The front end of the ambulance burst into white fire, exploded and hurled blazing petrol in all directions. Blown off the track, turned on its side, the vehicle ploughed to a halt in torn-up turf. Someone in white crawled away from it on hands and knees as it burned; someone else, wearing an open, flapping shirt and carrying a dark overcoat, cowered back from the flames and limped in the direction of the covered exit.
Unable to see out of the courtyard from where he stood supported by the security men, Borowitz eagerly shouted up to the tower, ‘Did you stop it?’
‘Yes, sir. Two men at least are alive. One is ambulance crew, and I think the other is – ‘
‘I know who the other is,’ Borowitz screamed. ‘He’s a traitor! To me, to the branch, to Russia. Cut him down!’
The marksman gulped, aimed, fired. Tracers and bullets reached out, chewed up the earth at Ustinov’s heels, caught up with him and blew him apart in blazing phosphorus and exploding steel.
It was the first time the man in the tower had killed.
Now he put down his gun, leaned shakily against the balcony wall and called down, ‘It’s done, sir.’ In the lull, his voice seemed very small.
‘Very well,’ Borowitz shouted back. ‘Now stay where you are for the moment and keep your eyes open.’ He groaned and clutched at his shoulder again where blood seeped through the material of his overcoat.
One of the security men said, ‘Sir, you’re hurt.’
‘Of course I’m hurt, fool! It can wait a little while. But for now I want everyone called in. I want to speak to them. And for the moment none of this is to be reported outside these walls. How many bloody KGB men do we have here?’
‘Two, sir,’ the same security man told him. ‘One in there -‘
‘He’s dead,’ growled Borowitz, uncaring.
‘Then only one, sir. Out there, in the woods. The rest of us are branch operatives.’
‘Good! But . . . does the one in the woods have a radio?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Even better. Very well, bring him in and lock him up for now – on my authority.’
‘Right, sir.’
‘And don’t let anyone worry,’ Borowitz continued. ‘All of this is on my shoulders – which are very broad, as you well know. I’m not trying to hide anything, but I want to break it in my own time. This could be our chance to get the KGB off our backs once and for all. Right, let’s see some action around here! You – ‘ he turned to the helicopter pilot. ‘Get yourself airborne. I need a doctor -the branch doctor. Bring him in at once.’
‘Yes, Comrade General. At once.’ The pilot ran for his machine, the security men for their car where it was parked outside the courtyard. Borowitz watched them go, leaned on Dragosani’s arm and said:
‘Boris, are you good for anything else?’
‘I’m still in one piece, if that’s what you mean,’ the other answered. ‘I just had time to shelter in the anteroom before the grenade exploded.’
Borowitz grinned wolfishly despite the terrible burning in his shoulder. ‘Good!’ he said. Then get back in there and see if you can find a fire extinguisher. Anything still burning, stop it. After that you can join me in the lecture room.’ He shook off the naked man’s arm, swayed for a moment then stood rock steady. ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’
As Dragosani ducked back through the ruined door into the corridor, where the smoke had almost completely disappeared now, Borowitz called after him: ‘And Comrade, find yourself some clothes to wear, or a blanket at least. Your work is over for tonight. It hardly seems right that Boris Dragosani, Necromancer to the Kremlin – one day, anyway – should be running about in his birthday-suit, now does it?’
A week later at a special hearing held in camera, Gregor Borowitz defended the action he had taken at the converted Chateau Bronnitsy on the night in question. The hearing was to serve a double purpose. One: Borowitz must be seen to have been called to order over ‘a serious malfunction of the “experimental branch” under his control’. Two: he must now be allowed the opportunity to present his case for complete independence from the rest of the USSR’s secret services, particularly the KGB. In short, he would use the hearing as a platform in his bid for complete autonomy.