I do not own Irina Spalko. Irina Spalko and related Indiana Jones characters and media are property of Lucasfilm and Paramount Pictures.
(Bold text is translated from Russian to English)
Chapter 10: Mission from Mother
X, as he called himself, wasted little time in getting to business. Like his superiors, he was a tight ass bound by directness, logic, and the utmost serious mind. He was representing his country and maybe something beyond that…not the American people, honor, patriotism, or anything that simpering. The American people were disillusioned to put the CIA on such a holy pedestal as actually giving a damn. Control was the real issue and how much the CIA and their masters could exhibit onto their people. The only difference between Soviet Russia and Capitalist United States was how much better the U.S. could hide its darker side. It was as old as the earth itself. Keep the people down while a select few bask in the almighty success and fabricate wars and mass illusions to keep them scattered and fearful. But also, make sure your enemies never gain the power you have. That meant extending a gentile pardoning arm across enemy lines to those who would aide in shifting power back into its rightful place…American hands. That is what brought X to Irina Spalko, who'd no doubt be looking for revenge against her superiors. With her training and psychic abilities, she was perfect. All that was left was making the deal.
"Spalko," his voice was already hoarse from disuse, but still even and cold. "Though my duties vary, on this mission I am representing the United States as a Counterintelligence agent under direct orders from—"
"James Jesus Angleton," Irina finished for him.
"That's right…" He paused. "Odd. Someone in your position would have had that information kept from you."
"Hard to do around a mind reader, Mr. X." Her accent always got heavier when she spoke with representatives of the imperials. It was a like a badge of honor she wore when forced to speak their language.
She spoke of the ease by which she read minds, especially after being reconstructed into physical existence, however the deep stare of her pale blue eyes could not penetrate the icy glare of the dual black pools that mirrored her image back at her. It was if his sunglasses masked something. There was more to this agent than met the eye. There was no doubt in her mind that she couldn't read his for a reason. Whatever the reason, it presented a terrifying concept. He was a loyal servant of the CIA, no question. That meant their powers in the metaphysical were growing. He could block telepathy. She felt a brief twinge of fear in X's presence. Just what the hell was he and what could he mean to the Union. She held back a sigh, once again realizing her loyalty and devotion to a people and government that had betrayed her. When was she to understand that? Would she go through life forgetting it, having the sad and undeniable truth dawning on her every time she stood face to face with a man named with a letter?
X's voice interrupted her lament. "Indeed. That must be why they put you away."
"Vhat?"
"Your inability to stay in your own thoughts…they mistrusted you…and with things as they are…they had no choice but to be rid of you."
"Things as they are?"
"Changing…May I continue, Colonel?"
Irina didn't even bothered to ask how he'd come into the information about her capture and incarceration at Mind's Eye prison. Just as asking how X had suddenly materialized on a submarine in the North Pacific, it would be stupid to do so. There were ways and that's exactly what he would say, being sure never to reveal how on the grounds of natural security or some other kind of wash.
She nodded.
"We want you to help us, Spalko."
"Hah!"
"We'll…kill you if you don't."
"I'm prepared to die, X."
"We know. Which is why I'm going to…sweeten the pot, so to speak." From his inside coat pocket he revealed a pale folder and dropped it on the table. Irina didn't bother to open it. She wasn't interested in assisting X or the pigs that held his leash.
"I suggest you open it. Col. Ivan Petrov is involved…along with Col. Vektor Maslov."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Yes. Revenge is the best soothsayer for your kind," he said satisfyingly.
"And yours too." Irina was ready to have the last word always. "Vhy me?"
"Because Henry Jones isn't available at the moment. Given his history on this matter, I would much rather be talking with him now than you."
To hell with that, she thought. Anything that greasy old man can do, I can do better. Irina's hand came down heavy onto the folder's cover and tore it as she flipped it open. Her eyes scanned through the page as X repeated their contents perhaps only to confirm everything vocally so nothing went unnoticed.
"In 1936, Henry Jones, under orders from U.S. Military Intelligence, went deep into the Egyptian desert to the lost city of Tanis where a Nazi dig was underway to discover the Ark of the Covenant. After changing hands at least three times and being opened to epic disaster at a secret Nazi U-boat base, Jones managed to bring the Ark into U.S. custody where it rested in Hanger 51 until…Soviet forces captured it under commanding officer Irina Spalko…"
"I did no such thing!" She glared at X.
