Chapter 3========================================================
Alexana, Illya, Sasha, and Admiral Putin walked into the late General Kuryakin's office and sat around at the desk. Already in the room were Naddya and an unknown gentleman with a tape recorder in his hands.
"Now," Admiral Putin said as he settled into the General's chair and desk with relish. "That we've those involved in the will and the witnesses are here, we can proceed with the reading. Cpt. Lt. Kuryakin…"
"Yes?" Both Illya and Alexana said in unison and then smiled at their little joke.
"Alexana, you two knew who I meant." Admiral Putin grumbled and motioned for her to proceed. "Will you produce the will?"
"Yes, sir," Alexana stood up, walked over to Illya and extended her open hand to him.
Illya reached into his shirt, pulling out the medallion that had been around his neck for years and then took out her own medallion that had hung from a similar chain from beneath her uniform. Walking over to the bookcase, she pressed a button camouflaged in the spine of a book and a panel slid open to expose a safe. She placed the medallions on special pegs, snapping them tight with a loud click, twirled them in a certain direction, and the safe swung open with a soft snap. Alexana took the files from the safe and hand delivered them to the General before she sat back down.
The first thing the General did was to take the envelope that was marked the will, opened it, scanned its contents and then read it out loud.
"I, Boris Kuryakin, rank of General in the Soviet Union military have been proud to serve this country. It has afforded me the opportunity to help its People look to the future. The one thing I regret in my life the most is the thought I had at one time, that I could help create a race of super operatives to make the Soviet Union the ultimate supreme power in the world. We recruited ten young children, using an array of experimental drugs and conditioning methods on them to increase their sense of duty, intelligence, combat skills, and to efficiently assassinate anyone with just a simple phrase. Personal feelings and emotions were to be suppressed.
"The project failed to meet its primary objectives and was discontinued. The children were then released back into society and adopted. All of them have been under constant observation to assess if any permanent damage had occurred. All the notes, formulas, machine semantics, and evaluations are in these files.
"I have kept them to remind me of what I have done and I hope that my adoptive children, Illya and Alexana Kuryakin, will destroy all traces of this experiment. I hope that they realize what I have done for them for see to their safety by affording them the best education and opportunities within my power. The rest of my personal assets here in the Soviet Union will be given to the Motherland and its People."
Illya and Alexana quickly glanced at each other before turning around to look at those gathered in the silent room. Admiral Putin had put down the will and started to pick up the files. At first, it looked like that he was going to give it to Illya or Alexana, but instead he extended his arm out between them as Naddya came forward to take it. Both Illya and Alexana looked at the housekeeper in short-lived amazement.
"Thank you, Admiral," Naddya said triumphantly "I will take this to the proper people. We'll start to produce some of the formulas shortly. I just need the list of the children, so I can send someone to find them."
"Naddya, so you're one of them?" Illya was the first one to recover his voice. "Why? I mean, I knew that you were reporting to the GRU, but what could this possibly gain by this?"
"My Little Mouse, I never did like you very much. You and your cousin never did warm up to me and that made it hard for me to send my reports. Boris was always around to protect you and lately, I've gotten so tired of being down trodden by his grand plan and I wanted more. THRUSH was the answer. They were interested in what I could offer them and they promised to pay big. You, Little Mouse, have guaranteed me a very comfortable retirement. "
"Do you really want to take that path?" Illya asked Naddya who was looking through the file and ignoring him. "Sasha, are you in on this as well, with your mother?"
"Yes." Sasha lowered his head in shame as his body shook uncontrollably. "They promised me that I could have Alexana here with me, forever."
Alexana got up from her chair, went to Sasha, and knelt down on the floor in front of him. She took his hands in hers.
"Sasha, do you really want me like this? A trapped person made to love you?"
"I will take you anyway I can have you!" He said sharply and squeezed her hands hard enough to make her wince sharply in pain. Illya started to get out of his chair when Sasha let her hands go and put his trembling hands on her shoulders. "I will have you!"
