Summary: Sydney finally learns the truth about her mother...
Author's note: Sorry about the HTML codes on the other chapters, I had them there from posting the story elsewhere and forgot to delete them! But there are no codes on this chapter, so enjoy!
Shattered Snowglobe, chapter 7
Sydney sat in her first class window seat. If there was only one perk about her job, it was definitely getting to fly first class everywhere.
Her father had mapped out Sydney's cover story to her on the way to the airport. He had bought the ticket to Oslo under her CIA alias, and had bought another ticket to Salt Lake City under her SD-6 alias. He had hired a lower level agent to take the flight to Salt Lake so that if Sloane tracked it, it would appear to him that Sydney truly had gone there. He was going to tell Sloane that she had been so distraught over everything regarding Dixon that she decided to escape for a few days, three maximum.
Sydney thought it was a pretty weak cover. Incredibly weak, in fact. She had used it before. But she was on her way to Oslo, and there was nothing Sloane could do to stop her.
She gazed blankly out the window, wondering what "loose ends" her father had mentioned would come together. Maybe it had something to do with her mother. "God knows there are a lot of loose ends there," she thought.
Maybe the trip would reveal something new about her father. At this point, nothing about her father could phase her.
These fragmented thoughts encased Sydney's brain and led her into a restless sleep.
-------
She awoke to the pilot cheerfully announcing in Norwegian that they would landing momentarily. "Another perk," Sydney thought, "being able to understand the airplane staff pretty much anywhere you go. Who knew there could be two perks to this hellish job?" she thought.
She put her seat upright, unfastened her seatbelt, and walked off the plane. She had no luggage, not even a carry on.
She stepped outside into the brisk Norwegian air, the sun's steaming rays barely able to penetrate the permafrost. She crossed her arms across her chest, trying to gain more warmth, and slightly lifted one hand to hail a cab.
-------
The cab driver whipped through rural Oslo and dropped Sydney off at the address her father had given her. It was a quaint, one floor country cottage. She could not even see another house across the sloping fields. The house looked like it had not been used recently.
She cautiously opened the front door, having garnered a key from under the faded welcome mat. The house was modestly but comfortably furnished, the welcoming furniture was sparse.
She stepped inside and shut the door behind her, taking in the contents of the main room.
There was a brick fireplace, crowned with a mantle. The mantle was adorned with pictures. Facing the fireplace was a cherry wood coffee table and a worn in looking mauve couch, faded from the sun pouring in the generously large windows. The windows had drapes that matched the couch, as well as blackout curtains. In a corner, there was a single white rocking chair. The floor was hardwood, with throw rugs scattered here and there. It looked like a typical vacation home.
Sydney walked over to the fireplace, looking at the pictures.
There were six altogether. One of her as a toddler, playing in a yard. One of her father and mother, obviously taken many years prior. One of her mother cradling Sydney as a baby. One of her as a child with her parents on a picnic. One of her mother alone, not smiling but looking serenely beautiful. Tears welled up in Sydney's eyes as she tried to remember her mother the way she had for so many years. Before she discovered that her mother was s killer.
The pictures gave away that this was obviously Jack's old vacation home, not one of his friends'. But there was still another picture, behind the others.
Sydney gasped as she looked at it.
It was of Arvin Sloane, surrounded by both of Sydney's parents, standing in the main room of SD-6.
-------
Sydney wiped away her tears and went on a silent mission to search the house top and bottom. Her father and told her that loose ends would come together. The picture was a step, even the fact that it was apparently her father's vacation house contributed, but it was apparent that Sydney would have to do the rest alone.
She practically ransacked each room in the house: the living room first, the kitchen, the bathroom, the master bedroom, and the guest bedroom. She found nothing.
Sydney knew that if this house had belonged to her father then it was not going to be a typical house. She went back through every room, pressing on panels and knocking on walls hoping to find a hiding place of some kind.
