were all committed to it and by dusk, they had drawn up a “heads of agreement”, a charter for the lower level officers to use in deciding which unit is placed where and under whose authority. The generals, after several toasts of vodka to the success of their upcoming exercise, retired for the night, satisfied that they had each contributed to another monumental step forward in East-West relations. The beauty of the plan was that no matter what, none of them would come away the “loser” from the exercise and all would gain from having participated. Sleep came easy to the Generals that night.
18:03 30 October [15:03 30 October GMT]
Domodedovo Airport, Moscow, Russia .
Sam and Charlie arrived early at the airport to wait for their wives’ flight to land. They both knew the hire limousine would be bugged. They had discussed when and where they would be able to talk candidly on the flight over. They had agreed that the FSB, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, would not miss the opportunity to eavesdrop on two senior foreign military officers. No matter the official stand on “peace and cooperation”. They knew this because their own security services would do the same given the opportunity. Even though they had hired the limousine from a reputable company, they still expected it to come with the addition of tiny microphones.
Lady Elizabeth Beaconsfield had only met Mary Morgan-Colt once before. It was at an embassy function some three years previously. She couldn't honestly remember which embassy. However, she did remember Mary. Not for the cosmetic surgery she had had done . A man probably wouldn't notice but a woman does. No lines around her eyes. Her lips too full. A nip here and a tuck there. Expensive work and not too much of it. Elizabeth could imagine Mary discussing it with her surgeon. “I could take ten years off and no one would know”. That was the secret, thought Elizabeth. A woman in her fifties can look like she is in her forties and look good. A woman who shoots for her twenties inevitably misses. Usually badly.
Elizabeth took out her compact. Ostensibly, to check her makeup, she actually wanted to remind herself that she still looked good. I could pass for forties , she thought. She knew that she was blessed with very good genes. She had always exercised, sensibly but regularly. She kept a good diet except for a period of vegetarianism in her teens when her horse died and her father had made a bad joke about horse burgers. There was also the rebellious phase when she first had her own place. The vegetarianism long gone she lived on takeaway food for over a year. Yes , she thought, definitely forties .
Elizabeth turned her thoughts back to Mary and the almost endless conversation they had had on the flight over. She had accepted her husband's request to join her as a matter of duty. She knew that the other General's wives would be joining them, expected to occupy themselves most of the time except for when they were to be officially “wheeled out” for ceremonies. Meeting Mary at Heathrow and sharing the flight over was, without doubt, the best thing that has happened to me in a long while, she thought.
Their discussion had started with the most obvious. Their husbands and how they are married to their careers. Next came talk of families with an exchange of photos. Mary proudly showing her two children to Elizabeth. There was no need for explanations or questions, Mary's son, and daughter were both obviously oriental and therefore adopted. Sally 'Cho Hee' Colt 16 and her brother Samuel 'Chin Ho' Colt were, Mary said, Korean by birth but ours by God's grace. Mary had said and meant that in the most precious motherly way. Elizabeth could see the memory of a barren womb reflected in Mary's eyes. Sally and Samuel looked lovely. She had shared her
18:03 30 October [15:03 30 October GMT]
Domodedovo Airport, Moscow, Russia .
Sam and Charlie arrived early at the airport to wait for their wives’ flight to land. They both knew the hire limousine would be bugged. They had discussed when and where they would be able to talk candidly on the flight over. They had agreed that the FSB, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, would not miss the opportunity to eavesdrop on two senior foreign military officers. No matter the official stand on “peace and cooperation”. They knew this because their own security services would do the same given the opportunity. Even though they had hired the limousine from a reputable company, they still expected it to come with the addition of tiny microphones.
Lady Elizabeth Beaconsfield had only met Mary Morgan-Colt once before. It was at an embassy function some three years previously. She couldn't honestly remember which embassy. However, she did remember Mary. Not for the cosmetic surgery she had had done . A man probably wouldn't notice but a woman does. No lines around her eyes. Her lips too full. A nip here and a tuck there. Expensive work and not too much of it. Elizabeth could imagine Mary discussing it with her surgeon. “I could take ten years off and no one would know”. That was the secret, thought Elizabeth. A woman in her fifties can look like she is in her forties and look good. A woman who shoots for her twenties inevitably misses. Usually badly.
Elizabeth took out her compact. Ostensibly, to check her makeup, she actually wanted to remind herself that she still looked good. I could pass for forties , she thought. She knew that she was blessed with very good genes. She had always exercised, sensibly but regularly. She kept a good diet except for a period of vegetarianism in her teens when her horse died and her father had made a bad joke about horse burgers. There was also the rebellious phase when she first had her own place. The vegetarianism long gone she lived on takeaway food for over a year. Yes , she thought, definitely forties .
Elizabeth turned her thoughts back to Mary and the almost endless conversation they had had on the flight over. She had accepted her husband's request to join her as a matter of duty. She knew that the other General's wives would be joining them, expected to occupy themselves most of the time except for when they were to be officially “wheeled out” for ceremonies. Meeting Mary at Heathrow and sharing the flight over was, without doubt, the best thing that has happened to me in a long while, she thought.
Their discussion had started with the most obvious. Their husbands and how they are married to their careers. Next came talk of families with an exchange of photos. Mary proudly showing her two children to Elizabeth. There was no need for explanations or questions, Mary's son, and daughter were both obviously oriental and therefore adopted. Sally 'Cho Hee' Colt 16 and her brother Samuel 'Chin Ho' Colt were, Mary said, Korean by birth but ours by God's grace. Mary had said and meant that in the most precious motherly way. Elizabeth could see the memory of a barren womb reflected in Mary's eyes. Sally and Samuel looked lovely. She had shared her
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