The Russian Doll (Ben Sign Book 3)

by Matthew Dunn

  Osip shook hands with the only person in the room. “Alexander. Good to see you, my friend.”

  The head of the archive looked at Natalia. “The SVR is recruiting youngsters these days.”

  Osip placed a hand on Natalia’s arm. “I can vouch for her. She’s not like most of the others in the SVR. She doesn’t have a political bone in her body.”

  “Then she’s welcome.” Alexander asked Osip, “Are we still on for a few drinks and a game of cards on Friday?”

  “Absolutely. But, don’t cheat this time.” Osip smiled.

  Alexander said to Natalia, “You are investigating the Sergey Peskov case, I’m told. And you have a lead relating to a Susan Archer. Why are you interested in her?”

  Natalia feigned nonchalance and shrugged. “I’ve been instructed to look in to Peskov. I don’t know why. It’s beyond my paygrade. But, I’m pursuing all names referenced in the Peskov SVR file.”

  “You must have pissed someone off to be tasked with such an old case.” Alexander laughed. “Okay. Come with me.” He led her to a desk, behind which was a chair. He prodded the file on the desk. “Susan Archer. You’re cleared to read it, but you are not permitted to take notes or make copies.”

  “I understand.” Natalia sat on the chair.

  “I’ll leave you to it. Osip and I have some boring business matters to discuss.” He walked away.

  Natalia looked at the file. On its cover were uppercase words in red. The words were in Cyrillic. The English translation was CODENAME SWITCHBLADE.

  She opened the file.

  At 1207 hrs Natalia left the FSB headquarters. She was alone and walking fast. Sign and Knutsen followed her – Sign staying close to the woman, Knutsen remaining fifty yards behind his colleague in case FSB people were tailing Natalia and he had to take action. The prearranged drill was for Natalia to call Sign ten minutes after she left the building to let him know she was safe, or to text message him if there was a problem. But thus far she’d made zero contact.

  After twenty minutes, Sign knew something was wrong. He called Knutsen. “Join me. My hunch is she’s not aroused suspicion. But something’s amiss. We’ll follow her together.”

  They stayed close to Natalia. She made no effort to take any form of public transport. Sign assumed she wanted to walk in order to have time to think.

  She arrived at her small hotel.

  Knutsen spun around. There were too many pedestrians in the area to spot a skilled surveillance team in their midst. He followed Sign into the hotel lobby.

  Sign muttered to him, “Move with me now. Put a smile on your face.”

  Sign and Knutsen walked briskly into the hotel lobby.

  Sign came alongside Natalia, a grin on his face, put his arm around her waist, and said in Russian, “My favourite niece. Your aunt can’t wait to see you for dinner this evening. Come on – let’s help you with your overnight bags and get on the road.”

  Natalia was too highly trained to show any indications of surprise or resistance. But, inwardly she was flapping.

  She forced a smile on her face as they walked past the bored-looking receptionist and took the lift to her room.

  When inside, Sign said to her, “Sit down wherever you feel comfortable.”

  She sat on the bed.

  Knutsen stood by the door, his gun in his hand.

  Sign sat opposite her on the only chair in the room. “Were you compromised?”

  Natalia shook her head, her eyes wide, no attempts now to hide her fear.

  “Did the job in the Lubyanka prompt a relapse of anxiety in you?”

  Natalia was breathing fast. “Not… not for the reasons you might think.”

  “It was something you read in the Archer file. Isn’t that correct?”

  Natalia was trapped in the room. There were bars on the window and there was no possibility of getting past Knutsen, even though he was facing the door. It was clear he was here to stop hostiles entering the room, rather than prevent her from leaving. She asked, “Are you both Russians? SVR? FSB? GRU? Special Forces?”

  “If we were, why would we tell you?” Sign was motionless. “The bigger question is why would you ask such a thing?”

  “Because I want to know if you’re part of this problem!” She placed her head in her hands and rocked back and forth. “I’m dead. Fucking dead!”

  Sign sat next to her and held her hand. Quietly he asked, “Were there photos in the file?”

