by Mike Gomes
"So, all you want me to do is hoodwink the KGB and all their technology?" Gabriella asked with a slight laugh. "If you forget, Nikolai, that's not the kind of work I do. All that cleanup work in rebalancing of the situation is left the others. I'm a trigger woman, that’s it."
"Come on, Gabriella, you know I don't have any of that at my disposal right now," Nikolai pleaded. "I'm sure you can find some way to eliminate this guy and keep him from being identifiable. I don't care what it is, run him over with a steamroller, crack every tooth, burn him up so there's no fingerprints. Just leave something behind that says there was a battle and fight to the death."
"This isn't an easy one, Nikolai. You make it sound like it's just all fun and games and it won't be a problem, but you know that this guy is good. I'm guessing if he was your partner, he's very good," Gabriella said firmly, sobering the situation to what was at hand.
"He's the best I ever worked with," Nikolai sighed. "Probably even better than you."
Holding herself still, Gabriella looked straight ahead not focusing on anything. The admiration between the two was strong and had developed over years. Nikolai was not one to make a comment like Victor being better at what he does than Gabriella lightly. There was no attempt at manipulation or control. It was simply the man stating a fact that he knew she needed to hear.
"Do you at least have any idea where in Russia he might be?"
"Not a single one. As far as I know he could be anywhere in the world." Nikolai took a deep breath and let it exhale slowly. "I don't mean this to be a needle in a haystack, and I don't mean it to be impossible. But you know what these ones are like. When someone goes on the run, the agents go to where they think is best, and they all start fanning out trying to catch a lead. I'm sure they all did the same thing about me."
Moving to the door of his hotel room, Nikolai looked through the peephole, seeing the two men in the black suits walking down the hallway. The men's eyes checked each door looking at the numbers, before stopping at the door that he was behind with his hand placed on the .45 caliber Glock in his waistband.
"Gabriella, I don't have a lot of time," Nikolai whispered moving away from the door to crouch behind the bed. "I need to know if you're in or out on this."
"I'm in, Nikolai," she agreed. "I am doing this out of friendship, but I still want to get paid."
Waiting for a response, Gabriella got none. She waited, saying his name one more time in hope to hear something from him, but instead, heard the sound of a smashing door followed by a barrage of gunfire. Screams rang out, followed by moans of pain as she held her face steady taking another sip from her cup of tea, making sure to present herself like there was nothing wrong.
"Gabriella?" came Nikolai 's voice from the other end of the phone.
"I'm here. Everything okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine, I'm just on the move now. KGB." Nikolai sounded as if he was out of breath and running down the hallway. "Call me when you get him."
Chapter Five
The hotels in Madrid are designed with travelers in mind. The tourists would only be spending minimal time in their rooms before getting out to the streets to enjoy the sights and the day trips that pop up all around Madrid.
Sitting in her room with a laptop open, Gabriella clicked her way through a succession of screens, moving herself into the dark channels of the KGB computer.
Access granted.
"There we go. Amazingly they haven't fixed any of these holes in all the time that I've been looking at them." Gabriella smirked, starting to work her way through the different menus under the alias of an agent that didn't really exist.
She was as much a computer wizard as she was an assassin. The full package when it came to special ops training, whether it be in a jungle environment or the downtown cities in the most metropolitan locations. The rumor had always been, no matter who you are or where you are you can't hide from the Mantis.
"Victor Grabowski." Gabriella typed in the name after granting herself access to the personnel records.
The record was lengthy, of a man who'd spent a significant time in the KGB, doing all kinds of covert operations.
"Active status with decorations and more than two dozen assignments," Gabriella read aloud, checking the man's profile for any hints she could find. "Good God, this guy’s been involved with everything. Better start from the top."
TOP SECRET.
Authorized personnel only to view, offenders will be prosecuted.
Personnel record and employment history.
Name: Victor Grabowski
Date of birth: February 24, 1971
Birthplace: St. Margaret's hospital, Dorchester Massachusetts.
Early childhood life: Victor was born in the United States to KGB operatives placed in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The parents were Gorski and Vladimir Grabowski. Both parents specialize in investigations and medical areas, and were looking for information on a top United States Senator.
Shortly after the childbirth, the couple returned to Moscow to resume operations in the Kremlin looking to have no further assignments outside of the country.
At the age of four, Victor displayed exceptional athletic talents, both in gymnastics and tennis. Many of his coaches had alerted the national sports foundations of his exceptional talents. The young man seemed to be on the track for an Olympic medal up until the age of twelve, when he tore a ligament, limiting the level of competition he could have.
At approximately the same time, Victor's thoughts moved to more academic pursuits with chemistry and physics. The young boy became a grandmaster in chess by the age of fourteen, and was requested to join the youth development camp design for the grooming of young agents for the future.
