Cold Cold Heart (Closed for YoungLisa)

[Avellan13]

Feb. 16, 1962.

The helicopter was flying over the East Siberian Sea on its way to an isolated part of Russia. Avellan was sitting in the passenger`s seat of the helicopter, looking out at the sea, thinking about his current mission.

The president, along with the head of the CIA and the Secretary of Defense, had personally given him this mission. One that would determine the outcome of the Cold War. Avellan was a high ranking CIA agent whose mission was to sneak into Russia, gather intelligence, and possibly assassinate top officials if World War III broke out.

The pilot, and only other occupant, looked over at Avellan, "Ok sir, we should be arriving at our destination zone in about 5 minutes. Once we touch down I`ll-" but he was cut off as a siren went off. The pilot looked around and cursed, "Oh shit! It`s not possible! We`ve got an incoming missile! Dammit hold on!"

The pilot turned the helicopter to the left, in an attempt to avoid the missile, but it was too late. The missile hit the helicopter and gave off a loud explosion. The helicopter jerked to the left and began spinning out of control while various alarms went off. Avellan tightened the safety belt around him and took a breath. Then his world went dark as the helicopter crashed.
When Avellan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a flashing yellow light. He was on his back

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan O’Connor had been brought up in Belfast. The only girl among seven children she had learned to fight for her rights against her brothers and usually turned out to be the winner. Her father, although originally in the Royal Artillery was recruited by British Intelligence during the Second World War because the Germans were trying to destabilise the North of Ireland and thus undermine British morale by inducing a state of civil war.

After the war he continued to work for Intelligence in Belfast before being sent on a secret mission from which he never returned. Gethan worshipped the ground her father walked on and longed to follow in his steps. At the age of eighteen where most Irish girls were either joining hospitals as nurses or planning weddings Gethan was going through the strict training the British Army demanded. Over six foot tall, with her slim figure, cropped blonde hair and piercing blue eyes she could easily be mistaken for a man.

Gethan, like her father had a flair for languages, especially Russian, which meant she was sent to intercept Russian communications from the boarders of East Germany. In the winter of 1961 she was told the shocking news that her father had been captured and killed in the Soviet Union. After mourning her loss she was recalled to Britain where she was recruited by Intelligence and ordered to link up with an American Agent known as Avellan. Together they were to try gather intelligence about the threat to US defences from the Communist controlled island of Cuba.

The night before they were due to rendezvous Gethan was alone in a concealed reinforced hole with her radio waiting news of Avellan’s arrival. Suddenly she heard rocket fire followed by an explosion close by. Frantically searching for news on her radio she heard “Враждебные вертолета расположен и уничтожили от сибирских вод. Нет кормильца!” “Hostile helicopter located and destroyed off Siberian waters. No survivors!”

Moving as fast as she could Gethan made her way to the rendezvous site where she was greeted by the scene of a wrecked helicopter burning ferociously. Using her yellow beam torch she was sure there were no survivors and was about to get back to her hiding place when she saw a young American man lying on his back. Approaching him she saw his eyes flicker open “Don’t tell me you’re Avellan” she said in a desperate tone of voice.

 

[Avellan13]

Avellan saw a figure standing before him. At first he though it was Russian soldier coming to finish him off. However, as he focused his vision on the person, he saw that it wasn`t a Russian, but instead a female, probably a British woman by the sound of her accent.

He nodded and slowly got up. "My name is Avellan Evendur." Looking at her closely, he saw it was Gethan O`Conner. "Gethan is that you?"

 

[YoungLisa]

"Gethan is that you?" Gethan moved forward and placed her hands on the American’s arm.

“It is” she whispered “but we’ll go through introductions later”. Reaching into her flap jacket she produced a revolver and handed it to her colleague “If you can walk we must get out of here as soon as we can. If you can’t you’ll have to end your life with this before they come. But try to take some of those bastards with you.”

