“Exactly.”
The Norwegian government had recently completed a cave-like structure under the permafrost where they would store as many species of seeds as possible, just in case the world decided to blow itself up. Then the Norwegians could come to the rescue and help the world re-plant and survive. Of course, they might not have taken into consideration that whole Nuclear Winter, and the fact that they would need someone to till the soil, fresh water, etc.
“So, what happened to Steve?” Jake asked. “You sure the Ruskies didn’t just kidnap him?”
“We weren’t entirely sure, but his failsafe intel had never been put to the test.”
All intel officers were given a piece of information that could be exploited after a little intimidation or torture. None of the officers knew what their own failsafe response entailed. That was the only way the other side knew the officer was not lying, especially under drug-induced lie detectors.
“Interesting. But now you know. Who turned?”
“A retired Soviet intel officer with GRU. He told me about a MiG going down in Svalbard in October of 1986.”
“You believe him?”
“Yes. His brother was the MiG pilot.”
“So officially that makes seven,” Jake said.
“Seven?”
“Seven dead in Svalbard.”
“Right.”
“So, this Soviet GRU officer told you more.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. This officer has been going to Spitsbergen every August for the past five years to search for his brother. This has been an unusually warm summer up there.”
“Global warming,” Anna finally said.
“That or fairies and dwarves,” Jake said. “He found something?”
The colonel smiled. “Last week. The tail section from his brother’s plane.”
Jake couldn’t hold back a flash of incertitude. “Why do you need me?” he asked.
Colonel Reed cleared his throat. “Our governments can’t get involved with this.”
“Why not?”
“That’s one thing I can’t tell you, Jake. All I need you to do is go up there and find whatever remains of your old friend, Captain Steve Olson. Anna has agreed to go with you. She thought…”
“That I needed something to do.”
A slight smile tried to escape from Anna’s mouth, but she was doing a fine job holding back.
“Well, she said it’s been a while.”
“Can I think about it?”
Colonel Reed pulled his wallet from his back pocket, retrieved a plastic card, and handed it to Jake.
He looked at the Visa symbol and then read his name on the card. “A platinum debit card with my name on it. Pretty sure of yourself. How much is on it?”
“Just under ten grand. Pin number is the last four of your Social. Kept it simple. You’ll need to buy some gear. You have e-tickets waiting for you at Oslo Gardermoen international airport. Flight to Longyearbyen, Svalbard leaves tomorrow at thirteen ten. I’ve already given Anna a programmed GPS, maps, a satellite phone, and instructions on who you’ll meet up there.”
“You’ve thought of everything,” Jake said. “What if I just want to hang out here in Oslo and party?”
“Your sense of duty,” the colonel said. “And Steve was a good friend. Plus, you could never turn down a good adventure.”
He had Jake right on that one. Duty was more than something you stepped on in a cow pasture. Adventure was a reason to live. And, other than for Anna, Jake had not found many reasons in the last few months.
“Fine,” Jake said. “But I hope to hell you plan on providing some polar bear prevention.”
“You’ll get some guns when you reach Spitsbergen,” Colonel Reed assured him. With that he went to the door and turned back to Jake, who had followed him from the bed.
The two of them shook hands and turned that into a hug.
“You two take care up there,” Reed said. Then he whispered, “That’s a beautiful lady you have. Don’t let her get away.”
Jake smiled and nodded and let him out the door. Then he turned to Anna, who was looking at the floor.
“Shopping?” Jake asked her.
She shrugged. “The GPS and SAT phone. It’s like shopping.”
Something wasn’t settling properly in his stomach, and he guessed it had nothing to do with the schnapps. Regardless, he rushed to the bathroom and puked his guts out.
Colonel Reed got downstairs, strolled through the lavish hotel lobby, and out onto the street. Gazing left and right, he eventually went to the left and then down a narrow side street. Darkness from an overcast sky had nearly enveloped Oslo, but the city lights of the downtown shone brightly as he got behind the wheel of his rental BMW. He glanced up to the fourth floor and tried to guess which room held his old friend, Jake Adams, and that pretty little Interpol agent. He hated this. Hated to lie to Jake like this. But what choice did he have? Some things were bigger than mere individuals.
He checked the rearview mirrors and thought about starting the engine.
Suddenly the passenger door swung open and a man slid onto the leather seat, closing the door behind him.
“How’d it go?” the man asked with an indeterminate accent. A voice that resonated with each syllable. His gruff intonation was probably the result of the skinny cigars he always smoked. He had one now hanging out the right side of his mouth, smoke rising up and making him close his right eye.
“Jake looked like shit,” Colonel Reed said. “I don’t know if he’s up to the task. Looks like he’s trying to drink himself to death.”
“What’s his problem? I’ve seen his girlfriend. They don’t get any warmer than that.” He moved the cigar to the front of his mouth and puffed the end red.
“You mean hot,” Reed corrected. “Don’t get any hotter than that.”
“You know what I mean,” the man said, exhaling smoke in a straight stream at the windshield. “Try to say that in Russian. Has Jake Adams ever failed to complete a mission?”
He had good points. The colonel smiled thinking about sending Jake to Kurdistan back in the 80s, and how he had come back with first-hand evidence that Saddam Hussein had used nerve agents on his own Kurdish population. No. Jake had never failed him. But he had also never led Jake this far astray. And that bothered him.
“Keep an eye on him,” the colonel said. “We’ll feed him more information as needed.”
The Russian nodded and got out, disappearing in the darkness like a ghost in a cloud of cigar smoke and car exhaust.
How the hell had it come to this? He thought he had left the game long ago. Now he was pulled right back in. He started the engine and pulled away from the curb, blending in with light traffic.
2
Jake and Anna checked out of the hotel early the next morning and then went shopping for warmer clothes. After his stomach settled the night before, Jake had checked out the weather forecast for Spitsbergen on the internet. Even though it was summer there now, there was perpetual permafrost and glaciers and they would have to be ready for any weather. Layers would be the best way to go. Jake had also researched the Svalbard Archipelago on the net. Interesting place.
Then the two of them headed to the Oslo airport and waited for their flight. Colonel Reed had not only arranged for tickets, he made them first class. When they got onto the plane, the flight attendant asked if they’d like Champagne. Jake considered it but declined. His right hand shook and he grasped his leg to calm himself. He needed to clean up. Not just for him, but for Anna. She didn’t deserve a drunk. Had put up with him like a saint the past few months as he had descended deeper into a funk that even he didn’t understand. He hadn’t been sober long enough to decipher why he was drinking so hard in the first place.