Chapter 23
"I think I'll go check my e-mail," Tatiana said.
"Do you need to use my computer?" asked Jack.
"No, I can hook my cell phone up to my modem, bounce it off a few satellites...that way no one will notice any suspicious activity coming from here." Tatiana left the kitchen.
The other three looked at each other a little awkwardly, and Sydney got the feeling that her parents wanted to be alone. "I think I'll check my e-mail, too. Can I use your computer, Dad?"
"Of course." Sydney left, and Jack looked at Irina. "Something wrong?"
"I'm not sure," Irina answered. "Tatiana mentioned this 'Sergei' a couple of times. It seems like she considered him at least a friend. Maybe more."
"And he told her she was stabbed, which means he was cooperating with the Covenant."
"I'm sure Tatiana's come to the same conclusion." Irina frowned. "Maybe you should talk to her about it."
"Me? I barely know her, Irina."
"But you know the subject matter quite well."
Jack stared at the floor for a moment, knowing she was right. "All right, I'll talk to her."
***
Sydney walked into her father's office and sat down at the computer. She was about to open a browser when the picture beside his desk caught her eye. It was a family picture, taken for Christmas when she was five. She picked it up and stared at it for a moment. This picture had never been here before that she could recall, and yet it was familiar. She was about to shrug it off when she suddenly remembered.
iSydney sat down at the computer to check her e-mail while she waited for her mother to finish a phone call in the next room. Two pictures on the desk caught her eye. She looked for a moment at the first, a picture of her at about five with both parents in festive outfits, then turned to the other, a picture of her mother, a little older than in the first picture, holding a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl of about three.
Sydney looked up when her mother entered. "Mom, who's this?" she asked, showing the picture to her mother.
Irina took the photo and frowned. "That was your sister Tatiana. She died when she was four." She ran her fingers over the glass. "She would be almost twenty-three now."/i
Sydney tried to remember more, but there was nothing. She stood and went to the kitchen. Her parents looked at her in surprise when the door slammed open. She stared at her mother. "You knew...I was with you...working with you...what happened to me, Mom? Why didn't you tell me?"
Jack stared at Irina in shock. "Irina?"