Catherine looked away for a moment, thinking this through. ‘Not to me, no,’ she said. ‘But wouldn’t you mind a lot if she didn’t come back?’
‘I’ve gotten used to the idea,’ he admitted. ‘I think it’s probably the best thing for everyone involved. Including me.’
Catherine nodded. ‘I see. So what is it exactly you want me to do?’
‘Just do your work, as before, without me. And try not to draw attention to the fact that I’m not there.’
‘I can do that,’ she agreed. ‘Will this thing get you into any trouble?’
‘It shouldn’t,’ he said. ‘It’s not part of the plan. It’s nothing I can’t handle, no matter what happens. So you’re OK with this?’
He saw her hesitate for a brief moment before she answered.
‘Yes, I’m OK.’
‘All right. I’ll go through everything with you that will need to be done.’
‘And if someone asks where you are? What will I say?’
They both knew he was asking her to lie on his behalf.
‘If you’re at the mine, say I’m at the power station. If you’re here, say I’m at the mine. And if anyone is persistent, you could say I have a bad cold, and I’m staying in bed for a couple of days to shake it off. OK? I am sorry to put you in that position, but with any luck, no one will notice. Most of the time they only notice me when they need me to fix something for them.’
Catherine nodded. Dishonesty was not in her nature, and he felt bad about involving her. At least, being a foreign guest, she was unlikely to get into too much trouble if they were caught. He hoped he could count on her silence. He thought about asking for her word that she would keep this information between themselves. But he decided to make a leap of faith. She sat in silence, and he could see on her face that her mind was going over the implications of what she had just agreed to.
‘If you need any help with anything while I’m gone, or you’re not sure about anything, then Grigory will help you.’
She looked up sharply when he mentioned Grigory’s name and he regretted saying it. She already knew far too much.
‘Grigory knows that Anya is leaving?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘He does. You, me and him. And Anya of course. No one else needs to know.’
After a while, she said, ‘You are definitely coming back?’
‘Yes. I am,’ he said. ‘I promise.’
Again she was silent for a few moments, before she asked, ‘Why? Why aren’t you going with her? I thought you two were—’
‘We were. But she needs to meet someone. Someone she was in a relationship with before we met,’ he said. ‘Then she won’t need me any more.’
Hearing the words made him pause too. She really would not need him any more. It was true. Their relationship was based on her needs, and always had been. What he wanted was never part of the equation. And once he had fulfilled his part of their arrangement, he doubted she would spare him a thought for the rest of her days.
Catherine nodded as if she understood. She didn’t ask who Anya was meeting, as if that did not matter to her. He was glad. If he had to explain who Anya was leaving him for, the conversation would get a whole lot more complicated. He wondered if she knew. If she could sense that Anya liked women too. Maybe everyone had known except him. It would not surprise him. These days he seemed to be the last person to know things.
Now that he had involved Catherine it could not be undone. He wanted this all to be over, so his life could go back to normal. All of this had happened because he had ignored every one of his golden rules. He had not kept his head down. He had trusted Anya. And he had not put himself first. She had her own agenda, and he had followed it willingly. No one had twisted his arm or held a gun to his head. Even now, he could turn his back on her and on the whole business. But he knew that really he was in far too deep to turn back now.
The success of their departure, and his return, rested on the shoulders of this young English woman. It was unfair to involve her, but necessary. He hoped he knew her as well as he thought.
‘Any more questions?’ he said. ‘Now is the time to ask them.’
She shook her head.
‘I appreciate this, Catherine. Thank you.’
He could tell she was uneasy about the whole business but it seemed this was not going to stop her from doing as he requested.
‘And Timur?’ he said.
‘What about him?’ she said, her expression and body language already shifting to defensive.
‘If you could treat him like everyone else, that would be good. He doesn’t need to know anything about this.’
‘I won’t mention it to anyone,’ said Catherine. ‘Anything else?’
Yuri smiled at her. ‘Nothing. I think that’s everything.’
He’d had little option other than to tell her about his trip. But if all went to plan, no one would be any the wiser. It would appear that Anya had disappeared in to thin air. And Catherine would be in the clear.
They started work, and did not speak of it again. He resolved to tell her all about Timur, and what he had done for him, once Anya was gone, even if giving her this information might mean the end of their friendship.
Grigory and Yuri went over the route several times. Neither of them had ever travelled by the land route in winter before. But judging by the information Grigory possessed, he had obviously spoken to someone who had. The Norwegian, Yuri guessed, before they had settled on a helicopter ride as the best way to get Anya out. A trapper like him would know all of the best paths to take. Not many men still followed the hunter’s trade but there were a few still, who earned their living from the precious Arctic fox fur. They knew the island terrain like the back of their hands.
Time and the weather would be their enemies. Soon twilight would return, when the sun below the horizon would give them a little extra visibility. But that would not last long, and then they would be relying on a compass, the stars and the headlights of their snowmobiles. It would be slow going, and it was unlikely they could manage it in a day. To go too fast would invite disaster.
