Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (8 page)

Her killer was too far away to hear when the SS Aquitania slipped grudgingly beneath the water
at 091
4 hrs
.

At least
five hundred and thirty
air
force personnel
perished in the tragedy, along with
one hundred and ninety-seven
crewmembers
.
Over the next few hours
,
the escort vessels put the survivors ashore in
Northern Ireland
,
one thousand five hundred and fifty-one
trained personnel having been saved from de
ath by their excellent efforts; o
ne thousand five hundred and fifty-one
aircrew and ground staff
who now possessed a very clear hatred of submarines
,
and all things Russian.

The following day both
B-29
and
ShC
h
307 made their landfall at Glenlara,
B-29
beating
Kalinin
’s boat in by
two
hours precisely. Standard procedure required the submarines to stay on the bottom during daylight hours
,
and surface at night when prying eyes could not see them.
Kalinin
dropped
‘
307
’
to the bottom and ordered
‘
minimum crews
’ on watch
so his men could rest as best they could.
‘
39
’
ignored instruction
s and surfaced close to shore, t
he Senior
Lieutenant
deciding that the risk was worth getting proper medical atten
tion for
his wounded comrades, amongst whom was a
gravely ill
Rybin
,
whose depressed skull fracture needed urgent care.

Carried out under the watchful eye of the Soviet Marine commander, Senior Lieutenant Masharin, t
he medical transfer was swift and
well drilled
,
and the three
submariners
were quickly in the
small hospital facility onshore.

B-29
then sank to the bottom
,
where her crew
also
rested
under
the protective
gaze
of their IRA allies.

The Commander
had been to
Madrid
o
nce before
,
so
he
expected the heat. None the less, he
still recoiled
on leaving
the protective coolness of the lobby
,
discretely
shadowed by Vassily Horn, one of the two members of the team who
had joined the group
in
Madrid
.

Both
new men
were German-born
communists
,
official
residents of the Spanish capital
,
and
long time
NKVD agents
.

Strolling out of the Hotel Regina
,
the
expected
contact was immediately apparent, struggling as she was with her two large suitcases.
Taking a second to study the shapely form
,
he approved of the simple but classy red dre
ss with crocodile leather shoes and a
patent white
leather
bag
. Her ensemble was completed by a classically Spanish
white silk bow at the back of her head, bringing her long jet black hair into a solid line down her back.

She turned round and the Russian was
slightly
disappointed.

However, a
lthough not beautiful by any estimation,
her make-up was well applied and achieved much,
and
the middle-aged
woman still
presented
some charm to the eye.

Horn was settled into a
raffia
chair
adjacent to the main entrance,
and
seemed
engrossed in
the latest edition of ‘ABC’.
Appearing the gentleman,
Mayakov
offered
his
assistance, exchanging code words satisfactorily,
and took charge of both cases, f
ollowing the woman through the h
otel
foyer
and into the lift.
Nothing further was said until both were safely behind the door of his attic suite.

P
leasantries
complete,
he
confirmed
that his contact was
one
Maria
Paloma. He already knew that and more besides
. The woman was an NKVD
sleeper agent
,
born of good communist stock
,
and activated solely for this mission.
She knew better than to ask
whom
he was.

Professional in her approach
,
she confirmed that all requirements had been met, even down to hand drawn
extras that
should be of great assistance.

“If only you could give me some idea of your mission
,
Comrade, I am sure I could do more.”

Nodding
in acceptance of her efforts,
he exami
ned her map work as he listened and,
seemingly at random, Mayakov selected
the relevant one and
relaxed
back in his chair as she continued.

“
My job gi
ve
s
me access to most of what you required.
The hardest items to obtain were the boots
,
Comrade, but they are all there, and all the correct sizes. D
o
you want to check?”

He smiled and shook his head gently.

“I am sure you have performed your duties
,
Comrade Paloma.” Indicating the
plan
in his hand
,
he praised her
extra work.

“Just quickly
,
Comrade, this market area here,” he indicated a patch of land immediately adjacent to the road junction.

She looked briefly just to confirm where he meant.

“Yes, that’s the El Pardo market, held every Tuesday and Friday.
Very well attended. I go regularly myself
,
which is how I know this area
.”

“Thank you
,
Comrade, I need keep you no longer.”

Holding out an arm to steer her away from the table
,
he rapped the knuckles of his other hand on the wall three times.

“Comrade, if that place is of interest to you
,
perhaps you should know that it is not far from the Presidential Palace
,
and
that
the Caudillo travels that very road to
Madrid
nearly every day.”

The NKVD Major looked at the woman with feigned surprise.

“
General Franco?
Really? Then we must be extra careful with our planning.”

The room door rattled to
four firm knocks and another man was admitted.

“This is
Vassily
. He will take you where you need to go
,
and thank you once again for your service to the Motherland
,
Comrade Paloma.”

Switching his attention to the raffishly handsome young
officer
,
who normally went by the name of Oleg
,
he cautioned him as a father to a son.

“Don’t do anything to attract attention
,
and make sure you are back here by three o’clock at the latest, Leytenant.”

“Yes
,
Comrade M
ajor. Shall we go
,
Comrade
?”

More p
leasantries were exchanged
.

Opening the
door,
he stepped back to allow the woman through first, his eyes catching
those of his
commander
,
confirming
understanding
of his instructions.

Just after eleven o’clock in the evening
,
two Guardia Civil
troopers
were walking down the narrow path leading away from the Estanque
Del
Retiro, a circular pond within
Madrid
’s most popular park. The elder of the two checked around
quickly
and made his excuses to his younger comrade
,
as he disappeared into the bushes to answer his call of nature.

The younger
but senior
man taunted his
comrade for his weak bladder
,
but took advantage of the situation and
slipped a cigarette between his lips.

He drew in the smoke, welcoming its rich flavour and, content with his lot, casually examined his surroundings.

His eyes looked but did not see
,
and it
was not
until the third time of looking that his brain registered what was drawing his attention.

Hanging from a bush on the other side of the path was a white bow. Or at least most of it was white
, as the moonlight betrayed the
random
presence of a darker
,
more sinister colour.

He drew a torch from his belt, flicking the switch and illuminating the ground,
immediately
revealing signs of disturbance.

His comrade returned, silent and alert, focussed on the revelations in the torchlight.

Both
guardsmen
gasped as one when the beam swept over a dainty foot.
They moved forward in an instant
,
but the woman was
well
past help.

Face down in the dirt and devoid of any clothing
,
she was long dead, although the signs of rape and sodomy were
still clear for anyone to see, as were the scratches and cuts from her vain resistance.
Less apparent was the bruising to her neck where she had been strangled prior to the other
indignities that
had been heaped upon her
,
in the name of
providing
‘
motive
’
and
providing
the young L
eytenant
perverse satisfaction
.

Had NKVD Major
M
ayakov
used his real name and stated
any other time but three
o’clock
,
then
Maria Victoria Paloma would still be alive
,
and Oleg Nazarbayev’s
sadistic
sexual urges would have remained unsatisfied.

Never give in.....
never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Winston Churchill