Chapter 60

Maj. Sergei Nickolov came on duty and relieved the almost sleeping private.

“Any action from site “Q” today?” Sergei asked.

“Not of the type we like to watch, a helicopter came and took three of the women away. It landed at a commercial airport.” the private reported.

“Jet setters.” Sergei chuckled, “Which women?” he asked.

“One of the triplets, the last dark haired arrival and the big older blonde.” the private replied.

“Damn, that blonde was one of my favorites. One of the triplets you say? Seems a shame to break up a set like that. Any more action from the man by the mountains?” Sergei asked.

“No, he rode his snow machine out to the road, but then went back.” said the private.

“A joy ride?”

“No, I don’t think so. He seemed to be looking for something. I think the trail from the cowboy and the girl. The cowboy covered his tracks very effectively. Remember how he rode along the side of the road, keeping to the snow bank? Well when the snow plow came by it covered them. A very sly operator, this Cowboy.”

“Sometimes this is more entertaining than American television.” Sergei said, “We could learn much from this Cowboy.”

“I’d like to learn how he attracts such women. Will you record if the girls sunbathe?” asked the private.

“Of course. Now go get some sleep.” Sergei chuckled, turning to the satellite controls.

Since John had bought the silo, the Russians had been keeping an almost constant eye on it. Diverting spy satellite services only when necessary to cover international events.

They had been tipped off to activity at the silo in a most profound manner; an electric arc welder had attracted the attention of —long time— automated detection equipment. All hell had broken loose as the automated equipment sounded a missile launch alert.

After the first panic they were mostly puzzled by the activity, as the silo was listed as out of service. They had previously watched carefully by satellite when the American Air Force packed the missile off and then a lot of equipment. An on-site inspection team had verified it was empty. Now suddenly there was this new construction going on.

By sophisticated spy satellite they watched in amusement as one, very ambitious man had done massive drilling into the silo walls, then mounted steel girders to them. He seemed to be subdividing the silo. Perhaps, they thought he was building a secret Biological lab. They kept it on the passive surveillance list, but it was difficult as they could only observe when the launch roof was rolled back and a viewing window existed for the satellites.

The quantity of items lowered into the silo caused them to put it on the active surveillance list. Government financing was definitely in evidence.

They tapped into two of the road sensors the Americans had installed at the end by the main road. These provided a signal to alert local field operatives of any vehicle movement to or from the site. They were watching when the man had a collision with the girl, taking her back to the silo. Limp as a rag doll as he carried her into the hatchway. Infrared satellite readings indicated that the girl was alive, but cold. Oddly, help didn’t arrive in the form of a helicopter or anything else.

The pair weren’t seen for several days. Then the man and a scantily clad girl had taken a tour around the silo property. Then they re-entered and weren’t seen again for a long time. Taking just one trip to town to pick up supplies and a vehicle more suitable to the terrain. The girl returned to the silo with him.

No sight of them for several months, until the man built the tanning roof. Then surveillance duty became very popular, as the girl sunbathed nude quite often.

By this time, a dossier had been started on John. Open American records had made the task relatively simple. The silo had been purchased by one John Stevens, who until shortly before had been an electronics engineer. His cover story was that he’d hit a lottery. He’d also once worked for a defense contractor, holding a Top Secret clearance. The background cover for him had been a masterwork. Divorced, one child. But he never had any further contact with them after buying the silo. That was a flaw in his cover, the Russians thought.

They didn’t dare try to get close to the silo. Personnel sensors were standard equipment around any such installation. Notified by the satellite team and road sensor taps, operatives shadowed him whenever he went to town for provisions. They observed him purchasing a great deal of electronic equipment. Computers, video equipment and massive quantities of video tape. He was doing something very high tech in the silo, but they didn’t have a clue what.

When the second girl had arrived, she was driven back to the silo by a long clandestine route. The surveillance duty became even more popular when they both began to nude sunbathe. Then came the lovemaking episodes.

As decadent and perverted as their commanders thought these acts, they allowed the satellite observations to continue, because it was very good for morale. (and of course, they had their own copies of many activities tapes.)

