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"Two Deaths, No Funeral" Part 4 | |||
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Tarasov's Residence February 16, 2008, 0545 hours He awoke in a place he didn't recognize, and it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. The lights were off, and in the predawn twilight his eyes adjusted and started picking out details around him. After a couple of minutes he decided it would be a good time to get up. He dressed himself in the clothes he wore yesterday and decided to visit the fridge. He made his way there and opened the door, took out a bottle of milk, and placed it on the side while he search for a glass. He eventually found one and poured himself a glass of milk. He drained it and moved back into the living room and sat down on the couch. It wasn't long before Tarasov padded down the stairs and saw Nikolai watching TV. "Early bird," he said. "Early riser," Nikolai retorted. Tarasov chuckled and walked into the kitchen. "Want something to eat?" he asked. "No thanks." He raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" "Yeah," Nikolai replied, "I don't eat breakfast." In the kitchen Maksim shook his head but decided not to say anything. He fixed himself some toast and sat down with his new colleague. Both men were wearing only boxer shorts, so the scars on Plekhanov's body were easily visible, as were the ones on Tarasov. Nikolai thought about commenting on the scars, then thought better of it. Tattoos and scars were the realm of friends, and they were not yet at that stage, though he did believe they soon would be. There was something about Maksim that he really liked. He saw him as what he could be like in ten years, and it pleased him. A phone rang, and Tarasov picked it up. He didn't speak, and after ten seconds he replaced the phone in its cradle. "We have to go," he told Nikolai. RGZS Headquarters February 16, 2008, 0615 hours Plekhanov and Tarasov arrived at the RGZS compound at six fifteen. Maksim parked the car in a sheltered garage and led Nikolai into a large building. On the way into the compound Plekhanov had noted the large fence enclosing this set of buildings and a vast area of land around it. The signs on the fence warned people away from this area, stating that it was the site of government research. When he questioned Tarasov about it he learned that this was an actual research site, and the research carried out was real. The people who worked here were attempting to see if there were any long-term effects with GM foods. The warning signs were there to prevent people from coming and possibly contaminating the area or other areas when they left. What they didn't know was that the whole site was owned by the SVR, and beneath the research buildings was the headquarters of the RGZS, the most secret agency in Russia's history. The land was also used as a training area for the field agents, and the heavily wooded area to the north of the compound served as a `war zone', an area where field agents can train in close quarters combat techniques and small-scale warfare. They entered the main research building and gained access to the lift that would take them to `work'. They made their way to Level Five. Maksim gave him a brief tour: gym, shooting range, swimming pool, changing rooms, and the Team rooms. Plekhanov was shown to his locker, and inside it he found two pairs of black swimming shirts, goggles, cycling shorts and a t-shirt. Tarasov changed into his gym clothes and went for a workout. Nikolai, on the other hand, decided he'd get wet. He put the swimming shorts on and grabbed a pair of goggles before making his way to the swimming pool. The pool was about thirty meters long and fifteen wide. He stood on what would be an outside lane had there been lanes and put the goggles on. He then bent his knees as he'd been taught all those years ago and dived forward. The feeling as the water enveloped his body calmed him, as it always did, and he settled into a rhythm, controlling his strokes so he was breathing bilaterally and still making clean tumble-turns at each end. He was vaguely aware of others swimming after an hour or so, but he stayed in his `lane' and kept out of their way. Tarasov wandered in after a marathon three-hour stint on the running machine to find some of the field agents standing on the poolside. He asked them what they were doing. "He's been going for two hours now," Nelli Levevna Timofeev replied. "I left him in here three hours ago," Maksim informed the group. "Then he's been going for three hours," Bogdanov said. They continued to watch. St Petersburg Airport February 16, 2008, 1007 hours The plane touched down at seven minutes past ten. As the door opened an early morning breeze chilled his face, but he didn't mind it, finding its effects refreshing. He helped his wife and daughter down the steps and into the waiting car. Yelena fell asleep on her mother as the car sped away from the airport. SVR Headquarters February 16, 2008, 1030 hours