The Russian Endgame

by Allan Topol

“Exactly.”

  “But how the hell can we catch Kuznov and Zhou?”

  “I start with the premise that Zhou and his partners really want PGS. They didn’t get it from Walters so they’ll try again. This time we don’t wait for them and be reactive. We take the lead. Select another member of the Epsilon Unit and put that person out as a dangle. Zhou and his partners will make a move to get the PGS CDs from the dangle, and we catch them.”

  The president finished his drink in one gulp. “It’s dangerous. You better pick the right man to be the dangle.”

  “Actually, I want to use a woman… if she’ll do it.”

  “I read the bios Bill Merritt forwarded. You mean Jill Morgan?”

  Craig nodded. “I like the idea of using a woman. It changes the dynamic. Also she’s the only one who could do it. The other three are nerdy engineers. They would crumble under pressure. Jill’s not only brilliant but tough enough for what we’d be exposing her to.”

  Treadwell stood up. He looked woozy and grabbed an end table for support. Alarmed, Craig sprang to his feet. Treadwell waved him down. “I’m fine. Just a little light-headed. I get that sometimes with the new medicine Doctor Lindsay prescribed to deal with my circulation problem.”

  Treadwell walked around the room for a few minutes, then turned to Craig, “I agree with everything you’ve said, but I won’t let you use Jill.”

  Craig was flabbergasted. “Why not?”

  As he sat down, Treadwell said, “She lost her father serving the country. She lost her husband that way too. She’s paid enough of a price. Also, she’s a single parent with a twelve year old. We can’t subject her to this… and I won’t.”

  Craig decided to try another approach. “Jill’s very patriotic. Perhaps we should give her the choice.”

  Treadwell was shaking his head. “She probably would say yes, but that’s not the issue. It’s a question of humanity and decency. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “I do. And I can’t disagree. I just don’t like the result.”

  “Nor do I. The idea of a dangle is a good one. Reevaluate those three male nerdy engineers and pick one of them.”

  “Will do,” Craig said glumly.

  “Anything else?”

  “Yes sir, there is.”

  Craig told the president that Zhou was responsible for killing Mei Ling’s son. “I wanted you to know about it.”

  “You think it’s related to the Walters matter?”

  “No. Just one more example of Zhou demonstrating that he’s a monster.”

  “I know that, but let me ask you something? If we ever found a way to get Zhou out of the Chinese presidency, any chance we could help Mei Ling move into that position?”

  “Now that’s a helluva good idea.”

  “Occasionally, I come up with one.”

  Craig reddened. “I didn’t mean that.”

  With a grim expression, Treadwell ignored Craig’s words and said, “Make it happen.”

  Craig felt depressed as he rehashed for Elizabeth what had happened. They were having dinner at Tosca. The restaurant was crowded, but the tables well-spaced, letting them talk as long as they kept their voices low. She was eating grilled baby octopus; Craig a delicious rack of veal.

  “The President’s right about Jill,” Elizabeth said.

  “I know it.”

  “Tell you what. When we get home, give me the bios of the people in the Epsilon Unit. I’ll look at them. Maybe one of the three men will be okay.”

  “You weren’t listening. What you’ll find is that Jill would be perfect for the job. The three men would be a disaster.”

  “Okay. Okay. I hear you, but I still want to look for myself.”

  “Did I ever tell you that you’re stubborn.”

  “Coming from you, that’s the supreme compliment.”

  When they reached the house, Elizabeth took the bios into her study. Craig was planning to unwind in the bath when his cellphone rang. It was Betty.

  “You were right,” she said. “We got a match on the prints. Orlov strangled Angie.”

  “Good. Now we have confirmation that Zhou and Kuznov are behind the Walters affairs and the attempt to steal the PGS.”

  Craig hung up the phone and ran in to tell Elizabeth. After he did, he noticed that she was holding Jill’s bio and staring at it. “Now do you agree with me on the four Epsilon people?” he asked.