They would need to rest for a night, out in the harsh elements. Yuri planned to take a small tent and an oil heater. A strange way to spend their very last night, huddled together, fighting the Arctic cold. When twilight resumed the next morning, they could continue their journey. A mechanical failure or an accident, both strong possibilities, could allow any pursuers to catch up with them. But potential pursuers were not the biggest threat. If they got stuck out there on the ice and snow, too far away from real shelter, and with no way to contact anyone, then they might not come out of this alive.
The part that worried Yuri the most was not getting caught, or the weather, but that Anya was not physically up to the journey. She was underweight by Svalbard standards, and not in any shape for a gruelling, cross-country trip.
On the pretext of visiting the researcher’s weather station, he took her out for a test drive on one of the snowmobiles. She quickly got into trouble and became frustrated. If it had been a straight, flat road the whole way there, she could have been fine. But nature had not made it so easy for them. On rougher terrain, she found it tough to control the vehicle underneath her. He was intimately acquainted with her body, and knew that she had little muscle to speak of, especially where it counted for this mode of transport, in the shoulders and arms. There was not enough time to build her up, even if she was willing. So he made the difficult decision that they would have to double up on one snowmobile. This would make them heavier on the snow, and slow them down considerably. But Anya greeted the news with relief.
‘Will we still be all right?’ she asked. ‘We can make it that way?’
‘We should be,’ said Yuri, more in hope than certainty.
Anya shook her head. ‘First I travelled thousands of miles, by plane and boat, to get here. Now I have to drive for two days across the frozen Arctic, in the dark. I bet they didn’t put Taisia through so much trouble when the
y took her. She always got everything handed to her on a plate. People went out of their way to please her. Do you think they are making it as difficult as possible for me to come? Maybe they don’t want me.’
Yuri had to agree. The scenario she had described made perfect sense. They were giving her almost no help at all. As if they wanted her to fail. Perhaps they were worried what effect her arrival would have on their prized possession. And if it all went wrong they could say they’d tried their best. Even put one of their most experienced agents on the job. If Taisia only knew it was Grigory, she would realise what a lie that was.
Assuming they reached Longyearbyen alive, they were to find the police station and ask them to contact the British Embassy in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, and they would take it from there. No doubt the Norwegians would not be too happy. They did not intentionally seek out problems with their giant communist neighbour, but they would have little option other than to help a genuine defector. They could always deny they had anything to do with it, if they wanted. Anya, if she even kept that name, was going to disappear into a world of safe houses and secret service minders. Once more to enter into the shadow of her more talented and sought-after girlfriend. Taisia must indeed be something special if the British were willing to even pretend to try to get Anya out. Anya obviously thought she was. She was willing to put whatever life she had left in jeopardy, in the attempt to be reunited with her. Despite himself, he was intrigued by this person he had never met. She seemed to be more of a manipulator than Anya. That was a scary thought. She had taught Anya well.
When they returned to town, Yuri went to find Grigory in his office. He looked up over his reading glasses as Yuri shut the door. The only light in the room was a lamp, illuminating the pages on the desk. Grigory was hard to make out in the shadows behind it.
‘This operation they gave you—’ Yuri began.
Grigory held up his hand.
‘Not here. I told you, if you want to talk about that, we can meet in the usual place.’
‘No,’ said Yuri, tapping his finger on Grigory’s desk. ‘We’ll talk about it now. It’s designed to fail, isn’t it? That’s why they gave it to you. Some half-arsed semi-retired agent who has never done anything like this before in his life.’
Grigory looked hurt by these home truths, but then he nodded.
‘The thought had occurred to me,’ he agreed. ‘I am, as you say, an unusual choice.’
‘You might have mentioned this before now,’ said Yuri. ‘Instead of getting her hopes up. The way you waited months before revealing that you were her contact, whose idea was that?’
Grigory looked him in the eye. ‘That was mine. The whole set-up made me nervous,’ he said. ‘Asking me in the first place. I wouldn’t even pick me. And then her behaviour. I wouldn’t have gotten involved at all, if she hadn’t put herself in the hospital.’
‘You think they don’t want her?’
‘I know they don’t want her. You are the only one who wants her. And this girlfriend of hers. Everyone else rightly looks at her and sees more trouble than she’s worth.’
‘Then why bother bringing her here?’
Grigory shrugged. ‘That’s a good question. I wish I knew the answer to that one.’
‘You think they want her to get caught?’ asked Yuri.
The question worried Grigory. It remained unspoken but Yuri was sure that Grigory was thinking it too. If they did not mind her getting caught, then what about their own agent? How much did they care about him?
‘Would they inform on us?’ asked Yuri.
Grigory looked shocked at the suggestion. Watching him think it over worried Yuri even more.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Anything’s possible, but I believe not. They are making success difficult by their lack of material support, but if we succeed I think they are prepared to accept that outcome.’
‘You think? If you had any doubts about their commitment, you should have warned me before now.’
‘I have dealt with them for thirty years,’ said Grigory. ‘Up to this point they have treated me fairly, and honestly.’
‘So what is it then? Are they just playing games with us?’ asked Yuri. ‘Rolling the dice and waiting to see which way they land.’
