He had considered Grigory a friend, up till now. That man didn’t exist any more. Perhaps had never existed. He guessed that in this matter, which would put them all to the test, their past friendship could not be relied upon to count for much.
He fell asleep in the chair, and woke in the early morning to find the nurse had put a blanket over him. She was now checking the monitors on the other side of the bed. Anya was still out for the count, but some of her former colour had returned to her cheeks.
‘Morning,’ said Yuri. ‘Thanks for the blanket.’
‘Good morning,’ said the nurse. ‘She woke up for a while in the night.’
‘Oh,’ said Yuri. ‘Did she say anything?’
‘Not much. She just lay there looking at you. You should probably go and get some proper rest. She’s not going anywhere today. Why don’t you come back later?’
Yuri nodded. He did need to get some proper sleep. But he also wanted time to think, alone.
‘If there’s any problem, can you get someone to find me?’ he asked.
‘There won’t be any problem,’ said the nurse. ‘It’s all under control.’
Yuri believed her. If he was ever sick, he wanted her looking after him. He decided against returning to his apartment; he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep with so much on his mind. Instead, he arranged to meet Grigory at the Blue Lagoon reservoir.
The reservoir, a man-made lake just outside town, provided all of Pyramiden’s drinking water.
He arrived first, on foot. Grigory had chosen the meeting point. There were no buildings or workers stationed here. Yuri heard a noise behind him, but he didn’t turn around. Below a thin layer of ice, the fresh water shimmered in the darkness, even though it was three in the afternoon.
‘I like it here,’ said Yuri. ‘I don’t want to be sent away.’
‘You won’t if we do this right,’ said Grigory, from ten paces behind him. Yuri half turned, but Grigory did not come any closer. His eyes were scanning the terrain in all directions. Was he really checking to see if Yuri had sold him out so soon?
‘How?’ Yuri asked.
‘I don’t know yet,’ replied Grigory.
‘You don’t have a plan!’ said Yuri. ‘But you’ve had months to organise it. Who’s in charge of this?’
Grigory frowned, ‘There was only me, and now there is you. Anya has not been a priority for anyone, except her husband. Apparently, he’s been hounding them for this for five years, and they finally gave in.’
‘Who’s them?’ asked Yuri.
Grigory smiled. ‘The other side.’
‘And are you one of them?
Grigory did not reply and his expression gave nothing away.
‘How about by land?’ Yuri suggested.
It was fifty miles south-west to Longyearbyen, the nearest Norwegian town, but it may as well have been a hundred. There were no roads between them, just snow and ice. The boats would return in the spring, but the arrivals and departures of Pyramiden staff were closely watched by Timur.
‘The land route is risky,’ said Grigory, ‘but possible. So you’re going to help her?’
‘Somebody has to,’ replied Yuri, ‘and you don’t exactly fill me with confidence.’
He looked back in the direction of the southern end of town where the helipad was located.
‘I can fly a helicopter,’ he said.
‘Can you?’ said Grigory, with a complete lack of excitement. ‘You see the trick with this is to do it without anyone knowing that you’ve done it. She has to disappear as if by magic. If you make an unusual trip the same day she’s gone then Timur will have your head on a chopping block before you know it. Unless, of course, you want to go with her and not come back. Why not do that, if you love her, as you say?’
The thought of going with her had occurred to Yuri, but now he dismissed it immediately.
‘Anya, her husband and me, one big happy family. No thanks. What’ll I say to her?’
‘We could not tell her anything,’ Grigory suggested. ‘And wait till the last moment.’
‘No,’ said Yuri, shaking his head. ‘I’m not doing that to her. She needs to know.’
‘Fine,’ said Grigory. ‘Tell her the bare minimum then. But don’t tell her it’s me. Tell her I’ve made contact, and that we’re putting a plan in motion. Most of all, tell her I said it would help a lot if she stayed fucking sober.’
Yuri studied Grigory for a moment. ‘Why are you trusting me? How do you know I won’t inform on the both of you?’
‘Because you like her,’ said Grigory, ‘More than like.’
‘But I’m not in love with you.’
Grigory smiled. ‘To harm me is to harm her. Go ahead if you want.’
Yuri nodded. He was new to this game.
‘You ever hear of Flight Lieutenant Belenko from the Soviet Air Force?’ asked Grigory.
Yuri shook his head. ‘No, why?’
‘Last year he was testing one of our new planes. The MiG-25. It goes at Mach 3, three times the speed of sound. Had the Americans scared shitless. They’ve been dying to get their hands on one. Anyway, last September Belenko takes off from Chuguyevka airbase, and instead of the mission he was supposed to do, he flies 400 miles straight to Japan. He was going so fast nobody knew where he was. Until he crash-landed at Hakodate airport, and defected.’
‘Nice story,’ said Yuri. ‘And your point is?’
‘My point is,’ said Grigory, ‘that he did it all himself. And he didn’t put a whole bunch of other people in danger by asking them to help him. Unlike Anya.’
‘We’re short on MiGs around here,’ said Yuri. ‘So how did you end up involved in all this?’