Suspicion was raised even higher when a U.S. government agency had suddenly called off their own feeble investigation into activities at the silo. Now they gave it a wide berth.

The recent arrival of four more women, seemingly out of nowhere. A special flight flew into the silo carrying a woman to prepare for them a week beforehand. This brought the personnel count up to seven women in the silo with the return of Cowboy from New York.

The private had reported the helicopter ride to his superiors. When the destination was computed from flight path, an operative was at the airport to observe the girls transfer to the San Francisco flight. At SFO another picked up the tail.

A computer mole infiltrated the airline computer and determined identities for the women.

San Francisco seemed to be a contact point. As Cowboy had made a week long visit, making contact with the blonde woman. The tailing operative had wisely not entered the all woman bar. But had been close by when the outside contact had been made.

Whatever doubt Russia may have had about John being a highly trained operative, dissipated when they observed the confrontation with the man up the canyon. That episode had earned him the nickname Cowboy, adopted now as his official designation.

Another piece of the puzzle was the woman in New York. Operatives found her as suspiciously clean as John. Whatever they were up to, they were assembling a large group of supposedly non-connected operatives. Mostly, beautiful women. An operative in New York was assigned to observe Sally’s activities.

Sophisticated exercise and weight training equipment hauled into the silo indicated intensive physical training. All personnel in the silo kept themselves in excellent physical condition. It was theorized that the silo was a training center for operatives. Cowboy seemed to recruit or contact new members by seducing them. This puzzled the Russian’s, as the women appeared to be openly lesbian. Or were the sessions in the solarium training sessions? Cowboy was certainly aware of these sessions, participating himself quite often.

The gardening activity was thought to be a cover ploy, but may have been an early effort to make the silo self sufficient. The arrival of hydroponics tanks and equipment seemed to support this theory. Whatever the reason, the summer growing season had been a popular distraction for the men at the satellite facility. When the two girls worked in the garden, they wore very little, when they sunbathed in the solarium, nothing at all...

Currently, the project employed three full time field operatives, two of which were based in the next town. One followed outgoing subjects, the other researched whatever local information was available while the subjects were at the silo. If the subject traveled to most any large U.S. city, operatives there could be pressed into service. Presently, their video tape library of silo activities rivaled John’s.

When Sally enrolled in a Karate school, this was reported up the line. Little did they know that it was initiated because Sally was a little worried about the creepy little jerk who seemed at times to be stalking her. He never tried to make contact, but she spotted him way too often.

Sally stopped by the diner after work, as she did quite often. She’d was becoming fast friends with Jean, the waitress from the first evening. They’d even gone out on the town together, a couple of times.

Sally sat in her favorite booth, the one she’d shared with John that first night. She could imagine John sitting on the opposite side. Somehow she felt comforted by this. Jean brought her a cup of coffee. Sally seemed distracted.

“What’s up? You seem kind of down.” Jean said.

Sally told her about the jerk who was following her.

“I don’t know why he’s doing it! I’m certain I’ve never met him before.” Sally told her.

“He may have just picked you from that gorgeous hair and body. I’d likely follow you myself if you didn’t come around.” Jean said.

Sally looked at her curiously. Was Jean interested in her that way? The thought somehow pleased her. Lately she’d been thinking about her previous episode back home. John’s seeming interest in bisexual women spurred her to re-investigate her own feelings about it. She’d had to admit that she had enjoyed her episode, even if she’d been too scared to reciprocate. Now she looked at Jean with thoughts of remedying that. She felt herself flush.

“You okay?” Jean asked, “You look a little flushed.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I got an E-mail letter from John. I was just thinking about it.” Sally covered.

“So what’s he say?” Jean asked.

“Get this; he’s got four more women in his life!” Sally chuckled.

“No! What’s he trying to do, kill himself? He damn near did with you before he left. Maybe he found the other two or three lacking after that.” Jean chuckled.

“He found them out in a blizzard. Saved their lives. They seem to be very grateful about it. And get this; three of them are triplets!” Sally said.

