by David Archer
Seven of the soldiers were outside, and each of them died without even having a chance to raise an alarm. It had taken almost six minutes, but now his men were crouched against the outer walls of the house. Slowly, they began moving toward the doors, weapons held carefully in front of them, ready to fire at the slightest sign of a hostile guard.
* * * * *
Noah decided it was time. According to the only clock he saw in the house, it was approaching nine o’clock in the evening, and the house was relatively quiet. He stepped out of his room and bounced down the stairs.
One of the guards was standing beside the front door, just past the entrance to the library. The man looked past Noah up the stairs, and he glanced behind himself to see Marco, Jenny and Randy following him down. He looked back at the guard and smiled, then stepped into the library.
The other three joined him a moment later, and then he heard more footsteps on the stairs. He raised his voice so that the guard would be able to hear him. “Okay, I looked everywhere for a deck of cards and couldn’t find any. I figured what we could do, since we don’t have any other games, we can build houses out of books. Whoever builds the biggest house wins, right?”
Jim, Dave, and Tony stepped into the room and Noah went over the idea again. Each of them was enthusiastic in their agreement and they all started pulling books down off the shelves. For a couple of minutes, they looked like a bunch of kids playing in the sand at the beach, but they were just a bit more intense in their efforts.
“Hey, can I use these?” Randy asked. He was holding up a pair of heavy metal bookends, L-shaped sections of iron with the famous Russian hammer and sickle embossed into them. “They could be great for support.”
Noah grinned at him. “Hey, yeah,” he said. “Are there any more? We could all use them.”
“I don’t know, you just got to look around.” Everybody went back to the bookshelves and four more of the bookends were found. They were exactly like the others, and Noah figured they weighed a good three pounds each. Wielded with force, their corners could become extremely deadly weapons.
Colonel Leschinsky stepped into the library. “What is this?” he asked with a grin. “Some form of American entertainment?”
Noah smiled. “Yeah, you want to play? We are each going to build the biggest house we can out of books. Don’t worry, we’ll put them all back when we’re done.”
“Intriguing,” Leschinsky said. “I can’t help but note that you are using the largest and heaviest books. You are not by any chance thinking of trying to overpower the guards, are you?”
“Oh, I can’t honestly say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind,” Noah said, “but then I remembered that they have guns and I don’t. Doesn’t exactly seem like an even match.”
“No, I can see how it would not. Please, gentlemen and lady, do not be foolish. This incarceration, I believe, is only temporary.” He looked around the room at each of them. “May I speak frankly?”
Noah shrugged. “Go for it.”
Leschinsky tilted his head back and drew in a deep breath, then looked directly at Noah. “There are those in Russia who believe that a return to the old ways is in our best interest. I am one of those, but I am one of very many. Should it happen that you are in fact agents of Russia who are working toward that goal, I can assure you that you will find in me an ally.”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “Your president is behind this?”
Leschinsky shrugged, his grin only slightly subdued. “He is not,” he said. “We feel that it is time for a new regime, and this will help us to achieve that goal. All I need to do is ensure that you are loyal Russian agents and the prime minister is ready to act.”
Noah snorted. “Geez, and I thought American politics were screwy. Your prime minister wants to bring back the Soviet Union?”
“Many of us feel that this is necessary. The prime minister sees the president as a fool, as do many of our people. A return to Soviet socialism may cause Russia to suffer the ire of the rest of the world for a short time, but it will eventually mean that Russia will be the greatest world power of them all.” He looked around at all of them once more. “And you have the opportunity to become heroes, to become part of the greatest nation that ever existed.”
Jenny sneered at him. “Look, jackass, how many times do we have to tell you, we’re not Russians, and we're not agents of anybody?”
Leschinsky grinned at her and tilted his head to the right as he looked her in the eye. “But, you could be. From this place, I've been ordered to produce proof that the people we arrested and brought here are in fact heroes of Mother Russia. At some point in the next few weeks, it will be necessary for me to introduce those heroes to the world. They will be met with honor and admiration, and will be rewarded with wealth and power. You can become those heroes, no matter who you might have been before.”
It took a moment before anyone could speak, and then Noah, Jenny and Marco all tried to talk at once. The men glanced at one another and decided to let Jenny go first.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “You’re saying that if we, I don’t know, confess to being these Russian sleepers, then we can become heroes in this country?”
“Absolutely. You will have luxurious homes, freedom to come and go throughout Russia, you will be heroes of the new Soviet Union that will rise. Now, I ask you, would this not be preferable to being quietly executed and buried in an unmarked grave?”
It was at that moment that there was a knock on the front door of the house, but it was soft. Leschinsky seemed not to notice, but Noah’s ears picked it up. He was in the act of placing two large books side-by-side and listened as the guard on the door turned and opened it.
