“Yeah, that whole quantum entanglement thing? That’s not going to happen. I’m going to make sure of that,” Natasha said. “We know what you’re doing. You won’t get away with it.”
Ivan smiled.
“I don’t think you understand. I already have. Look around. We’re all here together. Who do you think I have fighting by my side, even now?”
They’re here. The Entangled. These hooded soldiers.
Ivan has more than a hundred.
More than we know.
They’re his hired guns.
His army.
And they’re no older than my brother.
Natasha sounded as disgusted as she felt. “You’re sick. They’re barely old enough to fight.”
Ivan shrugged. “I seem to remember you knew how to handle a Glock at that age.” He smiled. “I am the father of this army, Natashka. Just as I was to you.”
“You were nobody’s father, Ivan.”
“Of course I was. And my most successful quantum pair, both my girls. My long-lost ptenets and my key to the future. Think of it as our own little family reunion—only one that will change the world.”
“No thanks,” Ava said. “I think I’ll pass.”
The lights flickered on and off across the cavern ceiling.
A power surge.
It’s already happening, Natasha thought.
“Here we go.” Ivan looked up. “We had to hijack most of the city’s power grid. Keep your fingers crossed we don’t end up with another Chernobyl. I told Moscow we weren’t ready that time. But I also didn’t have your help, my Devushki.”
“Our help? We will never help you. Not ever,” Ava said.
Natasha looked over her shoulder at Ava and then Alex. “Just like you kids practiced. You take left. You take right.”
Then she looked back at Ivan. “Sorry. We’re going to have to pass.”
“Life is a series of crushing disappointments,” Ivan said with a shrug.
Natasha shrugged back—and then attacked.
Alex broke left. Ava broke right.
Ava rammed herself into the soldier closest to her—he went down still firing—and rolled out of the way.
Alex grabbed a gun off the soldier next to him and slammed it into his head, dropping him like a rock.
Natasha launched herself at the remaining soldiers between her and the O.P.U.S. platform. She landed boots first—with one in the gut of each of two soldiers. While multiple rounds discharged past her head on either side, she kicked her legs up and free, landing on her feet just in time to kick a boot into the knees of the two thugs at the base of the ladder that led up to the platform.
I’m the distraction. Ava and Alex will be fine. They’ll use me to get clear and get to cover. That’s the play. That’s what we practiced.
She drew as much fire as she could, moving closer and closer to the gleaming steel device encased on the platform.
Now she could see it was wired into a massive network of power cores, just as it had been back in the warehouse, eight years ago. It still had the vague look of some kind of horrible sea monster, a giant octopus with a tentacle in every ship.
Only this O.P.U.S. device was ten times larger than the one in Odessa—and this time it looked like it was connected to ten times more firepower. This blast radius just might take out half the city above.
No pressure, Romanoff.
Now she was so close she could see the timer on the surface of the device. They didn’t have much time.
Ten minutes to shut this party down.
But there was nothing Natasha could do to end it without Ava and the drive.
A round of sniper fire bit the air around her, and Natasha ducked, crouching along the floor.
She rose above the steel surface of the O.P.U.S.
Ivan Somodorov looked back at her. It was only the two of them now. Just as it had been at the very beginning.
Natasha Romanoff and Ivan Somodorov.
She realized the snipers had stopped.
He’s not letting them target me. Why not?
He wants to do the honors himself?
She shrugged.
“I’ve come to kill you, Ivan. It’s time.”
“I know you think that,” he said. “And I have been waiting, my Natashka.”
“I don’t know why it had to be like this,” Natasha said. “But it did.”
“That’s a bit philosophical,” Ivan said. “But I’m afraid it doesn’t matter now. I’m glad you’re here to see it. Soon many pieces will fall into place, and a movement will be born. We will bring about the great rebirth of all that we have lost. The Red Room in all its glory. The empire of the people and the greatest federation the world has ever seen.”
