Chapter 10

Kostya and Will were the last to leave the room, and they stopped by Hannigan’s office before they left. Kostya wanted to thank him for listening to his story and for making it possible for him to stay in the United States for now.

When they entered, Hannigan was finishing a phone call, but he gestured for them to sit until he hung up. “Well, Kostya,” he said. “You certainly have the defense community riled up. That was the CIA. They’ve seen the pictures of the GPS locations you identified, and they are not happy with what they found. They don’t know how they missed it before, but those old silos are active.”

“Active but not operational. At least not yet,” Kostya agreed. Although the news Hannigan shared was troublesome, it was a relief to know evidence backed up his story.

“Do I need to worry about my client being detained?” Will asked. “As new details come to light, his knowledge is going to be extremely valuable.”

“Technically, the only group who could detain him is INS, and right now I think he’ll be better served with the protection of the St. Claire family,” Hannigan said. He looked at Kostya. “As long as you are cooperating with everyone, I don’t see any reason why that has to change.” He turned to Will. “By the way, is the Senator aware of the situation?”

“The Senator is aware of every situation it seems. I will be speaking to him tonight at the fundraiser.”

“Good,” Hannigan said. “Do you have a tux for Kostya?”

“I have someone working on it. I’d imagine someone will pop up and take his measurements any time now,” Will said with a grin.

“Have you ever been to a formal Washington party or fundraiser, Kostya?” Hannigan asked.

“Nothing like this.” Kostya shook his head. He imagined it would be much more glamourous than the military balls he attended in the army. “It should be a different experience.”

“You can bet on it,” Will said.

Leaving Hannigan, Kostya and Will walked out to the parking garage. Will led Kostya to his blue Toyota sedan. “I’d imagine you are hungry. We’ll eat and then I’ll take you to Meredith’s to drop off your things.” Kostya felt self-conscious as Will scanned over Kostya’s small backpack and military jacket, the only belongings he had left. “I can take you to get some clothes and a warm jacket, too.”

Kostya straightened his shoulders, conscious that he could be seen as a charity case. “I have money, but it’s in cash—Ukrainian hryvnia—so I’ll need to go to a bank that does international money exchanges.”

“Of course. But our schedule is tight today because of the fundraiser, and money exchanges always take time,” Will said. “Perhaps you will allow me to treat you today, and we can work out repayment later?”

Kostya nodded, although he hated being in another person’s debt, even for a short time. He appreciated that Will tried to protect his pride, though.

Will’s telephone rang. He answered it with his name, and grunted through the short conversation. Putting his phone back in the center console, he said, “The first stop just became the tailor, but there’s a café right there where we can grab some lunch.” He switched lanes and made a left-hand turn and parked in a small lot next to a converted Georgetown row house, now tailor shop. “This should be quick,” Will promised.

The men were quickly served at the tailor’s and the suit would be delivered to Will’s later in the afternoon. When they left, both men were starving, and Will led them to D.C. Wisey’s on Wisconsin Avenue. Missing the typical large lunch crowd, they were able to order sandwiches at the counter and find a table quickly. Kostya was calm, but was obviously in awe of everything around him.

“I guess this is a whole new world compared to the Ukraine,” Will said.

“Yes and no,” Kostya said. “I live, lived, in Kiev so the crowds aren’t different.”

“That’s true,” Will agreed. “What kind of computer work did you do in Kiev?”

“I was a computer programmer, although my degree is in computer engineering. I worked with the English-speaking customers to negotiate contracts, too.”

“It sounds like you had skills above your job description.”

“I guess. I think they got me in trouble this time.” Kostya dipped the corner of his grilled sandwich in his vegetable soup and took a bite.

“Not trouble,” Will said, “just opened new opportunities.”

Kostya snorted. “Opportunities that have left my parents dead and forced me to run from my country.”

“Yes, but put you in a position to make a real difference in the world. Sometimes one must sacrifice to achieve much.” Will punctuated his philosophical statement by picking a strand of purple onion off his bread and taking a bite.

