tc.redrabbit-第135部分

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　　　〃But　you　said　he's　not　part　of　CIA？〃　Ryan　asked。
　　　〃No；　I　think　he　is　politician　aide；　helper；　member　of　staff…like　that；〃　Zaitzev　said　rather　positively。
　　　〃Good。〃　Ryan　lit　up　a　smoke　and　offered　one　to　Zaitzev；　who　took　it　at　once。
　　　〃I　run　out　of　my　Krasnopresnenskiye；〃　he　explained。
　　　〃I　should　give　you　all　of　mine。　My　wife　wants　me　to　quit。　She's　a　doctor；〃　Jack　explained。
　　　〃Bah；〃　the　Rabbit　responded。
　　　〃So；　why　did　you　decide　to　leave？〃　Kingshot　asked；　taking　a　sip　of　tea。　The　reply　nearly　made　him　drop　the　cup。
　　　〃KGB　want　to　kill　Pope。〃
　　　〃You're　serious？〃　It　was　the　more　experienced　man　who　asked　that　question；　not　Ryan。
　　　〃Serious？　I　risk　my　life；　my　wife　life；　my　daughter　life。　Da；　I　am　serious；〃　Oleg　Ivanovich　assured　his　interlocutors　with　an　edge　on　his　voice。
　　　〃Fuck；〃　Ryan　breathed。　〃Oleg；　we　need　to　know　about　this。〃
　　　〃It　start　in　August。　Fifteen　August　it　start；〃　Zaitzev　told　them；　spinning　out　his　tale　without　interruption　for　five　or　six　minutes。
　　　〃No　name　for　the　operation？〃　Jack　asked　when　he　stopped。
　　　〃No　name；　just　dispatch　number　fifteen…eight…eighty…two…six…six…six。　That　is　date　of　first　message　from　Andropov　to　rezidentura　Rome；　and　number　of　message；　yes？　Yuriy　Vladimirovich　ask　how　get　close　to　Pope。　Rome　say　bad　idea。　Then　Colonel　Rozhdestvenskiy…he　is　main　assistant　to　chairman；　yes？…he　send　signal　to　rezidentura　Sofia。　Operation　go　from　Sofia。　So；　operation　…six…six…six　probably　run　for　KGB　by　Dirzhavna　Sugurnost。　I　think　officer　name　is　Strokov；　Boris　Andreyevich。〃
　　　Kingshot　had　a　thought　and　rose；　leaving　the　room。　He　came　back　with　Nick　Thompson；　a　former　detective　superintendent　of　the　Metropolitan　Police。
　　　〃Nick；　does　the　name　Boris　Andreyevich　Strokov　mean　anything　to　you？〃
　　　The　former　cop　blinked　hard。　〃Indeed　it　does；　Alan。　He's　the　chappie　we　think　killed　Georgiy　Markov　on　Westminster　Bridge。　We　had　him　under　surveillance；　but　he　flew　out　of　the　country　before　we　had　enough　cause　to　pick　him　up　for　questioning。〃
　　　〃Wasn't　he　under　diplomatic　cover？〃　Ryan　asked；　and　was　surprised　by　Thompson's　answer。
　　　〃Actually　not。　He　came　in　undocumented　and　left　the　same　way。　I　saw　him　myself　at　Heathrow。　But　we　didn't　put　the　pieces　together　quickly　enough。　Dreadful　case　it　was。　The　poison　they　gave　Markov　was　horrific　stuff。〃
　　　〃You　eyeballed　this　Strokov　guy？〃
　　　Thompson　nodded。　〃Oh；　yes。　He　might　have　noticed　me。　I　wasn't　being　all　that　careful　under　the　circumstances。　He's　the　one　who　killed　Markov。　I'd　stake　my　life　on　it。〃
　　　〃How　can　you　be　sure？〃
　　　〃I　chased　murderers　for　near　on　twenty　years；　Sir　John。　You　get　to　know　them　in　all　that　time。　And　that's　what　he　was；　a　murderer；〃　Thompson　said　with　total　confidence。　Ryan　could　remember　his　father　being　like　this；　even　on　frustrating　cases　when　he　knew　what　he　needed　but　couldn't　quite　prove　it　to　a　jury。
　　　〃The　Bulgarians　have　a　sort　of　contract　with　the　Soviets；〃　Kingshot　explained。　〃Back　in　1964　or　so；　they　agreed　to　handle　all　the　'necessary'　eliminations　for　the　KGB。　In　return；　they　get　various　perks；　mostly　political。〃
　　　〃Strokov；　yes；　I've　heard　that　name　before。　Did　you　get　a　photo　of　the　chap；　Nick？〃
　　　〃Fifty　or　more；　Alan；〃　Thompson　assured　him。　〃I'll　never　forget　that　face。　He　has　the　eyes　of　a　corpse…no　life　in　them　at　all；　like　a　doll's　eyes。〃
　　　〃How　good　is　he？〃　Ryan　asked。
　　　〃As　an　assassin？　Quite　good；　Sir　John。　Very　good　indeed。　His　elimination　of　Markov　on　the　bridge　was　expertly　done…it　was　the　third　attempt。　The　first　two　would…be　assassins　bungled　the　job；　and　they　called　Strokov　in　to　get　it　right。　And　that　he　did。　Had　things　gone　just　a　little　differently；　we　would　not　have　realized　it　was　a　murder　at　all。〃
　　　〃We　think　he's　worked　elsewhere　in　the　West；〃　Kingshot　said。　〃But　very　little　good　information。　Just　gossip　really。　Jack；　this　is　a　dangerous　development。　I　need　to　get　this　information　to　Basil　soonest。〃　And　with　that；　Alan　left　the　room　to　get　to　a　secure　phone。　Ryan　turned　back　to　Zaitzev。
　　　〃And　that's　why　you　decided　to　leave？〃
