'They believed in it,' Kate said. 'The cause just didn't happen for them.'
'That kind of explains some of the background I found on this young woman,' Christian said.
On the screen, the image slid over and another image popped into place beside it. The second image showed a much younger girl with a shy smile.
'Her name was Nuura Shishani,' Christian went on. 'She was seventeen years old.' He paused for a moment. 'My younger sister just turned seventeen, and she's still in high school and thinks getting a date for the prom is a problem.'
Kate didn't know what to say to that and she didn't even try. Sometimes there were no reference points in the worlds she dealt with.
'Did you identify her from police records?' Kate asked.
'No.'
Another image appeared on the screen. This one showed the young woman's face again. She was surrounded by other girls in a small village. The ramshackle houses and dilapidated farm equipment testified to how far from civilization Nuura Shishani had grown up.
'She went missing seven months ago,' Christian continued. 'I used facial-recognition software to sort through news databases and turned up this image first.'
The image pulled back to reveal that it occupied a quarter page in a magazine. French writing bracketed the picture of the young woman.
'A French anthropologist was doing a study in Nuura Shishani's village when she went missing,' Christian said. 'He was appalled by the way the people in the village, including the family, seemed to take the girl's disappearance. According to him, they didn't do much more than a cursory search for her. Everyone just said she had a lot of bad luck. Like it was a disease or something, the anthropologist wrote. Her husband — and I couldn't believe she was married — died in a confrontation with Russian soldiers.'
'She was widowed,' Kate said. 'In that culture, she belonged to her dead husband's family.'
'Then they should have been out looking for her.'
'Those mountain people don't have a lot,' Kate said. 'They work hard just to get through each day. Chasing after a missing girl was beyond their resources.'
'But the police…'
'The only police out there,' Kate said, 'are Russian military. Even if they believed Nuura Shishani had gone missing, they wouldn't have risked anyone looking for her. She could have been bait in a trap.'
Kate studied the innocence in the young woman's face. No trace of that existed in the frightened image reflected on the luxury car's windshield.
'Were you able to tie her to Taburova?' Kate asked.
'Not yet. I'm still working on that. I've hacked the FSB's files regarding the bombing, but I've got no joy so far. However, working on the theory that Shishani was abducted, I've identified three local possibilities for connections to the Black Widow camps.'
The images of the dead woman disappeared and were immediately replaced by the images of three men. All of them looked rough.
Kate recognized two of them.
'I assembled the files on these guys by cross-referencing what was in the FSB's databases and what was in Interpol's, as well as Eastern European police agencies. From everything I've been able to pull together, these men are players.'
'We've tied Maskhadov to Taburova,' Kate said.
'I didn't know that.'
'You weren't supposed to. But what you've found bears out what we thought we knew,' Kate said.
'That's good, I suppose. I wanted to identify the woman if I could. I thought maybe you could figure out a way to let her family know what happened to her.'
'If we can.' Kate guessed that the family already knew. Still, few televisions existed in the mountainous terrain where Nuura Shishani had been born and raised. Kate had already developed assets in the area. A message might be passed on.
But that wouldn't happen until Ajza Manaev was home free. Kate's stomach knotted a little as she looked at MaskhadoVs scarred face. Cruelty showed in every line, and bleak apathy filled his dark eyes.
And Maskhadov was the man Kate had sent Room 59's newest recruit to. She checked her watch, did the time zone calisthenics and knew it wouldn't be long before Ajza made contact with the man.
30
Ajza woke at the light touch on her elbow. For a moment the darkness and the noise left her disoriented, then she remembered she was on a cargo plane flying into Russia. The red warning light flared quickly to her right and dimmed. She couldn't believe she'd fallen asleep, but after hours of flying the plane's vibrations had a lulling effect.
'Are you with me?'
The speaker was Ajza's sole contact aboard the plane. She'd been forbidden to visit the cockpit. She hadn't been especially curious about who piloted the craft. After she'd put herself into the hands of the people running things, she'd focused on the mission.
'Yes,' Ajza answered. She was worn and weary from traveling for two days. The trip had required several stops along the way, and there were more ahead of her.
'Good.' The shadows in the cargo hold hid the man's features. Ajza had the impression that he was young, probably no older than she was, but he had the air of a seasoned veteran. 'Jump point's coming up in about eight minutes.'
'Have you made contact with ground support?' Ajza stood and checked her gear. She was nervous, but she tried not to show it.
'They're waiting.' The man looked at her. Even in the darkness of the cargo area he seemed to know she wasn't comfortable. 'You jumped much?'
'No. I've been trained, but I haven't done it much.' Ajza felt guilty admitting that, as if she was putting part of the responsibility on him.
'It's no sweat. If you've had training, you know what to do.'
Ajza nodded, realized he might not have seen that response and said, 'Okay.'
'Want me to go through your checklist with you?'
She hesitated.
'Hey,' the guy said, 'I buddy-up every time I jump. I never go through the door without someone else checking me over. I just didn't want to assume and cause hurt feelings before you were out the door.'
'If you don't mind,' Ajza said.
'I don't.' In a quick, concise manner that showed practice and expertise, the man took her through the pre- jump checklist.
'This is a static line jump,' the man said. 'You gotta clear the plane before you pop the chute. The static line will trigger the initial chute release. Make sure it opens. Don't try to see the chute because it's black and you might not see it. Check the stars. We've got a clear night out here. You'll know the chute's open when you feel the tug, and you'll know it's full when you've got a rectangular void of stars over your head. Got it?'
'Got it.'
'Trust the equipment. It works. If the first chute fails out, you've got a second try.'
'Yes.'
The man put his face closer to hers and turned so his features were caught in the brief flicker of the red light. He gave her a reassuring smile. 'It won't fail out. You're going to be fine. I hear it's rough down there, but you're safe until you're on the ground. Copy?'
'Copy.' Ajza pulled her goggles and oxygen mask into place.