“I’m no hero,” Kostya said quietly. “I just don’t want any more people to die, in my country or anywhere else, seeking a life with true liberty.”

“Who do you think is behind rebuilding the silos and hiring you to reverse engineer the components?”

“The Ukraine is an uncertain place politically so there are many possibilities.” Kostya wiped his face with his napkin. “In the West, the people want capitalism and freedom, so they lean toward joining the European Union. Then there’s the East that culturally is very much like Russia. Over half their population speaks Russian as well as Ukrainian, and in some areas they only speak Russian. They feel that aligning with Russia is the only way to insure success and stability.

“Taking this to an extreme, rebel groups who support, Novorossiya, or New Russia, have gained a lot of support in recent years. But there are many splinter groups who advocate more action and violence to force alignment with Russia. One of these splinter groups calls themselves ‘Vohon’ Svitanku’ or ‘Fire of Dawn’—I think they are behind the plans to reactivate the nuclear missiles.”

“Why do you think it’s this particular splinter group?” Will asked.

“Because I saw their symbol painted on the missile: three flames rising like a phoenix with a star above.”

“And the missiles are their path to liberty?” Will asked.

“Some liberty, eh? Freedom taken by force. Who cares about the others, as long as our side gets what we want.” Kostya picked up the cup of soup to sip the last of the broth. “It isn’t hard to determine good and bad in this situation.”

“So, the computer chip you have…”

“The chip stores the algorithm for the fail-safe on the missile,” Kostya explained. “During the Cold War, setting off a nuclear missile was scary enough, but can you imagine setting one off by accident?”

“That could be a huge catastrophe. War over nothing but a mistake.” Will sipped his drink and leaned in, interested in Kostya’s insight.

“So each missile had a fuel valve that was connected to an encoding device in the Control Center of the silo. The fuel valve remained closed unless the proper code was entered in to the device. The fuel valve was called a Butterfly Valve because its wings, so to speak, would only open when the right code was entered and sent to the missile via radio waves.” Kostya sipped from his water bottle. “To keep the code secret and secure, it was devised using an algorithm, which is programmed into the chip I have.” Kostya smiled. “And I destroyed the other chips in storage before I left.”

“No wonder they came after you.” Will frowned. He paused. “I am sorry for the loss of your parents.”

“I am, too,” Kostya said quietly. “I must stop Fire of Dawn before they succeed in launching a missile. What I took and what I destroyed will only slow them down. It won’t stop them.”

Both men sat quietly for a moment before Will started collecting the paper plates and trash on their table. “It’s already four o’clock. I need to get you settled in at Meredith’s before Scott gets there, but you’ll have to shower and get ready at my place.”

Kostya nodded and helped clean up the table as they walked out. “Can you tell me about Meri’s… Meredith’s Scott?”

“Were you a little surprised to find she had a boyfriend?” Will raised his brow.

“There was no understanding between us.” Kostya tried to stop it, but the tell-tale pulses of blood rushing to his face ended in a blush.

“Yes, but she still wears that key around her neck, and I’ve noticed a leather cord around yours. I don’t suppose there is a key at the end of yours, too?” Will surmised.

He stroked the leather band on his neck. “When we met, it was pretty intense.” Kostya’s mind flashed to the iron bridge where he had kissed her and they had left a golden lock, their lock. “She is remarkable.”

“You don’t have to convince me,” Will said. “She is amazing even if she is my sister. Her work with Doctors Without Borders and refugee clinics is impressive.”

“But what about Scott? What is he like?”

“Scott is very successful, too. He’s on my dad’s senior staff and has ambitions of his own to run for office.” Will proceeded cautiously, studying Kostya’s reactions. “Having a beautiful, successful senator’s daughter on his arm doesn’t hurt his ambitions. I was surprised when they started dating, though.”

“Why?”

Will paused and then looked at Kostya. “It always seemed like she was waiting for someone else.”