THIRTY-EIGHT
ABOARD VQ-BHL [SERGEI IVANOVICH VAVILOV]
TERMINAL D
SHEREMETYEVO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Kara fidgeted in her seat as the Aeroflot Airbus A320-214 taxied off the active runway and onto the ramp. She sat on the aisle in Seat 2C, her handler and Coraline in front of her and next to each other in the window and aisle seats, respectively, while Laine held the aisle and Clayland the window across from them.
The plane came to a stop and the lights blinked, informing the passengers they could get out of their seats. Kara leapt out and positioned herself in the aisle to block the adjacent seats, while Laine stepped into the front galley entryway. Michele and Clayland rose and removed their briefcases from the overhead bins. When the forward door opened, Laine stepped out and quickly surveyed the jet bridge, then started forward towards the gate. Clayland and Michele followed, with Kara in the trailing position.
As they entered the Arrivals Area, an elegant older woman in a luxurious fur coat walked towards them, accompanied by a young man who, though he wore civilian clothing, carried himself like a military man.
"It is good to see you again, Michele Nikolaiovich Pagani," the woman greeted in a rich voice.
"The feeling is mutual, Nadia Sergeyevich Petrovna," Michele replied. The two exchanged a chaste hug.
"Friends, Nadia is with the Russian Federal Security Service. Nadia, this is my partner at the AISE, Kara Deleroux. And this is Clayland Stanaway and Laine Brussard with the Department of Information Security. The final member is Coraline Loveau with the DGSE."
Nadia smiled politely, though Kara noted her sizing up the Stanaways and Coraline. Under the Soviet structure, Nadia would have served in the KGB's Second Chief Directorate, tasked with counterintelligence operations. A foreign intelligence operative like Clayland, Laine or Coraline would have been a prime subject for such monitoring.
"Welcome to the Russian Federation," she greeted.
"You look like you're old friends," Coraline noted.
"Yes, Michele Nikolaiovich and I have known each other for, what, fifteen years now?"
"That sounds about right," Michele agreed.
"Where did you meet?" Kara asked.
"There will be plenty of time to discuss old times," Michele noted, cutting off Kara's inquiry.
The group approached Passport Control and an officer of the Federal Migratory Service collected their passports and applied the relevant visas and entry stamps. They then proceeded to the luggage delivery area where an Aeroflot baggage handler appeared with a cart containing their bags. Nadia presented the relevant Ministry of Internal Affairs forms for the importation of firearms and ammunition to the officer working the Customs Control desk and the party was waved through and exited onto the main concourse.
"We have a car waiting outside," Nadia said.
Laine rubbed her hands together. "Man, I hope it's a ZIL-41047 or even a GAZ M13 Chaika!"
"You watch far too much Top Gear for your own good," Kara noted, recalling the latter car from an episode of the UK motoring show.
"Ah, man," Laine whined as they stepped outside and sitting proudly in the "Government Vehicles Only" section was a black GMT900 GMC Yukon Denali XL.
"Communism is dead, Miss Brussard, and so is the customer base for those types of cars," Nadia noted with a smile. "Also, the Americans and Germans offer a very nice armor package."
Everyone boarded the SUV, Kara and Laine bracketing Coraline in the third row, Michele and Clayland in the two Captain's chairs before them and Nadia and her driver took their respective seats up front. The vehicle pulled out from the terminal and onto the road that led to the Leningradskoye Highway.
"I see Rosavtodor has been busy," Michele commented as they connected from Leningradskoye Highway to Leningradsky Prospekt, using the Russian term for the Federal Highway Agency.
"The road was expanded to twelve lanes from the MKAD to Tverskaya Street in the late 2000s," Nadia replied, using the acronym for the Moscow Automobile Ring Road. They passed the Khodynka Aerodrome and the ruins of the old Dynamo Stadium and then crossed over the Garden Ring Road.
