BOURNE ROGUE

CHAPTER TWO

             The Kremlin, Russia

"Ser! Ser! Srochno! Telefonnyy zvonok dlya vas!!"
*Sir! Sir! Urgent! A phone call for you!
Junior Lieutenant Andrievich Karaskov rushed into the room, flustered and out of breath. General Sovik immediately snapped "Chto eto oznachayet?!"
*What is the meaning of this?!
Karaskov snapped to attention and saluted. "Srochnyy telefonnyy zvonok," he repeated.
*Urgent phone call.
Sovik fixed him with a steely glare. "I pochemu my dolzhny otvechat' na nego? Pochemu tak vazhno prervat' etu sekretnuyu vstrechu?"
*And why should we answer it? Why is it important enough to interrupt this classified meeting?
Karaskov swallowed nervously and said hesitantly "Potomu chto zvonyashchiy govorit, chto u nego yest' dal'niye rakety, zapertyye v Kremle, i yesli on ne pogovorit s vami v blizhaysheye vremya, on vystrelit."
*Because the caller says that he has long-range missiles locked on the Kremlin, and if he doesn't talk to you soon, he will fire.
Sovik turned away dismissively. "U nas yest' bezopastnost'. Dazhe yesli u nego budut rakety, oni budut vyvedeny iz vodukha."
*We have security. Even if he does have missiles, they will be blown out of the air.
Clearly he thought the conversation over, for he resumed his discussion with the two other generals. But after a moment he realized that Karaskov hadn't left. Sovik narrowed his eyes. "Vy uvoleny, Mladshey Leytenant."
*You are dismissed, Junior Lieutenant.
Karaskov swallowed nervously again. "Ser...on utverzhdayet, chto my otklyuchili nashu zashchitu."
*Sir...he claims to have disabled our defenses.
Sovik gritted his teeth. "Karaskov, yesli vy oshibayetes'..."
*Karaskov, if you are wrong....
He let the sentence trail off, letting the threat hang in the air. Then he called a ryadovóy (private)into the room. "Prover'te nashu zashchitu." he barked.
*Check our defenses.
The ryadovóy' looked a little confused, but dutifully hurried off. The two generals exchanged slightly annoyed glances, but they were also slightly curious. If this J.L. was right, this could be far more important than the current matters at hand. The silence in the room stretched on for about two minutes, then the ryadovóy hurried back in, pale and sweaty. "Ser, nasha vozdushnaya zashchita polnost'yu opustilas'. I my s trudom soyedinyayemsya s nashey nazemnoy zashchitoy."
*Sir, our aerial defense is completely down. And we are having difficulty connecting to our ground defenses.
Sovik was silent for a moment, then he muttered "Prinese mne telefon."
*Get me a phone.
The ryadovóy disappeared again, reappearing a mere ten seconds later with a phone in hand. Sovik snatched the phone and held it to his ear. "Eto General' nyy Sovet."
*This is General Sovik.

A smooth male voice came through the reciever. "General Sovik. How nice to hear from you. I assume you speak English?"
Sovik gripped the phone tighter, and answered in thickly accented English. "Yes, I do. But you obviously speak Russian."
The man's voice was just modified enough to make it unidentifiable. "Yes. However, I prefer English, as I find Russian...distasteful."
Sovik clenched his fists. "I see," he hissed. Who did this...this mu'dak think he was?! "You are the one who threatens to destroy the Kremlin."
"Only if you didn't answer," the stranger purred. "Now, what I'm about to tell you is for your ears only. You may do what you wish with the information once I hang up, but for now, you must be alone in the room."
Sovik could feel his pulse in his temple, but he kept his voice calm as he covered the receiver and addressed the others in the room. "A few minutes alone, please?"
Karaskov, the ryadovóy and the generals left silently, and Sovik was about to inform the man that he was now alone when the caller said "Thank you. By the way, calm down a little. Your heart is racing; I can see your pulse in your left temple."
Sovik whirled, staring out the window. The caller chuckled. "Oh, you won't see me. Now, I am known as Emeric. That is all the introduction you will get from me, so don't bother asking for more."
He paused, then continued "Now, to business. Listen carefully."