* * * *
It was his third day in Pyongyang and Jack was getting tired of the waiting. One contact after another had told him the same thing. Yes, Bellamare was based here. Yes, Rakoczy was in the city. Yes, the next person they passed him along to would be able to answer his questions. Only the next person invariably had no answers - just more of the same banal reassurances and yet another contact for him to make.
Not only was he becoming tired of the waiting, he was growing weary of the weather as well. It wasn't the first time he had wished that they could extend the lifespan of the capsule ensuring Sark's fidelity. If the boy could have been trusted in the field this long, Jack would have cheerfully thrown him out into this rain and humidity while retreating to a cooler, drier surveillance post himself.
A dark figure separated itself from darker shadows and Jack stiffened at its approach. He began to mentally swear almost immediately. The inevitability of this encounter had always been in the back of his mind. He simply had not expected it to occur today.
"Hello, Jack," Irina said evenly. "I see you've discovered that Sark can be quite cooperative when properly motivated."
"He has his uses," he agreed, matching her dispassionate tone.
"You were both observed in Cairo not long ago. He appears to be doing well."
"Well enough, under the circumstances. Though he's no fonder of that cell than I presume you were."
She smiled faintly. "I suspect he enjoys it rather less. The climate is probably a little too extreme for his liking."
"He did negotiate for a blanket much more quickly than you did," he acceded. "You two had this planned from the beginning."
"Would you believe me if I said no?" Her smile widened infinitesimally at his silence. "I came here for the same reason you did. I stayed because I knew that sooner or later this project would attract Sark's attention and eventually one of you would come."
"One of us?"
She tilted her head slightly and looked at him through narrowed eyes. "My sources have never been able to maintain surveillance on Sark in any single location for more than twenty hours. You have him tagged with some sort of time-sensitive device, I assume."
"What is Project Bellamare?" he asked, ignoring her not-so-subtle probing just as she surely expected he would.
"It's a biomedical engineering research program financed by a former Alliance splinter group. I could find no indication that this operation has ever considered the abduction or recruitment of foreign agents."
"So we're just wasting our time here."
"I'm saving you time here. Sark was right to suspect this project, but I've already investigated it. We could be so much more effective if we didn't duplicate our efforts."
"Collaboration?"
"I'm not asking for state secrets, Jack." There was a trace of exasperation in her voice. "I just want to find my daughter."
"It's touching how concerned you are about your offspring."
There was a small pause as she looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "I have always been concerned about… my offspring."
"You have very interesting ways of showing it."
"Your record as an exemplary parent isn't exactly spotless."
Jack bit down on his vindictive retort. This bickering never got them anywhere. He scowled at Irina as he reorganized his thoughts, knowing that she was doing the same behind calculating eyes.
"How do you propose orchestrating this collaboration?" he asked at last.
"While we may not have prearranged this particular encounter, there are certain names, certain pseudonyms and codes that Sark will be able to identify once I begin instituting them."
"What makes you think that he would agree to be an intermediary in this? Considering the provocation you've given him so far, unless this whole affair really was planned in advance, it might be a bit presumptuous to assume that he's willing to cooperate with you right now."
"He has a very pragmatic view of this business," she said. "He understands that sometimes these things are necessary."
"Are you certain that he does?"
"He is a professional."
"And if it isn't a professional issue?" he pressed. "How can you be so sure he won't take it personally?"
"I think I'm a fairly good judge of his temperament," she said. A sharpness was beginning to creep into her voice. "I have known him for a very long time."
"But how careful were you in all those years? Personally I've made certain that I have never lied to him."
"How noble."
"I've never sold him out."
"If you'll recall, I turned him over to the CIA to save your life, Jack."
"Which I do appreciate, but I wouldn't be so quick to assume that he's of the same opinion. I've never shot him… No, I'm sorry. That was our daughter you shot, wasn't it? I've never abandoned him then."
"God, Jack!" She stared at him in dismay, dropping all pretense of ignorance. "Do you think I wanted to leave him in that orphanage? I would have left him with you if I could. If there had been just a few more months… But there was no time."
"You stole my son," Jack said harshly.
"Our son," Irina stressed, "was taken from me just as much as he was taken from you."
"But you got him back."
"And now so have you."
"Now he's a sociopath. Thank you so much for that," he snapped.
"What? You think he wasn't damaged before I got him back myself?" she shot back. "They took him from me less than a month after he was born. When I found him again he was the hardest nine-year-old you've ever seen. I didn't break him, Jack. I made him strong."
"You made him a criminal. Our son is currently a prisoner of the United States government on charges of espionage, terrorism, and assassination."
"And our daughter is currently missing without a trace. Could we save the recriminations for another time?"
