That left some very messy questions, and even Andre had not been able to get full support from the Politburo. Instead, they been asking who had planned the operation and if there was any truth to the rumors that Russia had conspired with Islamic terrorists to launch attacks. Putin felt his power threatened and needed a scapegoat; that was why he had called this meeting.
As he got up from his desk and walked down the hallway toward the main conference room, several security personnel he had alerted followed him into the room. These included three extra FSB agents who had been briefed on what was about to happen.
Several key members of the government were present in the enormous conference room, including Andre Maysak and Yuri Simplov. They all sat around a long table with a spot open in the middle where Putin always sat. Two of the more influential ministers sat immediately to his left and right. Andre was among them. Yuri Simplov always stood behind the representatives for the intelligence community. He liked to keep a low profile, and Putin didn’t want any attention drawn to him at meetings like this.
Most of the people in the room wore business suits, although there were several in military uniforms. The fact that the majority of the people in the room were over forty indicated that this was a senior group, which carried real power in Russia.
As with many of the things Putin did, there was a certain dramatic and theatrical aspect to this gathering. He made sure there were at least two people in the room who would blab everything that happened to the right media people. It was typically well planned and well thought out.
The room was more crowded than he had anticipated, with several secretary-level administrators, as well as a number of simple politicians. It was a little raucous and loud at first until Putin gained control by speaking up from his seat near the giant window that looked out over the gardens.
Once he had everyone’s attention, Putin started slowly. “As you know, we were pushed into a corner and sent a small military force into Estonia in an effort to save a number of ethnic Russians who had come under increasing threat from certain elements inside Estonia. Some of their own politicians asked for the action.
“Our forces moved through the city of Narva and further south with no bloodshed. It was not until a sneak attack by NATO military units that there were any casualties from the operation. From the beginning that was the goal of the operation. A simple, bloodless rescue and support of certain elements of the Estonian government which were being repressed.”
Putin took a natural pause and looked around the room to see if there was any dissent or questions from the assembled group. He noticed the Russian general prosecutor taking notes as he’d hoped she would.
“In an effort to avoid serious casualties on either side, our military has held its position in a line along the middle of Estonia. As we anticipated, the Estonian people rallied to us, and those in the northern part of the country have asked us to stay for security reasons. We currently have a team in The Hague negotiating with NATO about how Estonia will be administered. We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect the people of Estonia and the ethnic Russians living inside the country.”
Putin stopped and gave everyone a chance to absorb this information, because the real meaning of the meeting was about to become clear. This entire meeting and the subsequent media coverage of it was designed for one real purpose. Putin wanted to make sure no blame was assigned to him if some aspects of the operation in Estonia were discovered. He had a short statement prepared, which would cover these main points and also explain why he was going to take the actions he had set in motion.
“It has come to my attention that several aspects of this limited rescue operation were subverted by people in our intelligence community. They utilized intelligence sources and conducted operations not authorized by me or my administration. While the rumors about these operations are greatly overblown, I cannot tolerate any actions that violate civilized behavior.”
Putin knew he had to act quickly now because he saw Yuri Simplov shift in his seat. The deputy director of the SVR had to know what was coming and who was about to be blamed.
Putin said, “That is why I am dismayed to announce the arrest of several members of the SVR.” He nodded his head in the prearranged signal as the three FSB agents moved in behind Simplov and secured him just as he was leaping to his feet.
There was the expected commotion as Simplov struggled momentarily until one of the FSB agents whispered in his ear.
Putin realized the man had just told Simplov that they were holding his wife and three children in custody and all four would be charged with treason, even his nine-year-old daughter, if he didn’t comply immediately.
Putin was confident this threat would keep his former friend quiet until the quick investigation led to his execution.
The crowd watched silently as Simplov was led away by the FSB. There were no brutal tactics, nothing that would indicate the man’s life was essentially over. This could not have gone better from Putin’s perspective. Tomorrow all anyone would talk about was how Putin had to arrest his longtime friend, and people would believe something was actually being done about the rumors that Russia had collaborated with Muslims in the string of terror attacks that had occurred across the globe recently.
Only Putin and Andre Maysak knew the truth. Andre had counseled Putin that now that their alliance with the Muslims was finished, they could expect their own wave of terror attacks.
Russia had survived attacks from extremists in the past, and it would do so in the future. For now, Putin was satisfied he was secure in power and had taken the first step toward regaining control of Eastern Europe.
He was not unhappy with the way the operation was proceeding, but he realized there was much more to do to secure his legacy.
Derek Walsh sat on the edge of a small pier near South Ferry. He looked out over the East River and took a deep breath of the cooling autumn air. It had been two weeks since he’d emerged from a cloud of suspicion. He had seen so much and experienced such trauma during the time he was hunted by the FBI and the Russians that the last two weeks had seemed like a dream.
Thomas Brothers Financial was closed, but they had acknowledged he was a victim in the fraud that had funded terrorism. After all the effort the news media had put into the story, now they only focused on the conflict in Estonia, and he had barely been mentioned on TV again.
The FBI, mainly through Tonya Stratford, had been surprisingly forthcoming and kept him updated on the investigation that was still ongoing. They had linked a number of incidents together, including the bombing of a bank in Switzerland and some of the lone wolf attacks across the U.S. Some of the attacks were simply copycats, but others had been coordinated. There was a general belief that it was a smoke screen to allow the Russian military to invade Estonia.
He had watched the news more in the last two weeks than he had in the years he had been out of the Marine Corps. Once the balloon went up and he knew he had friends on the front line, he was desperate to hear anything he could about the fighting in Estonia. He’d also noticed, at least here in the United States, that the general public had refocused its attention and this nonsense of U.S. citizens fighting for ISIS was finally being taken seriously.
Walsh had spent a week in Philadelphia with his mom and younger sister and felt like his priorities were straight for the first time since he left the marines. He would never go back to Wall Street.