"No, Sasha, you will never have me. Father's file and your mother will see to that." Alexana said softly, as she looked him straight in the eye and lovenly touched his cheek.
"Illya and Alexana are the only two left!" Naddya said in utter surprise. She tore her eye away from the file long enough to look at Illya and then Alexana. "All the rest of the test subjects are dead."
"We will create more." The gentleman who sat quietly taping the conversations finally spoke as he stood up and took the file from Naddya. "THRUSH Central can use these two and create others once the experimental formulas have been perfected."
"So you see, Sasha. You'll not be able to keep me here." Alexana got up and sat back down in her chair and turned to face the Admiral. "Sir, it's time."
"Time?"
"It's time for the funeral tea with the government officials in the plaza. You haven't forgotten that most of the people in this room will have to be present?"
"Yes…No…We'll all have to go. Are you two willingly to go?" The Admiral asked.
"Obviously, Alexana and I will not be able to leave any time soon, but if we don't show up at the reception, the whole Soviet Union Government will be aware of your involvement in this take over. Maybe, they won't find out about THRUSH, but that there's something going on." Illya casually explained the reasoning for going. "I know that you don't want that to happen. Is that not correct?"
"Take them to the tea, Admiral. It'll keep everyone busy while my men work on the formula and modify the machinery. A last meal, shall we say?" The dark man laughed out at his own joke. "Oh, have Mr. Kuryakin check in with UNCLE first. Say that he has a mission for his government and won't be able to be in contact for a while, top secret."
"That'll give us time to work on them and then he can back to infiltrate UNCLE headquarters in New York. Waverly won't know what hit him. We will do the same with Miss Kuryakin as well with the KGB."
"Has the other UNCLE agent been sent home?" The Admiral asked.
"Yes." Naddya answered simply. "I had Alexanna's assistant, Seaman Dolchi, make sure that he boards the plane and he stays on it by going with him. She'll fly back after he gets to New York. She told him that it was not safe for him to stay in Kiev any longer and ordered by both Kuryains."
"Smart move," Admiral Putin agreed and stood up. "Well, we had better go. We don't want to be late."
Everyone stood up, adjusted their uniforms, and walked out the door with hidden guns trained on Illya and Alexana. More THRUSH agents dressed in military uniforms joined the party and dispersed according to what orders they had been given. Another young soldier walked up to the group and confirmed that Napoleon and the female seaman had just left. The main parties were loaded into a limousine and were taken to City Hall.
"Margaret, pull the car over. Let's take a minute to look at this package before we get to the airport, somewhere there are a lot of people. Maybe where there's a market with an outside café in it?" Napoleon said to Margaret as traffic began to pick up.
"There's one, up the hill from town center. You can see the river and bridge from the sidewalk shops and cafes, but is it safe? The airport is just a few miles away and I don't think that it's a good time to stop."
"Just humor me, please." Napoleon insisted in a tone that made it feel like an order to the young soldier.
"All right, I'll turn at the next street and then it's a block walk."
"That'll be fine."
Napoleon and Margret ordered hot tea at an outdoor café. Once the waitress had left, he pulled out the package. There were two envelopes with each of their names on it and two keys. He took his envelope first, opened it, and read it to himself.
Napoleon, remember when you "almost" promised me that you would leave on the next plane to New York? I need another favor as well. I want you to make sure that you take Margret with you to UNCLE. You have keys that only Mr. Waverly knows what deposit boxes they belong to. In this envelope are rubles to get her civilian clothes and orders she'll need to leave the country with you. Under no circumstance is she to stay here. All will be revealed soon. I "almost" promise to tell you everything when I see you there. I'm counting on you. Alexana"
Napoleon read the note twice, counted at the money, and could smell Alexana's intoxicating perfume on the paper. Margret didn't wait for Napoleon to finish reading his note, grabbing the one labeled for her. She ripped it open and read it.