‘Which answer are you more comfortable with?’ said Grigory. ‘The one where I do it for the money. Lots of it? Or the one where I believe the world we live in is wrong and that I want to do something about it? Take your pick.’
Yuri nodded, ‘Money then. The wages of sin.’
As Grigory walked away, a thought occurred to Yuri. He turned and shouted after him.
‘Timur is interested in you. He had Semyon informing on you.’
Grigory nodded. ‘How do you know that? On second thoughts, I don’t want to know. I remember those conversations. I imagine they didn’t make for very exciting reading.’
‘You think he suspects you?’
Grigory shook his head. ‘Probably just looking for information to use against me, if he needed to. He’s ambitious, that one. Be careful around him.’
‘My late assistant was ambitious too,’ said Yuri. ‘You didn’t by any chance kill Semyon, did you?’
‘I thought that was an accident,’ said Grigory.
‘Unlikely,’ said Yuri. ‘So it wasn’t you?’
‘I don’t kill people,’ said Grigory. ‘I’m not that sort of spy.’
Yuri lingered on his own at the lagoon for a few more minutes, giving Grigory time to get back to town first. He had never been here with Anya, even though it was the most romantic setting in Pyramiden. He resolved to bring her here when she had recovered. It seemed that they had little time left together and he was determined to make the most of it. What an idiot he was, looking forward to telling his lover that he had found a way for her to leave him.
Anya was released from the hospital after five days. Being out was not easy for her. People stared, and avoided her company, particularly the irate parents of the children she had been teaching. She was annoyed to have lost her job, insisting she was fine now. But after what had happened there was zero chance of a reinstatement any time soon.
Yuri considered not telling her anything about meeting her contact, but it was not long before she sought solace at the bottom of a glass. Hoping to avoid another self-destructive breakdown, he told her in the way that Grigory had instructed, while they were out getting some fresh air. He had been approached, the contact wished to remain anonymous, he would act as go-between.
To his surprise, her face flushed with a
nger.
‘What are you doing? You think it helps me to give me false hope like that?’
‘But it’s true,’ he said. ‘I was contacted while you were in hospital.’
‘By who?’ she asked. She searched his face to see if he was lying.
‘I can’t say,’ said Yuri, realising how ridiculous it sounded. He regretted agreeing to Grigory’s condition.
‘They want to keep their identity secret. They’ll only talk to you through me.’
‘Why? Why won’t they talk to me?’ she demanded. ‘I have to meet them.’
‘Sorry,’ said Yuri, shaking his head. ‘This is the only way it’s going to work. If I hadn’t agreed, the deal would have been off.’
‘What deal?’ she said. ‘You made a deal about me?’
‘Look, they are going to try and get you away. If I agree to help.’
She digested this information for a moment. ‘And did you agree?’
‘Yes.’
‘You’re not making all of this up?’
‘No.’
When he eventually convinced her he was telling the truth, her mood changed completely to a mix of relief and elation. She bombarded him with questions.
‘When am I going? And how? Why won’t they speak to me in person? It’s her, isn’t it? That English woman. Your friend.’
He supposed it was a natural conclusion to reach. A foreigner, newly arrived in town, had spy written all over her.
‘I can’t answer any of your questions yet,’ he said. ‘But I will soon, when it’s all in place.’
He could see that the arrangement was frustrating for her.
‘You trust this person; I mean with me?’ she asked.
Before Grigory had revealed his secret to him, he would have considered him to be one of the few people he could count on in the world, if he needed help. Now he was not so sure. Nothing had been as it seemed.
‘As far as it goes, yes,’ he said, ‘but I make a habit of not trusting anyone too much. Life is easier that way.’
Anya frowned. ‘If I’m going, I might never see you again.’
There was no ‘might’ about it. They would never lay eyes on each other again for the rest of their lives. Unless they were caught, and sent to the same prison.
‘I know,’ said Yuri, ‘but this is what you want, isn’t it?’
She thought for a moment before saying, ‘Yes, it’s what I want.’
‘Perhaps we should stop seeing each other now then?’ he suggested.
She shook her head. ‘Not yet. I don’t want to. Do you?’
He pretended to consider the question before answering.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I want to keep seeing you.’
He knew he should probably tell her that it was a good idea. A clean break for both of them would be the best thing. And he knew it would certainly save him from a lot of pain, which he knew was coming down the track.
Anya froze when she saw a group of schoolchildren with flashlights approaching them across the playground. They stopped in front of her, and a girl stepped forward and handed her a bunch of tiny yellow flowers.
‘We hope you get well soon, Miss,’ she said.
Anya took the flowers and held them close to her chest.
‘Thank you. That’s very sweet of you.’
‘When will you be coming back?’ asked a boy.
Anya looked to Yuri for help.
‘That’s up to the doctor,’ lied Yuri. ‘Right now she needs lots of rest.’
The children nodded. They looked expectantly at Anya but she seemed lost for words. They turned and shuffled off.
‘See,’ said Yuri. ‘They like you.’
