Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (66 page)

Knocke said nothing; no words were necessary.

“I assume this pass will hold good for all
eventualities
?”

“That is so
,
Herr Maior.”

The GRU agent went to turn away and then thought the better of it.

“The proof you need will
come. Until then you will do as
you are told. Are we clear
,
Knocke?”

The expression on Knocke’s face was similar to that of an Owl about to feast upon a helpless rodent.

“Alles klar, Herr Maior.”

The jeep started first time
,
and the Polish officer moved out of the security cordon, bumping along the road so recently damaged by the passage of a number of Legion Panther tanks.

Kowalski hardly noticed, his thoughts all-possessing.

He smiled, safe in the knowledge that he
possessed
irrefutable
physical
evidence of Knocke’s treachery
,
and that the man was now forever entwined in his betrayal.

If the German went along with Soviet plans then he would prove useful; if he didn’t, then the evidence of his betrayal would fracture the legion.

Knocke lit another cigarette as he watched the Russian drive away.

A knock on the door received the expected invitation
,
and the sound of people shuffling into the office broke Knocke’s small reverie.

Turning around, he assumed the parade
‘
at ease
’
position, making eye contact with the three people opposite.

He beckoned them to sit, taking his own seat and moving four folders to one side.

“He asked for the
order of battle as we expected
.”

The four others
folders all contained
information
that the agent could have asked for.

“So, I am now a
Soviet
spy.”

De Walle pursed his lips.

“That will be what he thinks obviously. So, he will
now
provide proof of your family’s existence, which is what you need. But we play a dangerous game here.”

Von Arnesen had nothing to add to that.

“
If it all goes bad then
I can just disappear from the Brigade, a victim of accident or whatever
.”

Knocke spoke directly to De Walle.

“But if it goes right
,
then we can feed the
Soviet
s misinformation,” and switching to make eye contact with the third person sat opposite, he continued, “And my family can be returned to me.”

They held eye contact, Anne-Marie de
Valois understanding the importance of his
family
, as well as
his needs, his wants and his fears.

It was a dangerous game indeed.

The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness.

Adolf Hitler

She awoke with a start, her eyes gradually coming into focus, the feel of a cool, damp compress on her forehead assisting her in coming
to terms with the
unexpected appearance of the
outside world.

Tatiana Nazarbayeva had been extremely unwell,
the aggressive
viral infection striking her down until now, when its stranglehold
had
finally
been
broke
n
.

She gently pushed the tending hand aside
,
and tried to raise herself up in bed but her strength failed her.

Forcing her eyes to open as far as they could, she tried to shake off the tiredness that threatened to send her back into a deep sleep.

“How long have I been here?”

The nurse shrugged.

“
I’m
not sure
,
Comrade
Polkovnik
. I am new to this hospital
,
but you were her
e
before I arrived. One moment please
,
Comrade.”

The nurse took up the record sheet, flipping the page.

“You were brought here on the 16th August
,
Comrade
Polkovnik
.”

“And today is?”

“The 28th
,
Comrade
Polkovnik
.”

Tatiana
’s
mouth dropped wide open, her shock at her prolonged absence from duty wholly apparent.

“I will fetch the doctor, Please lay back and relax
,
Comrade.”

She did so, still reeling from the news that she had been unwell for twelve days.

Taking in her surroundings
,
she saw little to stimulate the mind. A modest room with one window
,
with nothing but trees to see, although the darkness of night did not even permit her that view. A bedside table and an armchair completed the ensemble in the freshly painted white room, all illuminated by a single light bulb, also very obviously recently installed.

The d
octor arrived quickly, examined
Nazarbayeva
,
and
was very
pleased with what he found.
He was especially pleased from a personal stand point,
as a number of extremely important
and powerful
people had made it quite clear that his continued happiness was dependent on the female GRU officer’s recovery.

The notes appeared again and he made his notations, whispering instructions to the nurse
,
who nodded constantly as he went.

The doctor missed the clip and the folder dropped to the floor with a slap, rousing
a
sleeping figure curled up on an armchair.

Tatiana did not notice and croaked a request.

“Comrade Doctor, I am thirsty. May I have a drink?”

“Of course
,
Comrade
Polkovnik
,” and he nodded to the nurse
,
who was already filling a glass.

A hand came into T
atiana’s vision
,
gently relieving
the nurse
of the
task
.

“Allow me
,
Comrade Nurse Lubova.”

Tatiana focussed hard, her heart racing at the timbre of that voice.

“Yuri?”

“Tatiana.”

Starshina Yuri Romanovich Nazarbayev smiled lovingly into his wife’s eyes as he placed the cool glass to her lips.

Both Doctor and Nurse beat a hasty retreat.

She consumed the water greedily, coughing as her efforts took a wrong turn.

“Yuri, what are you doing here
,
my husband?”

“I was ordered to attend here and aid your recovery
,
my
love
.”

“Ordered? You were given leave to come to me?”

Yuri Nazarbayev smiled the smile of a man with a secret
, and turned away to his tunic. He extracted
two documents, neatly folded but already heavily thumbed.

“No Tatiana, I was ordered.”

She took the
proffered
documents and opened them one at a
time, her eyes taking in the enormity of the papers in front of her.

“Oh.”

There was a lot she could have said. After all, it was rare enough that a soldier rec
e
ived
a direct written order and pass
signed by the Theatre comma
nder himself, but there it was;
Zhukov’s signature standing out proud on a document ordering her husband to immediately attend his wife
,
and provi
di
ng him with authority to make the journey by any means he chose.

The second document ordering Yuri Nazarbayev to his wife’s side was even more of a shock, signed as it was by
Generallissimo Joseph Stalin
.

‘Oh!’

Yuri told the story as he used a
damp
cloth to wipe his wife’s face and neck.

Zhukov’s order had arrived first
,
and Yuri’s Colonel was already in a blue funk trying to cope with the thought that the great man
’s attention had focussed on his unit
. The order from Stalin almost unhinged him when it was hand delivered by an NKVD
Major
, who
had
treated
it like it was unstable dynamite.

Starshina Nazarbayev
suddenly became a man to fear, g
iven his impeccable credentials, and the most powerful of friends.

Yuri was a
humorous
man, something that the young Tatiana had found hugely attractive
when they were courting
. His humour surfaced now, although
it
failed to mask his concern and worry.

He recovered the first letter, folding it and sliding it back inside his tunic pocket.

“Comrade Marshall Zhukov?
”

The second received the same meticulous attention and the pocket was buttoned in place.

“C
omrade General Secretary Stalin?
”

He patted the pocket, almost as if checking the two messages were still there.

“So, is there something you want to tell me
,
my darling?”

The nurse and doctor had flitted in and out through the rest of the night
,
but neither Tatiana nor her husband were aware of their presence, the former still tired from her illness and the latt
er, being a veteran soldier,
making the most of the opportunity to rest.

Yuri Nazarbayev stirred a little as the door opened, his eyelids parting to take in a shape entering the room.

They closed again, seeking to promote more sleep before his brain started to bring him round, warning him that he should now be alert.

His eyelids shot open and he was greeted by the uniform of a Colonel-General stood quietly over his wife’s bed.

His body responded instantly and he shot to his feet, assuming the attention position, automatically reporting to the Senior Officer.

The old general stopped him in mid flow.

“Stop now Yuri Romanovich, you will disturb your wife. At ease, Comrade.”

His confusion was now complete, unused to being addressed in such a way by such a senior man.

“The doctor’s tell me she has come back to us.”

As if to prove the point
,
Tatiana provided a gentle snore for the moment.