Variant Exchange

by Fox J Wilde

“Fine, fine,” William conceded. “with a little luck, we’ll be done with it quickly.”

  “I don’t believe in luck. I believe in excellence and stupidity. If my excellence is greater or my stupidity is less, I win. It’s that simple.”

  “Are you so sure of your excellence?”

  “Will,” Marcus said with an honest look of concern, “how is Mr. Schmidt?”

  “Oh goodness, the brat is fine of course. I’ve kept him well fed and entertained with the best propaganda novels the GDR can produce. But, I’d like to propose an alternate solution.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We send our agents to bed without their supper, and then fire them all in the morning.”

  “Ah, but which of my agents will you be sending?”

  “And which of mine will you be sending? By last count, you had recruited far more of mine than I had of yours.”

  “Hardly quality.” Marcus said plainly, as he moved one of his pawns into position to take a knight. “I mean really, Lena? You send me Lena? That’s a triumph of hope over experience if ever I’ve seen one.”

  “The girl is brilliant, actually.”

  “Brilliant? Brilliant, Will?”

  “Yes. Brilliant.”

  “She’s an awkward, boy-crazed girl who’s ruled by emotion, desperate for approval, has almost no attention to detail or situational awareness, and is barely comfortable in her own skin!”

  “So, in other words, a teenager?”

  “Exactly!”

  “I know you don’t quite see the potential yet,” William said seriously, as he moved a Bishop into position, ignoring the threat of Marcus’s Pawn. “but she’s only been at this a few months and she’s already more competent than Mr. York…certainly more trustworthy. Look past her age and you might see a bright future in intelligence for her. And she’s going to be a far better performer than Matt will ever be. You’ve seen her perform, and you’ve seen her channel. You’ve seen her speak with The High Voice. You know what an artist with that ability is capable of. You’ve seen the way it gets crowds fired up.”

  “Yes, yes. I’ve seen all that. It’s impressive, but...”

  “Don’t make the mistake of trivializing that ability, my old friend. In the right situation—provided an older and wiser mind has given her the necessary context—that ability could light a dangerous fire. It’s an ability that Dr. King had, it’s an ability that Kennedy had, and it’s the single greatest asset that every great revolutionist possesses: the ability to convict.”

  “But those men had substance backing it!”

  “...which is the product of education and passion. She’s already halfway there—she just needs a good teacher, now.”

  “But she doesn’t even know who The Velvet Underground are!”

  “She also doesn’t know that Sid Viscous is dead. What’s your point?”

  “She…are you…are you serious?” Marcus whined, teetering equally on the edge of either laughing or crying. “How can she call herself a serious punk and…it’s outrageous!!”

  “For the same reason that she can be a serious punk and still like the mediocre junk they play on the radio: she’s behind the Berlin fucking Wall! What the hell is she supposed to know? To her, anything on that side is raging against the Establishment, purely by virtue of not being on this side. She has no sense of scale! She’s never heard of the Empire State Building, never been in a car more than three or four times in her life, has never read an issue of any fashion magazine, and has never seen a can of Campbell’s soup. Are you going to criticize her for not understanding the finer points of Warhol?”

  “You don’t even understand that, old man!” Marcus laughed. “And all of that is well and good. But the fact that she is sheltered, naive, and completely without context or purview isn’t a benefit to me. As a matter of fact, those personality traits pose serious risks to any organization. I think that’s fairly obvious.”

  “Just take me at my word on this one, Marcus. The girl will do nicely.”

  “So, a Bishop, eh?” Marcus said, considering the implications.

  “I choose my agents well, Marcus. You should know that by now.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” Marcus replied as he knocked the knight off of the table with his pawn. “But Will, the girl volunteered to us that she worked for the HVA!”

  “Oh, I very much doubt she intended to do that.” William replied, as he motioned to a rook that was now in a position to take Marcus’s knight, which drew a raised eyebrow from Marcus. “But I had expected her to, nonetheless. She accomplished her mission, and confirmed what you and Matt were up to.”

  “Were up to?” Marcus asked, honestly, as he left his knight in place, placing his fingers over a bishop and fondling it in place.

  “Oh, don’t give me that shit, Marcus.” William complained. “You knew what I was up to the moment you saw her. Two of her band-members disappear within moments of their biggest show, on either end, and Matt just happens to be within earshot of Patrick practically announcing it?”

  “Fine, fine.”

  “Give me your bishop, Marcus. You knew what the consequences were of trying to jump that knight over my Wall.”

  “Not so fast, Will.” Marcus said, as he continued to fondle the bishop in place. “You sent Vivika over as well. Why did you do that?”

  “I wanted to see what Matt would do.” William smiled slyly.

  Marcus paused for a second, considering the implications of that. He continued to fondle the bishop in place. He didn’t want to let it go, but he knew what the rook would do if he didn’t. His agent had been caught outright. Matt had gotten involved, and the consequences couldn’t be ignored. Still, it was unnaturally mean-spirited for the old man.