  Natalia sucked air through her teeth. It produced a hissing sound. “Three photos. One was of two babies. The other two were of women.”

  “And the photos have unsettled you.”

  Natalia pulled her hand out of Sign’s hand. “Not just the photos. Everything in the wretched file!”

  Sign nodded. “Tom and I are not Russians. We are British. And right now we’re working for the United Kingdom’s government. But, in doing so we’re not representing our state’s interests. We’re representing you. And first and foremost that means we prioritise your protection. Natalia – this is not a game.”

  She looked hostile. “People who play games often spout that shit!”

  Sign nodded. “You must use your judgement. Rely on your instincts.”

  Natalia glanced at him, uncertainty in her expression. “If you were Russian, I’d already be dead.”

  “Yes.”

  “And it doesn’t serve the motherland’s interest for me to betray it, unless this is some convoluted chess game.”

  “Russian spies and politicians are not that adept.”

  She bowed her head and stopped rocking. Her voice was almost a whisper when she said, “I can’t fly out of Russia. Wheels are in motion. I will be arrested at the airport. Then I’ll be taken somewhere and made to vanish.”

  “What wheels?”

  Her expression was imploring when she asked, “Do you not know?”

  “I have a theory. It is based on facts and supposition. I agree with you – I think you will be dead unless Tom and I do something to prevent that from happening. Will you trust me?”

  Natalia looked uncertain.

  “Trust is all you have now.”

  Natalia was utterly exhausted. “You told me I was young enough to be your daughter.”

  Sign nodded. “My wife and I never had children. She died before that was possible, though she was pregnant when she was murdered. We knew she was carrying our unborn daughter. I often wonder what it would be like to sit and talk to my daughter when she was a young adult. In fact, my life is a series of segments. I imagine changing her nappy and bottle feeding her when she was a baby; laughing with joy when I see her walk for the first time; taking her to a beach in Sussex and a bowling alley in Surrey; seeing her dance in beautiful white dress in my garden; helping her when she hit puberty; talking to her about her studies at GCSE and A levels; being the proudest father when I see her get her graduation certificate from a good university; meeting a boyfriend she’s serious about; laughing with her when we watch a silly comedy while eating jalapeno and pepperoni pizzas; and ultimately looking at her and thinking she is similar to me but is entirely her own person.” He looked away. “My imagination – it’s a curse. I’ve carved an entire life that never had the chance to exist.” He huffed. “It makes me stupid and foolish.”

  “No it doesn’t.”

  Sign smiled, though the grin was bittersweet. He made a call on his mobile and when the call ended he stood. “Tom – we’re taking Natalia to the safe place. I’ll pay her hotel bill. You stay here until I’m back. Yuri will collect us. Gun down anyone who comes through the door before I’m back.” Before he left the room he held out his hand. “Natalia – I need your personal mobile phone.”

  She handed it to him.

  Sign withdrew the SIM card, snapped it into pieces, took out the battery, and placed the parts and debris into a bag. The bag would be carefully disposed of once they were out of the hotel.

  Two hours’ later they arrived at Gregor’s house. Yuri carried
Natalia’s luggage to Sign’s room, stripped the bed, put fresh linen on, showed her around the property, and told her that he’d be making a round of sandwiches and a pot of coffee for those in the house who were hungry and thirsty. He tossed a blanket on the sofa. That’s where Sign wanted to sleep tonight. Gregor was out in the grounds, chopping wood.

  Sign walked up to him. “We have a guest. A woman.”

  “I know.” Gregor slammed his axe into the thick tree trunk that served as his chopping board. “Does that mean that while she’s here I mustn’t swear or break wind?”

  Sign looked at the house. “She’s in shock. I need to speak to her at length. Change nothing in your behaviour and routine. She must see that your home is filled with normal people who do and say normal things. It will make her feel secure.”

  “What shit has she gotten herself into?”

  “Her potential imprisonment or assassination.”

  “That sucks. Tell me about her.”

  Sign gave him her biography.

