Chapter 15
AN: I think I did it backwards last time. This time, what's happening in the present day is in normal text, and flashbacks are in italics.
"I was nine when the Soviet Union fell. Kresniev got orders from higher up to terminate Project Medea," Tatiana said. Irina gasped.
Jack looked at her. "What is it?"
"When the KGB said they were 'terminating' a project, it generally meant that they killed everyone involved. When the USSR fell, the KGB had to hide a lot of what they had been doing. It usually meant locking everyone in a building and setting fire to it," Irina said.
Tatiana nodded. "That's what happened."
"How many children?" Jack asked. He knew that the KGB had gone to extremes that the CIA would never have condoned, but he'd never thought that they had done something like this.
"Thirty-three in my group," Tatiana said. "We were all between about nine and twelve. I think there might have been one or two more age groups, though." She waited for a moment, but no one said anything, so she continued. "The KGB basically cut loose all of their agents to fend for themselves at that point. Kresniev must have seen it coming, and decided to get a head start. He took four of us out of the building right before it was set on fire. The funny thing was, there were twenty-nine children who were actually loyal to him, and four who hated him and wanted to get away; Kresniev picked the four of us who were lying to him."
A hand was shaking Tatiana's left shoulder. The nine-year-old opened her eyes to see Kresniev standing above her and silently rolled out of bed, knowing better than to ask questions—left shoulder waking meant that stealth was required. "Get dressed," Kresniev whispered. "Then meet me in the hallway." She nodded and he left. She dressed, noting that Nadia was getting dressed also and that the other twelve girls in the room were still asleep.
There had been rumors floating around the KGB, so prevalent that they had reached the ears of the children hidden away in their secret training facility. The rumors told of changes coming to Russia. She, Sergei, Nadia, and Mikel had agreed that their chance to get away just might come with these changes. Tatiana wondered if that chance would come tonight. She unscrewed the loose leg from her bed and shook out the contents: a picture of her mother in a white dress with a man she had never seen, and a tarnished silver chain with two rings on it, one a plain gold band and the other a matching band with a single diamond. She didn't know what the rings or the photo meant, but they were all she had left of her mother. They had been taken from her when she arrived at Medea, of course, but the others had helped her to steal them back two years ago.
When she was ready, she and Nadia left together. When they saw Kresniev in the hall with Sergei and Mikel, the four of them looked at each other uneasily. Had they been found out? But they remained silent as Kresniev led them out of the building and herded them into a car. He remained outside the car and pressed a button on a small black box; the building they had just left suddenly burst into flame. The four children watched, horrified, as the building that had housed them for the past several years burned. When the roof caved in, Kresniev got into the car and drove into the night without a word.
The memory reminded Tatiana. "Oh, Mama, I almost forgot," she said. She pulled something from her pocket, got up, and handed it to Irina.
Irina stared at the rings in shock. "Oh God…I thought these were gone forever…"
"What is it, Mom?" Sydney asked, getting up to look.
"My wedding and engagement rings." She looked at Tatiana. "You've had these all this time?"
Tatiana nodded. "I always hoped I could give them back to you someday."
Irina turned and handed the rings to Jack. "Would you…" She held out her left hand.
Jack slid the engagement ring onto her finger first, then the wedding band. Then he reached into his own pocket and handed a ring to Irina. She smiled and put the ring on his finger. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, then moved their heads together and kissed. When their hands started moving lower, Sydney cleared her throat.
They broke apart and looked at their daughters, both turning pink. "While I'm glad you're getting along," Sydney said, "we have to leave pretty soon. You two have all weekend."
"Yes, of course," Irina murmured.
"Um…" Tatiana said. Sydney glanced at her, suddenly remembering Tatiana's plan to join Irina. "Mama, could I talk to you alone for a few minutes?" Tatiana continued.
"Of course," Irina said, looking confused. "Let's go in the kitchen." The two of them got up and left, leaving Sydney and Jack in the living room.
"Well, since my cover was that I was picking stuff up here, I suppose I should get something together," Sydney said.
"Tatiana's leaving, isn't she?" Jack said.
"Yeah."
Jack frowned. "Well, I can't say I blame her."
Sydney was quiet for a moment as she absentmindedly picked out some books to take home. Then she said, "We could go too."
"Sydney, after you disappeared, I wanted to leave the CIA and work with your mother full time. She talked me out of it. You and I don't really know what that life is like. I think Tatiana knows what she's getting into."
Sydney was lost in thought for a moment, then nodded. "But, Dad, if the NSC finds out that I killed Lazarey…"
"Then it might become necessary for you to leave, yes. I think we should work out a plan…" He fell silent as Tatiana and Irina came back in.