Chap.23- Relations
"Welcome to Venezuela." Their young contact greeted in fluent English. They thanked him and he directed them towards the white van parked near the front entrance of the airport, all the while asking them the typical questions and inquiries that any normal person would after greeting somebody from a long flight. How was your flight? Was the food good? Did you get any rest?
But since they weren't normal people, each question held a different meaning than it did for passing civilians who happened to hear their conversation. The young man nodded in satisfaction of their "yes" and "no"s. Yes, they had obtained and destroyed the code. Yes, they were to fly straight to the location of the nuke. No, they had not seen any of Robespierre's men on the flight.
Once they were safely in the car and had been pulled into the general flow of traffic, the contact who had introduced himself as Peter turned to look at Vaughn who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Have you seen Mariana Veltri before?"
"We've been shown pictures. Nothing more than that."
Peter nodded. He started to recite a long series of numbers and then turned to look at them again at a red light.
"Does that sound familiar?"
Sydney nodded.
"It's close to a DNA sequence that the CIA has found of numerous Rambaldi artifacts."
"Where did you get that sequencing?" Vaughn asked, suspicious.
"One day, when Mariana was sleeping, I swabbed the rim of her glass and sent it to Langley for sequencing. Those are the results. A couple days ago, I received an anonymous phone call. It took me hours to decipher."
"What was the message?" Sydney asked.
"'It's Rambaldi's.'"
"Are you saying that Mariana Veltri is related to Rambaldi?" Vaughn scoffed at the absurdity of Peter's claim.
"Yes."
"That's impossible. He had no wife, no relations." Sydney reasoned.
"But that doesn't mean he couldn't father a child sometime in his life. The scientists at Langley have compared the DNA sequencing and have determined that although it is close to Rambaldi's she is distant relation. They also traced back her family history. Every single child that was produced was a female, furthering and losing the Rambaldi name every generation."
Silence encased the entirety of the car.
"Mariana's the last one...isn't she?" Sydney asked softly.
"Yes," Peter nodded.
"So she wasn't sold into slavery? She wasn't sent here in fear of her life?" Ana asked.
"That she was." Peter confirmed. "But the whole thing has been planned out for hundreds of years."
"Why her?" Sydney asked. "You said there are a whole line of Rambaldi women. Why her?" She repeated.
"It's her destiny, I suppose."
He turned onto a smaller street and finally pulled to a stop in front of medium-sized, urban home. Unbuckling, he opened the door for them and headed to the back to get out their suitcases. After they had all gotten out of the car and had taken their own suitcase, he told them what he had told Mariana.
Mark looked at him in disbelief.
"We...make jam?"
Peter nodded.
"I've been selling grapes for a living these past few months because Mariana frequents the open-air markets. I already swept the entire house for bugs this morning, so you're able to talk freely. I told her that you needed a place to stay for four days. It should be enough time. On the fourth day, I've already arranged for a cab to take you to the airport. Whether you have obtained the location or not, you are to leave. I will eventually get the location to them, but it will slow us down considerably and maybe Robespierre will even intercept it." He looked at the steady faces of the five agents. "You ready?"
"Ready." They said quietly and followed him up the stairs and to the front door of the house. He reached out to ring the doorbell and the familiar tone rang throughout the whole of it.
"Peter!" Mariana exclaimed and enveloped him in a warm embrace, kissing him on the cheek. "Are these your business associates?"
"Yes."
"Come in," she invited and shut the door behind them. "I hope you're hungry. I've heard how bad the food is on airplanes."
Two days had passed rapidly and Sydney looked out the window of the bedroom she and Ana was sharing in wonder. To her, the sun seemed to rise and to set in Venezuela faster than in any part of the world that she had been in.
"What are you looking at?" A voice behind her asked softly.
"The world."
"How does it look?"
"It depends who's looking." Sydney replied and turned to look at the face of the voice. "Mariana, you have a brilliant mind and I know that you know."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Carla." Mariana said, walking over to the window and staring at out of it herself.
"You know that my name isn't Carla and that I don't make jam. You know that Peter doesn't sell grapes! You know who he really is, don't you?"
Mariana closed her eyes and nodded.
