Tom Clancy - Command Authority

“What is MI5’s interest in Zenith?”

“They have an asset in the field who was trying to track Zenith down. Apparently, their asset is missing, somewhere behind the Curtain but last heard from in Hungary.”

“I don’t understand. Hungary is MI6’s responsibility.”

“Quite,” said Basil. “It might not surprise you to know I gave them a bloody earful about the fact I’m just learning about a program run on our turf. I do not have the particulars as to why this was determined to be in the purview of MI5. Perhaps if we knew about this asset in the first place, had some operational influence over him, then he might well still be up and running and not missing.”

“And now they want you to help find him?”

“That’s right. MI5 has gone directly to Downing Street, and they have come to us. Maggie Thatcher herself is asking for updates on this case.”

“Do you think Zenith might really have been the assassin in Switzerland?”

Charleston said, “Jack, you as well as anyone know that the KGB normally uses proxies for international wet work. Bulgarians, for example.”

“That’s the model we’ve seen,” Jack acknowledged. “But there is a lot about the last week that has been a deviation from the Soviet playbook.”

Basil said, “Admittedly true. That said, despite what Marta Scheuring told you, we think it was likely the KGB ordered the RAF to do the killings in Switzerland. Perhaps it wasn’t Marta herself, perhaps it wasn’t even her cell, but we believe Ingrid Bretz was working with the RAF nonetheless. There have been a number of cases of collusion between the organizations, expressly for the benefit of the KGB.”

“So you don’t believe in Zenith?”

“I can only say we have found no evidence there is any sort of KGB assassin running amok in Western Europe. You don’t even know it was KGB who did this. Think about it. Why would they kill Tobias Gabler? According to Morningstar, he managed their account. He was their bloke.”

“Maybe he was going to talk.”

“To whom? Not to Langley. Not to us. Doubtful he was talking to any other Western intelligence service.”

“What if Gabler was talking to the KGB?”

Sir Basil blinked in surprise. “If he was talking to the KGB, why would the KGB kill him?”

Jack said, “I have a theory, Basil. But I can’t prove it.”

Basil replied, “Jack, I want to hear it. I want to know what you make of all of this.”

Ryan said, “I’ve been thinking about it all day. Look at the evidence. Penright’s assertion that there were two groups of Russians in play at RPB. All the effort required to kill everyone with knowledge of the two-hundred-four-million-dollar account. The extraordinary measures to shift blame to the RAF cell, and then to wipe out the cell so they couldn’t proclaim their innocence.”

Jack blew out a long breath. He was almost afraid to say the next part, because, as an analyst, he realized he was reaching into the dangerous land of conjecture.

“I believe the KGB is fighting with itself.”

“Why?”

“It’s over money. The two hundred four million. That much is clear.

“As far as I can see, if the KGB wanted to kill the Swiss bankers and possibly the British agent, they could have gotten the RAF, or some other left-leaning group, to actually do it. They didn’t need to frame them. The fact that they framed them, and then killed them to hide the ruse, makes me think this was not a regular KGB operation.

“That said, the men involved had to have been KGB, because otherwise how would they have all the contacts in place in the Stasi necessary to make this happen?”

Charleston asked, “Why do you think KGB officers have money hidden from the rest of the KGB, and why is it in an account in Western Europe?”

Ryan said, “Isn’t it possible that some of them might be working together just to shave funds off other ops for a rainy day? Squirrel away a fortune in a numbered account—in Switzerland, for example—in case they need means for a quick getaway? Look at the Nazis at the end of World War Two. Those that had access to cash had a means of escape.”

Charleston said, “That’s all speculation, Jack. I don’t want to stifle your fertile brain, it’s come in quite handy, but look at it from my perspective. Have you brought me anything actionable?”

Ryan let out a long soft sigh.

“No. Nothing at all.”

Charleston put up his hands. He’d made a decision. “Eastling wants to close the investigation into the death of David Penright. I am going to deny his request, but without any new information, I suspect it will go dormant. I will also leave the matter of the Zenith operative up to MI5, as they already seem to be working on it without our help. We’ll do what we can for them in Central Europe, ask around about their missing man, but I am afraid if they are coming to us with their hat in their hand like this then it is very likely the man is in a great deal of trouble. It’s probably too late for him.”

Suddenly something occurred to Jack. “How long has this guy been missing? Could he be the man who helped me last night?”

Charleston shook his head. “They tell me he has not checked in for some weeks, and remember, he was an asset behind the lines. In Hungary, they said. West Berlin was not his turf.”

“I don’t have a hell of a lot of experience with the operations side of things, but don’t these guys go long periods of time without checking in? I mean, if he was operational in the field, he can’t exactly jump into a phone booth and call home to London. And don’t they do their own thing from time to time? Who’s to say he didn’t go to West Germany looking for Zenith?”

Charleston thought it over. “I can go back to Hollis and run your concerns by him, but as I said, the missing man is not one of mine, so I can’t speak to his methods of operation.”

Jack sighed again. “So, what happens now?”

Charleston was sympathetic, but there was only so much he could say. “You go home to your wife and your kids, and you hug them tight. You pushed Eastling when he needed to be pushed in Switzerland, and you saved lives in Berlin, nearly at the expense of your own. Be proud of what you’ve done. As long as the MI5 operative is missing, however, we must entertain the idea that he is behind the Curtain. It would be best for him—‘crucial’ is perhaps the better word—that no rumors make the rounds about a missing British spy.”

“You are asking me to keep this from Langley.”

“If MI5 wants to ask Langley for official help, allow them to do that. But as a liaison with MI6, I am requesting your complete discretion in the matter. We don’t want to get the bloke killed by talking about him.”

Jack shook his head. “This operation is nothing but a long list of loose ends.”

“Intelligence work is like that sometimes, lad. The opposition has a say in events just the same as we do.”

“This feels like losing, Basil.”

Sir Basil Charleston put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “We didn’t lose, Jack. We just didn’t win.”

Driscoll and Chavez had moved forward through the trees on the northern and southern ends of Hugh Castor’s lakeside property; they were just twenty-five yards away from the back of the chalet, and they were well hidden. Chavez had a line of sight on Ryan via a large glass window. Through his binos he clearly saw Ryan seated on the sofa with Oxley, and in front of them was an elderly man seated by a fireplace.