“The United States spreading the lies of capitalism to our federation, causing our satellites to run blindly toward a dream that didn’t exist.”
“Really, now, I expected more from you. That was an outcome. States choosing a different path because the one they were on was failing. Why was it failing?”
Yuri thought for a moment, then said, “Afghanistan. Getting involved in Afghanistan. It bankrupted both our moral fiber and our bank account.”
Vlad smiled, pleased. “Precisely. And I believe the United States is ripe for that very thing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will in due time. I’ve taken over as your Control. I have a special mission for you. But first, I need to meet this Boko Haram savage. I was going to introduce him to a Syrian Shabeeha leader. A man from Syrian Air Force intelligence who is working external operations. Someone who would help us attain our goals, but I’m afraid the savage has been compromised. I believe the United States is tracking him, and I need that to stop. I need you to confirm his status.”
Yuri nodded. “I can do that. My team is here right now.”
Vlad’s face grew stern. “It’s more than that. If he’s being tracked by the Americans, I need you to dissuade them from continuing. Buy me enough time to set up and execute a meeting.”
“How? Have them arrested? Get them involved with whores? That’s really not my skill, sir. Others in the FSB can do that much better than my team.”
Vlad’s face split into a macabre smile, disconcerting even to a man like Yuri. He began to understand where the nickname Impaler came from. “No, no, Yuri. I precisely want your skills.”
He pulled a folder off of the table and handed it to Yuri.
“I want you to kill them.”
6
Yuri watched the parking lot with a pair of binoculars, waiting on the Boko Haram man to leave. Praying he could follow simple directions. He put the binos down on the seat and a chilling thought entered his head.
What if he can’t drive a car?
He’d taken the folder provided by Vlad — a dossier of the Boko Haram facilitator, to include local habits and lodging — and had spent five days studying the man. It took two just to make contact without contaminating his team, then another three to determine that he was, in fact, under surveillance. It was loose surveillance, to be sure, but it was there nonetheless.
Knowing what he did about such operations, he decided that the surveillance wasn’t designed to capture the facilitator, but was intended to lead to further information. They were trying to see who he met or talked to, what actions he was taking. They were building a pattern of life.
Given that, he had to assume that every electronic device the facilitator used was already owned by the Americans, making his job much, much harder. On the plus side, since the Americans weren’t looking at the facilitator as an imminent threat, they’d back off if he hit the team. If he killed one or two members, he was sure that the Americans would focus on the death and not the mission. To that end, he’d set up a pretty good trap, but now, not having the luxury of physically meeting the Nigerian facilitator, he wasn’t sure the man could actually accomplish what he’d planned.
He looked at his team member in the passenger seat and said, “Dmitri, you think this savage can operate a vehicle? I mean, you think he would have said he couldn’t after we transmitted the plan to him?”
Picking the binos off the seat, Dmitri said, “Honestly, I don’t know. We never got a chance to vet him. But surely he couldn’t travel here for a meeting with a Syrian colonel without having some rudimentary skills.”
“I’m not so sure. Did you read the dossier? The guy is a lunatic. A fanatic. I hope Control knows what he’s doing.”
Looking through the glass, Dmitri said, “He’s just exited the building. Moving to the car. I guess he found the keys we placed in the dead drop. That’s a good sign.”
Yuri tensed, knowing the building was boxed in by American surveillance. Planning on using that to trap them. First, he’d peel them off, then he’d peel one car for real. He said, “See any correlation?”
One of the first ways to spot surveillance was to correlate activity around the target. Did someone get on a cell phone right as you left a building? Did a car sitting stagnant for four hours pull into traffic at the same time you did? Probably not a coincidence.
Little things like that didn’t prove surveillance, but were an indicator. Yuri was past the indicator stage, though. He’d already determined that the target was being chased. Now he just wanted to confirm that the chase was happening today.
Dmitri said, “Yeah. Northeast corner. Vehicle just pulled out. It’s way outside of effective control, but also out of view of the target. Someone triggered by radio. If they’re good, that’s the surveillance.”
They’re good all right.
“Let him go and keep looking. We know where the target’s headed. See if the box collapses.”
From their vantage point on the side of a hill, they could see the entire surroundings of the parking lot, to include the three different exits. Like clockwork, each exit had a vehicle break away and start to chase the target. When Yuri was sure they were all on the move, he put the car in gear.
“Now we get to see if this savage can follow instructions.”
The target entered Highway 86 heading south, toward the town of Asenovgrad, the follow now forced to trail behind. Yuri picked up the rear, happy that the target — so far — was driving as instructed.
They passed the road to the Plovdiv airport and the target pulled into a petrol station. Just as planned.
Yuri watched the follow cars spread out and slow, taking lefts and rights in order to wait until the target moved again. Yuri blasted past them all, as the whole point of the stop was to get him in the lead. Get him in a position to execute his plan.
He pointed at a small duffel bag in the footwell and said, “You sure that thing is going to work?”
Dmitri said, “Yes. It’s really simple. The hard part will be you driving close enough to use the Bluetooth connection.”
“How sure? These men are no amateurs. If it isn’t swift, they will realize they’re being hunted, and the entire mission will be in jeopardy.”
“Then why don’t we just shoot them?”
“Control wants it to look like an accident. He wants a Vympel hit.”
“Fuck Control. That bastard doesn’t even know what he’s asking for.”
This Control does. Yuri hadn’t told the team of his meeting, unsure if he was allowed to. As far as they knew, they were working for their original chain of command.
“We have our orders. These aren’t a couple of Mafia men. We can’t do anything that looks like an offensive attack. The repercussions will be profound if we can’t execute clandestinely. Will it work?”
“Yes. Believe it or not, the United States Department of Defense paid for the research, then published a paper showing how it’s done. All I did was establish the connection wirelessly. You get him on the fortress road, and I’ll cut the brakes, flood the accelerator, then jerk the wheel. It’ll work, I promise.”
Yuri nodded, passing through the town of Asenovgrad. He reached the Cheplare River and veered off the main highway, clawing up a side road that plied steeply uphill.
Climbing higher and higher, he could see the little ribbon of Highway 86 far below, the cliff itself a jagged shelf with an almost-vertical drop-off.
Perfect.
He studied every switchback, determining which would be the best for attack. Everything was focused on the tactics. The killing itself never entered his mind.