"Ready, Mister President."
Orlov turned to Admiral Akulov.
"The fleet?"
"Ready to sail on your order, Mister President."
Orlov nodded. He'd expected no other answer.
"Colonel General Brezhnev?"
"The Air Force stands ready to serve the Rodina," Brezhnev said.
"Very good. Gentlemen, we are at the dawn of a new era. As soon as NATO has committed forces to Albania we will begin the next phase of Operation Bright Sword. Are there any comments?" He looked around the table.
"No? Then we will adjourn. General Vysotsky, please remain."
As the others filed out Alexei remained seated. Orlov waited until they were gone.
"What have you discovered about Vishinski?"
"It is possible that he has been taking bribes. I regret to say that Director Vishinski is having an affair with his aide," Vysotsky said, "a Major Andrei Kirov."
Orlov pursed his lips in distaste. "You are certain."
"Yes, Mister President. There are pictures."
"Arrest him. Arrest them both."
"Sir."
"Well done, Vysotsky. You are promoted to Director, effective now. Your first duty is to make sure Vishinski and his aide disappear with no fuss."
"Understood, Mister President."
"These are new times, General. I have chosen you to play an important part. Do not fail me."
And if I did it would be like old times, Vysotsky thought, a bullet in the back of the head.
"I will not fail, Mister President."
Orlov gave him a calculated look. "Make sure that you don't."
CHAPTER 23
Valentina watched Selena and the others enter the Sacher Hotel. The flight to Vienna had been short, only an hour and a half. Following Selena's taxi had taken another twenty minutes. Now that she knew where they were staying she could decide what she wanted to do.
Spotting Selena in the Skopje airport was an unexpected opportunity. Valentina hadn't yet decided how to exploit it. She'd called Vysotsky from the taxi and told him she needed a few days downtime in Vienna. He'd given permission, happy with her work in Macedonia. If he'd known she was watching Selena he would never have agreed. But then Vysotsky had no idea Valentina even knew about her. That was a confrontation for another time.
The discovery that she had a sister had rocked Valentina's world. The fact that her sister was an American spy only complicated things. It created difficulties but it didn't change the reality that Selena was family. By the same token, Valentina was the only family Selena had. Blood overrode all other considerations.
Valentina couldn't remember a time when she hadn't longed for the comfort of family. Her instructors had done their best to eliminate thoughts of personal relationships and friendships from the perfect instrument of the state they were molding. They had no idea that they hadn't succeeded. They congratulated themselves as Valentina overcame each of the numerous obstacles placed before her. Holding on to her unspoken longing for something that could pass for family was a way to rebel against the endless barrage they aimed against her, even though she knew her desire could never be fulfilled.
Then she'd learned about Selena.
Valentina had sought out more information about her. The files of SVR revealed the details of Selena's life. Standing outside the Sacher Hotel, Valentina felt the twinges of resentment. When her sister was being showered with luxury and the love of a real family, Valentina was living as a ward of the Russian state in a rundown barracks. When Selena was traveling Europe as a girl with her rich uncle, Valentina had been learning how to strip a Kalashnikov and reassemble it in the dark. When Selena had been competing in martial arts competitions for trophies, Valentina had been learning the brutal reality of Systema Spetsnaz, hand-to-hand combat as taught to Russian Special Forces. No trophies were given in her classes, only bruises and injuries and constant physical training. Her natural athletic ability had helped her become adept in the killing art. She had finally earned the admiration of her instructors.
In Systema Valentina learned the secrets of the body's vulnerability. The discipline had first appeared in the 10th century as a method of unarmed self-defense developed by the Cossacks. Modern Systema had been refined into a sophisticated and deadly discipline rivaled only by the Israeli commando art of Krav Maga.
Selena was a master of martial arts in her own right, a practitioner of esoteric Korean styles at a high level.
It would be challenging to fight her, Valentina thought, to see who could gain the upper hand.
One of them wouldn't walk away, but that was a battle Valentina did not wish to have. She had no desire to injure Selena, although she had to admit it would be good to make her suffer a little, to pay for all those years when Valentina had been alone.
It had started snowing. With a start Valentina realized she'd had been standing long enough for snow to accumulate on her coat. She stomped her feet and brushed off what she could. Then she walked to the hotel and into the lobby. Selena and the others were nowhere in sight.
At the desk she took a room for three nights. She assumed Selena knew about her. Even if Selena knew what she looked like, Valentina wasn't concerned about being recognized. Her instructors had been skilled at teaching her the art of disguise. What she could do in minutes in a restaurant toilet to change her appearance was effective. What she could do in the privacy of a hotel room was nothing short of amazing. By the time she was done she could sit down next to Selena in a restaurant and her sister would never know she was there.
As she rode up to her room in the elevator, Valentina smiled to herself. The evening would be interesting.
CHAPTER 24
"Look at this, Steph."
A live satellite feed over Western Russia and the border with Eastern Europe filled Elizabeth's wall monitor. Stephanie pulled up a chair beside her. On screen, long lines of covered trucks clogged Russia's major highways.
"Those are heavy troop movements," Stephanie said.
"They've been conducting a major military exercise in the Western region for the past two weeks but it's supposed to be winding down. At least that's what the latest press release from the Kremlin says."
"Somehow that doesn't impress me," Steph said.
"So young and so cynical," Elizabeth said. "You don't believe them?"
"Why should I believe the Russians?"
"They've moved some of their troops back from the border with Ukraine."
"Not all of them. Look at all those tanks and troops holding about ten miles from the border. I wonder where those other troops are going? It looks like several divisions, with logistical support."
"There's a heavy concentration heading toward Belarus, along the northern border of Ukraine. Lots of tanks. I don't like the look of that. How many men do the Russians have west of the Urals?"
"Hang on," Stephanie said. She entered a command on her laptop and scanned the information on the screen.
"That's the Western Military District," she said. "They've got the 1st tank army and the 6th and 20th armies. Those are mostly motorized rifle divisions. There are about one hundred thousand men in the district with full logistical support. About twenty-five thousand of them are Spetsnaz, Special Forces. That's not counting reserves. They're second-tier troops but if you count them in you can add another hundred thousand at least."
"Something doesn't feel right about this," Elizabeth said. "He's got troops deploying all along the northern border of Ukraine. Orlov has to know it's provocative."
"That's probably his intention."
"Provocation?"