In the woods of northern Mongolia, outside a border city called Hiran, is a
camping resort run by a family that has no love for Russia. They are not
officially an agency safehouse, but this is the closest the team can get to
Russia without being in Russia. They will cross here, and assume their new
identities, which Winona’s people were able to create for them at surprising
speed. The resort tried to house them for free, but Winona insisted on
paying. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and in a capitalistic
society, transactional relationships tend to last longer, and remain
stronger, than ones without strings, and up-in-the-air exit clauses.
Alyssa is no longer nervous. She’s done well with her training, and at this
point, the longer they wait, the more difficult it will be. She’s had to
memorize a lot of cultural and political information to complete this
mission, so she doesn’t want to forget. Mateo, Marie, and their new
associate, Timofey Putin have learned their roles too. They feel like real
secret spies now, working for the government, and managing assets. Leona
would be better at this, but she’s a woman, and a female in a position of
power doesn’t fly in this reality’s version of Russia. Marie has to pretend
to be a submissive secretary, and Alyssa will literally look like a man.
She’s not the President, though. She’s just a dvoryanin, which is a sort of
nobleman in soviet nations. The story is that his daughter wants a new
summer cottage for her and her dogs, and she wants it in a very specific
place. Vissarion Chaykovsky loves his daughter, and would give her the world
if he could, so he’s willing to spend whatever it takes. The best part is
that the name should ring a bell in Mirny, but not be surprising enough for
people to try to confirm his identity or presence.
The backup team is going to be staying right here on this side of the
border, waiting to welcome them back at the end of a successful mission, or
to extract them if it turns out not so successful. It’s cute that they think
they could help. Mongolia is hours away by aircraft, over enemy territory.
If something goes wrong, they’re pretty much on their own, which is why
Ramses packed them a little present. It’s an in case of emergency kind of
thing. Why did Russia have to be the largest country in the world, and why
did the mine have to be so close to the center of it? That’s a problem for
tomorrow. Tonight, they’ll get some sleep, and try to cross the border in
the morning, hopefully without issue.
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