“Roger to that,” said Morland with feeling. Ever since they had crossed into Russian-populated Kaliningrad, they had needed to be even more careful and that had meant the cold rations of “hard routine” for fear that fires would give them away. “Now, once again, those patrols. You’re sure the Russians will stick with the timings and routes we’ve logged?”

“You can guarantee that the Russians will be predictable,” Lukša answered with his usual smile. “When I was younger, I made my living from smuggling cigarettes across the border from Lithuania into Kaliningrad. If we had been caught? Well . . . but we risked it, because we knew where their minefields and standing patrols were situated. Improvisation and initiative isn’t something they teach their soldiers. Don’t get me wrong. The Russians can be brilliant planners, but once they have a plan they stick to it, and woe betide anyone who doesn’t follow that plan. That’s why crossing the border was never a problem. That and knowing every track and hiding place . . .”

“Thank God for your dodgy past.” Morland grinned at him. “We owe you guys a lot. If you weren’t so brilliant at driving motorbikes down forest tracks in the middle of the night at one hundred kilometers per hour using night vision goggles, and scaring the living daylights out of us Brits, we wouldn’t have even got this far. In fact, I can say this, hand on heart, I never want to get on a bloody motorbike ever again . . . But now it’s time to get serious. Those American Special Forces guys are depending on us to guide them in to the bunker. This is your backyard, Arvydas. That means we are following you.”

Lukša thought before replying. “This is where it gets tricky. We’ll leave a couple of my guys here with the bikes, ready to extract us fast back across the border to Lithuania once we’ve completed the task. We’ll be able to hide up much better there.” He looked at Krauja and Morland, who both nodded their agreement.

Morland knew the Russians would swamp the area with troops once the Americans arrived and did whatever they were planning to do. That meant the team needed to be as far away as possible before that happened.