Svetlana sighs. "Maybe he's staying with his friend, and they are under his friend's name, but I didn't hear his friends name." She pouts for a moment. "He had a haircut that was very nice, his hair was..."
April nods to indicate her understanding of his comment. "Thank you for the warning. I'll let you know if I need anything. Do you have any suspects? Maybe I can let you know if I see them," she asks.
SV: The man at the front desk says, "I think I have seen a gentleman that fits that description. I wasn't on shift when he was given the key but I heard he may be on the third floor."
AT: The security guard says, "Not as yet but please stay vigilant. The criminal western element is a serious cancer on our society."
SP: The students say "Jenkuye! Czech
Sylar nods and returns to the TASS paper he had been reading. It makes a nice prop while he keeps an eye on the comings and goings in the lobby.
April nods and thanks the guard. Once he is gone she looks around the room to see if either men from the pictures are there. She also tries to determine what room the target would be in based on the displays.
Svetlana
Svetlana
April you are able to discern from the room and the schedule that the target will be giving a speech for the second day of the expo at 1400. There is no list of where the guests might be staying.
Day 1 1530
GM Rolls
Silar continues to observe but other than a few guests walking by speaking Hungarian.
April while you are looking around a clerk from the hotel comes up to you in Hungarian and then Russian and says,
Svetlana while you are walking away from the front desk you see a businessman walk by.
"Alright, that's something. At least we know one place he will be and when. Now only if we can make contact before then to determine his intentions," April thinks to herself as the clerk approaches. "Of course," she says as she heads down to the bar to see who is there.
Sylar understands that sometimes a stake out is simply boring and requires patience as he continues to sit and read the paper while looking for the mark to enter the hotel.
Sveta
You are in surveillance mode and watching out for clues when a man asks for a light of his cigarette and he hands you a paper and in it is written SCRUBBED, exfil, await contact in Vienna
April does her best to hide her surprise that the mission was being scrubbed. "Was our cover blown? Did something happen to the target?" she wondered to herself. She casually finishes her drink while looking around to see if anyone is watching her. She also looks for the other 2 agents. When she is done, she pays her tab and returns to her room to gather her things.
She checks the train schedule to see when the next train to Vienna will be leaving. When she is ready to leave, she makes sure to scrub the room for any signs of her and then takes a taxi to the train station.
It wasn't a cover blown message, for which Sylar was thankful. He waited seven minutes before folding the paper he had been perusing and heading for his room. He had come lightly, with an attache and only the lock-picks hidden in the bottom of the attache to suggest he was something unusual.
He walked to a bus station and purchased a ticket to Gyor. From there he bought a train ticket to Prague that had a stop in Vienna.
On the reverse side of the paper is an address located in the 5th Bezirk of Vienna. You memorize it, burn it and leave.
You cross the Austrian-Hungarian border and it takes a painfully longtime on the Hungarian side with tertiary checks of your luggage and looking at your visas but you finally cross the border and get off at "Wien Südbahnhof" . You take the U-bahn to get to the location which is an office building. You ring the buzzer and you are warmly greeted with a "Servus" by the receptionist who is a woman in her mid fifties wearing a conservative dirndl.
She continues in schmaeh laced English in the sing song way of Vienna, "You should make yourselves comfortable and here is a Wohnung nearby," and she hands you keys and notes where these apartments are located.
Sylar nods in thanks, he knew she probably didn't know anything so he found a chair and settled in for the wait.
Relieved that she made it through customs, April makes her way to the address. She nods to Sylar and takes a seat. "Any idea what happened?" she asks him.
From behind the curtain in the room you are sitting in in WIen, after about five minutes you start to hear a dot matrix swishing and twitching to life and it starts to print.
Control...
AGENTS' BRIEFING (Priority D)
[b]MISSION BACKGROUND
ISB RECORDS FILE 157926: 27 August 1980
Classified to Priority D for briefing purposes
Agents are to go to Vienna Suedbahnhof and board the
train bound for Prague at 0400 28 August. Travel arrangements have already been made through a travel office maintained
as a front by the agency. While on the train, you are to make contact
with four Czech agents. The purpose thereof is to determine which
agent is working for the other
side. You should then eliminate that agent.
