Chapter 3: Turncoat
Two months later...
Marcus Dixon entered his office one Monday morning to find a woman he had never seen before sitting calmly in front of his desk. "Who the hell are you?" he said, reaching for the button by the door that would call Security.
"You might want to listen to what I have to say first," she said, turning toward him.
He was surprised at how young she appeared-he would guess that she was about twenty-one. Long, curly honey-blond hair, blue eyes, and a rather seductive alto voice that immediately brought to mind Irina Derevko. "Talk fast," he said.
"I used to work for the Covenant. I want to help you bring it down."
"How did you get in here?"
"I was an intelligence officer until my apparent death two months ago. One of my assignments was to find out how to get into your facility undetected. I told my superiors that I was unsuccessful, but, as you can see, that was a lie."
Dixon walked to his desk, which not incidentally contained a revolver, and sat down. He didn't think that his visitor was likely to hurt him, since she had revealed herself to him, but he'd feel better with a weapon. "I don't suppose you have any proof of what you're saying."
The young woman opened her purse, withdrew a computer disk, and handed it to Dixon. "Those are blueprints of some of the Covenant's strongholds, along with names and pictures of all the agents in my division."
Dixon was thinking that this was far too good to be true. "Why are you doing this?"
"The leader of my division is a man named Nicolai Kresniev. He killed my family. Twice. I've hated him for eighteen years." Dixon didn't say anything, waiting for her to elaborate. "When I was four, the KGB decided that I had abilities that would make me a good agent. Kresniev came to my home and said he was taking me away so that I could serve Russia. My grandparents asked if he could wait a week, because my mother was coming to visit then. He killed them in front of me for their 'disloyalty'.
"I was nine when the Soviet Union fell. I was in training with about thirty other children my age. Kresniev got orders to kill us all, but he decided he'd rather have his own private little spy corps, so he took four of us with him and killed the rest. I'm the only one of those four still alive; he killed the others, making it look like he wasn't involved, and he tried to kill me. I don't know why he decided to get rid of us; maybe he realized that we were all obeying him out of fear rather than loyalty, I don't know."
Dixon sat back and thought for a moment. If she was lying, she was doing a damn good job, he thought. "Other than the files you gave me, do you have any proof of what you're saying?"
"I met one of your agents a couple of months ago who can identify me. Agent Bristow."
"Which Agent Bristow?"
The woman raised her eyebrows. "There are two? I didn't catch her first name..."
The "her" was enough for Dixon. He pressed his intercom button. "Have Sydney Bristow come to my office, please," he told his secretary.
They sat in silence for a moment, until Sydney came in. The woman turned to look at Sydney, who studied her for a moment. Then she said, "Kate?"
Kate smiled. "I wasn't sure you'd recognize me."
"You look completely different," Sydney said. She turned to Dixon. "She's the one who saved my life in Munich."
Dixon nodded. He decided that, for now, he would accept Kate's story. "Thank you, Sydney," he said. "Kate will be joining us in the near future. Remember our conversation after the Madrid mission?" Sydney nodded. "Good. Pretend you've never seen her before. You can go."
As soon as she was gone, Dixon turned to Kate. "I have reason to believe that a spy from the Covenant has infiltrated the CIA." He'd begun to suspect that some time ago, in fact, and was nearly certain after what had happened in Madrid; nearly every mission involving the Covenant had been an unqualified disaster. "Do you know of anyone?"
"I might recognize them if I saw them," Kate said. "There are a lot of agents spying on other organizations that I've seen, but don't know anything about. I don't know specifically if there's an agent assigned to the CIA, but if I see someone I recognize, I'll let you know."
"Good," Dixon said. "I'll set you up as a new agent fresh out of training. Do you have a safe I.D.?"
Kate nodded. "Katharine Brown. US citizen with birth certificate, social security number, passport, Virginia driver's license, and credit card. No one in the Covenant knows about it."
"Perfect. Do you have your passport on you? I'll need to borrow it for a few days to get things set up." Kate handed him a US passport. He glanced at it; it looked perfect. He'd have to get it tested to find out how she'd managed such a perfect forgery...
"It's real," Kate said, "not a forgery. The birth certificate is a forgery, everything else followed from that."
Dixon nodded. He knew that it was fairly easy in the United States to develop a fake identity that would pass every test. He pulled a card from his desk and handed it to Kate. "Stay at that hotel; give them the card, they'll know to have the CIA take care of the bill. Use Katharine Brown as your name. I'll call your room in a couple of days when I've got things set up."
Kate nodded, stood, and extended her hand. "Thank you for your help, Agent Dixon. I look forward to working with you."
As they shook hands and he watched her leave, Dixon couldn't help thinking that it was all too perfect. He wasn't quite prepared to fully trust her yet, of course; as soon as she was out of sight he picked up the phone and made arrangements for her to be under constant surveillance.
Next: Sydney and Kate talk. Weiss gets a crush.
