Firefox Down

'Sir — ' It was the radio operator.

'What is it?'

'London requests immediate signals contact, sir — it's Mr. Shelley. Utmost priority.'

'I'll come at once.' He crossed the cargo compartment of the Hercules with an agitated swiftness, then seated himself in front of the console. He waited until the operator nodded, and then he began speaking. 'Peter — Aubrey here. What is the problem?'

He waited impatiently. He had sanctioned the use of high-speed transmission rather than one-time encoding because of the greater ease and speed of communication, voice to voice. Yet still the conversations seemed endless, punctuated by silences which fearful guesswork ittempted to fill. A light indicated that Shelley's voice was now being recorded at highspeed within the console. The operator dabbed at keys, and he heard Shelley's voice; breathless, as if not quite slowed to normal speed on the tape.

'Sir-it's Gant. He's escaped from the Unit on the Mira Prospekt…' Shelley seemed to pause, as if for a reply, then appeared to remind himself that he was not at the other end of a telephone line. 'We had someone watching the Unit, and they witnessed the alarms, the whole fuss… he must have got over the wall at the back, but our man couldn't find hide nor hair of him. But there was complete and utter panic among the KGB. A huge search is underway already…'

Shelley faltered rather than stopped. Immediately, Aubrey said: 'Peter-wait until I get Charles Buckholz here, please. You're certain there's an extensive search for him?' He turned and raised his voice. ' Waterford, get Buckholz — at once, please.'

Waterford disappeared immediately through one of the para-troop doors in the side of the fuselage. Buckholz was supervising the loading of the two Lynx helicopters, parked near the Hercules on the ramp of Kirkenes airfield. Aubrey's fingers drummed on the side of the console. It sounded as hollow as an empty drum.

Shelley's voice came back soon after the red light flicked on once more.

'In answer to your question, sir, the British and American embassies are bottled up — no explanation, no official contact, but the cars are outside in force. They're waiting for the lines to go dead any minute now. Our low- grade people still on the streets are ringing in with reports of high-level KGB activity — saturation cover, was the term David Edgecliffe used. Shall I hang on now, sir?'

Aubrey turned on the swivel chair. Buckholz, his face half-hidden by the fur trimming of a white parka hood, clambered through the paratroop door, Waterford behind him. He hurried to Aubrey's side.

'He's got out — !' Aubrey blurted. 'Damn it, but he's got out of that unit — they're looking for him all over Moscow!' Buckholz grinned and slapped Aubrey's shoulder heavily. But, even before he could speak, Aubrey clicked his fingers — a dull sound in his heavy gloves — and said excitedly, 'Saturation cover, the Moscow Head of Station reports — you realise what that means, Charles? Do you realise! My God!'

'What?'

'They don't know — they didn't break him — !' He gripped the sleeve of Buckholz's parka, tugging at the material. 'If they knew, they wouldn't have every available man on the streets of Moscow looking for him — they need him!'

'That's just a guess… they don't want us to get him back — '

'Squadron Leader!' Aubrey called to the pilot of the Hercules. 'Contact Eastoe — I want an up-to-the-minute report on border activity.' The pilot nodded and began moving forward towards the flight deck. 'I don't believe he's told them, Charles — I don't believe they know.'

'It's only a matter of time, Kenneth — he can't survive on the streets for long. Can we get someone to him?'

Aubrey turned to the console. The operator nodded. 'Peter, what are the chances of finding him?'

He waited, listening to Buckholz's heavy breathing, his eyes willing the red light to wink off.

Then Shelley was speaking once more. 'Edgecliffe's signal was very clear, sir — and I checked at once. Every known contact, every member of the embassy staff outside the building, is already under surveillance. Edgecliffe also reminded me,' Shelley's voice hesitated, and then added in a more mumbled tone: 'We-used up the best people two days ago — especially Pavel. He's still very angry about losing Pavel — '

'To the devil with Edgecliffe's anger!' The operator flicked at the keyboard to try to overtake Aubrey's unexpected, rushed reply. 'Is there no one? Do they have any idea where he might be?' As his questions were transmitted, he turned to Buckholz. 'You realise that the time-limit is expanding, Charles? Gant has given us a stay of execution.' The pilot appeared from the flight deck, shutting the door behind him. 'Any activity?' Aubrey asked.

'No change in the situation.'

'See, Charles-they don't know!'

'Where does that leave us? They could pick him up any time. Maybe we ought to pray he gets run over by a bus!'

Shelley's voice anticipated Aubrey's reply. 'No information, sir. Moscow Station personnel simply can't move — it's the same for the Americans. We have a few low-grade watchers who Edgecliffe has been using, but no one he could use to give help, even if he knew where to look. He's got out, but that seems to be as far as anyone can go, sir. We can't do anything for him.'

Aubrey stood up, puriching his right hand into the palm of his left; a dull concussion. He looked almost wildly around the crowded, murmurously noisy interior of the Hercules. Breath smoked. Runway and perimeter lights gleamed beyond the lowered cargo ramp. It was as if Aubrey expected to find a volunteer from among the marines and RAF personnel around him. His eyes rested on Buckholz.

'We must do something, Charles — something to try to keep him out of their hands! Now we have this slim chance — now we might be given all the time we need… he mustn't go back into the Unit!'

'I agree — so? What in hell do you want me to think?'

Aubrey strutted a few intense, excited steps from Buckholz, then returned to the console. 'Peter — do we have anybody… anybody we can use?'

He waited in silence, his brow creased, his face intent, until Shelley replied.

'Not a native Russian who's capable of finding him, making contact, shielding him, and none of our officials could get near him. We might be able to locate him, with a great deal of luck, but there's no one we could trust to take care of him — in whichever way you wish — ' Shelley added in a softer, almost apologetic voice.

Aubrey wrinkled his nose in disgust. 'I'm not having him killed!' he snapped, turning to Buckholz so that he understood his decision.

'Even if you find him, you mean?' Buckholz observed with heavy irony. 'Let's face facts, Kenneth. You're hamstrung — our two services are hamstrung in Moscow. We don't know where he is, where he might go… and we couldn't reach him to help him if we did!'

Aubrey stretched out his hands imploringly, but his face was flushed with anger. 'Then give me someone who can help him! Charles, the CIA must have someone — a Russian with the resources, the nerves and the intelligence to help Gant? Give me one of your Category-A Sources, Charles!'

'I can't authorise that, Kenneth.'

'To save Gant-to save all this, perhaps…?' His arms encompassed the entire contents of the cargo compartment; men, equipment, purpose. 'Give me one of your Sources. Someone with freedom of movement. Someone who can travel!'

Buckholz was silent for some time. Aubrey allowed him to pace the cargo compartment, his face thoughtful. His mittened hands rubbed at his cheeks or alternately held his chin. Aubrey instructed Shelley to remain in full contact, and to wait, then he spent the endless minutes of Buckholz's silence furiously reviewing his own extensive knowledge of the CIA's Moscow operations.

They were avid for information, and lavish in their corruption and persuasion of agents. They had dozens of Russians in key positions who supplied them with high-grade information. They were designated Category-A Sources. Any one of them might be young enough, resourceful enough to locate and assist Gant. Get him out of Moscow…?

But, would Charles agree? Would he endanger one of the CIA's key Sources for the sake of possibly finding, possibly assisting Gant?

Eventually, Buckholz stood in front of him once more. He nodded, slightly and only once.