Zima tried his best to remain stoic. “I am sorry to hear that. What about this man from Murmansk? What is his status?”
Hesitation. Finally, Sergei said, “We believe he escaped the country after killing a couple of Venezuelan intelligence officers.”
“Where is he now?” Zima asked with contempt. Mock indignation, actually. He pretended to be in deep thought, but was actually wondering what this female officer looked like without her clothes on. Finally, he said, “It should not be that difficult to find this man.”
“We are on his trail now, sir,” Sergei said. “What would you like us to do with him?”
“There must be consequences in this world,” Zima said.
“We have a relationship with the woman,” Sergei said, his words coming out like a plea for help.
“I did not say to kill them,” Zima assured his field officer. “I just want you to build a file on this man. And debrief the woman.”
Sergei nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The president cut off the call and turned to the SVR director. “Boris. Make sure to place a commendation in the files of these two officers.”
“But, sir,” Boris Abramovich said, “Did they not fail in their mission?”
Zima smiled. “Not at all. How do you think the man from Murmansk found our potential missile site in that thick Venezuelan jungle?”
The SVR director simply shrugged.
“One of our agents fed this man the coordinates,” Zima said, answering his own question.
Finally, the General of the Army chimed in, “Why would we want them to find this missile site?”
Zima smiled, “We never intended to place these missiles in Venezuela.”
Both the head of the GRU and the director of the SVR looked confused briefly, but then a light seemed to come on in their brains.
The SVR director was the first to speak. “This was all a ruse,” Boris said. “An elaborate ruse.”
“You are partially correct, Boris,” Zima said. “A more apt description would be a deception. Like in chess, where you sacrifice a seemingly valuable piece so you can confuse your opponent and set up for a greater kill.”
“Checkmate,” Boris provided.
“Eventually,” Zima said. “America still does not seem to understand the patience of the Russian people. Remember Leningrad. We lost more than a million soldiers, but we never gave up. The toll on the Germans was high. We were willing to sacrifice; they were not.”
The president checked his wristwatch and saw that it was nearly time for the most important conference call of the day, and perhaps of his entire presidency. But he couldn’t make this call with his chief intelligence officers in the room. Although he was sure the Americans knew of these two men, he needed to set a certain atmosphere in the room. A feeling of diplomacy. He dismissed the head of the GRU and the First Deputy Director of the SVR. Then, he allowed his political advisors and interpreters into the room and had his people connect with the Americans.
Instead of the normal Executive Branch cabinet officers gathered around the large conference table, the president had only invited a select group of officials into this vital meeting. The curtains were drawn and the lighting was somewhat subdued. A portable communications screen had been set up midway down the large oval table, revealing to the caller only those in the president’s inner circle, including the vice president and the secretary of state. Behind the screen would be critical leaders in the intelligence and military communities.
John Bradford, Director of Central Intelligence, sat nervously alongside the large screen with a direct view of the president. He wasn’t sure what to expect from this meeting with the Russians. At his side was his Director of Operations, Sherm Swanson.
Prior to convening this gathering, Bradford and Swanson had discussed their position. Show strength, but push for peace.
Which Bradford knew would not be easy. As they sat here, the Navy was in a major standoff with a Russian submarine, while a SEAL team held the Russian ship Magadan, along with an intermediate-range nuclear missile destined for Venezuela. America had caught the Russians trying to place a treaty-restricted missile in its own hemisphere, able to strike any U.S. city with impunity.
The conference call began with the normal introductions on both sides. Although Bradford could hear the Russians, he could not see them on the big screen. However, his tech people had routed the feed directly to a tablet that he shared with his DO.
POTUS was strong and indignant about what they had discovered on the Magadan.
Russian President Zima was dismissive at first, saying that this was not a violation of any treaty. Technically, the man was correct. Since Russia had extended the range of this new mobile missile, it did not officially fall within the INF treaty guidelines. Both sides knew this.
Surprisingly, the Russian president changed his posture from nearly combative to increasingly compliant. He would give his submarine a stand-down order if our Navy returned his merchant ship.
The president cut the feed temporarily to discuss with his staff. The secretary of defense agreed that would be the best outcome. Jim Bechtold, Chief of Naval Operations, agreed wholeheartedly with his boss.
When the president pointed to CIA and asked his opinion, Bradford hesitated for a moment. Then he said, “Something isn’t quite right, Mister President.”
“What do you mean?” POTUS asked.
“They’re giving in too easily,” Bradford said.
The vice president shook his head and chimed in, “Because we caught their ass red handed.”
“True,” Bradford agreed. “But I still expected more push back from them. I don’t trust them.”
The president laughed. “Nor do I. What did one of our greatest presidents say? Trust, but verify. I’ll modify that for you and your colleagues: Don’t trust, but verify the shit out of them. We say we’ll stand down also and turn over the missile to them, but we first get a few experts aboard that Russian vessel and check out that weapon.”
Bradford said, “We’ve already coordinated a team with Defense and they’re on their way.”
“Outstanding,” the president said. Then he had his people reengage their connection with the Russians and explained that they would have to wait for a tow to a repair facility. The nearest port that could handle a ship that size was Aruba.
President Zima pushed for a Venezuelan port, knowing that would not be acceptable by the Americans. Bradford could tell the Russian had only tried to do this as a power play.
Finally, both sides agreed on a Dutch port in Aruba, with a Dutch tug towing the Russian ship.
Once the call was cut off, the president started fist bumping with his inner circle. Then POTUS rose and Bradford was almost certain the man had partial wood. Everyone but Bradford and Swanson left the Cabinet Room.
“What the hell just happened?” Bradford asked his operations director.
Sherm shook his head. “Was it just me, or did the president have a partial erection?”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Bradford said. “But I was talking about the Russians. They rolled over like a lazy dog wanting its belly scratched.”
“They’re up to something,” Sherm said.
“Have you heard from our man in the field?” Bradford asked.
“No. Not since we heard he got out of Venezuela.”
Bradford considered their options. “Have our people hold the jet we sent our missile experts on in Aruba. Bring Adams back for a debriefing.”
Sherm nodded agreement. “I’ll bring him to a secondary location.”