Victor's parents were reported to have been extremely proud of this, having gone through the program themselves, and willingly and openly sent their son for the training.
Education and training:
After years in the program, Victor accelerated rapidly in all subjects, keeping a university level of academics in all areas. Victor has a strong ability to remove himself from situations before others see the danger, he is also able to outmaneuver opponents long before they are aware of what's going to happen.
Victor had built strong friendships during the program, but it is reported by those that he considered friends that the friendships seemed superficial. Victor was an open and willing listener to others problems and difficulties, but shared very little about himself and appeared to be gathering information on others at all times.
Victor was awarded the student of achievement award, and granted the needed access upon his graduation from the program into the specialized KGB training facility. He is the youngest such student to have done this within three years. The need for university education seemed to be redundant due to his level of intelligence.
Victor's focus always lined with the task at hand. He showed little enjoyment to reminisce on successes he had academically or in sports. A cool and relaxed demeanor allowed the young man to persevere in any kind of difficult situation.
Academy training:
Upon first entrance into the Academy, Victor was rejected by his classmates due to his tender age of eighteen. Many felt that Victor's acceptance in some of the program, was a product of his famous parents and their works within the KGB system. Victor showed no adverse feeling or reaction to the fact that he'd been shunned by fellow students, and continued to succeed at an extremely high level, no matter what he was doing.
Sailing to the top of his class, Victor enquired about being able to finish the program early in order to take on assignments. The request was seriously considered, but due to his age, it was believed it was better for him not to enter the field until completion of his studies. However, Victor was given the opportunity to do assessment work in profiling from the confines of the Academy, in which he showed remarkable ability to learn. He was able to assess situations and almost predict actions before they were to occur.
&n
bsp; Leading the way in his assessment skills during this period, Victor predicted the rise of the Al Qaeda regime and many of the targets, including New York City a full ten years before it ever happened. The young man developed the skills under various tutelage, but all teachers stated that his instinctual abilities were by far his greatest attribute.
Victor ranked number one in his class in all sub settings of the training, including physical, mental, academic, and emotional.
Brief psychological assessment:
Victor possesses an antisocial personality type, allowing him not to have meaningful and deep connections with others. He seems void of his ability to find romantic relationships as well as platonic relationships. He has no affinity for the elderly or children.
Seeming to be almost entirely engaged in his work, Victor had concerning behaviors regarding people that he has worked with as well as in his personal life. Upon the death of both of his parents in a car accident, Victor did not return from assignment in order to go to the funeral. It is reported that he attended their gravesite for less than five minutes to lay one flower, then has not returned. When interviewed about the loss, Victor stated that all human beings will die and it was just their time. His assessment of what death is and to minimize it, may be a technique used in order to help him rationalize his own takings of life within his job.
Holding a fierce loyalty and devotion to his work, Victor does not seem at risk for harming others within the KGB. But it is to be noted that if his loyalties were to change, that being his close friends or superiors would not deter Victor from violence against them or elimination by his hand.
It has been noted that other than his longtime partner, Nikolai Bortsky, Victor has had no social interactions or conversations that did not involve work since his time starting with the KGB. This is not to say he has any issues with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The man seems to have every capability of entertaining these conversations, but elects not to, keeping his private life away from all those around him. It is unclear why he feels the need to do this or to simply not have conversations to show he does have interest.
Victor has a superiority issue, believing that others are not worthy of his time or his efforts. Holding others in contempt keeps individuals at arm’s length from him, allowing him to focus on nothing but his mission. Victor has stated that friendships and connections would get KGB agents killed, and that the time for cultivating relationships would be upon retirement.
Work history:
Victor’s exemplary performance has put him in the top KGB agents for over twenty years. He is able to assess fighting situations with accuracy, providing plenty of opportunity to produce outstanding results.
All prior supervisors requested that he return to work in their department due to his performance and results. However, the man himself elected to go into different areas within the organization, so he could test and expand his knowledge and abilities.
Victor currently holds the highest number of terminations by an agent.
He was offered the opportunity to become a trainer at the national Academy upon his fortieth birthday to allow him to get out of the agent field work. The offer was rejected, as Victor requested to stay in active combat. Teaching was not an area he wanted to explore, as he believed this would stop him from advancing higher within the KGB.
After rejecting the appointment to the national Academy, Victor requested work in black ops operations, dealing with the Americans and helping them against Afghan insurgents. Victor harbors resentments from conflict with the Afghan people and has a deep-seated mistrust within the them.
Afterword
With no disagreement it is believed that Victor is within the top 1% of all KGB agents, after having many assessments and personnel saying he is the number one agent in the KGB. His skills are unmatched, and his ability to complete missions is unrivaled by any other agent.
