Snow Wolf (45 page)

"Still, it looks like we'll just
have to take our chances. Could Erik find us some gas masks at the
barracks?"

Gorev shrugged. "I can ask, but
there's still the risk of drowning or poisoning yourselves in the effluent. But
it's ),our heads on the chopping block, I suppose."

They all heard a screech of tires on the
cobbled street below and they looked out of the window anxiously.

The Emka had drawn up and the two KGB
officers, Zinov and Bukarin, stepped out, two young women accompanying them.
They all looked the worse for drink and the women laughed as the young captain
staggered drunkenly toward the inn.

Gorev's face screwed up in disapproval.
"Drunken bastards.

Back for more drink at the bar and a roll
in the hay with those tans from the town."

Stanski thought for a moment, then said,
"Did you tell your guests who we were?"

"Only that you were my niece and her
husband on honeymoon. Why?"

"Nothing more? No names?"

Gorev shrugged. "It didn't seem
important to elaborate. Besides, they didn't seem that interested."

"When do your two friends
leave?"

"Zinov drives back to Leningrad
tomorrow morning, presuming he's sober enough to drive. Bukarin, the younger
one, tells me his girlfriend wants him to stay behind another couple of days.
Why?"

"Maybe there's another way out of
this rattrap." Stanski smiled. "You think you could find me an army
officer's uniform?"

Zinov was sitting at the bar when Stanski
went in. One of the women, a blond, busty girl, sat next to the colonel,
nibbling his ear. A bottle of champagne was in front of them, two glasses
poured. The young captain and his girlfriend were nowhere to be seen.

Zinov said, "Ah, my friend, you're
just in time for some champagne. We helped ourselves, I'm afraid. No sign of
Gorev."

The colonel's eyes were glazed from
alcohol, and as Stanski sat down he said, "Your wife isn't joining
you?"

"Tired, I'm afraid. She decided to
have a nap."

Zinov grinned crookedly. "My captain
friend and his lady had the same problem. Shame. This Crimean champagne is
really excellent. It has Maria here as tight as a rusty nut."

The young woman giggled and almost fell
off her stool. Zinov grabbed her. "Hey, steady, old girl. We've still got
another night to go."

The girl was pretty, her blond hair cut
short, but she wore too much make-up. Her blouse was open a couple of buttons
to reveal an ample bosom and her skirt rode halfway up her thighs. She tried to
focus on Stanski as she patted the bar stool next to her, a cigarette dangling
from her fingers.

"Here, you sit beside me."

Zinov sipped champagne and grinned.
"You're talking to a newly married man, old girl. Right now he's beyond
temptation. Give him a couple of years of married life and try again."

"Well, I still think he's
nice," the woman gushed drunkenly.

"We're all nice until you marry
us." Zinov patted the girl's thigh and winked at Stanski. "Perhaps
it's just as well that good wife of yours isn't here, my boy. She probably
wouldn't approve. I know mine wouldn't." The colonel chuckled at his own
joke.

:"Each to his own, Colonel."

"That's what I always say. Well,
don't just stand there with a dry mouth. Have a drink."

Zinov poured a glass of champagne for
Stanski and another for himself and the girl. Stanski said quickly,
"Actually, I came to ask you a favor."

:"Oh, and what's that?"

"I received an urgent call to report
back to Leningrad. My unit is setting out for winter training maneuvers
tomorrow night."

"Funny, I thought you had a slight
look of the army about you. But why didn't Gorev say you were a military man?

What's your rank and division?"

"Captain. The 17th Armored. I
brought my uniform with me, half expecting a call, but not so soon."

"What a damned shame. Rather upset
your honeymoon plans, hasn't it? I know one or two of the boys up the military
ladder in Leningrad. You want me to try and twist a few ears so you can stay
on?"

"Thanks for the offer, sir, but I'm
anxious to get back. I've already promised my wife to make up for the honeymoon
with a trip to Odessa."

"Good for you. Duty first, eh?"

"I was really hoping you might be
able to oblige us with a lift. The last train for Leningrad left half an hour
ago and the first one tomorrow morning leaves too late. Toomas mentioned you
were traveling to Leningrad and I wondered if you had a couple of empty seats
in the Emka. But forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn."

Zinov smiled drunkenly. "Nonsense. A
pleasure, and I'd be glad of the company. I have an early start, mind. Seven
A.M. Does that suit you?"

"Perfectly." Stanski finished
his champagne and put down the glass. "My thanks for the drink, Comrade
Colonel."

"You're going so soon?"

"I've got some packing to do, I'm
afraid. And I'd better tell my wife."

"Right, see you at seven,
then."

The girl began rubbing Zinov's chest and
the colonel slapped her thigh. "That's assuming, of course, this little
tigress here doesn't kill me with passion before the night's out."

It was almost midnight and Stanski sat at
the bedroom window smoking a cigarette. Anna came over and looked at him.

"You think it will work?"

He shrugged. "I can't think of
anything else besides the sewers, and we can't stay here. There's a chance the
checkpoints won't be as suspicious of a car with two officers in uniform. And
an officer's wife traveling with her husband shouldn't arouse too much
curiosity."

"What if we're stopped?"

"Try not to seem like you're
frightened. The KGB can smell fear."

"You think it was Janne's plane that
alerted them?"

"Probably."

There was a knock on the door. Stanski
opened it and Gorev came in carrying an army captain's uniform, brown leather
belt and holster, overcoat, cap and boots.

"It's the best I could do at short
notice. Erik got everything from the army stores. The size should be all right,
but the divisional flashes are a problem, I'm afraid. All they had was the 14th
Armored."

"I'll just have to manage and hope
Zinov was too drunk to remember I told him otherwise. Where is he?"

"In his bedroom with his girlfriend,
drinking and wrecking my bed."

