| "Formulation" | ||
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Sergei's Office June 6, 2008, 1500 hours Sergei waved for his former boss to take a seat, then sat down himself. The desk was where it always was, but at times like this he wished it wasn't. He wished to remove the barrier, just as he wished to remove the barriers that made these meetings such a difficulty. Krivenko had been a close friend for many years now, working as a team on a number of occasions, and even when Krivenko had moved up the ladder and become his superior they had still maintained their friendship. Now that both of them were in charge of their respective agencies it should have made things easier, but instead the opposite occurred. This was mainly due to the fact that the RGZS didn't exist; the number of people outside of the agency itself who knew of its existence was less than twenty. The other factor was the fact that Sergei was dead. That is why these meetings had to be conducted at the RGZS, and Krivenko had to make the journey blindfolded, for though Georgiev had relented on these meetings taking place he had still insisted on the proper protocols being followed. "So," Sergei said as he leant back in his chair, "what shape is the world in today?" Krivenko laughed. "You should know better than me Seryozha!" "No, we are too new. Do you realize how long it will be before I can claim to be fully operational? Five years. That is how long it will take to get assets trained and deployed. At the moment we have less than twenty assets in place, and of those only three have been able to gather useful intelligence. Thankfully we have some very good people working the various governments and terrorist organizations, and quite a few have been able to recruit." "Excellent," Krivenko replied. "I suppose that once you are all set you will let the SVR have access to some of your intelligence." "Of course Grisha. You know I will fight hard for that, especially seeing as we are currently using your resources." "Thank you my friend." Sergei smiled. "You never answered my question." "Oh yes," Grigoriy said. "The world seems to be in good shape at the moment. Our Chinese friends have been making noises again, but nothing more than usual. The Germans are behaving, as are the French and British. The only major problem is the Americans." "Why is that?" Sergei asked. It was always the Americans. "Well, the terrorist attack on the embassy in Paris has caused a huge upset. The people want revenge for it, and I fear they may come knocking on our door." "What have we got to do with it?" "I'm not sure yet, but I have a feeling that somehow there was Russian influence." "Fuck," Sergei muttered," that's the last thing we need. What intel have you got?" Grigoriy composed himself before explaining. "We have reason to believe that a Rodion Yegorovich Petrenko provided funding and direction for the attack." Sergei didn't reply for a second, his mind racing. "The Politburo guy?" he finally said. "Yes. You can appreciate the position this has put me in." "How good is your source?" he asked. This was the kind of thing that could start a war, so it was paramount that they worked with concrete evidence. "It is reliable. Valentin Pavelevich brought it to my attention earlier today. His people tracked transmissions which confirm Petrenko's involvement. They have also isolated accounts which belong to Petrenko, but they are secret. The terrorists accessed the accounts and removed a large sum of money two day before the attack." "Coincidence?" Sergei asked. What the fuck is going on? he asked himself. "No." "Shit. You can't even ask the Politburo for guidance on this. I mean, they're just going to protect their own." He sighed. "Wait a minute. Why don't you ask Georgiev?" Krivenko shook his head. "I haven't been able to reach him. Seems he is away on `business'." Sergei lifted his phone up and dialed the special set of numbers which would link him up with Georgiev's phone. The computer encrypted the line automatically. Sergei waited for the tone but got nothing. "You're right," he said. "So now what?" "I was hoping you could help me." "How?" he asked. "Elistratov wants him taken out of play." "So that means we should keep him alive then." "Yes," Grigoriy said, then smiled. "Why don't you tail him? Or get someone close to him? That way you could see if anyone else is involved. Then when you manage to get in contact with Georgiev you can present a better case." "I like it," Krivenko replied. Popov grinned. "I've got it. Set up an assassination attempt on him, and have it fail. Put the blame on his bodyguards to get them out of the way. Then when the Politburo ask for your assistance you provide Petrenko with a new team of bodyguards, except this time they will be checking up on him as well as keeping him alive." He grinned at his master plan. He had a gift for planning and always enjoyed working things out. "Who can we use for the team though? Petrenko has enough contacts to discover any surveillance operation on him conducted by the SVR, or any State organ for that matter." It was not the subtlest of hints, but it was the best he could do. "Ok, we'll handle the surveillance. Kinzhap are prepping to takedown Arkady Mihailivich Bukharin so I guess it'll have to be Myech." Krivenko picked up on Popov's hesitation. "Is something wrong?" "No. Nikolai has been away recently on a personal mission. He only got back yesterday but the mission has taken its toll on him. He appears to have been beaten rather badly, but he just shrugs it off. I know that he is capable but I'm not sure if I want him in the firing line so soon." "I see. Well, he could be overwatch. It makes sense to have an onsite command, and Kolya is as good as anyone." The smile he got told him he'd solved a problem. "How soon are we going to move on this?" Sergei asked. Grigoriy thought for a moment. "I think we need to move as quickly as possible. If we were able to trace the funds to Petrenko then I'm sure the Americans will be able to, and the last thing we need is a diplomatic incident on our hands. If we can get the information quickly then it should help buy us some time with the Americans." "Agreed. Set up the assassination attempt and the fallout, and I'll get Myech briefed in." "Thank you Seryozha, your help is much appreciated," Krivenko said as he stood. "Grisha, what are friends for," Sergei Semyonovich Popov replied. Return |
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