with that amount of feverish dedication driving him: history was liberally punctuated with successful assassinations and he wasn't trying to do anything new. This was why I looked to my left at every intersection, sometimes seeing the glow of a golden dome through the snow haze. That was where we would see the column of smoke going up, a few minutes after six o'clock. The traffic was thinning now as the city's population flowed from the factories and offices to the apartment blocks in the suburbs. 5.48. D-Donald . . . I've got a Zil. C-Charlie calling D-Donald - give your location. I'm heading north and coming up to Uljanovskaja. The police let him through on the red light. The Zil is moving west on Uljanovskaja now and going fast. Did you see the number plates? No. It was broadside on when it went past. Did it have any kind of escort? No. It went through the lights on its own. C-Charlie calling A-Able. Where are you? I hit the button. A-Able. I'm at Obucha and the lights are red. There's a left-turn arrow and I'm waiting for it now. Two seconds went by. From your present location, can you intercept the Zil before it reaches the Kremlin? The map had been open on the passenger's seat since we'd started patrolling and I looked at it now. It depends on what speed he makes. 1 can't go across the lights as he can. But I've got a chance of cutting him off at the Solanka intersection. The left-turn arrow went green and I gunned up and took the intersection in a controlled slide across the ruts and got the Pobeda straight and settled down. A-Able moving west towards the boulevard ring, light traffic. Orders? Stay on the air and report progress. C-Charlie calling all other stations . . . All other stations remain listening but do not signal unless emergency repeat do not signal unless emergency. Break pattern and head for A-Able with all speed. I was coming up on two taxis and a truck and pulled over to pass but the ruts were deep and I lost the rear end as the steering dug in and the momentum set up a swinging action, left to right, left to right until I changed down and put a lot of power on and broke the rhythm, one of the taxis using the horn because I'd swung too close. Croder dropped the call sign now: from this point there'd only be his voice and mine on the air. What is your direct route to the Kremlin? Due west by Podkolokol'nyj. Solanka, and Razina. Present location? Crossing the boulevard ring. The trees stood on either side, white with snow against the iron sky. The lights were changing to amber and I kept my speed constant and crossed over and gunned up a little because they'd put sand down here. The inner boulevard signal was at red and I switched my headlights full on and kept going and crossed the intersection and heard a whistle blow. I am now on Podkolokol'nyj. Traffic police alerted because I crossed on the red, but my rear plate is illegible. Acknowledged. I hadn't intended to take the intersections on the red because the police would use their radios and I'd be initiating a collision course with the nearest mobile patrol but the Zil would now be curving north-east across Ustjinskij prospekt and heading for the major fork at Solanka and it was the only chance of my cutting him off because if he got there first I wouldn't be able to catch him and there were no other oblique streets where I could gain on him by using angles. Location . . . Podkopajevskij on my right. I'm passing the junction now. Acknowledged. He would want to say more than that, but he left the air clear for my signals. He would want to say that I should make every conceivable effort to reach the Solanka fork before the Zil because that was the