Spies: Chapters 7–9

Some dissidents (as they were known outside of the USSR) were labeled insane and shut away in mental institutions; the KGB summarily executed others.

Some dissidents (as they were known outside of the USSR) were labeled insane and shut away in mental institutions; the KGB summarily executed others.

Writers and intellectuals, such as the world-famous novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose books depicted life in Soviet prison camps or gulags, were lucky by comparison—he merely found himself permanently ejected from his homeland in 1974.

"He anticipated that I would have to tolerate some strong male egos in Moscow who might doubt I could do the job," she remembered. "He suggested I not let the male case officers' bluster fool me....He knew I had suffered, had overcome loss, and had pulled myself back up. I felt stronger as I considered his confidence in me."

"I was prepared to make this drop," she told herself. "My mission was imminent."

At two AM, Marti's ordeal ended as quickly as it had begun. She had been unmasked as a CIA operative, thereby rendering her useless as an undercover agent in the Soviet Union.

"I wonder how many KGB officers lost their jobs," she mused to herself, "when they found no continuous record of what I had done since arriving in Moscow on November 5, 1975."

Two sleeper agents from communist Czechoslovakia had been living for nearly a decade in the United States, posing as defectors and staunch anticommunists.

Two sleeper agents from communist Czechoslovakia had been living for nearly a decade in the United States, posing as defectors and staunch anticommunists.

As a precaution, he recopied the instructions onto a separate paper, using shorthand that only he would recognize.

The president declared détente—the attempt to improve relations between America and Russia—a failure.

Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (nicknamed "Star Wars") envisioned a vast network of space satellites armed with lasers, designed to thwart a Soviet missile launch.

“Once clear of the Embassy," Gordievsky recalled, "we KGB were free to move around as we liked, without restrictions: we were operational officers, expected to initiate our own contacts."

"Because Leila had grown up very much a Soviet girl, heavily indoctrinated by Communist propaganda," he said, "I never dared tell her that I was working for the British for fear that she would denounce me."

"Because Leila had grown up very much a Soviet girl, heavily indoctrinated by Communist propaganda," he said, "I never dared tell her that I was working for the British for fear that she would denounce me."

Gordievsky did not oppose the Soviet system. Rather, he had watched with dismay as his country slid into stagnation in the 1970s.

"I saw the queues, the shortages, the filthiness of public lavatories, the bureaucracy, the corruption, the red tape, the rudeness of officials, the impossibility of obtaining redress when one had a complaint," he remembered.

"I saw the queues, the shortages, the filthiness of public lavatories, the bureaucracy, the corruption, the red tape, the rudeness of officials, the impossibility of obtaining redress when one had a complaint," he remembered.

As one of the only people in the world who had access to high-level intelligence reports from both the KGB and the CIA (through his close relationship with the Agency's London station), Gordievsky watched with trepidation as the Cold War slid toward open hostility.

To the Soviet leadership, put on the defensive by Reagan's belligerent rhetoric and by the suspicious information collected by Operation RYaN, the maneuvers seemed terrifyingly real.

To the Soviet leadership, put on the defensive by Reagan's belligerent rhetoric and by the suspicious information collected by Operation RYaN, the maneuvers seemed terrifyingly real.

Despite his misgivings, he decided to risk the trip.

On his way to the signal site, Gordievsky did what trained spies called "dry cleaning," taking a meandering route over the course of three hours, stopping at stores, checking subtly for a KGB tail, and getting on and off different subway cars.

On his way to the signal site, Gordievsky did what trained spies called "dry cleaning," taking a meandering route over the course of three hours, stopping at stores, checking subtly for a KGB tail, and getting on and off different subway cars.

If Gordievsky was seen buying a train ticket, the KGB would apprehend him immediately.

"Best of all, in the middle of that glorious view was the face of Joan, the architect of my escape plan, the wonderful friend who had been my case officer in England. Seeing her, I knew that my troubles were over. Thanks to the courage and ingenuity of my British friends, I had outwitted the entire might of the KGB. I was out! I was safe! I was free!"

One historian called Chernenko "an enfeebled geriatric so zombie-like as to be beyond assessing intelligence reports, alarming or not."

One historian called Chernenko "an enfeebled geriatric so zombie-like as to be beyond assessing intelligence reports, alarming or not."

For the highly secretive Soviet government, a leadership merry-go-round like this was unprecedented: In the entire history of the USSR, only four men had occupied the leadership post.

America's leaders found the sudden changes bewildering. "How am I supposed to get anyplace with the Russians if they keep dying on me?" President Ronald Reagan quipped.

A cluster of the CIA's top officials waited for Yurchenko on the tarmac.

DEBRIEFING CONTINUES IN WALK-IN ROOM, BUT FOLLOWING SALIENT, POSSIBLY ACTIONABLE TAKE FROM INITIAL DEBRIEF OF YURCHENKO WILL BE OF SPECIAL INTEREST...

An embittered Howard took those secrets, including the identity of Tolkachev, "the Billion Dollar Spy," directly to the KGB.

"My CIA training overrode my wishful thinking," Howard said, "and I also recalled one of James Bond's maxims: 'Once is coincidence. Twice is enemy action.'" By mid-September, he believed there was only one option left.

The two men were having dinner at a French restaurant in Georgetown, a neighborhood just down the hill from the sprawling Soviet embassy complex.