Murmansk

Chapters 23, 24, & 25

Chapter 23

December 10, 2000

 

"We have captured the operatives moy Rukovoditel," Ivan smirked as he entered the room, "The plane will be on the ground within the hour."

"Bra," Noon replied with a nod. (Good)

"How many are there?"

"Three, two men and a woman. We think the woman was just brought along as an interpreter, although she is the daughter of the leader of the mission."

Noon Byrk stared out the window as she received the details of the abduction. A thin smile graced her lips as Ivan talked; the plan was coming together nicely.

"A daughter?" she asked suddenly, turning then to face Ivan when that detail made its way into her thoughts. "This is good; she can be an additional incentive for the men to follow our instructions to the letter."

Making her way to her desk, Noon sat down in the chair and glanced up at Ivan. "Do you know their names? The father and daughter?"

Ivan lifted a clipboard to his face.

"The woman is called Ab-by. The man's name is Ga-bri-el, but the pilot reports that the girl called him Gabe."

Noon nodded thoughtfully before reaching forward and pulling a notepad toward her. Taking up a pencil, she started slowly crafting a note in English. When she had finished, she ripped the note off of the pad and handed it to Ivan.

"Separate the woman and take her to Gregor's place and leave her there along with the note. I will phone him with instructions."

"As you wish moy Rukovoditel," Ivan replied with an exaggerated bow, "And the men?"

"Stay with the original plan, they are still the bait in our little fishing expedition."

Nodding, Ivan turned to leave. Although he didn't always understand the strange English phrases the woman used, he understood fishing.

He also understood the need to leave the room before she caught him staring at her perky breasts bulging through the tight sweater she wore.

Chapter 24

December 10, 2000

 

Slap!

"Son of a bitch!" Abby exclaimed, jerking herself upright. Bringing her hand to her face, she felt the hot welt as she took in her surroundings. She was on a cot in a small, cold storage room. A fat man stood over her, a sneer on his face.

"Poluchit' svoyu zadnitsu! Eto vremya, chtoby idti na rabotu." (Get your ass up! It's time to go to work)

Reaching into his dirty apron, the man pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Tossing it to Abby, he then turned to leave the room.

"Pyat' minut!" (Five minutes!)

Abby watched the man leave the room warily before turning her attention to the paper. Straightening it out, she saw that it was a note from Gabe!

Abby

 

I have set you up as a waitress in this bar as cover. Do what Gregor says and I will see you tonight.

 

Gabe

 

Dropping her hand with the note to her lap, Abby looked around once again at her confines.

What the hell happened? She asked herself. The last thing she remembered was being on the plane. Now her head hurt and her brain was all foggy.

Looking down at the note again, she tried to equate her thoughts with this new reality.

It wouldn't compute.

"Whatever happened, Gabe must have thought I would be safer here than somewhere else," Abby reasoned finally, although it still didn't make any sense.

"Vy sdrlali prikhorashivalsya tuda printsessa?" Gregor's voice came to her from the hallway. (Are you done primping back there Princess?)

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses!" she shouted back.

"Chto?" (What?)

"Ya skazal,chto budu tam cherez minutu!" (I said, I'll be there in a minute!)

Shaking her head with a sigh, Abby stood up only to find that her legs were wobbly. Falling forward, she caught herself on a small, dirty sink. Glancing up, she caught the reflection of herself in the smeared mirror above the sink. Besides the red welt on her cheek, her eyes were puffy and her hair was a tangled mess.

"Shit," she whispered to herself, "I may need more than a minute to fix this!"

Finding a hair band in her pocket, she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to straighten it somewhat before pulling it back in a ponytail. Looking at herself again, she could only sigh.

"This is going to be one long-assed night!"

Chapter 25

December 10, 2000

 

The two snowmobiles whined to a stop in front of the shack, each one dragging a sled behind it.

Shutting off the engine, Ivan dismounted and moved to the sled behind his snowmobile before starting to untie his package. The other man with him on the trip, Alexie, did the same. When they had both of the packages freed, Alexie moved to Ivan's sled to help move his into the abandoned research facility.

Lugging the body bag in through the doorway, Ivan chose a spot and dropped his end. As Alexie did the same, Ivan unzipped the bag and started dragging Gabe out of it.

With that done, they headed back outside for the other one.

"Eto bol'shoy!" Alexie panted when they were half way back to the building. (This is a big one!)

Ivan ignored the comment, concentrating instead on moving the dead weight across the deep snow.

Kicking open the door, Ivan slipped when he stepped onto the now-slick concrete floor.

"Der'mo! (Shit!)" he exclaimed as the bag tumbled onto him.

Sliding out from under the weight, he and Alexie pulled the bag a few feet farther into the room before dropping it. Alexie immediately knelt down beside the bag and pulled at the zipper.

Suddenly the room filled with a growl as Preacher rose from the bag and wrapped his huge hands around Alexie's neck. Filled with terror, Alexie tried to push away from the madman, but he couldn't find a purchase on the slick concrete.

Starting to see stars from the lack of air, Alexie was almost unconscious when he heard it.

The room filled with the BOOM of a gun...and then Preacher let go of his neck as he fell back to the floor. As Alexie squirmed away from the man, he could see the spread of blood forming on the man's shoulder.

Looking to the side, he noticed Ivan slipping his revolver back into its holster.

"That should take care of that one," Ivan grinned. "Come on, we need to get back."

Quickly folding the body bags, the men then exited the building and made their way to the snowmobiles.

As the whine of the motors receded from the building, the cold and silent darkness of the arctic engulfed the scientific outpost. Were it not for the shallow breathing of the two men inside, there would be no sign of life within miles.

 

 Copyright 2015 J.T. Lewis