"I don't understand? Why does Cpt. Lt. Kuryakin want me to go with you to New York? Why must I change my clothes? It doesn't say why." Margaret pleaded with him to explain.
Napoleon didn't say a word, took her note and started it on fire with his lighter then dropped it in the ashtray along with his. He placed the keys on his key chain, pocketed the money, and stuffed the military orders into his jacket.
"I don't know why either, but finish your drink. Let's try that shop over there and get you a different outfit. I have your orders to accompany me to New York. Alexana and Illya must have their reasons..."
"Illya is in on this too?"
"Yes, I do believe he is." Napoleon said in deep contemplation.
Then, a person shouted to look over by the City Hall across the river. There were shotgun blasts, people scream and running away from the bridge, another round of gunfire, more shouting, a person falling off the bridge, and a final yell from a familiar voice. "Lexi!"
Both Napoleon and Margaret watched in utter shock. They stood with all the other people watching from their vantage point on top of the hill. Margret was about to run down to the bridge, but Napoleon roughly grabbed her arm to stop her.
"No! We have to go to the airport! We do what the note says, no matter what's going on down there." Napoleon said in a harsh, hushed growl, pulling Margaret into his chest as she started to sob, but she nodded in understanding. It was unfair to lose both the General and Alexana in less than a week, Napoleon thought. Once she gained her composure and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, Margaret led Napoleon by the hand to the nearest women's clothing shop.
The afternoon tea started off fine for Illya and Alexana, although being watched by THRUSH and under heavy guard; no one seemed to notice as they walked around the tables set outside on the city's capitol building's lawn to talk with important government officials and dignitaries who had attended the funeral.
They didn't give outward signs of their predicament; staying near to one another while Sasha fretfully hovered around Alexana He was acting more agitated than usual and he had trouble controlling his emotions. He began muttering loudly under his breath how it was unfair for them to make a promise and then take it away.
Sasha was growing so restless that Alexana had to put her hand in his while leading him away to the side just to try and reason with him. She nodded to Illya for help and he came over to talk to him as well. Knowing all the while they were doing of this, Naddya, Admiral Putin, and several THRUSH agents were watching them closely.
"Sasha, you must control yourself!" Alexana said firmly. "THRUSH will kill you if you blow their cover. I'd hate to see you hurt. I care for you very much…"
"Come with me! I'll protect you if you just say that you'll be mine; only mine. I'll even try to save Illya's life, if you want, as well. There's a boat on the other side of the bridge…"
"Sasha! Lower your voice." Illya roughly interrupted. "People will hear you! Did you give him something, Lexi?"
"No, this isn't my doing. Sasha, we have to get back to the tables. We can't be seen like this…" Alexana firmly said as she tried to pull Sasha back into the main group of tables, but he wouldn't have any of it.
Instead he roughly jerked her even further from the gathering and closer to the bridge.
"No!" Sasha broke into a mad run toward the bridge, sweeping up Alexana by the waist, carrying her away as she struggled to get loose.
The officials at the gathering all turned around to watch the drama unfolding as Sasha pushed and shoved several people over if they got in his way. Admiral Putin ordered the soldiers to chase after Cpt. Lt. Noustovich, for he had gone insane and wanted KGB officer brought back safely. Illya was among those madly chasing Sasha as he raced towards the bridge. Suddenly, gunshots rang out as someone began to open fire on the fleeing man. Several bullets hit Noustovich in the back, but he continued to run even after each blast tore through him while carrying Alexana across the bridge.
Finally, about half way over the bridge, Sasha's feet gave out beneath his body and they came crashing down hard to the decking. Bullets were still flying around Alexana as she tried to get up. A shot hit her in the abdomen, causing her to stagger before she fell back off of the bridge. People were shouting, the gunfire stopped, and Illya was the first one to get to Sasha's nearly dead, convulsing body. He leaned over the rail's edge and shouted in desperation.
