Allegiance Burned: A Jackson Quick Adventure by Tom Abrahams

Author:Tom Abrahams [Abrahams, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2015-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

***

“This is it?” Bella cranes her neck to read the sign above the cracked, peeling yellow wooden door. “This is where your guy works?”

“Did you expect the Ritz?” The sign reads Американська краса.

“What does that say?” she mouths the word phonetically. “Ah-me-pu-ka….”

“American Beauty.”

“Like the movie Alan Ball directed,” she says.

“Alan Ball wrote the screenplay,” I correct her. “Sam Mendes directed.”

“Whatever.” She tries the handle on the door. It’s locked.

“Push the button on the right,” I tell her. She presses it and there’s a high-pitched tone.

“Jackson Quick?” The voice sounds like its coming from the bottom of an empty oil drum.

“Yes,” I say it louder than I probably should. “It’s my guest and me.”

“Wait for the buzz,” he says and there’s a loud magnetic hum.

The surprisingly heavy door clicks open and I swing it wide past Bella. She steps inside and I follow her into a dark hallway. When my eyes adjust, I remember where I am.

We’re standing in a narrow corridor, its plaster walls peeling off their pale green paint. Flecks of the paint decorate the concrete floor like confetti, especially where it meets the walls. Above us, there’s a caged light dangling from a thick electrical cord that disappears into the asbestos ceiling.

On the wall to our right is a large framed black and white photograph of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. He’s wearing a spacesuit, a white helmet emblazoned with ‘CCCP’ above the visor, his face expressionless.

It seems so random in this space, the only photograph on the walls of the hallway. It’s without context, without reference. It’s very Ukrainian, though Gagarin was Russian.

We walk past the photograph in its gilded silver frame to the end of the corridor and a single door. On the door, there is the same red, white, and blue sign we saw outside, Американська краса. Before either of us can knock, the door opens, the sign flapping against it, and Wolodymyr emerges into the hall.

“Jackson Quick!” His arms are open, ready for the traditional hug as he wraps me into a bear hug. “Good to see you, my American friend.”

“Good to see you too!” I slap him on the back in the most masculine way possible. “Thanks so much for helping us out.”

“Is this the friend?” His arms open for Bella. She offers her hand, and he quickly adjusts to shake it. “A pleasure to meet you, friend. Come in, come in.” He ushers us into his office.

“What’s with the Gagarin photo?” I ask as Wolodymyr bolts the door behind us. “I don’t remember seeing it the last time I was here.”

“Oh,” he laughs, “it is signal for business partners. If Yuri is on wall, how you say, ‘Coast is clear.’” He smiles and waves his hand like a baseball umpire signaling a baserunner is safe.

Bella’s standing in the corner near the door, not comfortable enough to step farther into the large euro-modern office.

“Laika the dog.”

“A dog?”

“Laika was the first animal in space,” I explain. “She was a stray.”

“From Moscow,” Wolodymyr adds.

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