Stephanie looked at the monitor. "What are you looking at?"
"The Russians have invaded Latvia."
"Oh, no," Steph said. "I'd hoped they were bluffing. What happens now?"
"It depends on how NATO responds and what the President wants to do."
"Do you think the Europeans will honor the treaty?"
"Yes," Elizabeth said. "The president will make sure of that. What's up, Steph? You look like something's happened."
"I've been watching Gutenberg's house. An ambulance pulled up a little while ago. As soon as it arrived, someone was carried out of the house and loaded into the back. It went out of there in a big hurry with lights flashing."
"You think it was Gutenberg?"
"I don't know, but it's a good guess."
"It could have been one of his staff."
Stephanie shrugged. "Maybe."
"Where did the ambulance go?"
"The University Hospital. It's one of the best hospitals in Germany."
"If it's Gutenberg, we have a chance at him."
"Maybe the bastard will die and save us all a lot of trouble," Steph said. Her voice was tinged with bitterness.
"Nick will find out if it's him." Elizabeth paused. "I'll send him in. He knows what to do."
On the other side of the world in Moscow, Alexei Vysotsky had just received news that Operation Bright Sword had begun. He put down his phone and sat at his desk, thinking.
It's started. Now we are committed. If Orlov is wrong about NATO, this will be a disaster
Alexei considered the vodka in his desk drawer and decided against it. He opened another drawer that contained a small aluminum box. He took the box out of the drawer and set it on his desk. He toggled a switch on the side of the box and a green light came on. The box radiated frequencies that made it impossible for anyone to listen to conversations in the room.
Alexei had decided long ago that paranoia was the best survival strategy. In the days of the Soviet Union, when he'd begun his career in the KGB, a misspoken word or an overheard conversation could send the speaker to the gulags. The Soviet Union was no more but Alexei knew better than most that the old ways still prevailed. Freedom was a pleasant illusion. Now that he had reached his high position he was more paranoid than ever. Paranoia was a way of life in Russia, particularly in the corridors of power.
Alexei entered Valentina's code on his phone and sent an encrypted burst that meant he wanted to talk with her. Thirty seconds later his phone signaled her reply.
"General."
"What is your status?" Alexei asked.
"There's been a development," Valentina said. "Kepler has been taken to a hospital here in Leipzig."
"What's the matter with him?"
"I have no idea, but it gives me a chance to get to him."
"Make sure you find out why he has been backing Golovkin before you terminate him," Alexei said.
"There's no need for you to remind me." Valentina sounded annoyed. "What if he's unconscious?"
"Wake him up."
"And if I can't?"
"Kill him."
CHAPTER 42
Nick and Selena lay naked and damp with sweat on the tangled sheets of the hotel bed. Selena had one leg draped over Nick's thigh. Outside, it was raining and cold. In the room it was warm and comfortable.
Selena ran her hand along the ripples of scar tissue on the side of Nick's chest, a souvenir of Afghanistan and a near miss with a grenade.
"I wish we never had to get out of this bed," she said.
"You'd get bored."
"I think that would depend on how creative you were."
"Is that a challenge?"
She kissed him. "Take it any way you like."
The satellite phone by the bed signaled a call. Nick reached over for it.
He looked at the display. "It's Harker."
"Who else would it be?" Selena said.
"Yes, Director."
"Have you been watching the news?"
"No."
"The Russians have crossed the border into Latvia," Elizabeth said. "They're driving straight for Riga."
"Shit," Nick said. "What's NATO doing?" Selena looked at him.
"At the moment they're not doing anything except arguing. They're obligated to defend Latvia but they can agree on what to do. The British want immediate action. The French are sitting on the fence and the Germans are calling for what they term 'studied consideration of the situation.' By the time they agree on anything it will be all over for Latvia. President Rice is meeting with the National Security Council. He's ready to intervene without the others and shame Brussels into honoring the treaty terms. We won't allow the Federation to overrun the Baltics."
"What do you want us to do?"
"Gutenberg has been taken to the University Hospital. He may know something we can use to help stop this before it gets worse. I want you to find out why Gutenberg has been giving money to Orlov for his war machine."
"Maybe it's just an investment. Making money by backing Orlov," Nick said.
"My gut feeling is that there's more to it than money. He's not going to get back an investment of thirty or forty billion euros anytime soon by helping to fund this war. He's after something else. I want to know what it is."
"Do you know what room he's in?"
"4417. It's on the fourth floor of the VIP wing. I'm sending you a floor layout. You can pick it up at the hotel desk"
Selena had gotten up and gone into the bathroom. Nick could hear the shower running.
"Understood," Nick said.
Harker broke the connection. Nick got up and turned on the television. He muted the sound and flipped through channels until he found a newscast. Pictures of Russian troops on the move filled the screen.
He picked up the house phone and called Ronnie and Lamont's room. Ronnie picked up the phone.
"Ronnie."
"What's up, Kemo Sabe?"
"Gutenberg's out of his compound. Meet in half an hour in the lobby."
"Copy that."
Nick put down the phone and went into the bathroom. "Room for two in there?"
Selena pulled back the curtain, her body glistening with water.
"Plenty of room. What did Elizabeth want?" She had a cap over her hair.
Nick stepped into the shower. "This is one of the things I like about being married to you."
"What?"
"Showers."
Selena smiled. "What did Elizabeth want?" she said again.
"We have a shot at Gutenberg. Much as I hate to say it, we have to hurry. I told Ronnie to meet us downstairs."
"Then I guess I'd better turn on the cold water," she said.
CHAPTER 43
The University Hospital of Leipzig was a teaching hospital with more than four thousand people working in it. Valentina slipped in unnoticed through a side entrance, dressed in a nurse's uniform purchased a few hours earlier. A plastic name badge identified her as Lisa Grunig. The badge was close enough in shape and color to the official one worn by all the nurses at the hospital that no one would notice the difference. Valentina knew most people were not particularly observant. They saw what they expected to see. When they looked at her they would see a nurse who worked at the hospital.
Earlier she'd tapped in to the SVR servers and accessed the hospital computer. Kepler was in a room on the fourth floor, in a section reserved for VIPs who had enough money to secure privacy and space. She took the stairs to the fourth floor, cracked the door open and looked out on a brightly lit hall that ended in an L.
Kepler's room was not far away. She moved to the junction and glanced around the corner. A large man sat in a chair outside Kepler's room, reading an illustrated book.