"We know. It was originally collateral picked on the mission after the Soviets initiative to find you. Now—"
Spalko chimed in again to finish his sentence. "The Union now dwarfs your power and you want me to go bring it back for you. Vhy do you think I'd do that? Yes, they dishonored and betrayed me, but you...people are my still enemy forever. I vill die before I help you."
Not wanting to look at him, Irina hastily turned the page in the folder to give her something to stare at besides her own darkened reflection. The folder fell out of her hands onto the table spilling out its contents. Her gaze was fixed on an artist sketch of the ark, black stencil against white paper. The paper was slick and shiny. It was not the original. It was a laminated copy.
The treasure chest of her dreams…
Observing her curiously, X explained it. "The Ark was not photographable. All pictures showed up with a giant blur of light in its place. We had an artist draw up an accurate rendering of it. He has cataracts now."
It was a sign…
"We're dealing with a dangerous weapon. They've already tried to contain it with experimental trials on Russian civilians in villages around the country. We believe they're trying to…communicate with the...spirits. All exposed to these openings of the ark have bared resemblance to these fellows here." X brushed away the artist's pictures down to the other contents scattered underneath. Snapshots of a melted corpse, calcified into a standing position. It wore a black fedora not unlike X's and had small eyeglasses, half melted into the singed skull. Irina had a sudden flash of one her dreams, her face melted off, locked into the operating chair of the spacemen.
X continued. "I would think you'd like to keep them from hurting your own people. Have you no patro—"
"I vill help." She had to find it. It was the Ark that had enveloped her dreams. The spacemen. They had told her in their own unique way to find it, a religious artifact…why. Spalko had to find it. I vant to know!
"Good." X did not understand her sudden change in mind. He didn't care either. All that mattered was the mission. "Welcome to Operation God Transmitter. In doing this, you will be off the hook for any doings you participated in or perpetrated that might have been in conflict with the United States. A free woman."
"What assurances do I have that you'll keep your word, pig?"
X sighed. "My word is sufficient."
"Which means nothing to me. It is not the first time I've had the word of a pig."
As if stirred finally to be forthcoming outside his normal range, X spoke more frankly.
"Times are changing, Spalko. The old days of digging up the past for boogiemen and curses to destroy a great enemy is coming to a close, so to are the old games of cat and mouse. To the Union, you and your ability represented the old days, which is why they turned on you. Our countries don't care anymore about the falsehoods of ancient powers. Our Intel has discovered that Petrov, the head of this Ark research has zero support from on high, even from Maslov. If it weren't for Petrov's reputation, he wouldn't be allowed to waste Soviet time. The new era is about technology…that is where the future lies…its all about the future now."
"Bullshit," she snapped. "The Union vill pursue all options deemed necessary."
"Oh? Yet the Sputnik project continues right along. Your own country sees the true goldmine now. The space race will even end in their favor."
Defeated, Irina took one final jab at X. "You still didn't answer me. Your word—"
"Killing you after this mission would be fruitless. Times change. Now, when we kill somebody, it is for a purpose. The definition of collateral damage is different than it used to be. Be satisfied with the possibility of freedom."
What other choice did she have? She was going after the Ark and Maslov. She'd finally have an answer to the new mystery in her life. Why had the aliens spared her? And she'd have a chance at that misogynistic bastard.
After getting unchained and her personal effects together, X informed her that she would be having new quarters given to her as a collaborator in U.S. service. The title stung her ears.
As they walked along the halls of the submarine, Irina carried her duffle bag over one shoulder and eyed X.
"Stop trying to read my mind," he surprised her. "I'll give you further information tomorrow. For now I suggest rest. Also, you'll be working with a partner and share your quarters with him."
"I work—"
"You'll work as the U.S. Government tells you to. Actually, you should be more than a tad interested. He too was in alien custody. Abducted in the same party as you, so getting to know him won't be an issue."
"Vhat? One of my men? How did you find him?"
"He found us," X retorted as he opened the door to her new room.
"Hallo, love." The pudgy man sat inside on a simple wood chair, playing solitaire on a plank of cardboard stacked on a tin box.
"You…" Irina muttered.
Next Chapter: The Triple Agent? Coming Soon