Page 34 of Cry Havoc

“I see.”

The usually stoic Penkovsky leaned forward, placing his elbows on his thighs.

“And have you thought through the political and possible military fallout if the United States were to discover we were keeping their military personnel on Soviet soil?” the deputy asked, his voice deeper than his thin frame would suggest.

“With respect, Deputy Director, they are not uniformed combatants.In Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam, they are spies. International law is very clear on this point. They can be treated as such. If, and I reiterateif, this operation were to come to light, we would be on very firm legal ground.”

Penkovsky raised an eyebrow and looked at his boss, conceding the point.

“We were also on firm ground with Gary Powers,” Penkovsky said in reference to the U-2 incident that had captivated the world in the early sixties. “But he was flying over our country, not Laos or Cambodia.”

“As we know, Powers was convicted of espionage in a public trial and then traded for Rudolf Abel,” Dvornikov said, using the alias for William August Fisher, a KGB illegal who worked for years in the United States before his capture in 1957.

“And Frederic Pryor,” Penkovsky reminded them.

“Yes,” Director Lavrinenko said. “I worked that negotiation. Pryor was released by the Stasi under our direction. Though he was merely a university student, a political prisoner of no actual intelligence value. Teaches economics at Yale or Swarthmore now, I believe. Wrong place at the wrong time. Caught behind the curtain when the wall went up because of a girl he was dating.”

“My point is that we have two examples, Powers and Pryor,” the major continued. “Powers was of immense intelligence value and Pryor had virtually none. After almost two years of interrogations, we assessed that Powers had given us all he knew about the capabilities of the U-2 and what the United States had photographed with their spy plane overflights of our sovereign territory. He was of no use to his country. We traded both and got Abel in return. Abel never broke, and as you know now works for our KGB neighbors educating the next generation of illegals. There is not much the Americans won’t trade for one of their spies. With this plan, we would be holding Americans captured in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam. We will deplete them of intelligence value and, if discovered, wehave incredible leverage in future exchanges for captured GRU and KGB assets in America.”

“And years from now, if the Americans find out we are holding POWs from Southeast Asia?” Penkovsky asked.

“Then we do what we always do,” the major replied.

“What’s that?”

“We put bullets in their heads and bury them deep in Siberia. Deny we knew of their existence.”

Penkovsky sat back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap.

“We assess who can be turned,” Dvornikov continued. “Give those back to Hanoi for repatriation to the United States, though they would now be working for us.”

“This is not a new idea, Comrade,” Lavrinenko said. “As I am sure you know, during the Korean War, GRU advisors worked on U.S. POWs in the DPRK and China.”

“Yes, with varying results. I believe that twenty opted to stay in China, is that right? This time we bring them here. No Koreans or Chinese to work around or through. We have been trying to interrogate John Downey for over fifteen years with no success.”

“Yes, the CIA spy captured in Manchuria in 1952. The Americans won’t even acknowledge his existence, and the Chinese still refuse to give us access.”

“Let us remember that the Vietnam War is less popular than the Korean War,” Dvornikov said. “In a few days, after the Tet attacks, it will be even more unpopular.”

“The captured Americans would be experiments,” Lavrinenko said almost to himself.

“Precisely. As they are spies, they can disappear in the Soviet Union, and we will not have the Koreans or Chinese to deal with.”

Lavrinenko poked at the sturgeon eggs with his spoon, mulling over the risks and possibilities.

“We are working on the equipment from thePueblonow, Major,” he said.

“And the keying material?”

“It is being acquired.”

“Director, with the network I have developed in Saigon and the ability to decrypt American communications, we not only have the ability to shape the war effort based on misinformation, but we have the ability to capture, interrogate, and possibly turn American servicemen working for an organization that is essentially a branch of the CIA.”

“Remind me of this unit’s name.”

“MACV-SOG.”

CHAPTER 9