The Charm School

spoke to Mills, who was crouched behind an evergreen with his pistol drawn. Alevy said, “They’re here. Few minutes.” He closed the door and walked around the room, examining it. He picked up a stack of magazines, then looked at the videotapes on the bookshelves. “Incredible.”
    Hollis came back into the room. “She’s coming.”
    Alevy nodded and motioned around the room. “Not bad.”
    “Not good, Seth.”
    “I heard they gave you a rough time.”
    “Where’d you hear that?”
    “From a Captain Landis. Know him?”
    “Yes.”
    “Looks like a burnout,” Alevy said.
    “They’re all burnouts. How did you see Landis?”
    “At VFW Post zero zero zero.” Alevy explained briefly.
    Hollis nodded. “I could spend a week telling you about this madhouse, but I suspect time is short. How did you get here?”
    “I misappropriated an Aeroflot chopper from the Trade Center. Mi-28.”
    “Right. The one I briefed you on. Who flew?”
    “Your aide. He’s rather fond of you and would also like you to reconsider some of the ratings you gave him on his efficiency report.”
    “I’ll think about it. Who else is with you?”
    “My man, Bert Mills. He’s outside. And Bill Brennan.”
    “Brennan? He’s back?”
    “Just for the day.”
    “Explain the plan to me.”
    “Well, I dropped four canisters of something called THX, a new sleeping gas—”
    “Sandman.”
    “Yes, that’s the code name. Very potent. The canisters are on timers. We have about an hour and a quarter left.”
    “For what?”
    “For this and that.”
    “Who are you taking out of here?”
    “You and Lisa and two others. That’s all I can take on an Mi-28, and that’s all the evidence I need to effect the release of everyone else.”
    Hollis nodded, “I’d be willing to stay here.”
    “I know you would, Sam. But you know too much, and I can’t leave you in their hands.” Alevy hesitated, then asked, “They grilled you?”
    Hollis nodded. “Burov did. Minimum damage. The heavy guns come in tomorrow from Lubyanka with polygraphs and electric shock.”
    “I was just in time.”
    “Right. Are Surikov and his granddaughter out?”
    “Yes. Last Saturday. Leningrad route.”
    Hollis stared at him in the dim light. “You’re sure?”
    “Yes.”
    Hollis said, “You have to negotiate for the wives and everyone else here too, Seth.”
    “Landis mentioned his wife. Who are these wives?”
    “Russian women. Mostly politicals. And sixty some children—”
    “Good God… .” Alevy shook his head. “I figured there would be women for them. But
wives
…
children
…? Are they attached to…? Well, I guess they must be. My mind is trying to process this—”
    “Plus there are six kidnapped American women, and there are other Russians from the Gulag, such as the camp doctor and nurses. They go into the deal for the three thousand moles that we’re going to swap.”
    Alevy looked at Hollis. “You know something, Sam, you’re a real American. I mean that. You really want to save the world, or at least as many of its inhabitants as you meet and like. Well, okay, we’ll be in good shape to bargain after tonight.”
    Hollis asked, “How far do you intend to fly in an Mi-28 with eight people aboard?”
    “Depends on how the winds are blowing.”
    Hollis said, “I don’t think the ambassador or Charlie Banks would appreciate seeing a hijacked Soviet helicopter landing in the embassy quad.”
    “We can discuss this after we’re airborne.”
    “Seth, you can’t get an Mi-28 with eight people to any part of the free world from here. Do you have a refueling station, a relay chopper—?”
    Lisa came into the room, wearing a blue warm-up suit and running shoes, and Alevy guessed that this must be the camp uniform. She stood back a moment, taking in Alevy in his KGB uniform, then moved quickly to him and put her arms around him. “Seth. Oh, my God…”
    Alevy disengaged himself. “We have to move quickly.”
    She nodded and took her ski parka from the coat hook. “I have to get my icon—”
    Alevy held her arm. “It’s not your icon.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “It’s a reproduction, Lisa. It’s got a transmitter in it. That’s how we found you.”
    Lisa stared at him, then at Hollis.
    Alevy said, “It was a contingency plan. In case something like this happened. I checked out Lubyanka and Lefortovo with a radio receiver and got a negative signal.” He added, “I hoped with the hammer and sickle carved in the