Free The Chinese Agenda by Joe Poyer

Dmietriev.'
    `There is no such person here,' the officer stated firmly. 'You are American military personnel? You arrived in an aircraft belonging to the United States Air Force?'
    Jones shook his head. 'No, we do not belong to the military, the aircraft was ,
    `Not military,' the Soviet officer interrupted smoothly. 'If not military, then what?'
    `Look, this is ridiculous,' Jones stammered. 'If we didn't belong here, why did you let us land? Our pilot had clearances for this airfield, clearances that were issued in Moscow. We received permission to land from your own control tower! '
    'And what would you do if a strange aircraft appeared on your radar screen? We sent fighter aircraft in pursuit but before they could make contact, you had asked for permission to land. Since you did not take evasive action when my aircraft appeared, we decided to let you land and then find out why.'
    'Nonsense,' Jones snorted. 'If you had any doubts at all, you would have shot first and asked questions later. You are too damned close to the Chinese border for any other action to be considered.'
    'We are friendly with the People's Republic of China and would have no cause to show alarm if one of their aircraft accidentally strayed across the border.'
    Gillon laughed at that and turned to Jones. 'Brother, this guy is worse than a divorce lawyer. It looks to me like your people have fouled up this mission from the word go.'
    Jones turned on him, an angry retort ready, but Gillon ignored him and studied the Russian.
    'All right, buster, there's one way that you can find out what's going on here. Either your people don't think you can be trusted' – he paused to see if the Russian would take the bait – 'or they forgot to send you the message . . . that is, of course, assuming that it ever left Washington.'
    'It did,' Stowe answered abruptly. 'My people are in charge of liaison. I sent it out myself and got a forwarding acknowledgment before I left for Rome.'
    Jones, completely baffled, stared hard at Stowe, then sat back and began whistling tunelessly.
    'All right then, something happened.' Gillon felt his
    patience ebbing fast. 'Get on the radio or telephone or drums or whatever the hell it is you people use to talk to one another and find out what the devil is going on.'
    'And who would you suggest I ask?' The question was logical but the tone of voice was quite sarcastic.
    'Start with the GRU,' Gillon replied coldly.
    The officer straightened in surprise. 'The GRU .. . why should I contact them?'
    'Because,' Gillon snarled, his patience exhausted, 'we are supposed to be co-operating with them, or with one or another of your silly intelligence units. If it isn't them, they can tell you which other agency. If your people spend as much time checking up on each other as ours do, they'll know.'
    The officer studied him for a long moment, as if not quite sure that Gillon was serious. Angrily, Gillon stared right back.
    The Russian took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead and eyes in weariness. 'Your suggestion will be taken into consideration,' he replied slowly. 'For the moment, you will remain under arrest since you have crossed the borders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics illegally, landed a foreign military aircraft in a restricted area, resisted arrest and imported weapons in violation of Soviet laws. You will be placed under guard. I must warn you that any attempt to escape will he dealt with swiftly and harshly. I have given my men orders to shoot to kill. You must realize that you are very lucky that you were not shot down and killed during your landing attempt.'
    With that, he stepped back and motioned the soldiers forward. Jones's face reflected his shock and anger, but appreciating the uselessness of further argument, he remained silent.
    The two officers conferred Russian for a moment and then the colonel turned and left abruptly and the lieutenant sauntered over and stared down at them in scorn.
    'Look your fill, sonny boy,'