Standing up she said without emotion “Either way we can’t both be captured or killed. Too many lives depend on us.” Looking down at Avellan she asked “So … is it goodbye, or the beginning of a great partnership?”

 

[Avellan13]

Avellan looked at her and nodded, "I`ll join you, better than being along and waiting for those communist bastards to come and find me." He grabbed his briefcase and the pilot`s side arm then bent down and pressed a few buttons on the helicopter`s control panel.

"I need to make sure the Russians don`t find this chopperr. It has too much evidence and the Russians will have a reason to be anger at us." After pushing in a few more numbers Avellan got up and walked towards Gethan, "Move. This things going to blow."

He pulled her along for about a hundred yards before a loud explosion went off, destroying the helicopter.

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan felt the air being sucked from her lungs as the chopper exploded and she and Avellan were blown to the ground and into each other’s space. While they waited for the shrapnel disperse she felt the warmth of Avellen’s body against hers. “Mustn’t do this too often” she joked “people will start talking.”

After Avellan got to his feet he lifted Gethan who dusted herself down. “We are to rest tonight in my shelter. Not very big but we’ll squeeze in somehow” Gethan explained. “In the morning I’ll send a signal and await our orders.”

The two warriors for freedom made their way to the dug out.

 

[Avellan13]

Avellan had managed to maintain a straight face when he had fallen upon Gethan. After helping her up and listening to her advise, he nodded and followed her to the hideout.

The cold weather of the Siberian region of Russia chilled him to the bone and his feet sank into the snow with every foot fall.

He hadn`t prepared for this type of climate. His destination was further inland where it was warmer. Hopefully Gethan`s shelter would be warm.

 

[YoungLisa]

The snow began to fall hard as Gethan and Avellan made their way to the shelter that was little more than a hole in the ground just big enough for the two of them. Moving the cover Gethan motioned for Avellan to enter first. She moved around outside and began to unscrew a large flask and undo a square unit. Going back to the shelter she handed an enamel mug of hot soup to her companion. “It’s not much but it’s warm and should keep us going until morning”.

While Avellan remained in the shelter Gethan drank her soup outside. Just as she finished she heard a noise in the distance and clambered inside with Avellan. “I know it’s tight in here, but we can warm each other’s bodies until morning.” She climbed in feeling her breasts squeeze against his chest. “I’m afraid we won’t have any dignity tonight but that’s life.” She hesitated “Now we have to be very quiet, those bastards are out there looking for any survivors from the crash. They won’t find any”.

An uncomfortable night passed without further incident and in the morning Gethan looked through a crude periscope mirror to ensure the Russians had gone. Climbing out of the shelter she motioned for Avellan to join her where she opened another flask Containing hot oats. “Enjoy breakfast. Sorry I don’t have any bacon” she said with a smile.

While Avellan was eating Gethan checked her radio. Above the crackling she heard the message “Sky Hawke has crashed and the mission is abandoned. Return … repeat RETURN to base.”

Looking at Avellan she shook her head “Looks like they think you’re dead. If our side think that so do the Russians. In my book that gives us a great advantage. What do you say? They can’t kill a dead man can’t they? Shall we carry on?” Gethan ate her porridge while awaited Avellan’s answer.

 

[Avellan13]

Avellan looked at the radio. Shaking his head he opened his briefcase, "Maybe, but my government wouldn't give up."

Pulls out several wires and a small radio with an antenna then starts putting them together. When he turned on the switch, static is heard at first the he speaks into it.

"Agent Avellan of the CIA here come in over."

"Avellan it's good to hear from you. I knew you were alive." replied a deep voice.

"It'll take much more than a crash to kill me. Anyways I safe for now, should I continue on with the mission?"

"Yes" then the radio went off.

Avellan looked at Gethan and nodded, "Once your ready we need to get moving. I have to get to a nearby Russian station that's.. well suspected to hold WMDs."

