Chapter 20
On the page was a drawing of three people. Jack was on the left, Irina in the middle, and on the right. "Who's that?" Tatiana asked, pointing to the second man once she recovered from the shock of seeing her parents' faces in a 400-year-old book.
"Arvin Sloane," Jack answered. He looked up at Irina. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know," she answered. "At the time I acquired this manuscript, I didn't know how to decode Rambaldi. I have no idea what the text says."
"Where did you get it?" Jack asked.
"I stole it from Sloane in 1980. I broke into his house to steal intel, and the book was open to that page on his desk. So I know he's seen the drawing, but I don't know whether he managed to decode any of the text."
They all looked at the drawing for a few more seconds. Then Sydney said, "Well, shouldn't we get started on decoding this thing?"
Just then, two beepers went off. Sydney and Jack looked to see that both of their pagers read "47911". "Sh*t," Jack muttered as they silenced the pagers.
"We've got to go to work," Sydney said.
Tatiana grinned sheepishly. "I suspect that this would be the CIA discovering that I've vanished into thin air. Sorry. I probably should have thought of this earlier."
"That's all right," Jack said. "You two can work on the document while we're gone."
"Let's take my car," Sydney said on their way out the door.
***
As she backed out of the driveway, Sydney said, "So, Dad, you and Mom seem to have worked things out pretty well."
Jack glanced at her. "You could say that."
"So what happened to change her mind about her?"
Jack was silent for a moment. "When we were looking for you, she made me realize three things. One, she loves you very much. Two, she fell in love with me while she was on her assignment. And three, I realized that the person I fell in love with, her basic personality, wasn't fake. She's changed since then, of course, but so have I." He looked out the window for a moment before continuing. "Even on the worst days, when I believed that nothing about Laura had been real, that it had all been a betrayal, I never could quite make myself stop loving her. So when I realized that Irina and Laura were basically the same person, well." He glanced over at Sydney and saw a smile playing over her lips. "Sydney, there will always be issues between us. There's still a lot we haven't discussed. I know very little about what happened to her in the years after she left us, for instance." He paused again. "So what do you think about all this?"
Sydney glanced briefly at her father before returning her attention to the road. "I think she's good for you, Dad," she said. "You certainly seem more relaxed this weekend than I've seen you." She trailed off. "In a very long time," she finished softly.
"Since your mother left," Jack said, nodding. "Sydney, you should know it wasn't her choice to leave us. The KGB ordered the extraction, and if she'd refused, they would have killed us."
"I kind of figured that," Sydney said. "But.could she have turned herself in to the CIA? We could have gone into some kind of protection."
Jack took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Sydney, you were only a child during the Cold War. The climate.the KGB was very powerful. The CIA could have hidden us from them, yes, but it would have been in an environment more like a prison than the relatively normal life that people in the Witness Protection Program have now. You wouldn't have had any chance at a normal childhood. And your mother.you saw what happened when she turned herself in three years ago. If she'd told the CIA who she was during the Cold War, they would have tortured her, bled her dry of information, and killed her."
Sydney frowned. "God. I guess.I just wish things could have been different."
Jack reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Me too, Sydney. Me too."
On the page was a drawing of three people. Jack was on the left, Irina in the middle, and on the right. "Who's that?" Tatiana asked, pointing to the second man once she recovered from the shock of seeing her parents' faces in a 400-year-old book.
"Arvin Sloane," Jack answered. He looked up at Irina. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know," she answered. "At the time I acquired this manuscript, I didn't know how to decode Rambaldi. I have no idea what the text says."
"Where did you get it?" Jack asked.
"I stole it from Sloane in 1980. I broke into his house to steal intel, and the book was open to that page on his desk. So I know he's seen the drawing, but I don't know whether he managed to decode any of the text."
They all looked at the drawing for a few more seconds. Then Sydney said, "Well, shouldn't we get started on decoding this thing?"
Just then, two beepers went off. Sydney and Jack looked to see that both of their pagers read "47911". "Sh*t," Jack muttered as they silenced the pagers.
"We've got to go to work," Sydney said.
Tatiana grinned sheepishly. "I suspect that this would be the CIA discovering that I've vanished into thin air. Sorry. I probably should have thought of this earlier."
"That's all right," Jack said. "You two can work on the document while we're gone."
"Let's take my car," Sydney said on their way out the door.
***
As she backed out of the driveway, Sydney said, "So, Dad, you and Mom seem to have worked things out pretty well."
Jack glanced at her. "You could say that."
"So what happened to change her mind about her?"
Jack was silent for a moment. "When we were looking for you, she made me realize three things. One, she loves you very much. Two, she fell in love with me while she was on her assignment. And three, I realized that the person I fell in love with, her basic personality, wasn't fake. She's changed since then, of course, but so have I." He looked out the window for a moment before continuing. "Even on the worst days, when I believed that nothing about Laura had been real, that it had all been a betrayal, I never could quite make myself stop loving her. So when I realized that Irina and Laura were basically the same person, well." He glanced over at Sydney and saw a smile playing over her lips. "Sydney, there will always be issues between us. There's still a lot we haven't discussed. I know very little about what happened to her in the years after she left us, for instance." He paused again. "So what do you think about all this?"
Sydney glanced briefly at her father before returning her attention to the road. "I think she's good for you, Dad," she said. "You certainly seem more relaxed this weekend than I've seen you." She trailed off. "In a very long time," she finished softly.
"Since your mother left," Jack said, nodding. "Sydney, you should know it wasn't her choice to leave us. The KGB ordered the extraction, and if she'd refused, they would have killed us."
"I kind of figured that," Sydney said. "But.could she have turned herself in to the CIA? We could have gone into some kind of protection."
Jack took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Sydney, you were only a child during the Cold War. The climate.the KGB was very powerful. The CIA could have hidden us from them, yes, but it would have been in an environment more like a prison than the relatively normal life that people in the Witness Protection Program have now. You wouldn't have had any chance at a normal childhood. And your mother.you saw what happened when she turned herself in three years ago. If she'd told the CIA who she was during the Cold War, they would have tortured her, bled her dry of information, and killed her."
Sydney frowned. "God. I guess.I just wish things could have been different."
Jack reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Me too, Sydney. Me too."