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Marganin shook his head

"Mix it with the right ingredients," Prevlov muttered, "as the Aover" He took a sip of the tomato juice and made a face "Now then, what do you want?"

"KGB received a coht They had no clues as to its ht on it"

Marganin's face reddened The sash on Prevlov's robe had loosened and he could see that the captain wore nothing beneath it

"Very well" Prevlov sighed "Continue"

"It said, `A Most secret operation under code name Sicilian Project"'

Prevlov stared at him over his Bloody Mary "What sort of drivel is that?" He finished the glass in one gulp and slammed it down on the sink counter "Has our illustrious brother intelligence service, the KGB, become a house of fools?" The voice was the dispassionate, efficient voice of the official Prevlov-cold, and devoid of all inflection except bored irritation "And you, Lieutenant? Why do you bother me with this childish riddle now? Why couldn't this have waited until to when I'm back in the office?'

"II thought perhaps it was ianin stammered

"Naturally" Prevlov smiled coldly "Every time the KGB whistles, people jump But veiled threats don't interest me Facts, my dear Lieutenant, facts are what count What do you feel is so important about this Sicilian Project?"

"It seeht tie in with the Novaya Zemlya files"

Perhaps twenty seconds elapsed before Prevlov Spoke "Possible, just possible Still, we can't be certain of a connection'

"II only thought-"

"Please leave the thinking to htened the sash on his robe "Now, if you have run out of here-brained witch hunts, I would like to filet back to bed"

"But if the A-"

"Yes, but what?" Prevlov asked dryly "What mineral is so precious to them that they must look for it in the earth of an unfriendly country?"