The Manganese Dilemma

by Ian Miller

  "Who do you think you are?" the FSB agent stood up and threatened to physically assault this intruder.

  "Colonel Fyodor Maslov," he said, and waved an identity card.

  "Oh. I'm sorry. I –"

  "Not yet you're not," Maslov said coldly, "but I assure you, you will be. You will report to the front desk and arrest yourself for corruption. You will then request to be taken to the cells you threatened Doctor Bazina with, and you will be locked in. You can do that voluntarily, or you can make me chase you, in which case you will be sent to Lubyanka Square, where I am sure you will be treated with the care and attention I request."

  The officer stood there, stunned.

  "You still here?" Maslov said, his voice now icy. "Move!"

  A rather embarrassed and very subdued officer left the room.

  Maslov turned towards the rather frightened woman and said as warmly as he could manage, "I'm sorry for that. I genuinely apologise, and I promise you, you will be able to go back to your institution in due course."

  "Due course? What –"

  "Don't worry. I want to hear your story for myself, and maybe ask you some questions. And don't look so worried. Nothing bad will happen to you."

  "That officer might –"

  "He won't. Of that I assure you. If you are worried about him, and I can see why you might be, he will never come anywhere near Ufa again. I do not tolerate that sort of behaviour. Now, how would you like some tea, and maybe some cookies?"

  "I would like that." She was still apprehensive, but declining something from such an important official was, she believed, a bad idea.

  "Excellent. We shall go to the office they have allocated me, but before that, let me phone through an order."

  He made the phone call, ordered, then requested someone check that the officer had indeed arrested himself. It appeared he had not, but he had not run either. Maslov asked for a Captain, and explained why the officer was to be arrested, and ordered it done immediately.

  "So, now let me take you somewhere more comfortable."

  She followed Maslov to a somewhat grandiose office, and sat down in the proffered chair.

  "So, what do you think of the office?"

  Doctor Bazina was a little taken back by this, and thought it better to make some platitude. "It's big." When this seemed too little, she added as an explanation, "It's a lot bigger than my office."

  Maslov laughed, and added, "Come on. Tell me what you really think."

  "It seems to have what you need," she said, "but, well, it seems to have been assembled in a hurry without . . ." She stopped, frightened to continue.

  "Very well observed," Maslov said. "We have some more work to do, I can see, to get past the barrier that fool erected, so let me explain. I have just arrived myself, a couple of days ago, actually. The Director in Moscow told the people here to make sure I got everything I needed, so they got to it. It's all right, but it sort of lacks something, like looking as if everything hadn't been just dumped here."

  There was a knock on the door, and a trolley came in with tea and some tasty food.

  "Help yourself, make yourself comfortable, and then tell me what brought you in here."

  So Doctor Bazina explained what had happened, and to her surprise, Maslov simply nodded, and gave an encouraging smile. Finally, he asked, "So what made you think to come here?"

  Doctor Bazina took a breath and said, "She was almost demanding answers to some issues about novel manganese chemistry, but she did not understand anything about what I was saying, and it was obvious . . ."

  "Go on."

  "Well, what I was telling her was what we had published in a scientific paper a year ago, so if she were in the field and that interested in my work, she should have read that, so . . ." She looked a bit embarrassed, then continued, "I made up some rubbish, and she nodded wisely, and . . ."

  "Very clever," Maslov said, as he nodded and smiled to further encourage her. "So you conclude?"

  "I don't know, of course, but I am suspecting that this woman was spying, and there must be something to do with manganese that is a secret, and this woman was fishing."

  "Well done!" Maslov said. "So what did you do then?"

  "I excused myself, on the grounds there was a crisis in the lab, which there wasn't but –"

  "I understand. Now, the question is, do you want to do a little more for your country?"

  "What?" Doctor Bazina was clearly suspicious.

  "Possibly nothing, but my guess is you were right, and that person was an American who was persuaded to try her hand at collecting information, and she wasn't really any good at it."

  "But why would –"

  "Because," Maslov explained with a smile, "somebody else was supposed to do this job, or at least that's my guess. I was told that there was an American scheduled to come here, but the passport details did not match what that person was supposed to be. We were lucky, there, because it depended on some very good work by a junior in Moscow. My guess is, there was some planned intelligence gathering operation that was somehow related to manganese, and when the required person could not be here, they prompted this woman to ask those questions."

  "You mean, they did not have time to train her?"

  "Exactly so, nor to prime her up. I think what you guessed was exactly right. When all else failed, they let this woman go fishing and hoped something would strike."

  "I still don't understand what you want me to do," an apprehensive Doctor Bazina said.

  "Because I have yet to ask you," Maslov said. "Basically, it is this. Continue doing what you have been doing, but keep an eye out for any other curious enquiries about your work. If that woman did not understand what you were saying, but took notes, the people at the other end will see –"

  "They'll see standard stuff, and a bit of rubbish," Doctor Bazina snorted.

