Chapter 10: Trust is Good. Control is Better

Moscow, Monday, five days after Vyera's release

It is a fine summer morning in Moscow. The air is fresh and clean. The freshness may be a harbinger of autumn but Igor Ivanovitch Mendeleyev can tell that the day will be warm. As a provider of advice and assistance to Anatoly Kustensky, Igor sometimes finds himself having to deal with unusual situations but this is one of the more extraordinary circumstances he has had to grapple with.

He looks out from his office window at the care-free passers-by on the concourse below. He's preparing himself for a difficult meeting. Such unexpected events! Some problems too! He shrugs. That is what makes life interesting, he muses. The unexpected brings opportunities for new thinking, opportunities to meet new challenges. Except this time ... Well, this time the challenge in front of them has to be met successfully. He shakes his head at the thought of the problem. There is very little room for error.

The meeting comes to order. Around the table are Anatoly Sergeyevitch, Mendeleyev, Julia Romanova, Neena and Yevgeny. The look on everyone's face is serious; not worried but very much focused on their shared problem.

Anatoly begins proceedings, taking the chair. It's a formal meeting. He is using first names and patronymics for everyone round the table. He talks in a clipped tone that betrays his military background. Some people find his manner brusque. He feels that getting straight to the point is more efficient and reduces the risks of misunderstanding. He doesn't back away from any of the issues that face them. Even when something is as personal as this he knows that he has to push private matters to one side. "Five days ago, the slave Vyera Anatolyevna was released into the care of her family in Stockholm by Svetlana Nikitechna. This release was made 'on the spur of the moment'. No proper preparations were made for either Vyera or for the environment into which she was released. This is a new situation for us and we do not have a detailed contingency plan to follow in these circumstances. Telephone intercepts provided through the continued interest and support of 'old colleagues' confirm as we might have expected that Vyera's father initially took her to the family home and then contacted the British Embassy and the Stockholm Police. We can assume that by now the British Police will also be aware of her. Our contacts inside the Stockholm Police report that Vyera has been interviewed by a member of the detective bureau and that arrangements were made for her to be seen by a psychologist.

The purpose of this meeting," Anatoly looks around the table just to make sure that everyone is still with him, "is to make some predictions about Vyera's likely behaviour and to discuss how she might be brought back into our care. You will, of course, realise that the situation is now complicated because of the increasing number of people and official organisations who know she is in circulation once again."

The team around the table all look uncomfortable. They know how difficult this could be.

"As soon as I became aware of what had taken place, I thought about the practicalities of eliminating Vyera, but she was released in a public space in front of her parents and husband and other passers-by, so a 'discrete elimination' was not possible. Vyera's father is a military man and took her back to somewhere he could defend – the family home in Stockholm and called in reinforcements: he contacted the British Embassy and the police who immediately dispatched officers. Even at that early point – an hour or so after her release – elimination would have involved three other people and at least two police officers. This did not seem practical. I have also spoken to old colleagues in Moscow who advise that – due to the wider political situation – elimination was not a desirable option from their perspective. (1) They do not want another Litvenenko - Lugovoi situation. (2) However they are, let me say, keen that we should resolve this crisis quickly and in a satisfactory way."

Anatoly's words don't give his audience much comfort. Worrying about the State Security Apparatus while trying to juggle the Swedish and British police as well as Vyera's family isn't going to help.

"To summarise. The people and organisations aware of the re-appearance of Vyera or Jennifer McEwan as we should probably call her in this context, are: Her husband and parents, the British Embassy, the Stockholm Police and the British Police. The more time passes, the wider the ripples will spread and, unfortunately, the ripples will not get any smaller."

"I think there are three areas to attend to. First: can we trust Vyera to keep our confidence? Is she likely to tell all she knows, as soon as she can? Or will she attempt to remain loyal to us but find the pressure she comes under from the authorities too hard to resist? Second: We should revisit the alibis that we arranged to cover the time when she first joined us in London. (3) Dr Hahn must be told that Jennifer McEwan has reappeared and we should decide how far to cooperate with the British Police if they want to speak to Anna Symeonova Tereshkova. Neena Alexandrovna - I just can't recall exactly – Anna Symeonova made very special efforts?"

"She shaved her head, Anatoly Sergeyevitch," Neena replies, "so that she would look exactly like Vyera and so the hospital staff would remember her."

"Of course she did! An ideal solution to the problem at the time. If the Foreign Ministry allows the British Police to interview Anna Symeonova, assuming their investigation gets that far, she will have to resume her former appearance."

Dr Mendeleyev clears his throat. This is a point of detail he fears but since it is being discussed anyway it would be sensible if they came to the right decisions. "Excuse me, Anatoly Sergeyevitch, but should she? That may only serve to confirm suspicions in the mind of the police. It is so very neat. Women – if Neena Alexandrovna and Julia Vasilyevna will excuse me – I have observed that women often change their hairstyle. And colour. Anna Symeonovna needs to look like someone who might shave her head but should perhaps look just a little more conventional. It avoids too much pepper in the stew?"

"Thank you. A wise caution, Igor Ivanovitch. So Neena Alexandrovna: discuss the position with Anna Symeonova and come to some agreement with her. If she needs to change her hair, perhaps she should make incremental changes, so she does not arouse inappropriate attention from her work colleagues?"

Neena nods. She doesn't write anything down. They are all used to having to remember the outcome of meetings without the aid of written notes.

Anatoly continues. "Then there is the airport. I think it most likely that they will still have records of aircraft movements from then. They will be able to tell the police that our aircraft left on the day Jennifer McEwan disappeared certainly. And who the passengers were, I am sure."

Yevgeny reminds himself to check with some ex-colleagues. "I can probably get confidence over the level of exposure there, boss." Anatoly nods his thanks.

