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“So?”
“Local bribery is a fact of lifeNo
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“So?”
“Local bribery is a fact of lifeNo one in Leningrad wants a finger pointed at him from a
bureaucrat in MoscowHe’s telling you that it could take several days to learn what automobile the
Jackal’s driving
“That’s crazy!”
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
405
“You said it, MrI’m an upstanding citizen of the Soviet Union, please
remember that
“But what’s it all got to do with Novgorod—that is what he said, isn’t it?”
“NovgorodShto eto znachit?” said Krupkin to the KGB officialIn rapid, clipped Russian, the
peasant commissar gave the pertinent details to his colleague from ParisKrupkin turned his head
on the table and translated in English“Try to follow this, Jason,” he said, his voice intermittently
fading, his breathing becoming increasingly more labored“Apparently there is a walk-around
gallery above the armory’s arenaHe used it and saw you through a window on the road by the
hedges and came back to the weapons room screaming like the maniac he isHe shouted to his
bound hostages that you were his and you were deadAnd there was only one last thing he had to
accomplish
“Novgorod,” interrupted Conklin, whispering, his head rigid, staring at the ceiling
“Precisely,” said Krupkin, his eyes focused on Alex’s profile beside him“He’s going back to
the place of his birth where Ilich Ramirez Sanchez became Carlos the Jackal because he was
disinherited, marked for execution as a madmanHe held his gun against everyone’s throat, quietly
demanding to know the best roads to Novgorod, threatening to kill whoever gave him the wrong
answerNone did, of course, and all who knew told him it was five to six hundred kilometers away,
a full day’s drive
“Drive?” interjected Bourne
“He knows he cannot use any other means of transportationThe railroads, the airports—even
the small airfields—all will be watched, he understands that
“What will he do in Novgorod?” asked Jason quickly
“Dear God in heaven, which, of course, there is neither, who knows? He intends to leave his
mark, a highly destructive memorial to himself, no doubt, in answer to those he believes betrayed
him thirty-odd years ago, as well as the poor souls who fell under his gun this morning in the
Vavilova |