CHAPTER I
THE LETTER
FRANK LOWE WAS DEVASTATED TO LEARN of the drowning of his Russian lover, and yet her mysterious background and demeanor left many unanswered questions. She was considerably younger than her alleged husband Heinz Globitz, she was fluent in several languages, and accused by some of being a spy. She was also found Not Guilty of murder. Lowe’s curiosity was irresistibly piqued by the sealed envelope he found that she intended to mail to Major-General Sergey Pavlovich c/o Embassy of the Russian Federation, 2650 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20007. She was dead, he reasoned. There’s no Postal Service down here in The Sanctuary. A lapse in his otherwise unwavering ethical standards developed. He opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. Damn, she wrote it in Russian! His mind raced for a solution to the language impediment—a translation software app in the library. Viola! His sadness turned to anger as the printer spit out her written dispatch:
Comrade Commissar Pavlovich— I am providing this written communiqué, in the event of my death. I have faithfully carried out my assignment as directed. Monitoring Mr. Globitz was easy but the years in this bunker have been difficult. The earthquakes destroyed all communication channels. It was not possible to apprise you of the situation. The current status of the three objectives is as follows: Gold. The gold that he failed to ship to Russia is all accounted for and stored underwater, in the reservoir deep in the alcove at mile four. (I have retained three bars for my escape attempt.) Uranium. The powdered Uranium Oxide (U308) is locked in a safe in a hazardous storage chamber in the Yucca Mountain Ossuary at mile marker number two. The combination to the safe is inscribed on the inside cover of Comrade Tolstoy’s War and Peace on Globitz’ bookshelf. Mega data files, security codes and taped messages are in the spaces in books on the top shelf in Globitz’ office. Mr. Globitz is dead. His personality changed significantly after the earthquakes and our lengthy isolation. He began to blame me and became aggressive toward me. As you authorized, I had to terminate him, though sooner than I had planned. I have kept secret our objectives from the Americans. If this letter survives and I do not, please convey my love to my son and restore my nameplate to Moscow’s Wall of Honor. Your Faithful Servant… Krishka Zhukova.
Coming Soon...Chapter II
