He turned his head toward Scanlon. “Why?”
“Three things ye did that stoolies don’t do.”
“Such as what?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Scanlon said. McCain thought he already knew, anyway. He hadn’t posed as a transfer from elsewhere in Zamork, which would have provided a reason for being familiar with anything a new arrival wouldn’t know about; he hadn’t denied that he spoke Russian; and he hadn’t shown any eagerness to tell a cover story and get it accepted. Scanlon went on, “And besides, I pride meself on being a sound judge of people.”
“Okay, Kev, I’m glad to hear it. So what do you want?”
“To buy your soul. What else would you expect from the devil himself?”
“Who said it was for sale? In all the stories I’ve read, it never turns out to be a good deal.”
Scanlon clapped him on the back. “Aha, always the cautious one, eh! That’s good. Now, I’m thinking that there’s some of us as might be able to be of a little help to ye.”
“I’m interested. Go on.”
“My understanding is that you’ve been trying to obtain certain information through the official channels via Luchenko.”
“I asked him for an interview with the commandant,” McCain agreed. “I brought it up the day I arrived, and again three days after that.”
“And what was the result?” Scanlon asked.
“Nothing. I think they’re jerking me around.”
“What was it that ye wanted to know—in general, if you take my meaning? You don’t have to be specific.”
“I was with a colleague when I was arrested. I just want to get some news.”
Scanlon nodded and watched the singers for a while, who had switched to a song that McCain recognized as the melody of part of a Brahms violin concerto. Then, as if abandoning that line of conversation suddenly, Scanlon said, “It’s not that Russians are incapable, you understand. But their system doesn’t give them sensible goals to aim at. They’re not rewarded for being efficient. They’re rewarded for achieving the Plan, even if the Plan makes no sense.” He paused, and added absently, “It leads to a lot of corruption—endemic to the society, you might say. . . . A man will get nothing done without paying the right price to the right person. And then again, if you look at it the other way round, there isn’t anything that can’t be done, provided you know who to ask.”
“If Luchenko needs greasing, he should find a way to say so,” McCain said. “I don’t read minds.”
“Ah well, it’s his way to let people stew until they get anxious. It raises the price. But then, on the other hand, maybe it isn’t Luchenko that ye need to be dealing with at all.” Scanlon paused, giving McCain a sidelong glance, and moved his head closer as he came to the point. “Some of us have a little understanding with one of the guard officers, who has access to central record information. I can put you in contact with him. He’ll be able to find out if there’s any news of your friend.”
“And what will he want out of it?” McCain asked.
“What does anyone want out of anything? Money, drink, sex, a good time. A new coat for the wife, if he has one, or bikes for the kids. Asian and Western goods still fetch fabulous prices on the Soviet black market.”
“Look, this may come as a surprise, but I didn’t come here stocked up for a long stay. And I don’t think of myself as all that pretty.”
Scanlon went off on one of his apparent tangents again. “Tell me something, Lew, is it a fact that ye’ve been something of a Russian scholar in your time? You seem to know a lot about them.”
“I majored in modern history and languages. That’s not uncommon for a journalist,” McCain said. Both statements were true. It was best if cover identities drew as much from reality as was practicable.
“Did you ever read Dostoyevsky?”
“Sure.”
“Then ye’ll have heard of the secret society of thieves who as good as ran the Russian criminal underworld back in the times of the czars. They penetrated the prison system, too, got themselves special treatment, and sometimes intimidated the authorities. Also, they had a communications network that bordered on being uncanny.” McCain nodded. And as Solzhenitsyn had described a century later, they were still around and doing a thriving business long after the Revolution. Scanlon drew on McCain’s sleeve and they began walking slowly across the compound, keeping their distance from the walls. “It works like this,” he said. “Today it’s turned into a sophisticated operation called ‘the Cooperative,’ and survives through having connections into all the state bureaucracies, even the KGB. And it exists here, too.”
“In Zamork, you mean?”
Scanlon waved a hand vaguely. “Around Tereshkova, generally.”
“Do we know who?”
“Not unless they want you to. But there are account numbers in the Exchange that you can voucher points to, which through processes that we needn’t concern ourselves with will end up as rubles in a Moscow bank. Through a code system, you authorize your creditor—in this case the guard officer that I mentioned—to draw it out. So whether he wants a blonde for himself or a bike for the kids, he’ll find the wherewithal waiting for him when he goes back on his next Earthside leave. Then, when you finally get out, you settle your accumulated account with the Cooperative in US dollars, yuan, or yen—plus interest, naturally.”
“In other words they’re offering a loan service for bribing the guards.”
“Exactly.”
“How much does this cost?”
“Well, it’s not cheap, I’ll admit. But then again, we’re not talking about the world’s most secure line of investment either.”
“Suppose a guy doesn’t get out.”
“Bad debts are factored into every business. So you can see why it wouldn’t be cheap—the losses have to be recovered somehow.”
“Suppose somebody forgets to settle up when he does get out?”
