“I am simply saying that HAMPTON’s loyalty is a matter of vital importance to your career, isn’t it? You would hate for this protegé of yours to be proved a traitor. You would hate, for example, to realize that some vital piece of information you might have slipped in his ear—the identity, say, of some important American asset—is now in the hands of a spy. Is that the case, Vashnikov? Has HAMPTON laid his fingers on the most important name of all?”

“He isn’t a traitor.”

“Then we shall discover this fact in the course of my carefully planned operation. For your sake, Vashnikov, I hope he isn’t. This escapade won’t look good at the tribunal.” She leans forward and puts her two hands on the desk. “Nor the fact that HAMPTON’s change of loyalty seems to have occurred at the exact same time you arranged for his defection.”

“This is pure fantasy. I’m surprised at you, Comrade.”

She straightens and adjusts the arms of her gray jacket. “And Vashnikov? Any pair of professionals can engage in sexual intercourse together for the satisfaction of whoever may be listening. This is basic KGB training.”

THE ORLOVSKY MATTER HAS taken longer than she expected. For one thing, SALT was not at his station—some operation he was involved in. Then the girl and her grandparents were away visiting a cousin or something. They only arrived back home late Sunday night. So it was not until Monday noon that SALT had the girl Donna Anna Orlovskaya in his custody, and—in the manner of Italians, Lyudmila supposed—she proved extremely difficult. She said they had no right to detain her—she would lodge a complaint with the United Nations. She wouldn’t do as they asked. If they put her on the phone with Papa, she would pretend to be somebody else. They couldn’t make her do anything! They couldn’t make Papa do anything! Lyudmila telephoned SALT from a secure line—She’s been watching too many American movies. You have to show her that this is real life, not a movie. Then she hung up the telephone and thought that this Donna Anna Orlovskaya sounded a lot like Marina.

But today—Wednesday—there’s a fresh cable waiting for her in the stack on her desk, already decoded in the cipher room. It arrived at four o’clock in the morning from her operative in Rome.

ORLOVSKY CONFIRMS SUMNER FOX OPERATIVE AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE IN MOSCOW TO EXECUTE PLANNED EXTRACTION HAMPTON FAMILY FOLLOWING BIRTH HAMPTON BABY STOP CLAIMS HE KNOWS NOTHING MORE STOP AWAIT INSTRUCTIONS APPLY FURTHER MEASURES STOP

Lyudmila taps her pencil against her lip and smiles. Then she composes an answer.

APPLY FURTHER MEASURES STOP

Iris

SEPTEMBER 1948

Dorset, England