  “Absolutely. The three men wouldn’t work. Jill would be perfect.”

  “Yeah. Well, Treadwell counted her out.”

  “That’s true. But he didn’t count me out.”

  Craig knew immediately what she was thinking. “No. There is no way I’ll let you become the dangle, pretending to be Jill Morgan. Forget it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I said so.”

  “That’s not an answer. It’s the perfect solution. The two of us have enough of a physical resemblance. I’d have to get my hair cut. Touch up my eyebrows. Use makeup to get rid of some of my lines…”

  “The answer’s no. I won’t expose you to that.”

  “You think I’m not as tough as Jill. I may not have beaten up Air Force cadets, but I fought with a thug from the Taliban and won. Not to mention what I’ve done with you the last couple of years.”

  “I love you and care about you. Don’t you understand that?”

  “And you don’t care about Jill?”

  “Not in the same way. Of course not.”

  “Dammit, Craig. Don’t be so pigheaded. You’ve exposed yourself to all kinds of danger to get Zhou. Remember your attack in Bali.”

  “I know, but…”

  “Besides, I have my own score to settle with Zhou. He held me as a prisoner in a dungeon in that awful house in Marbella. Apart from my own motives, this country and the world can’t afford to have Zhou as president of China. And certainly not in possession of PGS. He has to be stopped. I care about my country, too. There’s no other way to bring down Zhou.”

  He sighed deeply. Sat down on the sofa, closed his eyes, and thought about what she’d said. Unfortunately, she was right on everything. “Okay, I’ll present it to Treadwell in the morning… on one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Nobody can know, other than you, me, Treadwell, and Jill that you’re out there doing this rather than Jill. In other words, we tell the Task Force that it’s really Jill as the dangle.”

  Elizabeth looked puzzled. “What’s worrying you?”

  “I don’t trust Leeds. I’m convinced he leaked the Walters story to the press. After today, he hates me even more. He’d disclose that we’re using a dangle and that it’s you, not Jill, just to get at me. That would put you at greater risk.”

  “You think he’s that evil and vindictive?”

  “I do.”

  “Alright. Present your condition to Treadwell along with the proposal.”

  Washington and Gaithersburg

  At eight on Saturday morning, Craig walked into the Oval Office. Treadwell was waiting for him behind the large green leather-topped desk, empty except for a cup and saucer.

  “I have some news, Mr. President,” Craig said.

  Craig told him about the match of the fingerprints on Angie’s neck and those of Orlov.

  “So you were right. Now we know what we’re up against. We have to get that dangle out there. Have you decided which of the three men to use?”

  Craig coughed and cleared his throat. “Actually, sir, I have another idea. Are you familiar with Elizabeth Crowder?”

  “Sure. She’s your whatever. That newspaper reporter who helped you stop Zhou’s plot to halt the flow of imported oil to the United States. President Brewster told me about her after he gave her the Medal of Freedom along with you and Francesca. Brewster said she was clever and feisty. His words.”

  “Well, she looks a lot like Jill Morgan and…”

  Treadwell cut Craig off in mid-sentence. “I love the idea of passing Elizabeth off as Ji
ll and using her as the dangle.”

  Breathing a sigh of relief, he replied, “It was Elizabeth’s idea.”

  “Good for her.”

  “I have only one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We don’t tell anyone. Not even the task force. As far as they will know, we’re using the real Jill Morgan.”

  Craig didn’t want to share his concern about Leeds with the President. So he simply added, “Less risk to Elizabeth that way.”

  Treadwell squeezed his hand. He’ll agree to it, Craig thought. And he did.

  “What’ll you do with the real Jill? Hide her?”

  “I’m still working on that.”

  “How soon do you want to get started?”

  “Now that you’ve given me the green light, Elizabeth and I will head out to Jill’s house and tell her.”

  Jill lived in a modest two-floor red brick colonial in a subdivision about two miles from Rogers Laughton headquarters. When Craig had called to say he wanted to come out with a friend and meet with her, she had replied, “Sure. I’m just sorry Tracy won’t be here to meet you. She’s at baseball practice.”

