Vladivostok, Russia
Stomach grumbling, Robin munched on her breakfast of sweet bread, water, a handful of sunflower seeds and her last apple as she watched dawn's light coming through the porthole. She'd survived the storm last night but it was time to move on.
"I have to find a bathroom, clean up and change clothes. They'll take an inventory of what's missing and know what I'm wearing." She felt at her clothes. "I need something warmer. I don't want to get pneumonia do I?"
Clang!
She looked up. The sound came from the floor above her. She could hear other sounds - the grinding of metal on metal and loud thumps.
Robin began to wolf down her food. The ship's crew was stirring and she had overslept. She had planned to be off the ship before the day's activities had begun in earnest.
After eating, she folded her blanket and packed her backpack. She added a few items she had found in the hold - a flat screwdriver and a four inch awl whose pointed steel tip could be used to pick locks or for self defense.
She took stock of her situation. She was on an outward bound ship. They could head out at any time. She couldn't stay in an enclosed space. It would be like staying inside another prison. She had to keep moving.
She had plenty of money to buy food and supplies. Her medicines would last her a little over a month. Her most pressing immediate needs were to change her appearance and to find another place to stay. And, if an opportunity presented itself, she had to make one phone call. One call that could decide her fate.
The docks were coming to frenetic life. Cranes were warming up to load and unload ships. Workers were settling in for a long day's work as they cleared their work areas of debris from the night's powerful storm.
Robin crouched near the massive loading doors of the ship. She had readily identified who were part of the ship's complement and who where dock workers loading the ship. In reverse of her earlier strategy, she waited for a large group of workers to make their way to the doors. She trailed them out careful to stay close enough to seem to be part of the group but far enough to be out of the group's immediate attention. As the group walked back towards a warehouse, Robin veered off and made for what looked to her to be a diner.
She got closer to the small building and was relieved to see signs in multiple languages indicating that it was a general store and diner for the nautical set. It was a busy place with people speaking different languages going in and out. Not wanting to seem too much like a traveler, Robin hid her backpack behind large garbage cans in the back of the store keeping only her waist pack with her.
She entered the store and had to smile. It seemed just like the small stores back home. On one side were the universal tourist souveniers, knick knacks and postcards. In the back were everyday worker apparel and supplies. On the other side was a small grocery. Robin went towards the back and to her relief found the ladies lavatory.
Inside a stall she fixed her clothes as best she could. She took off her tee shirt. When no one else was in the lavatory, she washed her face and hands. She craved a hot shower but she had to settle for an impromptu body wash instead. She soaked wads of thin toilet paper and took them inside the stall. She cleaned herself then used her tee shirt to dry off. It wasn't a shower but she did feel refreshed and clean. She returned to the store and began to look around.
Robin kept her ears open, too. She caught snatches of conversations in English among the customers. From a distance she shadowed two well-dressed sailors talking in English and purchasing the latest electronics. She watched and listened as they paid for their purchases in Euros and US dollars not rubles. The cashier accepted them with no qualms. On the wall above the cashier's spot was posted a blackboard with a few popular conversion rates. Robin mentally calculated the cost of the coat and other clothing. She smiled and went to shop for more supplies. She had plenty of euros and dollars to spend. Her remaining rubles would go towards buying supplies at the local shops.
Keeping one eye on the people around and another on the various goods on display, Robin toured the store looking for things that a local person would use and not a tourist. In her previous escape attempts, she had been too easily identified by her clothing and actions. She vowed not to make the same mistakes this time. The longer she escaped detection the better. To do that she had to look the part of a local and act like one, too.
She spent the most time among the racks of apparel and shelves of supplies that a worker or sailor would favor. They were good quality goods at the low prices that attracted a seaman's pay like steel filings to a magnet. They were mostly for men but in the corner she found some female clothing and supplies.
She selected an unlined peacoat of gray and dark green made of coarse wool but it was thick and toasty. It was just what she needed. She got a fur hat, better fitting gloves, two pairs of thick wool socks, a dark blue turtleneck, a thermal undershirt and two pairs of black slacks. Shoes were problematical. She had small feet and none of the boots she longed to buy would likely fit. To her delight, she found a pair of thin, black rubber overshoes that did slip over her trainers. They would keep her feet dry in the snow and slush outside.
She looked at her watch. She couldn't stay here for too long. She still had many things left to do. Robin went through the food section next. Selected items that would last long without refrigeration - two dry cured salami logs, two wedges of cheese, four tins of sardines. Her fingers itched to grab more but she had to travel light and fast.
Robin added a large zippered shoulder bag of black canvas and a coffee-colored waist pack with a sturdy belt and many compartments. They would replace her current waist pack and back pack. More ways to look like a native, she thought.
Purchases weighing her down, Robin waited until there were three people in the cashier line before lining up herself. On the counter were the ubiquitous impulse buy items. Robin took a map of the city, a small flashlight and a slim English to Russian dictionary. By the time the harried cashier had gotten to her, she had not bothered to be chatty or look too closely at her purchases.
Before leaving, Robin rapidly took her thin coat off and stuffed it into the zippered bag along with her knit cap, too large gloves, groceries and new waist pack. She put on her new coat, hat, gloves and overshoes. An entirely different person left the store.
Carrying her bags, Robin left the general dock area and found a cafe a block away. She paid for coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs and hard pancakes which she doused with honey. Seated in the table furthest in the back, she ate while switching the contents of her makeshift waist pack into the new one. With satisfaction she put on the new pack and slid it around so it fit in the small of her back well covered by her coat.
