Gestation (Chapter 9)
Irina took the glass of vodka that was being offered and took a small sip, not waiting for the toast to finish. Cuvee had been droning on for several minutes and she had completely lost interest in what he was saying. She stared at the fuzzy black and white telecast and contemplated its meaning.
"So with that I say, to the Beginning of a new era." Cuvee stood and raised his vodka high and invited those few around him to do the same.
"To the Beginning," the small gathering repeated, clinking their glasses together and drank. No one noticed that Irina's reaction was delayed a few seconds, and no one noticed that she had only mouthed the words.
She leaned in closer to the television and turned up the volume as she watched her entire world change. Gorbechev had just, in theory, announced the end of the Soviet Union. And, more importantly, he signaled the end of the KGB. Irina was confident that a new group within the new government was just waiting in the wings to fill the void.
The cooperative around her was already plotting to increase their position within the world of espionage as the world she knew just dissolved. She was awoken from her reverie by vodka sloshing over her hand as one of her compatriots filled her glass for another toast.
Irina's body ached with weariness and exertion, yet she smiled. Khasniau looked at her, the corners of his lips twitching.
"It was gratifying to get out in the field again," she answered his silent question. She inspected the cleaned gun, and when it met her scrutiny she placed it back into its case. "I've spent too many days and months meeting with our suppliers and working on the financing. I miss the work," she shrugged.
Khasinau returned to his inventory, not making eye contact when she spoke again.
"Had I known that the cooperative would task me with the deal making and financing aspects, I would have argued. I am better than many of these fools in the planning and strategy of the missions that I am talking."
"You can be very persuasive, Irina. And it is not that you haven't been heavy handed on occasion." He tried to be as diplomatic as possible, knowing full well that Irina was the most dangerous of the group, if provoked. He also knew that it was just a matter of time before she was in control. She just needed the right opportunity and the confidence to take it. The slumped figure tied to the chair began to stir and Khasinau delivered a right cross to the man's jaw without turning. A crack of the man's head hitting the back of the chair resounded through the room like thunder cutting through the night. Irina's head slowly rose from her work, looked at the motionless figure and then she resumed cleaning the next weapon in their arsenal.
"Let him sleep through the night, maybe he'll be more cooperative in the morning. Once you are done, Irina, get some sleep. I'll take the first watch; I'm not tired yet."
Irina nodded and handed the Glock back to Khasinau. She lay down on the discarded mattress in the corner of the dilapidated building they occupied and within moments was asleep. Khasinau smiled at the sleeping figure and took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lit up and turned the page of the newspaper.
Khasinau woke the next morning to the sight of Irina stalking her prey. She paced around Mateo as a lioness eyeing up her next meal. Mateo, for his part, was either putting on a brave front or the previous days beatings had left him so dazed that he was completely unaware of the danger he was in. Irina leaned in close beside Mateo's head and spoke in a low soft tone.
"Again, where are the weapons stored? Tell us and this can all end."
Mateo shook his head, moaning and muttering to himself. Irina began pacing again, letting the silence eat away at his nerves. Khasinau watched the tableau before him with admiration and decided to stay out of her way.
Khasinau was momentarily blinded when light from the broken window refracted off the steel blade in Irina's hand.
Ah. Now she is getting down to business. We should have results soon.
Mateo gasped with fear as the blade was pressed to his cheek, the edge just making contact with his skin. From behind him her other hand snuck around his neck, a caress of seduction traced his neck and chest.
"I'm beginning to tire of this little game, Mateo. All we require is a location and you can go home to that pretty wife of yours. I even promise not to tell your associates that you gave up their cache. Think of it as a donation to our cause."
The blade gripped his skin and found purchase; warm blood rolled down his face and soon began making a pattern on his pant leg.
"They'll kill me," he sputtered, the sight of his own blood convincing him that cooperation may save his life in this moment, but also may doom him in the near future. He tried to reason in his mind who was more dangerous, this cooperative or his associates. Irina walked around to the front of the bound man, the blade now trailing down his chest. An angry welt followed the path downward, the tip of the steel coming to rest just above his belt buckle, the pressure increasing in minute increments.
"I don't care, really," She paused, adding a bit more pressure to the hilt. "But I will make a deal with you."
Mateo's eyes pleaded with her to continue and when she didn't he spoke.
"Yes, yes. I will agree to anything."
"That is what I like to hear." In the distance, Khasinau chuckled at the scene before him. "We promise to make it look like an old fashioned robbery. No ties to your betrayal. How does that sound?"
"Yes, yes. Please?" His head shook vigorously as the pain in his abdomen became piercing. "The catacombs beneath Santa Trinita, Florence. It was bombed during the war and you must enter from an access on the Via Delle Terme. There are underground passages, not heavily guarded."
"That wasn't so difficult, was it?" She smiled and twisted the knife, creating a small blossom of blood on his shirt.
