| "You Have Two Messages" | ||
|
Watch Center, Siberia June 8, 2008, 1207 hours It was one of those events that just could not be predicted, no matter how much thought and planning goes into devising such personnel-reliant over-watch systems. The junior watch officer had been given permission to leave his post as his young wife had just given birth. The senior watch officer, sensing a quiet day, had granted this without much in the way of thought; their job was to monitor the communications traffic wishing to enter the secure facility on the other side of the hill. The facility was completely secure from outside traffic; an electronic `blanket' covered the area and prevented any signals from penetrating it. All communications had to go through the watch center, and if they were deemed important then they had to be hand-delivered to the facility. This system was put in place because of the nature of the buildings on the other side of the hill from the watch center, and by having two watch officers on duty there would always be someone on hand to monitor the communications. Zinovii Efimovich Yudin, the Senior Watch Officer, looked over the latest faxed message. It concerned some minor glitch in the software of a newly developed missile. It was intended for one of the senior researchers over the hill but was not of great importance. Yudin placed the message into the metal box on the far wall and locked it. Every twelve hours the box was taken over to the facility by one of the watch officers; more important messages were delivered quicker. He had not had a priority message for a couple of months now, but had been told to expect one because of the arrival of a VIP. Yudin didn't know the name of the man but there was sufficient excitement around the facility for him to gauge the man's importance, and the fact that security was now at its highest level also helped him conclude that whoever the man was he had a lot of power. Yudin's hands raced to his chest as he felt it tightening. He grimaced when the pain emerged, knowing then that he was in trouble. The chair slid from beneath him and he landed on the floor with a heavy thud, an added bit of pain he didn't need. As his breathing became more labored his thoughts turned to his wife and son, and what would happen if� The Facility, Siberia July 8, 2008, 2100 hours The phone rang. The facility had its own internal lines that could not be tapped due to the electronic `blanket' so Georgiev did not have to wait for any encryption systems to kick in. Instead he answered immediately. "Georgiev." "Sir, we have two priority messages for you that should have been delivered to you just after midday. There seems to have been a problem at the watch center; one of the officers had a heart attack and the other was away from the room. He is being questioned and punished now, but it is important that you come to the communications room to collect the messages." "Ok, I will be there soon." He thanked the man and replaced the phone in its holder. What was that all about? he wondered. Priority signals were by and large important enough to need immediate viewing, but occasionally they did not. He hoped this was a case of the latter, but something told him he had missed getting vital information at the right time. He did not like that feeling at all, but it could not be helped. Until he read the massages he would not know the seriousness f the situation. Communications Room 2104 hours He walked into the room at a brisk pace, hoping that the messages would not be time critical but making up time in case they were. The young officer saluted him and handed over the small disc. Audio files, his mind reported. The officer pointed to a computer with headphones next to it in the corner of the room and Georgiev went to it. He sat down heavily and slid the disc into the correct port. A few whirrs told him the disc was being read. Whilst the anti-virus programs ran he donned the large headphones and adjusted the volume control on the computer; he didn't want to deafen himself. Looking up he saw that the disc had finished being scanned and was free of infection. He opened the disc and saw the two files: one was from Jackson Wellington, the American Homeland Security head, and the other was from Grigory Krivenko, Commander of the SVR. That immediately piqued his interest and also got his mind working. The uneasy feeling he had a few minutes ago returned stronger. These messages, he realized, should have been read straight away; the cock-up could cost lives. He listened to the message from Wellington first, then played it through a further three times once it had ended just to make sure he understood it all. He didn't like the idea of an American team on Russian soil, not least because they were going to be assassinating a Politburo member, but he understood that there would be little room for maneuver here. The Americans had insisted Petrenko was guilty and justice would be done; Georgiev would ask for the evidence but was sure it would be provided, so all he could really do was let it play out. Next he clicked on the one from Krivenko. As the little bar at the bottom moved further to the right his eyes widened, his heart increased it rate of thumping, his breath quickened, for what he heard truly worried him. Again he replayed the message, making sure he had not made any mistakes. He hadn't. What was he going to do? The RGZS was going to be going up against the SIA and neither knew about the other. In all his years he had never come across something that worried him so deeply. Even when he had been in the Spetsnaz he hadn't feared anything like he feared this. This wouldn't be just a battle; it was a political situation as well an intelligence situation. There must be a way out of this. Wellington had said the SIA team wouldn't be arriving in the country until the tenth or eleventh; Team Myech of the RGZS was already in place. That gave him a couple of days to play with, in theory at least. He would have to make sure that a firefight didn't ensue. How to do it? He pondered, thinking over a few things before hitting on an idea. He would have to call Popov at some point tomorrow to set that up, and to ask for any intelligence they gathered to be sent straight to him. If he could get enough information to support the RGZS/SVR operation then there was a chance he could persuade the American President to hold back for a while. He decided that he would have to hold off himself from calling the Americans and try and work with his own people first. Tomorrow he would call Popov. Return |
||