50The alarm blared at 4:00 as Jess rolled over and slapped it violently. Though she was generally a morning person, this morning she could have used a few more hours of sleep. Dressing quickly in a soft blue button up oxford and brown casual pants, she reached down to tie her boots and grabbed her equipment. After making a mental check that she had everything she would need plus all her gear, she walked down the stairs and exited the door into the dark of early morning. Becker had instructed her to meet at the car park where they would be issued a non-descript vehicle to drive to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. It would be there that they would first meet Becker's contact: the operative named Vasily, and then set up a meeting with the tech operative inside the Red Line terrorist group.
In the dark of the morning, Becker was standing next to a drab colored vehicle. It was an older Russian model that Jess didn't even recognize. She stifled a yawn as she stowed her gear in the back of the car and climbed into the front seat. Becker reached on top of the car and handed her a large coffee with a large odd looking pastry that looked fresh and actually quite appetizing. Jess opened her eyes wide when she saw the coffee and broke out in a smile when he handed her the pastry. With a grateful smile at her thoughtful partner, she sipped her coffee and took a bite of the warm pastries as her eyes widened.
"Becker?" she said as she looked at him, "This is a frothy coffee with two sugars and extra cream…..exactly as I like it! How in the world did you know?"
Even in the low light of the car park, Jess could see the light blush on his cheeks.
"Oh, well…" he stammered. "Temple is always talking about how you and Abby always have to have a coffee made a certain way every morning or you're scary to have a conversation with in the break room."
Jess smiled and closed her eyes. "Well, this pastry is amazing and it's still warm." This partner thing is working out better than I thought. Keep this up and I may have to marry you…" Jess' eyes popped open as the last word came out. She really needed to let her thoughts process through her brain this early in the morning before they actually exited through her mouth. She glanced over at Becker who had his eyes firmly on the road.
"Well…I meant to say….I need to have you make me a coffee at the ARC before you start your shift each morning….." she said quickly as she dipped her head down to take another large sip of coffee. "….and also that before 8:00 in the morning I may say things…..embarrassing things that my partner on this mission would have the decency not to repeat to our coworkers or tease me mercilessly about after said mission is successfully completed…"
Becker smiled at the road in front of him. "Can't make any promises like that, can I?" He glanced at her across the seat. "But….this car is equipped with an audio recorder so I CAN play them back for our coworkers at a later date, right?" His grin became sadistic.
Jess sat up suddenly. "Really?...an audio recorder…..If I fall asleep I do have a tendency to snore a bit ….."
Becker raised an eyebrow at her and began to grin. "You think they would bother with one in this old wreck?"
She threw a wadded up napkin at him…"Oh….you…" but let a small smile play across her face.
They rode along in companionable silence until Jess fell asleep leaning against the window. She woke up when daylight was well on its way as they drove down a deserted highway.
Becker looked over at her. "Well, princess, did we finally decide to arise," he teased.
Jess looked over at him and stuck her tongue out.
"…..oh, and by the way, you DO snore ….."
She looked at him in alarm until she figured out he was teasing her again.
"Have you been to Kazakhstan before?" she asked him.
"Yea, I've been to Astana which is the capital, several times before and of course to the base we just left. It's really a beautiful country. Near the Chinese border there's a gorgeous canyon, the Charyn Canyon, that's absolutely beautiful."
Becker began to tell her about the time he'd spent there and some of the people he worked with. Kazakhstan had two official languages: Russian and Kazakh, both were accepted equally but in recent years more emphasis was placed on the Kazakh language since many native Russians had emigrated into other Russian satellite countries after independence from Russia was declared.
Jess relaxed into the car's seat as she listened to him. She had never had the opportunity to converse casually with him about his life before the ARC. Sitting here with him and having a normal conversation about life that didn't involve dinosaurs or paperwork or world ending anomalies was a wonderful gift. He was dressed casually in a moss green T-shirt that matched his hazel eyes and jeans. The only black piece of clothing he was wearing were his boots. She rarely saw him in civilian clothing and decided she definitely liked it and for a minute she let the fantasy that they were a couple on holiday play across her mind. The long drive passed pleasantly between them with one of them talking about their younger years and about personnel at the ARC. Almost too soon for Jess, they arrived at a small home on the outside of town that Becker told Jess was his contact, Vasily's house.
Becker parked the car and walked to the front door of the home. Becker knocked and the door was answered by a rather stout man in his early 40's. He greeted Becker in the traditional way and both men spoke Russian as Becker gestured to Jess to come and join them.
Once inside, Vasily, turned to both of them and continued the conversation in English.
"Ahh…..I trust your trip was not too difficult" he said with a sincere smile.
Jess smiled at him as Becker turned to introduce her.
"Vasily Romanov, this is my partner on this mission, Jess" Becker said.
Jess reached her hand toward the plump, older man as he shook it vigorously.
