tc.redrabbit-第15章

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tual…was　that　the　proper　word？…justification　for　his　ascension　to　power。　The　system　of　checks　and　balances　remained；　just　more　perversely　than　before。
　　　〃You　will；　of　course；　take　his　place　when　the　time　conies；〃　Andropov　offered　as　the　promise　of　an　alliance。
　　　Alexandrov　demurred；　of　course。。。　or　pretended　to：　〃There　are　many　good　men　in　the　Party　Secretariat。〃
　　　The　Chairman　of　the　mittee　for　State　Security　waved　his　hand　dismissively。　〃You　are　the　most　senior　and　the　most　trusted。〃
　　　Which　Alexandrov　well　knew。　〃You　are　kind　to　say　so；　Yuriy。　So；　what　will　we　do　about　this　foolish　Pole？〃
　　　And　that；　so　baldly　stated；　would　be　the　cost　of　the　alliance。　To　get　Alexandrov's　support　for　the　General　Secretaryship；　Andropov　would　have　to　make　the　ideologue's　blanket　a　little　thicker　by。。。　well；　by　doing　something　he　was　already　thinking　about　anyway。　That　was　painless；　wasn't　it？
　　　The　KGB　Chairman　adopted　a　clinical；　businesslike　tone　of　voice：　〃Misha；　to　undertake　an　operation　of　this　sort　is　not　a　trivial　or　a　simple　exercise。　It　must　be　planned　very　carefully；　prepared　with　the　greatest　caution　and　thoroughness；　and　then　the　Politburo　must　approve　it　with　open　eyes。〃
　　　〃You　must　have　something　in　mind。。。〃
　　　〃I　have　many　things　in　mind；　but　a　daydream　is　not　a　plan。　To　move　forward　requires　some　in…depth　thinking　and　planning　merely　to　see　if　such　a　thing　is　possible。　One　cautious　step　at　a　time；〃　Andropov　warned。　〃Even　then；　there　are　no　guarantees　or　promises　to　be　made。　This　is　not　something　for　a　movie　production。　The　real　world；　Misha；　is　plex。〃　It　was　as　close　as　he　could　e　to　telling　Alexandrov　not　to　stray　too　far　from　his　sandbox　of　theories　and　toys　and　into　the　real　world　of　blood　and　consequences。
　　　〃Well；　you　are　a　good　Party　man。　You　know　what　the　stakes　in　this　game　are。〃　With　those　words；　Alexandrov　told　his　host　what　was　expected　by　the　Secretariat。　For　Mikhail　Yevgeniyevich；　the　Party　and　its　beliefs　were　the　State…and　the　KGB　was　the　Sword　and　Shield　of　the　Party。
　　　Oddly；　Andropov　realized；　this　Polish　Pope　surely　felt　the　same　about　his　beliefs　and　his　view　of　the　world。　But　those　beliefs　weren't；　strictly　speaking；　an　ideology；　were　they？　Well；　for　these　purposes；　they　might　as　well　be；　Yuriy　Vladimirovich　told　himself。
　　　〃My　people　will　look　at　this　carefully。　We　cannot　do　the　impossible；　Misha；　but…〃
　　　〃But　what　is　impossible　for　this　agency　of　the　Soviet　state？〃　A　rhetorical　question　with　a　bloody　answer。　And　a　dangerous　one；　more　dangerous　than　this　academician　realized。
　　　How　alike　they　were；　the　KGB　Chairman　realized。　This　one；　fortably　sipping　his　brown　Starka；　believed　absolutely　in　an　ideology　that　could　not　be　proven。　And　he　desired　the　death　of　a　man　who　also　believed　things　that　could　not　be　proved。　What　a　curious　state　of　affairs。　A　battle　of　ideas；　both　sets　of　which　feared　the　other。　Feared？　What　did　Karol　fear？　Not　death；　certainly。　His　letter　to　Warsaw　proclaimed　that　without　words。　Indeed；　he　cried　aloud　for　death。　He　sought　martyrship。　Why　would　a　man　seek　that？　the　Chairman　wondered　briefly。　To　use　his　life　or　death　as　a　weapon　against　his　enemy。　Surely　he　regarded　both　Russia　and　munism　as　enemies；　one　for　nationalistic　reasons；　the　other　for　reasons　of　his　religious　conviction。。。　But　did　he　fear　that　enemy？
　　　No；　probably　not；　Yuriy　Vladimirovich　admitted　to　himself。　That　made　his　task　harder。　His　was　an　agency　that　needed　fear　to　get　its　way。　Fear　was　its　source　of　power；　and　a　man　lacking　fear　was　a　man　he　could　not　manipulate。。。
　　　But　those　whom　he　could　not　manipulate　could　always　be　killed。　Who；　after　all；　remembered　much　about　Leon　Trotsky？
　　　〃Few　things　are　truly　impossible。　Merely　difficult；〃　the　Chairman　belatedly　agreed。
　　　〃So；　you　will　look　into　the　possibilities？〃
　　　He　nodded　cautiously。　〃Yes；　starting　in　the　morning。〃　And　so　the　processes　began。
　　　
　　　CHAPTER　3　…　EXPLORATIONS
　　　〃Well；　Jack's　got　his　desk　in　London；〃　Greer　told　his　colleagues　on　the　Seventh　Floor。
　　　〃Glad　to　hear　it；〃　Bob　Ritter　observed。　〃Think　he　knows　what　to　do　with　it？〃
