Part 4b
She is frequently kind
And she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobody's fool
Irina was forced to turn back around. Her anger was gone but in its place had appeared a deep sadness. She looked at the man she just sucker-punched with her words and thought that maybe she should have just kept her mouth shut for another nine months. She approached him slowly, warily, unsure of his response or if he would even believe her. His eyes followed her as if waiting for the deathblow, but demanding it all the same.
"I am not abdicating my responsibility in his death. I gave him the damn manuscript." She dropped back down onto her bed, almost defeated. "I didn't know what was in it. He showed it to me later. He'd been able to decipher it based on a key they had found several months earlier. How was I supposed to know that it would have a picture of him in it? It was written 500 years ago!" Irina had turned away slightly and so she didn't see Vaughn's face pale. When she did look back at him however it was obvious that something was wrong. "What? What is it?"
Vaughn shook his head, unable to respond. Irina didn't understand. She had expected accusations, denials or damnation. She had not expected shock, at least not so quickly.
"Fine," she said a little annoyed at his silence, but she was used to playing these games. "As you know Rambaldi invented or prophesized the invention of many technological devices. From Sloane's current rise to power you know that this included weapons as well. I don't know what bizarre twist of fate linked your father to Rambaldi or how it was that of all the things I could have given him, that was the thing I gave him, but this manuscript talked about a weapon called The Flute."
Irina paused, trying to remember details from almost thirty years ago. "It didn't describe what the weapon did in any great detail or what it looked like. It just had a picture of your father's face…" She hadn't thought that Vaughn's face could register any other emotion other than the shock on it, but at the mention of his father's face, he looked like someone had stabbed him. Though it pained her, she couldn't stop now.
"He looked so young and peaceful. It was a beautiful picture. Around it was an inscription. If I remember correctly it said 'This man holds the secret to life and such also the secret of death. Hidden within him lies the code for both, because one cannot exist without the other. Though his blood has been shed for many, for nothing, a single drop of his blood can bring the greatest music to life."
"I said 'weapon' when I first mentioned the Flute but to Rambaldi it was the key to eternal life. It was what he had been searching for. Remember that flower we brought back from Kashmir? Well anything that can sustain life forever can also destroy it in the blink of an eye. At first we thought that if we just destroyed the manuscript then it would be impossible to activate the weapon and your father would be safe. Unfortunately, a few days later, the CIA sent William to retrieve a new Rambaldi device; an antique vase. He returned with it and after it had gone through analysis it became obvious to us that Rambaldi had put some redundancy in his instructions. The vase had an inscription on the inside of it describing the flower of youth, but it also spoke about the Flute."
"It also became obvious to me and I related this information to your father, that the person who was supposed to receive the manuscript was quite angry that he hadn't received it and he was using his own methods to track it down."
Irina stood up again and started to pace the room. Will was shocked to see her twisting her hands in agitation. "You have to understand the horrible consequences that this weapon could have. Rambaldi was looking for the secret to life. Your labs analyzed that flower we brought back from India. Whether you like it or not, you know that Rambaldi had discovered something. Well the secret to life is also the secret to death. After that, your father disappeared for a few days. I tried to contact him, I tried all the usual drops and signs that we had established. Nothing." Irina's voice cracked slightly but she continued. "Finally, three days after he disappeared, he called me and told me to come and meet him. I will never forget the agony in his voice. When I arrived at the old warehouse I found him dead. He had cut his own throat."
Irina turned back to face William's son, her face honest and tortured. "He left me specific instructions to burn everything. He had already burned the manuscript. I found a pile of ashes next to his body. So I did. I burned the warehouse to ground. I made it look like I had fulfilled the original mission that had brought me to your father in the first place."
Vaughn stared at Irina without moving for so long that she thought he'd turned to stone. Finally he found his voice and asked the only questions that he could think of. "Why were you meeting my father?"
Irina was so surprised at his possible acceptance of her story that she answered plainly, "Because I was trying to leave the KGB."
Vaughn stared at her a moment, absorbing the full meaning of her answer and then nodded. "And the manuscript?"
"He wanted proof of my intentions before he would help me. I just happened to have the sealed manuscript with me. I was supposed to courier it to a drop off point, later on that day."
Will, who had been watching the interplay from the safety of his corner and seeing Irina so disarmed gave him the courage to speak. "What does this have to do with Sark setting a trap by helping us to find Sydney?"
Irina's mask slid easily back into place and she turned her hard stare to Will. He was pleased with himself when he managed not to flinch. "It has everything to do with it. William died and had me destroy his body so that his DNA could not be recovered. He destroyed the manuscript so that weapon could never be built and he died so that the weapon could never be activated."
Irina turned back to Vaughn, bitterness heavy in her voice. "Unfortunately, I later found out that we had been discovered by a mole in the CIA." Vaughn turned his face away from her.
"Anyway, the problem now is, that the person who was looking for the manuscript almost thirty years ago is now in a position to assemble this weapon. If he has learned about the code…then all he needs to do is capture William's son."
Irina's voice softened as she walked up to Vaughn and turned his face back to her. She looked over his face, her icy hand on his cheek. "You know it might not have been William in that manuscript. It might have been you."
Vaughn recoiled from her touch and got up, her words heavy on his mind. He tried desperately to form some order to his thoughts but there were still too many holes. He knew his questions to be irrelevant to the profoundness of the moment but he was helpless to stop himself. "How does Sark fit into all this? I thought he worked for you?"
Irina turned away from him, her posture and bearing bringing her back to the woman she had been one year ago. "Sark is his own person. Let's just leave it at that. We worked together because we were mutually helpful to each other and we saw eye to eye in certain things. Needless to say things may have changed in the last two years."
But Vaughn couldn't stop himself. He couldn't stop himself from turning around to deliver the one blow that he could to the woman that had shattered his life. "And you? What about you? Why did you decide to come back after thirty years, to the one organization that shunned you in the first place?"
Irina's cold eyes locked on to his but she refused to take the blow. She waited a moment to show him that she would not answer him. "You want to rescue Sydney, fine. Get me out of here and I will help you. Maybe if I do, I can prevent you from destroying the world."
Vaughn stared back at her, refusing to be baited. Their wills seemed to clash like steel and stone until finally, he closed his eyes in acceptance of their pact.
But she can't be convicted
She's earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But she's always a woman to me