Charlie M (19 page)

‘We've also done a fair amount of planning,' guaranteed Charlie.

Kalenin nodded again. He's patronising me, thought Charlie.

‘The money will be in Austria?' demanded Kalenin.

‘I've already lodged it at the embassy,' said Charlie.

‘Good,' praised Kalenin. ‘Good. You really do seem to have put some thought into it.'

The General turned, looking towards the American.

‘To avoid repetition, shall we join Mr Braley now?'

It would have been relatively easy to compare pictures taken in Austria and France against those of former personnel at the Moscow Embassy, supposed Charlie.

The American saw them approaching and moved against the parapet, gazing fixedly at the view.

‘Are there many pictures of our meeting, Mr Braley?' greeted Kalenin.

Braley's chest pumped uncertainly.

‘We were photographed as well as seen during the money-changing,' enlightened Charlie, feeling sorry for the C.I.A. man.

Braley swallowed, trying to curb the nervous reaction.

‘Good day, sir,' he said to the Russian, awkwardly.

It sounded a ridiculous greeting in the circumstances and Charlie wanted to laugh. Nerves, he thought.

Kalenin continued walking, without replying, leading them from the bridge. He appeared very confident, thought Charlie; too confident, even. The man could ruin the whole thing by conceit, thought the Englishman, worriedly.

‘There's a very attractive horologue in the old town,' lectured Kalenin, like a tourist guide, as they reached the covered pavement. ‘And some pleasant cafés.'

Charlie and Braley exchanged looks, but said nothing. The American was as uncertain as he was, saw Charlie.

Kalenin made a point of showing them the gilded timepiece before courteously seating them at a pavement table and ordering drinks. He and Braley had beer, but Charlie selected coffee.

‘I have been thinking very deeply about what is to happen,' said Kalenin slowly. He was speaking, thought Charlie, as Cuthbertson would have addressed a class at staff college.

Kalenin looked directly at both before continuing.

‘I have become increasingly aware of the enormous value I have in the West,' said the General. ‘Upon reflection a value far in excess of $500,000.'

Braley moved to speak, anticipating a change of mind in the Russian, but Kalenin raised his hand imperiously, stopping the interruption. From somewhere in the square, Charlie knew, there would be cameras recording every moment of the encounter: the admiration of the horologe and selection of the conveniently free café table was very rehearsed.

‘I am determined to be properly treated,' continued Kalenin.

He was ill at ease with pomposity, thought Charlie.

‘I don't think you need have any doubt about that,' assured the Briton.

Kalenin looked at him, irritably.

‘Allow me to finish,' he demanded. ‘As I have already indicated, I will cross over on the nineteenth. I've arranged a visit to the border area in such a way as to allay any suspicion. I have selected Jaroslavice as the crossing point …'

The General paused.

‘… don't forget that,' he instructed.

‘… Jaroslavice isn't on the border,' corrected Charlie, immediately.

Kalenin sighed. ‘I know,' he accepted. ‘I mention the town for map reference. I shall cross at Laa an der Thaya. I preseume you will have people back at Stronsdorf, but that won't be enough …'

Charlie smiled at the man's behaviour. It wasn't natural, he knew. But Kalenin was sustaining it well.

‘We won't forget the crossing point,' he promised.

Kalenin looked at him sharply, suspecting mockery.

‘I've not the slightest intention of crossing in the vague expectation of a reception committee in Stronsdorf,' announced the General. ‘I must know the arrangements that have been made to receive me in the West. And be assured they will be followed.'

Braley looked questioningly at Charlie, who nodded.

‘You were quite right, sir,' began the American at last, ‘in your assessment of your importance. If it will convince you of our awareness of it, let me say that both the British and American Directors are personally making the trip to Austria to greet you …'

Kalenin beamed.

‘Exactly,' he said, apparently not surprised by the news. ‘That's at exactly the sort of level I want to conduct the whole affair.'

Charlie began to feel better and waved for more drinks, ordering a beer for himself this time. He stared around the square, trying to identify the watchers. It was hopeless, he decided, abandoning the search.