“I’d advise strongly against it.”
McCain fell silent as they turned at the tripwire five feet inside the wall and began retracing their steps. With the ability to put guards, officers, and possibly even some of the senior officials in their pocket, a termite operation like that could undermine the whole system. The fact that it extended into Zamork suggested that somebody influential somewhere had been persuaded that he’d serve his own interests better by not interfering. If this typified what was going on beneath the surface everywhere, then maybe the whole Soviet Potemkin illusion was on the verge of caving in.
He thrust his hands into his pockets and considered the implications and risks. If the officer failed to deliver, all McCain would have lost would be a few points of Monopoly money, and the Cooperative would have forsaken any opportunity of doing repeat business. If he got what he wanted but rubles failed to materialize in the Moscow bank, that would be the officer’s problem, not McCain’s. What was Scanlon’s angle on it? he wondered. The Irishman made no secret of having worked with terrorist groups, and McCain had already categorized him, beneath his superficial bonhomie and calculated loquaciousness, as capable of acting with utter ruthlessness if a situation called for it: a killer. Not somebody who was disposed to handing out favors just to be nice to people.
They came back to the group standing in front of the choir, and stopped. “So, what’s in it for you?” McCain asked. “Are you on a percent of the take or something?”
Scanlon continued staring ahead impassively and shrugged. “A man has to make a living,” he said. It was as much of a concession as anyone could have asked for.
McCain drew a long breath and sighed. “Okay, deal me in,” he agreed. “Where do I sign?”
“Leave it with me,” Scanlon told him. “You’ll be hearing.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The next morning, four of the Siberians in the central part of the billet went on strike. Although from different nations and sects, they shared a religious taboo about pigs, and were protesting at being assigned to a work detail th
at involved cleaning out animal pens in one of the agricultural sectors. It was McCain’s turn for cleaning the billet that day, which meant that somebody from one of the other billets would be working the shift in the machine shop with Scanlon.
Some of the cleaning materials kept in a closet in the washroom area at the rear of the billet were getting low. McCain made a list of the items he needed and picked up an empty cardboard box to take to the OI store to collect them. When he came out into the billet, the Siberians were still sitting impassively on their bunks, as they had been when he passed through. Luchenko was standing in the center space, remonstrating with them. “Let us discuss this reasonably. You be fair with me, and I’ll be fair with you . . .” He directed his words mainly at a tall, clear-skinned Uzbek called Irzan, who seemed to be the strike organizer. Maiskevik, as always, was standing a few paces back, arms folded across his chest, scowling and silent.
News of the strike had spread, and when McCain emerged into the mess area he found a crowd of inmates from B-3 and other billets gathering outside the door to demonstrate their solidarity with the Siberians. A guard officer was facing them with several guards, urging them to disperse and leave the matter with the authorities. McCain left the mess area and went out onto Gorky Street. He crossed to the other side and began walking in the direction of the next corridor leading into the Core.
“Settling in?” a voice called from behind him. McCain turned and saw he was being followed by Peter Sargent, an Englishman from B-12, one of the upper-level billets. He was in his late thirties, with light hair and somewhat boyish features which he attempted to disguise, McCain suspected, with his ragged, sandy-colored mustache. McCain found him cheerful and amiable, reminiscent of some of the British he had worked with in Europe.
McCain waited for Sargent to catch up, and they resumed walking together. “I’ll get used to it, I guess—even all these crazy Asian gambling games. Why doesn’t someone teach ’em to play decent football or something?”
“Do you mean soccer?”
“No, our kind, you know . . . NFL, super Bowl?”
“Oh, that!” Sargent sniffed. “I can’t imagine why you call it ‘football’ at all.”
“How come?”
“Well, for one thing it’s not a ball, is it? If you’re going to be logical, it ought to be foot-prolate-spheroid. And then, why ‘foot,’ when they spend most of their time running around throwing it?”
“What part of England are you from?”
“Cheltenham, over towards the west. Ever been there?”
“Not to that part. I was in England a couple of times, though. I like the cities that you can still walk around in. Too many of ours got turned into airports with streets on them.”
“You have to walk,” Sargent said. “It’s the only bloody way to move.”
Just then, they heard the sound of feet crashing in unison and growing louder, and a moment later a squad of guards led by a captain and moving at the double appeared from around the corner and passed, heading in the opposite direction. McCain turned his head and stared after them uneasily. “Something’s up somewhere,” Sargent said. Obviously he had been elsewhere and wasn’t aware of the latest developments in B Block. McCain spent a few minutes updating him, then left Sargent at the intersection and followed the corridor from Gorky Street into the Core.
He made his way past several workshops and the laundry to the OI store, where he passed his box over the issue counter along with the list he’d compiled. Two women were there also. McCain realized that they were watching him intently while he waited. After a while he turned his head and acknowledged them with a quick upturn of his mouth. “Hi.”
The taller of the two, who had black hair tied high, looked him up and down with shameless approval. Her face wasn’t bad looking, but it had a hardened edge to it. “I haven’t seen you around.”
