Алистер Маклин: Death Train

‘And by then a new Premier would have been in power, one vetted by you and your extremist cronies. Then you could have set about replacing all those weapons that had been signed away to make Russia the most powerful nuclear force in the world again.’

‘I’m not ashamed of what I’ve done. I did it for Russia. I did it because I love my country. We’re socialist, with our own identity and our own style of government. Do you really think I’m the sole opponent to the introduction of these new reforms? The dissenters are spread throughout the Politburo and irrespective of what happens to me they’ll pick up the fallen standard and continue the struggle. I wouldn’t expect you to understand though, you settled for Western complacency years ago.’

‘You’re right, I don’t understand. I don’t understand fanatics like you who talk with such pride about the purity of Russian socialism. Stalin was a socialist and how many millions died in labour camps during his regime? Andropov, Shelepin, Semichastny: how much innocent blood was spilt during their terms as KGB directors? How can you justify a system where the very people it’s supposed to help can’t even speak out against its excesses for fear of being beaten up by thugs employed by this department? At least glasnost is breaking down those barriers so that people will finally have a voice. A voice of freedom.

‘I’ll never forget the afternoon I was at London’s Hyde Park Corner and an elderly Russian Jew was invited on to the platform to speak. It turned out he’d only arrived in England the previous day and he cried all the way through the speech because he couldn’t believe he was actually being allowed to voice his thoughts in public without fear of persecution. I felt ashamed of being Russian that day. If the West’s taught me one thing it’s that socialism can work in a democracy, unlike the socialism you advocate in this country. No, Konstantin, don’t preach to me about the values of your kind of socialism.’

Kolchinsky snapped the attaché case shut and stood up. ‘I’ll leave the folder. You’ll find your telephone’s been disconnected and there are two armed guards outside the door with orders to stop you should you attempt to leave before your official arrest.

‘By the way, I believe you drew a blank when you tried to find out who masterminded the attempt on your life. Well, I made a few enquiries of my own before I left New York. It seems the order for your assassination came from within the Politburo itself. You’ve been a thorn in their side for a long time now so what better way to get rid of you than by letting the resistance movement do the dirty work for them? That’s why the missile launcher got into the country so easily. Not that the resistance movement suspected anything, they thought it was all down to their own ingenuity. This is the best bit, though: Hendrique was the unwitting middleman using Werner Freight to bring the missile launcher into the country. It’s a small world, isn’t it?’

Benin stared at the door after Kolchinsky had left. He knew the case would never reach a court of law. There would be an official cover-up as quickly, and quietly, as possible. He also knew the choices facing him. Either die in detention, after hours, perhaps even days, of unrelenting torture, or take his own life before they arrived to arrest him.

He swivelled his chair around to face the window overlooking the breathtaking grandeur of the snow-covered Bittsevsky forest-park then reached behind him and removed his Tokarev pistol from the top drawer of his desk.