"One more question," she purred, her free hand caressing Mateo's cheek. "Where can I find the Diary of Bernardo Noccachi?
Mateo closed his eyes and shook his head.
"You know who Noccachi was, don't you?" Mateo shook with fear, more fear than he had shown in their previous negotiations. "Rambaldi's apprentice for almost 10 years. Noccachi's diary is said to contain clues to where several of Rambaldi's inventions are hidden.
Irina released Mateo's left hand and pinned it to the table with her own, tracing the symbol between his thumb and first finger. She used the blade to make shallow cuts along the symbol. And with a scream of the bound man, she pierced the knife through the symbol and into the table.
"The diary?" She asked again and leaned in close. Mateo muttered into her ear and Irina nodded.
"I knew this meeting would be fruitful, Mateo. Thank you for your cooperation." The blade was removed from his hand with another scream and slid into his abdomen. He gasped like a fish out of water and looked her in the eyes.
She turned away, cleaning the blade on a bit of rag from the table. Khasinau released the fading man and carried him to the waiting vehicle outside. Giving directions to the driver to drop Mateo where he'd be found, Khasinau returned to Irina's side and offered her a drink. She slammed the vodka back, stinging her throat as it washed the bile back down.
"Not bad, my darling. And if he's found within the next several hours, there is a good chance he'll live."
"Ah, yes," she agreed. "I'm predicting a trip to Florence soon." Khasinau laughed, the hollowness of the sound did not escape her. "I love the churches there."
Irina smiled and began packing up the evidence of their stay.
Cuvee paraded around their storage facility carrying one of the newly acquired assault rifles.
"A very effective and profitable adventure, Irina, we should send you to negotiate more." He came up behind her and whispered, "We'll have our own private celebration later."
She willed herself to be still and Cuvee, in his arrogance, took that as encouragement. Irina was mentally chiding herself for playing at his courtesan and wondered how soon she could rid herself of this menacing insect.
"Stoppf is due soon with backing from Gemmill Consortium. This will secure us warehousing space is Copenhagen," Losko announced to the gathering. "With Cuvee's position in the Army, which is always an advantage to us, we will be in a good position to exert some force on our opposition in Moscow and in Stalingrad."
"Soon our cooperative will strike fear in our opponents and increase our piece of the pie," Moscowitz crowed.
Irina sat back and filled her glass with another shot of vodka and passed the bottle on. She was beginning to despise these meetings; all that was ever accomplished was a boost to everyone's ego. She was looking for something more tangible.
Bodin sensed that Irina was beginning to get annoyed with delegation from the Black Dawn. They were dismissing her as the representative of the collective and trying to negotiate with him, but he was there as Irina's body guard, no more.
She is the last person who needs a bodyguard, he scoffed to himself. She could kill all of us in the few moments it would take us to realize what was happening.
Her annoyance mounting, she stood quietly back from the table and turned her back to the delegation, showing blatant disregard of their importance. With a blink of the eye, a large knife was imbedded in the table in front of Okundu, the chief negotiator. The rest of the delegation reached for their side arms and Bodin raised his automatic. An uneasy draw stood as Irina leaned into Okundu's face.
"The Man has sent me to negotiate with Black Dawn for protection along your drug routes through Kamchatka in exchange for the weapons specified." She tapped at the list in front of stunned man. "It would not be in your best interests for me to return and report to Him that you were unwilling to speak with his representative. That would not make The Man happy."
"And just who is The Man that you speak of?"
"He is a man with many eyes, deep pockets and much power. If you were to know his identity you would know he is not one to be trifled with and you would tremble with fear of his displeasure." Irina caught the brief question that flitted across Bodin's face. She would need to explain later, but she also knew that he was professional enough to play along with the ruse.
"The Man will not hesitate to kill you and your entire family if you were to displease his Right Hand." Bodin hoped that his little contribution would seal the deal.
Heads across the table bent slightly towards each other and the silence of the room was filled with a hum of conversation not unlike the droning of the insects on a summer's night.
"The Man's terms seem reasonable and Black Dawn will prepare the weapons for shipment." Okundu stood and bowed in respect to Irina, who bowed in return. "We will be in contact when they are ready. Please send our humblest regards to The Man."
The Black Dawn delegation gathered close together, muttering all the while and left the room as a unit.
Irina stood for minutes and then sat heavily in the chair next to her. Bodin checked the doorway to make sure that the delegates had gone and were not planning a surprise attack. Satisfied, he returned and stood next to her, waiting for her to speak.
"They were unwilling to negotiate with a woman, such as their culture, so I decided to improvise and give them someone they would negotiate with. The Man seemed to do the trick." She let a small smile grace her lips.
"Brilliant," Bodin replied. "May I say The Man is very wise?" He bowed to her and she slapped, almost playfully, at his arm.