Even with six lanes heading into the city, traffic slogged along and it took what seemed like hours to reach the end of Tverskaya Street and continued past the Bolshoi Theatre and Hotel Metropole towards Lubyanka Square and the imposing façade of Aleksandr V. Ivanov's most famous building, now the headquarters for the Federal Security Service.
Michele smiled in bemusement at the thought of how the etymology of the term 'Moscow Rules' had morphed from being a noun reference for a code of conduct spoken by intelligence officers in hushed tones in dark alleys to a verb modifier shouted by intoxicated teenagers at dance clubs.
"The place just isn't the same without Iron Felix holding court," Michele noted, referring to the 15-ton iron statue of Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, the founder and head of Cheka – the forerunner of the KGB – that dominated Lubyanka Square from 1958 until it was torn down in 1991 in the wake of the failure of the August coup d'état attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev.
"You sound like a veteran of the Cold War," Clayland commented. "You and Jethro Blacker must be a riot at the bar."
"I don't think Jethro was old enough to be in the Cold War," Michele replied with a smile. "Even I came in at the tail end of it, serving a tour in the Italian Embassy in 1989-1990. Exciting times, nonetheless."
"Indeed," Nadia said, though her voice didn't carry the same tone of frivolity.
The Suburban pulled up to the front of the building and everyone but the driver exited. They signed in and were escorted through the various halls and corridors until they reached Nadia's office.
"So, what assistance can the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation offer the Republics of Italy and France?" Nadia asked with a large smile once everyone had settled.
"Is this office secure?" Michele asked.
Nadia shrugged. "We are the ones who watch the watchers…"
"Dante's back," Michele said.
Instantly, the smile faded.
"I take it he is behind the attacks across your country I saw on the news?" Nadia asked and Michele nodded.
"So Cristiano's mad dog shows his fangs once again," she murmured.
Coraline looked to Kara.
Cristiano? She mouthed.
I'll tell you later, Kara mouthed back.
"After he was thrown out of Italy, Giacomo Dante migrated to Africa and started offering his services for hire," Nadia continued. "We believe he was a mercenary during the Eritrean–Ethiopian War and we know he was helping Shamil Basayev with the bloodbaths perpetrated upon the House of Culture in 2002 and Beslan in 2004."
Michele held his tongue, his belief that the high death counts in both incidents were due to the heavy-handed assault by the FSB's own Alpha Group, who treated the Moscow theater and North Ossestia school like military objectives to be overwhelmed and subjugated as opposed to hostage situations.
"We don't know if he actually converted to Islam while working for Basayev or just found their money good, but he went to Egypt and assisted with the group behind the Sinai bombing in 2004 and the 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks. When we terminated Basayev in 2006, he made his way south through Georgia, Turkey, Iraq and then Jordan. They captured him as a possible accomplice for the 2005 Amman bombings and he was soon tied to the Egyptian attacks and they sent a patrol ship to return him to Alexandria. That ship was attacked by pirates and sunk and we assumed Dante went down with it."
"It wasn't pirates. It was Cristiano," Michele replied. "He sprung him so that he could assassinate Giovanni Croce and his family. The government tried to run him to ground, but he slipped the net and went dark until the recent attacks."
"Forgive my bluntness, Michele Nikolaiovich, but how do these attacks on Italy concern the security of the Russian Federation?"
"The weapon Dante detonated in Venice was the warhead of an SS-N-27 cruise missile. We found another in Bologna and we think a warhead was used at Da Vinci International. His followers are also armed with modern Russian assault and heavy rifles," Michele reported. "We're not sure who is backing him, but they seem to have a direct pipeline to your munitions stockpiles."
"Then perhaps you should be meeting with the Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation."
"I was thinking more the 12th Chief Directorate," Michele replied, his voice level. He saw Nadia's face blanche at the mention of the department within the Ministry of Defense responsible for all aspects of the Russian nuclear arsenal.
"What are you insinuating, Michele Nikolaiovich?"
"Dante had possession of a 'suitcase nuke'. A Russian suitcase nuke."