“Triplets! No shit? ... he doesn’t really sound like a man who doesn’t want to complicate his life like he told you.” Jean said.

“No, he doesn’t.” Sally said, a little dejected, “But I believe John would try to help anybody who needed it. He’s just that way.” Sally said.

“Kind of fell pretty hard for the guy, didn’t you?” Jean said, placing her hand over Sally’s and squeezing it.

The touch was warm and sensual to Sally.

“He’s kind of a hard act to follow, you know.” Sally said.

“I know. He sure put me in my place, but in a nice manner. Didn’t use any profanity, he just told it like it was.” Jean said, looking distant.

“I know, that’s John ... Damn, this creep’s giving me the willies.” Sally said, shivering slightly.

“Like some company? I’m off for the whole weekend.” Jean said.

“Yes, I think I’d like that.” Sally said, squeezing back at Jean’s hand, still warm in hers.

The operative followed the two women back to Sally’s apartment. They made two stops; one at Jean’s for a small overnight bag and another to pick up a couple of bottles of wine. The operative sighed and logged the time. He made his way to his own sparse quarters within view of Sally’s apartment building.

Jean was favorably impressed with Sally’s apartment. Sally showing her around and telling her all about each item and her arguing with John about purchasing a cheaper one. They sipped wine as the tour progressed.

“He certainly didn’t scrimp on anything. That bed is incredible.” Jean said, longingly.

“No, he didn’t. And he damn sure didn’t do it to get laid. I had to damn near rape him.” Sally said.

“I believed him when he told me that wasn’t his motivation. Seeing this confirms it. I can’t imagine anybody fighting you off.” Jean said.

Sally blushed.

“He did. And believe me, I tried my hardest.” Sally said.

Sally showed Jean her computer set up. Letting Jean read her treasured E-mail from John.

“My, he certainly doesn’t mince words. This is getting me hot!” Jean said.

Sally chuckled.

“Made me hot too. There’s pictures too.” she said, calling up the files John had attached to his letter.

“Good god! Those women are gorgeous. Every one of them. The triplets are a little young, but most certainly alluring.” Jean said, hoarsely. Flushing red.

“They affected me the same way.” Sally said, “Made me feel both hot and insignificant in his life.”

“Insignificant? Why?” Jean asked, still flushed.

“What chance do I have against that?” Sally asked.

“Why, every chance in the world. I don’t know if you realize just how gorgeous you are.” Jean said.

“You’ve been reminding me of it quite often, lately.” Sally said, snickering.

“I’m sorry ... I don’t mean to be too forward. I mostly value your friendship ... but I have to admit, in all honesty that I do find you ... disturbingly attractive.” Jean admitted, softly.

“That’s okay. I understand.” Sally said.

She told Jean about her aborted affair with the girl back home. Jean told Sally about her life after her divorce.

“I had a neighbor who was openly gay. I knew it, but she was a pretty good friend. When my husband and I broke up, she let me cry on her shoulder. I was pretty fragile. One thing led to another and next thing I knew I was crying on her breasts. She was so tender and soft, not at all like my husband.” Jean said.

“I was just too young to understand. I got scared. Now I kind of wished I hadn’t.” Sally admitted.

The two women looked at each other a moment.

“Well, I guess I’d better sleep on the sofa.” Jean said.

“Oh, there’s no need for that. I think I’ve got room enough in that bed for two.” Sally said.

Jean looked at the floor a moment.

“I think that would be kind of like asking the lioness to watch the cute baby antelopes for a while.” Jean said.

“That’s kind of what I had in mind.” Sally admitted.

Jean looked up at her in surprise. Sally smiled invitingly.

“Sally, I don’t want to mess up our friendship.” Jean said.

“I don’t think there’s any danger of that. I know what I’m doing. If I don’t like it, well, I promise we’ll still be good friends. I value your friendship too. But it’s pretty lonely in that bed. And I want to know for myself just what I missed before. I don’t want to let another chance at something special slip by. Please?” Sally said.

