Stephen Burke: The Reluctant Contact

Catherine had evidently taken her task seriously. Anya was sitting sheepishly on the bed. On her face was the unmistakable early-stage colouring of a black eye.

‘She hit me,’ said Anya.

‘I bet you deserved it,’ said Yuri.

Catherine nodded in agreement from the doorway.

‘She wouldn’t even let me go to the bathroom,’ said Anya.

‘You can go now,’ said Yuri. ‘Just as soon as I’m finished with you.’

Anya slumped back against the wall with her arms folded.

‘I thought you loved her,’ said Yuri.

Anya looked at Catherine first, for her reaction, and then to Yuri.

‘I did,’ said Anya. ‘That’s the point. She was supposed to love me too. But instead, she turned my life upside down without a thought for what might happen to me after she was gone. It was typical of her, always putting herself first, before anyone else.’

Catherine had no idea what was going on. Anya turned to her.

‘You think men are pigs,’ she said. ‘Try loving a woman.’

‘But she wanted you to join her,’ said Yuri. ‘Didn’t she? She wrote to you.’

Anya let out a laugh.

‘You know why she did that, after five years?’

Yuri shook his head.

‘I do,’ said Anya. ‘Because she’s bored. That’s all. She’s bored and she thinks I’ll make it better. Maybe it would be fine between us for a year or two, but then she’ll find a way to leave me again.’

Catherine looked fit to burst with questions, but the answers would have to wait.

‘So you wanted her dead, because of what she did to you,’ said Yuri. ‘Even before you came to Pyramiden.’

‘She ruined me,’ said Anya, almost spitting the words. ‘I was somebody before she left. It wasn’t my fault. She did it all. She turned me into a nobody in one day. And nothing can ever give me back what she took.’

‘Maybe they won’t find her,’ said Yuri. ‘Did you think about that?’

Anya looked up quickly. It was not an idea she liked.

‘They’ll find her,’ she said. ‘And when they do, she’ll know I sent them. I want her to know that.’

She looked at her watch.

‘Where’s Timur?’ she asked. ‘He will be looking for me.’

Yuri caught Catherine’s eye before he answered.

‘He left,’ said Yuri. ‘With Grigory. Grigory was your contact, not Catherine. I don’t think either of them is coming back.’

Anya looked down at the floor, gathering her thoughts.

‘But why would Timur…?’ she said.

‘I think you may have put ideas in to his head, about going over to the other side. He was always an ambitious bastard, wouldn’t you agree, Catherine?’

Catherine stared at him, wide-eyed, before nodding her head.

‘You and Catherine have that in common now,’ said Yuri. ‘He didn’t tell her he was leaving either. Not a word. Just upped and left.’

Anya turned her attention to Catherine. ‘Is it true what he’s saying?’

Catherine paused. ‘Yes, it’s true,’ she said. ‘And I don’t expect to hear from him in five years’ time.’

‘See,’ said Yuri. ‘You are not the only one.’

Anya’s head seemed to be spinning with all the complications he had suggested. Catherine too did not appear to be entirely sure of what was going on. Yuri pulled a chair near to the bed and sat down. Anya shifted nervously.

‘Anya, I need to ask you to do something. Pretty soon, maybe as soon as tomorrow, people are going to come asking about all of this. And then after them, more people will come. Serious men. They will not be your friends or mine. When they talk to you, I’d like you to leave out Catherine’s name, and mine. Will you do that? You can mention Grigory’s name as often as you like. It doesn’t matter now.’

Anya looked from him to Catherine. Then she nodded her agreement.

IT WAS A full day before the alarm was raised. Two men missing. And not just any men. A thorough search was made of the town, but they were not found. In Timur’s absence the accounts clerk was ordered to contact the Norwegian police at Longyearbyen to ask for help with a search party out in the countryside.

The Longyearbyen police informed her that there was no need to look for the former party boss of Pyramiden. Grigory Babkin had arrived in their town suffering from hypothermia, but was otherwise making a good recovery. When the accounts clerk enquired when she should send someone to pick him up, she heard laughter at the other end of the line. She was further informed that the new arrival had no intention of returning to Pyramiden or the Soviet Union any time soon.

Yuri joined in the search party for Timur. He told anyone who would listen that he had seen the KGB man heading out of town, with Grigory, on a snowmobile two days previously. For appearance’s sake, he drove his search team ever onward until they were exhausted and in danger of frostbite. By this stage, everyone had heard the story of Grigory’s arrival in Longyearbyen. And no one really expected to come across Timur alive and kicking. Yuri was forced to make speeches of encouragement in order to rouse some enthusiasm among his group.

On the third day, another search team found a helicopter not far from the weather station. Beside it, on the ground, was a bearded Norwegian man handcuffed to the landing rail. Frozen to death.

Yuri asked Anya if she had told Timur in advance of her planned trip with the Norwegian trapper. She admitted that she had. Their plan depended on her staying in Pyramiden until a way was found to find Taisia. Timur had told her that he would make sure, one way or another, that she did not have to get on that helicopter.

When the search for Timur was called off after five days, Yuri’s was the loudest voice saying they should keep going.

The discordant sound of two helicopters making their way up the fjord was the first sign the heavy gang had been called in. Yuri watched four hard men disembark from each helicopter. These were not Norwegian policemen. They were KGB. Or something worse. A cloud of paranoia settled over the whole town. No one enjoyed having these men in their midst. Everyone was questioned about what they knew. And it wasn’t long before two of the new arrivals came knocking on Yuri’s door. He was jealous of how fit they looked. He suspected they did not keep in shape for health reasons.

They already knew a lot and were looking for more. The Mongolian had told them about his return on a snowmobile on the day of the two disappearances. What a pal, thought Yuri.

‘What was the reason for your trip out of town?’ asked the questioner.

The other man never said a word. He just watched.

‘Paying my respects in the graveyard,’ he replied. My assistant, Semyon, died a few months ago. Mining accident. He and I were very close.’

The mute one wrote down Semyon’s name.

‘And that was where you saw Grigory and Timur? At the graveyard? What were they doing there?’

‘I was at the graveyard,’ said Yuri. ‘They drove past it while I was there. I waved at them but I’m not sure they saw me. They kept on going, in any case.’

‘And Grigory, Comrade Babkin, was a friend of yours?’

The mute one looked up from his notes.

‘No,’ said Yuri. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘People tell us you played chess together. Regularly.’

My God, thought Yuri, tongues were certainly wagging around town. He supposed it was understandable that, when confronted by these men, everyone wanted to shift attention on to the next person. If too many people were mentioning his name, then he could be in trouble.

‘That’s right. We did play chess. Now and again. Not regularly. He wanted to learn. I was teaching him. He wasn’t very good. But that was it. We weren’t friends.’