another when doing so could compromise the assignment or put your life at risk. Too many agents in the field had fallen for some local talent and got themselves killed. It wasn’t worth the risk, dammit!
Chapter 5 The car turned again as Rick took an indirect route to where they had to go. No one seemed to be following them, but he knew that wouldn’t last long. The SVR was on to him and all they had to do was tighten the noose. He wanted to go to the Moscow Station and take a train out of the city, but right now they had to find a place to cool off before the SVR started to close in. It wouldn’t take long. If nothing else, Russia knew how to run surveillance the right way. “The Moscow station is the best way out of here,” he told her. “It hooks up with all Siberian and northern rail lines. All I need to do is find a way to get to it and we’ll be heading to the West. But I can’t go there just now. They’ll be looking for us and we need to find a place to chill for a few hours. I know just the place.” He turned the car again, trying to avoid all the traffic cameras lining the main streets. Rick had already disabled the car’s own external cameras and tracker. It was a feature of the country that all the insurance companies required cars in Russia to have tracking equipment and exterior cameras. Sometimes it could be helpful, such as a recent meteorite crash which was recorded everywhere in Siberia by dash cameras. But the ultimate reason for the cameras was to show who was at fault in a collision or how fast they were traveling. Needless to say, the SVR had plenty of ways to hack into the cameras and tracking devices when they had the reason. Rick’s destination was the Hermitage Museum near the Neva River. The museum had originally been constructed by Katherine the Great to house her growing collection of art. It was part of a complex of buildings attached to the Tsarist Winter Palace and was open to tourists. Because of the immense size of the building, it was very easy to spend days touring it. The museums had survived the German air strikes of WWII and were among the most favorite attractions of foreign visitors to the city. In other words, it was the perfect place to get lost inside. Rick pulled the car into the parking space for the museum and turned off the engine. He checked the parking lot and noticed plenty of cars in it. More than enough to hide his rental car. The police and SVR had only so many men working his detail and it would take them a long time to check the registration on every car in this lot. In a few hours they would start to become bored when no new sightings had been reported. Besides, they would be occupied by his recent visit to the warehouse and what had transpired there. “The important thing is that we have the super drive,” he told Monique. “With it we still have something to use to bargain our way out of this country. I wish I had the opportunity to put you in the Muslim clothes, but those disguises aren’t reachable until we reach the station and I find my locker. In the meantime we’re going to have to pretend to be another mixed race couple visiting the museum.” A shadow swept across the car and Rick grabbed Monique, pulling her under him and clamping his mouth to hers. Monique knew pleasure and fear at the same time. She felt his lips on hers and as he grabbed her shoulders and began to kiss her like a lover who had been absent too long. She felt weak inside as his lips moved over her face. For a few seconds Monique was back in her college room with her last boyfriend wanting him deep inside. She felt hot between the legs and pushed his hand between them. Rick responded by moving his fingers under her panties. She gasped, not caring who was watching. And then the shadow moved away. She didn’t want him to stop but he did. She felt his hand slide away. “He’s gone,” Rick told her. “The parking lot guard is gone. He was looking at us too carefully,