“Let it go, Ivan. You’re starting to sound like kind of a loser. Let’s just get this over with.”
He smiled, which only made him look like some kind of feral animal. “Now? Is it a dumpling moon, tonight?”
“I didn’t care enough to look.”
“Of course you do. You always have. That’s your greatest weakness, and your most terrible secret.”
“Shut up, Ivan.”
“Why do you think you were such a ripe target for the O.P.U.S.? All those lovely little connections, reaching out every which way, desperate to connect with someone, anyone.” He chuckled, pulling out a cigarette.
A Belomorkanal.
Your last, she thought.
He lit it, taking a drag. “You must fit in so well, in America, ptenets.”
“This gooey ball of mush?” she said. “I really do.”
She raised her weapon.
Do it.
She heard the sound of the next squad of snipers at the door, moving into ready positions at the perimeter of the room.
Ivan’s backup plan.
She counted the footsteps.
There were many—more than she would have liked.
He’s been preparing for this. For us.
She listened.
At ten o’clock. At three. At five.
She didn’t even have to look. The math didn’t work.
Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to lower her gun.
Ivan held up his hand.
“No need,” he called over his shoulder. “She won’t do it. She can’t.” He looked back at Natasha. “She never could.”
“You seem pretty confident,” Natasha said. “For a guy sitting at the center of my crosshairs.”
“Of course. I should know.” He pointed at her left arm, smiling his crooked-toothed smile. “I’m the one who clipped your wings.”
She lined up the shot.
“It’s not our moon, my Natashka. We still have much to accomplish together. I knew you’d come back to me. Why else would I have done any of this, if not for you?”
“Because you’re a clinical psychopath, comrade?”
He moved closer. “Because it’s your mission, ptenets. To be here, now. You just can’t remember. You just don’t know it. This lab contains the last remaining functional O.P.U.S. prototype.”
“Or dysfunctional.” Natasha shrugged. “Potato, potahto.”
“You’ve done exactly as you were asked. You proved it could work.” Ivan smiled. “All according to the plan of one Yulia Orlova, the only Soviet scientist ever to solve the puzzle of quantum entanglement.” He gestured to the device in the center of the room. “I give you her O.P.U.S., named for her team.”
“Spare me the details,” Natasha said, but Ivan was transfixed.
Ivan pointed to the stark lettering on the side of the steel casing, one at a time. His finger barely touched the silver O. “See? Orlova. That’s her. Before I turned her into something less than human.”
Ivan moved his finger to the letter P. “This was Yulia’s husband, of course. Anatoly Pavlov. He was the one who came up with the initial brain-computer interface. I killed him myself.”
Ava’s father, Natasha remembered.
Ivan pointed to the U. “Py
otr Usov. He was just a Red Room functionary, but he kept our lab open long after the others were closed. Until he, too, met an unfortunate end. They found him floating in a water tower, after asking for one too many promotions.”
Ivan shrugged, moving his finger one last time. “Which brings us, humbly, to yours truly.” Ivan smiled. “Ivan Somodorov, old army dog. Defender of the People. Patriot of the Red Room. Old friend of the Romanoffs, living and dead.”
“Who stole everything from everyone and called it science,” Natasha said matter-of-factly.
“Not science. Progress. You can’t stop a new day from coming. This is bigger than you and me, Natashka.”
“Orlova, Pavlov, Usov, Somodorov? What is that, a poem?” She gestured with the barrel of her gun to Ivan’s face. “Written to the rhythm of Ava’s DNA?”
“A rebellious act, in a misguided parenting moment.” Ivan sighed. “No matter. You’ve done your job, and I commend you. You’ve come back to me and made an old man proud.”
“Don’t be.” Her voice was flat.
He took a step, laying his hand on the barrel of her weapon.
“You don’t fool me. You’ll always be Devushki Ivana.” He pushed the barrel gently out of the way. “It’s been a long time coming, but you’ve been waiting, and I’m touched.”