His extreme knowledge in all areas of the KGB has made him an asset to every project he’s ever worked on. He is an ideal candidate to emulate for all incoming agents. Victor should be encouraged to stay with the KGB for his entire life, even upon completion of his fieldwork. His intellectual abilities and skills in counterterrorism are defining in the field. And would prove to be extremely useful for future agents. Provided that age has no effect on his higher faculties, the man will continue to exceed in all areas.
Addendum:
Victor Grabowski has recently been assaulted by his former partner, Nikolai Bortsky. He was picked up with a broken jaw and a bruised cheek bone. His partner has become rogue after-the-fact, and has stolen diamonds from the mission he was on. He has also manipulated foreign agencies to benefit himself.
At this time, Victor has go to South Africa looking for his former partner, in hopes he can bring him back for trial.
All further information on the whereabouts of Nikolai have been suspended in accordance with Victor’s request.
Document completion.
Gabriella exhaled loudly and leaned back in her chair, turning her head side to side stretching her neck. "There's a weakness in there somewhere. We all have a weakness. What is yours?" she said to nobody but herself.
Drumming her fingers on the table, Gabriella sorted through various pictures of jobs that Victor had been on. The information on the KGB servers showed there were times when Victor was watched by fellow KGB agents, to keep tabs on what he was doing. She was struggling to find a weakness in him that she could manipulate.
"Not sentimental. The parents thing proved that,” she muttered to herself. "No twisted fetishes, none that you’ve been caught with anyway, no desire for anything...”
Clicking to the next picture, Gabriella came across a picture of Victor with his longtime partner, Nikolai. The two men were arm in arm, smiling at the camera, with a prisoner handcuffed behind them in a chair. The background of the picture could've been anything, a beachfront or a hotel lobby, but for these members of the KGB, it was a detainee.
Gabriella allowed her eyes to focus on Nikolai. The picture was exactly the way she remembered him from their time together, he was young, strong, and full of life. A friend and a lover that overachieved in every aspect of their relationship.
Feeling a smile upon her face, Gabriella felt a twinge of pain that came with reminiscing. She felt that she was being unfaithful in some way to Antonio. Her love wasn't diminished for her husband because of the affectionate memories, but she still found her smiles to be uncomfortable for a man from her past.
"A good agent doesn't act like this," Gabriella said firmly to herself. "No emotions."
Chapter Six
"South Africa," came the raspy and hard voice from over the phone. "A logical start."
"So you can see where I am?" Victor mused, speaking to his old partner and friend for the first time since their incident.
"That's where I would've started too," Nikolai praised. "It makes perfect sense. Being in South Africa allows me an opportunity to go in so many different directions. One way, I could go over to Australia. The other, toward South America. Then probably the most treacherous for everybody involved, would be to simply go north into the bush of Africa, where I don't think any of us would last very long."
Victor sat comfortably with his legs crossed on the balcony of his hotel room, staring out over the children playing football in the Plaza as he sipped gently from his drink. Attempting to take in all the sounds and information from the other end of the phone, he knew that his longtime partner would not be so careless as to allow himself to be tracked or to be found.
"Victor, I know you're on my trail. It makes sense for you to do everything you can to get a hold of me, considering all the information I know about you." Nikolai pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked around the dimly lit room. "You also know that I'm not dumb enough to run into you by accident. But should that ever happen, you must know that I do have backups to keep you away from me. Little pieces of information that could float out to the press of the world abo
ut what you've done through the years."
"As always, Nikolai, you are bold with your words, but you don't think enough steps ahead. Nobody in the KGB will care what you say about me. You’re labeled as a traitor and you stole those diamonds. I wonder, did you have those diamonds already secured before your little getaway, or did you get them after?" Victor pushed, trying to stir the man into more information.
"You should know, you're the one who had them," Nikolai countered, testing to see if the phone call was being recorded or if the line was secure. "You know all the things you did when you did them, you should also know that your chance of catching me is slim to none."
"I think you forget who you're speaking with, old friend. I dragged your ass from the fire many times to save you from certain death. It's I that made the decisions that made our most treacherous missions work out in our favor. You worked for me on most of those missions, and I surpass you in physical ability as well as intellectual." Victor spoke confidently. "You may think that you are quite clever, but it will only be a matter of time before I catch up to you as I’m positive you’re still two steps behind. Did you take into consideration that maybe I had set up some safety guards of my own in case you were to turn and go the other way?"
"Isn't that how I wound up getting interrogated?" Nikolai snapped. "You put one of your little plans to work, and you were using me as the patsy for your crimes."
"It's not that I didn't respect you and I don't think you're a good man," Victor said coldly, not changing the expression on his face as he took a sip from his drink. "It was more of a matter of time and place. I was ready to make my break from the KGB and be on my way, and somebody had to take the fall for the diamonds that I accumulated. People started to notice that there were things missing from some of our missions. I never wanted this for you, Nikolai."
