Martin Danberg stretches in his first-class seat as he listens to the announcement on the flight that has him landing in Moscow in less than thirty minutes at Sheremetyevo International Airport. He's been in this seat for the last nine hours and his body feels the stress. He will be one of over thirty-four million people who has passed through this airport yearly when he heads on his way to Kostroma. Kostroma. The small city is populated roughly by about two hundred fifty thousand people. In the last two years she had been dead, he'd been here a handful of times since then.
Xx
23 months ago…
"Danberg, my office now."
Michael Morell bellows.
"Yes, sir." Danberg replies.
Danberg enters and stands in front of the deputy director's desk and waits until the deputy director sits down.
"Have a seat Danberg."
The deputy director leaf's through some paperwork and stops on one page for a moment then continues on. When he finishes he looks to Danberg.
"Agent Danberg, I understand that you and Sophia Turner were partners?"
"We were, sir." Danberg is at a loss why he would be asking him this since he assigned them together.
"Now I have no right to ask you this but it's something that I need to know."
"Yes sir, go ahead."
"Were you and your partner Sophia Turner ever involved in a sexual relationship?"
Danberg looks at him appalled but schools his features quickly. He at least had the decency to look down and away from him after he asks the question.
"Sir at no time was I ever nor did I ever have a sexual relationship with a traitor."
"Then we seem to be at an impasse."
"How so sir?"
"What I am about to tell you is not to leave this room."
The deputy director sees him nod.
"We've been looking deeply into Agent Turner since we found out that she was playing both sides. Just after she joined the CIA in 1998 she was working closely with an agent, one of which we have no idea of where he is right now, or I'd be asking him these questions instead of you."
"Sir, I am still having a little trouble figuring out how I can be of any help."
"Danberg, you knew her, you were her partner for three, almost four years. Now from what I understand she confided in you about certain issues in her life."
"Sir, if you are implying that she had told me that she was a double agent, I would kindly ask you to stop right there."
The deputy director knows that he's made the right choice as he looks at the man in front of him.
"Mr. Danberg, I know that you are true to the mission of the CIA. But what I have planned for you is a complex series of events that will test your faith in the person you once called your partner."
Martin does not miss the change in his title. Now as he sits there he wonders just what he's gotten into.
"We know that Sophia Turner was a double agent. She was a sleeper and she had played every one of us. She had sold top-secret U.S. secrets to the Russians, Czechs, Laos, and North Korea and according to our agents in the former Soviet Union, these secrets were of little or no value to us. Not that we take this kind of thing lightly but we are glad that the information she sold never went any further than her Russian handler. What she sold them was at least a decade old and literally of no use to them."
Danberg nods knowing that nothing was ever compromised by her actions.
"Natalya Conrad, Наталья Conrad to be more specific."
"I'm sorry sir but just who is Natalya Conrad?"
"She is the person who is at the center of this issue. She is an eight-year-old girl who could be in a situation that she has no idea about that's where you come in. Mr. Danberg what I'm going to need you to do now is fly to Moscow, Russia. There you will be met by a representative from the Christian Orphanage for Girls in Kostroma, Russia ."
"Why?"
"We have reason to believe that agent Turner has set up this child in the same way that she was set up as a sleeper. You see Mr. Danberg, agent Turner was by all means just like us down to every detail and no one knew. It was only 4 months before she was shot and killed that she was activated by the motherland. What we fear is that she has the same design for this young child. Since Agent Turner was killed, this girl could be a target for the FSB or could be working with them already. Your job will be to find out if this child was hers naturally, or was she adopted. Either way, after you find this girl, you'll befriend her and get her to return with you at a later date. So, any light that you could possibly shed on any relationship that she had in the past would be appreciated."
Danberg searches his memory to figure out who she could have possibly been seeing while he was her partner. As far as he knows there was not one single mention of a man in her life. But he had not been aware of every thought she had.
"Sir, I am at a loss about who she could have been with. I could possibly look into the ex-agent that she was traitorous with, maybe that could yield some direction to take with your okay that is."
"I assume that you are referring to Mr. Glenn Corrigan, correct?"
"Yes sir that would be him."
The deputy director thinks it over and can't really see a reason to deny his request. He just might be able to get something out of Corrigan.
"Okay, Mr. Danberg. I'll authorize a one-time meeting with him. But he was sent to the Federal prison in Lee county across the state after he was convicted of treason. It's a high-security U.S. penitentiary, and he'll only be able to see you for fifteen minutes in total."
"Thank you sir, but I do have just one question to ask."
"And that would be?"
"Why are you calling me by my name and not my title of an agent?"
"For two reasons Mr. Danberg. As of last year, you were eligible for retirement. This case that you will be working will be your last. Because you will be heading to Russia at a regular rate, the agency can't have an active agent in Russia while looking into this. The second reason is that you are a year past mandatory retirement. You should consider yourself lucky that admin didn't pick up on it sooner. After your visit with Mr. Corrigan, your service with the agency will be over. You shouldn't worry about money because until this case is settled you will still be paid at your current level. The only thing you won't be able to get is the annual increases. I have a feeling that this will be a long and drawn out process before it's all said and done."
Xx
The plane landed ahead of schedule and Danberg gets up from his seat. He reaches for the overhead compartment and opens it to remove his carryon. Pulling it down her picture falls out of his bag and lands on the aisle by his feet. It was taken after his third visit to see her. They went to an ice cream shop named Horns and Hoofs. But after they arrived she wanted to eat breakfast for dinner so they did just that. Just as they were about to leave she asked the waitress in Russian to take a picture of them so she could always see him when she felt lonely. He had two copies made up one for him and one for her. He kneels down to pick up the picture and then he sees it. He's seen those features and smile before but he can't place it. He doesn't know how he could have overlooked it before this. But as he stands in the middle of the aisle staring at the picture in his hand, it's her eyes that draw him in…
A/N: Continue Yes/No?
Updates will be posted on Sundays if there is an interest in this story. Enjoy!