“I’m not quite done,” Natasha said. “There’s one more thing I have to do. Also for my Devuskhi Ivana.” He raised an eyebrow. She didn’t look away from his cold Russian eyes. “You could say it’s also been a long time coming, for all of Ivan’s girls.”
“Da?”
“Da.”
Before he could answer, she pulled the trigger.
It broke like glass.
The bullet flew through the hand that had chained her to the radiator on so many winter nights.
It pierced Ivan’s jaw, shattering it into bone as fine as dust.
It shot through the base of his skull.
His eyes went blank.
His legs buckled beneath him.
She looked away before the body hit the ground.
S.H.I.E.L.D. EYES ONLY
CLEARANCE LEVEL X
LINE-OF-DUTY DEATH [LODD] INVESTIGATION
REF: S.H.I.E.L.D. CASE 121A415
AGENT IN COMMAND [AIC]: PHILLIP COULSON
RE: AGENT NATASHA ROMANOFF A.K.A. BLACK WIDOW, A.K.A. NATASHA ROMANOVA
TRANSCRIPT: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, LODD INQUIRY HEARINGS.
DOD: So you eliminated the target. Ivan Somodorov. There’s one for your bucket list. Must have felt good.
ROMANOFF: [pausing] Have you ever killed someone, sir?
DOD: Afghanistan. From thirty-five thousand feet.
ROMANOFF: No offense, sir. It’s not the same. And it never feels good.
DOD: How does it feel, Agent?
ROMANOFF: A gun might as well shoot both ways at once, sir. You want to take out the person in the crosshairs? You have to get okay with taking out the person at the trigger. You don’t get to choose.
DOD: You seem to say that a lot.
ROMANOFF: I’m Russian.
DOD: You were.
ROMANOFF: I was, sir.
DOD: Either way. You crossed off Ivan Somodorov.
ROMANOFF: I think I’ve got to get a better bucket list.
DOD: What about the O.P.U.S.?
ROMANOFF: Next on the list.
SOMODOROV FACILITY,
YEREBATAN SARAY
JUST OFF THE CISTERNS, ISTANBUL
The burst of sniper fire that followed was deafening, even on the far side of the lab.
Ava ducked behind an overturned table. Alex slammed a hooded soldier into a supply rack behind him and crouched next to her.
“Natasha,” Alex said, breathless. “Sounds like she’s in trouble.”
Ava looked back up at the platform where the O.P.U.S. was. A row of snipers remained between them and it.
It didn’t matter.
“This is taking too long,” Ava said. “We have to find a way to get up there.”
He nodded. “How?”
I have to shut down the O.P.U.S.
Jam the drive into the device and take out the army.
My mother started it. Now it’s up to me to end it.
She didn’t say anything.
She just felt herself starting to move.
“Wait!” shouted Alex. He picked up a weapon from an unconscious soldier and handed it to her. She noticed, for the first time, that he was already carrying one himself.
“I’ll draw them off you. You won’t make it five feet if I don’t.”
“No way. It’s too risky. Just cover me from back here.”
He held up his weapon. “Just a few seconds. I’ll keep moving. I’ll meet you on the platform.”
The firefight on the other side of the lab picked up.
Ava couldn’t count the rounds.
Alex was already moving, and she knew she couldn’t stop him. He pulled his other gun from his waistband and released the safety.
She looked at him. “You aren’t trained for this.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m a Romanoff.” He touched her cheek with his hand. “Just wait until they come after me. Then make your move.”
Gunfire blew past him. They had been spotted.
“Get down!” Ava screamed, pulling him down as hard as she could.
“Hold on,” he shouted back. “Cover me—”
With all the strength he had, he flung himself at the platform, diving headfirst into the line of fire. Hurling himself into the smoke and chaos.
Moments later he was shouting to her.
“Now!”
She bolted toward the platform.
She could just make out Natasha at the end of the room, her back pushed up against the far side of the raised steel scaffolding. She was outnumbered, but that had never stopped her before, Ava knew.