The guard had undoubtedly expected to see one of his compatriots standing there, and so he was not prepared when the slim bayonet suddenly went up under his chin and pierced its way into his brain. He made not a sound as Yury and one of his men caught him, lifted him and carried him off the front porch, but Noah caught the sudden silence. He jerked his head up and looked toward the door, a move that was guaranteed to catch Leschinsky’s attention, and it succeeded.
Leschinsky instinctively turned his eyes toward the door, and Noah took two steps in that brief second and brought a pair of the iron bookends together as hard as he could on the sides of the Colonel’s head. Leschinsky dropped straight to the floor, dead even before his knees gave out, and Noah tossed one of the bookends to Marco as he knelt beside the fallen colonel.
A quick search of the man’s body turned up a Grach MP-443 pistol, and Noah snatched it up and tossed the other bookend to Tony VanHorn as Yury and his men came streaming through the front door. The whole thing was over in a matter of seconds, as the silenced SR-3M submachine guns spat out their quiet death.
The mercenaries searched the house quickly, and there was one last commotion when one of them opened the closet and found Boris Petroski sitting cross-legged on the floor. “No, no,” he called out, “I am not one of them. I was told to tell these prisoners to be ready for you, and I did so.”
Dragged out of the closet, Boris was hustled down to the library where Noah and the rest were still gathered. Yury pointed at him and looked at Noah. “This one?”
“He was the one who let us know you were coming,” Noah said. “I think he’s on our side.”
“Oh, yes,” Boris said. “I work with—with someone who seeks your safety. May I call him?”
“Let me guess,” Noah said. “This person talks to you through something that makes the voice sound mechanical?”
Boris looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Go ahead, then,” Noah said, “but put it on speakerphone. I want to be able to hear it.”
Boris looked at the pistol in Noah’s hand, then nodded vigorously as he took out his phone. It took him a moment to put the battery back inside, and then he powered it on and dialed a number. As Noah had said, he put it on speaker.
“Boris,” came the familiar distor
ted voice. Noah reached out and took the phone.
“He’s here, but this is the man who visited at your home. Our location has just been cleared, and I wanted to check in to see if there are any new developments.”
Noah heard other voices in the background, but the distortion made it difficult to tell who they were for sure.
“We are discussing the matter of immigration,” Monica said. “How many will be in your party?”
“There are seven of us here, plus two with you, for a total of nine. We picked up another guest during our little vacation.”
“Have your transportation take you directly to the rental desk at the usual location. I will have accommodations ready when you arrive, and the rest of your party will be with me.”
“I need to delay that,” Noah said. “We’ve come across some information that needs to be reported back to our headquarters. I think it’s quite possible we may not be finished with our visit, yet.”
Monica hesitated for a couple of seconds. “So be it. Your technical man will send coordinates to the head of your transportation team. They will bring you to us, and we’ll discuss these matters privately. Let me speak with Boris, please.”
Noah handed the phone to Boris, who stared at it nervously. “This is Boris.”
“Under the circumstances, I wonder whether it is safe for you to return to your employment. Would you like me to extract you?”
Boris looked at the armed men surrounding him and swallowed nervously. “It appears to me that the person who brought us here was acting against the interests of my employers. I believe that I will be in a unique position to bring that fact to light, and that this may strengthen my future.”
“Very well,” Monica said. “You will remain there. Give my friends one hour and then call for help. Be certain to make it clear that you were a victim and managed to survive only by hiding. The prisoners were extracted from your location by Russian soldiers from a rival faction and you believe they hope to use them in propaganda against your employer. Do you understand?”
“I understand perfectly,” Boris said. “As always, I shall do as you say.”
The line went dead. Boris turned off the phone and put it into his pocket, then looked at Noah. “I will do as he has said,” he said. “I will raise no alarm for one hour. Will that be sufficient time?”
Noah looked at Yury, who nodded. “It’ll be fine,” he said.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A large truck drove up to the house and Noah and the rest were led into it. The back of the truck was fitted with seats similar to a bus, and there was plenty of room for all of them as well as the mercenaries. Yury smiled as he closed the doors; the operation had come off without a hitch and he had not lost a single man.
The truck began moving and Noah leaned back in his seat to relax. Everything that had happened was running through his mind, and he was mentally preparing for the report he would make to Allison.
In Noah’s opinion, Jenny’s mission should have come off without a problem. The plan was perfect and well executed, but somehow the FSB had gotten onto them. While it was possible that they genuinely stumbled across them because of finding the two security men, Noah had the distinct feeling that there was more to the story.
Those security men would not have been on the boat with the Kalashnikovs, so it was unlikely they would be considered missing so soon. Since their charges would have been out on the ocean for the day, they would have almost certainly been free to do whatever they wanted. Even after the explosion took place, their absence shouldn’t have been noticed until late in the day, even the following day. Somehow, the FSB had been notified that they were eliminated.
Logically, the only explanation was that the watchers were being watched. Someone realized that they had not left their rooms and made a phone call, but who would have been paying attention to them? The only answer Noah could come up with was that they were somehow involved in the faction that was behind the move to bring back the Cold War, but that would mean that Jenny and the men were only targeted because they were Americans.