‘What time do you intend to be at Laa?' he asked the Russian.

‘Night will be best,' said Kalenin, immediately. ‘According to my estimate, if we travel through Ernstbrunn and Korneuburg, we can reach Vienna in little over an hour …'

Charlie nodded, doubtfully. Longer, he would have thought.

‘… I want you waiting on the Austrian side of the border promptly at 10.30. But not before. I don't want a caravan of cars attracting attention,' ordered Kalenin.

‘It'll hardly be dark,' complained Braley.

‘Dark enough,' insisted Kalenin.

‘Shouldn't we arrange a contingency situation, in case there is any cause for your being delayed?' asked Charlie.

Kalenin smiled sympathetically at the Englishman.

‘Instructing me on trade-craft?' he mocked.

‘Trying to guarantee a successful operation, General,' retorted Charlie, tightly.

‘Nothing will go wrong,' said Kalenin, confidently. ‘Nothing at all.'

He raised his glass, theatrically.

‘To a perfect operation,' he toasted.

Feeling uncomfortable, both Charlie and Braley drank.

‘And another thing,' said Kalenin. ‘I want the money brought to the border. I want to see it …'

‘… But …' Charlie began.

‘… I want to see it,' cut off Kalenin, definitely.

He stared at Charlie, alert for any challenge.

Charlie shrugged. ‘As you wish,' he said.

‘I
wish
,' picked up Kalenin. ‘And please inform your people …' he paused, ‘… on both sides of the Atlantic,' he qualified, ‘of my insistence at being accorded the proper reception and continued treatment befitting my position.'

‘We'll inform them,' undertook Charlie. It would be interesting to see the reaction of both Directors when the tape was played in London, he thought.

‘There need be no further contact between us,' said Kalenin, curtly. ‘You know the crossing point and my demands …' he hesitated, looking at Charlie. ‘… be at Laa,' he instructed the Englishman. ‘I shall remain in Czechoslovakia until I'm personally sure you hold the money and the Directors are somewhere in the capital.'

Charlie nodded, frowning.

‘You want me to make another crossing into communist territory?' he asked.

‘Yes,' smiled Kalenin, easily. ‘What possible apprehension need you have? It'll only be a few yards.'

Abruptly the tiny Russian stood up.

‘I will leave you,' he said. He turned, then came back to them.

‘Until the nineteenth,' he said.

Charlie and Braley watched the tiny figure bustle across the square and disappear along one of the covered pavements.

Braley extended his examination of the square, like Charlie aware they had been placed by design at the particular café table. They paid, rose and without talking, suspicious that listening devices might have been installed, walked into the open.

‘Well?' demanded Charlie, as they slowly followed the route the General had taken. Both walked with their heads bent forward, so it would have been impossible for the conversation to have been lip read by their observers.

‘It's wrong,' judged Braley. ‘We've been set up.'

‘That's what I'm afraid of.'

‘Incidentally,' side-tracked Braley. ‘That gun was visible when you sat down.'

Charlie loosened his jacket, annoyed at the criticism. He hadn't checked its concealment by sitting down; a stupid mistake.

‘Did you mean it, Charlie?' asked Braley, interested. ‘If there had been any C.I.A. involvement during the meeting, would you have shot me?'

‘Yes,' said Charlie, immediately.

Braley paused, then shook his head slightly. It was impossible to discern whether the attitude was one of disbelief or incredulity.

The C.I.A. man jerked his head in the direction in which Kalenin had disappeared.

‘What do you think he's going to do?'

Charlie slowed in the shadow of the covered pavement.

‘I wish to Christ I knew. I've tried every possible permutation and it still doesn't come out right.'

Braley looked pointedly at his watch.

‘He's been gone fifteen minutes,' said the American. ‘If we were going to be arrested, it would have happened by now.'

Charlie nodded agreement, having already reached the same conclusion.

‘The table would have been the best spot,' he enlarged. ‘During the conversation, his men could have got so close that we wouldn't have had a chance to blink.'

‘So we
aren't
going to be busted?' demanded Braley.

It was a hopeful question, recognised the Briton. He shrugged, unhelpfully. ‘How the hell do I know?'