"Peter was a good friend to me and all these years that I've lived here, I don't know a lot of people my age that I can relate to. I guess I suspected something from the beginning, but I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want him to walk out of my life. When we started living together, it was amazing at first. The two of us would do the craziest things together and it was fun. But then the 'wrong numbers' got more frequent...and I checked up on him. It turned out that he worked for the United States Central Intelligence Agency. I didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. But I was so hurt. It turned out that everything was a lie." Mariana laughed and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"I can tell that your relationship with each other extends beyond friendship." Sydney said. "I know that what you feel for Peter is mutual. He doesn't know what to do. He's a junior officer. He's new and the CIA has him bound and obligated to their service."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I've already talked to Peter. We came up with a plan." Sydney told her and explained it to her.
"You want me to run away from the U.S. government?"
"Not just you, Peter too. Look, they know that the DNA Peter sent them is yours. They will come for you, Mariana."
"This is crazy." Mariana told Sydney fiercely. "How do I know that I can trust you?"
"You don't. But you're going to have to. Do you want to spend the rest of your life being tested and prodded in government custody?"
"This is crazy." Mariana repeated.
"But you and Peter do crazy things together. You said so yourself."
Mariana continued to shake her head, trying to block out what Sydney was saying.
"No...No....I can't..."
"Listen to me! Listen!" Sydney said pleadingly. "If you don't trust me, then trust Peter."
"I can't. I don't know if I can..."
"Believe, Mariana. Believe."
"In what?"
"A future for yourself..."
Mariana held Sydney's gaze steadily.
"Okay...what do I need to do?"
Sydney walked to her suitcase and extracted the code that had been transferred onto three pages of computer paper. She handed the papers and a pen to Mariana who took them hesitantly.
"I need you to decipher this for me."
Mariana walked over to the small desk stand and for forty-five minutes, Sydney watched as Mariana's hand scribbled furiously. Finally, she stood up, wincing at the pain in her lower back, and handed Sydney the papers.
"It's in Lithuania." She said as she turned back to the window, looking out at the dusky sky.
"How does it look?" Sydney asked joining her.
Mariana turned her head to look at Sydney and smiled.
"Promising."
Author's Note: Hi hi. Yes, I know that chapter 22 was VERY short and I've decided to compensate with another....medium-length chapter. I would have liked it to be so long that you're like
'whew...that was a loooong chapter.'
But it's not. Sorry. =(
"Welcome to Venezuela." Their young contact greeted in fluent English. They thanked him and he directed them towards the white van parked near the front entrance of the airport, all the while asking them the typical questions and inquiries that any normal person would after greeting somebody from a long flight. How was your flight? Was the food good? Did you get any rest?
But since they weren't normal people, each question held a different meaning than it did for passing civilians who happened to hear their conversation. The young man nodded in satisfaction of their "yes" and "no"s. Yes, they had obtained and destroyed the code. Yes, they were to fly straight to the location of the nuke. No, they had not seen any of Robespierre's men on the flight.
Once they were safely in the car and had been pulled into the general flow of traffic, the contact who had introduced himself as Peter turned to look at Vaughn who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Have you seen Mariana Veltri before?"
"We've been shown pictures. Nothing more than that."
Peter nodded. He started to recite a long series of numbers and then turned to look at them again at a red light.
"Does that sound familiar?"
Sydney nodded.
"It's close to a DNA sequence that the CIA has found of numerous Rambaldi artifacts."
"Where did you get that sequencing?" Vaughn asked, suspicious.
"One day, when Mariana was sleeping, I swabbed the rim of her glass and sent it to Langley for sequencing. Those are the results. A couple days ago, I received an anonymous phone call. It took me hours to decipher."
"What was the message?" Sydney asked.
"'It's Rambaldi's.'"
"Are you saying that Mariana Veltri is related to Rambaldi?" Vaughn scoffed at the absurdity of Peter's claim.
"Yes."
"That's impossible. He had no wife, no relations." Sydney reasoned.
"But that doesn't mean he couldn't father a child sometime in his life. The scientists at Langley have compared the DNA sequencing and have determined that although it is close to Rambaldi's she is distant relation. They also traced back her family history. Every single child that was produced was a female, furthering and losing the Rambaldi name every generation."
Silence encased the entirety of the car.
"Mariana's the last one...isn't she?" Sydney asked softly.
"Yes," Peter nodded.
"So she wasn't sold into slavery? She wasn't sent here in fear of her life?" Ana asked.
"That she was." Peter confirmed. "But the whole thing has been planned out for hundreds of years."
