The Devil's Handshake (14 page)

“
It’s the Agency’s opinion
that this ‘action’ by the placing of this proposed base virtually
next door to ours in Djibouti is purely about sending a message to
African States and the rest of the world that Russia is ready to do
business and as such represents a continuation of their
confrontation policy with the United States, as recently
demonstrated in Georgia Syria, Crimea and Ukraine.”

He continued, turning a page of his notes.
“As the African Continent is going to provide a quarter of the
world’s oil in the next ten years, coupled with the fact that
Russia is now facing competition from the U.S, EU, Chinese, and
Indian companies as well as with corporations from the Arabian
Peninsula in the region, it is the Agency’s belief that ARCTIC
TIGER intends to rebuild what they perceive as their natural
position in the world. It is also our belief Russia intends to
achieve this ambition through its use of their competitive
advantages in quality-price ratios they currently enjoy in the
knowledge of prospecting, production, and transportation of natural
resources in tandem with their military ‘wrapper’!”

The Director paused again, ignoring the
Secretary’s gesture of throwing his pencil down to show his
displeasure at him. He took another sip of water before
continuing.

“
With no traditional
colonial influence in Africa; our analysts believe that Russia, by
concluding this deal with the continent’s newest state, are sending
a message that they intend to compete against our U.S. trading
links that we have under the AGOA (American Growth and
Opportunities Act) within the region. This is furthermore supported
by HUMINT intelligence sources that advise that ARCTIC TIGER
privately sees the ‘Arab Spring’ policy of this Administration as
re-branded product of the privatization policy U.S. Administrations
have used in Russia in the nineties as a tool to degrade
competition to U.S. interests.”

The Secretary of State sighed inwardly. He
wasn’t a fan of Director Young seeing him as the epitome of elegant
evil with his affectations, even if he was a fellow “Bonesman” from
Yale.

He decided to push on, as the Director wasn’t
telling him anything he didn’t already know having dealt with
ARCTIC TIGER in frosty meetings in the past, none more so at the G8
summit last year where he had clearly stated his desire that it was
Russia’s right to be equal partners with the United States of
America in the world and demonstrated it by out-foxing the
administration with regard to the Ukraine’s mineral rich Eastern
Provinces return to the Russian fold, despite the sanctions.

“
So, what you are saying is,
this is the beginning of the second Cold War that the various
‘Hawks’ in our departments have been touting since Putin came to
power and not just a sample of more of his grandstanding in manner
of the Ukraine to score points of the President?” He ignored the
use of Putin’s ARCTIC TIGER “call sign,” as he had enough of that
when he had left the Navy in the sixties.

A former analyst, then the Station Chief of
Moscow who had overseen operations to disable Russia in the early
nineties, the Director had a total distrust of everything ‘Putin’
and saw him as many in the American Civil Service did as a modern
day Stalin, just without the death camps.

So although he had only been in the top job
for two months the man immediately seized this opportunity to
promote his crusade to “not to drop the guard” against the “old
enemy.”

“
Yes, Mr. Secretary. We now
believe that is the case,” David Patrick Young answered without a
flicker of emotion on his face just as the President of United
States of America walked into the room.

9

Moscow

Sitting at his desk so he could read the
latest analysis reports around the world, Alexei Nikolai Anynkov,
the Director of the SVR, the organization that is responsible for
intelligence and espionage gathering outside the Russian Federation
and within, providing the dissemination of intelligence to the
Russian President, picked up a cup of black tea. He pulled the
report from the resident asset manager in the US towards him,
opened it and started to read.

Littered with “codenames” to reflect
companies and senior individuals in the U.S. Government it provided
him initially with an analysis of Krivet’s conversation with Joseph
McGiven. This wasn’t an unusual event, as the SVR routinely
monitored all the world’s major media company C-Suite individual
telephone communications just like their counterparts in the U.S.
did from time to time. In the case of the famous U.S. media mogul,
the monitoring of all his calls had only just been stepped up since
the President, at a meeting he attended in Moscow two months ago,
informed “Fama” the English Oligarch asset of the President that he
would like him to lead the delegation of Russian businesses to
invest in Africa.

The Russian President had chosen the
“Anglichanin”, as Alexei Nikolai Anynkov thought of Thomas,
notwithstanding his Russian passport and his unique basket of
business assets, but more importantly because he had seen how well
he had built his company’s position within the new African State.
The President was convinced that in order for this plan to succeed
they would need to engage in a program to win the “hearts and
minds” of public opinion around the world, unlike they had in the
past with Georgia and Syria. He had taken his time to find a
possible opportunity that would enable Russia to do that.

The Federal Republic of Adwalland with its
location at the entrance to Red Sea was rich in natural resources
and he had determined that it represented the perfect situation to
start the re-establishment of Russia as a military power, much to
the surprise of Alexei, until he had explained why.

The day the Englishman had brought Krivets
into the circle of trust meant that the cat was truly out of the
bag and the game could begin on the political stage. This view,
held by Alexei, was further supported by what he read next in his
summary.

The local resident had reported that sources
within National Security Organizations were now advising that, in
the last week, their companies had been asked to elevate
counterintelligence operations against Russia in all theatres.

Again, Alexis mused there was nothing new in
this intelligence as the “Hawks” in the State Department and
National Security Organizations of the United States had always
held a deep suspicion of the Russian President and his
objectives—so much so they were always making such recommendations.
He had also come to the conclusion with the appointment of David
Young to the head up the CIA a few months ago, the very man who had
led his country into chaos with his assets through their advice and
management of Yeltsin program of privatization in the 1990s, that
this type of intelligence chatter would be now become more
common.