Irina took the glass of vodka that was being offered and took a small sip, not waiting for the toast to finish. Cuvee had been droning on for several minutes and she had completely lost interest in what he was saying. She stared at the fuzzy black and white telecast and contemplated its meaning.
"So with that I say, to the Beginning of a new era." Cuvee stood and raised his vodka high and invited those few around him to do the same.
"To the Beginning," the small gathering repeated, clinking their glasses together and drank. No one noticed that Irina's reaction was delayed a few seconds, and no one noticed that she had only mouthed the words.
She leaned in closer to the television and turned up the volume as she watched her entire world change. Gorbechev had just, in theory, announced the end of the Soviet Union. And, more importantly, he signaled the end of the KGB. Irina was confident that a new group within the new government was just waiting in the wings to fill the void.
The cooperative around her was already plotting to increase their position within the world of espionage as the world she knew just dissolved. She was awoken from her reverie by vodka sloshing over her hand as one of her compatriots filled her glass for another toast.
Irina's body ached with weariness and exertion, yet she smiled. Khasniau looked at her, the corners of his lips twitching.
"It was gratifying to get out in the field again," she answered his silent question. She inspected the cleaned gun, and when it met her scrutiny she placed it back into its case. "I've spent too many days and months meeting with our suppliers and working on the financing. I miss the work," she shrugged.
Khasinau returned to his inventory, not making eye contact when she spoke again.
"Had I known that the cooperative would task me with the deal making and financing aspects, I would have argued. I am better than many of these fools in the planning and strategy of the missions that I am talking."
"You can be very persuasive, Irina. And it is not that you haven't been heavy handed on occasion." He tried to be as diplomatic as possible, knowing full well that Irina was the most dangerous of the group, if provoked. He also knew that it was just a matter of time before she was in control. She just needed the right opportunity and the confidence to take it. The slumped figure tied to the chair began to stir and Khasinau delivered a right cross to the man's jaw without turning. A crack of the man's head hitting the back of the chair resounded through the room like thunder cutting through the night. Irina's head slowly rose from her work, looked at the motionless figure and then she resumed cleaning the next weapon in their arsenal.
"Let him sleep through the night, maybe he'll be more cooperative in the morning. Once you are done, Irina, get some sleep. I'll take the first watch; I'm not tired yet."
Irina nodded and handed the Glock back to Khasinau. She lay down on the discarded mattress in the corner of the dilapidated building they occupied and within moments was asleep. Khasinau smiled at the sleeping figure and took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lit up and turned the page of the newspaper.
Khasinau woke the next morning to the sight of Irina stalking her prey. She paced around Mateo as a lioness eyeing up her next meal. Mateo, for his part, was either putting on a brave front or the previous days beatings had left him so dazed that he was completely unaware of the danger he was in. Irina leaned in close beside Mateo's head and spoke in a low soft tone.
"Again, where are the weapons stored? Tell us and this can all end."
Mateo shook his head, moaning and muttering to himself. Irina began pacing again, letting the silence eat away at his nerves. Khasinau watched the tableau before him with admiration and decided to stay out of her way.
Khasinau was momentarily blinded when light from the broken window refracted off the steel blade in Irina's hand.
Ah. Now she is getting down to business. We should have results soon.
Mateo gasped with fear as the blade was pressed to his cheek, the edge just making contact with his skin. From behind him her other hand snuck around his neck, a caress of seduction traced his neck and chest.
"I'm beginning to tire of this little game, Mateo. All we require is a location and you can go home to that pretty wife of yours. I even promise not to tell your associates that you gave up their cache. Think of it as a donation to our cause."
The blade gripped his skin and found purchase; warm blood rolled down his face and soon began making a pattern on his pant leg.
"They'll kill me," he sputtered, the sight of his own blood convincing him that cooperation may save his life in this moment, but also may doom him in the near future. He tried to reason in his mind who was more dangerous, this cooperative or his associates. Irina walked around to the front of the bound man, the blade now trailing down his chest. An angry welt followed the path downward, the tip of the steel coming to rest just above his belt buckle, the pressure increasing in minute increments.
"I don't care, really," She paused, adding a bit more pressure to the hilt. "But I will make a deal with you."
Mateo's eyes pleaded with her to continue and when she didn't he spoke.
"Yes, yes. I will agree to anything."
"That is what I like to hear." In the distance, Khasinau chuckled at the scene before him. "We promise to make it look like an old fashioned robbery. No ties to your betrayal. How does that sound?"
"Yes, yes. Please?" His head shook vigorously as the pain in his abdomen became piercing. "The catacombs beneath Santa Trinita, Florence. It was bombed during the war and you must enter from an access on the Via Delle Terme. There are underground passages, not heavily guarded."
"That wasn't so difficult, was it?" She smiled and twisted the knife, creating a small blossom of blood on his shirt.