"Lexi!"
Shortly after the fall, a woman's body began to float upside down in the water. The hair and uniform were the same as the one Alexana wore. Too upset to look any more at the drifting body, Illya sat down next to the dying Sasha.
"Alexana…?" Sasha wheezed through white lips to Illya. Blood started to trickle out the side of his mouth with every sticky breath he took. "Tell me she's all right. She must come with me…She will love me this time…She will stay with me here in Kiev…They promised me…"
"Yes, Lexi loves you now more than ever. She's waiting for you. You were right. She's your one true love, Sasha." Illya lied to the dying man who joyously smiled just before he let out his last breath and his eyes glazed over.
Naddya, Admiral Putin, and the unnamed THRUSH agent present at the reading of the will, walked up to Illya's side as he sat, despondent over the near impossible deaths of Alexana and Sasha.
"I blame Alexana for his death. My son finally went crazy trying to make her love him and its ruined part of our plans."
"We will just have to start with Mr. Kuryakin and hope that we can salvage something from this or heads will roll. Too much time and money has been invested already to stop now." The THRUSH agent angrily said to Naddya as the soldiers led Illya away and started to remove Noustovich's body from the bridge. "You tell those officials that your son went crazy and it was an isolated incident. All of that is true anyway. Someone needs to collect her body; I want it tested post-mortem."
Naddya could only look at her son with sadness and disappointment for being such a weak minded fool.
Napoleon and Margaret were on their scheduled flight and sitting in their assigned seats in coach. Napoleon knew he had to follow the path Illya and Waverly had ordered him to do, but he didn't like that he wasn't in the "need to know" loop until after the fact.
He stirred restlessly in his narrow seat. At least they could've been given first class seats, he thought, but that wasn't his main concern, Margaret was. She was sitting in the window seat, staring out with sightless eyes; tears rolling down her cheeks in the dimmed light of the cabin. She'd lost most of her extended family and was now made to leave the only home she had ever known.
"You will be all right, Maggie," Napoleon said gently, holding her hands while giving her a new nickname. "Illya and I'll spend tons of time with you and when this is all over, maybe you can come back if you like."
She nodded and appeared reassured for the moment as she wiped her damp face with a tissue. She went back to staring out the window as they waited for the plane to take off.
Napoleon's minds drifted around the plane's cabin watching the other passengers settling themselves into their seats and preparing for the takeoff. Many of those going through coach to get to first class, he recognized from General Kuryakin's funeral.
One particular passenger passing by caught Napoleon's interest in an odd, indirect way, but he didn't know why. The lady of undetermined age wore a brightly colored handkerchief; oversized, dark sunglasses on her pert nose; and the heavy woolen coat that was open, exposing her advanced pregnant form. Her left arm was oddly draped over her expanded stomach as she walked awkwardly to her first class seat.
No one else seemed to notice her except for the fact that she was very, very pregnant, but Napoleon scrutinized her more closely. Her hair was brown, skin ghostly pale, and her expression was drawn as if bothered by something. Of course, it could be the advanced state of her condition, he reasoned
The last thing he noticed was the smell of a familiar perfume that whiffed by him after she passed the curtain to first class. It was very familiar and very intoxicating. Where had he smelled it before? Somewhere recently, but wasn't for sure where.
Then, it was gone and Napoleon's mind was now distracted by an obvious THRUSH agent that sat across the aisle and two rows up from him. The man simply smiled at him, gave him a salute, and turned back around as Napoleon continued to stare toward the blue curtain that separated the cabin.
"Ladies and Gentleman please take you seats, fasten your seatbelts…" A voice called out to all the passengers. Napoleon twisted deeper into his seat, took a hold of Margaret's hand, feeling the reassuring pressure of his gun at his side, and leaned back to enjoy the long journey back home to New York. Ten hours to be exact.
