McGarvey said. “I’m going to ask you a question, for which you’ll give me the truth. And then you can ask me a question, which I will answer truthfully” Potok nodded, the caution still in his eyes. “There was an incident at En Gedi, which the NPT investigated. It was picked up by our KHII surveillance satellite. We believe that the Soviets penetrated you.
Is this correct”
“Yes. His name was Benjamin Rothstein”
“Where is he now? Do you have him”
“He is dead. Where is Dr. Abbott at this moment”
“In a CIA safehouse about fifty miles from here. The NPT has been cut out of this operation until it’s over. At that time it’ll be up to the politicians to negotiate some sort of a deal. McGarvey had perched on the edge of the couch. “We know what is stored at En Gedi. Potok’s jaw tightened.
“Now, tell me exactly what happened out there with Rodistein. I want to know everything” The Israeli glanced at the windows. “If I cannot” he asked. “Then our association ends here and now. I won’t work with you”
“Is this place bugged”
“I was told it was not”
“Did you believe them” McGarvey shrugged. It was hard sometimes to know exactly what he believed. “I don’t think either of us has much choice.
They know a hell of a lot more than they’ve told either of us. But we’ve got a job to do”
“Yes” Potok said. “We have a job to do and it will not be pleasant. Nor do we have much time”
“No. “We were penetrated twice”
Potok said. “The first time by Rothstein, who was almost definitely a Russian, and the second time by a nuclear technician named Simon Asher”
“Rothstein was in the vault? He saw the weapons” Potok was very uncomfortable. “Yes. He managed to get clear of the base, and we think that he managed to call his contact with the information”
“What about Asher, did he escape as well”
“No. Nor have we found a Russian connection yet. In fact, he was born in New York City and educated here in the States”
“What happened to him”
“He died of radiation poisoning” Potok said. “Our scientists say that he was attempting to install an … initiator into one of the weapons.
But he made a mistake, spilled radioactive material, and died. “When did this happen”
“At the same moment Rothstein was in the vault”
“That doesn’t make any sense” McGarvey said half to himself. What the hell was he being told? “If Rothstein was working for the Russians, to confirm the existence of your weapons stockpile, then why was Asher down there trying to destroy the place” He looked up. “That’s what he was trying to do, wasn’t it”
“Yes. Maybe it was a safeguard. The Pershing missile would be sent if Asher had failed. But..”
“What” McGarvey said, sitting forward”
We have been monitoring the telephone lines from the Hungarian Embassy for some time now. We have a new technique that allows us to do this without being detected, no matter how sophisticated their telephone equipment is. There were a series of telephone calls between the Soviet Interests section of the embassy and a man we arrested a few days ago.
They discussed the failure in Germany, and they said that another attempt would be made on June thirtieth” It was the date, finally.
“What about this man”
“His name was Viktor Voronsky. A KGB field officer who had until a few months ago been seen in Damascus. It is possible that he was Rothstein’s contact. “He’s dead”
“Unfortunately. He committed suicide. But, no mention was made of Asher’s attempt to destroy the facility” McGarvey nodded. “Then something else is going on. But it’s Baranov. It’s the way he works”
“My turn” Potok said. “There were three men who hijacked your Pershing missile. “Arkady Kurshin, whose file I’ve brought for you. He managed to escape. And it’ll be he who is going to make the next attempt. Ivan Yegorov, who I killed. And an East German rocket scientist by the name of Dieter Schey. “What happened to him”
“He’d been shot in the head, probably by Kurshin, and left there to die.
We have him here in Washington. He’s alive, but not conscious” Potok’s mind was racing, McGarvey could see it in his expression. “In order to get to Arkady Kurshin we must uncover Feliks. “Who almost certainly is Baranov’s source for technical information” McGarvey said. “Of the sort Kurshin would have needed to operate the missile”
“Information that their rocket scientist needed to operate the missile”
Potok took the thought a step forward. “If we therefore make an announcement that Dieter Schey is alive and well, angry that his own people left him for dead, and that he is willing to cooperate with us in naming his Pentagon source, Kurshin will come after him. Schey will be the bait”
“Something like that” McGarvey said. “But there’s more.
I “Yes”
” Kurshin will be coming here to kill me as well”
“Why”
“I stopped him in Germany”
“There’s more” Again McGarvey nodded. “It’s a long story, Lev, one I’m going to have to tell you on the run. But it goes directly back to Baranov. The man has got a price on my head.
The four-seat Ranger helicopter came in low from the southwest for the third time in the past half hour. FBI agent Tom Sills watched it through binoculars from the edge of the clearing by the driveway. He could see the pilot and three other men, one of whom had a pair of binoculars raised to his eyes. Sills keyed his walkie-talkie.
“Goddamnit, it’s the same bird. Have we gotten anything out of the FAA yet”
“Just got off the blower with them” Beit Langerford radioed from the house. “Registered to Bekins Real Estate Company out of Alexandria”
“Well, I don’t like it”
“They’re showing property, Tom. Do it all the time”
“I said I don’t like it” Sills barked. “On this pass the sonofabitches were scoping us. Call operations and have them send a couple of men over to Alexandria-wherever that chopper took off from-and check these guys out”
“Christ, we’re supposed to be keeping this low-key”
“Do it now, Bert, god damnit” Sills snapped. He laid the walkie-talkie down and watched the helicopter as it disappeared to the northeast. He had been a field agent for a long time, long enough to trust his hunches. And he had a bad feeling about this one.
When Arkady Kurshin walked into the referentura, the most secret section within the embassy and the one in which KGB matters are discussed, there was an immediate electricity in the air. In the eighteen hours he had been here he had galvanized the entire KGB staff into his own personal weapon. But then his credentials were beyond question; even the ambassador deferred to him. He was a Baranov tool, and Baranov was one of the most powerful men in the Rodina at this moment. Boris Antipov, the KGB rezident, seated at the end of the long table, was fidgeting with some papers. He looked up with a start. “Good evening, Boris Nikolaievich” Kurshin said pleasantly enough. He glanced at the other two men seated around the table. They were Yuri Deryugin and Mikhail Lakomsky, the Washington operation’s best case officers. Either one of them could have easily passed for an American. Their English was perfect, as were their bearing and manner and dress. “Have you found her” Kurshin asked, standing at the end of the table, his powerful hands splayed out in front of him. “Yes”
Deryugin replied. “As you know, we managed to trace her transfer out of Washington as far as the Falmouth area, where we had to back off for fear of detection”
“Yes” Kurshin replied, holding his impatience in check. Deryugin glanced at his partner. “We arranged to take a helicopter tour of the area this afternoon with a real estate firm. We found her at a farmhouse a few miles outside of the town, right along the river”