Tom Clancy - Command Authority

Ding said, “Russia doesn’t really have a mafia in the sense we know it, that’s just a convenient name we use to convey the fact it is a criminal organization. In Russia and the other eastern states, the top dogs of the criminal hierarchy are the vory v zakonye , which translates to ‘thief-in-law,’ but means something like a thief who follows the code. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the criminals running around with gold chains and ill-fitting suits want you to think they are big shots, but they are not true vory v zakonye . Having said that, there might be several vory at the top of each organization, and whoever the absolute top dog is will be vory for sure.”

Chavez added, “Gleb the Scar, we are certain, is the genuine article. He’s vory .”

Hendley next asked, “How big is the organized-crime problem in Russia these days?”

“Valeri Volodin’s Interior Ministry has chased almost all of the largest and most powerful criminal groups out of Russia proper.”

“How did they do that?”

“The FSB has a unit called URPO, the Directorate for the Analysis and Suppression of Criminal Organizations. They are basically a hit squad, taking out OC members throughout Moscow and Saint Petersburg. But interestingly, they only seem to target foreign gangsters.

“There is a group of Slavs that started back in the late eighties that is flourishing now because all the Chechens, Georgians, Armenians, and others have been so heavily pursued by the FSB. This group is known as the Seven Strong Men.”

Hendley said, “There are only seven of them?”

“No, they were named after an unusual rock formation in the Komi Republic by that name. It’s seven massive stone pillars that jut out of a flat field. The group was formed in a gulag there in Komi.

“These days in Russia, the Seven Strong Men controls money lending, kidnapping for ransom, human trafficking, prostitution, car theft, assassination for hire… you name it.”

“And Gleb is the head of the Seven Strong Men?” Hendley asked.

“Not the head—the leader of the organization is unknown. Not even most of the people in the group seem to know who’s running the show. But we do know that Gleb the Scar is the chief of Seven Strong Men’s Saint Petersburg operation. He very well might be the second in command.”

Caruso spoke up. “And nobody has a clue what he’s doing in Kiev associating with Chechen gangsters, right?”

“None whatsoever. He hasn’t been known to leave his turf, nor has he been known to be friendly with ethnic minorities.”

Hendley said, “Okay, I approve. But how will you get intel on the Seven Strong Men’s operation?”

Clark turned to Biery. “Gavin?”

Biery said, “I can’t get into Intelink-TS. Not yet, anyway. But I do have access to the SIPRNet. This is the confidential-level network used by the government. Certainly not as good as the TS-level data, but… you know how it is with intelligence. There’s a shit ton out there in open source, and twice as much is lightly classified.”

Clark said, “With Gavin providing confidential-level intel to aid our physical surveillance in Kiev, we should be able to get a good picture of the situation there.”

Gavin added, “Additionally, I’ve hacked into the servers of the Ukrainian SSU—that’s their national police. This is where they keep all the goods on organized crime. Should be helpful, but it’s not the same as having Intelink-TS access.”

Driscoll spoke up now. “We’ll just have to supplement it with old-fashioned shoe-leather spy shit.”

The others grinned, but Hendley still had questions. “Who will be going over?”

“Obviously Ryan is in the UK, but all the rest of us will head over,” Clark replied.

Hendley seemed mildly surprised by this. “I thought you told me you were done with fieldwork.”

“I did. But I speak Russian, and I can read Ukrainian. I’ll need to go back in the field for this one.”

“I guess you don’t get to hang up your fedora just yet, Mr. C,” Dom joked.

Clark gave Dom a hard look. “Screw you, kid. I’ve never worn a fedora in my life. I’m not that old.”

Dom said, “Don’t ruin the badass mental image I have of you back in the day, Mr. C.”

Chavez said, “Hey, Gavin. You’re coming along, too, right?”

Biery looked to Hendley, like he was a child pleading with his mom to go over to a friend’s house to play.

Hendley sighed. “I guess since you made it back from Hong Kong in one piece you consider yourself quite the international man of mystery now, don’t you, Gav?”

Biery shrugged, but Chavez came to his defense. “He pulled us out of a real jam over there, Gerry. It pains me to say it, but we might not have made it out of there without him.”

“All right,” Hendley said. “You can go into the field to support the operation.” Hendley turned his attention back to Clark. “Surely you can’t go over there with weapons.”

“No,” Clark said. “We’ll have to be ready to get picked up and questioned at any time by authorities. We can use a journalist cover. If our credos are good enough, we’ll be just fine.”

Hendley countered, “Good documents will help if you get picked up by the police, but they won’t help you if you get picked up by Seven Strong Men.”

John Clark acknowledged this point. “Very true. We’ll be careful not to get picked up by the Scar and his boys.”

Gerry added, “John, I don’t have to remind you that Kiev is going to be absolutely crawling with all manner of shady characters. Official and unofficial.”

John looked at the rest of the team. “I read you loud and clear, and we’ll do our best to keep our operation under wraps, from the official and unofficial.” He smiled. “But just for the record, I’ve got my own crew of shady characters.”

The entourage surrounding the President of the United States arrived in the intensive-care unit of George Washington University Hospital shortly before ten p.m. The press had staked out the main entrances, but there was a loading dock on 22nd Street that had been cordoned off, and the President had arrived in a green Chevy Suburban in the middle of several clandestine Secret Service vehicles and pulled right up to the door, ensuring the press completely missed the low-key arrival.

The White House radiation story had been all over the news. There was talk around the White House of keeping a lid on the polonium angle, just releasing the news that Golovko had been poisoned, coincidentally while he was visiting the White House, and not mentioning that the poison had been, in fact, a radioactive isotope. But ultimately, reason prevailed. Any frenzy prevented by keeping this news from the public would last only until the truth came out, and the truth would come out at a time of its own choosing. They decided to reveal the full story about the event immediately, keeping only some details about Golovko’s condition under wraps for the sake of his own privacy.

Sergey had no close living relatives; in the ICU waiting room Ryan was introduced to members of Golovko’s traveling entourage: a publicist, a travel coordinator, and a British security officer.

Jack looked around for others, but that was it. After Sergey’s long life serving the Soviet Union and Russia, most of his home nation seemed to have turned its back on him or forgotten about him.

After conferring with the doctors about the dos and don’ts of visiting a man in Golovko’s condition, Ryan and his Secret Service detail continued up the hall toward Sergey’s room. Jack’s principal protection agent was by his side, and she had reservations about tonight, but she did not air them. Andrea Price-O’Day knew when to speak up to SWORDSMAN, and she knew when to let it go. Although she would very much prefer to be in the room with Ryan and Golovko, she knew Ryan would not allow it. Instead, she went into the hospital room with two other agents, swept the small space quickly and silently while Golovko lay still like a cadaver on the bed, and then stepped back into the hallway. She would keep a line of sight on POTUS through a window, but he would otherwise be alone in the room with the stricken patient.