"Of course we developed small tactical nuclear devices, but all were far too large and heavy to be man-portable, much less fit in a briefcase," Nadia replied.
"What about Lebed's claims?" Coraline asked, referring to former Russian National Security Adviser Aleksandr Lebed, who claimed in 1997 on an American television news show that the Russian military had lost track of more than 100 suitcase-sized nuclear bombs.
"Lebed was lying to make himself look important and create lucrative 'consulting' positions with the US government and defense think tanks," Nadia proclaimed, confidently.
Michele removed an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to Nadia. She opened it and removed a 4D-size photographic print of a heavy canvas bag containing a metal box with Cyrillic writing on the side and Soviet / Russian color code for a nuclear weapon.
"And where was this taken?" she asked, her voice carefree for she knew such pictures were easily doctored.
"The control room of the New Trino Nuclear Power Plant less than 48 hours ago," Michele replied. "Dante's right-hand man was seconds away from detonating it when we stopped him."
"Impossible," Nadia scoffed.
"Call over to Znamenskiy Pereulok 19 and read them that identification number," Michele said, referring to the address where the 12th kept the registrar of nuclear weapons.
Nadia stared at the picture for a time. "It is not possible," she said again, and Kara had the feeling Nadia was hoping if she repeated it enough, it would become true.
"That I'm here is proof that it is," Michele said.
Nadia reached for her desk phone.
"Connect me with First Deputy Director Sigachev," she ordered. "Alexey? It's Nadia. I need to see you in your office immediately. We have a situation."
Five minutes later, a large bear of a man rose from behind a desk to greet them as they were escorted into an ornate room.
"Colonel Michele Nikolaiovich Pagani, may I introduce Major General Alexey Yegorovich Sigachev."
The two men shook hands and then Nadia briefed Sigachev on what Michele had told her. When she finished, he picked up his own phone and dialed a number.
"I need to speak to the Chief of the 12 GU MO," he ordered his assistant over the intercom, using the Russian acronym for the 12th Chief Directorate.
Evidently, the person on the other end wanted to debate the need to immediately connect the two parties because Kara watched his face turn crimson and his expression livid.
"Put me on the line," he snarled and Laine leaned forward to watch the fireworks.
"Whom am I speaking to? Well let me educate you on something, Mayór Lvov. This is General-Mayór Sigachev, First Deputy Director of the Federal Security Services, and if you do not connect me to Generál-Polkóvnik Vasilyev in the next thirty seconds I will see to it that you are manning an automated lighthouse on Novaya Zemlya!"
Twenty seconds later, his demeanor changed 180 degrees.
"Anton Nikitovich! It's Alexey Yegorovich. I have a special request for your Chief Archivist." He proceeded to read off the identification number from the warhead. "Thank you, Anton Nikitovich. I will await your call." He hung up.
"I cannot help but feel that I am humoring you, Nadia Sergeyevich. The Directorate of State Inspection of Nuclear and Radiological Security take their role very seriously. And most Russian nuclear weapons are stored separately from their delivery vehicles under strict guard so you can rule out the Hollywood favorite of a corrupt Russian officer selling a nuclear weapon. Besides, after Afghanistan and Chechnya, any Islamic terrorist group who secured a Russian nuclear weapon would be as likely to detonate it in Moscow or Saint Petersburg as they would Washington or New York."
Nadia looked to Michele, who said nothing. Soon enough, Sigachev's intercom chirped to announce that Colonel-General Anton Nikitovich Vasilyev was calling him. The Major General answered the phone and the friendly tone of his voice quickly grew neutral, than cold, as the conversation continued. For every question Sigachev asked of Vasilyev, he answered three from the senior officer and Kara saw his hand shaking as he replaced the receiver.
"Where are you staying, Polkóvnik Pagani?" he asked.
"We have not made arrangements, as we didn't know how long we'd be staying."
"Make them now, please," Sigachev requested.