Defense Minister. They agreed that it would be less provocative for myself and my colleague to come in and try and find out why he was killed— and, once that was accomplished, to try and arrange a dialogue to avoid retaliation.'
'Cutouts?' Rossky sneered. 'You would have taken a direct flight with cobbled passports, gotten in quickly to make your case. You came by midget submarine because you didn't want to be seen at the airport. You're lying!'
'Which route crosses the Gulf of Bothnia?' Orlov asked.
'Route Two,' the woman replied.
'How many provinces are there in Finland?'
'Twelve.'
'This proves nothing!' said Rossky. 'She was schooled!'
'That's right,' she said. 'In Turku, where I was raised.'
'This is futile!' Rossky added. 'She's in our country illegally, and in four minutes my forces will close in on her.'
'If you can find me.'
Rossky said, 'The Kirov Theater is to your left, at the ten o'clock position. And there's a green Mercedes behind you. If you try to flee, you'll be shot.'
There was another silence. While the woman may have swept the car for transmitters, Orlov knew that she probably hadn't noticed the cellular telephone in the trunk. The line was kept open when an agent was on the job. It didn't show up on transmitter detectors, but allowed them to triangulate the position of the car at all times.
The woman said calmly, 'If anything happens to us, you'll lose an opportunity to communicate directly with your counterpart. Sir— I'm addressing the ranking officer, not the ruffian.'
'Yes?' Orlov said. In spite of himself, he liked the way she'd said that.
'I believe, sir, that you are more than just the military head at St. Petersburg. I believe that you are General Sergei Orlov, and that you're in charge of an intelligence unit here in the city. I also believe that more can be accomplished by putting you in touch with your counterpart in Washington than by killing me and returning my ashes to Defense Minister Niskanen.'
Over the past two years, Orlov and his staff had tried to find out more about their 'doppelganger' in Washington, their mirror image. An intelligence and crisis center that functioned much as theirs did. Moles at the CIA and FBI had been turned loose to discover whatever they could. But the Washington Op-Center was much newer, smaller, and tougher to penetrate. What this woman offered— because she was either very clever or very afraid— was the one thing he could not afford to let go.
'Perhaps,' said Orlov. 'How would you communicate with Washington?'
'Put me through to Major Aho at the Palace,' she said. 'I'll arrange it through him.'
Orlov considered the offer for a moment. Part of him felt uneasy about cooperating with an invader, but a larger part felt comfortable trying diplomacy rather than giving an order that was certain to result in bloodshed. 'Release the man you're holding,' he said, 'and I'll give you your chance.'
The woman said without hesitation, 'Agreed.'
'Colonel?' said Orlov.
'Yes, sir?' Rossky replied, his voice taut.
'No one moves except by direct order from me. Is that understood?'
'It is understood.'
Orlov heard rustling and the sounds of muffled conversation. He couldn't tell whether it was from the car or from the Technological Institute Metro stop, where Rossky had gone to catch his rats. In either case, he knew the Colonel wouldn't be idle, that he'd do something to save face? and to make sure that the two operatives did not get away.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Hood had learned that the paradox of crisis management was you invariably had to lop off the head of Medusa, face the heart of the situation, when you were most tired.
The last time his head had rested on a pillow, Hood was in a Los Angeles hotel room with his family. Now here he was, more than twenty-four hours later, sitting in his office with Mike Rodgers, Bob Herbert, Ann Farris, Lowell Coffey, and Liz Gordon, waiting for the first reports from a pair of Striker teams that had been sent to attack a foreign country. However they dressed up the language— which was what Ann would have to do in press releases if the teams were discovered or captured that's exactly what Striker was doing. Attacking Russia.
Hood's staff was marking time as they waited to hear from either team, and he only half listened as he considered the ramifications of what they were doing. From the out-of-sorts look on Mike Rodgers's face he was evidently doing the same.
Coffey hooked a finger under his sleeve and checked his watch.
Herbert scowled. 'Checking Mickey's hands every minute isn't going to make the time go any faster,' he said.
Liz sat up and jumped to his defense. 'It's like chicken soup, Bob. It doesn't hurt.'
Ann started to say something but stopped when the phone beeped. Hood rapped the speaker button.
'Mr. Hood,' Bugs Benet said, 'there's a call for you relayed through Major Pentti Aho's office from St. Petersburg.'
'Put it through,' Hood said. He felt like he did on hot summer mornings, when the air was still and silent and it was difficult to breathe. 'Any guesses, Bob?' he asked, hitting mute on the phone.
'Our Striker man there may have been caught and forced to call,' he said. 'I can't think of any other—'
'This is Kris,' said Peggy.
'Scratch that,' said Herbert. 'Kris is Peggy's code name if she's free. Kringle if she's stuck in the chimney, so to speak.'
Hood unmuted the phone.
'Yes, Kris,' he said.
'General Sergei Orlov would like to speak with his counterpart,' Peggy said.
'Are you with the General?' Hood asked.
'No. We've raised him by radio.'
Hood touched mute and looked at Herbert. 'Can this be on the level?'
'If it is,' Herbert said, 'Peg and George worked a Galilee-grade miracle.'
Rodgers said, 'That's what Striker's trained to do. And the lady was no slouch either.'
Hood unmuted. 'Kris, his counterpart agrees.'
A strong voice said in thickly accented English, 'And with whom have I the honor of speaking?'
'This is Paul Hood,' he answered as his eyes took in the faces of his officers. He noticed that everyone in the room was leaning forward in their chairs.
Orlov said, 'Mr. Hood, this is a pleasure.'
'General Orlov,' said Hood, 'I've followed your career for many years. We all have. You've many admirers here.'
'Thank you.'
'Tell me, do you have video capabilities?'
Orlov said, 'We do, through the Zontik-6 satellite.'
Hood glanced at Herbert. 'Can you hook me into it?'
The intelligence chief looked as though someone had turned a cold hose on him. 'He'll see the Tank, You can't be serious.'
'I am.'
With an oath, Herbert called his office on his cellular phone, swinging his wheelchair around and huddling over it so Orlov couldn't hear.
