Games Traitors Play

84

‘It just makes us look like such a bunch of bloody fools,’ Harriet Armstrong said, declining Fielding’s offer of a chair in his office. ‘I’ve got Counter Terrorism Command demanding answers, and Jim Spiro can barely speak.’

A quiet American, Fielding thought. He almost felt sorry for Armstrong, but her recent rapprochement with Spiro had extinguished any sympathy he might have had for her situation. Besides, there was very little he could say to mollify her. MI5 was a bunch of fools.

‘Much as I’d like to say that this was Marchant’s work, the facts are these,’ he said, steepling his fingers under his chin and sitting back. ‘One of my agents has been seized on the streets of London by what we think were officers of the SVR — ’

‘Come on, we know they were.’

‘- and I have urged the Prime Minister to protest in the strongest terms to the Russian Ambassador. Meanwhile, Six’s stations around the world are on heightened alert, and I hope that the same can be said for Britain’s ports, railways and airfields.’

‘What’s going on here, Marcus? Primakov was once one of ours.’

‘A fact that only a very few people are privy to.’ The last thing he needed was Armstrong spilling state secrets to Spiro.

‘I thought Marchant was being sent to see if Primakov could be ours again.’

‘He was. But I should remind you that certain senior figures in the SVR — Vasilli Grushko, for example — were opposed to Primakov’s London posting from the start. They didn’t completely trust him. It’s no coincidence that Primakov left the country in a hurry this morning, and my guess is that seizing Marchant is the SVR’s consolation prize. Marchant will be interrogated about Primakov, who will no doubt shortly be charged with betraying the motherland.’

Armstrong looked at him, weighing up what he said. She wasn’t convinced.

‘You don’t appear to be too concerned that one of your officers has just been taken by a hostile country.’

‘It’s not the first time, and I doubt it will be the last.’

‘America is not our enemy,’ Armstrong said, walking to the door.

‘It was when you and I were in India, fighting for what we believed in. Why are we suddenly being nice to Spiro again?’

Armstrong paused by the door. ‘Because we’ve got no option, have we?’

Fielding knew she was right. Britain needed America. ‘I’ll let you know as soon as we hear word of Marchant,’ he said. ‘We’re doing everything we can to find him.’

He watched her leave. As with the best lies, there was a strong element of truth in what he had told her. Grushko had long had his doubts about Primakov, but he must have overcome them to sanction the operation in Soho. Such a brazen act on the streets of London could not have gone ahead without the consent of the SVR’s local Rezident. Which meant that Marchant was in. He had passed all the tests, and would soon be with Salim Dhar. Fielding just hoped that Dhar would believe in him too.