Half the room was on fire.
A few meters away, the central O.P.U.S. device was sparking and smoking. Only so much could survive the barrage of ammo this room had seen.
They would have to work quickly.
Alex dodged behind steel shelving, firing from both weapons. Ava followed as he cleared the path for her. She was paces behind him now, and every bit Natasha Romanoff’s Quantum double.
Stay low—move quickly—head down—don’t make eye contact—
Stealth is speed and motion—
Ava saw Natasha freeze from across the room. She heard the screaming in Russian.
“Get out of here, brother!”
“Do it,” he said under his breath. “Do it now, Ava.”
He fired shot after shot.
Ava couldn’t speak. She stumbled forward, kneeling in front of the O.P.U.S. She pulled at a side panel with both hands, searching for a port as bullets scattered past her head.
“I can’t—I can’t find it.”
“Keep looking,” Alex shouted.
He kept firing.
Ava spotted a sparking, burned side panel and rocked it back and forth, harder and harder until she found a generator cell loose enough to rip from the side of the nucleus device.
She yanked it free.
A bolt of electricity shot through her, and she saw the cabling dragging loose behind it. She dropped it to the ground. It burned as if it had been on fire.
“It’s too damaged. I can’t even see where I would put the drive.”
Think.
You’re not just Ava Orlova.
You have your mother’s code and Natasha’s memories.
Alexei’s heart.
They’re fighting with you and for you.
Find a way to make this work.
She stared at the mass of wiring in the body of the O.P.U.S. device.
It’s a circuit.
Complex, but essentially a circuit, connecting to a CPU.
You should be able to hack it.
Natasha should.
She pulled a thick red wire from the mass. Then a blue one. Bit
off the ends of each with her mouth and twisted bits of wire from each end together.
Then she reached deep into the center of the machine and pulled out its brain—a motherboard the size of a shoebox.
There.
I should be able to connect the drive, if I can just rewire that one section….
It sparked in her hands, and a web of blue electricity spread across the entire device. It was all she could do not to drop it.
She looked up.
“The whole thing is live, Alex! This whole place could blow at any minute!”
Alex had seen it too.
“You have to keep going!” he shouted.
Just then, his arm jerked as a bullet grazed him, and he dropped his gun. Ava screamed. She heard another gunshot and picked up her gun and fired in the direction of the shooter. A sniper in the distance still targeted Alex—Ava could see the red light trained on his chest.
“Alexei!” she screamed. “Alex, don’t—”
The shot rang out and found its target, but it wasn’t Alexei Romanoff’s chest. It was the sparking power cell, the one she’d ripped from the side of the device itself. His hands were black and burned from even touching it, but that didn’t stop him.
“Who needs a blade?” Alex shouted. “If you want me, try to take me.”
Ava knew what he was saying from the way he swung his weapon, cocking his neck and batting at bullets the way a giant bear might a lazy bee—
Until he crumbled next to her, right at her side.
Ava screamed. “Alex, no—”
Alex rolled to his back, opening his eyes. He forced the words out. “Sdelaty eto—” Do it.
Bullets riddled the device around her, and she ducked to the ground. Blood was seeping from Alex’s wounds to the stone floor beneath him.
Natasha appeared next to her.
She didn’t hesitate, grabbing the sparking power cell from Alex’s hands.
She looked at Ava. “Kabul, remember?”
Ava nodded. It wasn’t just the name of a city in Afghanistan; it was an operation. An infamous one.
She knew exactly what Natasha was thinking. Then she looked from Alex back to the O.P.U.S.
“Hurry.”
Natasha sprinted through the doorway of the lab, dodging bullets, dragging the live cables after her.
When she reached the edge of the raised wooden walkway, she stopped. The sight was grim. Hundreds of Ivan’s troops, dressed as Istanbul’s police force, were streaming into the cavern and across the walkways in front of her.
Black Widow: Forever Red Page 26