After falling asleep for a few hours, Napoleon awoke and looked as his watch. Two hours left before they land in New York. He sighed, looking over at Margaret, who was curled up in a tight little ball on the seat fast asleep. He wished that he could relax like that, Napoleon thought wistfully. She looked so young and innocent.
Napoleon stood up, stepped into the plane's aisle and stretched. He'd decided to freshen up and turned to go the restroom at the back of the plane, but someone was already there and about to close the door. The vacancy switch flipped up. Not a problem for Napoleon, he turned the other direction and easily headed to the first class's bathroom. He knew that Margaret would be safe while they were on the plane because there was no place to take her or that THRUSH agent would've done something before the plane had gotten over the ocean and in front of all the these people. No, the next dangerous time was landing at the airport in New York.
Once out of the bathroom, Napoleon gazed back and forth at the sleeping people in first class, envious that they were much more comfortable that he was in coach. The pregnant woman that he had seen earlier caught his attention again while he made his slow, reluctant trek back to his seat.
She was sleeping, but not fitfully. She jerked to the right in her seat and the coat that she was using as a blanket fell slightly, exposing her injured arm. Realizing this, she quickly covered it back up with a painful grimace on her face. She looked around for any witnesses and noticed that he was watching her. She glared through her sunglasses at Napoleon for a moment and then purposely looked away, pulling her coat closer around her slightly shivering body.
Napoleon didn't say a word while he kept on walking to his seat. He'd seen what she was hiding: red marks around her left wrist, finger bruising around her forearm, and fresh scrapes and contusions at her elbow. Someone was abusing this person and that upset him. Then, he suddenly remembered the perfume! That note from Alexana! It had that same smell. The same smell she had on in the garden.
Could it be Alexana? Was this all part of the plan? Napoleon's mind whirled as he kept walking to his seat and sat down. He didn't say a word, but trained his eyes forward to the THRUSH agent and who might be hidden behind the curtain in first class. Best thing to do, he decided, was not to draw attention to her and continue on with getting Margret to headquarters.
It had been a rough last two hours of the flight. There'd been a storm outside the plane and it caused extra turbulence for everyone to sit through during the landing. With a general sigh of relief throughout the cabin, everyone on board was rushing to get out of the crapped plane and into New York City proper. The line to leave was slow and Napoleon tried to suppress his frustrations over what THRUSH trap might be waiting for him and Margaret. How soon before he could contact Mr. Waverly?
His mind still wondered back to the pregnant lady who left the plane ahead of him was someone he knew or not and more so, did THRUSH know something about that person as well.
When they finally got off the plane, got through customs, and found a quiet place to contact UNCLE, Napoleon's nerves were on high alert.
"Open channel D," Napoleon rasped into his pen communicator. "Mr. Waverly, please."
"Yes, Mr. Solo. Just getting back?"
"Yes, Seaman Dolchi and I have arrived in New York, sir. I think that we need special transportation to UNCLE. THRUSH is all around the airport right now."
"Understood, a taxi will be there in ten minutes."
"Thank you, Solo out." He put the pen away and put his hand on Margaret's upper arm and led her to the baggage claim area. "Now, all we need to do is grab our bags, keep our heads down, and get to UNCLE headquarters, simple right?"
"Right, simple," She said in Russian.
"Maggie, English, remember." Napoleon said smoothly to remind her as he scanned the room for his obvious THRUSH agent from the plane. So far, everyone was leaving them alone. Strange, he thought, to be able to get to UNCLE headquarters without trouble brewing from somewhere.
Just as they were to leave the airport and find the taxi sent by UNCLE, he saw his pregnant friend from the plane again, sitting alone on a bench and facing the exit doors. Her back was to him and her head slightly down. As they got closer, Margaret tugged on his arm.
"Isn't that the pregnant lady from the plane?" she asked softly.
"Yes, I do believe you're right." Napoleon agreed, playing down the concern he had for the mysterious woman. He was surprised that Margret had noticed her on the plane.
