Inquisito veritatis- seeking the truth Chapter 2

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Chapter 1 is HERE

Kuryakin remained at Coney Island Hospital for another day and would have stayed longer had Mister Waverly not called him back to headquarters for an assignment.

Illya showered and changed before meeting with the Old Man, but still he looked haggard and worn out. He hadn’t slept at all since Angelique’s unexpected visit to Napoleon.

His mind was continually racing, trying to come up with a connection to this mysterious blonde. Napoleon had a habit of talking about his innumerable trysts but Illya for the life of him could not recall his partner mentioning a blonde for a very long time; Angelique of course didn’t count.

Napoleon liked every kind of woman but lately his penchant had been for brunettes.

Illya was obviously distracted until Waverly spoke to him, in essence, calling him out.

“Young man, if you would pay attention? I know you are concerned for you partner, but you must not forget you have a job to do here. This sort of complication was one of the main reasons why I was hesitant about my agents being assigned permanent partners; attachments can be...problematic.”

“But Mister Waverly sir…”

“No buts; I understand the situation, perhaps more than you imagine. I’ve been told by the surgeon that Mister Solo will recover. Yes, his not regaining consciousness is a concern, but he’s alive and from what I understand improving little by little. You and he are my two best agents and I can not, no...I will not have you both out of the field at the same time for no good reason.”

Waverly watched as his Russian’s nostrils flared, and that lower lip of his began to protrude.  He knew Kuryakin well enough to feel comfortable the man wouldn’t let his temper loose. He was respectful to his elders, and more so to his boss.

He was well aware of Illya’s brutal Soviet training, and because of it the man had the potential to be a killing machine, but still he managed to keep that dangerous side of himself reeled in and controlled. God help the man or woman who’d be on the receiving end of that inner rage if it became unbridled.

Illya Kuryakin had a cold bloodedness to him; Waverly had read enough of Solo’s mission reports to put two and two together, reading between the lines as it were.  Comments made by the Russian, or how he dealt with an enemy agent were detailed along with Solo’s actions. Between those small glimpses and Kuryakin’s private file there was more than enough information to reach a reasonably informed conclusion about the man. He was dangerous and could be deadly.

Waverly was no fool, and knew all too well that Solo left much unsaid in his reports, Kuryakin as well. The Old Man let it slide, and for good reason.

He trusted both men despite their proclivities for bending the rules. Their methods were sometimes unorthodox but they got the job done and had a higher success rate than any other partnered agents. Still this attachment that had developed between partners had its drawbacks.

Waverly sent a file round on the conference table, stopping its rotation when it reached where Kuryakin was sitting.

Illya drew his reading glasses from his breast pocket and immediately opened the file marked ‘eyes only;’ he quickly scanned it.

“Baltimore sir?”

“Yes Mister Kuryakin. You may not be aware of something Mister Solo was looking into the day he was attacked.”

“Sir?”

“He recently visited his alma mater, Xavarian high school located in Brooklyn.”

“Mister Solo mentioned about stopping there before he was to meet me, but did not say why he was doing so.”

For a moment Waverly was surprised upon hearing that as he generally assumed Solo and Kuryakin to be more communicative, especially when there was something curious happening. Napoleon however, had informed the Old Man of what he was looking into, and rightly so.

“He was there to speak to a former classmate, a Brother Sean Kelly. I’ve been in touch with the man after the fact and apparently he’s been suspicious of an individual, or individuals who are attempting to recruit some of the students to THRUSH.”

“Really?” Illya’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “And how is this related to Baltimore?”

Waverly smiled, finally knowing something his brilliant Russian did not. Tapping his briar pipe in the crystal

ash tray in front of himself, he reached for his humidor but paused, changing his mind about filling the bowl with fresh tobacco. Instead he just a bit down on the mouth piece  before speaking again.

“Baltimore is where the Xavarian brothers have their American  generalate. Also known as the Congregation of St. Francis Xavier, they were founded by one Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The institute is dedicated to Roman Catholic education, but perhaps more than that if THRUSH has become involved.”

Kuryakin nodded his head but remained silent.

“We’ve noted a bit of chatter on THRUSH channels regarding travel between Baltimore and New York City, though nothing specific to the high school has been mentioned to tie it to these trips. It may be just a coincidence, but one that needs to be investigated. While your partner is recovering, you’ll be continuing with what would have been his assignment.”

“There is no such thing as coincidence,” Illya said.

“Hmmm, indeed Mister Kuryakin. You will be flying to Baltimore along with a visiting Section III agent, D.E. Le Claire who is out of our Paris office. Just passing through and not part of your assignment though. Agent Le Claire is doing a courier drop for us before returning to Paris as it were.”

Kuryakin gave no reaction as his airline ticket was passed  to him. Apparently Waverly wanted him to move fast on this situation by flying instead of driving to Baltimore. Flying time would be slightly over an hour whereas driving would be triple the travelling time.

“No need to meet Le Claire ahead of time Mister Kuryakin as the agent has merely been assigned the seat next to yours. I thought it best you knew you had one of our operatives seated beside you.”

“Yes sir. If you do not mind I will do a little more research on these Xavarain Brothers before I depart. Hopefully it will not be a situation like the one we encountered with THRUSH infiltrating the monastery of Saint Thomas and holding your friend Abbot John and the other monks hostage.” *

The Old Man shook his head, thinking of that averted disaster. THRUSH lost the laser technology from that affair thanks to the efforts of Solo and Kuryakin; it suddenly dawned on Waverly they could be trying the same tactic, though perhaps on American soil instead of Europe. Or could it be a repeat of that dreadful Mother Fear and the Figliano School.**

He didn’t bother bringing up that possibility but instead, he sighed,“One can only hope Mister Kuryakin.”

Waverly picked up another file from the pile in front of himself and began to read it. That was a non-verbal signal that Illya was dismissed.

*ref to “The Monks of St. Thomas Affair”  Season 3 Episode 5

**ref to “The Children’s Day Affair” Season 2 Episode 12