He said, “Cane, you have been clever to throw us off your trail… but not, I think, quite clever enough as it turns out. You would agree?”
Shaw nodded. “It’s self-evident, isn’t it?” He shrugged. “It was a gamble, and it didn’t come off. That’s all.”
“You are phlegmatic.” The Russian studied him closely. “What you speak of as a mere gamble may well have unfortunate and highly expensive results for you, Cane.”
“I know that too, but I wasn’t trying to double-cross you, Colonel Andreyev.”
Andreyev’s flat Mongoloid face was bleak, set now into hard lines from nose to mouth. “You expect me to believe that?”
Shaw grinned tightly. “No. But it’s the truth, nevertheless. I did shake off the tail, I agree, but I wasn’t trying to get away from you or what I’d agreed to do for you. If I’d been trying to avoid the KGB, Colonel Andreyev, I’d hardly be flying deeper into the Soviet Union, would I?”
Andreyev’s face still gave nothing away, and he didn’t answer the question directly. After a pause he said, “I wish you now to tell me for what purpose you are flying to Kyakhta, disguised as a newspaper-man.”
“In return for that,” Shaw countered, “may I ask how you knew I would be aboard this plane — for I assume you did know?”
Andreyev gave a half-nod and smiled thinly. “Let us say simply this, that it was not entirely chance that caused me also to travel on this flight — indeed I have a very good reason for my presence, insofar as I am in personal charge of security during Comrade General Kosyenko’s visit to the region. More than that I do not propose to tell you, Cane, And now, you will answer my question. You will serve no good purpose by refusing to do so.” The Russian leaned across the small table, tapping it with extended fingers. “You must know very well that this craft will be met at Kyakhta airport by security officers of the KGB and troopers of the MVD. If I should order your arrest you will at once be taken into custody and held incommunicado, and no questions will be asked, or if they are, then they will not be answered — and you, Cane, will be as good as dead.”
Shaw raised an eyebrow, quizzically. He said, “From the way you put that — if you should order my arrest — I assume there’s an alternative? You’d do well to bear in mind, Colonel, that for your part you wouldn’t best serve the true interests of the Soviet by ordering my arrest at this juncture — let me assure you very definitely of that.”
Andreyev looked at him thoughtfully, a hand stroking his chin. He said, “There is some curious change in you, Cane. I shall find out what that change is. Meanwhile what you have said is something you must prove to me, is it not?” He paused. “I shall go this far: I shall keep an open mind until you have answered my question. Take your time if you wish, and think well. I shall put my cards on the table.” He was looking directly into Shaw’s eyes now. “I believe you know something that I do not. This I must and will find out — and we have plenty of time before touch-down.”
“Quite so, Colonel.”
Shaw put his elbows on the table in front of him and sunk his head in his hands. He had to think hard, as Andreyev had suggested, and constructive thought just wasn’t possible with the KGB officer’s cold eyes boring into him. What Andreyev had said was, of course, so dead right that there was simply no argument about it; Shaw’s mission ended here and now if he couldn’t dream up some foolproof formula that would satisfy Andreyev and at the same time safeguard the interests of the British security and counterespionage services. But the whole thing was more mysterious now than ever. Why hadn’t Andreyev simply arrested him, had him seized back at Bykovo airport and taken to KGB headquarters for intensive questioning? It wouldn’t have been too hard to find an excuse — his fresh papers alone would have been more than enough! Could there be some other consideration that had made the man hold off? Sadism — the cat and mouse? Or — much more interesting — was Andreyev a frightened man who needed that further information he had spoken of, and wanted it, moreover, kept strictly to himself — a man who knew much but not quite enough, and whose career, and even his life, depended on the successful outcome of the job that in effect both he and Shaw were working on? For they were, after all, both on the same side. Though their angles were different, their aims were identical… or were they? Worth-Butters had made a point of saying that Andreyev wasn’t above a little funny business when it suited his own book…
And that was also an interesting thought.
It was a line to work along. Shaw felt that not everything was moving Andreyev’s way even now. If he, Shaw, couldn’t operate without Andreyev’s say-so, then almost certainly Andreyev couldn’t operate successfully without Shaw — or, which was just as good in the circumstances, the Russian appeared to believe he couldn’t. That was clear enough. So was something else: The problem was not a question of whether or not the time had come to reveal some of the truth to Andreyev, but rather one of how much to part with…
Shaw lifted his head and stared directly back into Andreyev’s face. He said, “Very well. I’ll tell you what I know. I suppose we’re both hoping it’ll be what you want.” He paused. “Colonel, after our conversation in your office, I acted entirely in accordance with your instructions. You know that. Well, you were correct, up to a point anyway, in your assessment of the Embassy’s probable reactions. That’s to say, they’ve now given me a little further information than I was able to pass on to you yesterday.”
A muscle twitched momentarily in Andreyev’s cheek. “Such as?”
Shaw hesitated, made a vague gesture with his hands. “It was background stuff, of course — nothing more.”
“Continue.”
“Very well, for what it’s worth, I will.” Shaw leaned across the table, prepared now to improvise all he could. “Yesterday I told you that the British Embassy had heard reports via refugees coming into Hong Kong, reports that there was activity along the frontier with Mongolia. Today I have been given rather more precise information, and it’s this.” He paused. “It’s confirmed that Chinese technicians are infiltrating into the region, and also that Chinese units are moving into the Chalok River area on the Mongolian side of the border. This news has worried our people as much as it has worried you, Colonel Andreyev.”
Andreyev jeered at that. “You are certain of this, Cane — or are they worried merely that we suspect — and will take steps to deal with it before they can exploit a situation brought about by themselves?”
Shaw shook his head. “No — definitely. They were genuinely concerned—”
“It is propaganda!” Andreyev snapped angrily. “Mere propaganda such as a child would not be taken in by!”
“You’re dead wrong, Colonel.” Shaw was still looking directly at the Russian officer. “If you ask me why they should be worried I can only say that none of us wants to stir anything up these days — you’ll agree on that. You know as well as I do, survival’s at stake. Literally. The test-ban agreement didn’t really lessen the actual basic chances of war, though it may have lessened the tension, the trigger-happiness, for a while… but now, things are different yet again. In the past small beginnings have always been liable to lead to all-out nuclear war, and today that still remains as true as ever — maybe even more so. We’re all in this together, your country and mine, and China too. If Moscow and Pekin go up in a mushroom cloud today, London and New York go the same way tomorrow. Or,” he added, “the other way round, of course.”
“It has not occurred to you,” Andreyev asked icily, “that your Government might welcome a complete split between China and the Soviet?”