Red Rabbit - Tom Clancy [51]
"Oleg Ivanovich," he said in greeting.
Zaitzev looked up to see his fifth visitor of the young day, the fifth visitor and the fifth interruption. It was often a curse being the senior watch officer here, especially on the morning shift. The overnight watch was boring, but at least you could work in a straight line.
"Yes, Colonel, what can I do for you this morning?" he asked pleasantly, junior officer to senior.
"A special message to Station Rome, personal to the rezident. I think a one-time pad for this one. I'd prefer that you handle it yourself." Instead of having a cipher clerk do the encryption, he didn't say. This was somewhat unusual, and it pricked Zaitzev's interest. He would have to see it anyway. Eliminating the cipher clerk just halved the number of people that would see this particular message.
"Very well." Captain Zaitzev took up a pad and pencil. "Go on."
"MOST SECRET. IMMEDIATE AND URGENT.
FROM MOSCOW CENTRE, OFFICE OF CHAIRMAN.
To COLONEL RUSLAN BORISSOVICH GODERENKO, REZIDENT, ROME.
MESSAGE FOLLOWS: ASCERTAIN AND REPORT MEANS OF GETTING PHYSICALLY CLOSE TO THE POPE. ENDS."
"That's all?" Zaitzev asked, surprised. "And if he asks what that means? It's not very clear in its intent."
"Ruslan Borissovich will understand what it means," Rozhdestvenskiy assured him. He knew that Zaitzev wasn't asking anything he shouldn't. One-time cipher pads were a nuisance to use, and so messages sent that way were supposed to be explicit in all details, lest the back-and-forth clarification messages compromise the communications links. As it was, this message would be telexed, and so was certain to be intercepted, and equally certain to be recognized by its formatting as a one-time-pad encipherment, hence a message of some importance. American and British code-breakers would probably attack it, and everyone was wary of them and their clever tricks. The West's damned intelligence agencies worked so closely together.
"If you say so, Comrade Colonel. I'll send it out within the hour." Zaitzev checked the wall clock to make sure he could do that. "It should be on his desk when he gets into his office."
It will take twenty minutes for Ruslan to decrypt it, Rozhdestvenskiy estimated. Then will he query us about it, as Zaitzev suggests? Probably. Goderenko is a careful, thorough man—and politically astute. Even with Andropov's name at the top, Ruslan Borissovich will be curious enough to ask for a clarification.
"If there is a reply, call me as soon as you have the clear text."
"You are the point of contact for this line?" Zaitzev asked, just to make sure he routed things correctly. After all, the message header, as this colonel had dictated it to him, said "Office of the Chairman."
"That is correct, Captain."
Zaitzev nodded, then handed the message blank to Colonel Rozhdestvenskiy for his signature/confirmation. Everything in KGB had to have a paper trail. Zaitzev looked down at the checklist. Message, originator, recipient, encryption method, point of contact… yes, he had everything, and all spaces were properly signed. He looked up. "Colonel, it will go out shortly. I will call you to confirm transmission time." He would also send a paper record upstairs for the permanent operations files. He made a final written notation and handed off the carbon copy.
"Here's the dispatch number. It will also be the operation-reference number until such time as you change it."
"Thank you, Captain." The colonel took his leave.
Oleg Ivanovich looked again at the wall clock. Rome was three hours behind Moscow time. Ten or fifteen minutes for the rezident to clear-text