Chapter Eight
Friday, February 19, 1988
Kabul
Severinov glanced at his watch. It was one o’clock. He opened his battered old leather briefcase and removed a gray electronic box the size of a large reference book, comprising three rectangular modules joined together and with various dials and knobs on the top.
He laid the unit on the table in front of him and checked that the modules were properly connected.
Severinov had acquired the Strizh high-frequency burst radio transmitter and receiver the previous year and had wasted no time in deploying similar units to the small group of agents he had managed to recruit among the mujahideen. They used the radios to keep him informed about planned attacks on Soviet bases and troop units and about the location of weapons, most of which had clea
