VANGUARD(2)

“Refugee Crisis International office space is donated. Besides, New York City is my home…as much as I’ll ever have one.” They walked to the door, but Hallie put her hand on Sophie’s arm before they entered the hallway. Her voice was gentle, eyes full of compassion.

“Child, you need to slow down. You’re working too hard.” Sophie started to protest, but Hallie shook her head. “Don’t tell me you’re fine. You look like you haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. I doubt you’re eating properly, if at all. You might be a rising star in this field, but you still need to take care of yourself.”

“You sound like Will,” said Sophie with a scowl.

“Good. You could do worse than listening to him. Believe me, I know what’s at stake here. But you’ve got to maintain some distance.”

“There are upwards of seventy thousand people in that camp.” Sophie did her best to keep the terror out of her voice. “The Soviet Republic isn’t keeping them there for a sleepover. They’re going to do something to them, and we’ve got to get them out.”

“We’ve got to do our best.” Hallie handed Sophie her jacket. “We may succeed, we may not. The Soviets could bow to international pressure tomorrow, let the refugees return home or at least allow the High Commissioner for Refugees into the camp. The Soviet Republic is a democratic nation, a member of the UN. This isn’t the 1970s. I refuse to believe they’d revert to their totalitarian roots after coming so far.”

“Feels like they’ve already done that by invading Orlisia.”

Hallie nodded. “Either way, there’s only so much we can do. This isn’t the first refugee crisis in the world we’ll work, and it won’t be the last. You can’t make it personal.”

Sophie’s mouth quivered, then she drew a deep breath. “You’re right,” she lied. “I’ll head straight home instead of going back to the office. Eight hours of sleep will do me good.”

“A world of good,” the older woman agreed, opening the door. “We need you. You’re the heart and soul of this coalition, and you need to look after yourself.”

Sophie walked swiftly away, her eyes cast down. She didn’t want Hallie to see the fear she knew was showing in them, the lies and the knowledge that the situation in Orlisia was as personal as it could get for her.





-





“Union Station, please.” Sophie climbed into the taxi. Traffic spilling out from the Mall was heavier than normal, and she arrived with just a few minutes to spare. She had the documents she’d gotten from Interpol spread out in front of her as the train left the station.

The agent had been kind but unable to tell more than she already knew. The subject in question – he’d peered into the file – Dr. Michael Nariovsky-Trent had entered Kaliningrad in the Soviet Republic on July 20. His passport showed no entry into any other country since. He’d handed Sophie a copy of the completed workup, and she’d started to leave the office when the agent’s words had halted her.

“Kaliningrad is extremely close to the warzone,” he’d ventured. “And Dr. Nariovsky-Trent holds Orlisian citizenship, does he not?” The agent, of course, would have known full well that Michael had dual citizenship. “With the Soviet Republic currently occupying Orlisia, Dr. Nariovsky-Trent’s proximity to the conflict is concerning.”

“All the more reason for me to find him,” she’d replied.

The agent had taken off his glasses and held her gaze for a long moment.

“Ms. Swenda, there’s not a person in international relations today who doesn’t know who you are. Your coalition represents the best hope the world has of saving the people trapped in that camp.” He paused. “But you can’t save everyone. You’ve got to know that.”

She’d stood for a moment more, feeling the cool, professional demeanor she presented to the world trembling under the pressure of the intensely personal fear beneath.

“I know. But I have to find him.”

Sophie had been an infant at the time of the former USSR’s rapid evolution in the mid-1980s. The first government of the new era had originally pursued political reforms that had rocked the stability of the faltering superpower. With the separation of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, however, the Politburo had changed direction and undertaken a series of steady economic reforms, similar to those taken by China. The renewed approach had held the country together.