Jean moved to her. Her lips were warm and full. Her tongue was soft and pleasing. Sally melted at her first touch. Then she led her new friend into the bedroom.

This time she didn’t balk at returning the love she felt. She was a little nervous, but Jean was patient. Over the next two days she would teach her very well.

Later that night they lay softly caressing each other.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Jean said, kissing a nipple.

“Mmmm ... Just wondering if I would have had a better chance of holding John if I’d known the softer side you just taught me.” Sally said, dreamily.

“You going to tell him about us?” Jean asked.

“Not if you don’t want me to. But I don’t think he’d mind. He’s the only one I would care to tell, really.” Sally said, caressing one of Jean’s firm breasts.

“I don’t mind. I think he’s one of the few men in the world who would understand ... In fact ... Can you send pictures back to him?” Jean asked.

Sally nodded.” Yeah, he outfitted me pretty well. I’ve got a nice flatbed scanner I can use for my outgoing faxes. Why?”

“Oh ... I was just thinking it would be fun sending him some photo’s of us, together.” Jean giggled.

“Yeah, that would be fun, but I don’t have a camera. And we’d have to send the film in to be processed. I’m not wild about that.” Sally said.

Jean smiled and dug into her overnight bag, producing an instant camera. Sally chuckled and nodded.

They posed for each other, and then together several times as Jean set the camera’s timer. Then Sally moved to the computer and scanned the scandalous pictures. She wrote up an E-mail reply to John’s letter, telling him all about her new found friend and skills. In passing she mentioned her stalker. Then she attached the photo files and sent it. Jean watched in awe of the marvelous modern technology at work.

She kissed Sally softly on the neck and the technology was forgotten. They moved back to the bedroom arm in arm. Later they softly caressed each other to sleep. Sally slept much better than she had been.

One of the most common things that intelligence officers do, is watch other intelligence officers. The American was highly amused at the Russians’ incompetence. He was being way too obvious in his surveillance of the young redhead.

The big question for the American, was why watch her at all? The girl, while stunning, seemed to be Lilly clean. Perhaps too clean? He filled out his report and sent it up the line. Noting the addition of the blonde from the diner.

So far the Russian had concentrated upon a wealthy single man and the redhead. The single man hadn’t been hard to trace from his copious credit card usage; John Stevens. Current residence ... an old missile silo out in the desert. Previous history; NATO COSMIC endorsement on TOP SECRET clearance for a defense contractor!

Perhaps the Russians were just fishing ... but that didn’t make sense. Stevens was well separated from current state of the art. While some of the systems he’d worked on were still in usage, information about their capabilities was probably well known by now. Stevens had made no attempt to contact the clumsy Russian at all. Seeming to be unaware of his shadow.

He’d seemingly met the redhead on the street and done her a good turn ... too good. Although when he’d left it appeared that she’d been quite adequately grateful. Perhaps she was an intermediary contact with the Russian. That was for bigger brains to decide. The intelligence officer just did his job.

A day or two later, in San Francisco, another similar officer was doing his job. Tailing the Russian who was tailing the girls as Sheila took them on a sightseeing tour. Both men were now on the Red & White bay cruise with them, watching as Alice fed her cocktail crackers from the wharf to seagulls slip streaming the boat. Sheila showed her how to hold her arm up off the side and a seagull would swoop in and take it right out of her fingers. Alice laughed in delight and hugged Sheila.

Candice was slightly more reserved, but Sheila had each of them pose for photo’s, feeding the seagulls and then side by side. The American officer took the opportunity to snap his own photo’s of the trio. To his amusement, Sheila asked him if he’d mind taking her camera and taking a few shots of the three of them. He nodded and complied. Worrying slightly about the attention that Sheila brought to him from the Russian. He’d have to swap off with another officer for any further surveillance. Afterwards, he made his way down to the bar. The Russian torn between following him and watching the girls. As there were a group of people also near by watching them, the Russian chose the latter.

