THE EXTRACTOR - MISSION: ARCTIC by J.T. Brannan

Author:J.T. Brannan [Brannan, J.T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grey Arrow Publishing
Published: 2019-02-27T22:00:00+00:00

9

“How are you, my friend?” Sokolov asked, pouring out a measure of vodka for his guest.

“Still awaiting good news,” Sergei Konstantin answered as he took a seat at his old friend’s kitchen table and reached for the thick glass, drinking it gratefully. The drive to Moscow had been long and arduous, and he was glad of the comfort of Sokolov’s city center apartment. “What have you heard?”

“The team are in situ,” Sokolov told him, “and have started checking the most likely sites. They have a list of six, and are heading to the second site now.”

“Nothing at the first?”

“Nothing. But that would have been more luck than we could have hoped for.”

“Time is running out,” Konstantin observed sourly.

“Yes,” Sokolov agreed, his face grave, “it is. And we are going to have to decide what we are going to do if Mr. Lee fails in his task.”

For a moment, Konstantin said nothing – just held his glass and stared off into the distance. Sokolov understood why, because he knew his friend was thinking about the implications of his question. In essence, Sokolov was asking him at what stage they should give up hope of getting Yuri and Maria back, cut their losses, and order a nationwide search for a potentially completed nuclear device. Because there was a definite possibility that there would be a time when that problem would have to be faced, and it was better for them both to confront the issue now.

Konstantin finished his drink and turned to look at Sokolov. “There’s still time. If the weather holds out, I think Mr. Lee can finish checking the six sites before Yuri could get the weapon completed. Remember, the timeframe is worst case, if everything goes to plan, and he has all the materials he needs. He might try and slow it down, they probably don’t really know what he’s doing, he could string it out for longer, give us more time to find him.”

Sokolov didn’t want to suggest that the gang might be using Maria to ensure that Yuri didn’t string things out – either through outright abuse and torture, or at the very least, the threat of it. But he didn’t think that such images would help his friend’s already fragile mental state.

“Perhaps,” Sokolov allowed. “But if not…?”

Slowly, reluctantly, Konstantin shrugged his big shoulders. “You are the security expert, Leonid. You know what is required, how close we can cut it. I will leave those decisions to you. I trust you will do the right thing.”

Sokolov nodded his head, reflecting on what Konstantin meant. On the one hand, the right thing to do would be to alert Russian security forces to the whole thing; after all, they were taking a risk that an actual nuclear device could find its way into the hands of terrorists, who might even detonate it on Russian soil. But on the other hand, acting too early might well result in the deaths of Yuri and Maria, and he knew that Sergei would never get over the death of his little sister.

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