"Finally; I think we can all agree that it would be much preferred if Vyera returned voluntarily at an early date. How can we encourage her to do that? It will depend on good information, I think; good intelligence. What leverage can we apply to make her life in the UK less appealing in fact than the life she remembered when she was enslaved? Are there inducements we can supply to encourage her return? What will the attitude of her husband be to her return? Has he formed any other relationships whilst Vyera was in our hands? Will he be torn between new relationships and his wife?"

Dr Mendeleyev clears his throat. There's an additional problem that he has just thought of. "Anatoly Sergeyevitch, just to make sure we do not miss anything or give ourselves more problems than we need. At a previous meeting, we made a provisional decision to release the American, Tracy Randolf. Now we have a crisis on our hands, can I suggest that particular release is delayed until the 'Vyera Situation' is finally resolved and the dust has settled?"

Anatoly pinches the brow of his nose. He wishes Mendeleyev would not keep ducking off down these side lines. The only trouble is that, once again, he's right, this probably is a significant issue. "The American girl?" In the turmoil of the past few days, Tracy Randolf has not been far up the list of things to think about for Anatoly, but mentioned at this moment, in relation to these particular events, Anatoly finds a final decision about Tracy rather easy to make. "The American? There will be no release for her. She will now have to stay. Permanently. I am not having her wandering the streets to cause yet more difficulty."

At these words, Neena finds herself smiling. No release for the American? A life time of slavery? How satisfactory! Neena also notices that she is wet between her thighs ... She grins but the sound of Anatoly's voice brings her back to the meeting.

"So let us start with Vyera's state of mind. Igor Ivanovitch. Your opinion please?"

Dr Mendeleyev purses his lips. He knows that Anatoly Sergeyevitch, a man of action, wants an answer with some precision but precision is not really possible, only probabilities. He rubs his chin with the palm of his hand. "I can only give you probabilities, Anatoly Sergeyevitch. At present, I expect Vyera to remain loyal. Probably. Evidence: the psychological evaluations we made during her training and the blood biochemistry results we had. Even more important, her behaviour. Julia Vasilyevna and Neena Alaxandrovna may wish to comment here?"

Julia begins. "The last time we met, Vyera was completely stable. I had no anxieties about her. She showed every sign of accepting her place and her role and accepting that she was 'at home'. Neena Alexandrovna?"

"I agree," continues Neena. "Vyera had been doing exactly as we instructed her. I would have rated her acquisition, training and programming as a complete success but even more: she had come to enjoy the life we had given her. There seemed to be some sort of significant change after she had been working for Alana Anatolyevna, a sort of final acceptance..."

"Anatoly Sergeyevitch, can you perhaps give us some more details about Vyera's release?"

Anatoly takes a deep breath. Of course Mendeleyev knows about Sveta's history and the devils which had harried her during Alana's pregnancy and confinement but it is still hard to speak of it. It seems disloyal to Sveta. To speak of her in front of subordinates. However, this is a crisis.

"We were on the boat, leaving Stockholm. The captain had just slipped the mooring and the boat was moving slowly towards the main channel out into the Baltic. We were reasonably close to shore when Vyera – who was serving dinner to us - noticed her husband and parents sitting on the quay as we went slowly past. I think memories came back..."

Anatoly allows himself a tight little smile at his understatement. He notices a sharp intake of breath from Neena. He leans back in his chair, his palms flat on the table. Mendeleyev is slowly shaking his head.

" ... Svetlana Nikitechna noticed something was amiss with the girl and followed her out onto the deck. My mind was elsewhere until I heard Svetlana Nikitechna calling to Joseph McEwan with the boat's loud hailer, asking him to 'wait a moment'. By the time I got out on deck, Vyera was swimming for the shore and there was a frisson of interest amongst the passers-by; also, I think it's fair to say, incomprehension on the part of Vyera's husband and parents ... I should mention that Vyera's collar had developed a fault and had been removed. There was no spare."

Anatoly notices that Julia has buried her head in her hands and is gently shaking with suppressed laughter. He scowls at her reaction but it's easy to see how it can seem like a ridiculous sequence of unfortunate events!

Of all the people in the world who could meet, it was Vyera and her parents and her husband. Of all the places in the world where each of them might be, there were all in Stockholm. Of all the days in the year when they might be in the city, they were there on the same day. Of all moments during the day, they were all present at the same time in the same place. Of all the things they could have done, Vyera was serving dinner looking towards the shore and they were sitting on the shore, looking towards her. Of all the moments when Svetlana Nikitechna could have broken down psychologically, it was at this time, on this day with Vyera and her husband and her parents all present and Anatoly Sergeyevitch's mind wandering elsewhere. And her collar! The 'friend' which was supposed to keep her safe had failed her and had been removed, so she could do her job. With considerable effort, Julia collects herself.

"I am sorry Anatoly Sergeyevitch. This is indeed a very unfortunate sequence of events."

Julia's reaction breaks the tension in the room. Suddenly, now all the cards are on the table and the absurd sequence of misfortunes are acknowledged, it seems easier to see what practical steps have to be taken.

Dr Mendeleyev picks up the threads of the conversation. "We can take it, Anatoly Sergeyevitch, that all telephone and internet traffic from Vyera. Joseph McEwan and Vyera's parents is under close surveillance?"

Anatoly nods in agreement.

"Then we will have... oversight ... of their plans?"

"No", contradicts Anatoly. "We will know the content of the messages but not their true intentions. Vyera's father is a soldier. He will be familiar with setting traps and false trails to deceive the enemy. We are his enemies. The ones who took his daughter. Barely an hour after Vyera's return, he had established a redoubt and called in powerful re-enforcements. This could be a close fought battle, between him and us."