  Gregor arched his back and winced. “Okay. Let me go and say hello.” He walked in to the house. Natalia was standing by the fire, shivering. Gregor beamed and strode toward her, his arm outstretched. His voice boomed as he said, “You are most welcome to my humble home. As well as us four ugly men, on site we have pigs, chickens, horses, trout in the lake and pond, a pair of ducks, a family of badgers, and a wolf. The wolf sleeps in here.” He patted Lenin. “When he sees you eat with us he will accept you. Be careful though – he’s not used to women being around.” He laughed. “And you are a Russian spy. Your presence adds to my mad menagerie of misfits and troublemakers.”

  Natalia shook his hand. “Ben told me about you. You are a Hero of the Russian Federation.”

  “Nonsense! I’m an old man who eats and drinks too much.”

  Yuri put a platter of sandwiches and a pot of coffee on the dining table

  “Let’s get some food down our necks!” Gregor pulled out a chair for Natalia. She sat at the table, alongside the four men.

  Gregor spoke while he munched on his sandwich. “I knew a Natalia once. She had beautiful hair, much like yours. I met her at the military academy. She did my washing for me. She wasn’t allowed to. The men and women were segregated in different blocks. Some other bitch made a complaint that I’d turned up in the women’s quarters with a bag full of my dirty linen. I was hauled in front of the academy’s navy commandant. He bollocked me but struggled to keep a smile off his face. He said I was top of my class for a reason – I was unconventional and clever. He told me to fuck off back to my cadet class. There was no written disciplinary action. Secretly I think he admired what I’d done. You see – getting people to help you is a significant part of a captain’s job. When we finished our training, I asked Natalia to be my date for the graduation dinner. It was a formal affair. I met her outside of the women’s block. She was in a gorgeous black dress. When she walked towards me, the slit in her dress parted to reveal a glimpse of her suspenders.” He winked at Natalia. “I thought I was in for a good night. But, she wasn’t that kind of girl. I guess she had feelings for me, as I did for her. Trouble is, we then got posted to different parts of Russia. I never saw her again. And these were the days before mobile phones. I often wonder about her.” He rubbed crumbs off his fingers. “If only I could turn the clock back and stopped myself from getting into a bloody submarine.” He slapped Sign on the back. “What was it Sinatra sang - Regrets, I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do. And saw it through without exemption.”

  Sign smiled. “I've lived a life that's full. I've travelled each and every highway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way.”

  Gregor held up his hand. ”Bang on, brother.”

  Sign slapped his hand and addressed Natalia. “Gregor and I go way back. We know all about darkness and death. After lunch Gregor and I will take you for a boat ride on the lake.”

  Uncertainty hit Natalia. “On the lake?”

  “There’s nothing to fear. It is a place that’s brimming with life. Anyway, if one of us has an accident,” he gestured to Gregor, “we have a captain who somehow managed to swim in freezing conditions for forty eight hours before making a fifty yard underwater vertical ascent out of his submarine. No Olympian athlete could have done that. We’re in the very best hands.”

  Gregor leaned forward and in a mock solemn tone said to her, “I have gills.” He giggled. In an authoritative tone reminiscent of when he was a highly respected naval commander, he said, “Gentlemen, if you please! We now have a lady on deck. Rules must apply. She uses the bathroom before any of us. Understood? If she’s in there and you need a piss, you piss outside. If you need a shit, do it on the dung heap – it will be good for the manure. If she doesn’t mind us swearing, then we can swear. If she objects to our swearing, we stop.” He looked at Natalia and spoke directly to her. “In relation to all other matters, it’s business as usual on my submarine. Any questions?”

  Natalia shook her head.

  “Excellent. Then we sail onwards as per our drills.” Gregor rubbed his stomach. “We must think about catching dinner for this evening. But first we will give this lovely lady an opportunity to have some tranquillity. Ben, Natalia, let us depart.”

  Yuri started clearing up the plates.

  When Gregor, Ben, and Natalia were outside, Gregor said, “Just one second.” He went back into the house. “Yuri – the dishes will wait until we’re back.” He looked at Knutsen. “I want both of you to arm yourselves and hide two hundred yards up the lane. Stay there until we get back. If Russians come for us, use maximum force. And work as a team. Watch your angles. Excel in your weapon tactics. If there are dead bodies, leave them where they fall. Take Lenin with you. Like you he must know he’s in combat mode. Command him that way. He will understand. To it gentlemen! Do not let me down.” His smile was back on his face as he exited the house.