It was of no avail until she came to the guest bedroom. She unscrewed the knobs from the tops of the bed's head and foot bars. Beneath the knob of the bottom left corner, Sydney could faintly see an edge of paper sticking out. She pulled out three rolled up papers, tied together with a thin piece of twine. She pulled off the twine, unrolled the papers, and began to read.
"Dear Sydney,
If you are reading this letter, then it is time for the truth to come out. Your mother worked for SD-6, not the KGB. The orders for her to assassinate the CIA agents came in fact from Sloane, not the KGB. When she began being investigated by the FBI, Sloane set her up to look like a KGB agent instead of one of his own. Basically, she was set up to look like a mole, working "truthfully" for the KGB and trying to penetrate SD-6, the murders just a part of her plan. Your mother did know about this set up. Remember, all lower level SD-6 agents think that they are working for the CIA. If it came out that your mother killed CIA agents when she was supposed to be working for the CIA, everyone in SD-6 would have known who they were really working for and SD-6 would have been destroyed. I planted the codes in your mother's books under Sloane's orders. You are probably wondering why I let this happen, why I didn't just let SD-6 fall. There is no easy way for me to tell you, but you
have to just trust that I had to let things run their course. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you must choose between SD-6 and the CIA, you will no doubt find yourself saving SD-6. Remember, we have to continually prove our loyalty in order to bring them down. Your mother was not evil. She did not know the truth about SD-6's negative affiliation. By following Sloane's orders, she thought she was helping her country. Laura Bristow was merely another one of Sloane's sacrificial lambs caught up in his deceitful web. Sydney, your mother was a good person. Think whatever you want of me for putting her in that awful position, but please just know that your mother was good.
Dad."
-------
Sydney placed the papers down gently and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. It was no use. She was sobbing much too hard.
"Your mother was good." That one phrase kept echoing in Sydney's head. It gave her a restless closure. Her mother was a good person, but at what price? Her father had followed orders to have her killed. "Cut him some slack Sydney," she told herself. "He didn't know she was going to die. He was just trying to help."
The tears kept coming.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's note: Sorry about the HTML codes on the other chapters, I had them there from posting the story elsewhere and forgot to delete them! But there are no codes on this chapter, so enjoy!
Shattered Snowglobe, chapter 7
Sydney sat in her first class window seat. If there was only one perk about her job, it was definitely getting to fly first class everywhere.
Her father had mapped out Sydney's cover story to her on the way to the airport. He had bought the ticket to Oslo under her CIA alias, and had bought another ticket to Salt Lake City under her SD-6 alias. He had hired a lower level agent to take the flight to Salt Lake so that if Sloane tracked it, it would appear to him that Sydney truly had gone there. He was going to tell Sloane that she had been so distraught over everything regarding Dixon that she decided to escape for a few days, three maximum.
Sydney thought it was a pretty weak cover. Incredibly weak, in fact. She had used it before. But she was on her way to Oslo, and there was nothing Sloane could do to stop her.
She gazed blankly out the window, wondering what "loose ends" her father had mentioned would come together. Maybe it had something to do with her mother. "God knows there are a lot of loose ends there," she thought.
Maybe the trip would reveal something new about her father. At this point, nothing about her father could phase her.
These fragmented thoughts encased Sydney's brain and led her into a restless sleep.
-------
She awoke to the pilot cheerfully announcing in Norwegian that they would landing momentarily. "Another perk," Sydney thought, "being able to understand the airplane staff pretty much anywhere you go. Who knew there could be two perks to this hellish job?" she thought.
She put her seat upright, unfastened her seatbelt, and walked off the plane. She had no luggage, not even a carry on.
She stepped outside into the brisk Norwegian air, the sun's steaming rays barely able to penetrate the permafrost. She crossed her arms across her chest, trying to gain more warmth, and slightly lifted one hand to hail a cab.
-------
The cab driver whipped through rural Oslo and dropped Sydney off at the address her father had given her. It was a quaint, one floor country cottage. She could not even see another house across the sloping fields. The house looked like it had not been used recently.