  “Fine.” Marcus replied, as he moved his bishop. Seconds later, the bishop was knocked off the board by a pawn, much to his chagrin. Thus, he exclaimed, “The pawn, Will? Oh, come now.”

  “It was a stupid thing to do, Marcus. Putting the poor girl back across the Wall knowing full well that the capture of Hans might very well get her killed.”

  “But a pawn? It’s insulting.”

  “Don’t you dare speak of insulting, Marcus. Your agent outed himself, and that’s your fault. Yes, I’ll admit that I was being cheeky with her, but you would do the same thing in my position.”

  “You know what I think?” Marcus said, as he reached for a rook. “I think it was altruism. I think you were hoping that whichever case officer was on this side of the Wall, he would liberate the poor girl before all that nonsense happened.”

  “It’s not altruism; it’s pragmatism. And you take your hand off of that rook right now. You and I both know you aren’t that stupid.”

  “Fine.” Marcus said, removing his hand. “You do know I had no idea until a few days ago that…that…was going on, right?”

  “I didn’t know it was you until a few days ago, Marcus. But I will admit, when I finally found out, I had hoped that you weren’t allowing such a thing. That’s beneath your constituents, let alone you.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t, Will. You know me better than that.”

  “Look me in the eyes, Marcus. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you knew nothing about Vivika and Patrick when you sent her back over.”

  Marcus leaned over the table, and gave William a sad, nearly pleading look. They both knew the rules. They could play the game and deceive each other all they wanted to outside of the barn. But when treating in sacred places like this, where foes were allowed to be friends once again, lies would not do.

  “William,” Marcus began, “I give you my word. On my honor, I give you my word. I don’t know what I would have done had I known sooner…but I can tell you that she is one of the main reasons we are meeting tonight.”

  William stared back at Marcus. He believed him, but he was still ver
y angry. Certain things all men must find distasteful—even men hard at work doing things that might be considered more distasteful on the international scale. The implications must be well understood for the friendship to continue. These were men of great import, but they must be men of moral fiber as well. To be any less was to sway influence in the other’s favor.

  “You can move your rook now.” William said, plainly.

  “Thank you.” Marcus replied contritely, as he moved his rook to the far end, taking William’s queen out of the game. “You are the bigger man in this.”

  “Don’t be too quick to think that. I may have a soft spot for the youth, but I’m still out for blood. I know who your radio operator is now.” With that, he grabbed the bishop he had previously moved into position, and moved it two steps over. “Check.”

  “Oh you discovered Bethany, did you?”

  “Don’t try that game with me.” William said seriously. “That’s how you get common assets to talk—not how you befuddle men like us.”

  Marcus leaned back in his chair then. He knew what this meant: he would have to relinquish his queen to William in order to get out of check. That was a painful loss that he wasn’t prepared to suffer.

  “What were you thinking, Marcus?!” William exclaimed, “Taking the bait with Lena was obviously the right thing to do, and it was a masterful stroke recruiting her. But to actually put her in touch with actual agents? This is beneath you.”

  “You have to understand...I...” Marcus thought it through for a second. He had gambled on her—he had gambled and lost. It was beneath him, and it was something he should have foreseen. Any lesser case officer would have made the mistake too, out of sheer desperation; but Marcus wasn’t supposed to be susceptible to such flights. After much consideration, he changed his tactic, and plainly said, “Admit it.”

  “Admit what?”

  “Admit that you put Vivika and Lena together for that purpose.”

  “Completely accidental.”

  “Don’t lie to me on this one. I’ll drink my grog if I honestly made a mistake, but it would go down much better if I knew you had suspected something.”

  “Fine, fine.” William grudgingly admitted. “I didn’t know it was you, of course…not that far back. But I suspected her loyalties all the same.”

  “Very well. Thank you.” Marcus said, moving his queen into position. That was an important piece to his strategy and he didn’t know how to recover.

  “Oh, take your blasted queen back, Marcus.” William chided, as he grabbed Marcus’s queen and slid it back to where it had been. “I’m not going to hurt Gertrude.”

  “Promise me.” Marcus said. “You have a job to do, and I understand that—but she’s a wonderful woman and beautiful soul.”

  “She’s also my ex-girlfriend!” William exclaimed. “We dated in high-school. I figured that’s why you chose her.”

  “Are you serious?!” Marcus exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “What was she like back then?!”

  “Those are tales for men who aren’t as dedicated to their wives as we are.” William slyly winked. “But memories may remain my friend…and they will remain.”

  “It’s hard to imagine.” Marcus laughed.

  “Well then, don’t. But nevertheless, your network is in check and you need to do something about that. So, I will ask you point blank…what will you give me?”

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Well, let me help you. I know you were trying to get Matt into the GDR to sow the seeds of rebellion among the youth. Which is not necessary—I assure you, my own youth are quite good at that without your help.”

  “And I know you were trying to do the exact same thing.” Marcus said. “That makes precisely zero sense. Why would you sabotage your own interests just to get one over on me?”