Two months later...
Marcus Dixon entered his office one Monday morning to find a woman he had never seen before sitting calmly in front of his desk. "Who the hell are you?" he said, reaching for the button by the door that would call Security.
"You might want to listen to what I have to say first," she said, turning toward him.
He was surprised at how young she appeared-he would guess that she was about twenty-one. Long, curly honey-blond hair, blue eyes, and a rather seductive alto voice that immediately brought to mind Irina Derevko. "Talk fast," he said.
"I used to work for the Covenant. I want to help you bring it down."
"How did you get in here?"
"I was an intelligence officer until my apparent death two months ago. One of my assignments was to find out how to get into your facility undetected. I told my superiors that I was unsuccessful, but, as you can see, that was a lie."
Dixon walked to his desk, which not incidentally contained a revolver, and sat down. He didn't think that his visitor was likely to hurt him, since she had revealed herself to him, but he'd feel better with a weapon. "I don't suppose you have any proof of what you're saying."
The young woman opened her purse, withdrew a computer disk, and handed it to Dixon. "Those are blueprints of some of the Covenant's strongholds, along with names and pictures of all the agents in my division."
Dixon was thinking that this was far too good to be true. "Why are you doing this?"
"The leader of my division is a man named Nicolai Kresniev. He killed my family. Twice. I've hated him for eighteen years." Dixon didn't say anything, waiting for her to elaborate. "When I was four, the KGB decided that I had abilities that would make me a good agent. Kresniev came to my home and said he was taking me away so that I could serve Russia. My grandparents asked if he could wait a week, because my mother was coming to visit then. He killed them in front of me for their 'disloyalty'.
"I was nine when the Soviet Union fell. I was in training with about thirty other children my age. Kresniev got orders to kill us all, but he decided he'd rather have his own private little spy corps, so he took four of us with him and killed the rest. I'm the only one of those four still alive; he killed the others, making it look like he wasn't involved, and he tried to kill me. I don't know why he decided to get rid of us; maybe he realized that we were all obeying him out of fear rather than loyalty, I don't know."
Dixon sat back and thought for a moment. If she was lying, she was doing a damn good job, he thought. "Other than the files you gave me, do you have any proof of what you're saying?"
"I met one of your agents a couple of months ago who can identify me. Agent Bristow."
"Which Agent Bristow?"
The woman raised her eyebrows. "There are two? I didn't catch her first name..."
The "her" was enough for Dixon. He pressed his intercom button. "Have Sydney Bristow come to my office, please," he told his secretary.
They sat in silence for a moment, until Sydney came in. The woman turned to look at Sydney, who studied her for a moment. Then she said, "Kate?"
Kate smiled. "I wasn't sure you'd recognize me."
"You look completely different," Sydney said. She turned to Dixon. "She's the one who saved my life in Munich."
Dixon nodded. He decided that, for now, he would accept Kate's story. "Thank you, Sydney," he said. "Kate will be joining us in the near future. Remember our conversation after the Madrid mission?" Sydney nodded. "Good. Pretend you've never seen her before. You can go."
As soon as she was gone, Dixon turned to Kate. "I have reason to believe that a spy from the Covenant has infiltrated the CIA." He'd begun to suspect that some time ago, in fact, and was nearly certain after what had happened in Madrid; nearly every mission involving the Covenant had been an unqualified disaster. "Do you know of anyone?"
"I might recognize them if I saw them," Kate said. "There are a lot of agents spying on other organizations that I've seen, but don't know anything about. I don't know specifically if there's an agent assigned to the CIA, but if I see someone I recognize, I'll let you know."
"Good," Dixon said. "I'll set you up as a new agent fresh out of training. Do you have a safe I.D.?"
Kate nodded. "Katharine Brown. US citizen with birth certificate, social security number, passport, Virginia driver's license, and credit card. No one in the Covenant knows about it."
"Perfect. Do you have your passport on you? I'll need to borrow it for a few days to get things set up." Kate handed him a US passport. He glanced at it; it looked perfect. He'd have to get it tested to find out how she'd managed such a perfect forgery...
"It's real," Kate said, "not a forgery. The birth certificate is a forgery, everything else followed from that."
Dixon nodded. He knew that it was fairly easy in the United States to develop a fake identity that would pass every test. He pulled a card from his desk and handed it to Kate. "Stay at that hotel; give them the card, they'll know to have the CIA take care of the bill. Use Katharine Brown as your name. I'll call your room in a couple of days when I've got things set up."
Kate nodded, stood, and extended her hand. "Thank you for your help, Agent Dixon. I look forward to working with you."
As they shook hands and he watched her leave, Dixon couldn't help thinking that it was all too perfect. He wasn't quite prepared to fully trust her yet, of course; as soon as she was out of sight he picked up the phone and made arrangements for her to be under constant surveillance.
Next: Sydney and Kate talk. Weiss gets a crush.