Secrets
"… and Ural Mountains are mountain ranges that separate the northern European and west Siberian plains and used as the dividing line between Europe and Asia. Siberia, as I mentioned earlier, is a region of central and eastern Russia…" the teacher droned on and on about Russia's geographical features.
The girls, Rosemarie, the older one, and Vasilisa, were not listening to the teacher, instead they were planning ways to escape the mundane classroom. The school that they were at was a normal school in Russia, but these girls were not very normal. They are spies on a secret mission. These girls were specially trained since they were the age of 1. They were fully educated by the age of 7. Their mission was to see if the Russian schools were influencing the students to support USSR during the Cold War. That rumor, however, is false, for they have been in the torturous school for a semester and did not find any evidence at all. They even snuck into the school database to see what the teachers were teaching and the staff was emailing each other. This is one of their easier missions because there was not a lot of spying to do at the beginning of the war. When the semester was over, they went back to their base and home to report back on what they accomplished. Their base is located somewhere in Eurasia; we're not going to tell you where because we do not want you to find it. All we can tell you is the route from the school to the base was along the Silk Road but they veered off after they reached a certain landmark. They reported what happened to their trainer, Max, and went to their cots to rest for a while. Before they get any chance to rest, Max came over and told them they had a dangerous and important mission. They have to go around the Russia and find any American spies. This was not an easy task, but they were up for it. They disguised themselves as civilians and went off when day break came. Usually, they would have a few days' worth of rest, but since it was there was a war going on, they can't be too sure of anything leaking, rumor or not.
They traveled for a few days to the heart of the USSR: Moscow. It was an urgent mission, so it only took them 2 days to reach Moscow, rather than the 5 days it would normally take. When they arrived, they blended in right away like the spies they were. They eavesdropped in any conversation they could; suspected people who look like Americans, even if they were tourists; when they saw the Czar, they searched for anyone suspicious around him that look like terrorists or any strange people. They retired for the day at an inconspicuous inn nearby and thought up of a new plan. They had brought some disguises with them, such as a tour guide, a park ranger, a police officer, and a nomad. They also brought some props with them, a tour guide, for example, would have a microphone with a recording device which records every conversation during the tours. A park ranger would have a tracker on everyone who went to the forest that day and they can track the people for a few days. A police officer would be able to put trackers on peoples' IDs and other belongings. A nomad would have a yurt they would carry with them with a recording device attached to it. They decided that Rosemarie would be a tour guide and see if she can get information through the tourists' conversation. Vasilisa would be a park ranger and put trackers on everyone going in the taiga for a tour.
When they went their separate ways for the day, Rosemarie "sabotaged" a tour bus and led a more interesting tour than that corporation would ever have. While she was telling everyone this sight and that sight, she also put a little history to it. Adding words like Transcaucasia this and Silk Road that. Fortunately for her, there was an American spy on that tour bus, getting to know the place. She had a few tracking devices with her, so on his way out, she "accidentally" tripped over her own wire and bumped into him, placing the tracking device on him.
"Sorry! Are you alright?" she asked like a nervous tour guide.
"I'm fine," he brushed her off.
Vasilisa, on the other hand, got the worst of luck. She was fine until one of the real park rangers asked who she was and she said she was a rookie. He checked the list of rookies and didn't see her on the list, so he brought her to the station. Fortunately, when he wasn't looking, she escaped before he looked back. When they regrouped at their room, the girls swapped what happened and they agreed to track the guy who was on the tour bus. It only took them a few minutes to find out where he is staying. They watched him for the next few days and sure enough, he was a spy. There were also 4 more spies in Moscow and they tracked them all. They confronted the spy that Rosemarie bumped into the other day to ask him some questions. They found out that there were other spies scattered all around Russia. Vasilisa asked if the spies were in any organizations that involve USSR. He said that there was one American that was a USSR spy and her name was Max. Vasilisa gasped but Rosemarie did not betray any emotion at all. She thanked him for the information and left the apartment for their inn. Luckily the inn was nearby and Rosemarie contacted Max and she said to contact the Red army. She informed them about the spies and they told her they will take care of it. Vasilisa was speechless through the whole transaction and she wanted to know why their trainer they knew since they were little was actually American and lied to them. Since their mission was done, they decided to go back to the base.
They arrived at the base, exhausted and scared of their trainer. They reported like normal and went to their cots and rested. They went to her cot to talk about what they found out about her. She wasn't there, so they checked the whole base.
