Roy and Sue Ellen Longfellow returned from their excruciating dinner party around midnight, accompanied by five surveillance cars. Beside the telephone was a note from the nanny saying that Rodney Mallard had called and left a message.
Longfellow knew, from the dinner party conversation, that President Kennedy had ordered Cuba's naval quarantine. The naval blockade was possible at any time. That would be the moment when the world either exploded or someone backed down. The clock was ticking toward a nuclear meltdown. Would you like a recording of those wonderful Russian hymns? read Mallard's message.
Grinning, Longfellow showed the message to his wife. Mallard had picked up the escape signal after all. He whispered to her, "I’m relieved he’s seen it. But it’s like the coming of Armageddon."
TINKER had been triggered.
55
Charles Lightner was on leave. Semenov's case officer was still coming to terms with the grim situation: one of the most effective agents ever recruited by British intelligence had been sent back to Moscow and straight into a KGB ambush. He couldn't stop rolling the how-did-it-happen scenarios through his head over and over while he was at home on his patio, reading the newspapers and talking with his wife, Mary Anne. "How," he asked his wife, "was Nikolai found out?"
"Do you have a mole inside MI5? Isn't that a great worry for you people?"
"Oh, it's a tremendous fear. It's something we worry about every day. An insider turning our secrets into money from the other side is our single greatest worry."
"Plus, I know you take it personally since you're his handler."
"We are very close. He depends on me. It's like I've agreed to protect him no matter what. The feelings that I'm having right now are like I've let down my best friend. He's been arrested—or worse—and I can't be there to help because he's in the Soviet Union. It's maddening, Mary Anne."
"You've worked so hard with the man. I wish I knew his name so I could say a prayer."
Lightner smiled. "Try generalizing when you pray. Your friend in the sky will know who you're talking about unless I miss my guess."
"Well, you've done all you can for him. It's just something you can't control."
She was right. A good agent, which Charles Lightner was, provided stability amid uproar and enormous stress. Even when not asked, he would help financially and procure a well-thought-out plan of escape alternative if there was an upset in the original plan. The best that could be done with Nikolai was TINKER, and everyone in ULYSSES felt terrible about that, including Emma Magnuson, who had schemed it out. The consensus was they should be able to offer Nikolai, who would be helpless if discovered, something more likely to work with than TINKER. Lightner felt he had let Nikolai down by not insisting on more. So he spent his days reading and re-reading the same paragraph of his spy novel while thoughts of Nikolai's well-being intruded upon his mind.
But things were about to explode.
P5, the head of the Soviet operational section, was in his River House office early Wednesday morning when the phone call came. A double-encrypted telegram had been sent overnight by the Moscow office. It read: TINKER FLOWN. HEAVY SURVEILLANCE. EXFILTRATION UNDERWAY. ADVISE. P5 dashed downstairs to Baxter Kelly's office. He was the charge officer when the others weren't around. "Do we have a TINKER plan?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," said Kelly. "We do have a TINKER plan. Make the calls!"
Lightner was still wrestling with his book in the garden when P5 called. He went inside and picked up the kitchen phone. "Hello?"
"It has begun. Please drop in."
Lightner put down the phone, his mind racing. It was Wednesday. Something happened yesterday, Tuesday, which could only mean one thing since Magnuson had made it clear a Tuesday was her preferred choice. Nikolai must still be alive!
The train to London took forever, but in reality, only thirty minutes. On the tenth floor of River House, he found a scene of pandemonium. The plan had electrified Team ULYSSES.
First came a series of meetings. Then Jason Donovan started in with the orders. First to Martin Crawford, MI5 overseas liaison. "You'll fly to Copenhagen and update our team there. All Danish intelligence needs to have ears and coordinate plans for when he sets foot on Finnish soil. Then we need you in Helsinki to sandpaper the Finns. Explain that this isn't just another escapee but a critical person, and he's not to be returned to the Soviets for any reason. Should they ignore us, it won't be good for them. Let their people know that in no uncertain terms. You are also charged with laying any groundwork for their crossing of the razor wire to the Finnish side. One more thing, Martin. I'll want you to drive down to the rendezvous point. Make sure the Russian army hasn't suddenly encamped there for maneuvers this weekend."
"Got it," said Crawford. "And how long do I have to pull all this off?"
Donovan smiled a grim smile. "Twenty-four hours. Not a minute longer."
Crawford jumped up and all but ran from the meeting. There wasn't a minute to spare.
Lightner spoke up. "How do we guarantee the Finns don't send him back across the border?" The others also knew the unthinkable could happen because the Finns had an agreement with the Russians to turn over Russian fugitives on Finnish soil. The underlying rationale was the Soviets promised not to invade Finland as long as the Finns cooperated in this manner. Who could blame the Finns? Still, it was a systemic knot that had to be addressed.
"In addition to Crawford settling them down, I plan to call the Chief of Station in Helsinki. He'll listen to me, especially when I suggest that Big Brother is backing us up."
Lightner knew Donovan was right. The Finns would listen, especially if they thought the CIA was in on the play. No one double-crossed the CIA. While Finland had declared itself neutral in the Cold War—much to Washington's disgust—they couldn't be allowed to take sides and suddenly return Nikolai to the Russians. That would be anything but neutral.
"Listen up, everyone. Here's where we are with the Finns." He explained how, a few months before, MI6 Sovbloc controller had paid a visit to Finland to meet up with Rudo Zeppa, the Chief of the Finnish Intelligence Service (SUPO). The visit was in preparation for Operation TINKER and Nikolai escaping to Finland. "If we had a defector that we needed to bring through Finland, would you turn your head?”
"Quite right. We don't need to know."
The controller had fixed the Chief with his eyes. "SUPO wouldn't want the Soviets to learn the names of all SUPO agents operating in Moscow, now would it?"
"Is that a threat?"
"You're goddam right; it's a threat. We're not asking on this one. We're demanding. And enough of your goddam supposed neutrality that has you sending poor people back to Russia. How the hell is that neutral? You're bordering on seeing your country overrun with CIA and MI6 agents watching every last fucking thing you do. How's that for neutral?"
"Message received. No interference from us."
"Just so long as we understand each other."
"Loud and clear. We're out on this one."
"So, that's where we stand with the Finns," Donovan finished.