  "Exactly," Maslov said. When he saw the slightly bewildered expression, he added, "They will see that you are very competent in your field, and then they will see rubbish reported, but they will assume that the woman, who really was out of her depth, got it completely wrong. So they will try to send someone else to find out what is going on."

  "So, what do I do?"

  "First, keep an eye out for anyone coming from somewhere else who is interested in your work. Get all your students or co-workers to do this. Don't tell them why. Just tell them that you want to be the only spokesperson on this matter."

  "What if they say they won't go along with that?"

  "I think you'll find they will. You can remind them that their funding might be on the line."

  "They might dispute my power to do that."

  "In which case give me their names, and I shall assure them you have the power. And," he added with a smile when he saw her doubt, "I assure you the organization I work for does have the power, and I shall back you up."

  "So, suppose I am the spokesperson. What do I say?"

  "First, delay. Make an appointment if you can, and let me know. I'll give you a mobile number so you can do that at any time. Then we shall give you some more well-constructed irrelevancies to tell them."

  "If they know, it could be dangerous –"

  "That's why you make the appointment. You shall have something you can signal that you think you're in trouble. I doubt you will be, though. What they will try to do is to get information without letting us know they are there. So, will you do it?"

  "I guess so," she said. "I don't know how good I shall be, but –"

  "You don't have to be good. All you have to do is be yourself. I shall give you some guidance, and also a carrot."

  "A carrot?" She was clearly puzzled.

  "Yes. To make this work you have to look to be more important, so I shall try to arrange for some serious additional funding for your work."

  "What do I have to work on?"

  "Whatever you like, and use the money to encourage the others to accept you as the sole spokesperson. Spend the next few days thinking of some good pr
ojects, and when this is over, if nothing else, if you are any good, your career will make some good advances." He paused, then shrugged as he added, "And if you're not any good, well, you had your chance, and there will be no repercussions, other than the failed opportunity, and that will be your fault."

  "So what do I have to do to earn this?"

  "When someone comes and asks suspicious questions, just answer them from some prepared notes I shall give you. Don't worry about whether they are true, but just keep to the script."

  "Suppose it's a genuine enquiry from –"

  "A genuine enquiry won't be on the topic on the sheet. If it has nothing to do with that, be yourself."

  "That's all you want?" Her look showed she did not believe it.

  "That's almost all," he said with a disarming smile. "I shall need the keys to your filing cabinet. I shall insert a couple of files, and you will ignore them."

  "I can ignore something quite easily," she said with a smile.

  "It wouldn't hurt if you read them," he said, "but they wouldn't make much sense so I wouldn't waste time. One more thing. You will have to memorise the notes I give you, and if you have to use that material, you're going to have to look as if you believe what you say, so it might put a bit of a stretch to your acting. I want you to try and do it, but don't worry. If it doesn't work, it won't be a disaster. If you can get it right, it'll be a bonus for me, but if you can't, so be it."

  "I'll manage," she said with a nod of assurance. She was confidant, but also so pleased this day had not turned out so badly as she thought it would about half an hour previously.

  "One last thing," he said. "I shall also have you put some dummy messages in your email account. Just ignore them, but never email me. If you need to send me facts, write them down on paper and dial this mobile number. A courier will come and get them."

  "You don't trust our email security?" she said with a smile.

  "If the Americans bite, there is no internet security that will totally protect you. But don't worry. You will be safe personally, and when this is over, I promise you you will have stories to tell that you can use to keep up your profile for as long as you wish."

  Chapter 13

  Colonel Maslov sat back in his chair and stared at the desk, which was essentially bare but for an empty in-tray and an out-tray containing one file. He had misgivings about being here; Ufa was not exactly the place to make the next advance to his career, but when the General ordered him to come here, there was little choice. He would so much have preferred to stay in Moscow and he so missed Jannochka and little Nadya and Kolya. He would phone them later that evening.

  The barren desk was a good suggestion that he had no real role in Ufa, and he was so pleased with himself that he had encountered that piece of corruption. The General had ordered him there to oversee possible espionage relating to a major advance. In particular, it related to attempts to uncover work on an unusual manganese compound that had been developed for military use at a secret laboratory set in the forest to the north east of Ufa. He knew nothing more about the material, not that it would have mattered because on a matter of advanced science he would not understand it anyway. Maslov's task was to ensure that such espionage did not succeed, but also to identify any foreign agents of Russian origin that turned up, and if possible, let them run under surveillance provided they did not gain access to that laboratory. He was also to arrange for security for the perimeter of that laboratory.

  The security part was easy. The army provided soldiers who would maintain a guard twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. There were two fences a hundred meters apart, and as an additional guard against illegal access, the zone contained a minefield. That degree of security had taken hardly any time at all to organise because it had all been done before he had arrived. He knew only too well that no place was impenetrable, but this was about as close as could reasonably be achieved. It was always possible for someone with the right equipment to cross a minefield, but a local spy would hardly have that, and even with it, crossing would be slow, or would be relying very much on luck. It was unlikely an emplaced agent would want to tackle a minefield.