  When they walked toward the house, Jill came out to meet them. She was dressed in white shorts and a powder blue tank top. Craig had to remind himself that this suburban looking mom was a top aeronautical computer engineer and a former fighter pilot.

  The sprinkler was running on the front lawn. It was a gorgeous summer day, bright sun, low humidity, one of the few Washington has every year.

  Inside, Jill poured coffee and they settled in the living room. The end tables were cluttered with models of United States Air Force planes. Her father’s Medal of Honor hung above the fire place next to a picture of him in his Air Force uniform, standing beside his plane.

  Elizabeth broke the ice, telling Jill that she, too, had been a baseball pitcher. “As a girl, I had to fight like hell to pitch for my all boys high school team. It didn’t matter how many strikeouts I had. The hardest part was getting accepted.”

  Jill laughed. “Nothing’s changed. I hope you’ll meet Tracy sometime. Maybe you can give her some tips.”

  “I’d like that.”

  As they were talking, Craig was thinking: how do you tell someone you want to take over their identity? With Jill, he decided to lay it right out and use President Treadwell for support. Craig had no idea how Jill would react.

  “I had a meeting with President Treadwell yesterday afternoon. I told him how helpful you were in the interview, and he said to express his appreciation.” Jill was smiling.

  Craig continued. “The president believes, and I concur, that we have to catch whoever recruited Walters before they find a way to obtain PGS and do damage to the country.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “We’ve settled on a strategy. We want to put a dangle out there, hoping the people who recruited Walters will try to recruit the dangle. Then we can catch them.”

  “And you want me to be the dangle.”

  Craig raised his eyebrows. She had cut to the bottom line fast. “You’re close. We want Jill Morgan to be the dangle, but Elizabeth to pretend she’s Jill Morgan.”

  Jill was frowning. “Why do that? I can be the dangle… I want to be the dangle,” she said forcefully.

  “Actually, it was President Treadwell’s decision.”

  “But why?”

  Craig could tell Jill was upset. When all else fails, he had learned long ago to tell the truth. “The president believes strongly that you’ve sacrificed enough for the country. Losing a father and a husband in the line of duty. You’re a single parent. He won’t expose you to the risk.”

  “Perhaps I could speak with President Treadwell personally.”

  “The President was quite firm in his conclusion.”

  Jill winced, but didn’t argue. Treadwell was the Commander in Chief. In her military training, Craig knew she’d learned to accept the commander’s decision even when she disagreed.

  “Okay,” she said albeit reluctantly. “How will this work?”

  “You told me yesterday that you have a speech scheduled at an international aerospace conference in Las Vegas next week.”

  “That’s right. I’m planning to fly to Vegas on Thursday morning. My speech is scheduled for Friday morning.”

  “Is the conference being widely advertised among people in your field?”

  “Absolutely. It’s one of the top two annual conferences. This one draws the largest international attendance. “

  “Is there any way you could get the group to put out a blast of publicity announcing your presentation?”

  “All it would take is a sizeable contribution by Rogers Laughton to the Association.”

  “Good. I’ll talk to Bill Merritt and have it done.”

  Jill was staring at Elizabeth. “You kind of look like me.”

  “I’d have to get my hair cut. Maybe you can tell me who does yours.”

  “Sure. And the eyebrows.”

  “Agreed.”

  “We’re probably the same size. I could lend you some of my clothes.”

  Craig was pleased that Jill was completely on board. “What about the voice?” he said. “Elizabeth, you do not sound like Jill, and you’ll have to give a speech.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Elizabeth said. “Medical people can spray my throat with something, that’ll make me sound hoarse. As if I have a bad cold or laryngitis. Before the speech, I’ll apologize for that. So nobody will focus on the difference.”

  “That will have another advantage,” Jill said. “There’s usually a brief Q and A after the speech. I don’t think you’ll want to respond to technical questions. So you can beg off because of the throat.”

