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Marina could only hear snippets of conversation among the reporters. The major topic was, of course, the pending disaster in Hudson Bay. But the Canadians were questioning the Russians about rumors of a purge in Moscow. The Russians were taciturn, but that didn't mean the rumors were not true. |
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For heaven's sake, Marina thought angrily, be specific, damn it. Are you talking about a purge of Cherny's government by Kondratiev and his followers? Clearly, she must kill Karmann as soon as possible, and then she could return to Moscow in triumph. The piss-faced reporters now ignoring her would be interviewing her, kissing her ass. But, if the Cherny government was purging itself of those who belonged to Soyuz, that was a different situation. Well, Marina thought ironically, as she had warned Evangeline, nothing was forever. The dangers of the secret game were in part, at least, its rewards. |
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A camera team from South Africa seemed deep in murmured discussion about how ad hoc this entire operation appeared to be. It was, and that was a fact, Marina thought. It was interesting to note that the "efficient" Westerners, Canadians and Americans, when caught unawares, were as capable of incompetence as anyone. |
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But for the first time in her life, Marina Suslova had to acknowledge, she was truly afraid. All the toys she'd had at her disposal while she was in Washington, all the authority she had wielded, had disappeared into nothingness. It was as if the power she had been enjoying now was balanced on some great scale by the prospect of imminent death, a flaming, flashing death. Her options were limited and her time was short. |
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She wondered where Evangeline was at this moment. It had been a treat to watch her face that last night, when she realized the end had come. The last word Marina had received from her aide at the Mount Alto compound was that Camilla Varig, Vincent Kellner's personal assistant, was on the run. The gossip about her disappearance was all over Washington. But where could Camilla run to if she decided to disappear? Had |
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