Operation Countdown

In Plain Sight

Langley International Airport
1030 Zulu

        Driving his car into the airport, he headed to the short-term parking area. Gardner slowed his car down and waited in line to pick up his parking ticket. After the ticket machine ejected his parking stub, he continued into the parking area. Driving to the rear of the lot he parked his car in an empty spot. Getting out of the car he unlocked the back door and grabbed his bag and dropped it on the cement. Shutting the back door and locking it he threw the keys in the driver's seat and shut the door. He didn't need to worry about locking it for he knew that a FIRE agent would be by to collect the vehicle and return it to his house. Picking up his bag he headed toward the entrance of the airport. Walking into the airport he looked around at everyone, observing and watching their every move. After waiting in line for a while, Gardner finally made it up to the check-in desk. Placing his bag down him looked at the airline attendant and handed her his itinerary and his passport.
        "Good day sir, how are you doing today?" asked he attendant with a warm smile.
        Gardner looked at her and smiled back, "I am doing good, thank you," he replied with a strong Russian accent.
        The attendant continues typing her keys to make sure everything was in order. "Ok Mister Anatoli Volkov, I have you leaving Langley, Virginia and arriving at St. Petersburg, Russia is that correct?" asked the attendant.
        "Da, that is correct, I am going to visit my great-grandmother," replied Gardner still using his accent.
        Finishing up she printed out a boarding pass and placed it into a protector. Handing the boarding pass to him she asked, "Is there anything else that we can do for you today Mister Volkov?"
        "Neit, that will be all thank you."
        "Your flight leaves in one hour, terminal A-14. Have a nice flight Mister Volkov.
        Gardner picked up his duffel and headed toward the sign that said passengers only, please have your boarding pass and identification in hand. Standing in the line to go through the metal detector Gardner removed his belt and wallet and placed it in a plastic box and put it along with his duffel on the conveyer belt to go through the x-ray machine. As the duffel went through the ATF agent looked right over the gun within the jacket due to the lead lined in the pocket. Stepping into the metal detector he went to the end of the conveyer belt and picked up his bag along with his belt and wallet placing his belt back on he put his wallet, passport and ticket in his back pocket and continued toward his terminal.
        When he reached his terminal he looked at the departing flights on the board. His flight was still on time and it showed that they would be boarding in thirty minutes. Placing his bag down him removed his jacket and put it on and zipped it up halfway. Now that he had passed through airport security he didn't have to keep it in the duffel anymore. Picking back up his bag he walked over to the passenger waiting area and took a seat. Gardner looked around at the various different people that where traveling, when a star buck’s merchant caught his attention. Picking up his duffel again he walked over to the merchant.
        "Thank you ma'am," replied the merchant as he took the money from an airline hostess, and handed her drink over the counter. As the women walked away Gardner walked up to the counter. "May I help you sir?" asked the merchant.
        "Yes I would like a Sugar Cookie please," said Gardner in low tone. There were no sugar cookies inside the displayed case. Sugar Cookie was a code word for Status Check, Gardner wanted a status check on his mission, and since there was a FIRE agent posing as an employee of Starbucks then obviously there is more information. The employee bent over and under the counter he withdrew a sugar cookie on a plate with a folder under it and handed placed it on the counter.
        "Here you go sir, our last sugar cookie in stock. That would be seven dollars and fifteen cents." taking the card from Gardner the merchant swiped the card, but instead of informing his credit card company of the transition, FIRE Headquarters was informed of completion of the mission.
        "Thanks for the cookie, have a nice day"
        "You have a nice flight Agent Gardner, or should I say Mister Volkov," replied the FIRE agent in a low voice.
        Walking back over to his terminal the saw that his flight was starting to board, pulling out his ticket, he walked up to the airline hostess at the door. Being that he was first class, he was one of the first people to load the plane.
        "Hello again," replied Gardner in his thick Russian accent, to the hostess as he handed her his ticket.
        "Again? Have we met before?" asked the confused hostess as she took his ticket and fed it through the machine.
        "At Starbucks I was behind you. You ordered the Vanilla Bean Frappuccino."
        "Oh yes I remember seeing you there now. Yes I love Starbucks so much that when I see one I can't help but to stop by and get something," said the hostess as she handed back his boarding pass.
        "I know what you mean," replied Gardner as he took back his boarding pass. "You have a good day." Gardner continued through the terminal to the entrance of the Boeing 747. The flight crew was at the entrance welcoming on-board their passengers. Gardner was looking at his boarding pass and the aisle seats trying to find his seat. Finally he came across his seat, B10; it was one of the two window seats which made him happy. Window seats help make a flight go by quicker along with sleeping. Gardner put his duffel in the overhead compartment and the folder he received from the courier in the pocket on the seat in front of him. So far there was no one in the seat next to him; hopefully it remained that way after boarding was complete. No long after he thought that did a women appeared next to him. He looked up at her, examining her from head to toe he smiled when his trained eyes spotted the gun under her blouse. It was so cleverly concealed; someone who was well trained at observation might even have a hard time seeing it. Looking lowered he noticed the handcuffs strapped to her inner left thigh and what looked like throwing knives on the right.
        "Excuse me," she said in a soft voice. "I am sorry to make you get up but I am in the seat next to you."
