Chapter Fourteen: Reunions

March 11th, 2027, 6:58 p.m.
Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport, Moscow, Russia

Turgenev’s jet had finally landed. Katia had fallen asleep, and she woke with a start from the impact of the landing, a magazine in her lap. She looked toward the cockpit with the pilot inside, as the aircraft came to a slow stop. The sun was mostly set already, leaving a beautiful orange and yellow glow over the airstrip. Katia was wearing the type of dress Rajirra usually wore, a amethyst sequin dress, one sleeved, with a slant cut down the left side of the skirt. She also wore a necklace with a large opal in the center, matching earrings, and elbow length white gloves, which seemed extremely old fashioned. She stood up inside the light tan interior of the jet, and peered out the window. The pilot stepped out and opened the door, and allowed her to exit first as if she were just as rich as she was meant out to be.

Directly outside was the same man she’d seen in the files, tall, brown hair, and a cream white suit. He was standing next to a grey, two seater, 2023 remastered Bugatti Chiron, with blue outlines, which was still one of the most expensive cars in the world, yet retro as of this year. Katia’s intercom buzzed to life with the sound of Foles voice, “I see that your body cam is working properly,” “Yeah, but I can’t really talk to you very much, he’s going to be around me the whole time,” she mumbled. “Ah,” he said, embracing her, “it has been so long since we’ve worked together in person, has it not?” Katia smiled awkwardly, “Yes it has, how long has it been now would you say?” He chuckled slightly, “With you being so precise with time and schedules you would expect that I would be asking you,” Katia scrambled her brain for some excuse, “Uh… yes but I have been very busy in recent times as you know.” He smiled back, “Yes, we have been doing very successfully as of recently, we couldn’t have reached this height without your help.” Katia looked to the ground as if she were embarrassed, “Oh you’re too kind, I wouldn’t be here if you hadn't hired me.” “Well then, hiring you was one of the best decisions of my life I would say, but enough talk, let us carry on with our business.” He opened the passenger door of the three million dollar vehicle, and ushered her in. Katia sat down, as he walked around, and took the wheel. They drove out through the airport, toward the center and upper class side of Moscow, during the drive they mainly talked about past events in their lives. Foles had given Katia a few to work with, in order from oldest to newest, some of them Turgenev recalled as well. Eventually they fell silent until Turgenev suggested something that was extremely expected, “What do you think we do business over dinner, at my hotel in upper Moscow? I’ll even have them prepare my private bedroom for us.” “It’s been years since I’ve been there, and it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at it again,” “Then it’s settled,” he said, swiping his hand across a small plasma screen next to the stereo, which sent the message.

A few minutes later they entered “Upper Moscow,” and Katia looked around at the many neon signs and shops, advertising many expensive items, clothing, and more. They rounded a corner and she immediately saw it, translated into english the bright sign said: The Exotic Turgenev Hotel. This must’ve sounded much better in russain, because it wasn’t a very “exotic” name in english, originally it was pronounced: Ekzoticheskiy Turgenevskiy Otel’. He pulled into an open parking space right in front of the entrance, which also had been reserved, and exited the Bugatti. Katia stepped out of the vehicle, taking in the astounding view of just the entrance itself. Outside the spinning door were two shofers, that usually checked to see who was about to enter, but they immediately let them pass, seeing Turgenev himself. Katia also noticed that one of them was an elf, and recognized him as Kyle Enoch, by the glint of familiarity in his eyes as she passed. On the inside were huge amounts of modern art, furniture, decor, and other miscellaneous features. The walls were white washed in the lobby with gold leaf trim, and diamond chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Katia stared around the room, to her left was a large marble staircase, which she assumed led to the rooms, and another exact replica to the right. They didn’t even have to check into the hotel at all, because Turgenev owned the whole thing, which meant they were free to go wherever they wanted. “Wow,” she said to him in awe, “it sure has… changed,” he smiled at her, “We actually had a complete remodel in decor in 2025, and have been making small adjustments here and there.” “Well I don’t think you can make it more perfect than this,” she said still looking around herself, “Ah but you see,” he replied, “anything can be made better, no matter how perfect it seems, there are always areas to improve.” The giant hall was flooded with many people of all races and from all countries, “Shall we?” he stretched out his hand and ushered toward the dining hall. Katia took his hand and they walked down the short staircase toward the dining hall, this was located on the two sides of the staircase leading to the rooms. They entered the circular shaped room, with a fully velvet rug covered floor, and a large fountain in the middle, which sprouted columns of water into the air every few minutes. Many people were here as well, all talking happily and eating their expertly cooked meals, and drinking five hundred dollar glasses of champagne. The room itself held about four thousand people, not including the upper balconies and lowered sections of the room. They were taken to a table in the southeastern corner of the room, and the waiter Katia recognized as Shane, and she knew he wasn’t the only one keeping an eye on her. She looked around the room, and could already spot Amelia sitting at the bar over to her far right, Chase was nowhere to be seen, but she could tell he was given another assignment. “So, what should we get tonight?” Katia was handed a menu, and was immediately baffled by the amount of selections, “Um… why don’t you surprise me with one of your favorites?” He yet again gave her another glowing smile, and told the waiter their order in russain, and also asked for something, which she caught as, “… as well as my briefcase…” The waiter strolled over toward the kitchen area and another man came back with Turgenev’s briefcase. He now began speaking in russain, “Now about this somewhat secret job with Abdallah and-” he stopped mid sentence, when Shane came back with their drinks, and set them on the table, “Thank you,” Turgenev muttered. Foles came in on the intercom again, “Managan, in case you're wondering about the champagne, don’t worry it’s completely safe to drink, and isn’t actually alcoholic. Turgenev doesn’t know this, his drink is drugged anyway, but the effects may take some time to work, so you’ll still have time to grasp some information.”

