Road To Reelection : Fragile Relations

Chapter 9 : Unexpected twists

The helicopter carrying the President of the Russian Federation landed smoothly on the lawn, the propellers slowing down. The gust of wind produced lifted my hair and unbuttoned suit jacket upwards as the sliding door opened. President Reagan lifted an arm to block the incoming wind to mess up his hair as the President, Vladimir Romanov, stepped out from the helicopter. Dressed in a charcoal suit he strode towards us while his aide carried a briefcase. "President Reagan! Vice President Reagan!" he greeted with a smile. "I am really sorry for the inconvenience I have caused."

I folded my arms in silence. Taking the hint he nodded and the chopper lifted into the air again. We entered the West Wing and proceeded down the corridor towards the Roosevelt Room. We are well aware that the South Korean delegates are present in the Roosevelt Room as well as our national security council. Curious enough President Romanov did not bring along his military advisors, only his aide, Mikhail Sharapov. I don't trust Sharapov at all, being an intelligence officer in the FSB under former President Aleksei Yuvchenko, as well as the rest of the Intelligence Community including President Reagan himself. Even though the Russian President is former KGB I have my doubts that he would trust him as well. The Secret Service agents standing by outside the room opened the door, their gazes fixed on their Russian counterparts, sparks of fireworks dancing. I get that, Russians and Americans still doesn't see eye to eye despite the decreasing tension. Everybody was caught off guard when the Russian President appeared as we entered the room. We all sat down and President Reagan clears his throat.

J. Edgar Hoover Building (Years ago)

"Stark!" a voice jerked me awake on my desk. Waking up I stretched myself a little and turned to the source of the voice.

"I told you Andy, don't try to copy Ryan's voice for God's sake." I said, rubbing my eyes. Still smiling with satisfaction Andy leaned against my cubicle, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"I've been monitoring you, you know?" he said as I adjusted my ID badge necklace. "You've been working non-stop."

"And what have you been doing?" I asked, leaning back in my chair.

"I've been looking up on the net."

"Don't bore me about my old man Duncan." I said.

"Well... your old man's quite a jerk." he said.

"Surprised." I said.

"You want me to go have take out for you?"

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Eleven p.m."

"I'm not done yet Duncan." I said, gesturing to my computer screen.

"You're using the codex again?" he asked.

"No, not now I mean." I said. "Gotta go home. Need to think." since Duncan and I were the last to leave he turned off the lights. Ryan has presented his findings to Director Harkavy which got them both nervous. Under intense discussion they decided to hand the case to us with their authorization. Riding in the elevator together we kept our conversations to a minimum because the installed camera will pick up on it. The elevator stopped at the ground floor level but we didn't press the floor number at all. The door opens and a man walked in, wearing a button down and jeans with a cap over his head. Andy and I stood at separate ends of the elevators while he stood close to the door. The elevator descended to the basement level parking but we already noticed something wrong. One, it's highly suspicious for a man wearing clothes like this going with a baseball cap and two, nobody is allowed in without access combined with his tense body posture and sweat stains, definitely something fishy. He whirled, a stun stick at the ready, and whacked at my direction.

In a heartbeat I reacted, dodging left and the stick hit the wall hard. Andy is already on his feet, hitting the emergency stop button with his elbow. The man brought up a leg, trying to kick Duncan but with his arms crossed and his head lurching backwards he blocked the blow and forced the leg back. He wobbled and I kicked him in the gut, forcing him to splay and drop the stick. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth he threw his briefcase towards Andy and continued to attack me, removing a knife hidden within the handle. He swipes left and I moved right, blocking his knife but his reaction time is as fast as we agents are, quickly moving to the right and causing me to duck left. Andy threw back the suitcase and gave him a kick, a strong blow against his unarmed left arm. He grunted, absorbing the blow. Clutching the arm in the nick of time I twisted it hard, hearing the bones crunch and sending him on the ground. The knife flew from his hand due to the impact and he landed hard against the steel floorboard, groaning in pain. Duncan stepped on his chest with one leg, stopping him from moving as I trained my service weapon on him. "Who are you? What do you want from us?" I asked.

The man coughed out blood and collapsed. "The hell?" Andy asked. Lowering my weapon I crouched down to examine his condition but his eyes popped open and swiped Andy off his feet. He then gave me a headbutt, sending me dazed and forcing my service weapon to drop. I fell to the ground, a starburst of agony and now the man is now rising to his feet, my service weapon in his hands and pointing at me. Andy didn't move, knowing that his chance of survival would be zero to none as he would be shot as well. The elevator door opened, causing him to turn but giving Andy the opportunity to wrestle the gun from him. He managed to get out a few shots but they all remained stuck to the wall due to misfiring. We heard taser rounds being fired and the man slumped to the ground, groaning in pain. Outside the elevator stood Ryan Carey, our boss in the Counterintelligence Division as well as the director of the FBI himself, Julius Harkavy. Both men are armed but Ryan was the one having the taser rifle while Harkavy had an assault rifle.

"You guys okay?" he asked. Andy helped me up to my feet and we both got out of the elevator. Leaning against the wall for a brief moment we slumped to the ground as Carey carefully approached the unconscious man and handcuffed him. "Christ who the hell is he?"

"Guy outta nowhere who attacked us." Andy replied. "How did he even know that we're the last ones to go home?"

"You guys gonna have to lay low for a while." Julius said with a sigh. "Pack enough stuff for a few days, you two have to hole up with me for now." Andy and I exchanged looks of revelation as Carey hefted the man over his shoulder and carried him to a black Range Rover SUV.