"Why her?" Sydney asked. "You said there are a whole line of Rambaldi women. Why her?" She repeated.
"It's her destiny, I suppose."
He turned onto a smaller street and finally pulled to a stop in front of medium-sized, urban home. Unbuckling, he opened the door for them and headed to the back to get out their suitcases. After they had all gotten out of the car and had taken their own suitcase, he told them what he had told Mariana.
Mark looked at him in disbelief.
"We...make jam?"
Peter nodded.
"I've been selling grapes for a living these past few months because Mariana frequents the open-air markets. I already swept the entire house for bugs this morning, so you're able to talk freely. I told her that you needed a place to stay for four days. It should be enough time. On the fourth day, I've already arranged for a cab to take you to the airport. Whether you have obtained the location or not, you are to leave. I will eventually get the location to them, but it will slow us down considerably and maybe Robespierre will even intercept it." He looked at the steady faces of the five agents. "You ready?"
"Ready." They said quietly and followed him up the stairs and to the front door of the house. He reached out to ring the doorbell and the familiar tone rang throughout the whole of it.
"Peter!" Mariana exclaimed and enveloped him in a warm embrace, kissing him on the cheek. "Are these your business associates?"
"Yes."
"Come in," she invited and shut the door behind them. "I hope you're hungry. I've heard how bad the food is on airplanes."
Two days had passed rapidly and Sydney looked out the window of the bedroom she and Ana was sharing in wonder. To her, the sun seemed to rise and to set in Venezuela faster than in any part of the world that she had been in.
"What are you looking at?" A voice behind her asked softly.
"The world."
"How does it look?"
"It depends who's looking." Sydney replied and turned to look at the face of the voice. "Mariana, you have a brilliant mind and I know that you know."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Carla." Mariana said, walking over to the window and staring at out of it herself.
"You know that my name isn't Carla and that I don't make jam. You know that Peter doesn't sell grapes! You know who he really is, don't you?"
Mariana closed her eyes and nodded.
"Peter was a good friend to me and all these years that I've lived here, I don't know a lot of people my age that I can relate to. I guess I suspected something from the beginning, but I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want him to walk out of my life. When we started living together, it was amazing at first. The two of us would do the craziest things together and it was fun. But then the 'wrong numbers' got more frequent...and I checked up on him. It turned out that he worked for the United States Central Intelligence Agency. I didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. But I was so hurt. It turned out that everything was a lie." Mariana laughed and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"I can tell that your relationship with each other extends beyond friendship." Sydney said. "I know that what you feel for Peter is mutual. He doesn't know what to do. He's a junior officer. He's new and the CIA has him bound and obligated to their service."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I've already talked to Peter. We came up with a plan." Sydney told her and explained it to her.
"You want me to run away from the U.S. government?"
"Not just you, Peter too. Look, they know that the DNA Peter sent them is yours. They will come for you, Mariana."
"This is crazy." Mariana told Sydney fiercely. "How do I know that I can trust you?"
"You don't. But you're going to have to. Do you want to spend the rest of your life being tested and prodded in government custody?"
"This is crazy." Mariana repeated.
"But you and Peter do crazy things together. You said so yourself."
Mariana continued to shake her head, trying to block out what Sydney was saying.
"No...No....I can't..."
"Listen to me! Listen!" Sydney said pleadingly. "If you don't trust me, then trust Peter."
"I can't. I don't know if I can..."
"Believe, Mariana. Believe."
"In what?"
"A future for yourself..."
Mariana held Sydney's gaze steadily.
"Okay...what do I need to do?"
Sydney walked to her suitcase and extracted the code that had been transferred onto three pages of computer paper. She handed the papers and a pen to Mariana who took them hesitantly.
"I need you to decipher this for me."
Mariana walked over to the small desk stand and for forty-five minutes, Sydney watched as Mariana's hand scribbled furiously. Finally, she stood up, wincing at the pain in her lower back, and handed Sydney the papers.
"It's in Lithuania." She said as she turned back to the window, looking out at the dusky sky.
"How does it look?" Sydney asked joining her.
Mariana turned her head to look at Sydney and smiled.
"Promising."
Author's Note: Hi hi. Yes, I know that chapter 22 was VERY short and I've decided to compensate with another....medium-length chapter. I would have liked it to be so long that you're like
'whew...that was a loooong chapter.'
But it's not. Sorry. =(