        "No apology needed I will simply get out of your way," Gardner said as the got up and made way for her to sit. "Please allow me to take your briefcase and put it in the overhead compartment for you," continued Gardner as he took the briefcase and placed it next to his duffel. Damn, he thought to himself, he was hoping to have an easy flight with no one next to him now he had a sky marshal next to him. Retaking his seat he looked at her and smiled, "So what's your name?"
        Looking at him for a second caught off guard by the sudden strike of conversation. Normally she preferred to take her trips in silence so she can get them over with. "Jenny... Jenny Berg," said the marshal as she looked toward the window.
        Gardner smiled for he knew that was not her real name, the time it took for her to answer means she was trying to come up with an easy name that she could remember. When asked one's name they usually come right out with it whether it is just first or both first and last. "Nice to meet you, I am Anatoli Volkov."
        The last bit of passenger's hustled over to their respected seats within the plane. The airline stewardess started to close and locked up the door which everyone had entered the plane from. The plane began to slowly leave the gate and the stewardess began to get ready for her safety brief on the plane. Gardner hated this part of flying; he had been on so many planes in his life that he could give the set of instructions for them. As the plane started to taxi down the runway Gardner looked outside of the window. The stewardess all begin to take their seats as the plane got ready for its final preparation before take-off. The plane's engines started to get louder as the pilot put more gas into them. The plane then took off down the runway picking up speed and lift as it went on. Gardner felt the plane come off the ground and heard the tires being pulled into the hull of the plane.
        The sound of the captain's voice over the intercom caught everyone's attention. "This is your captain speaking, welcome aboard flight 2337 to St. Petersburg. We will be making a fuel stop in Germany before we land in Russia. In a few moments the stewardess will be coming by with some refreshments. When we reach cruising altitude I will turn off the seat belt sign so that you may walk about the cabin."
        Now that the plane was on its way Gardner decided to finished the conversation with his neighbor.
        "Now," he said still using his Russian accent. "What is your real name?"
        She looked at him with surprise. How did he know that she didn't give her real name? "How did you know that I didn’t?
        "You had to think about it for a while, which means you were trying to think of a name that would be easy to remember and if someone was to call you by it you would remember that it was your name."
        "Milton, Jessica Milton is my real name."
        "It is very nice to meet you Miss Milton. Tell me how did you come into being a Sky Marshal?"
        Again surprised at the amount of information this man apparently knew on her was interesting as well as disturbing. She was even starting to believe that Anatoli Volkov may not be his real name either.
        "OK, how do you know all of these things? I want to know now!"
        Gardner smiled he could see that she was getting worried about the security of the plane and more over she was getting concerned about how he was able to see through her disguise as a passenger. There was no harm in him telling her about the fact that he to work for the government. She had a clearance to know that, she could know he worked for CIA for he had credentials that he could show her, as for the fact about FIRE well that was obvious.
        "I too work for the American government," whispered Gardner, who had dropped the accent. Reaching into his inner jacket pocket he pulled out a different wallet then he had used earlier. Inside was a full set of credentials issued to him from the DCI. They allowed him access to American embassies across the world; they serve other purposes as well. Giving the wallet to Milton he replied, "My name is Jack Gardner, I work for as you can see the Central Intelligence Agency."
        "Oh my," gasped Milton "That would explain a lot now, I take it you are doing something by the way you've been acting," closing the wallet she gave it back to Gardner. "Well Mister Volkov your secret is safe with me."
        Looking up at the seat-belt sign he notice that it dinged off, and it was safe to move about the cabin. Gardner knew he had better look at that folder that was given to him. Grabbing it he stood up and walked to the lavatory. Stepping into the lavatory Gardner placed the toilet seat down, shut the door and locked it. Sitting down he opened the folder that was given to him, and pulled out the letter inside. It read; 'Intelligence has confirmed that Mister Robert Knight is having a party at his mansion. Habib Gulzar is expected to also be there, for another meeting to discuss what he wants Knight’s help with. You are to try to gain entry into the mansion and find out what is going on and stop it; again you are to eliminate both men once their plans have been halted. We have a contact that will rendezvous with you at the airport that will assist you. Identity check starting sentence: I have always wanted to visit the Kremlin. Identity check finishing sentence: The Kremlin is where the Tzar's once ruled from. Destroy This Document and folder by fire. All materials provided inside folder, Good luck Jack, Raymond.' Gardner looked at the back of the inter pocket and pulled out a strike anywhere match, a small roll of transparent tape, and a small screw driver. Gardner reached up and grabbed the smoke detector, breaking the seal on it and opening it up Gardner started to use the screw driver to take apart the alarm. Once it was done he took the match and struck it on the counter top. Holding the letter and envelope to the flame, they burst into a bright red flame. The special paper that they were made from allowed them to burn quickly and left no ashes. Once destroyed he threw the match in the toilet, repaired the alarm and then replaced the seal that he broke with the tape. When he finished with that he threw everything else into the toilet, and flushed it down. Unlocking the door he exited the lavatory and continued back to his seat. Gardner got to his seat just in time for the refreshment cart just stopped by his area.
        "Hello sir," said the stewardess in a sweet voice. "What would you like to drink?"
        "I would like a coke please," replied Gardner in his Russian accent. He was too cheap to pay for airline alcohol, for they give you too little but charge so much. Getting his coke he placed it on his tray and leaned back in his chair. He had a long flight so why not sleep a little and enjoy the company of the lovely marshal.