Chapter 39
Irina introduced herself at the reception desk of the CIA building as Laura Bristow; moments later, a young agent showed up to escort her to a small room containing nothing but a table and three chairs. She'd gotten rather worried since Jack's call; she knew perfectly well that she wasn't really there for counseling. She'd been expecting that the CIA would want to know far more than what she'd told Dawson during their brief discussion after she'd been captured, but she hadn't thought they'd bring her in so soon.
"Someone will be with you in a moment," the young agent said, then left, locking the door behind him. Irina sat down, shaking her head at the absurdity of the idea that she could possibly do any harm with CIA agents everywhere, especially considering the broken leg.
About five minutes passed before the door opened again. Irina bit back a gasp of shock as she recognized the first man through the door: Curtis Levy, the director of the CIA. They must think she was far more important than she actually was. He was followed by another agent, not so young as the one who had brought her here, who carried a tape recorder. Irina waited silently, keeping her expression neutral, while the younger agent set up the tape recorder and then left.
Levy sat down. "Miss Derevko, I'm Agent Levy. I've got a few questions for you, if you don't mind."
Surely he knew that she would recognize his name if she hadn't recognized his face, she thought. Oh, well; she would play along. "Of course," she said. "My daughter gets out of school at 3:30, so I'll need to be home by then." It was currently just after ten, and she fully expected to be there for the next five hours.
"Yes, Agent Bristow mentioned that," Levy said. He opened the file folder he'd brought with him, positioning it so she couldn't see the contents. "Your daughter Sydney. She's six years old?" Irina nodded. "Did you get pregnant in order to cement your relationship with Agent Bristow?"
Irina frowned. She was tempted to respond with righteous indignation, but she knew better. This man outranked Dawson and could overrule her agreement with Dawson and give her the death penalty if he so chose. If she convinced him of her sincerity, though, she would have little to worry about from the CIA. "No," she answered calmly. "I didn't intend to get pregnant at all." She paused; he remained silent. Long pauses were a valuable tool in an interrogation; when the questioner didn't say anything, the subject tended to try to justify himself. Irina knew this, but was quite comfortable with silence; she said nothing.
"Were your superiors at the KGB in favor of your pregnancy?"
"Absolutely not. I was reprimanded for being lax with my birth control."
"Did they encourage you to have an abortion?"
"When I informed my handler of my pregnancy, it was already too late for an abortion," Irina replied as she realized why Levy was asking her these seemingly irrelevant questions rather than finding out what classified information she'd passed on to the KGB: he was trying to figure out why she had turned on her country.
Levy flipped through the pages of his folder. Irina's suspicions were confirmed when he asked, "When did you stop feeling loyalty toward your country?"
She still loved her country; it was the current government that she couldn't care less about, Irina thought. But there was no need to correct Levy on that point. She steeled herself against emotion. "Three years ago, I became pregnant again. My superiors ordered me to abort; when a week went by and I did nothing, they drugged my food at a restaurant and induced an abortion." She paused. "I did some research on the drugs they gave me; they were quite dangerous and could very easily have killed me. I realized at that point how little my superiors valued me. It would have been far less hassle for them, and less risk for me, to simply allow me to continue the pregnancy. But I was able to give them less information during my pregnancy with Sydney and her infancy, due to both Jack's desire to stay home more and my decreased mobility; because of that, they deemed another child unacceptable."
"And so at that point you stopped being loyal to the KGB?" Levy didn't look convinced.
"Yes," she answered simply. The truth was somewhat more complex than that, of course; she'd been feeling discontent for some time, but it was nothing she could put into words.
Levy frowned. "Yet you continued to serve the KGB for three years. Why didn't you turn yourself in?"
"I never thought that the US government would make me a double agent; I assumed I'd get the death penalty if I ever turned myself in. The KGB would have retaliated by killing my husband and daughter." She paused. "They still will, if they discover what I've done."
"I see. Did you ever consider telling Agent Bristow?"
"No. That would have put him in a very difficult position; I would have been forcing him to choose between his wife and his country."
"I see." Levy looked through his folder again, then looked up. "Miss Derevko, you're aware of my position within the agency," he stated. Irina nodded. "I'm going to honor your agreement with Director Dawson. However, we will be keeping a very close eye on you and your actions. Is that understood?"
"Of course." She'd expected nothing less.
"Good. Now let's get into some more specifics about what exactly you've been doing over the last ten years."
Irina allowed herself to relax just a bit. The worst was over; she would be allowed to stay with Jack and Sydney as long as she could keep the KGB happy and avoid extraction. And afterwards...well, as she had for the past ten years, she would avoid thinking about afterwards.
