What was Irina doing? Where was she? Did she think of Sydney? Damn straight she did. There is a bit of trivia you should know...Russian people dote on their children. They, of course, grow up to be adults, but until then, they seem to be treated well. I suspect Irina doted on Sydney up until she had to run.
h34r: And probably would have continued to do the same, especially since Jack was gone a lot. Oh well, now she is far away and has only her memories.Part 2 – Central City, Russia – 1983 ** (See footnote)
Irina was taking her usual six in the morning run. Spring was almost here. She glanced at her watch. April 17th! The date was familiar, but for the moment she couldn’t resurrect the connection. She looked ahead of her. Captain Viktoria Zaitzen was plodding along as usual. Irina smiled to herself. Viktoria didn’t like to run, jog or do much physical training. However, she’d put on a kilo or so and Irina had insisted she start jogging at least.
She caught up with the Captain, slowed and motioned for her to stop. Viktoria did so gratefully.
“Yes, Irina?”
“How’s the weight coming?”
“O.K. Did you hear?”
Irina nodded smiling wickedly.
Viktoria laughed. “You did it, didn’t you? Well, it’s about time, He was a fool to think he would get away with it.”
Irina said nothing. The KGB Colonel who ran Central City had finally paid the price for his sexual harassment and sadistic treatment of young female recruits. It had taken her a year to force her superiors to get rid of him.
“Whose going to be the new boss?” asked Viktoria
“Hopefully someone with his priorities straight.” Irina frowned. The date, what was it? She turned and started running, calling back, “See you in the showers.” She glanced at her watch again. She was late. She’d better hurry or she’d be late for her first class. She thought about the Colonel and gave a little laugh. They’d be throwing a party tonight.
“Oh God,” she cried, “it’s Sydney’s 8th birthday.” Suddenly she bent over sobbing as the memories crowded everything else out of her mind.
** Note: Central City is a name I gave to the city run by the KGB to train agents as Americans, i.e. Irina Derevko. It was rumored to have existed beginning after WWII while Stalin was alive. (He died in 1953)