Moscow Rules Part II

[Silktie]

Wednesday, 13 April 2011
London, Thames House

The Grid was quiet this early in the morning. Since Harry had been suspended, Ruth was normally the only one there at that hour. After starting her computer she went into the kitchenette and made herself a cup of tea, pondering the events of the previous day. Her initial delight that her plan to exaggerate the threat to the Royal wedding had worked had abated, and instead a feeling of unease had settled in the pit of her stomach. Something was off about Harry. She had pondered it all night, twisting and turning in a vain attempt to find sleep. He’d been fine when he’d got back to the Grid at first, she was certain of it. There had been an unmistakable warmth in his eyes when he’d gazed at her, but by the time they had spoken in his office it had dimmed. There had been no evidence of it whatsoever as they went home; in fact he had brushed off her attempt to have a private moment, his manner cordial but aloof. She suspected it had something to do with Elena Polyakova. But was it professional or personal?

The doors opened and the man himself stepped onto the Grid. He didn’t notice her hovering in the door of the kitchenette, affording her time to observe him closely. He looked tired and despondent. As the doors closed behind him Harry stood immobile for a few seconds, his eyes sweeping over the familiar workspace as an expression of regret, almost self-loathing, flashed across his face and he moved towards his office with long strides. Ruth turned back into the kitchenette and made him a cup of coffee. As she walked around to the door of his office she could see him seated at his desk, rubbing his forehead with one hand, his shoulders slumped. In lieu of knocking she cleared her throat before entering, and he jerked his head up at the noise.

“Morning,” she said, placing the coffee on the corner of his desk before taking a step back and folding both her hands around her teacup.
Harry stared at the coffee, seemingly unable to move or speak, before coming out of his trance and reaching out a hand for it.
“Thanks,” he said almost inaudibly, not looking at her.
His attitude increased her concern and she studied him. He looked even worse close up; he seemed to be exhausted and drained.
“You okay?” she queried carefully, uncertain of the parameters of their relationship after the events of Albany.
His eyes met hers fleetingly before settling back on the coffee. “Fine. Bit of a hangover. Nothing to worry about.” He mustered a smile to reassure her but it was scarcely worth the name. Ruth doubted whether he really had a hangover; his eyes were clear and focussed.
“Harry-“
“Thank you Ruth, that’ll be all.” His tone was dismissive and she took another step back, staring at him. He refused to look at her and she finally turned and left without a word. When she glanced back he had buried his face in both hands, his elbows propped on the desk. Something was terribly wrong.

An hour later a slender, dark haired woman stepped through the doors. Ruth immediately recognised her as Erin Watts, the new Section Chief. As she moved forward to greet the new arrival, the woman’s attention focussed on her, weighing her up against some unknown standard.
“Hi. I’m Ruth. Evershed. I’m the senior analyst.”
A light of recognition went on in the other woman’s eyes, and she studied Ruth with renewed interest. Clearly she had been informed about the events of Albany.
“So you’re Ruth,” Erin responded, wondering how this woman could have ensnared the mighty Harry Pearce. She didn’t offer a hand. “Erin Watts, your new boss.”
Her attitude did not impress Ruth, who reacted sharply before she could stop herself. “No, that would be Harry Pearce. He’s the boss around here.”
“Not for much longer, from what I hear,” the other woman said off-handedly as her attention shifted to the people behind Ruth. Biting back her retort, Ruth began to walk off. “His office is this way.”

This time she knocked and waited for him to call “Come!” before opening the door.
“Harry, Erin Watts has arrived.”
She stepped aside and allowed the other woman to enter, noting how Erin looked around the office as though mentally redecorating it already. Ruth glared at Erin’s back before realising that Harry’s eyes were on her, and for a split-second it felt like the old Harry as she spotted a hint of amusement in his gaze. He nodded at her and she left, closing the door behind her.