Valentin Pavelevich Elistratov walked into Krivenko's office briskly. He stopped at the desk and waited for Krivenko to look at him. As soon as he did he began speaking. "Where are Popov and Plekhanov? They didn't appear today or yesterday." "Valentin Pavelevich, please sit down, I have some bad news." Elistratov sat down. "Popov and Plekhanov were dispatched on a secret mission yesterday by the members of the state Duma. Unfortunately the aircraft they were traveling on suffered a serious mechanical failure and crashed into the Caspian Sea. There were no survivors." Elistratov saw the pain in Krivenko's eyes, and it took all of his self control not to let the smile he had internally become external. They're dead, he thought to himself. It's taken over a year but they are finally dead! RGZS Headquarters, Level Five February 16, 2008, 1021 hours The buzzer sounded, and it was Tarasov who picked up the telephone hanging on the wall by the swimming pool. He didn't speak, merely replaced the phone once the message had been spoken. He then made his way over to the group, moved round them, bent down by the poolside and placed his hand in the water. Nikolai didn't stop as Maksim had expected him to; he simply performed a turn and began swimming backstroke. "What?" he asked. "Your fianc� has arrived, and Sergei Semyonovich requires your presence on Level Two," Tarasov informed him. "Ok." After three hours and twenty-one minutes of constant swimming, Nikolai just stopped in the middle of the `lane'. He moved over to the side and hauled himself out and onto his feet, showing the watching group that he still had strength and energy. It wasn't a grand gesture, but they noted its significance. RGZS Headquarters, Level Two A changed and dry Plekhanov strode into Sergei's office and sat down. Sergei was sitting behind his desk, looking over some papers. He looked up at Nikolai and smiled. "How are you?" "I'm fine," Plekhanov replied, returning the smile. "Good, you can go and help Yelena unpack then." "Unpack?" "Yes, the furniture is far too heavy for her to lift." RGZS Compound, Plekhanov Residence February 16, 2008, 1042 hours He wasn't kidding, Nikolai thought to himself as he heaved the sofa into what was to be the lounge. The man on the other end wasn't much use, and Nikolai found himself taking much of the weight. He now regretted the extensive swimming session as he felt the energy begin to disappear from his arms. He grunted and placed the sofa where Yelena had directed. She was enjoying this, and to be honest, so was he. Their own place. A place of their own. A place they own. However he looked at it this was the best thing to happen so far. Now they could really be together. True, Sergei and Anastasiya were only next-door, but they still had more freedom than either of them had ever had. After over two hours of furniture moving they were finished, or so he thought. True to form, Yelena wasn't quite happy with the positioning of virtually the whole house, so for the next four hours things were moved, moved back, moved again, and finally left alone, only to be returned to once more. That night he went to sleep knowing that whatever he did in this agency, it would never be as hard as what he'd done today. RGZS Headquarters, Level Two Briefing Room One February 17, 2008, 1100 hours "Yevgeniy Olegovich Lukin is partnered with�" Sergei hit a button on the laptop and the cursor stopped. "�Pavel Yegorovich Morozov." Lukin went over and stood with Morozov, but the older man didn't say anything. "Olesya Mihailovich Dmitriev is partnered with� Svyatoslav Vadimovich Belov." The two agents smiled at each other, having already seen each other's capabilities in training. "Klara Borisovich Savin is partnered with� Nelli Levevna Timofeev." The all-female team nodded to each other, and Timofeev moved to join her teammate. "Maksim Pavelevich Tarasov is partnered with� Nikolai Ivanovich Plekhanov." The two men grinned and took their places next to each other. The final pairing was announced, even though it was obvious what it was. "Kirill Ivanovich Bogdanov is partnered with Innokentiy Fyodorovich Smirnov." Smirnov and Bogdanov had already paired up, talking quietly. RGZS Outdoor Training Area February 17, 2008, 1128 hours Nikolai lay prone on the ground, his gun pointed ahead of him. Maksim was next to him, his eyes scanning the area carefully, looking for the slightest indication of their enemies' presence. It was strange thinking of your comrades as enemies, but for the purpose of this exercise that was exactly the situation. "Negative," Nikolai whispered. They were all `bare', without communications and vision-aids such as night-vision goggles. All they had was one gun each and a spare clip of paint bullets. "Agreed," was Maksim's whispered reply. This time he took point, and Nikolai followed behind him. The moved slightly through the trees, slowly, carefully, using the forest to their advantage; the wet leaves dissipated the sound of their footsteps, and the trees and foliage