They went through the archway and began to walk towards Wenceslaus Square.

‘If they're going to arrest us, it won't really matter,' said Charlie. ‘But I think we should immediately part to double the chances of what's been said getting back to London.'

Braley nodded.

‘If I manage to reach it, I'm going to remain in the embassy until the last possible moment for the flight,' advised Charlie.

‘Right,' agreed Braley, enthusiastically.

‘There's a flight at 1530 tomorrow,
BE
693,' listed Charlie. ‘Aim for that.'

Charlie's walk back across the Charles Bridge to the embassy was a pleasant, relaxed meander. He ate alone in his room that night, drinking nothing and left the following day with just two hours to reach the airport, knowing the flight would have been called by the time he reached the departure lounge.

Braley was waiting for him aboard the aircraft, the asthma gradually subsiding.

‘Well?' queried Charlie. ‘Now what do you think?'

‘It doesn't make sense,' said Braley. ‘It just doesn't make bloody sense.'

‘Good trip?' asked Edith.

‘All right,' agreed Charlie.

‘Surprised you came straight home,' said his wife, accusingly.

Charlie stared back at her, curiously. For several seconds she held his gaze, then looked away.

‘There's been a reason every time I've been late home,' he insisted. ‘You know that.'

‘So you keep telling me,' she said, unconvinced.

‘Don't be stupid,' he said. He snapped his mouth shut. It would be wrong to argue with her, using her to relieve his nervousness, he thought.

She ignored the challenge.

‘So it is definitely the nineteenth?' she said.

‘Looks like it.'

She looked directly at him again, the hostility gone.

‘I'm frightened, Charlie,' she said.

‘So am I,' said her husband. ‘Bloody frightened.'

Kastanazy paused at the end of his account to the full Praesidium. There was no movement from the other fourteen men.

‘And that, Comrades, would appear to be a full summation of the situation thus far,' he said. No one believed him, he saw.

‘Are you sure?' demanded the Party Secretary.

Kastanazy nodded.

‘Incredible,' judged Zemskov. ‘Absolutely incredible.'

(16)

Cuthbertson would think of it as a war-room, thought Charlie, watching the British Director move around the office, indicator stick held loosely in his right hand. He had used it like a conductor leading a symphony orchestra all morning.

Charlie yawned, unable to conceal the fatigue. It had been a series of fifteen-hour days since their return from Czechoslovakia. After the combined report from him and Braley, Ruttgers had been withdrawn to Washington for final consultations with the Secretary of State and the President, and two special Cabinet meetings had been called at which Cuthbertson had given the complete details at the personal prompting of the Premier.

There had been a final, direct telephone liaison between the American leader and the Prime Minister and then joint approval given for the crossing plan devised by Cuthbertson and Ruttgers.

One hundred and fifty British and American operatives had already been drafted into Vienna and three tons of mobile electrical equipment flown in and housed at the American embassy. Fifty more men were being moved in that day.

In Cuthbertson's room, the map displacements had been completed. A gold flag marked Kalenin's crossing at Laa and then markers indicated his anticipated journey along the minor roads through Stronsdorf to Ernstbrunn, then to Korneuburg and into Vienna through Lagenzerdorf.

If there were pursuit, then the decoy car was to ignore the Ernstbrunn turning and carry on towards Mistelbach. Separate coloured pins marked this contingency.

If the crossing went unchallenged, Kalenin would be brought to Vienna through a corridor of operatives, all linked by radio, so that they could close in behind, surrounding the Russian general in a circle of safety.

For two hours that morning, Cuthbertson and Ruttgers had stood before the map-table, lecturing on the crossing to the four section heads who were leaving that afternoon for the Austrian capital to co-ordinate the surveillance of the field operatives.

James Cox had already been withdrawn from Moscow and was in Vienna, waiting to be briefed on the decoy manœuvre he would perform on the Mistelbach road if the necessity arose.

Only the American section head knew about the explosive device and had been briefed in the privacy of the C.I.A. Director's Washington office before the Atlantic flight. The explosive package had been flown to Austria with the electronic equipment.