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| - Interrogator woke, sore all over. The first thing he noticed was that there was no howling wind. The second was how warm it was. He tried to sit up slowly, opening his eyes. He looked around at the sterile, white room, and thought to himself, "This appears to be a hospital, which is much better than the Siberian prison I expected to wake up in!" He leaned back, trying to get comfortable, and hit the nurse call button. "At least I am not restrained," Interrogator thought. He looked around the room as he waited for the nurse, noticing his bags were piled in a corner but his weapons were no where in sight. It was clean, and he wasn't hooked to any machines. Interrogator thought, "Serji must have packed my things for me." He looked out the window. The first thing he noticed was a palm tree with several colorful birds perched in it. A slightly older, but well-maintained limo drove down the narrow, dusty street. He did a double take when he noticed the Cuban flag prominently displayed on it. He heard a woman clear her throat and slowly turned to face the door. The nurse was heavy set, with dark eyes and hair. She smiled nervously and said something in Spanish. He carefully shook his head and asked, "Do you speak Russian?" "Yes," The nurse replied in Russian. “Where am I,” he sighed quietly? “Havana, Cuba.” Interrogator nodded. She handed him a letter sized manila envelope. He broke the seal on the envelope and read the coded letter. It read: Interrogator, You have been sent to Cuba as punishment for displeasing the High General. You are to be restricted from flying and assigned to assis Cuba's High Warden. Be careful, he is extremely paranoid about losing his position to someone younger. I will try to get you restationed as my aide, but dare not risk it now. Your Comrade. Serji “Politics, as usual,” Interrogator snorted to himself. The rest of the papers in the envelope were his military record and medical record, as well as his orders. He finished reading his orders and put the papers back in the envelope. He laid the envelope on the nightstand. “Will you be checking out now?” Asked the nurse. “Yes, unless there is any reason for me to stay?” “No. I will get your weapons and meet you at the desk. Will you need anything else?” “Yes, a ride to my quarters.” The nurse called to two orderlies, who grabbed Interrogator's bags and left. Interrogator picked up the envelope and followed the nurse to the front, where he got his weapons and put on his weapon harness. "I feel better with them on," he though. "I would feel better if I was in Moscow by Serji's side." He checked himself out and got in the waiting jeep, which took him to the drab prison. Interrogator entered the staff quarters and found his room, the driver following with his bags. He picked up the room key and placed it in one of his belt pouches. The driver put the bags in a corner of the room. Interrogator said, "Thank you." The driver gave him a blank look, then smiled and left. Interrogator looked around the plain room. There was a bed, nightstand, dresser, desk and chair, a battered couch, and a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and bath tub. He sighed and began unpacking. "Better than being on the other side of the bars," he thought. He finished unpacking and set up his room. He left, locking the door behind him. He first went to the bank and made sure he could make withdrawls. After exchanging his Rubles he wandered around the markets. "I have less than twenty four hours before I must report in, so I will see the sights," Interrogator thought. Taking a bus to Havana's busy port, he noticed a sailor with a Siamese cat. Curious, he stopped to watch them. The cat was not restrained in any way, yet showed no signs of wanting to leave its master's side. Interrogator approached the sailor. "Hola, Senor," said the sailor. "Hello," said interrogator in Russian. The sailor stared at him blankly for a moment and then replied quietly in broken Russian, "Hello, would you like to buy my cat? He is well trained, like a dog." "Interesting," Interrogator said, thinking to himself, "It would be nice to have a companion while I am away from Russia." The sailor looked at Interrogator hopefully, and said desperately, "Please, I need the money to pay off gambling debts! The cat comes from a well respected family in Thailand who specialize in training these cats. He can even attack!" Interrogator thought, "It would be useful to have some form of backup." "Let me see him perform," Interrogator said to the sailor. "I want to be sure he is well trained." The sailor obliged and put the cat through his paces. Satisfied the cat was trained, he began to haggle with the sailor. Soon, interrogator walked away, the cat at his heels. "I will name him 'Killer'," thought Interrogator. The next day, Interrogator entered the staff mess hall, filled his thermos with coffee and took a seat by himself. Soon, the Cuban Head Warden and his staff entered, eyeing the newcomer nervously. "Greetings," Interrogator's new commanding officer said to him in heavily Cuban accented Russian. Interrogator rose and saluted, responding with his own greeting. "You are not to fly. You are to obey my every command. If you try to take my place, I will have you killed," the High Warden said bluntly. "You have no friends in Moscow able to help you now." The Head Warden motioned to an aide and said in Russian, “This is Raul, he will be your aide and translator. If you need anything, he is in the room to the right of yours.” “Thank you, Head Warden," Interrogator responded politely as Killer's tail twitched. “Have you gotten settled?” “Yes, sir.” “Good.” After they finished their meal, Interrogator left the mess hall with Raul. "I do not believe I will be able to go without flying for an indefinate period of time, but I do not want to risk disobeying," thought Interrogator sadly. ... Interrogator sighed as his replacement came to take over. It had been a long day. As Raul shadowed him to his room, Interrogator sighed. "Raul barely lets me go to the restroom by myself, and he watches my door as I rest," Interrogator thought wryly. Interrogator noticed the window was open when he entered the room, Raul taking a guarding stance outside the door. "I thought I shut that," Interrogator said to himself, as he noticed a note on the table. Curious, he picked up the note and read it. It was written in poor Russian and read: We should talk about flight restriction. Climb out window and meet at Havana helipad 26. Signed, Friend "It would not hurt to discuss this with whomever left this note here," Interrogator thought as he picked up Killer and climbed out the window. He slipped over a low wall and ducked to avoid Raul's watchful eye. Following the wall, Interrogator slipped into a crowd of passerbys, keeping an eye on Raul. Raul never stopped looking at the door. "I am free of that spy," thought Interrogator smugly as he climbed aboard the bus to the helipad. At the helipad, Interrogator went to the appointed meeting place. There was a young man in a Cuban military uniform waiting for him. "Hello, Interrogator," said the uniformed man in Russian. "I am Sgt. Perez. I represent someone who would like to offer you a deal. You may fly this helicopter as often as you can sneak away from Raul in exchange for giving me details about the High Warden's activities." Interrogator thought to himself, "I should not agree to this, but I need to fly. Without that, this place is a prison to me. I do not care if this man or the one he represents means the High Warden harm, I must be able to fly!" Out loud he said, "Agreed." Sgt. perez handed him the keys to the helicopter and Interrogator entered the cockpit with a happy sigh. He began the preflight ritual and was soon soaring over the island. Interrogator reported to Sgt Perez as often as he could escape Raul. After a few months, Interrogator was summoned to the High Warden's office. Interrogator entered the office and saluted, noticing the blood on the floor of the office. The High Warden smiled. "Let's take a walk," the High Warden said, still smiling. "I do not like that smile," Interrogator thought to himself as the man lead him deep into the prison. They stopped before one of the cells. Inside it was the bloodied Sgt. Perez! The High Warden hissed, "You have been conspiring with my enemies! You have also disobeyed my orders about flying. I said I would kill you for that, but I found a more suitable punishment. A dictator in Africa needs a head of security, and as he is Communist, he has asked for a Russian trained one. I volunteered you to fill that position. If the heat does not kill you, the rebels or disease will!" "You have an hour to pack and be on the plane!" Inside his helmet, Interrogator rolled his eyes, “Yes, sir.” Interrogator strode out of the jail to pack. He had not acquired much during his stay, so it all fit into the bags he had brought with. He was on the small plane to Africa with his cat, Killer, in tow within half an hour. "Africa," thought Interrogator distastefully.
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