  When Maslov had arrived, he had never believed such espionage was likely, and before he had left Moscow, he and Jannochka had rather gloomily discussed whether he had done anything to warrant being sent away on a nothing job. He could not think why he was being side-lined, but going to Ufa on such feeble prospects seemed as if it were the end of his career. After all, manganese compounds? Who the hell cared about that? These scientists usually had this urge to publish or talk anyway, and even if they did not, manganese chemistry was hardly likely to be the stuff of important secrets. If the heads of the Russian government thought it was, then he suspected that some chemists had been making stupid promises in order to get more funding.

  That was until Doctor Bazina had turned up. When he had checked the appointments book, he saw her name and, with little better to do, he did a quick check and found she was a manganese chemist. That sparked his interest. He was convinced she was a fraud, and was talking up for more funding, and was probably going to offer some sort of bribe to get an FSB agent to support her. So he had surveillance set up on the interview.

  What he heard was a surprise. He quickly became convinced his guess about the chemist was wrong, although the corruption part was right, but not initiated by the chemist. That was strangely fortunate, because everyone in Ufa was wondering what his role there was. A good cover was exposing corruption, so that officer was going to be shown the consequences of using his position for extortion. But even more promising, it appeared that the General might have known something was likely to happen. Maybe his career was not over.

  He knew fine well why the General would not have told him anything about why espionage was suspected. He would not tell subordinates more than they needed to know, the reason being that if you told someone to find something, they frequently did. The fewer the details, the more likely what they found would be real.

  He also considered himself a fair judge of character, and he was sure that Doctor Bazina had grounds for her suspicions. He was certain she had considered a visit to FSB headquarters with all the enthusiasm of someone going for root canal surgery. She had come because she considered it her patriotic duty, and perhaps also a touch of fear that if she did not, and the situation she described later became relevant, she could be considered an accomplice. He was also reasonably confident that that situation had involved someone who was a last minute addition to whatever plan the Americans had. Would they try again? Maybe. Maybe they would try to kidnap Doctor Bazina. If they did, and if by some miracle they avoided the surveillance he would put on her for her own protection, the tracer he gave her would lead him to them.

  He would report what had happened so far to the General. If nothing else, it would show he was not vegetating.

  His phone rang. A call from Moscow, with the highest level of encryption. After he carried out the necessary procedure to have it unencrypted at his end, he found it was a call from the General.

  "Well, Fedya, enjoying Ufa?"

  "Sir, it is a pleasant spot, but I assure you –"

  "You think this is a nothing job don't you?"

  "No sir."

  "Oh, come on. I saw the look on your face when I ordered you there."

  "Yes sir, I thought so then, sir, but not necessarily now." He then gave an account of the interview with Doctor Bazina.

  "So you think this was an American agent at work?"

  "Not exactly sir. I think she was a last minute recruit. The party had one person who had his visa rejected because the passport details did not match what our records stated the person should have. I know this sounds almost ridiculous but I think for some reason the Americans think there is some secret use of manganese that we are hiding."

  "I think they do too, which is the real reason I sent you there. You are aware of a certain laboratory out in the countryside?"

  "Yes, s
ir. I have had a look at the security and it seems to be reasonable."

  "Only reasonable?"

  "Sir, I have yet to check where the mines were laid, but I would hope they were also where unwanted visitors might try to take cover, such as behind trees."

  "I think you will find it adequate. As a general rule, if you can identify such spies without their knowing, they should be let run, so we can observe their future movements and contacts."

  "Agreed, sir."

  "Now, here is some further information. I don't know whether you have heard of Saveliy Ivanovich Kapralov?"

  "Can't say I have, sir."

  "Well, he is one of our minor oligarchs, and he controls most of our country's manganese. What do you think of that?"

  "I am sure there is some further information you wish to pass on to me, sir."

  The General laughed, and said, "If you thought things were bizarre up to now, this gets a lot worse. As you can probably guess, Kapralov has a lot of money salted away in tax havens." The General stopped talking, and waited for a response.

  "Not entirely a surprise, General, although why this is permitted is . . ." Maslov stopped. He had to be careful.

  "You think it's annoying, don't you Fedya?"

  "Amongst other things, I think he should pay his taxes."

  "Oh, don't worry. He does that. He knows fine well we have our eyes on him, and he is being a very well-behaved oligarch."

  "That's good to hear, sir, but the relevance?"

  "Ah, yes, I was digressing. This is where it gets interesting. He has suffered computer attacks, and we have enough of the hacking code to identify it as being from the NSA family."

  "Ah. So the Americans are also interested in –"

  "The Americans also found the offshore accounts, and at first nothing happened to them, then suddenly they were raided and about eighty million removed."

  "Surely the NSA isn't into common theft?" Maslov was quite surprised.

  "That particular hack was nowhere nearly as well disguised, and we located the source as being in New Jersey, but not at a government site."

  "So," Maslov laughed, "the Americans have a rogue agent?"