Free Freedom Bridge: A Cold War Thriller by Erika Holzer Page B

to find Kiril sitting, trance-like, the Brenner file open on his lap.
    “I see from your expression that you found Dr. Brenner’s lack of sympathy for his own country disturbing,” he said cheerfully . “Your hero—”
    “Has feet of clay,” Kiril snapped. “He’s no patriot. As for the word despicable , it’s an apt description of the bastard.”
    Aleksei laughed. “I agree, but for different reasons.”
    “You never did answer my question, Aleksei. What business could the KGB possibly have with Kurt Brenner?”
    Aleksei began filling a pipe, his fingers milky white against the dark wood of the stem. “What would you say were the chances of someone with Dr. Kurt Brenner’s impressive credentials defecting to the Soviet Union?”
    “Whatever else you are, Aleksei, you’re no fool. Would-be defectors head for the West, not the East. There’s also the problem of medical facilities. Ours can’t begin to compare with what the West has to offer. You mention Brenner’s impressive medical credentials. What would be in it for him?”
    Aleksei lit up and watched the lazy upward drift of the smoke. “Suppose it were a question, not of what Brenner had to gain by defecting, but of what he stood to lose?”
    “I thought your specialty was extorting confessions,” Kiril said drily, “not seducing westerners to Mother Russia.”
    “How shortsighted of you. Think of me as an expert at collecting the fascinating bits and pieces that form the mosaic of a man’s past. Anyone who could reverse the usual direction of defections and persuade a prominent figure like Dr. Kurt Brenner to ‘relocate’ from West to East would be held in great esteem in certain circles.”
    “No doubt.  And by ‘persuade,’ I take it you mean blackmail?”
    “What else? Not that I’m so naïve as to think I could pull off a coup like that,” he said sourly.
    “What if you could?” Kiril said slowly.
    “Could what?”
    “To hell with Medicine International’s symposium in West Berlin next year! What if the Soviet Union were to hold its own medical conference in East Berlin—say a one- or two-day affair? What if you scheduled it for a few days before Medicine International’s symposium in West Berlin? Brenner would still have an opportunity to work with Dr. Yanin and our heart specialists in East Germany. Knowing how it must have rankled him when the Soviet Union abruptly withdrew from the West Berlin symposium, Brenner would almost certainly accept.”
    Clever of you, Little Brother. First you push me to send you to Canada, supposedly in the name of science but in fact so you could defect. Now you want me to send you to East Berlin—right where your pal Brodsky almost pulled it off. On the other hand . . .
    “Brenner would be unlikely to refuse, wouldn’t he?” Aleksei said thoughtfully. “Especially if we were to invite some prominent heart surgeons from the People’s Democracies. The West Berlin symposium doesn’t happen for what—another sixteen months?  I’d have plenty of time to make plans.”
    “And plenty of time to implement them,” Kiril observed.
    Aleksei’s pipe had gone out. Switching to cigarettes, he offered one to Kiril and held out a match. “Why the sudden desire to cooperate with the KGB, Little Brother?” he said, pushing back his chair.
    “I’ll cooperate even more if you’ll let me. In case you’re busy just before the conference, I’ll entertain Brenner.”
    “Don’t you think Dr.Yanin would be a more suitable substitute host?”
    “He would if he spoke English.”
    “But you don’t know Berlin. You don’t know East Germany.”
    “You’re wrong,” Kiril countered, not having to feign bitterness. “Thanks to Stepan, I know a great deal about both. From time to time, he would describe East Berlin in great detail. Shall I anticipate your next ‘problem’? That I lack the credentials for the job? I’m your brother. I’m also a longstanding member of Dr. Mikhail Yanin’s