Play on , Christina Nott

By Ed Adams

Christina Nott has three missions music, money and manipulation

She knows how to rock it

Touring the band From Saint Petersburg to Tokyo, to LA to Seattle.

All the time caught in an FSB plot against two politicians

Listen for the power chords

• Language: English
• Publisher: Firstelement
• Release date: Dec 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781913818074

Ed Adams

NaNoWriMo novel writing winner several times, Ed Adams was born, raised and educated in London but has travelled widely causing some of his friends to suspect him of a double life.

Book preview

Thanks

A big thank you for the tolerance and bemused support from all of those around me. To those who know when it is time to say, step away from the keyboard! and to those who don't.

To Julie for that kind of understanding that only comes with really knowing me.

To thesixtwenty.co.uk for direction. 

To the NaNoWriMo gang for the continued inspiration and encouragement.

To John, for many hours of intense scrutiny. To Steve for his encouragement and that original Indian restaurant meal in Staines. To Georgina for cover ideas.

And, of course, thanks to the extensive support via the random scribbles of rashbre via http://rashbre2.blogspot.com and its cast of amazing and varied readers whether human, twittery, smoky, cool kats, photographic, dramatic, musical, anagrammed, globalized or simply maxed-out.

Not forgetting the cast of characters involved in producing this; they all have virtual lives of their own.

And of course, to you, dear reader, for at least 'giving it a go'.

Books by Ed Adams include:

About Ed Adams Novels:

Table of Contents

Thanks

Books by Ed Adams include:

About Ed Adams Novels:

PART ONE

Saint Petersburg

Drop the Mike

Nevsky Prospekt

Bellevue Hotel, Dresden

Deep Cover

Hydra headed

Backwater

The Mission

Dead men tell no tales

Purloined in Petrograd

About a band

Talking about... Pop Music.

Shrike

Meet the Band

Rehearsal

Commode

About the Money

How it started

Graduates

Whistle Blower

About a Tour

Clare

Rehearsal 2

What we'll do on the road

Spencer

Meet the Russians

Pavle Darchidze

Bakir Jamalov

Oliver Trask

Funnel

Yaroslav Valerijovych Petruk

Plan

The Heist

Saint Petersburg in clear

Rehearsal 3

Putin's casino

PART TWO

Trigger

Friday flyway

Business Class

Putin's dacha

Follow Me

Follow the Money

Frankfurt Flughafen

Layover

Big in Japan

Tokyo

Erebus

Stadium Rock

Showtime

Heavysick ZERO

Austin Rules

Yakuza

Saito Eiji

Hardboiled

Debrief

Tokyo Andez Hotel

Spanner

Identified

Galactix

Dreamliner

Los Angeles

LAX

Thursday morning

Thursday Evening

What happened in Sydney?

LA Music Weekly

Rodeo Drive

PART THREE

Seattle

Seattle

Smells like Teen Spirit

Stella shakes Seattle - my blog.

This room ain't big enough for the both of us

Seattle Space Needle

New York, New York

MOMA Nights

Fulton Street

Deutsch Union Bank

Pier 17

EMP

Back in Seattle

EMP Sky Church

The Manhattanite - Music News

BBC America News

Fairmont, breakfast buffet.

Triples all round

Setup Spencer

Miami 1000 Tower

Seattle Fairmont

PART ONE

Saint Petersburg

"It was a marvellous night, the sort of night one only experiences when one is young.

The sky was so bright, and there were so many stars that, gazing upward, one couldn't help wondering how so many whimsical, wicked people could live under such a sky."

'White Nights and Other Stories'.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Drop the Mike

I'm going to Russia, said Christina.

Across the street, someone was listening in. He had arranged a shotgun microphone and a reflector and was picking up the sound across free air. It had that phase shift reminiscent of old radios.

Yes, I've been called back, Christina added, I knew that once I'd contacted the FSB, my name would rise right to the top of their lists... What is the saying? 'Out of sight out of mind' .

How long? asked Clare.

Don't worry, you guys will be the first to know. They have some kind of mission set up for me. They said it involves some travel. And you know what? They want me to be Christina Nott.

In that case, you'll need your manager! said Clare.

Let's let it run for a while, I need to find out what I'm supposed to do first, replied Christina.

The audio seemed to go into a tunnel at this point. The guy with the reflector microphone could see that Christina was moving about in the office.

Where are you... The sound trailed off.

Sss. Pppp. Gggg, answered Christina.

I've lost it, said the man with the microphone. He sat in front of a small mixer desk and an array of wires.

Keep trying, said the severe-looking woman sitting in the room. She looked back towards her laptop screen.

Nevsky Prospekt

Snow in St Petersburg. An icy wind blows in from the sea. In the cafe, Irina Morozova was sitting across the table from Christina Nott, now using the name Alya Sokolova.

This was Putin's city once, said Irina Morozova.

I heard, we were told about it in Arkhangelsk, answered Christina. She eyed Irina carefully; a young-looking mid-40s, dark shoulder length hair, slimly built and very toned, she had worn a leather jacket on the way into the cafe but had now thrown it across the back of the chair. Christina observed the way she moved, like an athlete. Christina couldn't help herself from thinking that she'd need a weapon to take her down.

