Page 475 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

"Nothing. He's not happy, but he won't intervene. He can't afford to renew the fence either."

"But . . ."

"I was there, at the meeting in the Kremlin. Nemeth asked him straight out, would the Soviets invade as they did in 1956? His answer was nyet."

"Do you believe him?"

"Yes."

This was world-changing news. Rebecca had been working for this all her political life, but she could not believe it was really going to happen: her family, able to travel from East to West Germany! Freedom!

Then Fred said: "There is one possible snag."

"I was afraid of that."

"Gorbachev promised no military intervention, but he did not rule out economic sanctions."

Rebecca thought that was the least of their problems. "Hungary's economy will become west-facing, and it will grow."

"That's what we want. But it will take time. People may face hardship. The Kremlin may hope to push us into an economic collapse before the economy has time to adjust. Then there could be a counterrevolution."

He was right, Rebecca saw. This was a serious danger. "I knew it was too good to be true," she said despondently.

"Don't despair. We have a solution. That's why I'm here."

"What's your plan?"

"We need support from the richest country in Europe. If we can have a big line of credit from German banks, we can resist Soviet pressure. Next week, Nemeth will ask Kohl for a loan. I know you can't authorize such a thing on your own, but I was hoping you could give me a steer. What will Kohl say?"

"I can't imagine he'll say no, if the reward is open borders. Apart from the political gain, think what this could mean to the German economy."

"We may need a lot of money."

"How much?"

"Possibly a billion deutschmarks."

"Don't worry," Rebecca said. "You've got it."

*

The Soviet economy was getting worse and worse, according to the CIA report in front of Congressman George Jakes. Gorbachev's reforms--decentralization, more consumer goods, fewer weapons--were not enough.

There was pressure on the East European satellites to follow the USSR by liberalizing their own economies, but any changes would be minor and gradual, the Agency forecast. If any country rejected Communism outright, then Gorbachev would send in the tanks.

That did not sound right to George, sitting in a meeting of the House intelligence oversight committee. Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were running ahead of the USSR, moving toward free enterprise and democracy, and Gorbachev was doing nothing to hold them back.

But President Bush and Defense Secretary Cheney believed passionately in the Soviet menace, and as always the CIA was under pressure to tell the president what he wanted to hear.

The meeting left George feeling dissatisfied and anxious. He took the dinky Capitol subway train back to the Cannon House Office Building, where he had a suite of three crowded rooms. The lobby had a reception desk, a couch for waiting visitors, and a round table for meetings. To one side was the administration office, crammed with staff desks and bookshelves and filing cabinets. On the opposite side was George's own room, with a desk and a conference table and a picture of Bobby Kennedy.

He was intrigued to see, on his list of afternoon appointments, a clergyman from Anniston, Alabama, the Reverend Clarence Bowyer, who wanted to talk to him about civil rights.

George would never forget Anniston. It was the town where the Freedom Riders had been attacked by a mob and their bus firebombed. It was the only time someone had tried seriously to kill George.

He must have said yes to the man's request for a meeting, though he could not now remember why. He assumed that a preacher from Alabama who wanted to see him would be African American, and he was startled when his assistant ushered in a white man. The Reverend Bowyer was about George's age, dressed in a gray suit with a white shirt and a dark tie, but wearing trainers, perhaps because he had to do a lot of walking in Washington. He had large front teeth and a receding chin, and salt-and-pepper hair that accentuated the resemblance to a red squirrel. There was something vaguely familiar about him. With him was a teenage boy who looked just like him.

"I try to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to soldiers and others working at the Anniston army depot," Bowyer said, introducing himself. "Many of my congregation are African Americans."

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