Gemini. Mark Burnell

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СКАЧАТЬ of a dusty Toyota outside the Russian Embassy on Saparamurat Turkmenbashi Prospekt. The final image of the sequence saw both men either side of a stunning blonde in a sable coat. K. Komarov, L. Ivanova and Y. Paskin, leaving the Lancaster hotel, rue de Berri, Paris, 19 March, 17:08.

      ‘Technically you’re right, of course,’ Alexander was saying. ‘Without the threat to Komarov, what’s to keep you here?’

      Mark filled her mind. ‘I’m sure you could find something.’

      ‘I’m sure I could. But I’m not inclined to. In fact, quite the opposite. I’m inclined to let you leave Magenta House.’

      She wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. ‘Leave?’

      ‘That’s right.’

      There would be a condition. ‘But?’

      ‘But first, Savic’

      ‘That’s it? Then I walk?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘And the threat to Komarov is lifted?’

      ‘After Savic, yes.’

      ‘What aren’t you telling me?’

      ‘I don’t want you to kill Savic. I want you to get close to him.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘Because of this.’

      From his folder he took a crumpled piece of paper and pushed it across the table. Stephanie had to get up to retrieve it. She sat back down and smoothed the creases with her palm.

      The paper had been torn from a notebook. Some of the blue ink had run. There were two dark splashes on the top left-hand corner. It was a list. There were nine names before the rip, which severed the tenth. Six of the names appeared to be from the Balkans. The other three were French, English and German.

      ‘Recovered by Pearson three days before he died.’

      ‘What is it?’

      ‘Before his death in Kosovo, Savic was rumoured to be running an exit pipeline for war criminals. Four of the names on that list have International War Crimes Tribunal declared indictments against them, two have sealed indictments against them and the other two are on the third list. None of them have been seen since 1999.’

      ‘Savic spirited them away?’

      ‘It’s possible. One thing’s for certain: they’re not on this list by coincidence.’

      ‘What am I supposed to do?’

      ‘Locate Savic and find out if this so-called pipeline ever really existed.’

      ‘Savic is definitely alive, then?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Where is he now?’

      ‘The Far East. We’re still collating. You’ll be fully briefed when we’re ready.’

      ‘Why me?’

      ‘Because you have a way in.’

      ‘Marrakech?’

      ‘Correct. You were looking for Mostovoi. They know each other. You can make that work to your advantage.’

      Stephanie shook her head. ‘This isn’t what I do. You know that. I’m S7, an in-and-out girl. This is something for S3.’

      Section 3 was the intelligence section. Section 7 was Operations (Primary), one of two assassination sections. In total, Magenta House had ten sections, including Control, Archive, Resources, Support, Finance, Security (Internal), Security (External), Operations (Invisible).

      ‘S3 is fully stretched supporting the Ether Division. Besides, this will require an external presence.’

      ‘There must be somebody else.’

      Still staring at her, Alexander said, ‘I’m not asking you.’

      The carrot and the stick – it didn’t matter which Alexander used. In the end they came to the same thing. A choice with no alternatives.

       I don’t bother picking the fight. In the past I would have. And Alexander would have expected me to. But we’re beyond that now. These days I know what I am and I don’t bother to deny it. I’ve accepted myself. I’m a professional woman of twenty-nine, trying to balance my work with my private life. On the Underground, in the supermarket, at home or in the office, most of my concerns are the same as everyone else’s. It’s only the nature of my work that marks me out.

      Upstairs, on the ground floor, I run into Rosie Chaudhuri. I haven’t seen her since she came to Maclise Road after Marrakech. The fact that we’re friends is strange because we’re so different. She truly believes in Magenta House. She heads S10, Operations (Invisible), the newest section, which was established after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. S10 leaves no traces. Its victims die from natural causes, or accidents, or they simply vanish, ensuring they don’t become martyrs. Initially it only targeted Islamic extremists. Not a politically correct remit, to be sure, but then Magenta House has never been too concerned with political correctness. Now S10 targets anyone who merits their talents. Among Magenta House staff, S10 is always referred to as the Ether Division.

       ‘Hey, Steph. I didn’t know you were due in today.’

       ‘Nor did I.’

       ‘Something new?’

       ‘He wants me to chase a ghost.’

       ‘Savic?’

       ‘You knew?’

       ‘He mentioned it. I wasn’t sure how far he‘d take it.’

       ‘Apparently your lot are soaking up everyone in S3.’

       ‘You don’t sound thrilled.’

       ‘I feel like a three-star Michelin chef who’s been asked to scrub dishes.’

       We take the lift to the top floor to Rosie’s new office with its view of the Adelphi Building. When I was first recruited Rosie was a member of the support staff with limited security clearance. It was her talent for analysis that won her promotion. With promotion came full clearance. I’ve never discovered Rosie’s flaw, but I know there is one. Somewhere, lurking in a file, she has a weakness that’s been documented. We all do. Magenta House insist upon it. Personally I have too many to count so it’s never bothered me the way it bothers others. Rosie has never mentioned hers to me. It is, perhaps, the only taboo subject between us.

       In her early thirties, Rosie could be the picture of a successful modern woman. Before she started up S10 she spent a spell in S7 with me. That was when she lost weight and toned up. Like me, she was reincarnated.

      She СКАЧАТЬ