Shulov smiled.
‘Let me make it clear that there is far too much of a logjam in the courts at present. Appoint a dozen or so new judges. Be sure they are all long-standing Party members. Begin by explaining to them that I have only two policies when it comes to law and order: shorter trials and longer sentences. And I am keen to make an example of someone newsworthy in the first few days of my presidency, to leave no doubt about the fate of those who cross me.’
‘Did you have anyone in mind, Mr President?’
‘Yes,’ replied Zerimski. ‘You will remember …’ There was a quiet knock on the door. Everyone turned to see who dared to interrupt the new President’s first cabinet meeting. Dmitri Titov entered noiselessly, gambling that Zerimski would have been even more annoyed not to be interrupted. The President drummed his fingers on the table as Titov walked the length of the room, then bent down and whispered in his ear.
Zerimski immediately burst out laughing. The rest of them wanted to join in, but were unwilling to until they had heard the joke. He looked up at his colleagues. ‘The President of the United States is on the line. It seems that he wishes to congratulate me.’ Now they all felt able to join in the laughter.
‘My next decision as your leader is whether I should put him on hold - for another three years …’ They all laughed even louder, except for Titov, ‘… or whether I should take the call.’
No one offered an opinion.
‘Shall we find out what the man wants?’ asked Zerimski. They all nodded. Titov picked up the phone by his side and handed it to his boss.
‘Mr President,’ said Zerimski.
‘No, sir,’ came back the immediate reply. ‘My name is Andy Lloyd. I am the White House Chief of Staff. May I put you through to President Lawrence?’
‘No, you may not,’ said Zerimski angrily. ‘Tell your President next time he calls to be on the end of the line himself, because I don’t deal with messenger boys.’ He slammed the phone down, and they
all laughed again.
‘Now, what was I saying?’
Shulov volunteered. ‘You were about to tell us, Mr President, who should be made an example of in order to demonstrate the new discipline of the Justice Department.’
‘Ah, yes,’ said Zerimski, the smile returning to his lips just as the phone rang again.
Zerimski pointed at his Chief of Staff, who picked up the receiver.
‘Would it be possible,’ a voice enquired, ‘to speak to President Zerimski?’
‘Who’s calling him?’ asked Titov.
‘Tom Lawrence.’
Titov handed the receiver to his boss. ‘The President of the United States,’ was all he said. Zerimski nodded and took the phone.
‘Is that you, Victor?’
‘This is President Zerimski. Who am I addressing?’
‘Tom Lawrence,’ said the President, raising an eyebrow to the Secretary of State and the White House Chief of Staff, who were listening in on their extensions.
‘Good morning. What can I do for you?’
‘I was just calling to add my congratulations to all the others you must be receiving after your impressive’ - Lawrence had wanted say ‘unexpected’, but the State Department had counselled against it - ‘victory. A very close-run thing. But everyone in politics experiences that problem from time to time.’
‘It’s not a problem I will experience again,’ said Zerimski. Lawrence laughed, assuming this was meant to be funny. He wouldn’t have done so if he could have seen the stony-faced looks of those seated around the cabinet table in the Kremlin.
Lloyd whispered, ‘Keep going.’
‘The first thing I’d like to do is get to know you a little better, Victor.’
‘Then you will have to start by understanding that only my mother calls me by my first name.’
Lawrence looked down at the notes spread across his desk. His eye settled on Zerimski’s full name, Victor Leonidovich. He underlined ‘Leonidovich’, but Larry Harrington shook his head.