"How?"

Massey smiled. "I'm working on it.But either way you don't go in without the safe house and exit being in place.Otherwise it's a suicide mission."

"I figured it was that already . Whoelse knows about the plan?"

"Only Branigan and the brass whoapproved it, but the exact details are up to me. And that's the way it stays.The fewer people who know the better." :"Branigan said there's goingto be a woman?"

"She'll be with you as far asMoscow, then we take her out of the picture."

Stanski shook his head. "You know Ialways operate alone, Jake. Taking a woman along will only slow thingsup."

" Not this time. It's for your owngood. Traveling alone to Moscow might make you a target for suspicion. Besides,she's part of the plan. She'll accompany you acting as your wife but for theobvious security reasons she won't know the target."

Stanski crushed his cigarette in anashtray on the table. "You'd better tell me about her."

"You know the rules, Alex. Wheneverwe drop two or more people onto Soviet territory we don't reveal theirbackgrounds to one another. No real names, no real identities. That way there'sless trouble for either of you if one gets caught."

Stanski shook his head firmly. "Therules don't apply. if I'm going into the lion's den I want to know who I'mgoing in with. Especially if it's with a woman I know nothing about."

Massey spread his hands on the table andsighed. "OK. I'll give you the basics. Her name's Anna Khorev. Agetwenty-six.

She escaped from a Soviet Gulag near theFinnish border three months ago and we gave her asylum."

Massey saw the look on Stanski's face ashe put down his glass.

"Jake, you must be crazy pickingsomeone with that background. How can you trust her?" .

"She wasn't my choice. And if I hadmy way I'd leave her out of it. But not for the reasons you might think. Shecan definitely be trusted, Alex, take it from me. And she's the best we'regoing to get at short notice. It would take months to train another woman, evenjust so that she wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb on a Moscow street orturn white with fear every time she was asked for her papers by amilitiaman."

"Can she handle herself?"

"She can use a gun, if that's whatyou mean. But all she's really got to do is play the part of being your wifeand make your cover seem plausible until you reach Moscow. We can use Popov fora week or so to put you both through your paces. But I'll be relying on you tolook after her. The girl's already had some basic military training with theRed Army."

There was a flash of anger or doubt onStanski's face, Massey couldn't tell which.

"Branigan never said she was RedArmy."

"She was a conscript during the war.She didn't volunteer out of ideology. And I would have thought her militarybackground, however brief, was an advantage."

"What about the rest of herbackground?" Massey explained briefly about her parents but said nothingabout Anna Khorev's personal experience before her imprisonment in the Gulag.

Stanski shook his head in disbelief."This gets crazier by the minute."

:"What does?"

"Her father a Red Armyofficer."

"Past tense, and hardly in the RedArmy mold. And it doesn't taint the girl. I told you, you can trust her."

"Then why was she in a Gulag?"

"You know the way the system works.There doesn't have to be a reason. She was an innocent victim. She did nothingwrong."

Stanski frowned. "So why has sheagreed to go back into Russia?"

"She hasn't agreed to anything yet,because I haven't told her. But her reasons will be personal and nothing to dowith you."

Stanski crossed to the window and lookedout. "Another question. Why did your people come to me?"

Massey glanced over toward the photographon the wall before looking back. "You know the reasons. I don't have totell you."

"Tell me anyhow."

Massey pushed away his empty glass."You were the best man OSS ever trained. You speak fluent Russian. You'vebeen behind the curtain before. And the best two reasons of all. I figure youwant to kill the son-of-a-bitch and you're bold enough to try."

Stanski smiled. "Thanks for the voteof confidence. You really have it all worked out, don't you, Jake?"

"You're just about perfect for thepart. You've got no family ties, no wife and children. No emotional baggage totie you down."

"Getting into Moscow is going to bedifficult enough despite the plan. It's probably going to be a close hit, notone done with a rifle from a safe distance. And going in with a woman I don'tknow from Judas doesn't help,"

"I never said it would be easy.That's a risk you take. But you stick to the plan and you both stand somechance of getting out of this alive. But trust the girl, Alex. Me, I'd stake mylife on her."

"This is going to be no ordinarywalk in the woods, Jake. You think it's fair that she doesn't know how deep anddangerous she's getting in?"

"I don't have any choice. That's theway Branigan wants it. And maybe it's best. If she knew she probably wouldn'tgo."

Stanski thought for a moment. "Wherehave you got in mind for training?"

Massey shook his head. "Not theregular base we use in Maryland. It's too much of a security risk." Hesmiled and nodded over toward the window. "I kind of thought maybe here.The terrain is pretty similar to what you'll be crossing. If that's OK withyou?"

"I guess Vassily won't object. I'lltell him we need to do some training. He won't ask why and he'll keep out ofthe way."

"There's another reason why I'd liketo use her maybe you ought to know about. After Anna Khorev escaped, theRussians wanted her sent back. They claimed she was a common criminal. I figurethat's a load of crap, but she did kill a camp guard and a border guard duringher escape. Maybe I'm wrong, but I figure the KGB just might try to find herand take her back illegally. God knows, they've done it before with otherescapees and defectors. Up here I'm pretty sure she'll be safely out of harm'sway. And if and when she makes it back after the mission, I'll make sure she'llhave deep enough cover so that she'll never be found."

"Interesting. You never told meabout her killing the guards."

"If you're still unsure about her,I'll let you have the relevant details about her escape from her file."

:"Do that."

"Any more questions?"

"Just tell me the odds on the planworking."

Massey shook his head. "I can'tanswer that. Nobody can. At best you succeed, at worst you die. There's goingto be no radio contact once you go in and you'll both be on your own, apartfrom the safe houses I'll set up. Your chances depend on yourselves and ladyluck. And let's just hope she smiles on you i both, my friend."

He saw a sudden look of doubt onStanski's face and said, "You're still in?"

Stanski was silent for several moments.He looked out of the window. Without turning back he said, "On onecondition. I have the final say on whether the woman's in. You let me meet heras soon as she's made up her mind."

Massey thought for a moment. "Let'scross that bridge when we come to it." He picked up the file he had shownStanski. "We've got a code name for the operation-Snow Wolf. But I keepthe file, I'm afraid. It's eyes only. No one but you, me, and the folks at thetop get to see it. We'll both go through all the details again later, so therewon't be any mistakes, but the file stays with me."