Irina introduced herself at the reception desk of the CIA building as Laura Bristow; moments later, a young agent showed up to escort her to a small room containing nothing but a table and three chairs. She'd gotten rather worried since Jack's call; she knew perfectly well that she wasn't really there for counseling. She'd been expecting that the CIA would want to know far more than what she'd told Dawson during their brief discussion after she'd been captured, but she hadn't thought they'd bring her in so soon.
"Someone will be with you in a moment," the young agent said, then left, locking the door behind him. Irina sat down, shaking her head at the absurdity of the idea that she could possibly do any harm with CIA agents everywhere, especially considering the broken leg.
About five minutes passed before the door opened again. Irina bit back a gasp of shock as she recognized the first man through the door: Curtis Levy, the director of the CIA. They must think she was far more important than she actually was. He was followed by another agent, not so young as the one who had brought her here, who carried a tape recorder. Irina waited silently, keeping her expression neutral, while the younger agent set up the tape recorder and then left.
Levy sat down. "Miss Derevko, I'm Agent Levy. I've got a few questions for you, if you don't mind."
Surely he knew that she would recognize his name if she hadn't recognized his face, she thought. Oh, well; she would play along. "Of course," she said. "My daughter gets out of school at 3:30, so I'll need to be home by then." It was currently just after ten, and she fully expected to be there for the next five hours.
"Yes, Agent Bristow mentioned that," Levy said. He opened the file folder he'd brought with him, positioning it so she couldn't see the contents. "Your daughter Sydney. She's six years old?" Irina nodded. "Did you get pregnant in order to cement your relationship with Agent Bristow?"
Irina frowned. She was tempted to respond with righteous indignation, but she knew better. This man outranked Dawson and could overrule her agreement with Dawson and give her the death penalty if he so chose. If she convinced him of her sincerity, though, she would have little to worry about from the CIA. "No," she answered calmly. "I didn't intend to get pregnant at all." She paused; he remained silent. Long pauses were a valuable tool in an interrogation; when the questioner didn't say anything, the subject tended to try to justify himself. Irina knew this, but was quite comfortable with silence; she said nothing.
"Were your superiors at the KGB in favor of your pregnancy?"
"Absolutely not. I was reprimanded for being lax with my birth control."
"Did they encourage you to have an abortion?"
"When I informed my handler of my pregnancy, it was already too late for an abortion," Irina replied as she realized why Levy was asking her these seemingly irrelevant questions rather than finding out what classified information she'd passed on to the KGB: he was trying to figure out why she had turned on her country.
Levy flipped through the pages of his folder. Irina's suspicions were confirmed when he asked, "When did you stop feeling loyalty toward your country?"
She still loved her country; it was the current government that she couldn't care less about, Irina thought. But there was no need to correct Levy on that point. She steeled herself against emotion. "Three years ago, I became pregnant again. My superiors ordered me to abort; when a week went by and I did nothing, they drugged my food at a restaurant and induced an abortion." She paused. "I did some research on the drugs they gave me; they were quite dangerous and could very easily have killed me. I realized at that point how little my superiors valued me. It would have been far less hassle for them, and less risk for me, to simply allow me to continue the pregnancy. But I was able to give them less information during my pregnancy with Sydney and her infancy, due to both Jack's desire to stay home more and my decreased mobility; because of that, they deemed another child unacceptable."
"And so at that point you stopped being loyal to the KGB?" Levy didn't look convinced.
"Yes," she answered simply. The truth was somewhat more complex than that, of course; she'd been feeling discontent for some time, but it was nothing she could put into words.
Levy frowned. "Yet you continued to serve the KGB for three years. Why didn't you turn yourself in?"
"I never thought that the US government would make me a double agent; I assumed I'd get the death penalty if I ever turned myself in. The KGB would have retaliated by killing my husband and daughter." She paused. "They still will, if they discover what I've done."
"I see. Did you ever consider telling Agent Bristow?"
"No. That would have put him in a very difficult position; I would have been forcing him to choose between his wife and his country."
"I see." Levy looked through his folder again, then looked up. "Miss Derevko, you're aware of my position within the agency," he stated. Irina nodded. "I'm going to honor your agreement with Director Dawson. However, we will be keeping a very close eye on you and your actions. Is that understood?"
"Of course." She'd expected nothing less.
"Good. Now let's get into some more specifics about what exactly you've been doing over the last ten years."
Irina allowed herself to relax just a bit. The worst was over; she would be allowed to stay with Jack and Sydney as long as she could keep the KGB happy and avoid extraction. And afterwards...well, as she had for the past ten years, she would avoid thinking about afterwards.