"She didn't look well on the plane. I know that we need to go, but at least let us ask her if she needs help."
"We'll ask her as we go by and if need be, we will get her to a cab."
Napoleon was glad to make some sort of contact, because he had to agree with Margret that she looked even worse now than when she was leaving the plane.
Once they got near the pregnant lady, Napoleon put his hand on her shoulder, leaning over to say something as she slowly lifted her head to look at him over her sunglasses. Her skin was sickly white, breathing labored, and sweat lined the edges of her eyebrows.
"Can we help you, Mrs.…We were watching you as we all left the plane. Can we call you a cab?"
"Yes, a taxi would be helpful." She brought her right hand up and placed it on his. His wrist felt strangely cold and wet. When he looked down, he found two thin trails of blood dripping from her palm.
"Right," Napoleon said angry frustration. "Maggie, take my bag. She's coming with us. She needs to get to a hospital right away. She's gravely hurt."
Napoleon practically threw his bag at the shocked young soldier and literally picked up the pregnant lady and carried her straight to a waiting taxi. She had to run to keep up and jump into the other side before he started to bark orders at the driver.
"What is going on? Who is she?"
"Oh, Maggie, it's Alexana. Driver, take us to the nearest hospital emergency room. Quickly!"
"Napoleon," Alexana breathed heavily while making an effort to talk. "We need to prepare…."
"Prepare? Why didn't anyone tell me what's going on? Prepare for what?"
"For…Illya…when he comes back…."
"Lexi, don't worry about him right now. We need to take of you first. We will deal with him when the time comes. How badly are you hurt? Do you know?"
"No." Lexi said in a painful fog. "I'm shot, my left arms doesn't want to move very well. Sasha and I took quite a tumble and I barely remember falling until I hit the dirty water…There are papers in my clothing and padding…"
The car screeched to a halt in front of the emergency doors, Napoleon helped Alexana out of the back of the cab as orderlies brought a gurney. Napoleon lifted her up on to the cart and it was rushed inside.
"Maggie," Napoleon called out and waved to her to come to the other side of the car. "Stay with Lexi. Don't leave her side until I get in there. Secure those papers."
"Yes, Napoleon," she nodded back to him, following the gurney in.
"Open Channel D," Napoleon said with an exhaustive sigh as he stood by the open car door.
"Yes, Mr. Solo. I was expecting you to be checking at headquarters by now. Where are you? Do you have Seaman Dolchi with you?"
"We had to make an urgent stop at the closest hospital by the airport. We have Alexana Kuryakin with us and she's seriously wounded. Dolchi is with her right now and I'll join them shortly. I will report her status as soon as I find out."
"Yes, Mr. Solo. We've had a communication from Mr. Kuryakin as well. He's been sent on a mission for his government. We won't be able to contact him for awhile. I'll fill you in on the rest when I see you and Miss Dolchi in my office ASAP. When Miss Kuryakin is stable enough, she's to be transferred to our infirmary here at UNCLE headquarters."
"Yes, sir, Solo out." Napoleon snapped off the channel, closed the car door, and walked through the hospital's emergency room's doors.
Napoleon and Margaret walked into Section One's office at UNCLE headquarters and met with the great Alexander Waverly. Napoleon stopped at the far side of the desk and began to make the introduction, but Margaret continued passed him to greet Waverly with a hug as he stood up.
"Mr. Waverly," She said with a sad smile and wiped a tear from her eye once she let him go. "Still smoking the same pipe tobacco as the General? I can see that you are well and your family?"
"Yes, we are all quite well. My condolences on the General, he was a great man. I learned a great deal about the Soviet Union and its culture from him. Please sit down, my dear." Mr. Waverly offered her a chair.
"Mr. Solo, do you have the keys?"
"Yes, sir," He pulled out his key ring, took off the keys, and passed them to Mr. Waverly, who picked them up and looked at them.