After swiftly appraising his new Section Chief, Harry stood and offered his hand. “Harry Pearce. Have a seat.”
Erin arranged herself in the chair and watched him coolly. Harry returned the favour.
“Let’s not dance around each other, shall we? We both know that you will report back to Richard Dolby on everything I do. Let me make it clear from the start that I couldn’t care less about that. We are here to do a job, and that must always come first. Those people out there,” he gestured to the team going about their business out on the Grid, “are loyal, brilliant and dedicated-“
“Please,” Erin muttered with a roll of the eyes.

There was a charged silence.
“What did you say?” Harry’s voice was low and dangerous.
Erin looked at him contemptuously. “Those people didn’t notice that they had a traitor in their midst, and they let you give away a state secret to save your girlfriend. They aren’t all that brilliant…”
She petered out as Harry was suddenly out of his chair and right in front of her.
“Stand up,” he commanded icily, and Erin obeyed wordlessly, shaken by the cold fury in his eyes.
“Listen to me carefully, you arrogant bitch. You are free to despise me at your leisure, but you will treat those people with the respect they deserve. Do not for one moment think that you are in charge here, despite what Dolby may have whispered in your ear. I am your boss, and you will follow my orders, is that clear?”
Not once did he raise his voice, but Erin had seldom heard such menace as there was behind his calm tones. She nodded almost involuntarily.
Harry continued mercilessly. “You will do well to remember that your life may at some stage depend on your colleagues. If you treat them with disdain, they may not be so quick to risk themselves to save you. It is your responsibility to forge them into a team. Perhaps your focus should be on that, rather than to wait for the buzzards to remove me so you can have my office. If you don’t, you may not survive long enough to experience that happy occurrence.”
With a final stare, he turned on his heel. “I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team now.”
Erin followed him out, no longer confident that she was as in control of the situation as she would have liked to be.

Harry introduced her to everyone, not giving any indication of the altercation they’d just had, before handing her off to HR to get all her transfer papers sorted out. As he disappeared back into his office, Dimitri turned to Ruth.
“She looks like she could be trouble. We’ll have to watch Harry’s back.”
Irritated, Ruth replied shortly, “Don’t get caught up in office politics. Our job is to protect the country from terrorists, we should be careful not to get distracted by the side shows.”
Dimitri stared at her, confusion showing on his face. “Why are you so hard on him?”
“What?” Ruth was brought up short by the question. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Ruth, that you’re trying so hard not to let Harry in that you’re busting his balls and setting impossible standards. He’s damned whatever he does in your eyes. Well, I think he’s had a bloody difficult time of late and I don’t see anything wrong in looking out for him.”
The younger officer strode away, leaving a bemused Ruth behind. She hadn’t intended to imply that they shouldn’t look out for Harry, but clearly her actions of late led Dimitri to interpret it that way. With a heavy heart she sat down at her station, wondering whether Harry had the same impression as Dimitri.

* * *

That afternoon the Russians swept into town. The initial meet and greet was held in one of the downstairs conference rooms after Harry point blank refused to have the FSB delegation on the Grid before they’d been properly screened. Ruth kept a close eye on him, but he showed no visible reaction to being introduced to Elena Polyakova, the Head of the FSB delegation. She was an impressive and striking woman who bemoaned the No Smoking rules inside the building. If she expected Harry to relax the rules for her she was left disappointed, as he bluntly stated that those were the rules and she should live with it. Ruth was not able to discern whether his short manner had anything to do with the woman personally, or whether it was a result of his general distrust of the FSB.

As soon as good manners would allow, Harry extracted himself from the meeting, leaving Erin to look after the interests of the Russians, with the help of Dimitri. Before he reached the door, however, Elena intercepted him.
“Sir Harry. I would like a word in private.”
Harry closed his eyes momentarily before trying to brush past her. “I’m sorry, but I’m rather busy at the moment. Perhaps later in the week-“
“No. Tonight. Believe me when I tell you it will be in your best interests to do so.”
She deftly dropped a scrap of paper into his jacket pocket. “Nine o’clock at that address. Come alone.”
He nodded once, resigned to his fate, before she rejoined her delegation and left him to slowly walk out of the room.
Ruth’s interest in the exchange went unnoticed by both.

