Consequences Unforeseen

Moscow -- Wednesday May 8th 1991 - The Kremlin

Moscow - Wednesday May 8th 1991 - The Kremlin

 There were only two places he detested being in. Both made him edgy and uncomfortable; submarines and tunnels. This occasion saw him in the latter of his phobia, for both situations gave him the same feeling of claustrophobia.

Sure he could handle it, indeed, had to handle it and in months spent training in both environments, he mastered the condition absolutely to the point of putting it in a box and closing the lid.

This occasion made him feel creepier still. This was a tunnel like no other he'd ever encountered. Aleksandra moved effortlessly along the pathway and was seemingly oblivious to the setting. He on the other hand was acutely aware of his surroundings and the inquisitive part of him wanted to look behind every door in the walls as they passed. He felt the ghosts of those who had lived here peeking out at him from behind old and vacant windows.

This place was a city below a city. Each door gave access to a home within the walls. Unable to resist the urge he opened one of them and was amazed with the world revealed on the other side. Dilapidated and covered in what must have been centuries of dust and cobwebs were the trapping of some opulent lifestyle from time past. Chairs, some still undamaged were placed around ornately carved tables and chaise longue were covered with old sheets and blankets. 'Who in God's name lived in this place?" He asked himself, "And why did they have to live underground?"

On Monday morning, Fraser told him of the world that Aleksandra had uncovered for them. Two of her friends were employed as senior secretaries in the Bureau of Policy Control, reporting to the Prime Minister himself. On a drunken night out several weeks ago they had taken her back to the Kremlin with them and exposed the world beneath to her - Given her a tour so to speak.

There had been rumors for years of secret tunnels and walkways beneath the Kremlin but Fraser had disclosed to him that there was actually a five level city beneath Moscow itself where an entire population had lived, worked and died. Ivan the terrible had created subterranean city and lived there in the mid fifteen hundreds. Aleksandra on a hunch and a whim decided to explore these tunnels with the end game being to find a place where the ancient city tunnels might give entry to the more recently made Kremlin secret passageways.

Her inquisitiveness paid off big time and she was leading him right now to the portal she had found, the chink in the Kremlin's armor that Fraser had been seeking for years. Fraser had changed in his role over these past years from the boss who participated fully in many operations to the boss who now directed traffic, manipulated CEO's and Chairmen to enable even more widespread and influential agent placements.

The middle aged businessman with the stunning wife travelled far and frequently but set up home in this magnificent cottage. Aleksandra had wealth beyond imagination. She was the daughter of one of Russia's most successful oil barons and his American wife. Recruited 10 years behind Douglas, she was easy prey to the CIA and MI6 organizations. Her mother had been assassinated when she was a child. She saw the KGB as her enemy and vowed to work against them long before Fraser had seemingly bumped into her at the Marbella beach resort of Puerto Banus.

Her ocean going cruiser was her haven and hideaway and it provided great views of the port's streets, restaurants and visitors. She seldom left its comforts preferring to bring the town to her, but she could not resist the man unashamedly taking photographs of the boat but never taking his eyes off her.

His Jaguar car was carelessly parked adjacent to the boat and he was sitting on the hood clicking away with his cannon. Private but never shy, she stood up, walked to the railing on the third deck and removed her robe. Naked now, she beckoned him onboard, turned on her heel and headed indoors. Fraser had plans for her and the connection had just become much easier to achieve.