"It seems like she disappeared… like she's afraid of us…" Vasilisa said, tears started prickling on her eyes, and before she knew what was happening, there were tears streaming down her face. Spies never give away emotion ever, because that's a weakness that they can't have.
"Let's go back to our cots now," Rosemarie said soothingly, trying to calm her younger sister down. Spies are never are related, but Rosemarie and Vasilisa was an exception.
"I'm sick of this war and what it reveals, good or bad!" Vasilisa exasperatedly yelled. Luckily, they were in their sound proof cot, so no one else could hear her.
They sensed someone coming, so they fixed themselves up to look clean and crisp and readied themselves. A scrawny messenger came in and told them that Max wanted to see them. They nodded and sent him away. Before they went to her cot, they both smuggled guns just in case. They walked to her cot, wanting answers and explanations. It was unusually quiet in her cot, maybe because they have never seen his cot so… quiet and empty. There was no busy messengers running about, going in or out of the cot, nor there were discussions or arguments when a messenger goes in or out. They approached cautiously, for this was so unusual and so unlike her that they might've been sabotaged and they didn't know it for all its worth. She must have heard them come in, because she said to them to come in.
"I heard you have been searching for me all day," she stated. "Why have you searched for me all over the base when you know I am always here?" she softened a little. Deep down, they knew that as much as they want to confront the question, they also did not want to know her answer. Rosemarie, the older and more composed one, was the one who asked.
"Is it true that you are American? Why did you never tell us? When did you come here? Why did you come here?" Rosemarie bombarded her with questions. She blurted them all at the same time.
Max was silent for a moment. She then answered, "It is true, I am American but the only reason I came here was because I was tired of being in the US so I moved here to make a new life. That is the only reason why." The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
Then Rosemarie and Vasilisa softened their faces and asked "Why didn't you just tell us?"
"Because I never wanted you to know my past that I never liked." Max explained. "I didn't want you to judge me of my past, only of what I am now."
While Max was talking, Rosemarie and Vasilisa raised the guns they smuggled in her cot. "There is more that you are not telling us. You better tell us or we'll shoot you!" Rosemarie commanded.
"If you really must know, you are actually royalty and –"Vasilisa cuts her off, "Wait! We're royalty! Why didn't you ever tell us that?"
"Be quiet Vasilisa! Can you at least let Max finish?" Rosemarie snapped. "Continue," she said curtly to Max, not looking at her.
"As I was saying, both of you are royalty and your parents willingly gave you to me to take care of you and to train you as spies. Your family is the last royal family in Eurasia after the Russian revolution. Your parents are currently in hiding somewhere along the Trans-Siberian railroad. I never told you that you were royalty because you would always be in danger, because you don't know if any information will leak and I never wanted you to abuse your powers. I never meant any of you any harm and hope you will forgive me for hiding about me being American."
In shock, both of the girls drop the guns that they were holding, and one of the guns' trigger pulled itself by accident and the bullet shot Max in the stomach. The girls rushed to her side, asking for forgiveness for accusing her of being an American spy. Somewhere in those tears, Max said that if they ever want to visit their parents, they could. She has been contacting them when the girls were out in missions. Vasilisa wanted to get medics to help Max, but there was not time. As Max closed her eyes, for what was to be the last time, she smiled and said, "I forgive you…" The girls started to sob silently, not wanting to wake anyone after the muffled gun shot.
"Wait! I can't be dead yet, I have to tell you one more thing; where your parents' castle is located." The girls were so surprised they jumped and stifled a scream. "What? How? It's impossible!" "Are you really alive?" The girls exclaimed at the same time.
"I don't have much time left. If you follow the Trans-Siberian railroad, there will be a hill you have to climb…, after you climb that hill, there will be a valley and you will find their castle… by the twinkling of the rooftops. And remember, go west and you will find the castle, go east and you will find something el-" she won't say anything again, because Death is very impatient.
They cried again, mourning for their lost trainer and friend. While they walked back to their cot, they planned on how to sneak away from the base. They packed and slept until day break came. They found the Trans-Siberian railroad and went west from there, following the tracks. They saw a hill rising and when they reached the top, it was near sunset. It was beautiful scenery, with a wide open valley and mountains and hills in the background. They saw something shining against the setting sun and remembered about what Max said. They smiled at the memory, tears falling down their face. They made camp for the night and decided to visit their parents when dawn was coming. Images of what to come filled their dream that night. They couldn't wait to arrive at the castle, looking beautiful under the sun.