* * *

21:00

The Babushka restaurant was in a less salubrious part of the city. Harry also happened to know that it was owned by the Russian mafia, who used it for their business meetings and to launder money. It was a masterstroke on the part of Polyakova to choose this place for their meeting, as the mafia regularly swept it for bugs and their security would make it impossible for anyone to follow them in there and eavesdrop. He stood in the shadows across the road from the entrance, watching the comings and goings for a while, wondering whether he would come out of this alive. With a final deep breath he crossed the street and approached the burly man on the door.
“I’m to meet a friend. Elena.” As he spoke, his eyes continued to roam up and down the street. Had he seen that woman entering the pub two doors down before? He was almost certain that he had, but before he could get a clear view of her he was ushered in and escorted to a private room in the back.

To his relief, Elena was alone. She took a drag from her cigarette as he entered and watched him through the smoke, pointing to the chair opposite her. A chilled bottle of vodka stood on the table and she filled his glass before refilling her own. Without hesitation she threw back the alcohol, Harry presumed as a gesture of faith that the vodka wasn’t poisoned. He followed suit, more out of a desire to quell the hollow feeling in his stomach than propriety. The Russian woman refilled the glasses and stubbed out her cigarette before speaking.
“You will do us a favour.” It was a statement and most definitely not a request.
Harry stared at her. How much did she know? He went fishing.
“No, I don’t think so. What possible incentive would I have?”
She laughed. It was not a pleasant sound, and her eyes remained hard and watchful.
“They told me you would be difficult. Do you know what it says on your file at the FSB? Loyal. Incorruptible.”
She laughed again. “I have always enjoyed a challenge.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Harry replied evenly, ignoring the second glass of vodka.
“This is true.” She paused for dramatic effect, then played her card. “We know what you did in Cologne in 1979. On 6 November, to be precise.”
He concentrated on his breathing, careful not to react to her statement in any way.
“What did I supposedly do?”
“You killed the West German Minister for the Interior. Blew up his car.”
Harry said nothing, so she continued. “We will keep this information to ourselves, but in return you will do us a favour.”
“What favour?” he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.
She smiled. “At your Royal wedding, you will kill President Medvedev for us.”

It took a few seconds for Harry to process what she’d said. He shook his head slowly in disbelief.
“You’re out of your mind. I will not assassinate your President for you, and I will definitely not do it at the Royal wedding.”
He stood up. “You’re too late, Elena. Our leaders already know everything about the Cologne bombing. You can’t blackmail me with that.”
She let him get halfway to the door before she spoke again.
“But they don’t know about the German couple you shot in cold blood that same night in Berlin, do they?”
Harry froze, and his world began to unravel around him.
Elena noticed his discomfort and pressed home her advantage. “Tsk, Harry. You neglected to tell them about that in your Inquiry. Now why is that, I wonder?”
When he didn’t move, didn’t speak, she said sharply, “Sit down, please.”
Numbly he moved back to the table and sank onto the chair. All colour had drained from his face. It gave Elena immense satisfaction to see him so shaken.
“Shall I tell you what I think? You didn’t tell them because you did it to save your own skin. You shot a pregnant woman and her husband, innocent civilians, so they wouldn’t tell the police what you’d done.”

To have it spelt out to him so starkly nearly destroyed Harry. Suddenly he was back on that dark street, making the choice to kill two people. To kill a pregnant woman. He tried desperately to think of something to get him out of that room.
“You’re guessing. You have no evidence,” he offered weakly.
There was a glint of euphoria in Elena’s eyes as she pushed an envelope across the table towards him. When he didn’t reach for it, she invited, “Take a look.”
Reluctantly he picked it up and shook two photographs from it. He stared at them in a daze, the edges of his vision darkening as his head swam and nausea rose up in his stomach.
Oh dear God…

“This is your choice, Harry. Refuse to do what we ask and we will tell the world what you did. Your own people will be so disgusted by your actions that they will deliver you to the Germans, who are anxious to have justice for their citizens. Your name and your precious reputation will be destroyed, and you will spend the rest of your life in jail. Or do this one thing for us and no-one need ever know about your past.”
Harry sat motionless, staring at the photographs. All he could see was the revulsion on Ruth’s face if she should find out about this. He took a deep breath.