‘That’s one possible scenario,’ said Grigory. ‘One of several.’
‘One of several!’ said Yuri. ‘I am not even going to ask what the others are. I don’t like them. Please tell them that next time you are talking to them.’
‘I will pass it on,’ said Grigory.
The fact that the British did not seem to care if they succeeded made Yuri more determined than ever to see this to a successful conclusion. He did not care whether Anya and Taisia were happy together or whether they split up after one week. His only focus was on getting her to Longyearbyen. That would be the end of his part in her journey. And after that he did not want to know.
Yuri decided to discuss the risks involved with Anya again. He did not want her to suddenly change her mind when they were halfway across the ice.
‘These are risks I am willing to take,’ she insisted. ‘If I stay I will be as good as dead anyway, so it makes no difference. At least by trying I will have a chance of a life.’
‘Once we are out there, I am in charge,’ said Yuri. ‘You’ll do whatever I say. If I decide we need to turn back, we will turn back.’
‘Of course,’ she agreed. ‘You are the boss.’
‘You may be willing to put your life on the line, but I am kind of attached to mine, and I’d like to hang on to it for a few more years.’
‘After this, you should go back to Moscow in the spring,’ she said. ‘There is no future here for you in this place.’
‘I met you here.’
‘I’m leaving,’ she said. ‘What will you do after that? Wait for the next boat to see who it might bring? Moscow is full of interesting women. I think you’d be happier there.’
Yuri shook his head. ‘No, I wouldn’t.’
‘What if I was there?’ she said. ‘What if I did not go to the west, and I went back to live in Moscow? What would you do?’
‘Is that an offer? he asked.
‘No,’ she said. ‘But if I was there, would it make a difference to you?’
Yuri thought about this for a moment. The answer was yes, it would make a difference, but he answered, ‘It doesn’t matter, does it, because you are leaving. And I am taking you.’
Chapter 20
WITH TWO DAYS to go, Yuri stopped sleeping. He had been over every detail many times in his head, and he could not foresee where it was going to go wrong. But he knew the unexpected was bound to happen. He could only hope that he would be ready for it, whatever it was.
At least this time he was in charge, not the Norwegian, or Grigory. And the fact that it was him had put Anya at ease too. The plan was simple enough. The distance they had to travel, in winter conditions, was the hard part. If they were careful, there was no need to worry about pursuers. No one would know they were gone for at least a day. There were no major storms forecast, and he was confident he could handle whatever the Arctic might throw at them. If he had any doubt that Anya would be in danger, he would have called the whole thing off. But so far things were going well, perhaps too well. And that’s what worried him.
The idea that Yuri had sown in Grigory’s mind, that the British might secretly desire this operation to fail, had made the party man angry. His professional pride was hurt, and for the first time he seemed to be personally engaged, and concerned for the success of their mission.
‘It is too much to ask you to take this on alone. I could go with you,’ Grigory whispered, over breakfast in the canteen. ‘I could drive the other snowmobile.’
‘Why would you do that?’ asked Yuri.
He did not want Grigory to come along. It would leave him having to babysit two people who were not fit for the trip, instead of one.
‘I don’t know. In case something went wrong with your one.’
‘Then there would be three of us out there, with one snowmobile between us. What would we do then? Draw straws to see who stays behind to freeze to death?’
Grigory nodded his head. ‘You’re right. You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.’
Grigory was tucking in to a plate of sausage and black bread. Whatever nervous nights he was having, it was not affecting his appetite. Behind Grigory, through the window, Yuri spotted a welcome event. The first faint halo below the eastern horizon that announced the beginning of the sun’s return. Over the coming weeks, it would gradually rise a little more each day. Then one day, as if by magic, the town would wake to find that light had returned to the Arctic.
The party man sat silently, then he shook his head.
‘I should be the one to go, not you. I should never have involved you.’
‘You should never have involved me,’ Yuri agreed. ‘But you did and it’s too late now. After the last disaster with your Norwegian, Anya will not go with anyone else now. Besides, who do you think has a better chance out there, you or me?’
Grigory looked defeated.
‘You,’ he said. ‘The benefit of youth. But it was not always that way. Once, it would have been me. Unfortunately, those days are gone. It happens to us all.’
‘You are not in a wheelchair yet,’ said Yuri. ‘Did you ever find out why your Norwegian didn’t turn up?’
‘No,’ said Grigory. ‘I have been trying to get in touch with him ever since but I have not had any reply. The last time I spoke to him was with you in the greenhouse. Not a word since then. It’s not unusual for him. But he likes money, so I am surprised.’
‘He obviously doesn’t like money enough to risk his neck for it,’ said Yuri.
Grigory shook his head. ‘I really don’t think it was fear that kept him away. He is not that type of man.’
‘Then what?’ said Yuri.
Grigory shrugged. ‘I don’t know. There is no point speculating, until I have the chance to talk to him.’
Yuri’s favourite pastime was speculation. He did not care about the Norwegian. But he did want to know the reason for his no-show, in case it affected them.
The Reluctant Contact Page 24