by Cage, Zion
“Hello, son. From what I heard about you, you never frequent this place. Something really bad must have happened to bring you here.”
Daan gave the man a lopsided grin.
“Well, yes. Something happened. That’s why I’m here. Something always happens that makes people do what they are not supposed to do.” He took another long swig of his beer. By the time he dropped the mug, the man was seated on a stool beside him. Daan wondered why the man was bothering him.
“What do you want, huh? Want to give me a lecture? What even brought you here in the first place?” he was drunk and his words came out as slurs. He didn’t like being drunk. He laughed. “You’re a pot and you want to call a kettle black. Well, good luck with that.”
The man smiled at him. Offering a handshake, he spoke.
“I am Martins Vladmir.”
Warily, Daan took the handshake.
“I’m guessing you know me already.”
“Yes, I do. Daan Barackov. Graduated from the University of Dagestan with a B.Sc in Economics in 1999. We have heard a lot about you. We think your brain is a dynamite just waiting to explode. Your achievements from school are incredible. First to finish with a 4.99 CGPA on a 5-point scale. That’s impressive.”
Daan’s eyes had begun to clear.
“You said ‘we’. Who is ‘we’?”
“Ray of Hope. We are a non-governmental organization aimed at economic improvement. We do it in a variety of ways, though. You heard of the attack on the twin towers, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did.” It had happened while he was at Moscow.
“Well, you must be able to guess the outcome on the economy of the United States.”
“I guess so. The country was already going through recession then. The attack will cause several billions of U.S dollars to be spent on rebuilding the destroyed structures. We’ve not even begun to talk of how much they will need to defend the state from further attacks. The attack will also put their stock market in a tight corner thus instilling fear in the hearts of the investors. They’ll take less risks now. The working class around those areas will also not be able to work for a couple of days.” He shook his head as he listed the possibilities. “What does that have to do with anything?” he asked finally.
The man clapped his hands briefly.
“Wow! Such accurate predictions. Turns out a lot of what you mentioned are happening right now. Did you read the news somewhere?”
Daan rolled his eyes. “Does this look like a place where people casually read the news? Those were just thoughts.”
“Interesting. Have you ever imagined what would happen if Russia is attacked the same way?”
“The same thing, I guess. Terrorism is never a good thing for any state.”
“Exactly. Ray of Hope is an intelligence organization with a priority of maintaining economic order. One of our agents spotted your resume. We were impressed. We are always looking for the best in their fields to work with us. It’ll be an honor to have you working for us.”
Daan wasn’t too sure if it was time to jump for joy yet. He tilted his head and asked;
“In order words, I’m being offered a job?”
“Well, yes.” Martins brought out an A4 sized brown envelope from the briefcase he carried and slid it over the counter to Daan.
Things didn’t quite add up. Daan asked further without picking the envelope.
“But how did you even find me? It’s not like anyone in Moscow knows me or something.”
“The address on your Resume led us to your cousin’s house. Your cousin told us that you had left for your home town in a hurry because of some unfortunate circumstances. By the way, on behalf of Ray of Hope, accept my condolences over your losses. It must hurt to lose both parents in such a short space of time. I came here to find you. I went to the university and was able to get your home address from there. When I got to your house, your wife said you had just left. From the way she looked, I knew something had gone wrong. When I asked an elderly man who sat close to your house about you, he called you a fisherman and said he saw you headed in this direction. I really apologize. Life must be treating you harshly for such an honorary graduate.”
“Well, yes. So what? Don’t come here and feel sorry for me as though you don’t have problems of your own.”
Daan regretted the words the moment they got out of his mouth but he didn’t show it.
The man placed a palm on Daan’s hand.
“I’m not here to feel pity for you. I’m here to offer you the opportunity to change this. Take the envelope. Open it.”
Daan hesitated before taking the envelope.
“Just so you’d know,” he said as he moved to open the envelope. “If there’s a bomb in here and it goes off, you’d die too because you’re sitting close to me. Besides, I don’t see why anyone will want to bomb me.”
“That’s the whole point of suicide bombing, isn’t it? The one who delivers the package must partake in its content,” the man said, smiling.
Daan shot him a bad look and the man’s smile disappeared.
“Bad joke, eh?” he asked. Daan shook his head before opening the package. He pulled out a couple of documents. There were a lot of words which he wasn’t interested in. One caught his attention, though. He looked up at Martins.
“Three thousand U.S dollars a month?”
The man smiled and nodded.
“Family support and allowances?”
The man nodded again.
“Life insurance and education for all my children?”
The man nodded again.
Daan rolled his eyes.
“No. this is too good to be true. The beer must be playing with my mind. I think I need to sleep.” He got up from the stool. “Have a great night, sir.”
Martins held his hand.
“Son, this is real and it is for you. I understand you need to think over it but, at least take it with you so that when you wake up tomorrow you’ll realize it is not a dream.”
