Page 82 of The Collector
“She knows, Adrian.”
Carter sat down at the head of the conference table. “I enjoyed your public campaign against DanskOil immensely. The red paint on the limousine was a lovely touch.”
“More to come.”
“Is Comrade Larsenov behaving himself?”
“It appears so.”
“Russian surveillance?”
“My partners at the PET say not.”
“We’re go for launch? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really.”
“Is there something you’re not telling me, Adrian?”
“One of Russia’s newest ballistic missile subs slipped out of Kola Bay the night before last, and their Tupolev bombers can’t seem to stay out of our airspace off Alaska.”
“Any other good news?”
“We think they might be moving some of their tactical nuclear weapons closer to the Ukrainian border.”
“Youthink?”
“Low to moderate confidence,” said Carter.
“What about the South African highly enriched uranium?”
“Our best guess is that it’s somewhere between Russia’s western border and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East. The asset known as Komarovsky, however, is almost certain that Security Council directive 37-23\VZ will not only tell us where the material is but where it’s going and how the Russians intend to use it.”
“When did he make contact?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“And I’d rather be in Venice with my wife and children.”
“Two days ago. But don’t ask where,” Carter added. “I’m not going to tell you.”
“Actually, I was planning to move straight to Komarovsky’s real name.”
“Don’t bother.”
“How is Magnus supposed to make contact with him if he doesn’t know who he is?”
“Komarovsky will be the one to make contact with Magnus.”
“How?”
“With this.” Carter placed an old miniature paperback book on the conference table. The title and author were in Russian. “Doctor Zhivagoby Boris Pasternak. The CIA arranged to have it published in 1958, and it circulated in Moscow and throughout the Warsaw Pact. I borrowed that one from the CIA museum. Komarovsky has a copy as well, a copy he will give to Magnus if he feels it is safe to proceed with the operation.” Carter opened the novel. “This passage will be clearly marked.”
“What does it say?”
“‘And remember: you must never, under any circumstances, despair. To hope and to act, these are our duties in misfortune.’”