provided excellent cover. Two minutes of traveling later and they were back in their prone positions, scanning the area for signs of movement. It was Nikolai who spotted it first. He checked the wind and decided that the movement he had seen was not wind-related. He signaled to Maksim and the two men slowly rose from their positions and began to pursue their prey. It took thirty seconds before they were able to steal a glimpse of their quarry through the foliage: Morozov and Lukin. Tarasov made a gesture for them to split up and take a man each, but Plekhanov shook his head. He had another idea. Bending slowly, he searched the ground for a suitable sizes rock, and he was fortunate enough to find one of the required size close to his hand. The rock was picked up and then thrown to the left of their prey, and the audible clatter gave the desired results. Their prey's heads turned in the direction of the sound, and even though they suspected that it was a trap they began to investigate the area slowly, and just as they had turned their back Plekhanov stepped out from behind a tree and sent two bullets into each man's head. They turned around with surprised looks on their faces, though Morozov's expression quickly turned to anger, his eyes turning to Lukin in an accusing manner. Lukin just shrugged. After one hour and thirty-seven minutes of `combat' there were two teams left, though neither knew this. Plekhanov and Tarasov were still in the hunt, moving from position to position silently, scanning the area, and then moving again. Smirnov and Bogdanov were also scanning and moving, and it made interesting viewing for Popov and Polyakov. All teams had cameras attached to their helmets, along with tracking devices. The information they sent was relayed back to Communications, and their positions were plotted on a large screen so the Commander and his deputy could observe the teams' movements. At the current moment the teams were on a collision course, and at the current closure rate it would be little over two minutes before they clashed. This was it, though neither team knew it. "I see something," Tarasov whispered. "Where?" He pointed, and Nikolai followed his arm to where a bush concealed the bottom half of two tree trunks. He blinked as he saw movement coming from the bush, though he wasn't too concerned about being seen because both he and Tarasov were well concealed in foliage. Nikolai focused on the bush and was rewarded with a quick glimpse of a gun barrel poking through the leaves and then disappearing. The surveillance continued for another few minutes until Plekhanov realized that they must have been spotted, and it would become a stalemate unless one of the teams made a move. "Fuck this, lets do it," he whispered to Maksim. He got a nod as a reply. He gestured for Maksim to break to the right, and he would break to the left. With any luck the two rapidly moving targets would not both get hit, and one of them could maneuver into a position to get a shot off. He gave the signal and both men raced to their feet. The plan would have worked if the Smirnov/Bogdanov team hadn't also decided to break the deadlock. As Nikolai and Maksim sprang to their feet their counterparts mirrored the move, and within a couple of seconds the two teams were racing towards each other. At the same instant they both took aim and fired. Nikolai watched his bullets hit Innokentiy's helmet, and a split second later he felt his adversaries bullets impact on his chest, knocking the wind from his lungs. He did the obligatory roll to the ground, then thumbed the `dead' switch on his helmet, sending a signal back to headquarters informing them that he had been `killed'. RGZS Headquarters, Level Four February 17, 2008, 1310 hours Back in Communications Sergei ordered the teams to return to Briefing Room One. Whilst he was waiting for them he went into his office with Polyakov. The two men discussed what they had seen, and over the next twenty minutes the two Fire teams of the RGZS were decided. All that was left to do was inform the Field Agents which team they were in. RGZS Headquarters, Level Two Briefing Room One February 17, 2008, 1345 hours "Team One," Sergei told the assembled group, "Will be led by Nikolai Ivanovich. Maksim Pavelevich will be second in command. The other members are Olesya Mihailovich, Kirill Ivanovich, and Nelli Levevna." He paused before continuing. "Team Two will be led by Innokentiy Fyodorovich, with Pavel Yegorovich as second in command. Yevgeniy Olegovich, Svyatoslav Vadimovich, and Klara Borisovich are the other members. Any questions? Good. You are all dismissed for the night. Return here at 0700 hours." After they had left Polyakov stood with Sergei. "Two more weeks, Commander." "Evgraf Zotovich you have done an excellent job. Russia has never been in more capable hands. Lets make sure that we do the Russian people justice." Both men left for their respective offices to begin running the RGZS. Return |
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