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‘I think I should come up!’ insisted Natalia.

‘You already know everything. But it’s your choice, obviously.’

‘I want to see for myself. Meet Oskin and this man Lvov.’

Popov had dutifully maintained the promised contact, calling her as often as three times a day – once five times – but as the indications had hardened of a genuine and large-scale theft, Natalia had grown increasingly frustrated by the feeling of being on the sidelines.

‘I’m sure they’re right about Kirov and Kirs being infiltrated by Mafia informers,’ said Popov.

‘I wouldn’t go anywhere near any of the plants themselves. Or the regional offices.’

‘Having got this far we can’t risk a mistake which would ruin everything.’

‘Don’t you want me to come up?’ demanded Natalia.

‘Don’t be silly!’ said Popov, the quick irritation showing in his voice. ‘This isn’t a question of what I want or don’t want. It’s a question of what’s best in an operational situation.’

‘So what’s best in this operational situation?’

‘I think you should come up to Kirov,’ said the man. Then he added, ‘I’ve missed you. And Sasha.’

Because the routine worked so well Stanislav Silin again personally met the Berlin flight for them to talk in the car, which of course was not the identifiable, bullet-proofed and interior-partitioned Mercedes in which he customarily travelled, but the same anonymous Ford as before. This time the Dolgoprudnaya chief turned south on the outer ring road, satisfied he didn’t have to stress any more loyalty reminders.

‘All the banking sorted out?’ asked Silin.

Instead of answering, the man handed the deposit books and validating identification documents across the car.

‘When are you bringing the others in from Berlin?’ asked Silin, accepting the package.

‘Over the next two to three weeks.’

‘They all know what they’re supposed to do?’

‘Absolutely. What about Sobelov?’

‘He made a public apology at the last Commission meeting.’

‘That must have hurt!’

Silin said, ‘Not as much as a lot of other things are going to hurt!’ and they both laughed. Silin added, ‘I’m letting him be in charge of the interception.’

The other man frowned. ‘You sure that’s a good idea?’

‘It amuses me to let him have his last delusions of grandeur.’

‘The date is definite then?’

‘It’s got to be geared to their timetable. We’ll be ready when your people get here.’

chapter 11

N atalia thought Kirov was small for a provincial capital and odd in the way it clung to the umbilical cord of the Vyatka. From their room she could see over the low dockside warehouses and timber yards to the sluggish river on which even slower boats hauled daisy chains of connected, lumber-laden barges with occasional fussy tugs encouraging the procession from the rear. Beyond the port complex the Stalin era apartment blocks stood in line, grey skittles all in a row. Only vaguely visible through the uncleared midday mist, the far-away fir forests that provided the town’s wood industry had no colour either, deep black outlines against the dull skyline. Apart from the apartment blocks and the abrupt domed towers of the isolated cathedral everything was uninterestingly flat, as if the place was boxed up ready to be moved somewhere else.

By contrast, Popov’s room gave an impression of permanent residence. He’d had to tidy the bathroom cabinet to make space for her things and rearrange the wardrobe for her clothes. He’d had an extra table moved in, for papers and two spread-out maps and his open briefcase was on a bordering chair. A glass held several pencils and a pen: other glasses from the same set ringed a half-empty vodka flask on a side table and a jacket was draped carelessly over the back of another chair. Two pairs of shoes were neatly arranged but outside the wardrobe, and the bed was made but bore the impression where he’d lain on top, before Natalia’s arrival.

Incongruously, a small sled was upturned on its runners against the wall behind the door. A box was beside it. Seeing Natalia’s look, Popov said, ‘For Sasha. There’s a whole farmyard of wooden animals in the box, as well. Do you think she’ll like them?’

‘I’m sure she will,’ smiled Natalia. He really did treat Sasha as if she were his own.

‘Who’s looking after her?’

‘The matron at the creche. There’s an arrangement. I’ll call, later.’

Popov had kissed her, almost anxiously, when she’d arrived and he came close again at the window, folding his arms around her from behind with his face at her shoulder. ‘I enjoyed telling the receptionist you were my wife. You didn’t want a separate room, did you?’