　　　〃Bob；　what　is　it　with　you　and　Ryan？〃　the　DDI　asked。
　　　〃Your　fair…haired　boy　is　moving　up　the　ladder　too　fast。　He's　going　to　fall　off　someday　and　it's　going　to　be　a　mess。〃
　　　〃You　want　me　to　turn　him　into　just　one　more　ordinary　desk…weenie？〃　James　Greer　had　often　enough　fended　off　Ritter's　beefs　about　the　size　and　consequent　power　of　the　Intelligence　Directorate。　〃You　have　some　burgeoning　stars　in　your　shop；　too。　This　kid's　got　possibilities；　and　I'm　going　to　let　him　run　until　he　hits　the　wall。〃
　　　〃Yeah；　I　can　hear　the　splat　now〃　the　DDO　grumbled。　〃Okay；　which　one　of　the　crown　jewels　does　he　want　to　hand　over　to　our　British　cousins？〃
　　　〃Nothing　much。　The　appraisal　of　Mikhail　Suslov　that　the　doctors　up　at　Johns　Hopkins　did　when　they　flew　over　to　fix　his　eyes。〃
　　　〃They　don't　have　that　already？〃　Judge　Moore　asked。　It　wasn't　as　though　it　were　a　super…sensitive　document。
　　　〃I　guess　they　never　asked。　Hell；　Suslov　won't　be　around　much　longer　anyway；　from　what　we've　been　seeing。〃
　　　The　CIA　had　many　ways　to　determine　the　health　of　senior　Soviet　officials。　The　most　monly　used　was　photographs　or；　better　yet；　motion…picture　coverage　of　the　people　in　question。　The　Agency　employed　physicians…most　often　full　professors　at　major　medical　schools…to　look　at　the　photos　and　diagnose　their　ills　without　getting　within　four　thousand　miles　of　them。　It　wasn't　good　medicine；　but　it　was　better　than　nothing。　Also；　the　American　Ambassador；　every　time　he　went　into　the　Kremlin；　came　back　to　the　embassy　and　dictated　his　impressions　of　everything　he　saw；　however　small　and　insignificant　it　might　seem。　Often　enough；　people　had　lobbied　for　putting　a　physician　in　the　post　of　ambassador；　but　it　had　never　happened。　More　often；　direct　DO　operations　had　been　aimed　at　collecting　urine　samples　of　important　foreign　statesmen；　since　urine　was　a　good　diagnostic　source　of　information。　It　made　for　some　unusual　plumbing　arrangements　at　Blair　House；　across　the　street　from　the　White　House；　where　foreign　dignitaries　were　often　quartered；　plus　the　odd　attempt　to　break　into　doctors'　offices　all　over　the　world。　And　gossip；　there　was　always　gossip；　especially　over　there。　All　of　this　came　from　the　fact　that　a　man's　health　played　a　role　in　his　thinking　and　decision…making。　All　three　men　in　this　office　had　joked　about　hiring　a　gypsy　or　two　and　observed；　rightly；　that　it　would　have　produced　results　no　less　accurate　than　they　got　from　well…paid　professional　intelligence　officers。　At　Fort　Meade；　Maryland；　was　yet　another　operation；　code…named　STARGATE；　where　the　Agency　employed　people　who　were　well　to　the　left　of　gypsies；　it　had　been　started　mainly　because　the　Soviets　also　employed　such　people。
　　　〃How　sick　is　he？〃　Moore　asked。
　　　〃From　what　I　saw　three　days　ago；　he　won't　make　Christmas。　Acute　coronary　insufficiency；　they　say。　We　have　a　shot　of　him　popping　what　looks　like　a　nitroglycerine　pill；　not　a　good　sign　for　Red　Mike；〃　James　Greer　concluded　with　Suslov's　in…house　nickname。
　　　〃And　Alexandrov　replaces　him？　Some　bargain；〃　Ritter　observed　tersely。　〃I　think　the　gypsies　switched　them　at　birth…another　True　Believer　in　the　Great　God　Marx。〃
　　　〃We　can't　all　be　Baptists；　Robert；〃　Arthur　Moore　pointed　out。
　　　〃This　came　in　two　hours　ago　on　the　secure　fax　from　London；〃　Greer　said；　passing　the　sheets　around。　He'd　saved　the　best　for　last。　〃Might　be　important；〃　the　DDI　added。
　　　Bob　Ritter　was　a　multilingual　speed…reader：　〃Jesus！〃
　　　Judge　Moore　took　his　time。　As　a　judge　should；　he　thought。　About　twenty　seconds　later　than　the　DDO。　〃My　goodness。〃　A　pause。　〃Nothing　about　this　from　our　sources？〃　
　　　Ritter　shifted　in　his　chair。　〃Takes　time；　Arthur；　and　the　Foleys　are　still　settling　in。〃
　　　〃I　presume　we'll　hear　about　this　from　CARDINAL。〃　They　didn't　often　invoke　that　agent's　code　name。　In　the　pantheon　of　CIA　crown　jewels；　he　was　the　Cullinan　Diamond。
　　　〃We　should；　if　Ustinov　talks　about　it；　as　I　expect　he　will。　If　they　do　something　about　it…〃
　　　〃Will　they；　gentlemen？〃　the　DCI　asked。　〃They'll　sure　as　hell　think　about　it；〃　Ritter　opined　at　once。　〃It's　a　big　step　to　take；　〃　Greer　thought　more　soberly。　〃You　suppose　His　Holiness　is　courting　it？　No