Soviet Union 1991

The Kremlin Palace was surprisingly brightly lit today. A row of huge gilded chandeliers hung from the ceiling of the white marble hall on the second floor, and exquisite reliefs were carved on the walls on both sides. This is the majestic St. George Hall, which is now full of people chatting and laughing. They gathered here for the same reason. The treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the destruction of weapons of mass destruction.

The people standing on the white marble floor of the Kremlin at this time also had complicated expressions. These people included politicians from the high walls of this exquisite building, generals from the military camps mixed with gunpowder and the cold smell of steel, and the reporters who rushed over from the West in dusty weather, looking for their prey with sharp eyes, political prey that can be reported in newspapers or news.

Of course, at the banquet, there were also hunters like these Western reporters. They were hidden, gloomy conspirators, spies and counterintelligence intelligence personnel of the KGB. These people are different from the Kremlin security guards holding short Kalashnikovs, who only stand on the walls around the Grand Kremlin Palace and watch the surrounding situation with suspicious eyes.

They are as inconspicuous as the waiters who walk back and forth with shining silver plates and high-end crystal glasses filled with Romanov royal champagne and Kremlin brand vodka. These KGB spies patrol the room, listening to a word, perhaps a conversation that is too low or a word that does not match the atmosphere of the night.

The quartet string orchestra plays passionate classical music in the corner. Maybe no one will listen seriously, but this is a special program of foreign diplomatic receptions. Without it, a diplomatic occasion becomes a little incomplete. The intricate marble floor patterns of St. George's Hall were covered with leather shoes and high heels worn by more than a hundred people. Each person was talking half the time. In order to hear each other talking, people had to raise their voices to overwhelm the music. Spies used the noise and concealed identities to carry out activities and became ghosts at the banquet.

These Western diplomats and politicians in the Kremlin were waiting for the real owner of the palace to arrive. Although a month ago, the countries they were loyal to were still in a cold war confrontation because of the Arabian Sea incident, the United States finally gave in and chose to reconcile the crisis.

Then, the Soviet Union also issued a treaty on the limitation of large-scale chemical weapons. Politicians from both the United States and the Soviet Union almost gathered in the palace of the Kremlin to discuss this matter. Spies who were also well versed in "Kremlinology" also gathered here. They were able to collect their own intelligence through the demeanor and conversation of those Soviet officials.

Charles, General Hammer's adjutant, obviously belonged to another category of people, and he was not the only CIA agent who appeared in the Kremlin. Although he appeared here as a member of the biological and chemical weapons negotiation team, and was responsible for tracking some weapons of mass destruction that might be lost in the Soviet Union. After all, two months ago, the "national technical detection tool", which refers to the spy satellite and communication means, tracked a truck departing from a Soviet republic with suspicious behavior.

He stared at everyone with a sharp gaze. They all looked so suspicious at this time, including Defense Minister Comrade Yazov, who was talking to the officials around him, Foreign Minister Shevardnadze, and even Shepilov from the Soviet Chemical Industry Department.

Suspicious, everyone looked so suspicious, like a conspirator involved in an unspeakable plan.

Of course, Charles listed Minister Shepilov of the Chemical Industry Department as the first on the list of possible breakthroughs. If someone from the Chemical Industry Department said that he was only responsible for Russia's oil production and had no involvement in chemical weapons of mass destruction, it would be as ridiculous as an official from the White House claiming that his hands were clean. At least in the case of the loss of Soman gas in 1983, one of the Soviet spy targets targeted by the CIA was the technical director of the chemical industry department.

As he spoke, he slowly tasted a sip of champagne, and then pretended to be nonchalant as he walked around those Slavic beauties with jewels and elegant temperaments. Their perfume made Charles rub his nose involuntarily, like a wolf with a keen sense of smell resisting the interference around him. His leather shoes stepped carefully on the marble slab, silently.

Charles walked in front of Shepilov. Although he tried his best to look energetic, his drooping eyelids showed his fatigue. Charles said fluently, "Hello, Minister Shepilov. I am from the US negotiation team for the WMD Treaty. You can call me Charles."

When he heard the identity of the American, Shepilov became alert instantly. He knew that there were several pairs of eyes nearby who were secretly watching their conversation. They might record everything in a notebook and present it to the KGB's top brass, the terrible eyes of the devil who could decide his life and death.

"Let's talk about it at the negotiation table, Mr. Charles. The negotiations haven't started yet, and we don't have anything to talk about." Shepilov unceremoniously ordered him to leave. He was Pugo's man in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the real KGB manager was the deputy minister of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, who was specifically responsible for the production of hazardous chemicals. They were like separate managers who did not infringe on each other. The personnel power of the Central Organization Department was in the hands of Yanayev, which could be said to be a model of checks and balances.

Shepilov didn't want to get involved in these messy affairs, although the position of deputy minister could directly contact those senior figures and there was more room for promotion. But they always knew some secrets that they shouldn't know. If things were exposed one day, these people might be pushed out as scapegoats.

Shepilov still wanted to continue to climb up. He didn't want to die in the position of the chemical industry department, or be defeated by political opponents in the position of minister.

"I've said too much, Comrade Shepilov." Charles nodded, pretending to chat with Shepilov about these buildings.

"I think it's much better for a country to spend tax money on such artistic sculptures and build bright and beautiful great buildings than to make chemical weapons that take countless lives at any time, right? It's a pity that as long as the politicians (To be continued)