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan nodded and ensured her weapons were loaded. Turning to Avellan she said “Then we better get going.”

For four days they walked through the frozen waste taking turns to sleep while the other stood guard and eating Gethan’s rations because Avellan’s had been destroyed in the helicopter crash.

On the fourth night they arrived within five miles of the target station. “This where you take command” she said turning to Avellan. “I’ll interpret for you and I’ll watch your back. But you know the layout of this place and the contacts. I’m in your hands.”

The two companions hadn’t exchanged many words with each other but they each had total faith in each other’s abilities and integrity being both completely professional in their approach. “What do you say? Do we rest tonight or do you want to move on? Your call!”

 

[Avellan13]

He looked at her and nodded, "Waiting will just delay my mission and it's been delayed long enough. If my intelligence is correct, the Russians have a few WMD's in there. I have to do whatever I can to disable and gather the evidence so my country can present it to the United Nations as proof of Russia's hostilities. So we go in."

He opened his case and pulled out his black spec-ops looking outfit that would help him blend in with the shadows. Pulling it over his head and putting it on, it was followed by a set of night vision goggles and a com-link camera.

He pulled out a silencer pistol and nodded to Gethan, "What you do from here, wether you leave or help me, I don't care. Just don't interfere with my mission."

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan reached into her back pack and drew out an automatic revolver fitted with a silencer. “Well since you put it that way you can count on me.” She followed Avellan as he walked slowly across the crunching snow to within 200 meters of the guard house.

A young Russian soldier no more that twenty years old was looking out over the scene. She thought she heard something in the direction Avellan was coming from and cocked her weapon as she reached for her radio and was about to sound the alarm sequence..

Both Gethan and Avellan froze knowing that if the alarm sounded they would be dead. As the young woman scanned the scene in front of her there was a soft thud coming from the open area. It was the last sound she ever heard as Gethan’s bullet went straight through her young heart killing her instantly.

The two allies both knew it would only be a matter of time before the body was discovered. Now they had to get into the base, execute their mission and get out before the changing of the guard some six hours away. “We better get on with it then” Gethan said softly as she and Avellan moved forward.

 

[Avellan13]

Avellan looked at Gethan in disapproval, "Don't be killing Russians unless they spot us or as a last resort, otherwise the Russian government will get suspicious when they find the dead bodies and also find there nuclear missiles disabled. They'll know it was America behind it."

Shaking his head he sighed to himself. This mission was originally going to take hours for him to sneak past all the guards, find the control room, disable the nukes, find other intelligence, and get out all without being seen or having the workers and guards getting in the least bit suspicious. Now, thanks to Gethan, when a fellow guard or worker checked in with the dead guard, they'd become suspicious. He guessed that now his several hour window had been shrunken to only one hour, maybe less.

He inched forward and headed over to an empty parking lot and got under an unmanned vehicle. Opening a storm drain, he dropped into it and headed down a tunnel that would lead towards the building. Thankfully the storm drain was dry.

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan didn’t even respond to Avellan’s disapproving look; instead she just cocked her gun again and followed. Seeing he was really uncomfortable she said quietly but firmly “You’ve got your orders, I’ve got mine. We are working together in alliance and we can both succeed. But my orders are ensure this place is unusable for the Russians and I’ll do that.”

She looked on as Avellan descended the storm drain and then ensuring no one had seen them she followed him down. At the bottom an awful stench was surfacing which was from the fractured sewage extractor. Coughing she looked at her Allie and said softly “The other side of this grill will lead us to the unit that supplies the power. The Russians leave it to the elements because of the stink but if it breaks down they will open a new unit within seven hours. More than enough time for me to complete my task then I’ll help you with yours.”

Gethan didn’t wait for agreement or response. Instead she felt her way passed the grill and reached into the control panel. Using her gun with the silencer she fired a single bullet into the panel. There was a whirring noise as the system ground to a halt.

