Mark Spaid - Falcon Down

“Here we go, gentlemen,” Yuri Petrovsky said as he nudged his sleeping agents.

“Where we going?” Abram asked.

“To stalk the quarry.” The sun was just starting to break over the trees so they could see fine. They approached the villa and stopped behind a clump of trees about two hundred feet away. They each had a pistol and a gun. It was a pistol that fired a dart carrying a very powerful knockout drug that took effect in seconds.

“What’s this for?” Pavel asked showing his stun gun.

“The morning is always a good time to ambush. People are sluggish and off their guard. The dart will take effect in about ten seconds. Try to hit the face or neck area. The drug will act quicker the closer it is to the main arteries. You have silencers so we don’t raise any suspicions from the neighbors down the road. After we take out a couple of the agents it’ll get edgier and be prepared to kill the rest. Most of all we have to protect the lives of Prime Minister Berelenov and his wife.”

“Sir, the back door. Two of them are on the porch,” Abram said quietly.

“You and Pavel make your way around the house. Pavel, you go to the front door and Abram take the side entrance.”

“What are you doing?” Pavel asked as Yuri was changing clothes.

“Blending in with my surroundings.” He now had on a peasant’s outfit; he mussed up his hair, smeared some dirt on his face and pulled out a pint of vodka. “I’ll see if I can charm them like a local.”

“Good luck, sir,” Abram said as he and Pavel took off. Yuri waited until he saw that his two men were near the house then he began walking towards the back porch and singing to himself as he took a couple of swigs from his bottle. The two men saw and walked towards Yuri with their guns pulled but he kept singing and drinking. About twenty feet away he stopped and put his hands up laughing.

“I give up,” he said with slurred speech as he smiled. The two men examined him closely then looked at each and smiled before putting their guns away.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” One of them asked as they came off the porch and approached Yuri.

“Have a drink,” Yuri said and offered the bottle but they declined as they laughed. They said something to each other in Russian and when they turned to look at one another Yuri pulled his stun gun and fired twice. They both reached for the dart in their necks and started to pull their guns but it was a very fast acting drug and they fell to the ground. They’d be out about two hours. Yuri looked at the back door but saw nothing so he approached the house quietly and peeked in a window. There were two men in the kitchen and Nalkovitch in the living room with the Prime Minister and his wife. He wasn’t going to let them out of his sight and that was bad. Yuri recognized him and knew he was a fanatic of the first order. No doubt that was why Kulagin picked him.

“I hear a noise outside,” Nalkovitch said and the two men from the kitchen went out on the front porch. Pavel was hiding in a bush and Abram was spying from the side of the house. He had a clear shot and took it hitting a man in the back of his neck and he fell down immediately followed by the second guy that Pavel shot. They would be out for a long time. Yuri rushed in the back door and found what he thought; Nalkovitch with a gun pressed against the Prime Minister’s temple.

“Stay back or I’ll kill him. I don’t care about myself so you can forget bargaining,” Nalkovitch declared. Pavel and Abram came in the front door.

“Don’t try anything,” Yuri said and they both lowered their weapons.

“I take it my other two guys are not coming in to my rescue.”

“No,” Yuri said.

“Then we’re in a tie. I hate ties; I think someone should always win,” Nalkovitch said.

“I would agree,” Yuri said.

“Soon, Russia will be headed in the right direction again.”

“And, what direction would that be?”

“We’ll be honoring the wishes of Comrade Stalin.”

“And those were good things that he wanted?”

“Yes!”

“He was a bloody butcher.”

“He was what Russia needed. He made us into a great nation.”

“So, Communism was good?”

“Yes, it was. It brought order to the country. The people worked hard and there was a purpose at hand.”

“You mean give Stalin and his henchmen a cushy lifestyle?”

“No, to bring honor to Mother Russia and make her feared throughout the world.”

“Yes, Stalin was all about fear. He murdered my grandfather and his buddy Brezhnev killed my father.”

“They were weak and dispensable.”

“Perhaps but they were better than that maniac Stalin. I’ll take their contributions to the world over that psychopath any day.”

“You’ll see a return to order and discipline and it’ll be good.”

“There’ll be trials, reprisals, revenge executions, a return to the KGB?”

“Yes, and more.”

“Pardon me if that prospect is not exciting to me.”

“You’ll get used to it or be a casualty of the cause.” Things were in limbo and Yuri was afraid that something might cause Nalkovitch to pull the trigger so action was necessary. He, Pavel and Abram had worked out signals in the past and they were for situations like this one. It was very simple actually. Morse code by blinking. They laughed when Yuri suggested it but they spent days practicing and finally had it down pat. That was six months ago and of course they’d never had the opportunity to use it. Now, they did. Yuri signaled his two men and they nodded slightly. They were to the side of Nalkovitch so he couldn’t see them very well. Yuri took a breath and gave the go ahead. Pavel and Abram raised their stun guns and shot Vladimir and Olga in the neck and they fell to the floor instantly. There is a certain amount of hesitation in firing a gun even for a fanatic like Nalkovitch and especially if one is inexperienced. Yuri reckoned that Nalkovitch, though a philosophical fanatic, had never fired a gun before. In that brief moment of pause as Nalkovitvh looked at his hostages lying on the floor Yuri pulled his pistol and shot Nalkovitch in the head.

“Sir, I thought we were just going to knock them out,” Abram posed.

“I couldn’t take a chance on the drug working fast enough. The Prime Minister’s life is too important. Besides one less crazy around can’t be a bad thing.”

“Agreed,” Pavel said.

“Now what?” Abram asked.

“Get the keys to their car,” Yuri said pointing at Nalkovitch. “Pavel and I will drive the Berelenovs to the Senate building. We’ll tie up the four goons in here and send out the police to get them. Abram you drive back the clown car.” They moved quickly and headed to Moscow.

“What’s going to happen, Daddy?” Darcy asked. They were all sitting in the living room watching the television news about events in The Crimea and Russia.

“I don’t know.”

“Will Mom and Daddy be okay?” Jessica asked. She was clinging to Dixie.

“No one knows anything, girls,” Lexi said. “I’m going to fix a meal.”

“I’ll help, Mom,” Zara said and they went to the kitchen.

“I’m not hungry,” Melanie said.

“Me either,” Mallory added.

“Girls, all of you; you need to eat and drink something. Fasting is not going to help things,” Will said.

“Mr. Will is right you know,” Paulita offered.

“I guess so,” Darcy said and they all moved to the dining room table where they could eat but also see and hear the television.

“I’m scared for Mom,” Jessica said.

“We’re all scared for our moms and dads,” Mallory said.

“I know but Miss Tatiana and Miss Jozette are tough; nothing scares them. But my mom is different. She gets frightened easily. I just wish I was there to hold her.”