Traitor's Kiss - 2003

Summary
Officially the Cold War is over. Between former enemies, the hand of friendship is exchanged in public. In private, though, the intelligence war goes on.
An English trawler strays into Russian waters. When it returns, the captain has a package to deliver to British intelligence. For the next four years a high-ranking Russian naval officer, Viktor Archenko, passes valuable information to MI6. Suddenly he stops using the dead drop. His contacts in London know nothing about him - but they know he's under suspicion. The time has come to get him out.

But a new breed plays the spy game now, men like Gabriel Locke. They have no interest in irrelevant Cold War sparring, or the risk of a spy scandal. There are deals to be done, alliances to be made. They would rather leave Archenko to fend for himself. He is, after all, a throwback and an embarrassing one at that. Only one veteran agent realizes that there is much more at stake than a man's life. Only he dares ask the question: if the war is over, who will fight the peace?

Extract
Vasiliev said, 'I tell you, Colonel Bikov, there is not another man, not a conscript or and instructor NCO or an officer, who could have hit a moving target at 1200 meters - only me. You have seen me shoot ... shat am I, Colonel Bikov?'

'You are the best, Igor.'

'The barrel was warm. I did not need the help of the tracer because my first shot was perfect. You will not see better shooting, Colonel.'

' When the last of them makes the run, and Archenko - and they must - I will see better shooting. You are supreme.'

'Did you see, Colonel, that I made what we call a "beaten zone"? It has the shape of a cigar, one that an officer would smoke. Inside the beaten zone of a heavy machine-gun, no target can survive. The "beaten zone" is the margin of error, caused by the shift of the tripod's feet, thirty metres long, two metres wide. When I shoot anything in the "beaten zone" is dead.'

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