Part I

Part I

December 17^th, 2032

Mountains of North Eastern Kazakhstan

Russian-Kazak border

 

 

     Andrew Napoli thought of his mother as he lay in the snow covered ground of the Kazak Mountains. “The Russians cannot be trusted. Their still sneaky and up to no good,” his mother had said to him some time ago. Andrew had never forgotten those words from the woman who had grown up during the heart of the Cold War, where the constant threat of nuclear annihilation passed from day to day and the belief that if you hide under your desk, you will be protected from a nuclear explosion.

     Living that way for so long, one couldn’t blame her for having that fear of the former Soviet Union and Andrew didn’t think less of her for saying that. He actually took those words to heart. It was about five years later from that day, now 2006, that Andrew believed his mother’s point of view.

In 2006, the world over watched as former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko suffered a painful and agonizing death, believed to be caused by the hands of his own countrymen, as ordered by then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Silenced. Litvinenko was silenced because Putin had something to hide. Silenced by the country that he had called home and dedicated his life to for so many years.

Andrew’s mother died a week ago. The funeral was held two days ago. Yesterday, Andrew got his assignment from the head of his organization. Sealed inside a manila envelope, as all his assignments had been distributed was his orders; he was to go to Kazakhstan near its northeastern border with Russia. A fellow operative, codenamed Geppetto, has been classified as missing in action. He had been sent to infiltrate a high security government compound believed to be controlled by the Russian government. Accusations and fears had been brought to light within their organization that Russia was up to no good. Geppetto had been sent in to gather any information he could about a possible Russian plot. Contact with him ended 48 hours ago.

It’s now Andrew’s job to discover the whereabouts, whether dead or alive, of Geppetto and if possible, obtain any information he can about a Russian plot.     Andrew had thought of his mother’s words after reading his orders and again as he lay here in the mountains; the Russians are not to be trusted.

Andrew lay behind a small hill overlooking his target, a top secret government compound, known inside and out as “The Fortress”. Andrew hid in the shadows of the hill, dressed from head to toe in his black spy uniform. He wore a black ski mask covering his entire head, protecting it from the cold, leaving only holes for his mouth and eyes open.

“IGEN, this is Tarzan,” Andrew radioed in using his codename for verification, “I have reached the specified location and have “The Fortress” in sight. Awaiting further orders.”

“Tarzan, we read you. Please stand by and await orders from Godfather in an estimated five minutes.” The words echoed through Andrew’s headset hidden away within the caverns of his right ear.

     Andrew sat silent, pulling a pair of night vision goggles from a black equipment duffle that lay beside him. He continued to lie in prone position, his elbows digging into the snow covered ground as his hands held the goggles to his eyes. Through the goggles he held the sight of two guard towers, each with a sniper as lookout.

     Two guards stood lookout in front of the compound as two military Jeeps arrived at their position. The two guards, armed with submachine guns, approached both of the Jeeps, checking for security clearance, before allowing them to enter into the compound.

     “Tarzan, this is Godfather, do you read me?” The words echoed through Andrew’s ear.

     “Yes, sir, loud and clear.”

     “What do you see?” the deep voiced commander asked.

     Andrew repeated his sightings of the guard towers with visible snipers as well as the two Jeeps going through a security checkpoint outside of the fortress.

     “Alright, Tarzan, listen to me carefully, because your orders are about to get risky. Take another quick look; are there any other towers other than the two you already confirmed?”

     Andrew looked again, “Negative, sir. The two are the only ones. Their positions are against the east and west walls, with enough height to view over the extremities of the north and south walls.”

     “Alright, take out the one of the snipers without alerting the other one. Use your silenced rifle. Immediately take out the remaining sniper. Remember the possibility of unseen guards, but make your way quickly to the exterior wall. Our intelligence information reveals an outside ventilation shaft that should lead you into the inner chambers of “The Fortress”. Once inside, quickly attempt to locate Geppetto and any information you can about the Russians. You have four hours to get in, complete your tasks and the get out. Return to your starting point by 0300, gather your equipment and be ready for immediate extraction. Is that understood?”

     “Yes, sir,” Tarzan replied to his higher up.

     “Communication will be suspended while you are inside “The Fortress.” Don’t want any of those Ruskies sons of b*****s to intercept any of our messages. Good luck Lieutenant, and God’s speed.”

     The radio commission ended, and Andrew got to work. From the equipment duffle, he pulled out the British L96 sniper rifle, a new rifle within the International Global Espionage Network, of which he was a part of. At the end of the muzzle, he attacked a suppressor, to diminish any sound of the gunshot. He laid in prone, and pressed the butt of the gun into his armpit, with his inner arm pressing it against the side of his chest.

He took a deep breath, and looked into the scope of the rifle. His eye gazed upon his first target, the sniper in the west tower. As ordered, he waited until the guard opposite him was inattentive towards his comrade. That moment came quickly as Andrew noticed the other guard, his back facing Andrew’s first target, overlooking the east side. Steadily, Andrew aimed the rifle, held his breath, and pulled the trigger.

He saw the shot hit into the guard. It was a head shot, killing him instantly. Andrew watched the body fall to the floor of the guard tower. From there, he fixed his rifle on the adjacent guard. This time without the worry of being spotted, lined up his shot, and then paused. He started thinking about the guard’s position. If his shot was to enter into the back of the head, there was a good possibility the body would fall from the tower to the ground, thus, alerting the inhabitants inside of a threat.

The middle aged spy held his fire and waited. “The exact moment that guard turns around,” Andrew thought to himself, “is when I strike.” The guard stood steady in his position, overlooking the eastern wall, delaying Andrew of precious time for his mission. Patience was a virtue, and Andrew knew that, but one he still was in the process of fine tuning for himself.

The guard rotated slightly, turning more towards the western wall and stepping into the middle of the tower. Andrew watched the guard’s expression as the notice of his comrade’s absence in the adjacent tower. Andrew ended his concern with a quick stroke of the trigger. He watched the body fall to the floor, just as the last one did. Yet again, another head shot. The guard’s concerns hadn’t been notified to another guard.

Andrew returned the sniper rifle to the bag, and pulled out three small pistols which would accompany him into “The Fortress.” On his right hip, he secured a Beretta 9mm pistol with an extra clip. To his left hip, a Walther PPK was stored with additional ammo. An interchangeable silencer, able to fit either one of the three pistols was stored away in a narrow leg pocket. Of course, there would be no need for a silencer should a gun battle inside occur, but why draw attention to oneself if it could possibly be avoided. A knife and holster was secured into a narrow pocket near his left ankle.

After zipping up the equipment duffle, he rose to his feet, and breathed a sigh into the frigid air, his breath within sight. He began his short trek towards “The Fortress.”