The Bear and the Dragon - Tom Clancy [122]
"No, Gennady Iosifovich, I have nothing to indicate that the Chinese seek to threaten us."
"Comrade Minister, the discoveries in Siberia are too vast for them not to consider the advantage to be had from seizing them. In their place, I would draw up the necessary plans. They import oil, and these new fields would obviate that necessity, and make them rich in the foreign exchange they seek. And the gold, Comrade, speaks for itself, does it not?"
"Perhaps." Golovko nodded. "But their economy seems healthy at the moment, and wars are not begun by those already rich."
"Hitler was prosperous enough in 1941. That did not prevent him from driving his army to within sight of this building," the chief of operations for the Russian army pointed out. "If your neighbor has an apple tree, sometimes you will pick an apple even if your belly is full. Just for the taste, perhaps," Bondarenko suggested.
Golovko couldnt deny the logic of that. "Gennady Josifovich, we are of a kind. We both look out for dangers even when they are not obvious. You would have made a fine intelligence officer."
"Thank you, Comrade Minister." The three-star toasted his host with his almost empty vodka glass. "Before I leave my office, it is my hope to lay before my successor a plan, the accomplishment of which will make our country invulnerable to attack from any country. I know I will not be able myself to make that happen, but I will be grateful for the ability to set a firm plan in place, if our political leadership can see the merit of our ideas." And that was the real problem, wasnt it? The Russian army might be able to deal with external enemies. It was the internal ones which formed the really intractable problem. You usually knew where your enemy stood, because you faced them. Where your friends stood was more difficult, because they were usually behind you.
"I will make sure you present the case yourself to the cabinet. But"—Golovko held up his hand—"you must wait for the right moment."
"I understand, and let us hope the Chinese allow us the time for that moment." Golovko tossed off the last of his drink and rose. "Thanks for letting me come in to bare my heart to you, Comrade Chairman."
"So, where is he?" Provalov demanded.
"I do not know," Abramov replied tiredly. "Weve identified one person who claims to know him, but our informant has no idea where he lives."
"Very well. What do you know?" Moscow asked St. Petersburg.
"Our informant says that Suvorov is former KGB, RIFd in 1996 or so, that he lives, probably, in St. Petersburg—but if that is true, he does so under an assumed name and false documents, or Suvorov is itself a false name. I have a description. Male, fifty or so, average height and build. Thinning blond hair. Regular features. Blue eyes. Physically fit. Unmarried. Thought to frequent prostitutes. I have some people asking around those women for more information. Nothing yet," the St. Petersburg investigator replied.
This is amazing, Lieutenant Provalov thought. All the resources we have, and we cant develop a single reliable piece of information. Was he chasing ghosts? Well, he had five of those already. Avseyenko, Maria Ivanovna Sablin, a driver whose name he couldnt remember at the moment, and the two putative Spetsnaz killers, Pyotr Alekseyevich Amalrik and Pavel Borissovich Zimyanin. Three blown up spectacularly during a morning rush hour, and two murdered in St. Petersburg after having done the job—but killed for succeeding or failing?
"Well, let me know when you develop anything."
"I will do that, Oleg Gregoriyevich," Abramov promised.
The militia lieutenant