"One more question," she purred, her free hand caressing Mateo's cheek. "Where can I find the Diary of Bernardo Noccachi?
Mateo closed his eyes and shook his head.
"You know who Noccachi was, don't you?" Mateo shook with fear, more fear than he had shown in their previous negotiations. "Rambaldi's apprentice for almost 10 years. Noccachi's diary is said to contain clues to where several of Rambaldi's inventions are hidden.
Irina released Mateo's left hand and pinned it to the table with her own, tracing the symbol between his thumb and first finger. She used the blade to make shallow cuts along the symbol. And with a scream of the bound man, she pierced the knife through the symbol and into the table.
"The diary?" She asked again and leaned in close. Mateo muttered into her ear and Irina nodded.
"I knew this meeting would be fruitful, Mateo. Thank you for your cooperation." The blade was removed from his hand with another scream and slid into his abdomen. He gasped like a fish out of water and looked her in the eyes.
She turned away, cleaning the blade on a bit of rag from the table. Khasinau released the fading man and carried him to the waiting vehicle outside. Giving directions to the driver to drop Mateo where he'd be found, Khasinau returned to Irina's side and offered her a drink. She slammed the vodka back, stinging her throat as it washed the bile back down.
"Not bad, my darling. And if he's found within the next several hours, there is a good chance he'll live."
"Ah, yes," she agreed. "I'm predicting a trip to Florence soon." Khasinau laughed, the hollowness of the sound did not escape her. "I love the churches there."
Irina smiled and began packing up the evidence of their stay.
Cuvee paraded around their storage facility carrying one of the newly acquired assault rifles.
"A very effective and profitable adventure, Irina, we should send you to negotiate more." He came up behind her and whispered, "We'll have our own private celebration later."
She willed herself to be still and Cuvee, in his arrogance, took that as encouragement. Irina was mentally chiding herself for playing at his courtesan and wondered how soon she could rid herself of this menacing insect.
"Stoppf is due soon with backing from Gemmill Consortium. This will secure us warehousing space is Copenhagen," Losko announced to the gathering. "With Cuvee's position in the Army, which is always an advantage to us, we will be in a good position to exert some force on our opposition in Moscow and in Stalingrad."
"Soon our cooperative will strike fear in our opponents and increase our piece of the pie," Moscowitz crowed.
Irina sat back and filled her glass with another shot of vodka and passed the bottle on. She was beginning to despise these meetings; all that was ever accomplished was a boost to everyone's ego. She was looking for something more tangible.
Bodin sensed that Irina was beginning to get annoyed with delegation from the Black Dawn. They were dismissing her as the representative of the collective and trying to negotiate with him, but he was there as Irina's body guard, no more.
She is the last person who needs a bodyguard, he scoffed to himself. She could kill all of us in the few moments it would take us to realize what was happening.
Her annoyance mounting, she stood quietly back from the table and turned her back to the delegation, showing blatant disregard of their importance. With a blink of the eye, a large knife was imbedded in the table in front of Okundu, the chief negotiator. The rest of the delegation reached for their side arms and Bodin raised his automatic. An uneasy draw stood as Irina leaned into Okundu's face.
"The Man has sent me to negotiate with Black Dawn for protection along your drug routes through Kamchatka in exchange for the weapons specified." She tapped at the list in front of stunned man. "It would not be in your best interests for me to return and report to Him that you were unwilling to speak with his representative. That would not make The Man happy."
"And just who is The Man that you speak of?"
"He is a man with many eyes, deep pockets and much power. If you were to know his identity you would know he is not one to be trifled with and you would tremble with fear of his displeasure." Irina caught the brief question that flitted across Bodin's face. She would need to explain later, but she also knew that he was professional enough to play along with the ruse.
"The Man will not hesitate to kill you and your entire family if you were to displease his Right Hand." Bodin hoped that his little contribution would seal the deal.
Heads across the table bent slightly towards each other and the silence of the room was filled with a hum of conversation not unlike the droning of the insects on a summer's night.
"The Man's terms seem reasonable and Black Dawn will prepare the weapons for shipment." Okundu stood and bowed in respect to Irina, who bowed in return. "We will be in contact when they are ready. Please send our humblest regards to The Man."
The Black Dawn delegation gathered close together, muttering all the while and left the room as a unit.
Irina stood for minutes and then sat heavily in the chair next to her. Bodin checked the doorway to make sure that the delegates had gone and were not planning a surprise attack. Satisfied, he returned and stood next to her, waiting for her to speak.
"They were unwilling to negotiate with a woman, such as their culture, so I decided to improvise and give them someone they would negotiate with. The Man seemed to do the trick." She let a small smile grace her lips.
"Brilliant," Bodin replied. "May I say The Man is very wise?" He bowed to her and she slapped, almost playfully, at his arm.