She cautiously opened the front door, having garnered a key from under the faded welcome mat. The house was modestly but comfortably furnished, the welcoming furniture was sparse.
She stepped inside and shut the door behind her, taking in the contents of the main room.
There was a brick fireplace, crowned with a mantle. The mantle was adorned with pictures. Facing the fireplace was a cherry wood coffee table and a worn in looking mauve couch, faded from the sun pouring in the generously large windows. The windows had drapes that matched the couch, as well as blackout curtains. In a corner, there was a single white rocking chair. The floor was hardwood, with throw rugs scattered here and there. It looked like a typical vacation home.
Sydney walked over to the fireplace, looking at the pictures.
There were six altogether. One of her as a toddler, playing in a yard. One of her father and mother, obviously taken many years prior. One of her mother cradling Sydney as a baby. One of her as a child with her parents on a picnic. One of her mother alone, not smiling but looking serenely beautiful. Tears welled up in Sydney's eyes as she tried to remember her mother the way she had for so many years. Before she discovered that her mother was s killer.
The pictures gave away that this was obviously Jack's old vacation home, not one of his friends'. But there was still another picture, behind the others.
Sydney gasped as she looked at it.
It was of Arvin Sloane, surrounded by both of Sydney's parents, standing in the main room of SD-6.
-------
Sydney wiped away her tears and went on a silent mission to search the house top and bottom. Her father and told her that loose ends would come together. The picture was a step, even the fact that it was apparently her father's vacation house contributed, but it was apparent that Sydney would have to do the rest alone.
She practically ransacked each room in the house: the living room first, the kitchen, the bathroom, the master bedroom, and the guest bedroom. She found nothing.
Sydney knew that if this house had belonged to her father then it was not going to be a typical house. She went back through every room, pressing on panels and knocking on walls hoping to find a hiding place of some kind.
It was of no avail until she came to the guest bedroom. She unscrewed the knobs from the tops of the bed's head and foot bars. Beneath the knob of the bottom left corner, Sydney could faintly see an edge of paper sticking out. She pulled out three rolled up papers, tied together with a thin piece of twine. She pulled off the twine, unrolled the papers, and began to read.
"Dear Sydney,
If you are reading this letter, then it is time for the truth to come out. Your mother worked for SD-6, not the KGB. The orders for her to assassinate the CIA agents came in fact from Sloane, not the KGB. When she began being investigated by the FBI, Sloane set her up to look like a KGB agent instead of one of his own. Basically, she was set up to look like a mole, working "truthfully" for the KGB and trying to penetrate SD-6, the murders just a part of her plan. Your mother did know about this set up. Remember, all lower level SD-6 agents think that they are working for the CIA. If it came out that your mother killed CIA agents when she was supposed to be working for the CIA, everyone in SD-6 would have known who they were really working for and SD-6 would have been destroyed. I planted the codes in your mother's books under Sloane's orders. You are probably wondering why I let this happen, why I didn't just let SD-6 fall. There is no easy way for me to tell you, but you
have to just trust that I had to let things run their course. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you must choose between SD-6 and the CIA, you will no doubt find yourself saving SD-6. Remember, we have to continually prove our loyalty in order to bring them down. Your mother was not evil. She did not know the truth about SD-6's negative affiliation. By following Sloane's orders, she thought she was helping her country. Laura Bristow was merely another one of Sloane's sacrificial lambs caught up in his deceitful web. Sydney, your mother was a good person. Think whatever you want of me for putting her in that awful position, but please just know that your mother was good.
Dad."
-------
Sydney placed the papers down gently and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. It was no use. She was sobbing much too hard.
"Your mother was good." That one phrase kept echoing in Sydney's head. It gave her a restless closure. Her mother was a good person, but at what price? Her father had followed orders to have her killed. "Cut him some slack Sydney," she told herself. "He didn't know she was going to die. He was just trying to help."
The tears kept coming.
TO BE CONTINUED...