* * *

Thursday, 14 April 2011
London, the Grid

Harry was uncharacteristically late that morning. Ruth ran a discreet eye over him as he stepped through the doors, and thought he looked even worse than the previous day. This time he actually did look like he was suffering from a hangover, with a pallor to his skin and bloodshot eyes. He went straight into his office and closed the door firmly behind him. She was about to follow when her mobile rang.
“Miss Evershed, this is William Towers. Do not acknowledge, in fact do not let anyone know that you’re talking to me, especially not Harry.”
“Hello, yes I understand,” Ruth replied, trying to keep her growing alarm out of her voice.
“Good. I need to see you as soon as humanly possible. Come to my office.”
She knew better than to ask what this was about. “Okay, I’m on my way,” she answered instead.
A final glance into Harry’s office found him seated behind his desk, his eyes resting on her, and for some reason she found that look unsettling. She gave him a weak smile, then told Dimitri she was going to meet an asset, and walked quickly through the doors before anyone could question her further. She felt Harry’s gaze burn into her back until she was out of sight.

When she arrived at the Home Secretary’s office she was immediately shown in. Towers stood in front of the window, staring out at the garden. He was alone in the office and turned around at the sound of the door opening. Ruth was still taking in the furnishings when he approached her at a brisk pace. The look on his face left her in no doubt that this would not be good. After a curt greeting he came straight to the point.
“We have a serious problem, Ruth. In fact, serious is an understatement. I’d say we’re closer to calamitous.”
Ruth frowned. “Sir, if it’s that serious, you need Harry, not me.”
Towers laughed, a short, disbelieving bark.
“I never thought I’d say this, but Harry is the problem.”
“I don’t understand,” Ruth said, not sure that she’d heard correctly.
The Home Secretary covered his face with both hands, rubbing it hard, before looking back at Ruth. His next words made her world implode.
“I have evidence that Harry has agreed to assassinate the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, at the Royal wedding.”

tbc

Note: I have exercised artistic license by inviting the Russian President to the Royal Wedding. I am well aware that he didn't attend in real life.

[Sparky]

Great 2nd chapter, loved Harry putting Erin in her place, and Dimitri protecting Harry. Looking forward to the next update

[Fidget]

poor Harry I hope he can get himself out of this trouble

[Aria]

Brilliant chapter, so tense and angsty. Poor Harry, you make his motivation so believable as, he does not want to lose Ruth's respect. I have faith in you Silktie that you will resolve this impossible situation.
Loved the Harry/Erin stand-off, just awesome. Hope you update soon.

[A Cousin]

Nice! This is reading a little bit like a Cold War spy novel, Silktie.

I hate Erin already and love Dimitri for standing up for Harry.

Elana is nicely drawn - the smoking details are really good.

Ooohhh, who is following Harry and what does Towers know?

Looking forward to watching this develop as brilliantly as ever!

[DogSoSmall]

This is such a brilliant storyline, Silktie. You've managed to hit on a past secret that is somehow believable, unforgiveable, and understandable, without a clear path for Harry to follow, no matter how remorseful he might be or how much he might want to atone, without bringing down the British Government with him. Very clever. I think this is my favourite story of yours so far. I can't imagine how you're going to resolve it!

I also loved that it was long and meaty enough to be a really satisfying read!

[DogSoSmall]

My post is back. Chuckle over!

[Tea Lady]

Long and meaty indeed DSS

I too think this is my favourite story of yours Silktie to date. You are really fleshing out the story and giving us a lot of detail. You have come up with several good twists here. Roll on chapter 3.

[pookster]

Terrific tension and a great plot. Amazing scene with Harry and Erin. Chilled my bones. It great to see Ruth noticing it all. Don't like Erin or Elena. Looking forward to more