The Administration Bureau has prepared the following plan for
you to use. You are to let each agent know that you have important information about a big upcoming operation in the area.
The target date is only a few days away. The agent should be prepared to receive your orders then.
After you have passed this false information, you are to observe
the agents and determine, by their actions, which is the double
agent. You only have a few hours in which to do this. After you have
identified and terminated the double agent, you are to leave the
country as quickly as possible.
Your information packet located under your chairs also
contains the following items: a train ticket from Vienna to
Prague, a train ticket from Prague to West Berlin, a passport identifying you as a dealer in farm implements, a valid visa to enter
Czechoslovakia, a transit visa to cross East Germany (to reach West
Berlin), a reservation and travel form from CEDOK (Czech State
Tourist Organization), photographs of the Czech agents, and
the contact procedures to be used for each. The operation instructions, photographs, and contact procedures are all marked, "Memorize and Destroy."
You must use CEDOK's reservation and travel
form once you enter Czechoslovakia. You must also travel and stay
at the places listed on the form to avoid suspicion.
If you want to carry legal weapons into Czechoslovakia, the agency will be able to provide you with your papers.
Sylar cocked an eyebrow at April, well it looks like we'll have to skip the beach.
He looks closely and carefully at each of the pictures, committing them to memory. Followed shortly by the contact procedures and operation instructions. Last he studies his credentials shifting his thought process to become his new identity.
No longer Sylar, his stance shifted slightly, no longer the predatory watchfulness of an agent, but a more carefree relaxed demeanor of a salesman.
You're not scared are you? I'm sure they could find someone else if this seems a little daunting. Sylar grins as he ribs April.
April's grins at Sylar's comment about the beach but that quickly disappears following his comment about being scared. "Most of my training is technical in nature. Sure, I completed the required training on combat just like everyone else, but it's not my strong suit. I guess I just expected to have someone on the team that has more training in that area for such a mission. HQ must not have any other agents in the area that can get here in time. I'm trying to think of what weapons I can get onto the train to help complete the mission," she says somewhat quietly.
Day 1: 0400 Hours
The train leaves Vienna. The agents may take a compartment anywhere on the train. Wien Suedbahnhoff, you arrive at the station at around 3:30 and the lights are shining on this Josefian structure that dates back to 1857.
Day 1: 0700 Hours
The train steams from through Vienna for about an hour before you clear the city. In the dark you see farms start to come to life in the province of Niederoesterreich and finally after 2.5 hours the train starts to slow down for your arrival in the Eastern Bloc.
The train stops at the Czechoslovakian border. All passengers are required to detrain.
The Czechoslovak border officials thoroughly search all luggage. The agents must fill out currency declaration forms.
Peter Hafner* smiles, not a friendly smile, but a 'how long will this take' smile. He hands over his papers, and carefully notes down his currency as requested.
Since he wasn't hiding anything he was helpful in displaying his farm tools when asked. He happily went onto a lengthy description of each tool, the known or suspected origin and use of the tool through the ages, why so many different and yet similar tools were used.
*his alias
April
April gathers her belongings and detrains. She waits patiently while the officials complete their duties and does as she is asked. While she is waiting in line, she casually looks around at the other passengers, looking for the agents they are to contact.
The border guards look at your gun permits and shrug and after an hour.
3. Day 1. 0800 hours:
The customs officials finish their search, and the train leaves the station. At the town of Iindrichuv-Hradec, the train stops again. A private first class sleeping car is added to the rear of the train.
As expected you notice in addition to the general influx of Czech nationals entering the train this being a train heading towards the capitol, the contacts you have been told to make contact with on the train enter at this station.
Sylar approaches the first agent and strikes up a conversation about the train's schedule. After exchanging pass phrases, he tells the agent that his assistance is needed for an upcoming operation only a few days ahead.
April lets Sylar approach the first agent. She stays separated from him so they don't look like they are together. After Sylar delivers the message, she watches the agent to see what he does.
Sylar goes over to the person described in the mission briefing. He looks to be in his late 30s or early 40s with gray eyes. He says in Russian after the proper security procedure has been followed,"Hello Comrade, my name is Jaros. This is all very odd... meeting in public... I do not like it one bit. Can we get this over with..." he looks shaky and a bit nervous.