"I'll have someone get the lock deposit boxes and bring them here. Until that time, I would like to tell you what we've learned about Mr. Kuryakin's situation within the Soviet Union. Oh, I also need to tell you that Miss Kuryakin was just been transferred here after the surgery was completed on her gunshot wound; she'll be weak for a while. Her shoulder was set back into place and her collarbone will heal properly as well as her arm, which was broken in three places. If I were a betting man, I would say she could give Mr. Kuryakin a run for his money in the number of injuries sustained during a mission.
"Now, back to Mr. Kuryakin, while you were just taking off, he called in, told us of the mission he's to attend to personally, and reported the death of Miss Kuryakin, an odd situation really." Waverly smirked. "First, she's dead and then she magically appears in New York right where she needed to be."
"Sir," Napoleon asked while the gears in his mind began to work on their own.
"General Kuryakin's death has put in motion a series of events to protect three people and possibly more from THRUSH, the KGB, GRU, and even from UNCLE. The papers in the deposit boxes contain information on a successful experiment to train super killers from an early age. You can read more on it when we get those files. They also contain information for you, Margaret."
"Me, Mr. Waverly," She asked in surprise. "Is this why Cpt. Lt. Kuryakin wanted me to go with Napoleon?"
"Yes." Mr. Waverly continued. "The person who created the chemical formula for General Kuryakin to develop his super assassins was your mother, Yeni Rotchef from St. Petersburg. She died just after you were born and you were given to you father, who she was having a love affair with. She was the main reason that the General gave up his dream of ruling the world. Yeni's other daughter from her first marriage, was in the experimental group and she couldn't handle what was being done to train the children involved, especially to…Alexana Dolchi.
"Yeni had a nervous breakdown and killed herself. General Kuryakin, your father, was said to be so guilt ridden that he gave up everything to do with the experiment before it could bring any more harm another child. He used the rest of his time to limit the damage that had already caused."
"That's where I came into this affair," Waverly said as he started to pack tobacco in his pipe. "The General sought me out to help disband the experimental group, develop tracking methods to monitor their actions and behaviors, and decided to keep you nearby, as well as your sister, and his dead brother's son who was also in the experimental group."
Margaret sat in shock as she heard all this. Staring out into space as she mulled over what Mr. Waverly was saying.
"The General…my father…Alexana my sister," she shook her head. "They always treated me sort of like family…well, as much as I saw her, I guess, I was."
"Mr. Waverly, does Illya know all this?" Napoleon asked trying to piece all the different sections of the puzzle together.
"Yes, but it was on a strictly need-to-know basis until the time had come where the rumors surrounding the past could be verified. Very few people are left from that time. Only two out of the original ten in the group are alive today."
"Illya and Alexana," Napoleon finished, understanding now what that might mean for UNCLE, the Soviet Union, and THRUSH. "What kind of conditioning did those two receive?"
"The best Mr. Solo," Mr. Waverly stated strongly. "Both of them have been secretly analyzing ways to prevent anyone else from using the experiment notes and formula to train more assassins. That wasn't the only training they'd received. It's just the beginning to what they were subjected to; each of them given their own special skills.
"Miss Kuryakin has developed an antidote to help prevent any residual long-term effects of the drugs that are still maybe present in their bodies. She even changed the formula so all those who tried to mix up the formula would find it useless. It's very clever of her."
"So that is why THRUSH is so interested in the General's death." Napoleon recapped on for Waverly. "It's up to Illya to act as a decoy after Alexana had changed the formula, so no one else could be affected by it while keeping them safe from reconditioning that could still affect them today if it was found out. Get Seaman Margaret Dolchi, General Boris Kuryakin's real daughter, out of the country and not get killed doing it. My job was to show UNCLE's interest in what was going on and to help escort Maggie to New York so she wouldn't come under suspicion upon leaving the Soviet Union, but she could go back if she wanted to without too much of a problem."
