“Dr Surkov,” offered Borodin cheerily, as he finally got through.
“Good afternoon, General. I am very busy!” he replied as politely as the words allowed.
“I just thought I’d update you that Sean Fox had been dealt with!”
“Good, and his wife and son?”
“I presume so!” replied Borodin uneasily.
“You presume so?” questioned Surkov scathingly.
All Borodin had was the conversation, if you could call it that, with Pushkin, Done? Yes. Borodin thought back at the orders he had given Pushkin which were to kill them all and not just Sean Fox. “Sorry, yes, they have all been dealt with,” he replied more confidently.
Surkov paused before responding, leaving Borodin hanging.
“You’re not convincing me, General. You do understand how crucial your task is to Russia?”
Borodin bit his tongue. The prize was too great not to be part of it.
“Of Course,” he replied. “I will get clarification as soon as possible to you.”
“Good!” replied Surkov.
“I have not heard from the President, as yet?” added Borodin quickly.
“I told you, you would be contacted when the time was right. Under no circumstances do you discuss anything with anybody. Until you are contacted! And that includes the president!” instructed Surkov forcefully before ending the call.
Vasiliy who had witnessed Borodin’s side of the conversation had never before seen anything like it. Borodin was putty in Surkov’s hands. Borodin was the man that people feared, even the president dreaded a meeting with the over powering Borodin. Whatever Surkov had promised Borodin was something Borodin could only have dreamed of in his wildest dreams.
As Surkov considered the conversation that had just taken place, he began to worry. Sean Fox was a concern but General Borodin was slowly becoming a greater one. Surkov needed him. He needed the power that Borodin had within the military for the plan to work. There was no one more revered or feared within the military. Borodin was the modern Russian equivalent of Hoover. He knew all the secrets of anyone who was anyone in Russia. Surkov and Grebnevo had been under his radar. However, if it had fallen under his gaze, Borodin would have been dealt with.
Whatever the case, removing Borodin with so little time was going to prove troublesome. A suitable replacement would have to be found which might result in a delay.
As Surkov considered the options, he watched the secret courtyard that only his study had a view of. It was exercise time and two residents of Grebnevo were stretching their legs and catching some late summer sunshine. A generation in the making, it was not the time for indecision.
He picked up his phone and dialed a number that very few people on the planet had access to.
“Hello?”
“Mr President, Boris Surkov,” replied Surkov to Russia’s head of state.
“Ah Dr Surkov, you’ve come through on my private line.”
“Yes Sir, the day I briefed you on when you took office?” prompted Surkov without preamble, jogging the President’s memory.
The President did not need to be reminded; it was still the most intriguing briefing he had ever been given in the two years he had held office.
“Yes, I remember.”
“It has come Mr President. Are you free to visit us at Grebnevo?” inquired Surkov, knowing exactly how free the president’s schedule was for the next week. It was one of the quietest weeks in his diary in two years. Exactly as planned.
“We were due to meet in a few days anyway, I believe,” replied the President, referring to a presidential banquet arranged many months earlier.
“Yes, Sir. However, matters have become more pressing and this is not a matter for public consumption,’ alluded Surkov.
Surkov suppressed a laugh as the President made it sound as though he were squeezing Surkov in. Surkov even rejected the President’s first offer, two days away. The Borodin issue couldn’t wait that long.
“You couldn’t squeeze us in tomorrow, first thing, could you?” asked Surkov, adding. “It is really quite urgent!”
After a minute or so of humming and hawing. “I’ll shift a couple of things around and see you at eight?”
Surkov was hoping for later. He had a lot to organize in a very short period of time but didn’t want to push it.
“I look forward to it!” he replied sincerely.
“As do I Dr Surkov, as do I,” said the president.
Surkov very much doubted he’d feel the same when he found out what he had planned. He picked up his phone. He needed to let one very special person know that the timeframe had been changed.