Chapter 21
Kestrel was feeling cornered and lonely. The war scheme of Meggido and some members of Voron was terrifying, but he would've preferred to keep his past for himself, and try and forget it. But now Fourth Echelon needed answers, and only he had them. He could see the team's embarrassment and worry about him, and understood perfectly the seriousness of the situation, but part of him wanted to scream at them to go fuck off. Hadn't he suffered enough that he would have to revive all the pain and tortures?
He waited for the first question, head hung low, his hand still around his empty glass. The three shots he had drunk were slowly making his mind numb, but he feared it wouldn't be enough. Then Grim took a deep breath, and Kestrel braced himself.
_ Kestrel, she asked timidly, what do you know about Leonid Avilov?
He shut his eyes, and images flashed in his mind. A mangled body in a Pakistanese cell, a party with flowing vodka in a dingy bar in Moscow, Avilov's cruel sneer as he slit a girl's throat, and himself, nausea rising in his chest, sending his fist in Avilov's face, and the week in the jail that had followed. At last he said, his voice shaking:
_ Voron ops. Killer. Madman.
_ He's Voron's commander now, Grim said softly. Who was your commander?
Kestrel felt a chill down his spine and opened his eyes, hastily pouring himself a glass of vodka. He drained it and murmured:
_ Serguei Vialitsyn.
He saw Charlie typing on the laptop, searching, and Kestrel's heart squeezed in dismay. If Avilov was commander then it meant Vialitsyn was dead, and even if Kestrel saw without a doubt his former boss order Timochenko to torture him he always had a deep respect for him before that.
_ Vialitsyn was killed during a mission two years ago in Novgorod, Charlie said. He was with Avilov and Vikachev, and the circumstances of his death are quite fishy. The report mission says he suffocated and died of a heart attack after running from the target's warehouse. Avilov was appointed commander two weeks after that.
Kestrel nodded numbly. Avilov's promotion was not a surprise, he was power-hungry and ruthless.
_ And what can you tell us about Valentina Stepankova? And Igor Kossiak?
Kestrel put his face in his hands, elbows on his knees, and tried to block the memories and images that were flooding his mind. He concentrated on the questions and exhaled, then said with a muffled voice:
_ Valentina Stepankova was my supervisory agent. She was in charge of four operatives, a usual Voron team. In normal missions we were a team of two with a backup team, that's how Voron was doing. My usual partner was also my best friend, Ivan Kossiak. Igor Kossiak is his twin brother, and was in the other team of Valentina. Ivan has been killed a short time before my joint operation with Archer. Another death I couldn't prevent.
He took a shaky breath, and grabbed the bottle of vodka, not bothering to pour a shot in his glass this time. He drank straight from the bottle, wishing the burning liquid would stop the tears running down his cheeks. He slammed the now empty bottle on the table and added:
_ I spoke with Igor Kossiak when I was back to Russia after I left you. He has always suspected his partner of having killed his brother. I couldn't do this mission since I was already waiting for Archer, and Ivan had to team up with his brother's partner. Leonid Avilov.
Kestrel felt hatred growing in his chest, and he got to his feet. He stumbled a little, but he had to walk a few paces to calm himself and focus on the questions that would follow. He knew these were only a warm-up before the real painful ones, and he had to brace himself.
He went to the large bay window and looked outside. He realized the view was the same than his bedroom's one, but he couldn't see the waterfall from here. He opened the bay a few inches and inhaled the cold air, clearing his mind and sharpening his senses. Then he heard Sam's uneasy voice, and thought that Grim hadn't had the courage to make him feel worse.
_ Kestrel, can you tell us what Timochenko was planning to do with you?
He shut the bay window but stayed standing before it and put his boiling forehead against the cold window. His fists clenched in spite of himself as yells of pain and memories of gruesome experiments and vicious tortures rushed forward, and he heard Timochenko's voice, speaking in his mind about his crazy projects.
_ He wanted to make a super-army with the Voron agents. Make us stronger and faster, and docile, questionless operatives. Vialitsyn didn't agree with him, but he let him torture me, ignoring that Timochenko was experimenting on me.