Ah yes, Alya Sokolova, the Archangel, so many names 'Christina Nott', replied Irina, Does it seem strange to be asked to work with someone like me?

Not at all, answered Alya, I've always been waiting for a chance to work with one of the people who have seen the fall and rise of the Motherland,

Careful with that talk, smiled Irina, You never know who is listening.

What still? asked, Alya.

They probably still have the original wires and microphones set up in here, said Irina, Just like the old days.

You know, I was here once before, a long time ago, said Alya, It has hardly changed though - it is more like a museum.

They were sitting in Literaturnoye Kafe, the historical cafe once frequented by Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol and Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  A musician was playing earnest Russian tunes on a grand piano.

For this time, I told the FSB I wanted to revive my cover story - a musician - and they sent me here to St Petersburg. It's a little strange.  I knew if I called Blackbird then he would ask me for something in return.

Yes, Blackbird briefed me, Colonel Sokolova. You are expected to meet me here and then to accompany me on my tour around the world, literally riding shotgun.

They both smiled.

Good blinis, observed Alya, with the salmon.

Yes - don't order lemonade or water here though, said Irina.

Why's that?

Well, Pushkin asked for lemonade before his fatal duel, and Tchaikovsky caught cholera from the tap water, or so the stories go, answered Irina.

That mannequin, it's supposed to be Pushkin writing a poem? asked Alya, gesturing towards the window.

Yes - for the tourists, explained Irina.

So what's our story? asked Alya, And do I get to be Christina again?

Yes, you do, answered Irina, I'm to be your A&R representative. There's another guy named Eckhart Bloch who is to be your publicist. Of course, they are both fronts and neither of us has any deep knowledge of the music industry.  It means we can be seen around with you and your tour which is the front for our FSB business.

Alya was surprised by this development. I'm getting two FSB agents to help me restart my music career? she asked, somewhat incredulously.

Well, that and the other mission. If you don't mind I'll keep that to myself for the moment. All the elements link to one objective, though. It means we can run various situations; that's one in Japan and a couple in the United States. We'll be heading for Tokyo and then on to LA. You - Christina - provide perfect cover.

So why do I start here in Saint Petersburg? asked Alya.

Mainly because it's where both myself and Eckhart live, answered Irina.

So, you've been here since when Putin was running the place? asked Alya.

That's right, St Petersburg and I have a long history. I was first here when the Soviet Union ceased to exist. It was a free-for-all. Everywhere you looked you could see people attempting to sell anything, everything, literally from the street. Even gasoline, in polythene canisters. There were an older generation here who could still remember the city from wartime; the Second World War - the blockade of the city.

I was here once, but in those days it was very messy times, said Alya.

Irina continued, Then there was the hyperinflation. Some money men had issued currency which could buy roubles. The other currency cost the same, but one unit could buy ten roubles. It was a crooked farce.

How did you first meet Putin?

It took a while, but I became assigned to his security detail, answered Irina, "When Putin first appeared, no-one around here knew much about him. He had been based in Dresden. I think he was thirty-nine when he became mayor of the city.

"He arrived and knew how to create his own back-story. He hired a documentary-maker to cast him in a positive light - to humanise him. That filmmaker, Igor Shadkhan was a Jew and had made films on the horrors of the Soviet Gulags. But Shadkhan was a person who had always criticised the Soviet authorities.

Somehow he was taken in by Putin - some might say he was recruited. They became friends and Putin seemed to persuade him that he was a real progressive and not part of the old guard. So, we get a film where Putin can stress the wonderful qualities of the KGB.

Alya nodded, I remember Putin made schools study Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, from around 2009. The Gulag Archipelago became a required reading. I remember reading about zeks - the zakliuchennyi (prisoners) through the Gulag, starting with their arrest, the show trials, then initial internment; transport to the archipelago; the use of the slave labour gangs and even the  practice of internal exile after the original prison sentence,

" Yes, well, if Shadkhan didn't pull punches on that Gulag documentary, he did on the one about Putin.

"He painted over the cracks and Putin describes many acts as ‘betrayals of the Motherland’,  to be punished with the full force of the law. Bribes and corruption, he said, had no place with the modern officials. And as for being an ‘official’, a chinovnik, the word need not have any negative connotation, he claimed.

"He’d served his country as a military chinovnik; now he was a civilian official, serving – as he had before – his country ‘outside the realm of political competition’.

Alya grimaced, It sounds like an object lesson in propaganda - The way that Putin chose Shadkhan to make the film to show the world that he had served as an officer in the feared and hated KGB.

Irina continued, He knew what he was doing.  Admitting links to the KGB could compromise his boss, who'd risen by condemning the old regime and the abuses perpetrated by the KGB.

She added, "And Putin's first moves were smooth. He reeled off a string of figures on the tonnes of grain in humanitarian aid being shipped in from Germany, England and France. 'There is no need for worry,' he said.

It sounds like he was already up-and-running right from when he was first put in charge, said Alya.

