Chapter-14 Moscow, 55° 45′ 21″ N, 37° 37′ 2″ E Hotel Savoy

Cecilia entered the lobby of the Savoy hotel accompanied by Ivan Chenkhov who picked her up at the airport.

"Don't you think this is too much Ivan? I think I can stay in an average hotel."

"No Cecil. You deserve all this. You are holding something very important for the continuation of the human race. We respect your profession and dedication."

We? Cecilia was about to ask him what he meant but she didn't. It was not the time to play detective. First, she needed to gather evidence and solid information before starting to plan. Moreover, the shocking news from Cathy added more problems to her mind.

Not to mention what had happened with Fabumi. She felt sorry for him. Even though he would be treated well because he was a priceless asset, Cecilia was sure that Fabumi must feel like he was in prison.

"Oh by the way, when do you think we can see your notes? I think it's important so we can be more prepared to plan the next steps. Moreover, the immune assets have been detained by the DGSE. I think we have to act faster from now on." Ivan looked intently into the Cecilia's eyes, the woman who had once been his lover. There was an urgency in his tone. And Cecilia didn't like that.

Cecilia waved her hand.

"I'll share it with you tomorrow morning, I'm so tired right now and the notes are in my bag. I want to rest and sleep well tonight. OK?" Cecilia smiled sweetly. She could feel her little notebook in the pocket of her jacket. Ivan forced a smile back.

Cecilia entered her luxurious hotel room. She didn't immediately take a shower and rest like she said. She tore the page containing the important note as neatly as possible and then wrote down a new note that was completely unimportant. The torn page was folded as small as possible and then inserted into the insole of her shoe which was slightly torn. It would be safe there. Those were her favorite shoes.

After that Cecilia reached for her phone to call Cathy. But she decided not to. Her intuition told her that she was in the center of an extremely complicated situation. Marc, DGSE and whoever behind it, Mister Bob and Adisa, and then Ivan who acted very suspicious. Her head was spinning. She needed a strong coffee.

Cecilia washed her face, changed and put on her shoes. Maybe a cup of coffee in the lobby would clear her head. She also wanted to buy a burner phone to call Cathy.

In the lobby there were several fancy cafes selling high quality coffee. But Cecilia decided to go out. Walking would relax her muscles and release tension from the past few days.

After buying a burner phone, Cecilia walked into a small cafe tucked away from the main road. The cafe was quite busy with people enjoying their coffee while sitting on cute little chairs on the sidewalk.

Sitting in a chair with slightly dim lighting, Cecilia called Cathy. She didn't know the time difference between Moscow and the North Pole and didn't care. She was about to ask Cathy something very important. Cecilia needed to have a well thought out plan tonight and it couldn't be delayed. The world was heading toward a calamity. As a doctor, she felt it was her responsibility to do something about it. Especially since she was directly involved.

Cathy's explanation was truly shocking. She said that Object X was moved to Pandora's Laboratory where she worked. Cathy couldn't see directly what Object X looked like, but it was clear how occupied Professor Sato and his team of scientists with the case.

Cathy also shared about her new good friend. A doctor from Japan named Akiko who was an important witness at the ground zero where the first victim died after contracting the virus.

Cathy, who had a doctoral degree in computer, was asked to extract data from a small, odd-shaped chip brought by Doctor Akiko. The order was given directly by Professor Sato but she was strictly ordered to keep the existence of the chip to herself.

Cathy told Cecilia that she had to work on the chip in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. Cathy suspected that Professor Sato was concerned about the security of such classified data if it fell in the hand of rogue parties.

Cathy was still looking for a way to read the chip. But she suspected that the chip was not man made because after she performed radiocarbon dating on it, the chip was more than a century old, and obviously there was no such thing as a computer chip back then. Listening to the whole explanation, Cecilia was getting more and more dumbfounded. The case was edging toward something beyond her imagination. So, there's non-human involvement here too?

Pandora's laboratory was closed to outside researchers. Professor Sato was very strict on this. A day before, dozens of well build, tough looking people were assigned to secure Pandora Laboratory.

The security team was brought in by Professor Sato under his direct command. Cathy didn't know where they came from but based on the way they talked while eating together in the cafeteria, some of the stocky people had American accent and the rest were British's. In conspiracy tone Cathy guessed that those people were a mix of CIA and MI6 agents. Cecilia grinned widely. Even though Cathy seemed to be guessing and half joking, Cecilia agreed. Cathy might be right.

Cecilia ended the conversation and threw the burner phone into the sewer hole behind her. Previously, she asked Cathy to text her when she was able read the chip or if she wanted to let her know the latest developments. They agreed to use email. With codes that were known to them. They used to do it when exchanging private messages in junior high.

With a mind filled with ideas and plans, Cecilia walked back to the hotel. As a doctor who until recently was living in a risky jungle, Cecilia felt that she was being watched. She could tell that two people were following her. But Cecilia was not too worried. The street was crowded and there were many uniformed police officers. There were even soldiers on guard at the street corners. It was Moscow after all.

Cecilia quickly entered the hotel lobby and then hid in a corner of a cafe while gesturing to the waitress not to mind her.

The two people did not follow her. They were just standing on the street side. One of them seemed to fix something in his ear. Then signaled to his friend to leave. Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief.

She almost bumped two people who got out of the elevator with their heads down. Cecilia let them pass then secretly took their pictures using her device. She felt there were similarities between them with the two who followed her outside, but she could not tell what those were. She would get back to it later. She also took pictures of the two people who were following her earlier while hiding in the corner of the hotel cafe.

Cecilia was almost screaming as she entered her room. Her luggage that was originally on the couch was now on the floor with the stuffs scattered everywhere.

The note was also missing! Merde! What did those people want?

Cecilia remembered her note hidden in the insole of her shoe. They must be looking for that. She remembered something else. She opened the laptop she bought at Heathrow and typed something. There you go!

The four people were no doubt GRU agents. Then why did they follow her and went through her stuffs? How did they know about the note that was supposedly in her bag? Cecilia could only confirm one thing.

Ivan Chenkhov was a member of the GRU, the Russian Secret Service. Oh my God, where am I supposed to run to?