“Sergeant Major, my friend will now ask you several questions that you will answer truthfully. Any wrong answer will cost you another bullet in the leg, and then we will move up your body. Just take into account that I have only two magazines of ammunition. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir” mumbled the sergeant major unintelligibly. “What is your job in the battery?”
“I am a non-commissioned officer in the battery fire control unit, Sir.”
“Do you, or does anyone else in the battery, have the capacity to independently launch a missile?”
“I can launch, sir, but the missile will have no target.” “What do you mean by ‘no target’?”
Struggling to answer, the sergeant major did his best to keep his voice steady.
“In order for the missile to hit a specific target, we need to input a code that we receive with the order from the United States Army Headquarters here in West Germany, Sir.”
“You mean to say, Sergeant, that you have no preselected targets and codes in the battery’s safe box in case of an emergency?”
The American again struggled to produce a reply. Wolfgang barked again.
“Do you want me to help you think with the other knee?”
“No, Sir. No, we have nothing like that in peacetime”, the captive answered. “This is the truth, I swear to you, Sir”, he implored.
Dimitri continued his interrogation. He was now growing convinced that his trip had been for nothing, and that he would return empty- handed to Moscow and to a dressing-down by Marshal Budarenko.
“I am asking you again, Sergeant Major Lance. Do you or do you not have target codes on site for use in case of severed communications? What happens if headquarters are bombed or invaded?”
“Then it is totally impossible to launch, Sir”, the captive answered faintly. “Emergency regulations require delivery of target codes to the battery only when DEFCON 2 alert is announced, but even then…” He stopped speaking and closed his eyes.
“Go on, Sergeant, go on!” Wolfgang ordered.
“Why did you stop? You want to talk from the hole in your mouth or the hole in your knee?” Wolfgang was obviously delighted.
The Sergeant Major was struggling to contain his pain. A small pool of blood was forming at his feet. He was shivering.
“Even though we input the target data to the missile, Sir, we still need the High Command’s OK to actually launch”, he managed to sputter out.
“Sergeant Major”, insisted Dimitri, “you said you can launch a missile without entering the code. What happens to the missile then?”
“If the missile is launched without a code and a selected target, it self-destructs when reaching its highest point outside the atmosphere.”
Dimitri saw no need to question the American any further.
Sergeant Major Lance, who had probably gone through interrogation training, had slowly come to realize that he was of no more value to his captors. He started describing his wife and three-year-old son, begging for mercy. Dimitri left the room quietly and the rest of the men followed him.
The captive was left alone in the room, weeping in agony.
Wolfgang called Colossus, his driver and special mission operative.
“This Yank did not really help. Our important guest will be leaving empty-handed. Waste the Yank, get rid of his car and clean the room. You know what to do.”
“I’ve made tea for you”, Olga said to Dimitri as he entered the living room. Dimitri noticed that she had changed her clothes and combed her hair. She looked like a different woman. What is she made of, this woman, Dimitri wondered? Probably forged steel. Her consort of the night was being wasted at this very moment, and she could not be calmer or less seductive.
Wolfgang entered, glancing at his watch.
“Comrades”, he announced in his German-accented Russian. “It’s already a quarter to four in the morning. We must move out of here quickly and head straight to the airport. There’s going to be a lot of commotion here very soon. I believe the Yank’s wife has already reported his disappearance to the military police. When they understand that he is a senior operator of a nuclear missile battery, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz[5] will start digging and turning over every stone, including every outgoing flight. They will all be looking for one thing in particular — Olga’s pretty skull. We must go now. Thomas, help with the cleaning here. I’ll drive them to the airport.”
The three entered the terminal gate of the sleepy airport. Only a few passengers were present, most of them slumped on their benches awaiting their flights. Wolfgang tapped Dimitri’s shoulder.
“I really don’t like it that you’re arriving and leaving from the same airport”, Wolfgang commented. “It’s against the rules, but we have no choice. You have to get out of here as quickly as you can. Now give me your passport”, he said, while handing Dimitri a new one. “This is your new passport. It’s OK. It has an entry stamp from last week and also an exit stamp from Moscow. Just remember your new name, and that you came to Germany a week ago. That’s all.”
Dimitri examined his new British passport and practiced his new name, Robert Hugh Pearson. He suddenly felt alarmed.
“According to their registration, the old passport will not have an exit stamp. It will cause problems, won’t it?” he asked Wolfgang.
Wolfgang smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder.
“You can start working with us. You are right, but this will be taken care of. Now stay here, you and Olga, while I book you on the earliest departing flight. I also want to remind you not to sit next to each other during the flight.”
He collected the passports from Dimitri and Olga and walked away quickly. Dimitri tried to start a conversation with Olga, but she was not in a talkative mood.
Wolfgang returned, waving flight tickets. “It’s Austrian Airlines flight 192. Departure in thirty-five minutes”, he told them, looking at his watch.
“You should arrive in Vienna by seven o’clock. Here are the tickets, including those for your connecting flight to Moscow. You must board right away — boarding closes in ten minutes”, Wolfgang instructed them, handing them the tickets.
Dimitri shook Wolfgang’s hand firmly and thanked him. Wolfgang kissed Olga on the cheek, turned away and walked briskly out the terminal gate.
The Austrian airlines DC-9 touched down on the snowy tarmac of Vienna International Airport. Dimitri hurried to the Aeroflot counter in the departures terminal, keeping sight of Olga, who walked a little ahead of him. There was a large crowd there, which alerted Dimitri’s instincts to something irregular. He made his way through several people in front of him, and handed his ticket to the Aeroflot ticketing agent at the counter, but she returned it to him almost immediately.
“I am sorry, sir, but no flights are departing due to a heavy snowstorm in Moscow. All three international airports in Moscow have already been closed for two hours, and it may be a long time before they reopen”, she explained, handing him a voucher. “This is for the NH Wien Hotel right here in the airport, and you can either walk there or take a shuttle to the door. Check in there and we will notify you of the next available flight.”
Dimitri took the voucher and the ticket and put them in the pocket of his bag. He thanked the agent and walked out the exit door. He could see Olga just ahead of him, carrying a small suitcase. He quickened his pace until he reached her.
“Excuse me, miss”, he said. Olga turned to him.
“If I’m not mistaken, I’ve seen you before, at the Aeroflot counter. Did they send you to the NH Wien too?”
Olga nodded.