Looking at Avellan she said “Ok, we’ve got seven hours. I’ll do my destruction while you continue evidence gathering. I’ll meet up with you when I’ve completed my work.” Again not waiting for a response she swung through an opening where the now fused wiring channelled out into various directions. Cutting the wires and reconnecting them she en-sured that once the power was restored the whole base would overheat and explode vio-lently rendering all weapons useless.

This took over three hours to complete but once she was sure the structure was unstable she began making her way towards where the main weapons were stored to assist Avellan in gathering evidence.

 

[Avellan13]

Avellan was angry, Gethan had just now created a bunch of problems for him. Why was the British government getting involved in US and Russia affairs. She and her government would have to pay for what they did.

The Russia nuclear plant had to stay intact, except for disabling the nukes, so as to provide evidence of Russia's aggressive actions and also so the Russians wouldn't get suspicious about American influences if the factory were destroyed. Disabled nukes were hard to discover.

He almost became pissed off when she shot the panel. "God dammit, stop that. The Russians will get suspicious if they find there computer systems down and inoperable. Who's damned side are you on anyways?" If Gethan became a problem, Avellan who have no other choice but to stop her in any way necessary so as to insure WWIII doesn't start up.

Avellan sighed and headed off towards the control board. Thanks to Gethan, he had only two hours, maybe less, before the dead Russian was discovered and the alarm would be put out for any suspicious activity. It took him about an hour to sneak past guards and security cameras by sticking to the shadows, climbing up wall, other ridiculous activities just to say avoided. But he managed to sneak past every guard without killing, hurting, or making one the least bit suspicious.

He began downloading schematics and blueprints when the alarm went off. Great, either the Russians had noticed the dead Russian, because he wasn't reporting in, or they had noticed the computer security systems had been shot down. He hurriedly downloaded the information and sent it to his superiors. Then he shut down the computer and used and optic fiber to see on the other side of the door.

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan found herself alongside Avellan as he used the fibre optic; she whispered “This is your chance. The alarms are sounding because the wiring is wrong and guards and engineers will be dispatched to track the fault. They will shut down again in about an hour so tell me what I can do to help”.

Looking round Gethan noticed she was not ‘flavour of the month’ with Avellan but she wasn’t worried about that. “Look as I said I have my orders, you have yours. The Russians won’t come here for a while so we have a golden opportunity to complete your task. Then you won’t have to see me again!”

Looking at him with her hand on her hips she said “I repeat. How can I help?”

 

[Avellan13]

He sighed and looked up at her.

"Well, as long as you stop alerting the Russian to our presence and don't get in my way. Then everything will be fine. As for how you can help. Make sure we don't get spotted, I've established an uplink and put a virus into the computer systems that'll allow my government to monitor the nuclear production and shipment listings of this factory. The Russian do have WMD's here, about 4."

He checked his datapad, "And two of them are being sent to Cuba."

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan kept watch to ensure the Russians would have no knowledge of them being there while Avellan completed his task. “See I told you they would be looking for the fault in the system” she said softly “once we are out of here we will have to wait our next orders.”

The time went by quickly Gethan was pleased when their work appeared to be coming to an end. She looked at Avellan for confirmation they should begin an escape.

 

[Avellan13]

"Yes, but for how long, I don't know."

Seeing that the hallway was clear, he nodded and carefully opened the door.

"Follow me, and don't do anything to give our position away or to further alert the Russians to our presence. We need to get out of here and find somewhere safe where I can send a message to my superiors about all that had happened."

 

[YoungLisa]

Gethan followed Avellan ensuring they were not spotted as they re- emerged into the bleak cold surface where the snow was falling hard onto an already solid surface. The whole complex was in total darkness as Gethan had fooled the Russians into thinking the shut -down was a result of a male function in their own systems. They passed the body of the dead guard now frozen solid and made their way to small hut whose purpose was long forgotten. Once there Gethan turned and placed her finger over her lips calling for silence. Opening the flap on her coat she produced a small signal device on which she pressed five buttons.