Daan put the documents back in the envelope and took the envelope with him as he left the bar.
When he woke up the next morning and read through the documents again. He was unable to contain the joy that filled his heart. He jumped up from the bed and carried up wife up, twirling her around
“Put me down!” she cried. “What’s happening?”
He handed over the particular paper that gave him so much joy. When his wife read it, she began to jump for joy too. Then Nadia noticed a clause that made her frown.
“But, it says you’ll have to move to Moscow without your family. You’ll have a leave of return for only three months every year.”
Daan frowned too. He hadn’t seen that before. He took the paper from her. “Where did you see that?” he asked but he didn’t need a reply. His eyes spotted it too. Tucked in between the numerous words were the requirements for the job. Amongst them was that he’d tell everyone who asked that he was working as a civil servant. It was weird.
“Honey, I’m worried about this new job. How did you get it?”
He told her about Martins.
“At least, he did say the firm was an intelligence organization. That would explain why it would be top secret.”
Nadia thought about it. The job was everything she desired for her family. It was everything she desired from her husband. Somehow, though, she couldn’t shake off the worry that plagued her mind. She sighed, deciding to accept the change. Everyone knew that adapting to major changes was always difficult. That would probably explain the worry.
“Martins’ number is there, right? You’ll call him today?”
“Oh yes, I will. Let’s see if the hospital allowance can even come in today.”
Martins invited him over to a bar the same day and gave him some documents to sign. As the first set, they were full of words. Martins didn’t give Daan much time to read through them or think about anything. When Daan was done, he told Martins about his daughter.
�
�Oh, that’s too simple. I’ll send a thousand Rubles to your account today. Use it to take care of your daughter. Prepare. Tomorrow, you will be leaving to Moscow by flight in a private jet. All your dreams have come true.”
Daan had prepared his things as he had been told.
“Promise you’ll call every now and then,” Nadia had said to him.
“I promise. And promise you’ll take good care of my daughter and siblings.”
Nadia had nodded too before kissing him long and hard on the lips.
The journey to the Moscow had lasted for three hours. When he got there, he was moved to an isolated facility where there were many other Russians. That was the moment he realized that something was wrong. This was not just a simple job recruitment. Something big was brewing.
15TH November, 2021
9:27pm.
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.
“Hey, Connor. Something seems to be wrong. There’s been no reply from the headquarters since this afternoon. There’s even no network on my pad,” Morgan said, bringing Daan out of his reverie.
“What?” Daan asked.
“You dumb oaf. I said that the headquarters have not replied. As it stands we don’t know if our catches are approved or not. The tablets are not functioning properly. What are we going to do?”
“If I think correctly, you’ve only just described yourself. You’re the big dumb oaf.”
Maddock rolled his eyes and Daan chuckled as he pulled out his pad and looked at it. the network bars were down and there were no notifications.
“Anyway, Morgan, I would really regret the death of these children if we take them to the delivery points and they turn out useless. I think we should wait it out. If by tomorrow there’s no response, we’ll just keep harvesting and storing. The EMP must have temporarily affected their servers.”
Maddock bowed his head and sighed. “I don’t understand how they would launch an attack that will affect them too. It’s crazy. I want to get this over with. I want to get home to my family. Each hour I spend with these children kills me with guilt and fear.”
Daan didn’t reply immediately. They were speaking Russian so the children didn’t understand. They had caught a deer and cooked it for the children to eat. They ensured the children over ate so they’d sleep early. The plan had worked for the most part. Only the girl called Grayson remained awake, staring daggers at them.
“Remember when we first met?” Daan asked and Maddock chuckled.
“In the hall of the American/Russian History exam. I didn’t know much but you helped me pass it as you did the language test.”
“Then you helped me pass the self-defense and arms usage tests.”
“We just knew we would be partners together forever.”
“I know, right? The gruesome training we went through to become spies.”
“Remember that guy that tried to run away. The soldiers caught him, cut his head off and fed pieces of his body to the flock of eagles.”
The both of them laughed then they became quiet again. Suddenly, Maddock began to tear up,
“But they didn’t tell me this is what we’ll be doing. They took me from my farm and made me a murderer and liar. My family thinks I’m working in the ministry of agriculture in Moscow. They don’t know I’m thousands of miles away from home as a terrorist.”
Daan walked to Maddock and hugged him, allowing him to cry on his shoulder.
“It’s okay, Morgan. We are almost done. We just have to complete this mission and we’ll be allowed to go home to our families. Be strong.”
Maddock kept sobbing for a couple of seconds more before he managed to get himself together.
“You’re right. Just one more, Daan and we’ll be back home.”
He and Daan placed their heads together, holding the side of each other’s head and closing their eyes.
They had become brothers from different families. They’d probably never see each other again but they’d had the best of times together.
Grayson wasn’t sure what she was seeing. She hadn’t understood everything she saw but somehow she was moved by it. it was the last thing she saw before sleep took her.
