| "First Time" | |||
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SVR Headquarters April 26, 2008, 2030 hours Things had picked up over the past two months, with the RGZS coming fully online. All areas were now complete, and new staff were being tested and brought in. Most of them were trained to use firearms, and Nikolai and the rest of the Field Agents had helped out with this. His own team, Myech (Sword), had not yet been out on a mission, and had instead trained steadily for two months. On the odd day one of them was taken and given a task in a different area, but they came back and continued as before. He himself had gone out on two solo missions, both times tailing an individual round Moscow. The first time had been almost a month ago, and had been arranged at Krivenko's request. Nikolai had obliged and followed the female. After first following her into a local bar he had eventually ended up in a nightclub, Club Rossya, and had managed to keep contact with her until she disappeared upstairs with a man. He had continued with the reconnaissance from outside the club, and picked her up again after she left. Surveillance was set up on the club and the man who she was seen with. Again, on April Tenth, he was asked to tail her. Once more she visited the club, only this time she didn't disappear with the man she had previously, instead electing to leave. Before he had a chance to follow her home he found his unhappy association with clubs still continued. Like the times before it involved him helping a girl from some drunken men who were attempting to force their will on her, and like most of the other times it ended with one of them enjoying a lengthy stay in a hospital, and the others grateful that their limbs were intact and able to carry them away from him. Apart from those little excursions he had not done anything significant. The other team had been on a mission nine days previous, ending the occupation of a government official's house by extremists. The official lived; his captors didn't. He decided to visit Kovalenko in Communications to see how the surveillance on their Moscow target, Alexei Pavelevich Konstantin, was going. The name sounded familiar, but he hadn't been able to locate a connection, and a month on he knew he was no closer to discovering the reason for the familiarity. Despite this Kovalenko kept him informed of any developments, and every now and then Nikolai would visit him and get a progress report. "Any news?" he asked, walking over to where Kovalenko was sitting. "None today. Reports still indicate that he is clean." "Well, keep on him." Nikolai didn't know why they were keeping tabs on him, but the orders had come from Krivenko himself, and like the tailing of the foreign woman, they orders were carried out without question. The woman was the key to all this, Plekhanov thought. Who are you? He asked her in his mind .Are you a danger to my country? She certainly didn't appear to be dangerous, but then again there had been something in her eyes that brief second he'd looked into them from the bar. A fire, burning bright with what he guessed was anger. That was the second time, the time when she had not gone upstairs. Was there a connection? The first time she had seemed to be enjoying herself; the amount she drank would have certainly diminished her inhibitions. The second time she did not drink, and she did not look happy. " I will inform you of any news on the matter," Kovalenko told him. "Thank you, Anatoliy Borisovich." He then left. Plekhanov Residence April 30, 2008, 0624 hours A noise, a pause, and then more noise. Ringing. Nikolai awoke to the sounds of his mobile phone ringing, and answered it quickly. No words were spoken by him, and after eleven seconds he put the phone back on the bedside table. "Who was it?" Yelena inquired, turning over to face him. "Work. I have to go in." He ran his hands through her hair and smiled. "Business as usual. Have fun at Uni," he said, then leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back, and after what seemed an eternity he broke off the embrace. "Hun, I have to go in." She looked at him with her puppy-dog eyes. "Can't we just�" "No, not now." He smiled, then said, "but later we will." He quickly got changed and kissed her before leaving. SVR Headquarters April 30, 2008, 0700 hours "Flight Seven Two Six left Sheremetyevo Airport at 0500 hours this morning, destination London. At approximately thirty minutes into the flight a number of hijackers took control of the plane, killing an airhostess in the process. The pilot managed to release a large amount of fuel before being removed from the cockpit. The hijackers were unaware of this, and continued with their plan. Once they realized they were out of fuel they landed at Yemelyanovo Airport, and have been there ever since," Polyakov told those assembled round the table. He thumbed a button near to his position and part of the wall slid back to reveal a large monitor, and after another button press images began to appear on the screen. They showed a Tu-204 filmed from a distance. The aircraft had the door nearest to the cabin open, and steps had been placed there to allow access. A lone gunman was visible at the top of the stairs. It soon became apparent that he had a hostage with him. With his gun pressed against the woman's head any attempt to kill him would probably endanger the hostage. Nikolai turned to Maksim Pavelevich Tarasov and whispered, "This looks like fun." "Team Myech will depart in one hour for Yemelyanovo Airport," Polyakov continued, "and will be briefed upon arrival. Dismissed." "Lets go people," Nikolai said to his team. "I will meet all of you in our room in fifty minutes." Team Myech Room They were all kitted out, weapons hanging by their sides, smiles on their faces. They were sat on one of the two corner couches in the room, looking at the monitor in front of them. It was showing the live feed from the airport, and as they watched each of them began formulating plans of attack, working out distances to certain points, angels, possible routes. This was going to be their first mission, and they were pleased that it was not a complex one, happy that they were being given the opportunity to ease their way into this new agency. "Transport has been arranged," Nikolai told them as he walked in the room, "and our equipment is already on the way. We leave in ten minutes. Questions?" "Have they made any demands?" Kirill Ivanovich Bogdanov asked. "Yes, more fuel." They laughed at that. Olesya Mihailovich Dmitriev inquired, "Has their nationality been determined yet" "Yes. They are Chechen." As he spoke he saw Timofeev's eyes grow slightly wider. So, maybe her demons were Chechen then. He would have to find out. "Ok people, time to go." The all stood and left the room. Return |
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