“Do you know everybody?”
“No, but I remember faces.”
“What accent is that?” the other one asked. She was dumpy, with a rounded face, snub nose, and reddish hair. They both sounded Russian.
“American.”
“An American!” The tall one looked impressed. “That’s a rarity. We don’t see many of them. You are new here, yes?”
“Fairly.”
She pouted and stretched out a finger to toy suggestively with the top button of McCain’s shirt. “Are you making many friends—I mean close friends? There are ways, you know. Interested?”
“Who knows? How do I call? They haven’t installed my phone yet,” he said. The small, dumpy woman giggled.
The taller one gestured across the counter as a mountain of a woman dumped McCain’s box down on the counter. “Just leave a message with Hannah anytime. Only fifty points on the Exchange. For eighty you can have two girls and a really good time.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“What do we call you?”
“Lew. But for now, I gotta go.”
“Lew. I’ll remember. I’m Zena.”
McCain walked away carrying his box and wondering what the West imagined it could teach the Russians about the profit motive.
When he got back, it was obvious that there had been trouble. The prisoners in the mess area were standing back behind a cordon of guards with weapons at ready, and in the cleared area around the door of B-3 more guards were hauling out three of the Siberians. Luchenko was to one side of the door, gesticulating to the guard captain and Major Bachayvin, the block commandant. As McCain drew nearer, Maiskevik appeared in the billet doorway. He paused to send a strangely challenging look out across the faces of the prisoners watching from a distance, then moved over to Luchenko. Seconds later, four more guards came out, supporting the sagging form of Irzan between them. His mouth was puffed and swollen on one side, his face bruised, and there was blood on his chin and down the front of his shirt and jacket. It seemed the strike was over.
A squad of guards formed around the four Siberians. The captain rejoined them, and the group began moving toward the exit out onto Gorky Street. Major Bachayvin remained behind with two aides and the rest of the guards. “Well, what are you all staring at?” he said to the watching prisoners. “The mess area of this block is to be cleared, and movement outside restricted for the rest of today. Everyone will return to their billets immediately.” Murmuring angrily among themselves, the prisoners dispersed under the threatening muzzles of the guards’ weapons, after which the guards closed the barred gate onto Gorky Street that McCain had just returned through.
McCain went into B-3 and found Smovak, Borowski, and another Asiatic Siberian, whose name was unpronounceable and whom everyone referred to as Charlie Chan, straightening out the furniture in the center section of the billet. Evidently McCain’s first cleaning day wasn’t going to bring him much of the solitude and contemplation that Koh valued so highly. He went on through to the washroom at the back and found a pool of blood on the floor, with stains on the back of the door and down one wall. Rashazzi’s mice scrabbled about in their cage indifferent to it all. He stood looking at the pattern and could almost reconstruct the events. Had the guards delayed coming into the billet until Maiskevik had finished with Irzan, or had they left the two of them alone for a few minutes after they took the other three Siberians out? McCain wondered. He was still staring at the scene when the door opened wider and Luchenko looked in and gazed around casually with no show of surprise. Then he looked at McCain curiously with his expressionless moon-face. “You’d better get busy,” he suggested.
Scanlon came back with the rest when it was time for the midday meal. With the Gorky Street gate closed, guards posted there to admit only B Block inmates, and the mess area cleared except for those eating, he didn’t have to be told what had happened. “So that’s how the system works, eh?” McCain said. “I see now where Maiskevik fits in.”
“He’s a nasty piece of work, right enough,” Scanlon agreed He looked at McCain curiously. “Do you think you can handle him?”
“Because you’re going to have to, if you’re to do what you’re wanting to,” Scanlon said. McCain forced a questioning frown, but Scanlon’s insight was so close to the mark that he didn’t reply. There was nobody else nearby and Scanlon went on, “I don’t know exactly what kind of mischief it is ye’ve in mind, but there’s something. And you’re fly enough to know that there isn’t a lot that a man can do on his own. The rest o’ the fellas in here are all waiting for the right man, and the man they’ll follow will be the first who can take the Bulgarian. It might not be exactly what you’d call sensible, but it’s the way the world is, and the way that everyone kings to scoundrels has always had to deal with it—as if there was any difference.”
McCain reflected on the prospect. He was fairly sure he’d never take Maiskevik in an even fight if it came to that. . . . But on the other hand, he wasn’t from a school that had placed too much stress on fair play and giving the other guy an even break, either.
The next day, back in the machine shop, Scanlon told McCain to go to the library on the upper level in the Core later that evening, and to open an interactive file at one of the reference computer terminals under the label architecture, byzantine. Scanlon also conveyed the hardly illuminating, and highly questionable observation that “Cabbages dance in Kamchatka.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” McCain asked him.
“Just remember it.”
McCain did as instructed, and at 19:10 hours that evening was seated before one of the reference screens in the library, when without warning the text he had been reading vanished, and in its place there appeared the question, Where do cabbages dance?
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