It was the next line of the report that
really caught his eye, with the phrase, “President’s Authorization
has been granted.”

That was something he hadn’t expected!

Immediately Alexei put down his tea picked up
his phone then dialed the President’s Office to ask for a time to
see him that evening.

10

London

The dinner was arranged for quarter to eight
o’clock but he was late and Thomas didn’t have time to change, so
instead he found himself in the study waiting for Nara to join
him.

Nara, running late as was the norm, walked
into the study just as the clock in the study chimed seven thirty.
She was wearing a sexy, short, black couture dress from one of the
many famous designers she gave her patronage to.

“
By God, she is beautiful,”
reflected Thomas as he recovered from the stunning sight she
presented.

The silk dress, designed with lace around the
front and sides provided revealing glimpses of her bare olive skin
from the thigh up to her cleavage in front, had left nothing to the
imagination—she was a vision of alluring elegance.

“
God knows how much that
cost me?” he thought as for all her natural beauty and the ability
to look stunning in anything, his ‘wild horse’ as he fondly thought
of her certainly knew how to spend it. By definition, she fitted in
well with the wives and girlfriends of the Oligarchs that were
exiled in London.

To finish off her look, she wore a pair of
high stilettos with ankle straps, the color of legendary soles of
the designer matching her very kissable made up red lips. “Darling
you look absolutely ravishing,” he said as kissed her gently on her
cheek so not to ruin her lipstick. He put an arm around her and
felt his loins stir as his fingertips traced along the length of
her long naked back.

“
Thank you, my darling!” she
sparkled. “I am pleased you like it,” she followed up with an
alluring smile to match her sparkling eyes that seemed to Thomas to
be working in tandem with diamonds in her ears and around her
neck.

Changing the subject quickly to fight the
urge to cancel dinner there and then and take Nara to bed instead,
he asked if she knew who the woman was that would be joining them
for dinner as Steve’s companion. His personal assistant had told
him earlier she was an actress, but he had never heard of her.

“
Yes! Darling, she is on the
TV Show that Victoria watches—you know, the one with all the
singing,” Nara answered straight away with authority.

“
That means she’s young
then, I suppose?” he said with a twinkle, as he knew Stevie liked
his women young and had a reputation of using his position and the
casting couch to full effect. Looking at his watch, the small talk
over, he said, “We better make a move. I will brief you in the
car.”

During the short drive, he briefed his
‘partner in crime’ on the background of the night. Nara listened
carefully as he spoke, so she didn’t miss anything. It had filled
her with immense pride that the President of Mother Russia saw ‘Her
Thomas’ as a key part of his plans to rebuild her country’s status
in the world.

For Nara, like the vast majority of her
contemporaries of the émigré community, considered him a strong and
fair leader in direct contrast to rest of the world that fell
outside his influence.

Being street smart, she had learned early on
in her life that important men often like to impress pretty girls
engaged in pillow talk after sex. Yet it was only after the time
when he had made love to her after punishing on that terrible day
that Thomas changed towards her in this regard and started to treat
her as his sounding board by involving her in his thought forming
processes.

Whenever he did, it proved to Nara that she
was truly his woman not just Hiskəniz (meaning concubine). It also
had the added effect of allaying her fears as to Thomas moving on
from her, something that had been festering inside her since he
took the decision to send Victoria to boarding school.

Most of the time she had learned Thomas
preferred for her to sit quietly and listen, but one thing he
always did without fail was to ask her at the end of the night for
her impressions on his associates when acting as his hostess. This
act alone made her feel special.

“
I will not let you down my
darling,” she responded in Russian smiling at him taking his hand
as he finished his briefing. Arriving at the restaurant, the
resident paparazzi readied themselves as they pulled up just in
case it was a famous person about to get out of the car.

On seeing it was Sir Thomas Litchfield with
his famous girlfriend, the bulb flashes immediately lit up the
street as they stepped out surrounded by their bodyguards. Thomas
straightened his back and helped Nara out of the Rolls Royce
Phantom. They briskly walked together arm in arm into the
restaurant, ignoring the volley of flashing lights.

Once inside they entered the bar, Steve,
having already arrived with his companion and his own bodyguard
quickly spotted them and waved them over to join them.

Expressively, he hugged Thomas first, as was
his way, before respectfully kissing Nara on each cheek. Initial
formalities out of the way, he introduced his young companion
standing just to his side.

“
Guys, this is Daniela,” he
said.

Thomas and Nara immediately thought that she
was incredibly beautiful. Eighteen, she may be, but she came across
as an illicit sixteen something they also surmised she almost
certainly used to her advantage with certain types of men or women.
Both also assumed unkindly that because she was with Steve, a man
old enough to be her father and who had a passion for young girls,
this was the reason why she was currently starring in the
successful TV show set in a high school on the network owned by
MNG.

“
Yes,” Nara reflected,
recognizing a predator instantly. “In looks she maybe a child
underneath, however, she is anything, but!” she thought with
authority.

“
Christ, Stevie, you’re
going get into trouble one day!” Thomas thought as he reached the
same conclusion as his beautiful companion, just by a different
route.

“
It is a pleasure to meet
you both,” Danielle responded with her best apple pie accent and
smile just as she did on her television show, kissing air with each
of them in turn after she had said it.

Introductions over, they went straight to the
table.

As Thomas slid into one of Nobu’s famous
booths, Nara immediately noticed the young girl had made sure her
Thomas could see her legs.

“
Jelep, I am not letting my
Victoria watch her show anymore!” Nara jealously thought. Thomas,
who unknown to Nara was into women and not children, blatantly
ignored Daniele’s very obvious attempt.