The American pulled out his cellular and made a quick call. A second agent would pick up the tail when they docked. The American sighed. He would have loved to continue his proxied tail of the girls. They were absolutely gorgeous ... if leaning more than just a bit towards each other. That was a common sight around this city.

He took his drink back on deck. Standing at the railing on the other end of the boat. He casually spilled the contents a little at a time overboard. Appearing to drink it. The Russian would glance at him from time to time, but eventually he was forgotten. Especially when he obviously went his separate way when they docked.

A second agent, looking like an average tourist picked up the tail. He had a marvelous time as the girls led him - by way of the Russian- to China town and then to the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. A third agent observed them finish up at Aliotto’s restaurant on the wharf, just as the sun went down and the harbor lights began to twinkle.

It was fun to watch. Sheila got the girls to try escargot. Once the girls got over their squeamishness and saw Sheila’s eyes roll as she savored hers, they quickly warmed to them, rolling their own eyes. Sheila ordered a fine wine with dinner. Alice didn’t understand why she couldn’t drink with the other women. Sheila told her it was against the law, but slipped some white wine into the girls water glass. Under the table they all held hands and copped feels.

After dinner they took a stroll down the wharf, one of Sheila’s arms around each of them. Obviously enamored with each other. If it hadn’t been for the occasional slip of a hand over an ass cheek, they could have passed for a close family. Their dual tail followed them back to Sheila’s apartment. The Russian called it a night, calling in his replacement. A less experienced embassy aid to keep watch for the night. The American filed his report.

Eventually his report would make it to the same desk as the agents from New York’s. One man oversaw much of the counter intelligence activity within the country. But this didn’t happen right away. First the reports were cross checked against known activity at the local level. Once Sheila’s identity was known, a check of incoming flights revealed her starting point. No information at all was found about the girls. This fact raised a large red flag by itself.

A check on Sheila found her to be an outstandingly qualified financial consultant. When she went into the office for a short time the next day, her current employment was verified. But when a clandestine attempt to retain her services was made, the agent was informed that she was accepting no new clients, as she was accepting a position as CEO of a new corporation. This corporation was being set up by a law firm in town. The law firm represented a Mr. John Stevens. A quick check on him revealed his background. This was also sent up with the report.

In a dingy government office connected with DISCO - Defense Industry Security Control Organization-, a computer flag went up because of multiple requests for information concerning a Mr. John Stevens; status, inactive. This report went up to the counter intelligence coordinator’s office.

Now three reports with John’s name on them were on their way to the office from three different locations. They sat in three different In baskets for a few days, and were then forwarded.

Over dinner, the two triplets were kind of quiet and pensive.

“What’s up, darlings. You seem kind of quiet tonight.” Cindy asked.

They shared a look and Andrea answered: “Oh, just kind of worried about Alice ... it’s probably nothing though. She’s having a great time.”

“What’s probably nothing?” John asked.

Amy answered: “Well, it feels like ... someone’s watching her.”

“I’ll bet. I’ll bet it’s Sheila too.” Theresa giggled.

“No, a stranger.” Andrea said.

“Really? You sure?” John asked, becoming concerned.

“Well, no. It’s just a feeling.” Amy said.

“Of course ... but your feelings are very special. Maybe I’ll just give them a call after dinner.” John said.

This cheered the girls up a little bit, but they still seemed pensive.

“Do you think she’s in any danger?” Cindy asked.

“Well, no. I don’t feel that. He’s just watching her.” Andrea said.

“He?” asked John.

Amy nodded; “actually it feels like two of them ... but it feels like one is watching the other more than Alice...”

Andrea nodded.

“Two of them ... how do you mean watching the other?” John asked.

“I don’t know. What I mean is that it feels like one man is watching the man watching Alice. It’s hard to explain.” Andrea said.

“Well, let me know if you sense any danger. I think I’ll call Sheila now.” John said, standing up from the table.

He went to the Com room. While he’d strung a phone line into the kitchen, they seldom used it. Not wishing a phone to intrude upon their socializing in the kitchen. An empty jack there got used mostly for laptop work. The only other line he’d run out of the Com room, was the one to the guest room for Sheila’s lap top. He’d also strung an outlet down into the master bedroom.

