I woke up the next morning, in the hotel room the agency had acquired for me, to the sound of my spy phone going off. I shook my head in an attempt to clear the haze from all the vodka yesterday, but it just resulted in my stomach churning and my head pounding even harder than it already was.
“Aleksandr Buchkiev” I managed to slur out.
“Buchkiev” the commanding tone to the voice cleared my head immediately. I sat up straight in the bed realizing it was Karimov on the other end. “Be in my office in an hour.” Before I even had a chance to respond I heard the phone click and was left with the sound of the dial tone. Slowly, I pulled myself out of the bed, not wanting the pounding in my head from my hangover to come back, and made my way into the bathroom.
Turning the knob of the hot water on, I took off the dirty clothes I was wearing and stepped into the shower, the steam already filling up the tiny bathroom. As the water hit my face I remembered all that had happened yesterday. It was as if each drop of water held a tiny part of my memory and as it hit me, it brought back the events of yesterday with it.
After I left headquarters, I saw the poster of Kisa which drove me to the bar. That’s where the first round of drinking came in. After the bar I went to my parent’s house. Kisa was there of course, looking as smug and bitchy as ever. Mom couldn’t stop talking about what a great success Kisa had become and every word she uttered about her just fueled the fire that was growing inside of me. Eventually it all became too much and I couldn’t stand to hear her name any more.
Standing up, my chair falling back from the force I use to get up with, I yelled “Kisa this and Kisa that. She’s all you ever talk about! Even after ten years of not seeing your only son, all you can go on about is your precious little Kisa! She’s the biggest god damn bitch I have ever met and yet you think she’s a god! What the hell is wrong with you?” Shaking from the rage I felt, I turned to look at Kisa. She was laughing! That stupid bitch was laughing! Furious, I ran around the table and wrapped my hands around her neck. Immediately I felt strong arms wrap around my torso and drag me away from Kisa. My father’s voice was loud in my ear. He was yelling something in Russian. Something about being a failure and how I should have stayed gone. With his arms still wrapped strongly around me, he carried me through the house and threw mw into the front yard. “Don’t you ever come back here” were the last words I heard before he slammed the door shut.
After I was thrown out, I made my way back to the same bar I was at before. Finding a seat at the bar, I ordered more vodka and thought about Luna and my mission. Thought about how I was getting nowhere with it. I had sat there for hours just thinking about Luna and wondering how to complete my mission so I could finally return home and make my country the greatest one. Drink after drink I ingested, blurring my mind until I stupidly came up with the idea that the only way to complete my mission faster would be to tell Luna I knew.
Paying for my drinks, I slid off my stool and walked into the cool air outside. Pulling out my spy phone I punched in the numbers to Luna’s pager. A couple minutes later my phone rang and I answered with three words. “I know, Luna.” There was silence on the other end and realizing what I had just done I hung up the phone a quickly as I could. Did I really just do that? Did I actually call her, on my spy phone of all things?! Finding my way drunkenly to the hotel, I checked in, found my room, and passed out on the bed only waking when my phone went off in the morning.
Thinking about everything that had happened the day before, I wanted to kick myself. I had put my mission and everything the agency had been working for in jeopardy. I couldn’t have been more of an idiot if I tried.
Finishing my shower, I got dressed and made my way across town to headquarters. Using the secret panel again, I descended the concrete stairs and found Grisha waiting at the bottom again. He led me to Karimov’s office, knocking on the steel doors and waiting for a reply before entering. He shuffled me into the office and turned quickly, leaving to return to his desk. Karimov was sitting behind his desk, his hands folded and placed on a stack of papers that were piled neatly on his desk.
“Come sit” he said, his voice giving no emotion.
“Yes sir” I replied and made my way across the room to sit in the small chair that was place in front of his desk.
“Your progress on this mission has been slow. You have been working on Project Moon Shoes for fifteen years now and yet you still have little information to give us. This is why I am giving you a deadline. You have one month to get the information we need to build our rocket. If you fail to accomplish this new mission, your position in this agency will be terminated. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir. I understand.”
“Good. Your flight back to the U.S. leaves in thirty minutes. Your stuff from the hotel has already been gathered and is waiting for you out with Grisha. Get the information we need as soon as possible Buchkiev.”
“Yes sir” I answered. I stood up and walked out of the office. Grisha was waiting with my things and told me there was a car waiting to take me to the airport. I thanked him and left.
On the ride over to the airport and the entire plan ride back, I thought of nothing but ways to get the information I needed. I didn’t even sleep on the plane ride back because my mind was running so fast. Eventually, when I stepped off the plane in Orlando, I had come up with the one and only solution I could think of to get the information as fast as possible. I needed to steal Luna’s plans for the rocket.
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