Stanski smiled. "Thanks,
Toomas."

Gorev nodded and said anxiously, ,Well,
good luck, both of you. See you in the morning."

When he had left Stanski tried on the
uniform. He buckled on the holstered Tokarev pistol and leather belt over the
tightwaisted officer's smock tunic, then adjusted his cap in the mirror.

Anna came in from the bathroom where she
too had been dressing and Stanski said, "What do you think? Do I
pass?"

She looked at him. The blue eyes stared
out arrogantly from under the broad-peaked officer's cap, and in his polished
boots and captain's stiff shoulderboards and wasted tunic he looked the part.

"I have to admit it suits you. Only
try not to look so menacing.

"I'm a Russian officer. It comes
with the territory. Right, let me see what you'll be wearing."

Anna had changed into her clothes for the
morning, a dark pleated skirt and a blouse opened at the neck. Her hair was
down and her make-up emphasized her good looks. Stanski shook his head.
"An officer's wife ought to look suitably attractive, but not that
attractive. Your blouse would be better buttoned up to the neck and your hair's
got to come up. Try to look a little dowdy."

"Thanks."

He reached over and pulled up her hair
and tied it severely with a bow.

"That's better. Any nlilitiaman will
be drawn to look at a pretty face. Use your make-up more cleverly to avoid
looking too good and keep your scarf up around your neck. Are you wearing
underwear?"

" What?"

He half smiled. "You heard me. Are
you wearing underwear? The flimsy variety or something sturdier and warmer?

The kind my old babushka used to swear
by."

"It's been ten below freezing
outside. What do you think?"

Stanski smiled. "good. Tuck those
into your underwear tomorrow." He handed her his sets of false papers.
"I suggest you do the same with your own, just in case they try a body
search at the checkpoints. A militiaman usually won't feel between a woman's
legs, unless he's a complete animal. But if he does, play the cards as they
fall."

Anna took the papers.

Stanski said, "And you'd better
leave your pistol with Toomas before we go. If we are stopped and searched and
they find it on you, it would only complicate matters."

"What about you?"

"I'm in uniform."

"How would you explain the silenced
Na gant revolver?"

He smiled. "Let me worry about
that." He looked at her face seriously. "It's not going to be easy
from now on, Anna. You understand that?"

"Yes, I know."

"And you know what to do if we get
separated and there's a risk of being caught?"

She nodded solemnly.

Helsinki.

Branigan was standing at the window on
the second floor of the American Embassy, drinking his third cup of coffee.
Massey sat in a nearby leather easy chair, looking grim as he stared out at the
lights of the islands out in Helsinki bay.

There was a knock on the door and Douglas
Canning came in holding a slip of flimsy paper in his hand. Massey stood
anxiously.

"Bad news, I'm afraid. I did as you
asked and according to our radio monitoring boys here in the embassy there's a
hell of a lot of transmission activity going on in Tallinn. Some kind of
search, by the sound of it. Our boys gather from the gist of it that they're
looking for two people, a man and a woman. Looks like your two friends are
definitely in for trouble."

Branigan put down his coffee and snatched
the paper from Canning's hand and stared at it, then crumpled the paper and
flung it angrily against the wall.

"Damn ..." Canning said to
Massey, "Doesn't anyone get to tell me what's going on here?"

Massey didn't reply, and Branigan looked
across at him sternly. "I told you already, no questions. This is a
top-secret matter. You keep your mouth shut or I'll shut it for you."

The diplomat flushed and looked offended.
"Look, like you say, it's none of my business, and I don't know what the
hell is going on, but what's the story here? Are you and your people planning
on staying around here?"

Branigan sighed and shook his head.
"We're into a whole different ball game." He looked over at Massey.
"I was right. You really fucked up, Jake. Big time." Massey said
worriedly, "What happens now?"

Branigan ignored the question and said to
Canning, "I need to make an urgent call. Have you got a secure line I can
use?"

Canning smiled. "Sure. But I
wouldn't suggest you phone the Ambassador this late. The old man gets mighty
sore about late-night calls to his home."

Branigan stared back at the man with
angry contempt. "You moron. I don't want to talk with the goddamned
Ambassador. I want to talk with the President."

Tallinn. February 2 7th Zinov looked
red-eyed from a blinding hangover when Anna and Stanski entered the dining room
before seven. His jowls were like rubber and his brow furrowed as he sat alone
at a table.

He waved to them silently across the
room, and returned to his breakfast. When Gorev came in to serve them coffee,
Stanski noticed that the innkeeper's hands shook.

"What's the matter?" he said
quietly.

Gorev leaned over to pour coffee and
whispered, "I took a walk down to the market square at six. The town is
crawling with militia and KGB and there are checkpoints everywhere. Without
sounding like a defeatist, the moment you're gone I'm going to go and stay with
my friends in the forest until I think it's safe to reappear. If you're caught,
that could be never."

Across the room, Zinov suddenly stood,
wiped his mouth with his table napkin, and came over. He managed a weak smile
at Gorev. "That champagne of yours could kill a man. My head feels like
someone's been pounding it all night with a rubbe club."

"Every indulgence has its price,
Colonel."

"Indeed," replied Zinov dryly.
He looked at Anna an( smiled again weakly. "May I say you look very
fetching this morning, my dear."

Anna wore heavy make-up that was far from
pleasing an( guessed Zinov was being polite. "Thank you, Colonel. My
husband told me you're driving us to Leningrad. I'm very grateful."

"Nonsense. We have to look after our
men in uniform. I'm just sorry this business of his has upset your honeymoon
plans." Zinov looked at his watch and said briskly, "I'll be leaving
in ten minutes, so try not to dally. They're expecting me in Leningrad for a
staff lunch at one."