“We have a man on the inside here, I couldn’t say anything because my orders were to only tell you when my mission was complete. He will arrange for us to be taken out of here now after which I have the second phase of my mission to complete.”

The device flashed briefly and then turned green. “It’s ok, they are on their way. And …” She hesitated, “… In case you wonder if this is authentic” she produced a paper with official White House Heading “look at this”. It was signed by none other than the President authorising the British SRR to take responsibility for the safe transportation of the CIA operatives on the mission. “Of course we are handicapped because your chopper was detected and destroyed but I’m still responsible for your safety. Once I’ve delivered you I have to go to Moscow where I am to meet with another of our agents before attending an official function. There I’m to give misleading information to one of theirs.” She looked at her colleague and smiled “Not so much action girl then” she winked “I might have to be a naughty girl.”

With that an English voice was heard outside the shed. “Did Luton win?” He asked.

Gethan answered “Yes, two nil.” She looked at Avellan and said solemnly “That’s our man. Let’s go!”

 

[Avellan13]

"And I have other orders, that paper is a fake. If my government were to put in print that I was here in Russia, the Russians will put one and one together. They'll know that it really was an American spy that was in their nuclear factory."

Pulling out his radio, Avellan turned it on. "Sir, we have a problem."

"What is it?" respondes a low, deep voice.

"Unfortunatally the mission didn't go as well as planned. Thinks to some.. complications a dead Russian guard was found and the Russian have noticed that their security systems are down." Replies Avellan hesitantly.

"That would be most unfortunate, for you. The Russian have gone public to the world that a foreign power has infiltrated there country and stolen secret military plans and naturally they blame America." Said the voice in a menacing tone.

"Operation Arrow is finished. Shall I begin Operation Thunder?"

"Am I on speaker Avellan?"

Avellan looked hesitantly at Gethan, "Excuse me for a moment how about you talk to you friend while you wait." Then he walked away a few meters.

 

[YoungLisa]

“I’m a little worried about him” Gethan whispered to her colleague as Avellan spoke on his radio “Seems he thinks the memo is a fake but I was given it by Q herself”. She leaned towards Avellan to try to hear his conversation. “He better not foul this up! It’s essential we stop those missiles getting to Cuba. My orders are to bring confusion and shut down the system. I’ve done that, now we have him trying to change priorities.”

“Can we trust him?” The stranger asked “Or is he one of theirs?”
“We can trust him” Gethan said solemnly “but he needs to be watched. Millions of lives depend on this”. She caught sight of Avellan looking at her and returned a sarcastic smile. “Let’s see what he’s been told.”

Gethan moved away from her contact and moved towards Avellan for his news.

 

[Avellan13]

Avellan listened to the rest of his superior`s briefing with the speaker off.

"You need to be more careful. Anyways, I have a new mission for you. You need to find a man by the name of Urik von Koffeman. He`s in the city of Nayba, there he`l give you the rest of you briefing. He`ll give the code word Lightning, the counter reply is Thunder." Said his superior.

"Ok sir, I won`t fail you." said Avellan. He turned off the radio phone and looked back at Gethan. "I got a new mission and I`m headed out soon."

 

[YoungLisa]

“My mission is to protect you and until that changes I have to come along with you. Think of me as the pesky kid sister to love to hate and hate to love.” Gethan tried to make light of it. “I think we can safely leave that base to its own problems. Let’s get going. I fancy some action!”

Gethan cocked her gun to ensure she was well armed and quoting Shakespeare she said “Lead on McDuff!”

 

[Avellan13]

"McDuff?" Avellan quietly said to himself. He shook his head and walked in the direction of the town of Nayba. It would take about three day to get there. "We have three day`s walk ahead of us, so we have to ration our supplies. If there`s nothing else, then we go."