Skeleton Key

truth.”
    “Yes they will!” Alex said. “The CIA know you bought uranium. They‟ll find out their agents are dead—”
    “Nobody will believe the CIA. Nobody ever believes the CIA. And anyway, by the time they have assembled their evidence against me, it will be too late.”
    “I don‟t understand!” Alex exclaimed. “You‟ve already said you‟ll kill thousands of your own people. What‟s the point?”
    “You are young. You know nothing of my people. But listen to me, Alex, and I will explain.
    When this disaster happens, the whole world will unite in its condemnation of Russia. We will be hated. And the Russian people will be ashamed. If only we had been less careless, less stupid, less poor, less corrupt. If only we were still the super power we had once been. And it is at this moment that everyone—in Russia and in the world—will look to Boris Kiriyenko for leadership.
    The Russian president! And what will they see?”
    “You made a film of him…” Alex muttered.
    “We will release the film that shows him drunk beside the swimming pool. In his red shorts and flowered shirt. Playing with three half-naked women young enough to be his daughters! And we have interviewed him. We‟ll release that too.”
    “You‟ve edited the interview!”
    “Exactly.” Sarov nodded, his eyes catching the light. “Our interviewer asked him about a train strike in Moscow and Kiriyenko, who was already half drunk, replied: „This is my holiday. I‟m too busy to deal with that.‟ We will change the question. „What are you going to do about the accident in Murmansk?‟ And Kiriyenko will reply—”
    “—„This is my holiday. I‟m too busy to deal with that.‟ ” Alex finished the sentence.
    “The Russian people will see Kiriyenko for the weak, drunken imbecile that he is. They will very quickly blame him for the disaster at Murmansk—and with good reason. The northern fleet was once the pride of the whole nation. How could it have been allowed to become a rusting, leaking, lethal nuclear dump?”
    The plane droned on. Conrad was listening intently to what Sarov was saying, his head balancing unevenly on his neck. The two guards at the back had gone to sleep.
    “You said you would be in Moscow,” Alex muttered.
    “It will take less than twenty-four hours for the government to be swept out of power,” Sarov replied. “There will be riots in the streets. Many Russians believe that life was better—much better—in the old days. They still believe in communism. Well, now their anger will be heard. It will be unstoppable. And I will be there to harness it, to use it to take power. I have followers who are waiting for it to happen. Before the nuclear cloud has settled, I will have total control of the country. And that is just the beginning, Alex. I will rebuild the Berlin Wall. There will be new wars. I will not rest until my kind of government, communist government, is the single dominant power in the world.”
    There was a long silence.
    “You‟re prepared to kill millions of people to achieve this?” Alex asked.
    Sarov shrugged. “Millions of people are dying in Russia right now. They can‟t afford food. They can‟t afford medicine—”
    “And what happens to me?”
    “I‟ve already answered that question, Alex. I don‟t believe it was a coincidence that you turned up the way you did. I believe it was meant to happen. I was never meant to do this on my own.
    You will be with me tomorrow and when the bomb is primed and ready, we will leave together.
    First Murmansk, then Moscow. Don‟t you see what I‟m offering you? You are not just going to be my son. You are going to have power, Alex. You are going to be one of the most powerful people in the world.”
    The plane had already reached the coast of America and turned, beginning its journey north.
    Alex sank back in his seat, his head spinning. Absent-mindedly, he allowed his hand to slip into his trouser pocket. He had managed to bring one stick of the MI6 bubblegum with him. He also had the little figurine that was actually a stun grenade.
    He closed his eyes and tried to work out what he was going to do.

SECURITY NIGHTMARE

    Hours spent in a strange twilight that was neither night nor day. Trapped on the roof of the world, totally still yet hurtling ever further. Alex slept for the first part of the journey, knowing that he was tired and that he would need his strength. He had accepted what he had to do. Before, when they had