‘Is there really a need for an explanation?’

She felt him nod, into her shoulder. This is genuine: I’m convinced of it. So I’m not taking any chances.’

‘When do I meet Oskin?’

‘Tonight. Dinner. He’s chosen the restaurant.’

‘Lvov?’

‘Tomorrow. We’re going out to Kirs.’

Natalia pulled away from the man. ‘So tell me about it.’

Popov took the larger of the two maps from the table, tracing by pencil the curved road to Kirs. ‘The nuclear plant is on the outskirts of the town itself. It’s being decommissioned: a lot of the technical staff have been transferred already. There are four silos, each holding an ICBM. And a warhead storage facility. There’s also about 250 kilos of cassium and plutonium 239, most of it weapons graded. That’s what they’ve told Lvov they want.’

‘Who’s “they”?’

‘He’s met four men, so far. He’s sure two, at least, come from Moscow.’

‘Names?’

Popov snorted a laugh. ‘Of course not.’

‘Not even talking among themselves?’

Popov shook his head. ‘The first approach was from just one man; Lvov thinks he’s local. There’ve been two further meetings since. That’s when the others turned up. Each time there’ve been threats about what will happen to his family if he doesn’t do what they want.’

‘What do they want?’

‘Guaranteed access. A plan of the facilities, with the storage complexes marked with what each contains. Code systems, to get into the complexes. Guard rosters and manpower strength. And complete details, including the electrical circuitry, of all the alarm systems.’

Natalia let out a deep sigh. ‘They don’t seem to have overlooked anything.’

‘They haven’t.’

‘Any positive date?’

Popov shook his head. ‘The one thing we haven’t got. And can’t do anything without. He’s stalled them so far by saying it’s difficult to get all they demand. They’ve given him two weeks, as of three days ago.’

‘How do they meet Lvov?’

‘He’s never warned. It’s one of the reasons he’s so frightened. They’re just there, unannounced. The first time was a Saturday. He was shopping and the man he thinks is local stopped him in the street. The second time he found people either side of him in the trolley car, going home from work. They made him get off to meet the other two in a park. The last occasion – that was three days ago – they arrived at his apartment when his wife was out, at the cinema with their daughters. They obviously watch him, choosing their moments. He says he feels like an animal, knowing it’s being hunted but not when it’s going to be shot.’

‘It sounds as if he is.’ Natalia looked down at the map, noticing a series of pencilled crosses between Kirov and Kirs. ‘What are these?’

‘Nonsense, for the benefit of curious hotel staff. I’m supposed to be a mining engineer, surveying possible mineral deposits.’ Popov didn’t smile at Natalia’s amused grimace. ‘It accounts for my staying here, for so long. And for driving around the countryside.’

Natalia was suddenly seized by a feeling of unreality going beyond that prompted by near-theatrical subterfuge and accounts of mystery men stalking a frightened nuclear security officer. She’d undergone the obligatory operational training during her long-ago KGB induction but never been called upon to use it. The major part of her previous career had been debriefing and interrogating potential defectors and sometimes recalled Russian field operatives whose psychological stability had become suspect. So all her experiences of practical danger and the fear it engendered had been second-hand, recounted and sometimes exaggerated by others. Now she was involved, living part of the subterfuge. She had secretly to meet men genuinely terrified of being murdered and hear and assess their story. And then to approve, in her name and under her authority, a way to defeat a robbery which, if it wasn’t prevented, could potentially end with the slaughter of hundreds. Or even thousands. The feeling was more than unreality. Natalia was frightened. And not solely, or even predominantly, at the risk of failure, disastrous though that would be. There was an unease at the fear of the unknown, of being physically hurt, even. Natalia positively stopped the mental drift. She was being ridiculous. She was in no physical danger, meeting Oskin or Lvov. Aleksai would be with her: Aleksai, a Militia colonel who’d worked the streets and conducted criminal investigations and had six commendations for bravery that he didn’t boast about, one of them involving a shoot-out in which a hostage-holding murderer had been killed. She smiled at him as he looked up from his map.