Perpetual II

Excerpt
 

A BEAR IS REBORN   June 12, 1987

                        He couldn't sleep last night. The young man, not quite thirty, finished 200 each of crunches, dips and pushups kicked his legs up between his arms and sat with elbows on his knees. He reached for a towel and put it around his neck. His specialty in Germany was monitoring the movement of foreigners, particularly agents, politicians and persons of interest from the U.S. and the U.K.

                        He'd been stationed in Dresden, East Germany for two years. What bothered his sleep was that last night he'd read a transcript of a speech, one of hundreds he'd read this year alone, and could not get out of his head that the beginning of the end had already begun.

                        He looked at the time on one wall and went to the corner of his private gym, a ten by ten windowless basement room below his office of the same dimensions but with one window. He turned on the television which had a satellite link to America's NBC News but there was little about President Reagan's speech later today from the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall. He needed to leave Dresden by 9AM to make the 239km drive toward Berlin and then west a few miles to the Gate. He'd called his handler -- one of the most respected Cold War undercover KGB agents on both sides of the refrigerator. Ivan trusted his judgment but said to keep a low profile, that Chairman Gorbachev wanted a hands off approach on anything to do with President Reagan. That's the problem, the agent thought. That's the problem.

                        In the shower as the luke warm water cascaded over his taunt body he thought about how his country's influence would be hampered by today's theater, appropriately performed by a former Hollywood actor. The script had already been written and he was shocked that his own General Secretary of the Communist Party would lay down like a submissive feline rather than rear up like the great bear of our forefathers. It was a mistake to become friends with this president. His mentor and KGB handler, Ivan Mikhailovich also had an affinity for Reagan. It was a mistake, an anesthetic.

                        If his source in the White House was right, the cowboy actor was going to embarrass the General Secretary and all of Russia. Apparently Reagan's own Chief of Staff, Howard Baker, and National Security Advisor, Colin Powell was against the harshness of the language. He leaned both arms against the tile and put his head between his arms. If there were anything he could do, he'd do it. But he'd bide his time and one day, he and like minded true Soviets would have another opportunity. "I swear it." He said, pounding both fists against the wall, plaster and tile falling to the black cement. Pain surged through his arms. He turned off the water, toweled, dressed and stepped out into the warm sun. He joined his comrades at their black BMW sedan, one other KGB agent, Serg Kanarreff and two Stasi East German secret police who were feared maybe even more than the KGB.

                        The KGB agent, feeling like his favorite dog who his father castrated because of all the new pups in Leningrad, while Kanarreff drove, sat in the passenger seat and watched a Mercedes through his mirror. It had been on their tail since passing from East Berlin to West Berlin at the border check station.

                        An hour later the five men in the BMW arrived at the ancient Brandenburg Gate west of Berlin to see the pomp and circumstance one might expect at a kings inauguration. Now two Mercedes were on their tail.

                        "Do you believe this Vladimir?" Kanareff asked. "I hope there will be jobs for your German comrades at the Kremlin when this is all over."

                        Vladimir Putin felt ill. He felt the same pain in his gut when the U.S. under Reagan began a defense buildup with short-range nuclear missiles. "Conceal your weapons, again." He ordered. "We are going to be stopped." Their vehicle had compartments under the floor-mats. All five men stored their service weapons. One black Mercedes pulled in front of them, and the other behind. Vladimir was sure they were Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the West German secret service. Two plain clothed agents and four Berlin Police officers surrounded their car. The BND man at the driver's window asked them for their papers. After review the other BND agent leaned on the window inches from Vladimir's face and said, "Maybe we should shoot you all now and save the American president the trouble?" He looked in the backseat at the three Stasi men and said, "I would kill the KGB agents very quickly, but you three, you would beg for me to finish you." Nobody in the car spoke. Just stared straight ahead.

                        The agent at the window said, "There is a roped off square on the promenade, farthest from the Brandenburg Gate - for the communist visitors. You will have to go through metal detectors of course. I'm sure you were not foolish enough to bring your service weapons?"

                        Kanareff, the KGB agent driving, smiled and said, "Of course not."

                        As this was an impromptu visit by the American President on his way to the G-7 Summit Meeting in Venice, Italy, the security was lame, in Vladimir's estimation. He could have carried a bazooka in here, he thought. He took his seat with his observer comrades in the roped off Promenade "for the communists" and waited for the words that he knew would somehow redirect his life and the future of his entire country. He looked at his watch, it was 2PM. An estimated of 50,000 West German's were in attendance. The movie star spoke:

We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

Here it comes, Vladimir thought. He was not angry. He was resolute.

If you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate.

The President paused for effect.

                        Mr. Gorbachev,

He paused again.

                        Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

The crowd rose and cheered. It roared for an unbearable time. Vladimir just wanted to leave. But he endured the rest of the speech.

As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner, "This wall will fall." Beliefs become reality. Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom."

Since Vladimir had a copy of the speech, he was not surprised at this or the next portion of the speech where Reagan called for the U.S. and Soviets to end the arms race by eliminating the production of all new nuclear weapon projects.

                        When Chancellor Helmut Kohl took the podium, KGB Special agent Vladimir Putin stood with his four comrades and left the promenade. He remained in Dresden for one more year before being called back to Moscow. On November 9, 1989 the wall began to fall. In 1990 Ronald Reagan returned to take a few hammer swings.

                        Chancellor Kohl was quoted years later as saying what a monumental moment it was to stand behind President Reagan when he demanded that Gorbachev tear down the wall. Something he would never forget.

                        Something Vladimir Putin would also never forget. Never.