Chapter Four
He vowed vengeance…
16th November, 2021
6:37pm.
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.
Xander, Joel and Harper walked on past the conservatory section of Lincoln Park Zoo. There were no more buildings except a florist shop that stood on its own in a corner. Harper had introduced Xander to Joel, the principal of Lincoln Park High School. Together, the three of them had headed out from North Orchard to find Grayson and Prim. The journey hadn’t been an easy one for Xander as he had use crutches since his left leg still hurt. Funny enough, he had insisted on getting his bag from his wrecked car.
They had found Nia at the shelter in DePaul University School of Music, close to the park. Unfortunately, she had lost the girls. No one else had seen them. Joel had suggested that they all returned to the zoo and search there for clues. Nia had been unable to go with them because of her ulcer.
The search had turned out fruitless still. The park had almost been empty save from some guards and zoo attendants who were left to oversee the zoo till it was decided what would be done with the wild life. None of them had seen the people the trio had described.
Xander gave up and sat in the snow.
“This is hopeless! How could those girls just disappear from off the face of the Earth?” he asked in exasperation.
“They couldn’t have disappeared. They are out there somewhere. We just need to know where and we won’t know that if we give up,” Harper said. She spotted an elderly lady sitting in front of the flower shop. The flower shop stood opposite the small woodland that was covered with snow. Harper went to the lady. Joel and Xander watched from afar as Harper conversed with the woman. Suddenly Harper yelled for them to come over.
“See, you would have given up right at the edge of a breakthrough. Tell ‘em what you saw, ma’am,” Harper said with excitement. The lady told them how she had seen two men carrying two unconscious girls with the same descriptions into the woodland a day before.
“I wanted to call the police but there was no signal on my phone. These telecom companies nowadays. As unreliable as my drunk grandpa. Anyways, I couldn’t accost them to ask what they were doing. An old lady like me must mind her business if she wishes to live any longer,” the lady said.
“You mean abduction?” Xander asked, mortified.
“I don’t know. You go find out,” the lady said.
The three of them had headed off to the woods to find the girls. Unfortunately, the people who carried the girls were smart. There were no footprints left in the snow. There was no trail for Xander, Joel and Harper to follow. Joel continued on with Harper and Xander following close behind. They went deeper into the woods and searched till it was dark but they couldn’t still find anything. There was no means to tell time and the place felt spooky. Joel spoke,
“Look, let’s go back. We’ve spent the whole day searching and calling out. Even if they are alive, the people who took them must have carried them far away by now. Let’s just hope that they are still alive. Hopefully, the people with them will be headed for New York too. It’s in our best interest to head back to the health center now so we can leave with the rest.” Soldiers had gone about issuing instructions for everyone to move to New York where a ship would take all of them to safety in Spain. Deadline for migration was the next day.
Xander shook his head.
“No. I’m not leaving without my sister. I’m not going to New York without her. I’d rather die here.”
“But Xander, you heard what the soldier said. A swarm of soldiers will be returning tomorrow. What if they spot you here? Besides, we stand a better chance telling the guards of our findings and having them look for the girls. It’s better that way,” Harper asked.
“I’ll s
kip that chance. I have to find my sister.”
“Xander, be reasonable. You can’t possibly do this on your own. You’re in no physical condition to walk this woodland alone,” Joel said.
“Don’t bother trying to dissuade me, Mr. Joel. You made me come this far. I’m not going back empty.” Tears were running down Xander’s cheeks by then.
Harper sighed.
“I know how you feel. I remember when I lost my husband. I found it hard to believe he was gone. It wasn’t until after many nights of starving myself in a bid to wake up from what I believed was a nightmare that I finally realized that he would never be coming back. So, do what you must. I wish you good luck. I hope we see at New York,” she said.
Xander couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t believe Grayson is gone.
Harper handed a glow stick over to him.
“Use it to find Grayson. I and Joel will find our way.”
“Good luck, Alexander,” Joel said.
Xander nodded and walked away deeper into the woods as Harper and Joel watched him go. Tears trickled down Harper’s cheeks. She couldn’t bear watching Xander give his life for his sister. Joel put an arm around Harper and drew her close to comfort her. Together they turned around and headed out of the woods.
6:50pm
Daan fiddled with the buttons on his jacket. Things were getting out of hand. The headquarters hadn’t replied till then. They were running out of time. Daan had gone out earlier that day to see if he could abduct more children. Unfortunately for him, the people had become more organized and the place was crawling with soldiers so that trying to take anyone would be equivalent to getting caught. He had returned to the hideout that evening. The whole day had been wasted. There was still no service on their pads.
Maddock paced the area, troubled. He suddenly stopped and turned to Daan.
“Look, I think we should jump ship. Something is wrong. I can feel it.”
“What are you talking about?” Daan asked. “The Ray of Hope is the only way we can return to our families. America is broken. If we turn back now we’ll remain stranded here. We have to finish this.”