‘Marie is coming over to brief us on this gas conference at eight,’ said Briffaut, looking into his early morning coffee. ‘Lars Magnus will be with her.’
De Payns nodded as he scanned the one-page summary report from the previous night’s interview with Henry Krause. It was shortly before 6 a.m., and de Payns—who’d been texted at 5 a.m. by his boss—was getting up to speed on the Krause revelations.
‘Zelenskyy?’ asked de Payns, still amazed. ‘That’s extreme … but Kolomoisky and Zelenskyy are not on the official guest list?’
‘That’s right,’ said Briffaut, examining a biscuit. ‘And before you ask, yes I have considered that the Americans fed Krause the rumour about Zelenskyy being a target, but I think his opinions are his own.’
De Payns looked up from the one-pager. ‘Where is Starkand now?’
‘We have him in a nice hotel room, and we’re monitoring his phone and internet,’ said Briffaut. ‘We don’t think he’s blown. It could be useful to see where the Americans send him next.’
‘He’s cooperative?’
Briffaut winced. ‘A cornered animal can be cooperative. Let’s just say he’s very focused on the threat of espionage charges. And besides, he’s going to this gas conference in Turkey.’
De Payns knew he was about to be told to mind his own business, but he asked anyway. ‘Have you turned him?’
‘Watching and waiting is what I’m doing,’ the boss said. ‘The reason I wanted you here early is to alert you to something.’
‘Yes?’
‘The Tirol Council. It’s a front for our American friends.’
De Payns felt the blood drain from his face. ‘Fuck!’
‘Luckily that wasn’t Shrek’s reaction when Krause revealed it. We’re clear on your level; Romy’s not in danger.’
‘Am I?’
Briffaut shook his head. ‘These think tanks traffic in political and corporate opinion. They build consensus so journalists start to spout opinions as if they’re facts.’
Scenarios roared through de Payns’ mind. ‘Jesus Christ.’
‘Tirol is being monitored,’ said Briffaut, pointing de Payns back to the report from the Krause interview. ‘I’ll let you know more if you need to know.’
De Payns turned his attention back to the document in his hand. ‘You think the Russians will come after Zelenskyy and Kolomoisky?’
Briffaut sipped. ‘If Putin thinks Zelenskyy and his benefactor are tools of the CIA, then he might justify it. It might even be a least-worst outcome for Europe. If Putin can change the regime in Ukraine, perhaps he won’t invade?’
They locked eyes.
‘Let’s see what the brains trust has to say,’ said Briffaut finally, looking at his watch. ‘They’ll be here soon.’
■
Marie Lafont opened the Operation Ellipse meeting in the second-floor SCIF by reminding the team that the President’s office was still not prepared to raise the assassination with the Kremlin or with Kiev. ‘France will not abrogate its neutral stance on Ukraine, or its economic interests in Russian gas, which means there won’t be a political engagement. This will be a job for the DO.’
She looked over her half-glasses at Briffaut, who gave the mildest of shrugs. ‘By the way, how’s your OT?’ she asked. ‘The one who was hit by the motorbike?’
Briffaut smiled. ‘He’s tough. His ego sustained the most damage.’
Lafont asked for details on the vehicles and Briffaut told her the motorbike had proved elusive in the Paris traffic. He showed her the printout on the BMW 5-series: a 75 number, meaning it was registered at a Paris address, which was a fleet-leasing company. The lessee was a nonsense shell company with a serviced-office corporate address and nominees run through the Caymans.
Briffaut said, ‘We’ve been able to look at the handler’s associated phone numbers and their phone activity. Just about all of it is in Paris, in very short bursts, which suggests he’s based in Paris and operating with texts.’
She took off her glasses. ‘What’s the theory?’
Briffaut tapped a finger on the conference table. ‘The Americans steered us to look into Azzam, and that revealed an assassination plan by Wagner and the LNA. It feels like we’re being nudged into something we can’t walk away from.’
‘Which brings us to this,’ murmured Lafont, referring to a file which also sat in front of de Payns, Briffaut and Lars Magnus. ‘The information on Vulcan you have acquired, thanks to the American agent of influence. He alleges that Hammer is Igor Kolomoisky, and Anvil could be Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy.’
She clicked on her remote and a picture of Volodymyr Zelenskyy emerged.
‘Kolomoisky and Zelenskyy no longer really appear together in public, but if it happens it’s expected to be at the Eastern Gas Conference in Istanbul next Friday and Saturday.’
She pointed a remote and the screen came alive as the room’s lights dimmed. A large conference hall appeared on the screen. Lafont paused at an interior shot of an enormous auditorium. ‘This is the main hall, where the opening gala dinner night will be held on the Friday night. The MiT expects Kolomoisky to give the keynote on Saturday night.’
They went through the mechanics of the Company’s cooperation with Turkey’s main intelligence agency—the MiT—with an outreach that would include credible intelligence about a terror threat at the event, but no mention of Zelenskyy, Kolomoisky or Ukraine. The cooperation would not mention Russia or the United States.
‘We’re giving the Americans a wide berth in all of our discussions,’ said Briffaut, looking at Magnus. ‘You think the Americans are running Ukraine?’
Magnus dodged the question. ‘The Americans made Zelenskyy think he can join NATO, and they installed missiles at the Russian border, knowing that those two things alone would poke the bear. This is Putin we’re talking about—not Gandhi.’
‘And if they succeed in killing Kolomoisky and Zelenskyy?’ asked Briffaut.
‘Their first step would be to try to put their own guy in the President’s palace. If they can’t achieve regime change, they’ll try an invasion—which also aids the Americans economically.’
‘How so?’ asked Briffaut.
‘The US has become the world’s largest producer of gas in the past few years, even surpassing Qatar,’ said Magnus. ‘Europe is their target market. They expect European demand for imported LNG will increase a hundred and fifty per cent by 2040.’
Briffaut rolled his eyes. ‘This is all economics?’
Magnus allowed a rare smile. ‘Perhaps all economics is really energy?’