  “Perfect. I’d like to do something else,” Elizabeth said. “I know it’s an imposition, but…”

  “Go ahead,” Jill said eagerly.

  “From now until Thursday morning, I’d like to move into your house. You’ll still go to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but this weekend, evenings and early mornings, I’d like to be here with you. If I’m going to be Jill Morgan, I want to get to know her.”

  “That’s okay with me. The only ones in the house are Luz, my housekeeper, and Tracy. Luz has Saturday’s off. She sleeps here as well.”

  “What will you tell Luz and Tracy?” Craig asked.

  Elizabeth had a response. “That I’m a journalist and I’m doing an article about Jill. Top female engineer in a male-dominated field.”

  “I only want one thing from you,” Jill said, looking at Elizabeth.

  “What’s that?”

  “Help Tracy with her pitching.”

  “I’d love to.”

  Suddenly Jill looked worried. “What happens to me and Tracy, starting Thursday when Elizabeth assumes my identity?”

  “I haven’t decided,” Craig said. “We could take you, Tracy, and Luz off to a safe house until this is over, or you could stay here with a couple of my agents, armed and living in the house.”

  “If I have a choice, I’d prefer the latter. I could stay in the house twenty-four seven, but I’d like Tracy to live her life normally. She has school and she has baseball. That means a lot to her.”

  “Perhaps Tracy could stay with a friend,” Elizabeth said.

  “No,” Jill replied. “I want to keep my daughter with me except when she’s at school or playing baseball.”

  They all looked grim, focusing on this issue which underscored the danger that Elizabeth, Jill, and Tracy were facing.

  “Okay,” Craig finally said. “We’ll do it that way.”

  Craig felt as if he owed Jill this much. She wanted it, and he had to give her something.

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Craig regretted the decision. If Orlov wanted to, he could assemble enough of a force to overpower the agents Craig installed to watch Jill and Tracy.

  Beijing

  As Orlov related what happened with Paul Wal
ters. Zhou listened in stony silence while seething. When Orlov finished describing the debacle, Zhou couldn’t take it any longer. He picked up a half full ceramic water pitcher resting on his desk and flung it across the room. It smashed against the wall soaking a chair and the wooden floor.

  “I don’t tolerate failure,” Zhou shouted. “And I hate fucking incompetents. That’s what you are.”

  Orlov was trembling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think…”

  “That’s just it. You didn’t think.”

  “Perhaps we should abandon the effort to get PGS.”

  “Never.”

  “Maybe you should use someone else.”

  “I’ve come too far with you. Either you continue and try again, or I kill you.”

  Zhou said it in a hard, cold, steel voice.

  Before Orlov had a chance to respond, Zhou added, “And don’t try to trick me by saying you’ll do it, then abandoning the effort once you leave China. Don’t forget your sister, Androshka, is still my guest here in Beijing, and I won’t let her leave until I’ve gotten PGS.”

  “I’m prepared to try again,” Orlov said weakly.

  ”Good. This time I’ll help you with the planning. Leaving you on your own was a disaster. Also, I’ll give you an encrypted cellphone so you and I can communicate if we have to.”

  Zhou called Jiang Hua, the director of China’s military technology branch. “I want you in my office. Right away.”

  “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  “Fifteen.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  While waiting for Jiang, Zhou banished Orlov to a windowless room down the corridor and stationed one armed soldier in the room and another outside. Let him feel like my prisoner, Zhou thought.

  It’ll motivate him to make a better effort to get PGS.

  Jiang arrived twenty-five minutes later. No apologies. He was one of the few people, Zhou had noted, who were not intimidated by him. For that and Jiang’s technical expertise, Zhou gave him grudging respect.

  When Orlov joined them, Zhou told Jiang, “At the last meeting, you gave Orlov the bios of the five Epsilon Unit engineers working on PGS.”

  “Yes, I recall.”

  “One of them, Paul Walters, is now dead.”