"This is your partner, Hilary? The "Secret Weapon" I hear from your Colonel about? I am thinking that I need to let my Russian superiors know that I am expecting such a lovely partner on my next assignment!" he informed them with a loud belly laugh. "I know we do not have time for friendly talk as your contact in the Red Line organization is meeting you at the Dancing Bear in an hour. Come….we will talk in the automobile on the way to the bar."
Becker and Jess walked to the garage as the man grabbed his keys and ushered them into an older model Russian Lada. The drive into town wasn't more than 30 minutes and when they arrived, Vasily parked the car.
"I will be across the street. I am needing another pack of cigarettes. I will meet you back at the car when your business is complete," he said as he crossed the road to a small tobacco shop across the square. Becker turned to Jess as they began walking through the door of the bar.
"Jess, I need to meet with this guy alone. I need you to sit out of sight near the door until I'm done talking with him. Since you don't speak Russian, we don't want to be speaking English here until I'm sure we're not being watched," he whispered.
"But, Becker…." Jess began as Becker cut her off.
"Jess, tech is your area but security is mine. You need to trust me on this and let me lead on this part, yeah?" Becker whispered.
Jess sighed and rolled her eyes as she nodded and pointedly found a corner out of sight in the bar to stay until Becker completed the meeting. Walking to the back of the dark room, Becker immediately noticed a man at a table who immediately met his eyes. Becker strolled over to the table and was approached by a waitress. He ordered two vodkas as he turned to the man at the table.
"You are here for work or pleasure?" asked the man casually. Becker stared straight ahead.
"Oh, for work. The oil company I work for sends me here several time a year" answered Becker. The waitress returned with their drinks, set them on the table, and left. The man picked up his drink and slid a piece of paper across the table. Becker picked it up and slid it into his pocket.
"Good. You will meet me tomorrow at that location and we will conduct business. I am afraid the two men in black at the end of the bar have taken notice of us. You will need to find a discreet way to leave this place separate from me," he sipped at his drink as Becker looked at the men sitting at the bar. They were definitely feigning disinterest now but he knew the look well. Looking around the room he searched desperately for a distraction that would allow his contact to leave quietly without being noticed. Suddenly he became aware of loud laughing coming from the bar. Several men were gathered around a woman with her back to him. They were listening to a rather loud, drunken account of a fight with her boyfriend and expressing their sympathies while staring at her cleavage visible from a blue blouse with more than several buttons undone. He couldn't see her face but he was certainly grateful for the gift of an inconspicuous exit for his contact. He started toward the door where Jess had been sitting and found her seat empty. Trying not to panic, he whirled around to find himself in the middle of the small group of men and the young woman. As he tried to excuse himself, the woman turned to face him fully and promptly slapped him across the face as she addressed him in Russian.
"…and THIS is my boyfriend who has left me for my best friend, Ludmilla! My best friend! I think that they DESERVE each other!"
Becker found himself staring into a pair of beautiful blue eyes…..Jess Parker's eyes….but, she was speaking Russian….how…and it suddenly dawned on him. If Jess was working with Russian coding she most certainly needed to speak Russian to do it. He remembered a long ago conversation with her about her Russian grandmother and he felt more than a little foolish…but, now was the time to help her extricate themselves from the bar as he threw both hands in the air.
"Katje," he yelled loudly with a slight slurring of his words. "You did not listen to me when I told you nothing was going on! You only listen to your poisonous mother who wishes to break us apart! Now come home with me immediately!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him as he leaned down to kiss her, slanting his lips across hers and taking possession of her mouth. For her part, Jess immediately dropped the drink she was holding and stood for a second stunned before her arms snaked around his neck and began kissing him back properly. One of the men stood up, rather unsteadily, to protest but noticing the intensity of the kiss, he knew his cause was lost. For his part, Becker almost forgot where he was…..Hell, he nearly forgot WHO he was, but quickly recovered and ended the kiss naturally. He cleared his throat.
"…..and now Katje, you will come home and fix dinner for me… and for our six, wonderful children."
The remaining men who had waited hoping "Katje" would be staying a bit longer, quickly gather up their belongings at the mention of six children and exited the bar. Becker took Jess' hand and exited the door as they walked toward the parked car. As they stood near the car, Becker nervously glanced at Jess as she stared up at him quizzically.
"Well, I'd say we've figured out how to play our secret agents part pretty well, right?" he said quickly. Jess laughed nervously.
"Yeah….ummm…..I knew those men were watching you and you needed a distraction. That's why ….you know…I did all that…..well ….you know, that "scenario" back there….."
Sure. That made sense to Becker. It was all part of the "scenario…" Meanwhile he was having trouble looking anywhere other than her face or the cleavage she displayed with her low cut shirt. Jess looked down realizing it was still unbuttoned and quickly buttoned up the shirt as she pulled her hair back into the braid she was wearing when they arrived.
Vasily walked to meet them from across the street and the three of them got into the vehicle and drove back to his house. Becker looked across the seat at the "secret weapon" as Vasily had referred to her and prayed that the rest of the mission would go as planned and he would have her back at the ARC safe in a few days. He was hoping for no surprises on this mission but Jess Parker seemed determine to surprise him at every turn.