"How do you know?"
"We know. We have contacts here in the hotel. If the KGB had to put
microphones in the rooms of every tourist in Moscow, they'd have to
increase their number by ten times. In spite of your western ideas to
the contrary, it just isn't done. There are exceptions, of course, but
there has to be some reason for it."
"Perhaps I'm an exception." Hank didn't like this at all. The C.I.A.
men had been of the opinion that the KGB was once again thoroughly
checking on every foreigner.
"If the KGB is already onto you, Henry Kuran, then you might as well
give up. Your mission is already a failure."
"I suppose so. Will you have a chair? Can I offer you a drink? My
roommate has a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka which he brought from the
boat."
There was an amused light in her eyes even as she shook her head.
"Your friend Paco is quite a man--so I understand. But no, I am here
for business." She took one of the armchairs and Hank sank into
another opposite her.
[Illustration]
"The committee has decided to assist you to the point they can."
"Fine." Hank leaned forward.
"Tomorrow your Progressive Tours group is to have a conducted tour of
the Kremlin museum, Ivan the Great's Tower, and the Assumption
Cathedral."
"In the _Kremlin_?"
She was impatient. "The Kremlin is considerably larger than most
Westerners seem to realize. Originally it was the whole city. The
Kremlin walls are more then two kilometers long. In them are a great
deal more than just government offices. Among other things, the
Kremlin has one of the greatest museums and probably the largest in
the world."
"What I meant was, with the space emissaries there, will tours still
be held?"
"They _are_ being held. It would be too conspicuous to stop them even
if there was any reason to." She frowned and shook her head. "Just
because you will be inside the Kremlin walls doesn't mean that you
will be sitting in the lap of the extraterrestrials. They are probably
well guarded in the palace. We don't know to what extent."