Anya seemed genuinely surprised. When they eventually found out that she was a defector, they would probably send special teachers into each classroom to stop the traitor virus spreading among these impressionable young minds. Yuri could already see the look of horror on the parents’ faces. Not only was she a drunk, and suicidal, but an enemy of the state too.
‘I’ve had enough air,’ said Anya.
They walked back to his apartment together. Inside, she put the flowers in a jar of water. They had obviously been cultivated by one of the parents in an apartment. Nothing grew outside at this time of year.
Yuri helped Anya undress and got into bed beside her.
Despite the fact that he was now planning their eventual separation, he was pleased their affair would continue for the time being. In the meantime, he thought, circumstances might change, which would mean she could remain with him. This was only partly selfish on his part. He considered that staying with him really was her best option; the one that would bring her happiness.
If she was really going, then the clock had already started ticking.
Chapter 13
EVER SINCE THE dramatic night at the hospital, Yuri had known this moment was coming. He was not looking forward to it, but at the same time, he did not care much about what Timur had to say on the whole business. However, he was aware that it was not a good thing to be getting so accustomed to sitting in Timur’s visitor’s chair. One of these days, questions and requests could easily turn into an interrogation, with greater consequences at stake.
Timur entered from the file room, sat in his chair and slammed his hands loudly on his desk.
‘I asked you to watch out for her,’ said the KGB man, in an angry tone. ‘And now I hear she almost died. Would you call that looking after her? I don’t think it qualifies, do you?’
Yuri had an overwhelming desire to tell him what he really thought of him. But that would have to wait for another day. For now, they both knew the balance of power was weighted in only one direction. It was also unfortunately true, what he was saying. Regardless of what role Timur had given him, he was supposed to be looking after her. He had failed. And he did feel guilty about it.
‘I saved her, actually,’ said Yuri. ‘She mightn’t still be with us, if it wasn’t for me. What do you call that?’
‘Lucky,’ said Timur. ‘For you, as well as her. Did she say why she did it?’
Yuri wondered if he really did suspect something. But he was pretty sure nothing had changed, and that Timur knew nothing more than that she was a teacher who drank too much. Whoever sent her here would not be pleased with how much attention she had drawn to herself since her arrival.
‘No,’ he replied. ‘Just winter depression, I’d say, like we all get.’
‘We don’t all try to top ourselves,’ said Timur. ‘We have never had a suicide here. She didn’t say anything about anything, beforehand I mean?’
‘No,’ said Yuri. ‘I think I might have taken notice if she had. There were no signs.’
The secret service man was clearly not impressed with his powers of observation, but he didn’t press the matter further.
‘If you don’t mind me asking, were you two having problems in your relationship?’
He did mind him asking. A lot. But an answer was unavoidable.
‘No more problems than any couple,’ replied Yuri. ‘You know how it is.’
From the confused look on Timur’s face, he apparently did not know how it was. For the first time, Yuri scanned the room looking for personal items. There was no photo of a wife or girlfriend anywhere. And since he had been in Pyramiden, Yuri had never seen him in a relationship with anyone. He doubted whether his personality was a huge attraction for the women in town. Although there was that time, a few months back, when he had spotted him at a window in Paris. That had been too late at night for an official visit. He guessed he could figure out whose room it was if he tried, but he did not care enough about the man’s private life to go to the bother. They were so far from the rest of civilisation here that sometimes people hooked up with partners they would never dream of going near if they were back home.
Yuri noticed a few new brown files on Timur’s desk. He wondered if the KGB man had finally gotten around to opening a fresh file on his lover. There was certainly lots to w
rite about now.
‘I want you to keep a close eye on her,’ said Timur. ‘And do a better job this time, will you? We don’t need another unfortunate death this winter. Moscow would call that careless.’
‘You never know what is going through people’s minds,’ said Yuri. ‘But in my opinion I think she’s not going to try it again. In any case, I will not let it happen. You don’t need to ask me to watch her. Plus, she’s talking about her future. She has things she is looking forward to.’
Timur nodded, without pretending to set too much store by Yuri’s opinions.
‘What has she to look forward to?’ he asked, as though it would surprise him to hear she had anything positive on the horizon.
‘Life without me, for one thing,’ said Yuri. ‘When she returns to Moscow in the spring.’
Timur smiled. And life without you meddling KGB bastards, thought Yuri, if she makes it to the west. That would be nice. He would not mind that himself.
‘I will be busy, keeping an eye on her, to do the job properly,’ said Yuri. ‘So what about the other thing? Can I stop doing that, now?’
Timur looked momentarily thrown.
‘Oh. You mean Catherine?’ he said eventually, when he understood. He paused for a moment to consider the request. ‘No. I want you to keep doing that too. You see her at work every day. It’s not like you have to go out of your way to find her.’
Yuri felt like arguing, but he knew it was pointless; he was not going to win. The man had a bee in his bonnet about Catherine for some reason.
‘It won’t be for much longer,’ said Timur, reading his mind. ‘One more report should do it. Perhaps. We’ll see. You better make it a good one.’
Yuri nodded, relieved that his brief stint as an informer was almost over. It had been a distasteful experience so far and he would be glad to see the end of it.
The Reluctant Contact Page 15