Razin looked at the twenty-four men who were busy making preparations in the disused warehouse. They were his Spetsnaz Alpha troops, all handpicked by him for the training exercise. Tonight, their task was to infiltrate the base of the 104th Parachute Regiment in the ancient northwestern city of Pskov. It would be tough, though he wasn’t concerned, as he knew they’d succeed. What did concern him was that time was running out, because the exercise could be terminated at any time. If that happened before everything was in place, his plan would have failed.
He moved away from the men, their vehicles, and the equipment and sat on a wooden crate. Withdrawing his custom-made military knife, he looked at the long blade for several seconds before carefully sharpening it with a stone.
All of the MI6 officer’s agents had to die, but it was taking too long. That was why he needed to change tactics. The traitor had given him the names and the time and location of the next meeting, but this time he’d not only kill his target, he’d also capture his former agent handler-the man he’d recently found out carried the code name Sentinel. That would speed things up. Sentinel would be forced to summon all of his remaining agents to one location. Razin would slaughter them.
Everything depended on timing. The agents had to be dead before the three American cruise missile-bearing submarines sailed toward Russia. And the training exercise had to still be live when that happened so that he could plant the bomb.
He smiled as he looked at his faithful colleagues. They had no idea what they were really doing for him. It didn’t matter, because if they survived the war, he’d honor them for their role in preventing Russia from being crippled. But he’d never tell them the truth about the bomb. Instead he’d say that he’d removed its beacon and detonated it at sea or in one of Russia’s vast wastelands to prevent it from falling into American hands. By then no one would be asking questions. They’d be focused on far more pressing matters.
He thought about the big MI6 man he’d confronted outside the Saint Petersburg safe house. He could be a problem, for he was unlike anyone Razin had confronted before. No doubt he’d be with Sentinel at the meeting with General Barkov.
That’s where he’d kill him.