“But what can we do? March in there and demand they stop for no reason at all?” It all sounded so surreal and cliché to Dora anyway—the fact that a code could set the people she loved free.
“Well, we can’t possibly wait for them to jam it permanently.”
“I just wish I had a clear answer.” Dora knew little existed in Ferenc’s letters that would guide them to a quick solution. He had continued dropping his letters off at the designated location, and as the jamming became more persistent, Ferenc’s anxiety bloomed, until his handwriting could hardly be deciphered. The fact that Eszter didn’t show any urgency to tell Ferenc the code and get out of that death trap further confirmed her insanity. Dora knew she needed to take matters into her own hands, but had no idea where to start.
“What are you girls doing here?” A voice boomed from behind Dora and Marta. They turned around to see Ivan juggling a briefcase and an armload of files.
“We just…,” Dora scanned her brain for a feasible lie.
“We’re just on our lunch break.” Marta stepped forward and relieved Ivan of the files.
“Don’t you two have jobs to be doing?”
“Yes, I actually have to get to a meeting.” Marta hoisted the files into Dora’s arms and whispered in her ear, “You’ll get more out of him without me.” She trotted away, leaving Dora to her own devices.
“Do you have something to do here?” Dora looked up at the Radio Budapest offices, wondering how she hadn’t seen her dad sooner.
“A lunch meeting, next door.”
“Oh, I can walk you to the meeting,” Dora said.
“It’s over. I’m just coming from it.”
“I can walk you back to the ministry.”
“As long as you aren’t missing anything important,” Ivan said, trying to conceal the smile spreading across his face.
Guilty for how much joy this brought her dad, Dora couldn’t bring herself to interrogate Ivan about the radio, at least not on their walk. She began to doubt whether she could extract the information she needed from him anyway, without giving herself away. She wished Marta hadn’t ditched her—not like Marta was some spy or mastermind—but she at least envisioned all the good that could come from taking risks, whereas Dora only imagined the bad. Her dad would probably just seize this opportunity to give her a new assignment. She’d walk away more stressed than before.
Ivan lumbered into the ministry and led Dora up a marble staircase. At every third step, he paused to rest, as if the weight of Eszter rotting in the prison below was pulling him down. Dora certainly felt that way. She realized just how fragile her dad had become. The emotions he spent years hiding had burrowed deep into his bones and seemed to be gradually corroding them. She wondered if the same thing would happen to her.
“I need to get back to swimming,” Ivan said, collapsing into his desk chair.
“I think you need to rest.”
“I’m too busy for that.”
“What are you working on?”
“A new a museum exhibit,” Ivan said.
“On what?” Dora tried to bide time as she scanned Ivan’s desk for any sort of document with the word radio on it. If she could find something on paper, that would be one way to avoid probing her dad.
Ivan smiled and leaned back in his chair, the color finally returning to his cheeks. “It’s going to be all about the farmers and workers who courageously grow and produce food for us,” Ivan said.
“Excuse me, sir,” a man, bald and scowling, stood in the doorway. “We really need you to sign these documents as soon as possible.”
Dora remembered the last document she saw Ivan’s signature on, and her body lurched into panic mode. Drenched in a cold sweat, she gripped the sides of her chair as if the floor was about to give way. Dora couldn’t imagine Ivan signing another document endorsing the torture of Eszter, but then again, she couldn’t imagine him signing the first one either. Dora knew she’d draw attention to herself if she tried to stop Ivan. Her best bet was to search his desk for information, which would be easier with him gone.
“I’ll be right back,” Ivan said, squeezing Dora’s shoulder as he passed her. “Just stay here, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Dora dreaded the thought of discussing anything with Ivan at this point, but she couldn’t think about that now. She had to find something—anything—that would help Eszter. She searched Ivan’s desk drawers, but they were nearly empty. She wondered how often he cleaned his desk and archived his work. It seemed like every day, by the looks of it. She rummaged through the trash, finding only receipts and shredded notes that would take hours to piece together. She searched underneath the mountain of folders stacked on his desk, but they all related to the museum exhibit he was planning. Finally, beneath all the folders and sitting face-up on Ivan’s pearly, waxed desk, was a document titled “Radio Interruption Plan.”
It was an overview of their plans to reinstate the aggressive jamming of Radio Free Europe. With Ivan’s name signed next to various steps of the program, it proclaimed the efforts were for the safety and security of Hungary as more people tried to leave its borders without proper visas. Ivan included a number of safeguards in the plan, ensuring only a small group of people knew when the radio would be jammed and how. He created passwords for the equipment, and he even mandated that they store the master jamming devices in a padlocked room at the Radio Budapest offices. Soon, the jamming would be in full effect and completely block Radio Free Europe. Dora checked the proposed date: the first of March.
“Okay, Dora, where was I?” Dora heard her dad from behind her shoulder, the memo in full view on her lap.
Dora jumped, but quickly regained her composure. “You surprised me.”
“What are you looking at?” Ivan asked, though he could clearly see the answer.
“I was curious about the radio jamming program,” Dora said, like she had just picked up a book off the shelf to peruse.
Ivan looked at her from the corner of his eye, inspecting Dora, who tried to focus on reading every word of the document. “You just happened to find it on my desk?”
“I was tidying up.” Dora had placed the files into neat stacks, realizing she’d need an excuse in case Ivan caught her. Maybe she wasn’t so bad at this spying thing after all.
“I’ve been meaning to brief you on this anyway. As you can see, we’re stopping Radio Free Europe from dominating the airwaves once and for all. Soon we’ll only have one radio station, our own Radio Budapest.”
“It’s a very ambitious schedule,” Dora said.
“It’s a very important effort.”
“Is it truly necessary?” Dora didn’t know why she even asked. She wouldn’t win this fight, no matter how hard she tried, and saying anything more would make Ivan suspicious.
“If only you understood…. I’ll tell you one thing, Dora. Boldiszar died because of this radio.”
That buried yet familiar anger rushed into Dora. Why did her dad insist on holding Boldiszar’s death over her? She wanted to tell him she knew about Radio Free Europe and Eszter’s involvement in Boldiszar’s death, then watch his face drop and twist into shock. Dora realized, though, that would incite Ivan to question her, and she couldn’t endure an interrogation. Still, this was no way to honor Boldiszar’s memory.
“If you aren’t going to tell me how he died, please stop bringing him up.”
“Just read this.” Ivan handed Dora a memo, this one looking more worn than the others.
October 24, 1956: Memo #1 on Murder of Boldiszar Balasz and Dmitry Babadzhanian
Boldiszar Balasz and Dmitry Babadzhanian were found dead in the basement at 5 Kikerics út. The same gun was used to kill both of them. Accounts taken from Babadzhanian’s comrades attest that a woman identified as Eszter Turján fatally shot both men. Boldiszar was a leader of the Freedom Fighters and Dmitry was the son of the great General Hamazasp Babadzhanian.