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THE PROJECT COMMITTEE WAS CONFINED TO FIVE. THERE was the chairman of the geopolitical group, his opposite number in the strategic committee and the chairman of the economics body. Plus Saul Nathanson at his own request and Nigel Irvine. He was very much in the chair, the others his questioners.
“Let’s get one thing straight at the outset,” Ralph Brooke of the economic committee began, “are you contemplating an assassination of this man Komarov?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because these are seldom achieved and in this case, even if achieved, it would not solve the problem.”
“Why couldn’t it be done, Nigel?”
“I didn’t say couldn’t. Just extremely difficult. The man is exceptionally well guarded. His personal bodyguard and protection squad commander is no fool.”
“But even if it worked, it wouldn’t work?”
“No. The man would be a martyr. Another would step into his shoes and sweep the country. Probably carry out the same program, the legacy of the lost leader.”
“Then, what?”
“All practicing politicians are subject to destabilization. An American word, I believe.”
There were a number of rueful grins. In its day the State Department and the CIA had sought to destabilize several left—wing foreign leaders.
“What would be required?”
“A budget.”
“No problem,” said Saul Nathanson. “Name it.”
“Thank you. Later.”
“And?”
“Some technical backup. Mostly purchasable. And a man.”
“What kind of man?”
“A man to go into Russia and do certain things. A very good man.”
“That’s your province. If, and I say if with advisement, Komarov can be discredited, his popular support culled away from him, what then, Nigel?”
“Actually,” said Irvine, “that is the principal problem. Komarov is not just a charlatan. He is skillful, passionate, and charismatic. He understands and corresponds to the instincts of the Russian people. He is an icon.”
“A what?”
“An icon. Not a religious painting, but a symbol. He stands for something. All nations need something, some person or symbol, to which they can cleave; which can give a disparate mass of people a sense of identity and thus of unity. Without a unifying symbol, people drift into internecine feuds. Russia is vast, with many different ethnic groups. Communism was brutal, but it provided unity. Unity by coercion. So also in Yugoslavia; when the unity by coercion was removed we saw what happened. To achieve unity by volition, there must be that symbol. You have your Old Glory, we our Crown. At the moment Igor Komarov is their icon, and only we know how savagely flawed.”
‘‘And what is his game plan?’’
“Like all demagogues, he will play on their hopes, their desires, their loves, and their hates, but mostly on their fears. That way he will win their hearts. With those he will get the votes, and with the votes the power. He can then use the power to build the machine that will carry out the aims of the Black Manifesto.”
“But if he is destroyed? It’s back to chaos. Even civil war.”
“Probably. Unless one could introduce into the equation another and a better icon. One worthy of the loyalty of the Russian people.”
“There’s no such man. Never has been.”
“Oh, there was,” said Nigel Irvine. “Once, long ago. He was called the Czar of All the Russias.”