“Mmmmfh?” she replied into her pillow.

“Do you trust your people not to record our activities here?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I saw to it, early on, that they’re scared shitless of me.”

“Oh, good.”

48

The Russian embassy sent a car for Roger and Jennifer. Upon arrival it was driven into an underground garage before the door opened, and they were directed to an elevator.

“A precaution,” Jennifer said. “They don’t want anyone photographing your arrival.”

“Who would care?” Roger asked.

“Your former employers,” she said. “Don’t be naïve, Roger. You must always be aware of your surroundings and circumstances. The Russians admire such caution.”

They were met on the ground floor of the embassy and escorted into what must have once been a ballroom. Roger reflected that the Russians didn’t have much use for ballrooms these days. “I was expecting a bigger crowd,” he said, “but there are no more than thirty people here.”

“I told you, it’s all family. All these people work in intelligence in the embassy complex and have high security clearances—as do we, incidentally.”

“When did that happen?”

“Right after you were cleared in Crimea.”

Alex spotted them from across the room and approached. “Good evening,” he said, embracing both. “Roger, I hear you are driving a very elegant new car.”

“I am,” Roger replied, “and I thank you for anything you might have done to make that possible.”

“I only make Jennifer possible,” Alex replied. “She does the rest.”

“Then thank you for Jennifer.”

“Oh,” Alex said, reaching inside his jacket. “I have something for you—a little gift.”

Roger had thought he would produce a gun, but instead he was handed a Russian diplomatic passport. He looked inside and found his photograph, apparently taken in Crimea, and the name “Sergei Ivanovich Ostrovsky.”

“It is a mark of our faith in you, Roger, that you should own this. If you should ever have to disappear from England or from anywhere else, thoroughly destroy all your documents and use this, anywhere in the world. We will also be supplying you with a Russian driving license and other personal papers, including an appropriate birth certificate. Among the other materials is a personal history, which you must immediately memorize, in case you should ever be interrogated by unfriendly entities.”

“Thank you again,” Roger said.

“I understand from your records that you speak some Russian?”

“Enough to order dinner and vodka, but not to converse fluently.”

“Beginning tomorrow, you will undergo an advanced course in our language, and your professor will be Jennifer, who is superbly qualified.”

“Why would I need the language?”

“It’s like the passport, for use if you should have to run. Also, I should point out that my colleagues tend to view with suspicion operatives who are not conversant in Russian.”

“I see.”