“Kornei Belfegorich, forgive the interruption. The lieutenant general wants to know when you will report to him. What should I tell Gleb Ivanovich?”

“I’ll finish eating and come, Vasya. Don’t rush me.”

Lieutenant Colonel Kornei Belfegorich Rogov is tall and stately, and has always been held in high regard by the Ninth Directorate of the KGB of the USSR—also known as the Cipher Department, or the Department of Applied Sciences, as its visible wing is known to the other directorates. No one loves Russian cuisine more. Honest, moderately cruel, Nordic in character, if you know what I mean.