Irina nodded, We can all learn from how Putin operated. In Dresden they described him as unremarkable. Revisionism presents Dresden as a sleepy backwater where Putin could operate, building up his supporters yet with links to the German underworld. He was laying the foundations for what was to happen on my watch, the waves from which are still lashing the shores of Europe and America right into the 2020s.

Bellevue Hotel, Dresden

Irina continued, But I've some first-hand experience of seeing Putin in Dresden. One time we had a secret mission. Putin wanted to go back to Dresden, to meet with some old cronies. I didn't think I'd be invited along, but when they realised I spoke German, they asked me to accompany them. They told me I was not to let on that I spoke German, but to listen out for anything untoward.

"We flew to Dresden and stayed in a hotel close to the river. Apparently, it had been owned by the Stasi and was once the only hotel open to tourists in Dresden. Its smart restaurants, cosy bars and elegant bedrooms were fitted out with hidden cameras and bugs. Visiting businessmen were honey-trapped with prostitutes, filmed in their rooms and then blackmailed into working for the East.

Some techniques hardly change, observed Alya, I was recently in a western situation where the honey trap was being used.

Yes, it is shameful that this goes on, but quite often it is the fastest way to compromise someone.

Then, one day we took off to a small, dark bar in the Altstadt. I realised that this was the real reason that Putin was back in Dresden. Apparently, it was the bar was where he used to meet his agents. On this occasion he was meeting someone who knew him from the old days. It was a man - about the same age - someone he clearly trusted, and I had the feeling that they had been through a lot together.

"Their conversation was about securing a few loose ends. They talked about how they had cleared out the records from the KGB headquarters and burned most of the files. Apparently, the furnace was stoked so high that it burst open from the heat. But they also talked about some links they had made with the US military. They used Dresden as a recruiting point for both Munich and Baden-Württemberg, where the US Army operated in a couple of huge barracks. Putin was gathering information about NATO, which could part of KGB intelligence.

They also talked about how the Russians had been 'running on empty' for much of this time until they could develop some new money-making schemes. Putin seemed to check whether the other guy was still on-side - he was, and they talked about a few other people who were involved at the same time. I had the strong feeling that Putin was sounding out 'getting the band back together'.

That's where Eckhart comes in. He was originally East German, but is now an FSB agent, like you. They transferred Eckhart to Saint Petersburg when Putin moved here. He knows some more of the background from the Dresden days, but he isn't someone that Putin would know or recognise. In fact, he slips neatly under the radar, but don't underestimate him, you'll meet him tomorrow.

So, you and Eckhart? Are you... close? Alya looked into Irina's eyes.

No, not like that, we are professionals. But we have one another's backs.

Deep Cover

Irina continued, Another aspect of the Dresden operation was that it provided so much cover.  Putin was stationed there away from the prying eyes of Berlin.  Once again, he could learn the moves that he would need when in Saint Petersburg and even in Moscow.

Is that when he first became involved with the Red Army Faction? asked Alya.

That's right, said Irina, He  knew the far-left Red Army Faction could create terror across the West.  He understood the power of asymmetric warfare and could see how it could tilt world affairs.  I guess it is different now, using more cyber means and fewer bombs to get the results he wants.

But did Putin know about the West German bombs planted by Libya? asked Alya.

I never heard about that directly, answered Irina, "but I heard that one Stasi counter-intelligence officer was horrified at the terror starting to reach West Germany. He tried to disrupt the bombing plots of a group of Libyans that had become active in West Berlin, but was told to back off by Stasi chief Erich Mielke.

Mielke said we should concern ourselves with catching American spies and not bother our Libyan friends.  Later a bomb went off at a discothèque popular with American soldiers in West Berlin. It  killed three US servicemen and one civilian, and injured hundreds more.

Yes, we were always told back at Academy that America was the arch-enemy, said Alya, I can see how this could have happened.

... And for that matter, I assume that the KGB knew in advance about the bomb? asked Alya.

Yes, answered Irina, The KGB were aware of the bombers and how they had smuggled their weapons into Berlin. There was a sentiment that in today’s world, when nuclear arms have made military force obsolete, terrorism should become the KGB's main weapon.

There was another bombing, continued Irina, This one was talked about in meetings I attended.

" The Red Army Faction tried to disrupt West Germany in a series of vicious bomb attacks, their activities became a key part of KGB attempts to disrupt and destabilise the West. As the end loomed for Soviet power and the German Democratic Republic, it’s possible that they became a weapon to protect the interests of the KGB.

"One possible such attack came just weeks after the Berlin Wall’s fall.  Alfred Herrhausen, chairman of Deutsche Bank, was setting off from his home in Bad Homburg, Frankfurt, for his daily drive to work.  The first car in his three-car convoy was already heading down the road that was his usual route. But as Herrhausen’s car sped to follow, a grenade containing 150 pounds of explosives tore through his armoured limousine, killing him instantly. The detonator that set off the grenade had been triggered when the limousine drove through a ray of infrared light beamed across the road.

State sponsored? asked Alya.

Presumed State cultivated, answered Irina, "Stasi officers were at the Red Army Faction