Shane left them and Turgenev continued, “As I was saying, Abdallah and his… followers, I should say, have sent me some blueprints and careful instructions.” He opened the briefcase and handed it to her, she examined them and got another signal from Foles. “Move the blueprints down just a bit, so we can snag a capture through your bodycam.” She did so casually as she set the case down on the white and gold tablecloth while answering him, “What does this mean I must do?” He glanced around the room, then back at her, “All you must do is send these to the newly built factory in the Altai Mountains.” Katia took in all the information possible while they talked, assuming that most people on the other side of her camera couldn’t speak russain, just to be safe. Turgenev continued on, “I have already sent some of the early versions myself, but it would be unsafe for me to send the last few this way. This is because we’ve been noticing that there are a few organizations catching on with what we're doing, and because I have employed you somewhat recently, not many know you are my secretary.” Katia frowned, “Yes, but if they know that it is you that sent the first few, would they not connect the messages and find that we are associated with each other?” Katia was answered by someone that she wouldn’t ever have guessed to answer her, “yeah,” her intercom was filled with a voice other than Foles’, “but they haven’t gotten secure information on the messages, which is exactly what Abdallah wants.” While this happened Turgenev continued explaining, but he left out the part about Abdallah being involved. “Abdallah is more involved than you would think, you know why? Cause that’s how he works, he’s always worked that way, deception is his best friend. He wants his enemies to know what he’s doing, but never shows them the full picture, then when they least expect it, he strikes the weak point they just made. Oh and if you're wondering who I am, upper left corner, three seats to the right.” Katia slightly paid attention to what Turgenev was saying, while looking in this direction, and her eyes crossed an oddball in the crowd. A Khajiit man, in a black leather biker jacket, rock band T-shirt, ripped jeans, and reddish-brown tinted sunglasses. “Did you miss me?” she saw his lips move, while he pressed a finger to his ear. They both turned at the same time, Katia couldn’t believe what was happening, Turgenev was starting to become weary as Shane came back with their meals.

The briefcase was already closed, “You do understand, don’t you?” Turgenev asked, Katia looked at him and nodded, “perfectly,” she replied, mind racing. He took another drink from his glass, and started eating, Katia did the same as Joshua’s voice buzzed in her ear. “You, probably have a lot of questions huh? Well how about I answer the most important ones first. Why am I here? Because I’m on the same mission, and we haven’t been in contact until now. Why was I gone for four straight years, and why did I never come back? Because I was recruited by an operatives unit like yourself.” Turgenev and her had still been in slight conversation, while Katia tried not to destroy her venison. “Are you alright Rajirra?” he asked in english, “Yes just… thinking about the job,” “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do fine.” She smiled at him, “Well what choice do I have? Anything to help the company thrive, right?” she put the smallest amount of emphasis on the first part, just to get the message to Josh. “Yes I know,” he said, understanding perfectly what she was saying, “but you can’t blame me for that.” “What part is particularly worrying you?” Turgenev asked, “Oh, just Abdallah, he’s so mysterious, can we really trust him?” Joshua yet again got the message, “Yes, it was Abdallah’s fault, but how does this justify being angry with me? Exactly it doesn’t,” Turgenev seemed to quickly try and change the subject, but Katia wouldn’t let him that easily. “What exactly has Abdallah done to make you such a target of these organizations?” Turgenev glanced around them again, “That is the problem, I do not know,” Josh laughed, “Yeah, poor Turgenev’s kinda gotten himself into a tight spot, Abdallah isn’t necessarily “open” about his attacks, but he’s pretty well known for them.” Turgenev stifled an awkward chuckle, “Ah Rajirra, so focused on work all the time, why not take a break and relax a bit?” Katia gave up on trying to communicate with Joshua, she’d have to talk with him later, “I guess,” she sighed, and Turgenev laughed. “Being hardworking is why you're my best employee, but save it for another night, what do you think we go upstairs and look at the new changes to the rooms?” She looked down at her nearly finished dinner, which was no longer appetizing, “Sure, why not?”

