There had been a flicker of hope in her eyes, Revell had seen it come and then go. One of the children was hanging on to her coat and whining about some trivia, an argument with another child. With a word or two she resolved it.
“I’m Linda, what’s your name.”
“James, James Revell.”
“Special Forces?”
“Yes, good guess.” Revell was starting to admire her sharp mind as much as her looks.
“My husband is…was Special Forces. A Ranger. He didn’t make it out of Hamburg.”
Revell wondered if he should tell her he had been there as well, almost did, then decided against it. “But you’re British.”
“That hardly constitutes a mixed race marriage, does it.” She couldn’t prevent a flicker of a smile. “Is there anything else I can do?”
“No, unless you know a way I can get back to my APC with these two.”
For the first time Linda looked at Thorne and Andrea. It was on the girl her eyes rested. “Which direction is your transport.”
This was the dangerous time. The Russians would have given a small reward for the capture of spies, as they would doubtless label the three of them, but for a tip off on their vehicle, for that they would have been more generous and when you have nothing, anything is generous.
Revell pointed up the slight slope behind them to the untidy copse at the top of the hill, where two hedges made a sharp angle. “That way, just beyond the rise.”
“You are fortunate. To the other side of the trees I have been told the Russians have excavated a pit. We have seen them taking bodies that way.”
“Any suggestions how we get there?” Thorne kept a nervous lookout but so far had seen no one taking any interest in them. The only Russians in sight were outside the wire, strolling in pairs and mostly deep in conversation or watching each others backs as they took turns to roll a joint.
“First you need a body. Then you take it to the gate.”
“I know where I can get one, if we’re quick.”
Revell felt awkward, he would have taken the woman’s hand but she leant forward on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek.
“Good luck. I hope I see you again.”
It was one of those ambiguous statements and he would have loved to have the courage to ask in what way she meant that, but he didn’t, especially not with Andrea standing close by.
Lieutenant General Gregori gently tapped the Havana cigar on the edge of the ashtray and watched with satisfaction as the light cylinder of ash collapsed into a thin even layer across the coloured glass.” The attack on Nurnberg is going as planned?”
Major Andropov held his breath as the nauseous whiff of the strong tobacco flowed past him. “Yes Comrade General Gregori. It is failing.”
“Good. Zucharnin has no hint of an idea that I influenced the decision by the Army Command to reduce his scales of armour and air support and replace them with the thirty-two punishment battalions who have been sitting around, eating their heads off?”
“No Comrade General, he knows nothing. His ignorance ensures his attempts to take the city continue with a degree of desperation. Leading elements of his troops have reached the river but the bridges have been blown and he has not the armoured engineer assault equipment to replace them. He has taken barely a third of the city.”
“That’s very good. “Any thing else you know that might add to my pleasure?”
“I understand the NATO rearguard had been successful in blocking some autobahns, slowing his ammunition convoys. I understand that difficulty may be overcome now to some degree but his stocks must be low and will take a while to build up again.”
“Oh excellent, so even the Gods are on my side. I never planned on that. Yes, excellent. And have you compiled that report on him and the nature of his covering for his stepson, Captain Pritkov whose incompetence he has repeatedly condoned and concealed.”
“The report is here.” Major Andropov slid a bulky folder on to the desktop. Many loose leaf sheets inside it made it untidy and he ineffectually tried to pat it straight, then stopped when he realised his fussing was irritating the General. After removing his hand from it he could not resist giving it a little extra push forward for emphasise.
Ah, how Andropov wished he had such a report on General Gregori. His KGB controller had made it very clear that his further promotion depended on his submitting a dossier on his superior. Damn, the man had to have a weakness. A liking for expensive cigars hardly qualified as evidence. He had also furnished his office and quarters with the last word in luxury, but it was all looted from the West Germans, so enjoying such trappings was hardly something he could make much of in his reports. Indeed he was not above indulging in such luxuries himself.There had to be something more substantial.
General Grigori was a realist, a hard headed practical man. He knew that the report on Zucharnin protecting his stepson was of no real consequence. Everyone in the army was doing favours for someone else, but any such facts coming to light at a critical time, like just after an assault has failed could have a measure of importance quite unexpected when added to everything else.
If things went wrong, mistakes were made, and there was a trial, such a document could be made to serve many purposes. He knew General Zucharin to be a spiteful man. He was also devious and ruthless. And his fate, his future, could possible be determined by a few lines that told how he covered for a worthless relative who, among other errors, sent a few trucks the wrong way and in to a enemy ambush.
“And Captain Pritkov himself, what of him. Is he of any use, beyond presently supplying snippets of tittle-tattle about his step-father?”
“To employ a saying the British have, he is a waste of space General. Incompetent, deceitful, untrustworthy.”
General Grigori ignored a second file that was edged towards him. “So, there will come a time, quite soon, when General Zucharnin will be eliminated. But the Captain, he has been a useful tool. Could he be again?”
“The report on the General could not have been compiled without the information he provided” Major Andropov measured and delivered his words carefully. He did not want to appear to gloat. He tried to project an air of efficiency with just a touch of subservience. A balance that made him appear valuable, prepared to carry out his orders to the letter. No matter what they were.
“So he adds traitor to his other qualities. He is quite prepared to betray his family… for what?”
Andropov coughed behind his hand. “There was a certain clerk in my office he wanted to meet.”
“And was he suitably rewarded, did he get his leg over her?”
“Him.”
“It gets better. I have the whole family on a plate. That is in his file as well?” Grigori played with a paper knife, spinning it on the top of the inlaid rosewood desk. When after several rotations it came to rest with its point facing Major Andropov, he let it lie. “Tell me, it is some time since I saw the Mother. You visited Moscow recently. Has she kept her looks, has she still that superb figure, and does she flirt just as much?”
“Yes Comrade Lieutenant General, very much so. She is much admired, a superb woman and much in demand for the Moscow dinner party circuit.” Major Andropov felt a gentle breeze of satisfaction waft through his body. The hint was the lightest but he had found what he was looking for, a weakness. He knew Lieutenant Gregori’s ambition would eventually be his undoing but that might be far in the future, too far to do him any good. but this gave him a definite lead. He knew Gregori was inordinately ambitious but he hadn’t realised it ran to Zucharnins wife as well as his position. Later he would add some pages to the file he had on his General.