　　　〃KGB　want　kill　innocent　man；　Ryan。　I　see　plot　grow。　Andropov　himself　say　do　this。　I　handle　the　messages。　How　can　man　stop　KGB？〃　he　asked。　〃I　cannot　stop　KGB；　but　I　will　not　help　KGB　kill　priest…he　is　innocent　man；　yes？〃
　　　Ryan's　eyes　looked　down　at　the　floor。　〃Yes；　Oleg　Ivan'ch；　he　is。〃　Dear　God　in　heaven。　He　checked　his　watch。　He　had　to　get　this　information　out　PDQ；　but　nobody　was　awake　at　Langley　yet。
　　　〃Bloody　hell；〃　Sir　Basil　Charleston　said　into　his　secure　phone。　〃Is　this　reliable　information；　Alan？〃
　　　〃Yes；　sir；　I　believe　it　to　be　entirely　truthful。　Our　Rabbit　seems　a　decent　chap；　and　a　rather　clever　one。　He　seems　to　be　motivated　exclusively　by　his　conscience。〃　Next；　Kingshot　told　him　about　the　first　revelation　of　the　morning；　MINISTER。
　　　〃We　need　to　get　'five'　looking　into　that。〃　The　British　Security　Service…once　known　as　MI…5…was　the　counterespionage　arm　of　their　government。　They'd　need　a　little　more　specific　information　to　run　that　putative　traitor　down；　but　they　already　had　a　starting　point。　Twenty　years；　was　it？
　　　What　a　productive　traitor　that　fellow　had　to　be；　Sir　Basil　thought。　Time　for　him　to　see　Parkhurst　Prison　on　the　Isle　of　Wight。　Charleston　had　spent　years　cleaning　up　his　own　shop；　once　a　playground　for　the　KGB。　But　no　more；　and　never　bloody　again；　the　Knight　mander　of　the　Bath　swore　to　himself。
　　　Whom　do　i　tell？　Ryan　wondered。　Basil　would　doubtless　call　LangleyJack　would　make　sure　of　that；　but　Sir　Basil　was　a　supremely　reliable　guy。　Next　came　a　more　difficult　question：　What　the　hell　can　I/we　do　about　this？
　　　Ryan　lit　another　smoke　to　consider　that　one。　It　was　more　police　work　than　intelligence　work。。。
　　　And　the　central　issue　would　be　classification。
　　　Yeah；　that's　going　to　be　the　problem。　If　we　tell　anybody；　the　word　will　get　out　somehow；　and　then　somebody　will　know　we　have　the　Rabbit…and　guess　what；　Jack？　The　Rabbit　is　now　more　important　to　the　CIA　than　the　life　of　the　Pope。
　　　Oh；　shit；　Ryan　thought。　It　was　like　a　trick　of　jujitsu；　like　a　sudden　reversal　of　polarity　on　the　dial　of　a　pass。　North　was　now　south。　Inside　was　now　outside。　And　the　needs　of　American　intelligence　might　now　supersede　the　life　of　the　Bishop　of　Rome。　His　face　must　have　betrayed　what　he　was　thinking。
　　　〃What　is　amiss；　Ryan？〃　the　Rabbit　asked。　It　seemed　to　Jack　a　strange　word　for　him　to　know。
　　　〃The　information　you　just　gave　us。　We've　been　worrying　about　the　safety　of　the　Pope　for　a　couple　of　months；　but　we　had　no　specific　information　to　make　us　believe　his　life　was　actually　at　risk。　Now　you　have　given　that　information　to　us；　and　someone　must　decide　what　to　do　with　it。　Do　you　know　anything　at　all　about　the　operation？〃
　　　〃No；　almost　nothing。　In　Sofia　the　action　officer　is　the　rezident；　Colonel　Bubovoy；　Ilya　Fedorovich。　Senior　colonel；　he　is…Ambassador；　can　I　say？　To　Bulgarian　DS。　This　Colonel　Strokov；　this　name　I　know　from　old　cases。　He　is　officer　assassin　for　DS。　He　do　other　things；　too；　yes；　but　when　man　need　bullet；　Strokov　deliver　bullet；　yes？〃
　　　This　struck　Ryan　as　something　from　a　bad　movie；　except　that　in　the　movies　the　big；　bad　CIA　was　the　one　with　a　special　assassination　department；　like　a　cupboard　with　vampire　bats　inside。　When　the　director　needed　somebody　killed；　he'd　open　the　door；　and　one　of　the　bats　flew　out　and　made　its　kill；　then　flew　back　docilely　to　the　cupboard　and　hung　upside　down　until　the　next　man　needed　killing。　Sure；　Wilbur。　Hollywood　had　everything　figured　out；　except　that　government　bureaucracies　all　ran　on　paper…nothing　happened　without　a　written　order　of　some　sort；　because　only　a　piece　of　white　paper　with　black　ink　on　it　would　cover　somebody's　ass　when　things　went　bad…and　if　somebody　really　needed　killing；　someone　inside　the　system　had　to　sign　the　order；　and　who　would　sign　that　kind　of　order？　That　sort　of　thing　became　a　permanent　record　of　something　bad；　and　so　the　signature　blank　would　be　bucked　all　the　way　to　the　Oval　Office；　and　once　there　it　just　wasn't　the　sort　of　paper　that　would　find　its　way　into　the　Presidential　Library　that　memorialized　the　person　known　inside　the　security　munity　as　National　mand　Authority。　And　nobody　in　between　would　sign　the　order；　because　government　e