Black Vault by Alma Katsu EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author:Alma Katsu
- Language: English
- Genre:Single Authors Short Stories
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
2006
he wind is sweeter on the steppe.
It is one of the reasons Craig Norton has come to appreciate his
assignment in Mongolia. Some of his fellow CIA officers pitch a fit
if they draw a posting here, complaining that the country is dirty and
primitive and chaotic. Craig prefers to think of it as unspoiled—for now.
Since the boom in industrialization, smoke from thousands of additional
coal stoves dirties its pure, sweet air and clouds its endless clear skies.
Soon, it will be as polluted as San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, or
Beijing. But for now, the skies are clear.
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That night—the one Craig will never forget—is that fairy-tale shade of
cerulean kissed by the last pinks and golds of sunset. Not a cloud to mar the
glorious spectrum of hues. And broad: the Mongolian steppes have the
biggest skies on earth. Beneath lies an undulating field of gold, grasses
bobbing and bowing on the wind. There isn’t even a trail zigzagging
through the grass to mar the scene. That is what Craig likes most about this
posting: you can pretend there isn’t another soul around for miles.
Other than the pristine landscape, however, Mongolia has been a bust.
Craig only agreed to the posting because it meant he could continue to meet
his Russian asset, who had been abruptly assigned to the consulate in
Ulaanbaatar. His supervisor wanted to hand the asset off to an officer in
Ulaanbaatar, but Craig insisted he stay with him. No one else had faith in
this asset, it seemed. Only Craig saw his potential.
But Craig’s superiors had started to doubt his judgment.
The new assignment meant moving into the territory of China
Division, however, which made Craig nervous. He has worked his whole
CIA career in Russia Division. Now he is an outsider, and the old
mandarins in China Division are protective. Territorial, some might say.
They are rumored to make life for outsiders near impossible, which he has
experienced for himself now in countless petty little ways.
Too, his wife, Lisa, hates it. The Seven Years in Tibet charm wore off
after a few months of intermittent electricity ruining pricey electronics and
picking up that night’s lamb chops from the butcher’s outdoor stall. She’s
threatened to move back to the States, which would leave Craig on his own
for the first time since college.
He leans against his car and draws on his cigarette. He knows he
shouldn’t smoke, but he’s cocky—too cocky, if you listen to his wife or just
about every Chief of Station he’s ever worked for. He needs the outlet for
his nerves. There’s plenty of time for his lungs to heal.
There are some mistakes you can’t recover from, but this isn’t one of
them.
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