He remembered the experiments and the pain so well he almost felt them again, and smashed his fists on the bay window. Fortunately the glass didn't break, but he felt the window vibrate so much he knew it had been close. Then he turned round and strode towards the low table, avoiding the team's gaze, and grabbed the bottle, but it was empty. He tossed it violently in the corner in his frustration, and ran to the cupboard behind Sam and Grim. Someone had put another bottle of vodka in there, and he wrenched it open and hastily gulped down several mouthfuls.
Then he went to his armchair and collapsed onto it, bottle still in hand, ignoring the team's pained expressions. His gaze was starting to blur, but the pain was still vivid and sharp in his mind. He heard Sam's voice again.
_ Do you have any idea why Timochenko put the microchip in your head?
Kestrel had, and the idea was not good news for his sanity. He drank another shot of vodka and said, noticing that his voice was becoming unsteady and slow:
_ Before he put me in the coma during which you rescued me, he tortured me for weeks. He wanted to break my spirit and make me cooperate. He almost succeeded. All my limbs had been broken with a steel baseball bat, I had been punched so much I couldn't think straight, my nails had been ripped off, and so on. I was so much in pain that I relented and agreed to help him take revenge on his boss. I didn't know at the time it was O'Brian, the Meggido chief, and I didn't know what it would involve. All I knew is that it would stop my suffering. So he put me in a coma, and I suppose he put the microchip in my head then. But when he woke me up, I resisted again, and he was so mad he throttled me. He stopped just in time, I was about to die. But he told me that he was not done with me and that Voron had some questions about Third Echelon. So the torture went on, with periods of coma, until you saved me.
A thick silence followed his statement, and he drank several mouthfuls from his bottle. He knew he was close to falling into the black hole again and couldn't wait to do so. Next to him Briggs asked him with a voice full of concern:
_ Are you sure Timochenko was talking about O'Brian and not Vialitsyn?
Kestrel shook his head. He couldn't be sure. He looked at Sam, but his face was blurred. Grim then breathed heavily and sat forward, indicating the wall with the image on.
_ Kestrel, can you have a look at that list and tell us if we can trust the people on it? On this list are some Voron members that the scheme says are too loyal, and you're one of them.
Kestrel turned his gaze towards the projected screen but couldn't read the tiny print.
_ I'm sorry, I can't see the names.
_ I'll read them for you, Briggs offered. Valentina Stepankova, can we trust her?
_ Yes.
_ Igor Kossiak, Voron's second-in command.
_ Yes.
_ Kirill Globa.
_ No.
_ Maria Lebedeva.
_ Don't know her.
_ Josef Marinov.
_ Yes.
_ Cristina Nikonova.
_ Yes.
_ And Dmitri Siantchuk.
_ No.
_ Why can't we trust Globa and Siantchuk? Sam asked him.
_ You won't need to trust them, Kestrel said, the pain fading at last, replaced by a numbness in his limbs and mind. Alpha and I killed them. They were in the team that tortured me.
_ Oh, okay, Sam said, sounding stunned. Then we'll think about contacting Stepankova and Kossiak to warn them of the treason of Avilov, along with several Voron ops.
_ We must also discover who helped Fedorova infiltrate the CIA, Charlie said grimly, and see if it's the same person who gave us fake bullet-proof vests.
_ What? Sam shouted, jarring Kestrel out of the reverie he was slowly falling into. Fake bullet-proof vests?
_ Yeah, Charlie said. Instead of the kevlar and ceramic plates, you had aluminium plates. No wonder you've been wounded, Sam. And you were lucky not to have been killed.
_ I'm gonna strangle this Fedorova with my bare hands, Sam grumbled.
_ No, Kestrel mumbled thickly, his eyes closing in spite of himself. She's mine. She'll have to pay for what she did to me. And to Alpha's body.
His last words came out as a murmur, and his head slumped back once again on his armchair.
_ Kestrel! Briggs exclaimed next to him and shook his arm, but it was too late.
Kestrel's hand opened, dropping the bottle of vodka on the carpet, and he fell in the dark, happily leaving his tortured conscience and pained body behind him, if only for a few minutes.