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He was a survivor, Rodchenko understood
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He was a survivor, Rodchenko understood that, and a survivor protected himself on as many
points of the compass as he could readHe also insinuated himself into as many degrees of that
compass as possibleTherefore, he had labored diligently to become a trusted mouth to the
chairman; he was an expert at gathering information for the Komitet; he was the initial conduit to
the American enterprise known to him alone in Moscow as Medusa, through which extraordinary
shipments, had been made throughout Russia and the bloc nationsOn the other hand, he was also a
liaison to the monseigneur in Paris, Carlos the Jackal, whom he had either persuaded or bought off
from contracts that might point to the Soviet UnionHe had been the ultimate bureaucrat, working
behind the scenes on the international stage, seeking neither applause nor celebrity, merely
survivalThen why had he done what he did? Was it mere impetuousness born of weariness and
fear and the sense of a plague-on-both-your-houses? No, it was a logical extension of events,
consistent with the needs of his country and, above all, the absolute necessity that Moscow
disassociate itself from both Medusa and the Jackal
According to the consul general in New York, Bryce Ogilvie was finished in AmericaThe
consul’s suggestion was to find him asylum somewhere and, in exchange, gradually absorb his
myriad assets in EuropeWhat worried the consul general in New York was not Ogilvie’s financial
manipulations that broke more laws than there were courts to prosecute, but rather the killings,
which as far as the consul could determine were widespread and included the murder of high U
government officials and, unless he was grossly mistaken, the assassination of the supreme
commander of NATOCompounding this chain of horrors was New York’s opinion that in order to
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
376
save a number of his companies from confiscation, Ogilvie might have ordered additional killings
in Europe, primarily of those few powerful executives in various firms who understood the
complex international linkages that led back to a great law firm and the unspoken code name
MedusaShould those contracted murders take place while Ogilvie was in Moscow, questions
might arise that Moscow could not tolerateTherefore, get him in and out of the Soviet Union as
fast as possible, a recommendation more easily made than accomplished
Suddenly, Rodchenko reflected, into this danse macabre had come the paranoid monseigneur
from ParisIt was imperative they meet immediately! Carlos had fairly screamed his demand over
the arranged public telephone communication they employed, but every precaution had to be taken
The Jackal, as always, demanded a public place, with crowds, and numerous available exits, where
he could circle like a hawk, never showing himself until his professional eyes were satisfiedTwo
calls later, from two different locations, the rendezvous was setBasil’s Cathedral in Red Square
during the height of the early evening’s summer tourist onslaughtIn a darkened corner to the right
of the altar where there were outside exits through the curtained walkways to the sacristyDone!
Then, during that third telephone call, like a crack of thunder over the Black Sea, Grigorie
Rodchenko was struck by an idea so dramatically bold, yet so patently obvious and simple, that he
had momentarily lost his breathIt was the solution that would totally distance the Soviet
government from any involvement or complicity with either the Jackal or Medusa’s Ogilvie should
such distance be necessary in the eyes of the civilized world
Quite simply, unknown to each other, bring the Jackal and Ogilvie together, if only for an
instant, just long enough to get photographic evidence of their being seen within the same frameIt
was all that was needed
He had gone to Diplomatic Relations yesterday afternoon, having requested a short routine
meeting with OgilvieDuring the extremely innocuous and very friendly conference, Rodchenko
had waited for his opening—an opening he had engineered with precision, having done his
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