  Gregor, Natalia, and Ben walked to the rowing boat, moored on the lakeside. When the three of them were in the vessel, Gregor rowed them out to the centre of the lake. He handed Natalia a rug to keep warm.

  Sign said to Natalia, “Tell me everything.”

  Natalia momentarily glanced at Gregor.

  Sign said, “I’ve trusted Gregor many times with my life, just as he’s trusted me with his life. The tranquillity Gregor spoke of is here. It is the epicentre of loyalty and openness.”

  Natalia bowed her head.

  “Head up, Natalia! Now is not the time to be coy.”

  Natalia looked at Sign. She breathed in deeply. “The woman who calls herself Katy – my MI6 handler… I’ve always known that Katy wasn’t her real name. I now know her real name’s Jayne Archer.”

  Sign was silent while keeping his gaze on her.

  “The photos in the file were of Jayne and Susan when they were babies and their current age. Aside from different hair styles, they look nearly identical. The photo of Susan was a professional studio shot. The one of Jayne was a long distance covert shot. I recognise the backdrop – Westminster Bridge.”

  Sign said, “You are correct. The woman who calls herself Katy is Jayne Archer. Her sister is Susan.”

  Natalia sighed. “That’s just the beginning. It’s not the end.” She paused.

  “Come on Natalia. You can do this.”

  Natalia summoned her strength. “If I trust you and I’m wrong to do so, you might as well ask Gregor to use a paddle to club me to death out here.”

  “There’ll be no clubbing today, thank you. Proceed.”

  She responded, “But, it will happen to me, somewhere.”

  “No it won’t. Gregor, Tom, Yuri, and I are soldiers. You are one of us now.” He smiled. “And we have a huge wolf to help us.”

  For the first time since she’d arrived at the farmstead, Natalia smiled. “Soldiers? My brother was a soldier. We’re not soldiers. We’re more than that, for better or worse.”

  “But we know how to be the very be
st combatants.”

  “You may do. I’m too young to know that stuff.” She looked him directly in the eyes. “Jayne Archer is in fact Anna Vichneva. Susan is her twin sister Dina Vichneva. The twins’ parents were a brilliant KGB male officer and female physicist. They were murdered by the KGB immediately after the births, because the KGB had a very specific long game strategy to use the twins. Jayne’s English parents - Elizabeth and Michael - were not her real parents. They are English KGB/SVR moles. Elizabeth was eight months pregnant with her own child when the twins were born. The KGB instructed Elizabeth to rush to Moscow. They cut the baby out and killed it, with Elizabeth’s consent. Jayne was given to Elizabeth and Michael and they were told to pretend they were her real parents. The KGB faked the birth certificate and medical details about the birth. The KGB told Elizabeth and Michael to groom Jayne to reach high office in the UK public sector - preferably MI6, but alternatively some other high security cleared post. The KGB kept Susan. The KGB’s hope was that Jayne would be malleable to Elizabeth and Michael’s grooming on the basis that Jayne would want to be in a position where she could track Susan in later years. Plus, Jayne would be brainwashed into hating Russia and joining MI6 by her ‘parents’ throughout her childhood. There was no guarantee this would work, but the KGB was hopeful it would pay off. Meanwhile, Susan/Dina was kept by her fake KGB parents in Russia. Susan’s unwitting role was to act as KGB leverage at some point in the future, when the KGB/SVR needed Jayne to betray a UK secret. Susan was and still is innocent throughout. She didn’t know her ‘parents’ were KGB. Nor did she know she had a sister. She grew up and lived an ordinary life in Russia. She got married, but like Jayne she couldn’t conceive children. She got divorced and lived alone. Jayne’s fake parents Elizabeth and Michael were not tasked to obtain secrets from Jayne. Instead their role was to position Jayne into a powerful government job. Susan’s fake parents were tasked to simply raise Susan safely and keep her alive.”