The working day was already ending when a long bell broke the silence. I waited some time, hoping that the secretary would pick up the phone, but it seems that she has already taken it to a boutique in the neighborhood where fashionable ankle boots were given.
“Yes,” I picked up the phone.
“Hello, Mikhail Ilyich, my name is Nikolai Petrovich,” the unfamiliar voice paused, “could we see you?”
“On the subject of what,” I jerked my shoulder in displeasure, and it seemed that my discontent was caught on the other end of the wire.
- I'm from the authorities, I will explain in more detail on the spot.
The word "organs" at that time implied something completely different than parts of the human body. Nikolai Petrovich named the address of some apartment, and we made an appointment.
I was recently appointed the chief engineer of the assembly department, which, together with the German company Krupp, built the largest electrometallurgical plant in Europe. And where foreigners work, there are always on guard representatives of the almighty "bodies." I knew this very well.
Nikolai Petrovich turned out to be a very young man of my age, but energetic and serious, like all young people who want to make a career. He politely opened a red book in front of my eyes for a second, and I only had time to read "The State Security Committee" at the very top.
At first we talked about some common matters, mainly, he asked about work and people. But then he smoothly moved on to the point of which he made this appointment:
- Is your department in direct contact with German specialists? He asked a question, of which he certainly knew the answer.
- Yes.
- Someone Celle German Avgustovich works in your department as deputy chief, are you friends with him?
- Yes, we are in a good relationship.
“Do you know that he is German by nationality?”
- Of course, his ancestors came to Russia under Catherine II, and worked hard for the good of the fatherland.
“Do you know that he was imprisoned for ten years?”
“And I know that.” Eka is unseen, but in almost every fifth country in our country has been or will be.
Nikolai Petrovich did not seem to hear my last sentence:
- We have information that Celle is going to hand over to the Germans the materials of the secret laboratory where he worked before his imprisonment.
“I haven’t heard anything from him.”
“Well, he will not tell you anything, but you can catch it yourself from the conversations by analyzing his behavior and answers to your questions.”
I did not like the last sentence at all, but I didn’t like it even more when Nikolai Petrovich suggested signing an obligation to not disclose our meetings and conversations. Seeing my confusion, he said:
“You will just talk to him, and then talk about it.” You understand that our task is to prevent the leakage of classified information.
I had a dilemma: to refuse means to come into conflict with a powerful department that could do anything, and about which terrible stories have been circulating so far; to agree is to get into some kind of not entirely clean business. And yet, I decided to accept the second, because in this case, I could manage the situation myself.
And our meetings began. At first, this game amused me: safe houses, secret negotiations, an analysis of the actions and intentions of my ward, reports on conversations in writing - all this smelled of spy passions, which I read in childhood. I told that German is interested in the German city of Celle, where his ancestors came from two centuries ago, but he is not going to go there, and who will let him out.
But, soon, all this senseless vanity began to bother me. In the Soviet country, unlike the Russian Empire, people with German, French, Dutch, Jewish, and other non-Russian surnames aroused increased interest in the security services, as if the wary KGB eye saw potential spies and wreckers in them.
Apparently, Nikolai Petrovich, finally realized that the results of the work he had done were not expected.
It was then that our last meeting took place with him.
- Michal Ilyich, you understand that efforts have been expended, there are orientations, but we have not found anything significant.
“Well, there is nothing,” I remarked naively.
- But whoever believes in this, they will only believe that we are working badly.
- What, reprimand roll? - I tried to joke.
“If only a reprimand,” Nikolai Petrovich sighed seriously.
And then it dawned on me that he was tearing up, making a career and he needed the results of work. And what can be the results, if there is nothing.
“If there is nothing, then it is necessary to make it so,” the interlocutor caught my thoughts. Now I understand everything. Well, no, you cannot force me to do this even under pain of torture. - Understand, this man is dissatisfied with the authorities, the German has secret developments that are valuable for the country. We cannot leave it like that.
“Well, don’t leave it, or leave it, but I have nothing to do with it.”
“You must make an appropriate report.” Based on it, we will begin investigative actions.
Everything in me reared up, it seemed, even the hair on my body bristled.
- Sorry, Nikolai Petrovich, I will not tell lies to anyone.
The interlocutor pursed his lips in displeasure:
- Mikhail Ilyich, we are adults who hold responsible posts. Your future career depends on your decision, and mine too. You, like mine, have enormous potential, will we really spoil our lives because of this trifle. Think of a family.
These are the last words that I read several times in the archives of interrogations of those arrested in the dungeons of Lubyanka, these words that sounded as if from the age of 37, these words are blackmailing, hinting at something that could happen to my dear people if I don’t accommodating, turned everything inside.
I stood up, showing that the conversation was over:
“I won’t tell anyone, let alone a lie,” I repeated clearly, not calling my interlocutor by name, showing with all my appearance what a gap lay between him and me.
Already wearing a jacket, in the doorway, I heard his belated duty words:
“Well, you think carefully, and call me.”
We did not meet with this KGB officer again.
And my career is over. The delivery of production capacity for the next holiday, as usual, was thwarted, despite the fact that they had already reported for it. The Minister of Installation and Special Construction, who demanded that the perpetrators be punished, helpfully called my name. And now, by his order, he removed me from office. The planned two-year construction mission to Nigeria, which promised a prosperous life, was canceled. Until the collapse of the Soviets, I was not allowed to travel abroad. I was not allowed to go abroad under various pretexts. Thank God, my family was not touched, not those times were already.
But I do not regret what happened, moreover, I am grateful to Nikolai Petrovich for forcing me to show my will and defend my convictions. They say that "everything that does not happen to a person is for the better." I created my own company, which has been successfully operating for many years. Hermann Celle remained at large and helped me organize the company, but I never told him what could happen to him if I stepped on my throat with my own principles.