Jenny had told Noah about the witness who claimed to have seen her leaving Khrushchev’s room, but she was adamant that no one had seen her. “No other door on that floor was opened,” she said. “Not even a crack, seriously. Nobody could have seen me leaving that room, and yet somehow they knew I left there in a man’s shirt with my dress rolled up under my arm.”
Noah believed her. They were trained to notice even tiny details that could compromise them, and he was certain she would have known if any door within view had been open at all.
Looking at the problem from a different angle, Noah considered the possibility that she was seen elsewhere in the shirt, with the dress under her arm, and that the investigators had simply concluded that she had left Khrushchev’s room that way. Had Dimitrovitch actually said she was seen leaving the room? Or had he only said that someone saw her wearing the shirt? Noah had not been present for that interview, but he would be willing to bet on the latter.
Now, he could add in the information that the Prime Minister of Russia was actively working against the president in order to eliminate the freedoms and democracy they had achieved since the fall of the Soviet Union. A return to the old Soviet policies and empirical practices would undoubtedly mean problems for Russia with the rest of the world, but Leschinsky might have been right. It was quite possible that when the dust settled, the new Soviet State would be far more powerful than Russia alone had ever been.
Colonel Leschinsky had been a high-ranking member of the SVR, and that would mean that there were probably others in the organization who also supported this radical faction. If the SVR was involved, then there were undoubtedly many members of the military who would support the idea, as well.
Noah considered the implications for the rest of the world if the USSR were to be reborn. There were so many current moves toward globalization, but the friction that such a move would cause would most likely set those plans back by decades. The new union would be too great a threat, simply on the basis of the fact that any of the former member states who returned or were subjugated would simply mean a massive influx of new soldiers for the Russian military. It wouldn’t be long before Russia would be capable of mounting an army that could counter any attempt by the UN or other nations to keep them from attempting world domination.
The Cold War would almost certainly be resumed just about where it left off. The new union would be hard at work rebuilding its own nuclear arsenal, just to make sure that other world powers like the United States and the U.K. were not stronger. China, Japan and almost every other country would be cautious, because they would not want to risk the possibility of war with such a massive military machine.
No matter how he looked at it, this was an extreme danger to the peace and security of the United States and probably the rest of the world. For that reason, Noah felt that he should get this information back to Allison so that she could pass it on to the CIA, Homeland Security, the NSA, and whoever else might need to weigh in on it.
The next question was what could be done about the problem. Political organizations were like the fabled hydra, and cutting off the head usually only resulted in several more springing up. Countering this threat would take more than simply eliminating its figureheads. Noah needed to turn this over to the think tanks and geniuses whose job it was to make such decisions.
Which meant he could stop thinking about it. He let himself relax and was asleep a couple of minutes later, comfortably enjoying the rocking of the truck as it rolled up and down the road.
He woke instantly when the truck came to a stop and followed the rest out the back door quietly. He guessed that it was probably approaching ten thirty, which was late enough for it to be quite dark on a nearly moonless night like this one. He saw that they were in the yard of a house, and he saw Sarah and Neil coming out the door as he approached it.
Sarah saw Noah and ran into his arms, throwing her arms around his
neck and covering his cheek with kisses. Neil and Jenny were in a similar position a few feet to the right.
“Oh, Noah,” Sarah said. “Oh, God, I was so scared. I don’t know what I would’ve done if…”
“I’m back,” he said. “Everything worked out, and that’s all that’s important. Come on, let’s get inside. I’ve got to get a report off as quickly as possible.”
She let go of his neck and put an arm around his back as they walked together to the house. “Okay, what’s going on? Monica wants to get us all out of the country as quickly as possible, and I can’t say I think that’s a bad idea.”
“I’m afraid that’s going to be up to someone above our pay grade. I stumbled across some information that I’m not sure anyone else has, and it could be about the most important bit of intel yet. I need to go over it with all of you and then we’ll make our report together.”
The truck started up and drove away and the newly released prisoners piled into the house. Jim Marino was at the tail of the line and closed the door as he entered. Noah saw Monica standing in the kitchen doorway and nodded to her, then spotted Catherine Potts. He gave her a nod as well, then turned to the assembled crowd in the living room.
“Okay,” he said. “Neil, I need you and Jenny to join us in the kitchen. The rest of you, find somewhere to sit and take a load off. We’ve got to make a report back home, and then we may have to wait a while before we’re ready to leave. Tony, come here. Tony, this is my wife, Sarah. Sarah, this is Tony VanHorn. He’s CIA, he got caught up in this because he was picked to carry weapons to Jenny and her team. The FSB in Vladivostok was able to identify him, so he’s coming in from the cold.”
Noah didn’t bother to introduce him to Monica and Catherine, but told him to make himself comfortable. He took Sarah, Neil and Jenny into the kitchen and joined Monica and Catherine at the table.