"Bravo, Mr. Solo!" Mr. Waverly cheered. "Now the last part of this affair is to get Mr. Kuryakin back with him not really brainwashed by Naddya or THRUSH to infiltrate UNCLE headquarter as they have undoubtedly planned. I hope that he doesn't get too bored during his "treatment" and puts on a good act. The new formula according to Miss Kuryakin, has a pleasantly, mild sedative effect, but nothing to condition anyone into a killing machine. I hope he is here before that is discovered and they use other methods to control him."
"It would put a damper on THRUSH's position in the Soviet Union if it's proven to be an ineffective formula and experiment." Napoleon agreed. "When do you think they will release him?"
"That I do not know, but in the mean time..." Mr. Waverly raised his eyes to Napoleon. "I want you to read those files with Miss Dolchi once they are here, place them in the highest security file, and seal them until further notice.
"Properly introduce Margaret to New York, but not with your usual zeal. You'll have to deal with her real cousin when he gets back."
"Yes, sir," Napoleon said with a wink and smile towards Margret. "We'll go see Lexi and then be in my office, waiting for those files. I'm looking forward to knowing what Illya was like while growing up."
"Discretion, Mr. Solo." Waverly warned. "That is only a small part of what has happened to Mr. Kuryakin. Too much knowledge could be hazardous to your health."
Napoleon nodding in understanding as he led Maggie out the door and down the hall, he'd experienced his partner's angry wrath a couple of times before and wan't to willing go through it again if he could avoid it.
Napoleon brought Margaret into the medical ward and they were told what room Alexana was in. They were instructed to limit their visit to let her rest. She's still feverish and on heavy painkillers after her surgery.
Once they agreed to follow the rules, they were let into her room which was under constant surveillance through a one-way mirror and listening devices.
"Cpt. Lt. Kuryakin?" Maggie quietly called out to the still person lying in the bed. She looked small and drawn, but resting more peacefully. Her left arm was casted, bent across her chest with her arm in a sling. IV tubing was attached to her good arm, making it look as if it was trapping her to the bed.
"Margaret…" Alexana put up her hand for her to take a hold of it, struggling to open her eyes and focus. "You need to start calling me Lexi. Now that you know we are sisters…"
"I can't believe you and Illya did all this for me? What can I say?" Maggie blurted out as she grabbed Alexana's offered hand and gave her a tender kiss on the forehead.
"You're worth it. I'm sorry that you didn't get to know our mother. She was lovely, but sad. She worried too much about you and me; too scared to let me go. Didn't want you to go through what I did. She thought all of it was her fault. She saved us all in her own way…made your father realize what he was doing was wrong. He loved you very much…the only one he loved besides our mother."
"Don't say that! He cared for you and Illya as well." Maggie argued with her.
"Maggie." Napoleon started to interrupt, to remind her that Lexi may not know what she is saying right now.
"No, he still treated us like we were still part of his experiment." Lexi shouted out as much as her tired body would let her. "He just accepted us as a solution to his problem. Even now, he is still controlling us…Napoleon, have her read the file comments. Maggie needs to know and start a new life here with us…"
"I will, Lexi." Napoleon assured her as she started to sit up more, but fell back weakly as the pain from her wounds hit her hard and making her head spin. "You need to rest right now. Lie back down. I'll take care of Maggie."
"I need to talk to you about Illya..." Lexi panted.
"Later!" Napoleon said firmly. "You sleep and I'll take Maggie with me to a secure place for her to stay and start her on instructions to living in America, the one all foreign agents take to get acclimated. We'll talk about Illya once I've had a chance to see those files and you are not all doped up on medication, all right?"
"Yes…fine." Alexana said in a deadly tone that was very familiar to the one his partner used. She turned her head to face the wall, closed her eyes, and sighed as if she was tired of this conversation and this place already as she started banging her cast against the bedrail.