Hirgizstan
25-01-2008, 14:24
Oslo, Norway
Patrick King knew everything there was to know about Russia. He knew the land, the Government and the people. He spoke Russian and studied their culture. But he had never set foot in the country he was an expert on.
This often troubled him. He knew everything about a place he'd never really seen and a people he'd never engaged. The closest he had ever gotten to Russia was the yearly Naval Reserve training fortnight. Several years ago they had ventured up as far as Alaska and had seen parts of the land he was so concerned with. But that was it. In the Naval Intelligence Service (NIS) he'd seen photographs and satellite videos of the place. But he'd never walked on the earth, smelt the air nor listened to the multitudes talking in their language.
With the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) he was doing pretty much the same stuff as he had done in the NIS, with one major difference. He had been trained as an NIA field agent and he, quite a while ago now, had become involved in a back-channel dialogue with his opposite number in Oslo, an FSB Agent named Andrei Rostov.
Despite the fact that more often than not the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Hirgizstan were at loggerheads, the two men had remained good friends from the day they had catiously made contact in a crowded Oslo train station. It had been a tense meeting and for quite a while the two men didn't communicate fluidly. But Rostov and King had a lot in common.
Both were Agents of national intelligence agencies with similar missions and goals. Rostov was one of the FSB's leading Hirgizstan experts, while King was one of the NIA's leading Russian experts. Both had never even visited the countries that occupied so much of their time. Meeting each other had been quite a positive thing as they both learned language and culture from each other. They often wondered if their two respective countries would ever be on such good terms as they.
The two men had often ruminated over such complexities in their seemingly endless dialogue, usually conducted outside at a variety of Oslo's busy public places. The same thing happend in other capital cities around the world, COH Agents meeting with Russian ones in any place that had a Russian Embassy and a Hirgizstanian one. It had to be this way, as Russians were not allowed in Hirgizstan and vice versa.
Today would be no different in organization. They were meeting for the first time this week, at the Oslo Zoo. They had met here several times before and depending on who called the meet they would either arrive at the Bear enclosure of the Wolf enclosure to make contact, as a nod to the respective national animals of their countries.
But today it was particularly cold and they decided to meet in the restaurant. King was there first, as usual. He picked a seat along the windows that looked down onto the vast wildfowl ponds. He was wearing a long navy trench-coat and had on a jumper and a thermal undershirt. In all his years in Oslo he'd never really gotten used to the dry, icy cold winters. They were bitter, especially someone used to fairly changeable weather in his native Oregon. At the zoo he often wondered how the lions and other exotic animals felt about being deprived of the same heat he himself missed.
King was still unsure how Andrei would react to the news. From what he'd heard in the past few weeks and days, Andrei would probably know already that Hirgizstan and Russia were essentially ready to bury the hatchet. The arguments for engagement had always been there, why they had decided to act on them now and not ten years ago would probably always remain a mystery. But the fact was it was happening. King didn't know what to think of it. Perhaps it was too early to make anything of it. The only thing he was happy about was the fact he would probably get a chance to be on the staff at the new Hirgizstanian embassy in Russia. Andrei would, in turn, probably get to become part of the staff at the new Russian embassy in Hirgizstan. They would both, finally, work in the countries they had studied for the past several years. It would probably mean the end of their friendship but such was the way of progress. New things begin, old things end
King felt a gust of cold wind on his face and he looked up from his coffee to see Andrei walk into the restaurant. He nodded to King and ordered himself a coffee before sitting down across from him.
"My friend.
How have you been?
Patrick King knew everything there was to know about Russia. He knew the land, the Government and the people. He spoke Russian and studied their culture. But he had never set foot in the country he was an expert on.
This often troubled him. He knew everything about a place he'd never really seen and a people he'd never engaged. The closest he had ever gotten to Russia was the yearly Naval Reserve training fortnight. Several years ago they had ventured up as far as Alaska and had seen parts of the land he was so concerned with. But that was it. In the Naval Intelligence Service (NIS) he'd seen photographs and satellite videos of the place. But he'd never walked on the earth, smelt the air nor listened to the multitudes talking in their language.
With the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) he was doing pretty much the same stuff as he had done in the NIS, with one major difference. He had been trained as an NIA field agent and he, quite a while ago now, had become involved in a back-channel dialogue with his opposite number in Oslo, an FSB Agent named Andrei Rostov.
Despite the fact that more often than not the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Hirgizstan were at loggerheads, the two men had remained good friends from the day they had catiously made contact in a crowded Oslo train station. It had been a tense meeting and for quite a while the two men didn't communicate fluidly. But Rostov and King had a lot in common.
Both were Agents of national intelligence agencies with similar missions and goals. Rostov was one of the FSB's leading Hirgizstan experts, while King was one of the NIA's leading Russian experts. Both had never even visited the countries that occupied so much of their time. Meeting each other had been quite a positive thing as they both learned language and culture from each other. They often wondered if their two respective countries would ever be on such good terms as they.
The two men had often ruminated over such complexities in their seemingly endless dialogue, usually conducted outside at a variety of Oslo's busy public places. The same thing happend in other capital cities around the world, COH Agents meeting with Russian ones in any place that had a Russian Embassy and a Hirgizstanian one. It had to be this way, as Russians were not allowed in Hirgizstan and vice versa.
Today would be no different in organization. They were meeting for the first time this week, at the Oslo Zoo. They had met here several times before and depending on who called the meet they would either arrive at the Bear enclosure of the Wolf enclosure to make contact, as a nod to the respective national animals of their countries.
But today it was particularly cold and they decided to meet in the restaurant. King was there first, as usual. He picked a seat along the windows that looked down onto the vast wildfowl ponds. He was wearing a long navy trench-coat and had on a jumper and a thermal undershirt. In all his years in Oslo he'd never really gotten used to the dry, icy cold winters. They were bitter, especially someone used to fairly changeable weather in his native Oregon. At the zoo he often wondered how the lions and other exotic animals felt about being deprived of the same heat he himself missed.
King was still unsure how Andrei would react to the news. From what he'd heard in the past few weeks and days, Andrei would probably know already that Hirgizstan and Russia were essentially ready to bury the hatchet. The arguments for engagement had always been there, why they had decided to act on them now and not ten years ago would probably always remain a mystery. But the fact was it was happening. King didn't know what to think of it. Perhaps it was too early to make anything of it. The only thing he was happy about was the fact he would probably get a chance to be on the staff at the new Hirgizstanian embassy in Russia. Andrei would, in turn, probably get to become part of the staff at the new Russian embassy in Hirgizstan. They would both, finally, work in the countries they had studied for the past several years. It would probably mean the end of their friendship but such was the way of progress. New things begin, old things end
King felt a gust of cold wind on his face and he looked up from his coffee to see Andrei walk into the restaurant. He nodded to King and ordered himself a coffee before sitting down across from him.
"My friend.
How have you been?