She finished her meal and took her belongings into the restroom fit for one person at a time. Inside, she arranged triaged her belongings and packed only those things she absolutely needed into the large shoulder bag. Except for her brown corduroy jacket, wool cardigan, wool blanket and bandana, Robin discarded any clothing she had taken from the laboratory, her old quarters and from Semyon's shed. She changed into her newly bought clothes of dark slacks and blue turtleneck. She stuffed her food supplies, blanket and tools into the large bag. Any and all other unnecessary items remained in her old backpack.
Feeling much lighter and more confident, Robin left the cafe. She was revived, fresh and ready to find a more permanent hiding place where she could be safe and have the time to think and plan. She threw the backpack into a dumpster some blocks away. More mentally alert than she had felt in years, Robin took notice of everything - landmarks, street signs, the color of buses. Her escape from the laboratory had been done at night. But even so she remembered that the area was far from run down. It seemed prosperous and busy.
"I should go in the opposite direction. Someplace not so fancy," she said under her breath.
For four hours she walked briskly never following a straight line and sometimes popping into stores and cafes to rest, have a hot snack, buy bottled water and check for surveillance. She followed a trend of increasingly dilapidated buildings that took her further away from the busiest streets. Robin found herself in a block of mostly closed and abandoned storefronts with many of their windows covered with newspapers or sheets of plywood. She circled the area twice studying the people and general activity in the was little foot traffic and most people seemed to pass through on their way to the busier streets.
Robin took a side alley that led to the back of the empty storefronts. There was no one around and she went from building to building checking for open doors and windows. The back door of a three story building was secured with a heavy metal padlock that she readily picked open with her awl. Flashlight in hand, she went inside.
It was dark, gloomy and dusty but dry with no signs of water damage at least on the first floor. It had been a store once if the built in shelves in the front part of the building were anything to go by. She locked the backdoor from the inside then made her way upstairs. The stairs were stable but creaked noisily with her every step. The second floor was a studio apartment. Newspapers covered the glass windows that looked out over the street. A rug over the wood floor and one stool occupied the large living room. The kitchen area was tiny as was the bathroom. The walls were painted in cheery light yellow. The third floor was unfinished with exposed wall studs and roof trusses. Unlike the second floor, it was chilly and forbidding. Robin returned to the second floor.
She laid her bag on the rug and smiled. "Okay, this is it. Home sweet home."
Mr. Hunter bent over a map of the city. He circled the areas his team had searched. His two lead officers were making their individual reports when Peter came in.
"Have you found her?" asked Peter.
"Not yet."
Peter bit his tongue before an unwise retort escaped his lips. Instead he asked, "Any ... any clues?"
"We know where she's not." Hunter pointed at the map. "We've segmented the city into quadrants. Today, we searched the quadrant immediate to this location. Inquiries to local businesses have turned up no information. The dogs have not picked up a scent. Going on foot she couldn't have gone far so that indicates transport like a bus or taxi. That will be part of the search tomorrow. That and the docks area. Do we have permits?"
"Yes, we do," Peter took out an envelope from inside his suit. "You are quality inspectors. You may board any ship you like. You have a little time though."
"TIme?"
"The harbor is iced in. No ships can come or go until the icebreakers clear a path through. Weather reports show another storm coming in about midafternoon tomorrow."
"We'll still tackle the docks tomorrow."
"She has no visa why would she even try to get on a boat?"
"She can still stow away on an outbound ship. Hide out until the ship is out a few days or weeks," insisted Hunter. "We have to cross off the possibility."
"What about tonight?"
"Tonight, we're riding buses and taxis with the dogs. Maybe we'll get lucky and get a scent."
Despite the newspapers on the glass windows, enough afternoon light filtered through to give the room a cheerful air. Robin explored her home at some leisure. She checked all the windows and made sure they were locked. Most of the windows faced out to the street save for one window on the side that faced a brick wall. She opened it an inch for some welcome fresh air sending dust floating into the air making her cough.
The kitchen was opposite the windows against one wall. It consisted of a short counter beside a stove, a sink and an empty spot where a refrigerator would normally be. Above the counter were a series of cabinets. She turned the faucet absently. A trickle of brown water issued out of the faucet's tip. She watched it flow on and on eventually losing its brackish texture and turning clear.
Robin put her a hand under the stream. She laughed heartily. "Yes! I can wash anytime I want to. I hope there's a basin or a pail around here."
She shut the faucet off and rooted around the cabinets. She did not find a pail or any container of any kind. The cabinets were bare except for a few candle stubs and a short paring knife.
"Beggars can't be choosers," she said.
Robin grabbed the flashlight and went into the bathroom. Like the rest of the studio, dust covered the bathroom fixtures. Unlike the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink did not work. The faucet handle fell off as she twisted it. The toilet was missing. Cobwebs and dirt decorated the bath tub. Robin closed the bathroom door firmly. It was not a room she would be visiting again.
She went down to the first floor. She made sure the front door and windows were securely locked. The back door had two deadbolts. Like the floors above, this one was bare. The only thing she found was a long handled broom.
Taking advantage of the natural light, Robin swept the living room and her sleeping area. She turned the oval rug over and laid the corduroy jacket flat on it. She changed her clothes donning her new thermal undershirt and then putting the high-necked wool blouse over it. She padded across the floor with sock clad feet.
As the light ebbed, Robin sat down on the coat. In an almost giddy mood, she had a picnic of cheese, sausage and the last of the sweet bread. She studied the English and Russian dictionary as she ate. She practiced saying some common words out loud in a deeper tone than her normal speaking voice.
She studied for another hour before weariness swept through her. It was still early evening but it had been a long day and she had to rest. She could not drive herself to exhaustion. That would be self-defeating. She took her last medical cocktail for the night, turned off her flashlight and burrowed under the warm wool blanket with a sated stomach and a light heart.