He dialed Sheila’s number. He got her voice mail. He left a message to call him the minute they came in. Next her tried her Cellular number. It reported itself off and again checked him to her voice mail. He repeated the message in case it were two different services.

Then he sat back to wait. Just to pass the time he checked his E-mail. A letter from Sally, several days old. He chuckled as he read it. Then called in the photo’s.

“Oh my!” he said to himself.

“Oh my what? Who’s that? Oh my, is right!” Cindy said, bending over his shoulder.

“That, my little darling, is Sally. Your New York nemesis. The other one, the blonde is the waitress from the dinner where we ate the first night. Seems like they have quite a cozy friendship going. I didn’t recall the waitress being that pretty though.” John answered.

“She’s pretty alright. But if that’s Sally I’m glad she stayed in New York. She’s gorgeous! I can see why you were inclined to Olympic feats.” Cindy chuckled.

John nodded.

“What’s she say?” Cindy asked.

“She says that work is going very well. The manager seems thrilled with her progress. She misses me. Jean, the blonde, and her have been friendly since I left. They happened to get together last Friday night. Jean offered to keep her company ... cause Sally was a little nervous about a stalker...” John trailed off.

“What?” Cindy asked.

“I don’t know ... maybe it’s just coincidence. Lots of weird people out there. I don’t see how they could possibly be connected.” John said.

“Both what?” Cindy asked, not understanding.

“Both stalkers. Sally’s in New York and Alice’s in San Francisco.” John said, reaching for the phone.

“That’s a long way between them.” Cindy admitted.

John called up a number from his directory and dialed Sally’s apartment.

“This better be good.” a sleepy voice answered.

“Will I do?” John asked.

“John?” a slightly friendlier but still sleepy voice asked.

“Hi pumpkin, sorry, I forgot about the time zone thing. It must be ... god two A.M. there. And you’ve got to work tomorrow.” John said.

“No, that’s fine. Anytime you want to call me is just fine. What’s up? As if I didn’t know.” Sally chuckled.

“Cindy and I were just looking at your pictures. She says she’s glad you stayed in New York or she wouldn’t get any loving.” John chuckled.

“Did she now? Well tell her that since I saw her photo, I’ve been practicing up my woman skills. I’m after her next.” Sally chuckled.

John relayed the message. Cindy grinned broadly. “Tell her anytime.”

“She says anytime and she looks very hungry, but we just had dinner ... Uh, listen, Sally. Tell me about your stalker.” John said.

A moments silence.

“Well, I don’t know. He’s the damn strangest stalker I ever heard of. He doesn’t want to make eye contact. He’s made no attempt to talk to me at all. He just seems to follow me and watch everywhere I go. He’s getting on my nerves, but Jean’s doing a good job of calming them. She’s staying with me for a while just in case he decides to get frisky.” Sally said.

“Good. I’m glad she’s there. He just follows you and watches you, though?” John asked.

“Yeah, real weird.” she said.

“Could he be a cop?” John asked.

“I don’t think so. He sure doesn’t act like one. Too timid.” Sally said.

“Okay, pumpkin. I’ll let you get back to snuggling to Jean. Just keep an eye on the guy. I’ll call you in a few days. Call me before that if he changes his behavior.” John said.

“John, what’s this about?” she asked, concerned.

“Probably nothing. You know how I wrote you that the triplets seemed telepathic or psychic? Well one of them is in San Francisco with Sheila. Tonight the other two said they thought someone was watching her. I’ve got a call into her now. But it’s probably just coincidence if anything at all.” John explained.

“Could the cops be watching you?” Sally asked.

“I don’t think so. I’ve done nothing overtly obvious to the casual observer. You usually have to be pretty stupid to draw their attention. Besides which, you’re legal. They have no reason to be watching you. Maybe the guy just thinks you’re cute. I can’t fault him for that. But I feel better that Jean’s there with you.” John said.

“Okay, let me know what Sheila says ... God I miss you. I love you.” Sally said.