straw. But I’ve been worried for a long time about what I was doing.”
“What worried you?”
“I came to realise that I was on the wrong side. Knowing the Kennedys made me realise that the contrast between them and the men in Moscow was too obvious to ignore.”
“Will they make any attempt to harm you?”
“I’m in a different position to most KGB officers. I’m not defecting to the other side.” He smiled. “And the men in Moscow will know that if they do play games that I only have to go to the FBI and offer to cooperate and they’ll give me all the protection they can.”
She shook her head. “It sounds so strange when you refer to yourself as a KGB officer. I never see you that way.”
He smiled. “I’m glad. I don’t either.”
“Maybe we should move.”
“It wouldn’t be difficult to trace where we had moved to.” He paused. “I was thinking of talking it over with Bill Malloy, what do you think?”
“Do you trust him?”
“I’ve no reason not to. I’ve helped them all I could and he knows that.”
“Why did they let you go on running the network?”
“It was part of the deal. I was trying to help both sides understand one another better.”
“Did you succeed?”
He smiled. “Lensky was my mouthpiece in Moscow. I don’t think I ever changed their minds on fundamental things. It’s hard to tell. I think I helped Truman a little and the Kennedys rather more.”
“Did you meet Truman himself?”
“Yes. It started with him.”
“Who did you meet in Moscow?”
“I met Khrushchev a few times. I think he took some notice of what I said but the pressures in the Kremlin are more vicious than in the White House.”
She shook her head. “It’s crazy. Here you are, a quiet respectable bookseller
