The Kremlin Letter Page #3

---

Let's get it right out in front.

The cables, the funeral, the museum,

the people involved, their absurd names.

I keep asking myself, what's

next at this mad tea party?

Nephew, i don't know what they

taught you in the classroom...

About intelligence and espionage.

Everything i know i learned on the street.

But i can assure you of one thing.

It has no size, no shape and no rules.

At the very best, it's what you least

expect, so you gotta be ready for anything.

You want to be in on the fun? Shag right on

downstairs and start learning your first steps.

First, let your hair grow,

Especially the sideburns and

the back of your neck, hmm?

Use no oils whatever. Only water.

Let the hair on your nose grow.

And do the same with the

fuzz on your ears, hmm?

Now your teeth.

How many fillings have you?

I have two. Only they? They

will have to be replaced.

Vaccination scars? Uh, one.

The priest will burn it off.

Excellent scar. Exactly like an

old shrapnel wound. Excellent.

You were with the red army in

the last days of stalingrad.

You have only two fillings, which

were done in the field hospital...

After the russian victory.

Look frightened, for god

sakes. For your work permit.

Oh. Your, uh, "whoopee" thumb.

When the hand has healed

sufficiently, we'll slip it into place.

It's full of poison. If you're

captured, bite through the nail.

Death should be almost instantaneous.

Come in.

Could i have a cigarette? I don't have any.

Yeah. Sure.

Thank you. Want a light?

Uh, no. I'm

- I'm going to smoke it in my room.

Okay.

Something the matter?

I've never been away from home.

I've never known a man.

I- I told my father i

had, but i- I haven't.

My father says that going to bed

is an integral part of the job, and-

And one must be good at it.

So i thought that, uh-

I mean, i-

Passport. Birth certificate.

Working papers. Traveling papers. I.D. Card.

Plus, 110 rubles,

75 kopecks.

Start getting used to it.

Well, well. What are you calling him?

Giorgi davitashvili, from, uh, tiflis.

Nephew yorgi,

The time has come to find out just

how well you have learned your lesson.

- Tell us about polakov.

Polakov, dimitri ilyavitch.

Moscow, february 19, 1905.

Ilya. Gurla.

Picture frame maker.

There was a picture. Describe him.

Strong, clever face with

a large aquiline nose.

Think lashes over heavy-Lidded eyes.

Straight, bushy eyebrows. Full, sharply

- Defined lips.

A wide, heavy lower jaw.

And the report?

During world war ii, he fought

with the dutch resistance,

Acting as a liaison with the french marquis.

Toward the end of the war, he

joined up with robert sturdevant...

And remained with that

group until it was disbanded.

Then he became an independent agent.

In 1955, he, uh, opened

a small gallery in paris.

He traveled between paris

and moscow as an art dealer.

Most of his friends are homosexuals.

1956 and 1969.

Moscow, 1956, he met up with an old friend

from university days named chu chang.

Chang was connected with

the red chinese embassy.

He and polakov cooked up

some narcotics business.

Polakov liked money. He wasn't

particular how he made it.

Now, the plan failed. Chang

got caught and polakov escaped.

- '69.

- In 1969 he showed up in washington...

With material to sell about russian

- Hungarian relations.

From then on, the information began to flow.

During a six-Month period he

was paid more than $400,000.

He never revealed the

source of his information...

Except to say that he was

a high soviet official.

At the end of those six months, he

married a young german prostitute,

Erika boeck.

People who knew her described

her as being dissolute,

Highly neurotic and apparently

very much in love with polakov.

How many times did you read that? Once.

Bravo. Bravo, nephew. Sit down.

Sit right down there, and i'm gonna

tell you the rest of the story.

In august, 1969, polakov

appeared once more in washington.

He had a request from his soviet source.

What he asked for was tangible proof...

That a deal with the west was a

realistic political possibility.

What he really wanted, in

writing, was a guarantee...

That the united states would

assist the soviet union...

In destroying china's atomic bomb

project at lop nur and sinkiang.

The top executive in one

of the most powerful...

Intelligence agencies in the

united states government...

Took it upon himself to write what amounted

to a declaration of war against china.

Polakov was in moscow

with it the next morning.

Four days later he reported from

paris. The letter had been delivered.

That same day, 10 downing street and

the white house both heard about it,

And it really hit the fan.

They began to raise all kinds of hell.

The responsible agency was ordered

to get that document back at any cost.

So they contacted polakov. Polakov

agreed to talk to his man...

And 10 days later reported back that

the document could be returned...

For one million dollars.

Polakov was given the million

dollars out of agency funds,

And he and his wife took off for moscow.

Three days later, the third

department arrested polakov,

His wife, his mother and his sister.

And 24 hours after that,

the soviet press announced...

The capture and death of the traitor polakov.

Kosnov was praised for his work.

Colonel jakob nicolievitch kosnov,

Chief of the soviet third department.

And during world war ii, a remarkably

effective espionage administrator.

Kosnov is a merciless killer.

That's his aide, lieutenant

vassili vasilievitch grodin.

He was educated during the

postwar technological boom.

He's of the new russia.

Grodin's

father-In-Law.

And the kremlin's watchdog

over the third department.

Aleksel ivanovitch bresnavitch.

Tovarich bresnavitch-

Permit me to congratulate you

on the excellent speech you made.

Thank you.

I bought the papers.

Your picture is on all the front pages.

I'm afraid the speech was only

an excuse to come to new york...

And acquire this painting.

And how's it going in your

division, comrade potkin?

Very well. Thank you.

How are you coming with series five?

Comrade kosnov seems pleased.

It was asking the impossible.

To track down all u.S. Agents...

And to find out their assignments.

I understand you've done a remarkable job.

Thank you, comrade. Who are

the likeliest candidates?

Candidates? Yes, for replacing polakov.

Uh, i

- I don't understand.

Don't pretend with me, comrade potkin.

You must know what's behind all this.

Why, yes. Complete knowledge of

enemy agents and their locations...

Makes all counterespionage

work much more easy.

Kosnov is only interested in

making counterespionage easy?

For this, his department has spent

two million dollars in two months?

I would suppose so.

I am not informed of all his plans. I-

I only do what is asked of me.

Surely you know why series

five is so important.

I told you why.

What's important is...

To find that letter.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes