Do or Die Chapter 5

Raptorguy14 Sat Oct 13, 2012 6:01 pm

The setting sun cast its deep orange rays on the warehouse complex at
Lyubertsy as my team and I drove at the designated speed limit of 10 kilometers

per hour toward the complex’s front gate. As the sun’s golden light hit my face,
I couldn’t help but think that this symbolized how well this mission would go.
Optimistic, I pulled up to the front gate and smiled at the man in the booth.

“Kakoe delo vy zdes’?”* the guard asked.

“Eto zhizn’,” I responded, unsure of what exactly the guard had said. He
smiled back at me and pressed a button, causing the gates to lift. “Spasibo,”** I
said as I drove through the gate into the complex. Two minutes later, the rest of
my team joined me.

Two guard cars drove up to our mini-convoy and honked, presumably
signaling us to follow them to a parking garage. We were led to the parking
garage on the west side of the complex. As we parked, five armed guards got out
of each vehicle and asked in English if they could inspect our vehicles. We gave
them our permission and the search turned up nothing, as this mission required
very little equipment.

After the inspection was performed, half of the guards left, leaving us with
the five other guards.

One of the guards, presumably the one of highest authority, stepped
forward and asked, “Where should we take you?”

“Techrah pravit vsem,” Diane said to the man.

“Very well,” he responded. “Follow me.” He began to walk out of
the garage, motioning for the other guards and us to follow him. As we
were following him, I couldn’t help but think that this whole situation was a
bit…strange. I mentioned this to Todd.

*Translates to “What business do you have here?”
**Translates to “Thank you”

“What do you mean, ‘strange?’” he asked.

“Well, until we were in the parking garage, we addressed these people

in Russian. And while I’m definitely not a native speaker, I think my accent was
pretty convincing. How would they know that we’re American and that we speak
better English than Russian?”

“Some people can just tell,” Todd responded. “Maybe your Russian’s not as
good as you think it is.”

“And another thing, why did they ask to examine our vehicles? This is just a
storage complex; why would they feel the need to check our cars?”

“It’s not just a storage complex. Remember, they’re storing a device
capable of erasing the CIA database here. So they’ll naturally have high security.”

“All I’m saying is that I think they may be on to us. Just keep your eyes
peeled for anything suspicious.”

We were led to a large, cylindrical complex with a large bay door. The lead
guard escorting us shouted something in Russian, and the bay door was opened.
He then turned to us.

“Alright, this storage building contains many classified items,” he said to
us. “Do not let your eyes wander and do not take anything that does not belong
to you. If we find that you took something that you were not authorized to take,
you will be killed. Is that clear?”

We all nodded. The guard walked forward into the building and motioned
for us to follow him. As we walked through the building, several cameras
mounted on the walls followed our every move. I noticed that several of these
cameras had peculiar-looking tubes coming out of the bottom of them, but didn’t
think much of it.

We eventually reached the other end of the building. There were two filing
cabinets against the wall with Russian labeling that I didn’t understand. The lead
guard opened one of these filing cabinets and pulled out a small brown package
with the English label “USB DRIVE”. He closed the filing cabinet and turned to us.

“Which of you will receive the package?” he asked.

Sheilah stepped forward. “I will,” she said, holding out her hand.

The guard handed her the package. “We will lead you out of here now,”
he said. “Follow me.” Rather than turn around, he turned to the left and began
walking in that direction.

“Um, sir, shouldn’t we turn back?” Diane asked him.

“This is a shortcut,” he responded.

As we continued to walk through the building, I again decided to talk to
Todd about my qualms regarding whether or not the guards were on to us. “Do
you see what’s happening?” I whispered. “We’re being led into a trap.”

“What if this really is a shortcut, though?” Todd asked. “We did walk for a
long while, so it’s entirely possible that this is a shortcut back.”

“But we’re walking away from our vehicles,” I said. “Surely you can’t think
that walking away from where we want to go will get us there faster?”

Todd sighed. “OK, let’s assume for a second that you’re right about them.
Why haven’t they killed us already? Shouldn’t they have killed us before handing
the package to us?”

“I honestly don’t know the answer to that,” I said. “I’ve been wondering the
same thing. But obviously there’s a purpose.”

We were eventually led to a large room with only a few stacks of cardboard
boxes here and there. The lead guard gave the other four guards some directions
in Russian and they left.

“And if they were on to us, how come he just dismissed them?” Todd
asked. “If they were on to us, they would know that a four-on-one situation
wouldn’t be good for them.”

“I don’t know Todd,” I said. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m just being
paranoid.”

“That’s exactly right, and it’s completely justifiable,” Todd said. “You’ve
been through a lot in your years with the CIA. So have I. You just have to
remember that you can’t let your paranoid thoughts get in the way of your logical
thoughts. Alright?”

Just as Todd had finished speaking, about twenty more guards entered the
room, guns drawn. We instinctively drew our guns, but realized that we were
completely outnumbered.

“Now do you believe me?” I asked Todd sarcastically.

About two or three of the guards moved aside as a masked man
approached us. He was tall and thick, with very broad shoulders. As he was
wearing a mask, I couldn’t see his facial features. As he got closer and closer, my
mind could only think of one possible person behind that mask: Harry Graff.

The masked man finally reached our location. He looked at me with only
one eye, and I could guess it was because he was hiding his lazy eye so I wouldn’t
recognize him. He then looked at Sheilah and the brown package that she was
holding. He pulled out a pistol, pointed it at her head, and said, “I believe you
have something of mine.” He talked very quietly, but I could still tell that it really
was Harry behind the mask.

“This whole thing was a trap, wasn’t it?” I asked. “Lenny lied to us, didn’t

he?”

“Flat-out,” the masked man responded quietly. “Now I believe I said you
have something of mine,” he continued, gazing intently at Sheilah with his good
eye. “I want it back.”

“What if we refuse?” Diane asked.

“You’re in no position to refuse!” the lead guard shouted. “We have you
surrounded! If you refuse, we will shoot you!”

Smiling, I said, “But we have your precious USB drive. Surely you can’t risk
shooting it?”

“You won’t have that drive for long,” the masked man said, moving toward
Sheilah. I quickly stepped in and kicked him in the side. Surprised, he stumbled
but managed to catch himself before he fell. I quickly moved in and attempted to
punch him, but he caught my fist, twisted my arm behind my back, and shoved
me to the ground.

“No use in fighting me,” he said. “You won’t win.” He moved toward
Sheilah again, but I tried to trip him. This time, he was expecting me, and he
elbowed me hard, causing me to lose my breath temporarily.

One of the guards quickly moved in and held my arms behind my back. I
struggled to break free as the masked man moved toward Sheilah once more.
This time it was Todd that attempted to come to her rescue, but he, too,
failed, and was restrained by a guard. Before Diane could do anything, she was
restrained by a guard.

Although he was wearing a mask, I could tell that he was smiling as he approached Sheilah and harshly jerked the package out of her hands. He opened it, making sure that the USB drive was still inside.

“Should we kill them?” the lead guard asked.

“No, not yet,” the masked man said. “I actually want to talk to one of them. The one who prefers to use Desert Eagles.”

Knowing that was me, I stopped struggling to break free, surprised that this man who was probably Harry wanted to talk to me. “Why do you want to talk to me?” I asked.

“I have my reasons,” the man said. “Guards! Take the others out of here.”

As my team was led out of the room, the masked man approached me. “I’ll bet you’re wondering why I chose to speak to you,” he said.

“Indeed I am, Harry,” I said.

This time, he was the surprised one. Taking off his mask, he asked, “How did you know?”

“How could I not recognize my old friend?” I asked. “So this is what you’ve been up to lately. Can’t say I’m surprised that you’re turning on the CIA after what you did.”

“I admit, what I did was wrong,” Harry said. “But the CIA had no right to do what they did to me.”

“What did they do to you?” I asked. “All they told us is that you ran away.”

Harry laughed. “They lied to you, Johnny,” he said. “I was exiled from the country. Just for stealing a few small pieces of information.”

“Small pieces? You almost revealed the identities of everyone on my team to the media! It could’ve turned into a huge controversy!”

“That was never my intention,” Harry said. “I only intended to give the information to Techr…” He stopped, realizing his mistake.

“You worked for Techrah before you even left the CIA?” I asked, shocked. Harry said nothing. “I have one question for you Harry,” I continued. “Why, of all of us, did you want to talk to me?”

“Because I have a proposition for you,” Harry said. “I want you to work with me at Techrah. After me, you were always the best agent in the group. Now, since I’m gone, you’re the best in the business. Together, we could take over the CIA for ourselves.”

“You can forget it Harry,” I said. “I’m not joining you.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Harry said, putting his mask back on. “Very well. If you’re not going to join me, you’re going to die.”

The guards led the others back into the room. Harry grabbed me and managed to get me back into the circle of guards despite my violent protesting. As the guards raised their weapons and prepared to fire, Harry simply laughed and walked away.