Turgenev’s drink seemed to be almost in full effect, and he looked like a drunk stumbling through the hallways, and up the stairs. Joshua just laughed, “What the hell did Foles give him, he’s walking around like a madman.” After a little while, they reached Turgenev’s custom suite, which nobody used and was always reserved for his visits. “Hey,” Joshua said over the intercom, as Katia helped Turgenev into the room, “I should probably tell you one more thing.” Katia went into the restroom to escape the man’s presence for a few seconds, after she’d left him sitting, raving on the bedroom floor. “What?” she asked, exhausted from practically having to carry Turgenev the entire way. “Yeah, I should probably tell you about the unbroken streak of affairs that Kuznetsov and Turgenev have had, there’s been at least one every time they’ve seen each other in person.” Katia slid to the floor with her back against the door, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now, really?” “Nope,” he said casually, “but don’t worry, they left a bottle of vodka on the bathroom counter for you.” Katia peeked at the counter and he was right, “Oh gods what have I gotten myself into?” “A tight spot, just like your-” “please don’t finish that joke,” she groaned, “this is bad enough as it is.” Katia slipped off the dress and hung it on a towel peg, “Aw c’mon, it was a good joke,” she smiled, “We’ll just have to talk more later, I… never mind.” She started taking the tiny speaker out of her ear, and heard him say just before, “Love you too.”

She took everything else off and looked into the mirror, where her reflection watched, “Sure has been a while huh?” she said. It seemed to smile at her wickedly, knowing what was about to happen, “Time to switch places again,” she said, uncorking the bottle, “hopefully for the last time.” With that she tipped the bottle and took a drink, filling the familiar taste of alcohol in her mouth. After a few struggled gulps, she set the bottle down, looking back to the mirror, where her reflection stared hungrily at the bottle, thrusting for more. Though everything was fine, Katia felt like she was gasping for air, taking yet another drink as the memories flooded her mind. She set it down again, tears in her eyes, the world already swimming in front of her, a third of the bottle gone. Her throat burning, and sanity fleeting, she picked it up one more time with shaking hands. It took immense effort to hold herself steady as she took the final step, setting it down, blinking the tears away. She grabbed the counter and stared into the empty sink for a minute or two then looked up into the mirror.

“Who the fuck’re you?” she leaned closer, until her nose touched the cold surface, “oh that’s me, ha!” she looked away for a second then back, “Who the fuck am I? Oh well,” she studied herself in the mirror for a few seconds, “Why are my eyes green? And my hair hasn’t been this long since-” there was a thud from the other room, then silence yet again, she shrugged and went back to what she was doing. “What was I saying? Oh well,” she began to examine everything else to see if anything was different, or if what she’d found was it. “Wait a minute? Why do you,” she prodded one breast, “seem bigger,” then looked to the other, “than you?” There was another thud from the other room, then a man’s voice shouting, “Ow, fucking… Raj, Rajirra, where did you go!?” Katia opened the bathroom door, now aware someone else was there. “Who the fuck is Rodger, Ryker, Ra, Ru, ah fuck it.” Turgenev was no longer clothed, and stared from across the room, he had apparently been shouting out the window towards people on the street. His hair was now a complete mess, and he had a crazy look in his eyes. “Ah there you are Rajirra,” Katia’s brain took about a minute in itself just to catch up, yet Turgenev didn’t say anything either. “Wait, that’s me right?” he nodded, “then who are you?” she asked. “I am Alexanur Turgenurve,” “Wow,” Katia said, “what a name, but you seem to be more drunk than I am, is that even possible? I don’t fuckin’ know.” For a minute they just sat there, not knowing what to do, or what to say. Katia looked at his face, then down, then back to his face, and down again. “Well, you seem a bit… excited,” she said finally. He looked down at himself and seemed to be surprised by this, “Well, I suppose you’re right.” Katia stared down again, then looked at him with a crazy smile on her face, “Well… you look like you could use a little help with that…”