Ken Follett - Triple (1991)

"Nat Dickstein is going, to steal some uranium," said Yasif Hassan. David Rostov nodded agreement. His mind was elsewhere. He was trying to figure out how to get rid of Yasif Hassan. They were walking through the valley at the foot of the crag which was the old city of Luxembourg. Here, on the banks of the Petrusse River, were lawns and ornamental trees and footpaths. Hassan was saying, "Mey've got a nuclear reactor at a place called Dimona in the Negev Desert. The French helped them build it, and presumably supplied them with fuel for it Since the Six-Day War, de Gaulle has cut off their supplies of guns, so perhaps he's cut off the uranium as well. This much was obvious, Rostov thought, so it was best to allay Hassans suspicions by agreeing vehemently. "It would be a completely characteristic Mossad move to just go out and steal the uranium they need," he said. 'ThaVs exactly how those people think. They have this backs-to-the-wall mentality which enables them to ignore the niceties of international diplomacy." Rostov was able to guess a little farther than Hassanwhich was why he was at once so elated and so anxious to get the Arab out of the way for a while. Rostov knew about the Egyptian nuclear project at Qattara: Hassan almost certainly did not-why should they tell such secrets to an agent in Luxembourg? However, because Cairo was so leaky it was likely the Israelis also knew about the Egyptian bomb. And what would they do about it? Build their own-for which they needed,. in the Euratom man's phrase, "fissionable material." Rostov thought Dickstein was going to try to get some uranium for an Israeli atom bomb. But Hassan would not be able to reach that conclusion, not yet; and Rostov was not going to help him, for he did not want Tel Aviv to discover how close he was. , When the printout arrived that night it would take him farther still. For it was the list from which Dickstein would probably choose his target. Rostov did not want Hassan to have that information, either. David Rostov's blood was up. He felt the way he did in a chess game at the moment when three or four of the opponent's moves began to form a pattern and he could see from where the attack would come and how he would have to turn it into a rout. He had not forgotten the reasons why he had entered into battle with Dickstein--that other conflict inside the KGB between himself and Feliks Vorontsov, with Yuri Andropov as umpire and a place at the Phys-Mat School as the prize-but that receded to the back of his mind. What moved him now, what kept him tense and alert and sharpened the edge of his ruthlessness, was the thrill of the chase and the scent of the quarry in his nostrils. Hassan stood in his way. Eager, amateur, touchy, bungling Hassan, reporting back to Cairo, was at this moment a more dangerous enemy than Dickstein himself. For all his faults, he was not stupid-indeed, Rostov thought, he had a sly, intelligence that was typically Levantine, inherited- no doubt from his capitalist father. He would know that Rostov wanted him out of the way. Therefore Rostov would have to give him a real job to do. They passed beneath the Pont Adolphe, and Rostov stopped to look back, admiring the view through the arch of the bridge. It reminded him of Oxford, and then, suddenly, he knew what to do about Hassan. Rostov said, "Dickstein knows someone has been following him, and presumably hes connected that fact with his meeting with YOU." "You think so?" Hassan said. 'Vell, look. He goes on an assignment, he bumps into an Arab who knows his real name and suddenly he's tailed." "Hes sure to speculate, but he doesn't know." "You're right." Looking at Hassan's face, Rostov realized that the Arab just loved him to say You're right. Rostov thought: He doesn't like me, but he wants my approvalwants it badly. He's a proudman-I can use that. "Dickstein has to check," Rostov went on. "Now, are you on file in Tel Avive Hassan shrugged, with a hint of his old aristocratic nonchalance. "Who knowsr' "How often have you had face-to-face contacts with other agents-Americans, British, Israelis?" "Never," Hassan said. "Im too careful." Rostov almost laughed out loud. The truth was that, Hassan was too insigufficant an agent to have come to the notice of the major intelligence services, and had never done anything important enough to have met other spies. "If you!re not on file," Rostov said, "Dickstein has to talk to your friends. Have you any acquaintances in common?" "No. I haven't seen him since college. Anyway, he could learn nothing from my friends. They know nothing of my secret life. I don!t go around telling people-!' "No, no," Rostov said, suppressing his impatience, "But all Dickstein would have to do is ask casual questions about your general behavior to see whether it conforms to the pattern of clandestine work-for example, do you have mysteri. ous phone calls, sudden absences, friends whom you don!t introduce around . - - Now, is there anybody from Oxford whom you still see?" "None of the students." Hassan!s tone bad become defensive, and Rostov knew he was about to get what he wanted. 'Tve kept in touch with some of the faculty, on and off: Professor Ashford, in particular-once or twice he hits put me in touch with people who are prepared to give money to our cause." "Dickstein knew Ashford, if I remember rightly." "Of course. Ashford had the chair of Semitic Languages, which was what both Dickstein and I read." "T'here. All Dickstein has to do is call on Ashford and mention your name in passing. Ashford will tell him what you're doing and how you behave. Then Dickstein will know you're an agent." "It's a bit hit-and-miss," Hassan said dubiously. "Not at all," Rostov said brightly, although Hassan was right. "It's a standard technique. rve done it myself. It works." "And if he has contacted Ashford.

"We have a chance of picking up his traff again. So I want you to go to Oxford." "Ohl" Hassan had not seen where the conversation was leading, and now was boxed in. "Dickstein might have just called on the phone. . ." "He might, but that kind of inquiry is easier to make in person. Then you can say you were in town and just dropped by to talk about old fines ... It's hard to be that casual on the International telephone. For the same reasons, you must go dim rather than call." "I suppose you!re right," Hassan said reluctantly. "I was planning to make a report to Cairo as soon as we've read the printout. . That was exactly what Rostov was trying to avoid. "Good idea," he said. "But the report will look so much better if you can also say that you have picked up Dickstein!s traft again." Hassan stood staring at the view, peering into the distance as if he was hying to see Oxford. "Let's go back," he said abruptly. "I've walked far enough.- It was time to be chummy. Rostov put an arm around Hassan!s shoulders. "You Europeans are soft" 'Won't try to tell me the KGB have a tough life in Moscow." "Want to bear a Russian joke?" Rostov said as they climbed the side of the valley toward the road. "Brezhnev was telling his old mother how well he had done. He showed her his apartment-huge, with western furniture, dishwasher, freezer, servants, everything. She didn't say a word. He took her to his dacha on the Black Sea-a big villa with a swimming pool, private beach, more servants. Still she wasn't impressed. He took her to his hunting lodge in his ZU limousine, showed off the beautiful grounds, the guns, the dogs. Finally he said, 'Mother, mother, why don't you say something? Aren!t you proudr So she said, Ilts wonderful, Leonid. But what will you do if the Communists come backr " Rostov roared with laughter at his own story, but Hassan only smiled. "You don't think it's funny?" Rostov said. "Not very," Hassan told him. "It's guilt that makes you laugh at that joke. I don't feel guilty, so I don't Imd it funny." Rostov shrugged, thinking: Thank you Yasif Hassan, ishm% answer to Sigmund Freud. They reached the road and stood there for a while, watching the cars speed by as Hassan caught his breath. Rostov said, "Oh, listen, there's something I've always wanted to ask you. Did you really screw Ashford!s wife?" "Only four or five times a week," Hassan said, and he laughed, loudly. Rostov said, "Who feels guilty now?"