Read Someone Else's War: A Novel of Russia and America Page 91

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  Georgii Genrikovich Schwartz had never been a big-picture man. He’d learned early on, such concerns led to two kinds of distortion. One kind involved giving his superiors the information he thought they wanted to have, regardless of truth. The other kind involved giving his superiors the information he wanted them to have, regardless of truth. Instead, he’d chosen to keep it honest and play it straight. And that had kept him alive, his service on track, and his conscience clean in that regard.

  This was about to change. Never before had he staged anything for the purpose of reporting it. Never before had he attempted to manipulate those above him. But now he had no choice. Schwartz sat at his desk, a surface now covered with material regarding Doctor Olivia Tolchinskaya. A television on a cart sat before him. He hit the “play” button on his remote. A video of an interrogation came on. He watched and listened for a few minutes, then turned it off.

  Very well. He would do it. For the first time ever, he would deliberately manipulate those above him to achieve a result he desired but they might not. Schwartz buzzed his secretary, had her summon Colonel Raduyev and, a few minutes later, told him his plan. Raduyev protested, as expected. But Schwartz reassured him as he had earlier. “Don’t worry. The interrogation will be well-supervised. And many outcomes are possible.”