  “Because getting one over on you is the sweetest victory I’ve ever tasted. It’s almost worth letting you destroy my country. And besides…how do you know what my interests are with that dunce? Between you, me, and these dangerous men in here who are sworn to silence, I’ve a mind to let you do it and bring him over just to see him fail. But…why? Why should I let an MI6 agent who’s working for the Americans into my beloved GDR?”

  “Because you want my network.”

  “I already have your network, Marcus.”

  “No, you have the ability to take it down. What you don’t have is the ability to tap into it. I can help you with that.”

  “And why would you do that?”

  “Because I know the Wall will come down in a few years. After that, everything on this board gets dumped onto the floor and our brilliant strategies become irrelevant. It’s survival for your little after-school sports program for underprivileged youth…but for you, it’s something more.”

  “And what assurances do I have that you aren’t going to shut the network down at the first opportunity, or feed me counter-intelligence?”

  “First off, I don’t think it particularly matters. Once the Wall comes down, that will be the final nail in the coffin for the USSR. East will reintegrate with West—not the other way around—and no one is going to care what your intel looked like. But you know as well as I do that the Stasi will have their own Nuremburg, and you are too smart a man to get caught up in that sordid business. So, you are more than welcome to use my network to anticipate my country’s efforts so that you can negatively affect them—which will get the network taken down—or, you can use it, benefit from it in the long term, and pick and choose when to see my side of things.”

  “This sounds less like an offer for me, and more one for yourself.”

  “Certainly, for anyone that can’t see the worth of it.” Marcus said genuinely. “Your alternative is to take it down, which you certainly can. But by doing so, you will be permanently blinded to our intentions. Besides, I think you have something else going on.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I think you chose to play all of these games for a reason. I think this all has to do with your ‘rogue pawn’ strategy.”

  “Oh....” William said slowly, in a low-voice filled with intrigue, “...do you now?”

  Marcus looked at William with surprise, taking his tone into account “That’s it!” he thought to himself. He finally knew what the old man was up to. He finally knew what the old man had gotten Lena and Vivika involved in. What’s better, he had finally found a way to make it work. “Oh, this...” Marcus thought to himself, “It’s finally time. He’s finally decided.”

  Marcus looked at the middle of the board, at a lone pawn that had sat there for nearly a decade: the ‘rogue pawn’. this one had rankled him for nearly as long. It was a disparate and unimpressive strategy…as if William had forgotten what game he was playing entirely, and moved a piece into the line of fire for no apparent reason; and it was a strategy that Marcus had never been able to figure out. But now, Marcus thought he finally knew.

  Marcus reached into the middle of the board, and grabbed William’s pawn. Slowly, he placed it on his own side of the board. Then, he grabbed William’s queen, and replaced the pawn with it.

  “But, in order to do that, I would have to...”

  “...move your knight.” William nodded.

  “And then...”

  “Yes, yes, yes. I realize that.”

  “Which would place me at a significant disadvantage.”

  “You weren’t going to use the knight anyway, Marcus. It was a feign—nothing more.”

  “It doesn’t matter. What will you give me for my knight and your queen?”

  “Nothing, Marcus. Neither of us gain nor lose. The queen doesn’t add to my strategy or yours. You already know the direction this game is going, and she isn’t included in our affairs. Just let me send you my pawn, queen her, and we’ll be done with it.” He then replaced the pawn back to its origin
al position.

  “I have to know.” Marcus said, “I have to know why it’s her.”

  “...and, if you pair her up with Vivika,” William interrupted, “I think they will more than balance each other out.”

  “So what is her role, then? Vivika has the makings of a good asset, and Lena has the makings of a great punk rocker. So what? I barely need the one—what am I going to do with the other?”

  “Lena is a natural leader, Marcus; she’s an even better leader with Vivika advising her. She may not be the best agent, but you don’t need another agent with Vivika running that angle for you. You will have an agent maker in Lena, and the perfect agent for her to run. And you know what the future holds for The Project. You will need someone who can rally the masses.”

  “So, you want me to make another case officer, is what you are saying?”

  “That’s precisely what I’m saying,” William said seriously. “I’ve played my part…I’ve chosen the candidate. Now you play yours and train the girl.”

  “Are you absolutely sure that The Project should go forward?”

  “I’ve never been more convinced of anything in my life.”

  “After this, everything changes. Nothing can or will ever be the same.”

  “Everyone dies, old friend. Let’s make our mark on the world before that happens.”

  “Hmmm,” Marcus said, folding his fingers in front of his face. “So, then…assuming we are following your path of logic here…I give you access to tap into the network, so that when the Wall falls, you and yours come out on the right side of history. I also give you Matt. He sings your socialist songs, or helps hasten the Wall’s destruction—either way, it helps you stick it to the Soviets. I will also accept Lena and Vivika for training and seasoning. You, in turn, will protect my network, and give me Hans safe and sound for debrief.”

  “And Patrick.” William said, “You are taking Patrick on as well.”

  “Not going to happen.” Marcus replied. “I’ll kill the boy if I see him.”

  “You may do whatever you want with him once he’s under your care, but he will cross the Wall, with Vivika, or we have no deal.”