* * * *
It was his third day in Pyongyang and Jack was getting tired of the waiting. One contact after another had told him the same thing. Yes, Bellamare was based here. Yes, Rakoczy was in the city. Yes, the next person they passed him along to would be able to answer his questions. Only the next person invariably had no answers - just more of the same banal reassurances and yet another contact for him to make.
Not only was he becoming tired of the waiting, he was growing weary of the weather as well. It wasn't the first time he had wished that they could extend the lifespan of the capsule ensuring Sark's fidelity. If the boy could have been trusted in the field this long, Jack would have cheerfully thrown him out into this rain and humidity while retreating to a cooler, drier surveillance post himself.
A dark figure separated itself from darker shadows and Jack stiffened at its approach. He began to mentally swear almost immediately. The inevitability of this encounter had always been in the back of his mind. He simply had not expected it to occur today.
"Hello, Jack," Irina said evenly. "I see you've discovered that Sark can be quite cooperative when properly motivated."
"He has his uses," he agreed, matching her dispassionate tone.
"You were both observed in Cairo not long ago. He appears to be doing well."
"Well enough, under the circumstances. Though he's no fonder of that cell than I presume you were."
She smiled faintly. "I suspect he enjoys it rather less. The climate is probably a little too extreme for his liking."
"He did negotiate for a blanket much more quickly than you did," he acceded. "You two had this planned from the beginning."
"Would you believe me if I said no?" Her smile widened infinitesimally at his silence. "I came here for the same reason you did. I stayed because I knew that sooner or later this project would attract Sark's attention and eventually one of you would come."
"One of us?"
She tilted her head slightly and looked at him through narrowed eyes. "My sources have never been able to maintain surveillance on Sark in any single location for more than twenty hours. You have him tagged with some sort of time-sensitive device, I assume."
"What is Project Bellamare?" he asked, ignoring her not-so-subtle probing just as she surely expected he would.
"It's a biomedical engineering research program financed by a former Alliance splinter group. I could find no indication that this operation has ever considered the abduction or recruitment of foreign agents."
"So we're just wasting our time here."
"I'm saving you time here. Sark was right to suspect this project, but I've already investigated it. We could be so much more effective if we didn't duplicate our efforts."
"Collaboration?"
"I'm not asking for state secrets, Jack." There was a trace of exasperation in her voice. "I just want to find my daughter."
"It's touching how concerned you are about your offspring."
There was a small pause as she looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "I have always been concerned about… my offspring."
"You have very interesting ways of showing it."
"Your record as an exemplary parent isn't exactly spotless."
Jack bit down on his vindictive retort. This bickering never got them anywhere. He scowled at Irina as he reorganized his thoughts, knowing that she was doing the same behind calculating eyes.
"How do you propose orchestrating this collaboration?" he asked at last.
"While we may not have prearranged this particular encounter, there are certain names, certain pseudonyms and codes that Sark will be able to identify once I begin instituting them."
"What makes you think that he would agree to be an intermediary in this? Considering the provocation you've given him so far, unless this whole affair really was planned in advance, it might be a bit presumptuous to assume that he's willing to cooperate with you right now."
"He has a very pragmatic view of this business," she said. "He understands that sometimes these things are necessary."
"Are you certain that he does?"
"He is a professional."
"And if it isn't a professional issue?" he pressed. "How can you be so sure he won't take it personally?"
"I think I'm a fairly good judge of his temperament," she said. A sharpness was beginning to creep into her voice. "I have known him for a very long time."
"But how careful were you in all those years? Personally I've made certain that I have never lied to him."
"How noble."
"I've never sold him out."
"If you'll recall, I turned him over to the CIA to save your life, Jack."
"Which I do appreciate, but I wouldn't be so quick to assume that he's of the same opinion. I've never shot him… No, I'm sorry. That was our daughter you shot, wasn't it? I've never abandoned him then."
"God, Jack!" She stared at him in dismay, dropping all pretense of ignorance. "Do you think I wanted to leave him in that orphanage? I would have left him with you if I could. If there had been just a few more months… But there was no time."
"You stole my son," Jack said harshly.
"Our son," Irina stressed, "was taken from me just as much as he was taken from you."
"But you got him back."
"And now so have you."
"Now he's a sociopath. Thank you so much for that," he snapped.
"What? You think he wasn't damaged before I got him back myself?" she shot back. "They took him from me less than a month after he was born. When I found him again he was the hardest nine-year-old you've ever seen. I didn't break him, Jack. I made him strong."
"You made him a criminal. Our son is currently a prisoner of the United States government on charges of espionage, terrorism, and assassination."
"And our daughter is currently missing without a trace. Could we save the recriminations for another time?"
* * * *