The Kill Zone (24 page)
Authors: David Hagberg
From there Yemm was to return to East Berlin and make his way back to the west zone as usual.
It had worked exactly as planned until the very end. Kur
ek was in the park at four-fifteen and they drove like crazy, making the 8:30 P.M. ferry. During the four hours they were together Kur
ek poured out his entire life
story to Yemm, and by the time he was boarding the boat for Copenhagen and safety they were best of friends. “I will never forget you, Richard,” Kur
ek said. “You have saved my life here.”
ek was in the park at four-fifteen and they drove like crazy, making the 8:30 P.M. ferry. During the four hours they were together Kurek poured out his entire lifestory to Yemm, and by the time he was boarding the boat for Copenhagen and safety they were best of friends. “I will never forget you, Richard,” Kur
ek said. “You have saved my life here.”The next morning, back in East Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie, Yemm was arrested by the Stasi and held for ten days. Nothing was asked about his trip to Poland; evidently the Stasi knew nothing about it. They were only interested in his activities in East Berlin over the past year and a half.
Eventually he was released, not too much the worse for wear, except that some of the interrogation methods they'd used on him at the Horst Wessel Center left his head a little fuzzy. He never had all the dates and times straight in his head afterward except that he'd been released on a prisoner exchange. He'd evidently been grabbed solely for that reason.
He was immediately flown to the air force hospital at Ramstein for a checkup, and from there back to Langley, where his debriefing lasted the better part of two weeks.
After that he was given a thirty-day leave, and then reported back to duty, this time in Madrid.
The CIA never asked him about his trip to Poland. They, too, were evidently unaware of his extracurricular activities, and he never volunteered the information. By then he had been in the business long enough to understand that oftentimes the best and most useful alliances were the ones kept closest to the vest. Living the lie for just one day meant that he could never go back, but neither could Janos, who within the year was in Washington, where he'd created a highly successful Beltway computer company.
Otto was out of the CIA again. But true to his word, he and Janos did lend Yemm a helping hand from time to time, mostly in the form of information.
“Right now?” Janos asked. “Right this minute, Richard?”
“At the fallback,” Yemm said. “It has to do with Otto.”
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Kur
ek arrived ten minutes later, as flashy as usual, driving his bright red Mercedes E430. He was dressed in an Armani suit and hand-sewn Brazilian loafers. His shoes got soaked in the slush when he left his car and came over to Yemm's. He'd brought a laptop computer that looked like a musical instrument in his long, delicate, well-manicured hands. He had the appearance of a magazine fashion model; whip-thin, stylish blond hair combed straight back and brilliant blue eyes.
ek arrived ten minutes later, as flashy as usual, driving his bright red Mercedes E430. He was dressed in an Armani suit and hand-sewn Brazilian loafers. His shoes got soaked in the slush when he left his car and came over to Yemm's. He'd brought a laptop computer that looked like a musical instrument in his long, delicate, well-manicured hands. He had the appearance of a magazine fashion model; whip-thin, stylish blond hair combed straight back and brilliant blue eyes.“How is our friend?” Kur
ek asked. “He must be staying out of trouble now that Kirk is becoming director.”
ek asked. “He must be staying out of trouble now that Kirk is becoming director.”“He's working on something that has us scratching our heads,” Yemm said. “Frankly, we don't know what to make of it.”
Kur
ek laughed. His voice was baritone, like an opera singer's. “Since I've known Otto he's been working on things to make heads spin. But I'll advise you now. Ask him about it. He trusts you.”
ek laughed. His voice was baritone, like an opera singer's. “Since I've known Otto he's been working on things to make heads spin. But I'll advise you now. Ask him about it. He trusts you.”“He went to France yesterday, but no one knows for sure why, or even when he'll be back,” Yemm continued. “But we think that his trip has something to do with an old Department Viktor psychologist. Anatoli Nikolayev. He disappeared from Moscow, and the Russians asked Interpol and the French police to help find him.”
“How long ago?”
“August.”
“Otto has gone after him, you think?”
“It's possible.” Yemm hesitated. “There are some other things going on here, Janos, that make it important that we find out what Otto's up to.”
Kur
ek held up a bony hand. He wore a two-carat diamond ring in a platinum setting on his pinky finger. “I don't want to hear about it.”
ek held up a bony hand. He wore a two-carat diamond ring in a platinum setting on his pinky finger. “I don't want to hear about it.”Yemm took a floppy disk out of his jacket pocket. “I need your help.”
Kur
ek refused to take the disk or even look at it. “This is getting into an area that we must not go.”
ek refused to take the disk or even look at it. “This is getting into an area that we must not go.”“Come on, Janos,” Yemm said. “I'm asking you as a friend.”
Kur
ek's shoulders sagged. He opened his laptop and booted it up. He took the disk. “What's on this?”
ek's shoulders sagged. He opened his laptop and booted it up. He took the disk. “What's on this?”“It's today's access codes to the CIA's mainframe, and a half-dozen of Otto's most recent encryption busters.”
Kur
ek studied Yemm's face. “You want that I should go naked into the lion's den? He's set booby traps, fail-safes, probably viruses.”
ek studied Yemm's face. “You want that I should go naked into the lion's den? He's set booby traps, fail-safes, probably viruses.”Other books
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