Man on Ice: Russia vs the USA - in Alaska

TWENTY-TWO

At the moment that Rake was killing the Russian soldier, Karl Opokin, Chairman of Russia’s Central Bank, pulled back the lace curtain of the huge windows in the Russian Embassy and looked out onto Wisconsin Avenue. He counted four police cars, two unmarked Lincoln Town Cars, and an untold number of television satellite trucks.

Russia was enemy number one and its embassy was as good as under siege.

Opokin was skilled in balancing Russia’s finances between the institutions of organized crime, oligarchies, and government. His whole career had been built on juggling the character of the Russian Federation with the practicalities of twenty-first-century economics. But with the Eccles Building a charred shell and his friend Roy Carrol dead, Opokin felt shipwrecked.

‘Speaker Grizlov is calling from Moscow, sir,’ said his aide.

Sergey Grizlov, the ambitious Chairman of the State Duma, was a master of political manipulation and tipped as a successor to President Lagutov. Opokin accepted that he might have been the architect of drawing the new border and disputing the Alaska Purchase, but there was no way that Grizlov, a supporter of all the West had to offer, would have been responsible for this bombing. Opokin let go of the curtain and walked across the room to take the call.

‘How are you holding up, Karl?’ Grizlov sounded worried.

‘What the hell is going on?’ said Opokin. ‘Roy Carrol was one of my closest—’

‘I know, Karl. I know. It’s dreadful. I’ll be quick because everything is so fluid. The Kremlin is about to ask the Central Bank to set aside funds to help companies caught up in all this. It’s short-term, until things settle. To tide things over.’

This was old Russia, thought Opokin angrily. Mess things up and have others clean up behind you. ‘How much?’ he asked with deliberate caution.

‘Well into the billions. I heard twenty.’

Opokin’s grief and anger over the bombing turned to steely resolve. ‘The Central Bank is independent, Sergey, as you know. I will not release one ruble until Viktor Lagutov makes clear exactly what he’s doing.’

‘I’m trying to find out myself,’ said Grizlov smoothly.

‘Then I’ll look at it when I get back to Moscow.’

‘Which is why I’m calling. What have you said to the FBI?’

The sudden switch of subject made Opokin even more uneasy. ‘They’ve asked to see me, and the police are waiting outside.’

‘Do not speak to them. Stay inside the embassy where you have diplomatic protection and they can’t touch you.’ Grizlov spoke as if it were an instruction, but it was one which Opokin had no intention of heeding.

‘On the contrary, as soon as I’ve dealt with the FBI, I will fly home. I’m needed there.’

‘No.’ Grizlov’s charm vanished. ‘If you step outside, they’ll arrest you.’

‘They can’t think—’

‘Pictures of you in handcuffs will hammer the ruble!’

‘Who did this, Sergey? Who on earth is behind—?’

‘Just stay there, Karl. I’ll get back to you when I can.’

Grizlov cut the call. Opokin looked across to the television screen to see a head and shoulders static picture of himself together with four others, the bodyguards with him during his visit to the Federal Reserve. Three were shown in passport-style photographs. A fourth, the key suspect, appeared in an artist’s sketch. A headline ticker tape ran his name across the bottom of the screen. ‘Is this man the bank bomber?’

Determination gripped Bob Holland as he listened to his interpreter speaking to the Chinese President’s office in Beijing. The first days of any presidency can mark it for history, and Swain was in the perfect position to stain Holland’s legacy. He could see Swain now plotting how to wreck Holland. He wouldn’t be surprised if Swain and Lagutov had dreamt up the whole thing themselves.

With clarity and the right words, a great leader could end this crisis within hours. He would bring peace through strength, which is how Ronald Reagan beat the Soviets in the cold war. Holland had done this in the way he warned Lagutov, leaving no room for doubt about the consequences of taking the wrong path. He was not going to allow China to fund Russia’s military attack against America. Plain speaking would put a stop to it. No way would China take American jobs then get rich by selling its products back here then finance an attack on the United States. That would be ending right now.

‘Mr President-elect, we have no need for interpreters,’ said the Chinese President, Lo Longwei, in fluent English. ‘The thoughts of the Chinese people are with all Americans on this dreadful day.’

‘Thank you, Mr President,’ said Holland brusquely, determined not to be trapped by diplomatic niceties. ‘I will be quick, sir. You will not make any funds available to Russia until this crisis is over, and you must condemn its invasion of Alaska.’

‘I understand your concern. But I believe your call is two days premature. I have already spoken to your incumbent leader.’

No way would Lo get away with that. ‘I need to know, sir — is China with us on this?’

‘I would like to express to you personally China’s unequivocal condemnation of the attack on the Federal Reserve.’

‘I’m talking about Alaska. Russian troops need to leave our territory, and I am asking for your support.’

‘This has yet to reach my desk, but I understand it was a humanitarian mission and territorial jurisdiction is very complicated. China has many of its own disputes.’

‘I am giving you an opportunity to state your position.’

‘I am sure all sides are acting with good reason.’

‘You’re not hearing me, Mr President.’

‘My technicians tell me the line is good. I am hearing you well. China will help in any way to resolve the dispute between America and Russia.’

‘I need to tell you that if one cent of Chinese money goes to—’

‘We deal in the renminbi and the ruble. Excuse me, Mr President-elect, I have another call coming in.’

The line went dead. Holland held the phone limply in his hand. But it didn’t matter. He had put down his marker and China was now running scared.