Faith interpreted for Summer.
“Tell her the KGB gave me enough of a facial the other day and haircuts aren’t much use to me.”
The nurse let out a final huff and left. Summer rolled out of the bed and tracked down the coffee smell like an undercaffeinated bloodhound. He lifted the metal covers from a plate. “I think I’m going to need you to translate this, too.”
Faith walked into the room, not bothering to tie the robe closed. She put her arms on his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. The fresh stubble tickled her lips. “What have we got? Scrambled eggs, blini, sausage and kasha. I’d say this is the kitchen’s best stab at an American breakfast.” She reached over his shoulder, grabbed a thin Russian pancake, rolled it up and took a bite.
“Sit down and join me. Aren’t you starving?” Summer shoveled eggs into his mouth.
“Yeah, but I’m curious what they brought us.”
“Clothes are clothes, and you’ve never cared a whole lot about them.”
“No, but I want to know what they’re planning for us.” Faith opened the wardrobe, which was carved with the usual hammers and sickles, and she unzipped the vinyl garment bag. “Summer, I think you’ll want to see this.”
“Can’t we have the fashion show after breakfast?”
Faith lifted open the lid of a hatbox, put the hat on her head and walked into the sitting room.
“Where the heck did they get that?” Summer pushed his chair back and followed Faith to the wardrobe. He pulled out a hanger with a white jacket. “How the hell did they get ahold of one of my dress uniforms? They even got my medals right.”
A few hours later, the driver opened the door of the Chaika limousine. Zara eased herself out, favoring her injured arm. She hugged Faith, their bodies pressing as tightly against each other as their respective injuries allowed. When they pushed apart, Faith kissed her forehead.
“We did it.” Zara shook Summer’s hand and kissed him on the cheeks.
“That’s what I hear. It’s been a pleasure to work with you, colonel.” He slipped his hand behind her back and embraced her.
“The pleasure’s been mine, commander.”
“Glad the first joint Navy-KGB mission was a success, not that the Navy planned or had anything to do with it.”
“Neither did the KGB.” Zara smiled and motioned for them to climb into the limo.
“As a matter of fact, I’m not so sure about wearing my uniform here, but I guess it’ll add credibility when we go to the embassy. That is where we’re going now, isn’t it?”
“I’m so sorry I got you into all this.” Zara took Faith’s hand and squeezed it.
“I was pulled into it before you got involved. I don’t think I’d be alive without you.”
“Faith, you need to know,” Zara continued in Russian, “Berlin wasn’t some honey-trap to solidify your relationship with the KGB. What I expressed was entirely personal and-”
“You don’t need to explain yourself, but you should understand that kind of friendship isn’t for me, not now.”
Summer looked out the window, pretending not to listen to the two women, even though he really didn’t understand the language.
“Let me finish.” Zara switched to English. “You’re a unique woman. I wish things could’ve been a little different, but I’m happy for you. As soon as I saw you two together, it was obvious to me you shared something very deep. I wish you much happiness.”
“You already know?”
“Our walls have ears. And the charge nurse has a big mouth.”
Faith hugged her, careful not to put pressure on her shoulder. “This awful experience reminded us both that no matter who’s been in our lives, or whether we saw each other every day or once a year, we’ve been the most important person for each other. Right after he joined the Navy we were going to get married, but I could never quite settle on a date.”
“Drives me crazy trying to pin this one down on anything.” Summer tilted his head toward Faith. “I finally just gave up.”
“If this whole ordeal has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t wait too long or history passes you by.”
“So does this mean you’re engaged again?”
Faith looked away from Summer. “I plan on staying here for a month or two and holding you to your word regarding the import-export business. We both suspect he’s going to be tied up for a while in a long inquiry into what’s happened here.”
“My security clearance is probably blown to hell after this. Every time it’s come up, I’ve hit snags because of Faith. To date I’ve squeaked by, and I’ve always been kind of amazed I did, but now I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up having to resign my commission with an honorable discharge-seven years shy of retirement.”
“I probably shouldn’t say it, but there are other employment opportunities,” Zara said.
“Thanks, but no thanks, comrade.” Summer grinned.
“Only doing my job.”
“There are tons of ordnance in the world just begging for an EOD guy to clean up. I’ve heard rumors the Navy’s going to give back an island in Hawaii it’s used for target practice forever, and some civilian contractor’s gotta take that hardship post. So what are you going to do now, Zara?” Summer looked out the window as they drove through downtown Moscow.
“You only leave the KGB two ways: retirement or death. So I’ll still be in the business, but definitely not in Berlin. I don’t know if anyone’s told you, but they decided this wasn’t the time to remove Honecker.”
“No way,” Faith said.
“No one-including your people-wants speculation about how close we came to war over Berlin. They’ll give it a few months, during which we basically run everything from behind the scenes. He won’t be able to scratch his balls without a Soviet adviser approving it. We’ll remove him this fall, when no one will link it to this week. Until he’s gone and Kosyk’s friends are purged from the MfS, Berlin isn’t safe for me or Faith. For that matter, neither is Moscow until we’re sure all the conspirators have been rounded up and Kosyk is found. Both of us have to disappear for a while. I’ll see it through that you get set up in a storefront here, but you’re going to have to wait. Personally, I’d love to be sent back to the San Francisco residency. I’d love to bird again at Point Reyes, and there’s a club in the Castro I wouldn’t mind going back to, but I’m afraid my affiliation with you two will cause our counterintelligence to view me as too big a risk to be deployed to the US again.”
Summer watched as they drove past the red brick wall of the Kremlin, turned left onto Red Square and passed through the gate into the Kremlin compound. “I get the feeling we’re not going to the embassy. So, is this going to be some kind of press conference?”
“They don’t want the press involved,” Zara said.
The driver stopped at a side entrance to a massive yellow building that Faith thought housed the Supreme Soviet. Viktor Petrov, special assistant to Gorbachev, greeted them at the door and escorted them into a wood-paneled elevator. Everyone else stared at the lit numbers while Faith admired a relief depicting a peasant woman bundling sheathes of grain.
“This way, please.” Petrov held the elevator door open while everyone filed out into the hall. “Commander Summer, we realize you compromised yourself in regard to your government to save the life of Secretary Gorbachev and to de-escalate events in Berlin. Although we’ve put a press blackout in place, we are cooperating fully with the Americans so they understand your exact role in the matter. For your sake, we wouldn’t want them to misconstrue things.”
“And think I’m a spy. No, we wouldn’t want that.”
They followed Petrov into a banquet hall. A dozen Soviet generals and admirals were standing around, sipping cocktails and munching hors d’oeuvres, as were an American Army colonel and a handful of civilians. Everyone stopped talking and applauded when they entered the room.