“I’ve been trying to tell you; it’s not an official KGB operation. So far as I know, only a handful of people are involved, but they’re powerful.” Zara explained her choice of a low-security KGB research lab. “And, Faith, you’ll appreciate this. That’s where they housed Lenin’s corpse during the war to protect him from German bombing.”
“How thoughtful of you,” Faith said.
“I didn’t take the C-4 when I saw it in your shoes and I returned everything you needed to break out and even started a fire as a diversion.”
“I’m sure we set some mad scientist’s research back decades.” Faith turned to Summer. “What do you think?”
He lowered the weapon.
Svetlana grasped Summer’s elbow. “Now that this is settled, I haven’t finished with your arm.” She and Reagan led him back into the kitchen, but Faith and Zara stayed behind.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Zara stepped toward Faith, but she moved away.
“So am I.”
“I couldn’t confirm it, but I believe your father is alive.”
“I know.” Faith turned and walked into the kitchen.
“Sveta, our captor here has hardly fed us. Do you have anything we could eat?” Faith said as she opened the refrigerator.
“I did what I could.” Zara leaned against the sink, watching Svetlana push the needle through Summer’s skin.
“All done.” Svetlana knotted it and clipped the thread. “There’s some cheese and sausage in the icebox for sandwiches, or I could make you some pork cutlets.”
“Let’s go with the sandwiches,” Summer said. “I agree with the major here that we need to get a move on.”
“It’s Lieutenant Colonel.”
“Kinda young for that, aren’t you, comrade?”
“I was promoted to the rank years ago for my work in California.” Zara walked to the table. She picked up one of the antique cups, looked at it, then set it down.
“Hit a ceiling, huh?”
“You could say that,” Zara said as she pulled out a chair.
“I know exactly how you feel. So what’s your plan?”
“The future of my country is at stake. The problem is, I’ve been abroad and out of the loop, so I don’t know who to trust. Help me stop the coup.”
Faith rummaged through the refrigerator. “You’re kidding, right?”
“That’s another reason why I brought Commander Summer to Moscow. As a US Navy officer, I knew he wouldn’t want to see the world return to the days of the old Cold War, and I mean a very cold, Cold War.”
“Obviously you don’t know the military, but you have my attention,” Summer said.
“If they come to power, I can guarantee an invasion of Poland to stop Solidarity. The Party has gone too far in Hungary with their border liberalization and their market reforms, so I suspect we’ll invade them, too. They were fierce fighters in fifty-six.” She shook her head. “And fanatical totalitarians in command of our nuclear weapons won’t make any of us sleep better at night. Remember Korea? Vietnam? Angola? And how many times have we nearly gone to war over Berlin? These men don’t like West Berlin in the middle of the Warsaw Pact, as you call it. All they need to do is wait for a weak American president and they can take the city-finish the business Stalin left undone. Do I need to go on? I’m sure Doctor Whitney could assist me further.”
“It probably wouldn’t have hurt to mention the purges, gulags-”
“I was focusing on foreign policy, since our domestic policy rarely concerns your military. I know the people who’ll take over and revenge is on their minds. Stalin has already shown the way. They’ll hit hard before a resistance movement can develop, reestablish the gulag system. All of the journalists and entrepreneurs who thrived under glasnost will have knocks at the door in the middle of the night.”
“I get your point.” Summer spoke, shielding his full mouth with his right hand until he swallowed. “What are you thinking of doing?”
“We are not getting involved.” Faith slammed the plate of food down onto the table.
“We are involved. If what she’s saying is true, the next twenty-four hours are going to alter the course of world events, and I don’t think it’ll be for the better. If you don’t see a way to escape after a coup, and you can’t get us out fast enough before they start the all-out manhunt, then our best bet is to keep them from calling out the dogs on us.”
“How can the three of us ever hope to stop part of the Red Army and KGB? I vote we run.” Faith opened her sandwich and extracted a peppercorn from a slice of salami. “We can borrow Sveta’s Lada, steal some plates. It’s eight, ten hours to Tallinn. I have connections that could probably get us out on a fishing trawler.”
“Come, now. It’s not like you’re going to a shipping agent and booking passage on a passenger liner. She also isn’t telling you that you might have to literally jump ship in the Danish Straits.” Svetlana dropped the used needles and hemostat into boiling water. “It’s been done. But not many stevedores are willing to take the risk, and those who are usually turn out to be working for the KGB on the left. When I helped Faith get that sarcophagus out a few years ago, it took me a week in Estonia to find someone reliable to take it into international waters-and he’s not available anymore.” Svetlana’s smile disappeared and she looked away.
Zara turned toward Faith and raised an eyebrow.
“It didn’t have a body in it or anything,” Faith said. “It was a couple thousand years old and it was a special order from a client who wanted to be buried in an ancestral coffin.”
Summer turned to Faith. “Faith, it’s getting riskier here by the minute. Let’s hear the lady spy out and then make our decision. If her plan’s not feasible, we’re gonna run like hell and commandeer a boat if we have to. Think about what’s at stake here. It might be time you decided to take a stand for what’s right for once in your life.”
“The conspirators are meeting in a dacha just outside of Moscow at nine tonight to coordinate final plans,” Zara said.
“What kind of security are we talking about?”
“They won’t want any uninvited guests, but they won’t be prepared to fend off an attack. I would expect less than a half-dozen guards.”
Summer popped the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and reached for another. “I see you have exact mission specs. Why aren’t they meeting on a base-somewhere more secure?”
“To not arouse suspicion. The GRU knows what happens at every military installation, and too many ranking KGB and Army officials in one place would make GRU worried. You don’t want them worried. Unlike your Office of Naval Intelligence, the GRU has teeth.”
“I know I’m not supposed to interrupt, but can’t we just go to the GRU if they’re pro-Gorbachev?” Faith said.
“They might be compromised,” Zara said.
Summer washed the sandwich down with cold tea. “How were you thinking about taking them out?”
Zara gestured toward Faith. “My friend here was expected to bring with her some plastic explosives that I had planned on using to destroy the dacha. Thanks to her ingenuity, I only have something called Play-Doh.”
“Hold on.” Faith rose from her seat. “Sveta, can you come help me find something?”
“What are you doing?” Summer said.
“Taking a stand,” Faith said as she left the room.
A few minutes later, Faith hoisted the cooler onto the table and removed a plate crudely decorated with blue and pink posies. “Compliments of Captain Ian’s delivery service.”
“Faith, I don’t know what’s with you, but we don’t have time for any more wheeling and dealing. We’ve probably been here too long as it is.” Summer picked up the plate and his fingers sunk into it slightly. He flashed Faith a grin. “I take that back. We might just be back in business.”