I rang the number, ready to receive what was the most cryptic phone call in my entire military career.

It picked up on the third ring, not that I was counting.

First of all I heard the distinct sound of heavy breathing on the other end of the line. I wanted to speak, to ask who I was speaking to, but instead I held my chest with my hand and let out a few breaths of my own.

It was a waiting game.

They finally spoke, “Is this Checkmate?” He said. Their voice clear but gravelly, like they were masking it.

“Yes,”

“Write this down,”

I didn’t have a pen and paper near me, but my brilliant memory didn’t fail me on what I heard. I memorised the coordinates the operator fed me, they were 44°29'47.61"N 33°35'36.47"E.

Now, I couldn’t figure out where that location was off the top of my head, but if I remembered anything in my map memorisation classes I was certain that I was in the right side of the world to reach it without a 16 hour plane flight.

The conversation wasn't over just yet, the operator had more to say, I could hear their mouth opening and closing, deciding, the longer they did the heavier the words would be.

“Your leaders tell you nothing, yet you dedicate your life to them. They trained you, so that you would not betray them when they toss you away, you know. Come to the coordinates, and I'll tell you what they are hiding from you,"

If you heard his voice the way I did, you'd know he was telling the truth.

Before I could ask my string of questions, the line cut. Of course it fucking cut. I stared vacantly at the phone in my hand, still searching for answers.

I supposed I had more pressing matters to attend to. I dropped the phone, positioning it back in it’s hold. Then I reached for my briefcase on the bed, opening it up in search for a map I was going to spend a good couple minutes working on. Locating accurate positions from coordinates weren’t easy when done manually, especially on a map without grids or a specialised guide.

I had to do this alone, unless I wanted to inform Major Donn and potentially lose whatever it is that I may be chasing here.

So, I rolled the map out onto the dressing table by the window and sat my behind down on the chair until I figured out my next plan.

Major Donn called at around 8PM in the evening, my communicator device beeping in my pocket. I pulled it out and plugged in my ear piece. “Major …?” I reminded myself to act natural, and to give nothing away.

“Good evening Checkmate, I’m calling in for an informal report. As you may know by now, the news on Hiroshima is out. What can you make of the general population’s response to this?” I really had nothing to say to the major, save for some complaints as to why I wasn’t told about Hiroshima.

Didn’t I deserve to know? Was I not good enough? I bet Sigma knew. I bet he knew lots of things about HIVE and the OSS.

“People …” People's reaction to Hiroshima? I thought of the old man with the kind eyes that spoke to me on the street, he seemed more concern about me than the news. Not that I would know.

I stood up and looked outside my window. There was barely anyone on the streets, which was strange for a city, no? “There’s not a lot of activity outside, I wouldn’t really know, I haven’t had enough time to consider it,” you can’t just drop some weird unnecessary question on me like that.

He could wait for a better answer when I drew up my report.

Major Donn hummed down the line, what he was contemplating I couldn’t guess. “We will be relocating you soon, you task in the USSR is coming to a close, you have a week to return back to the US and be briefed for your next field op, goodnight Checkmate,”

“… Goodnight Major,” I ended the line before he did. Pulled out my ear piece and threw it to the wall.

Of all times to take me off the mission, this was just the worst sort of luck.

I had a week, one week to figure out how to reach the coordinates, if I decided to go, and find out what the hell all this mystery was about.

But if I went ... I’d be going alone. No backup, no calling in for rescue, I could possibly be branded as a traitor for concealing information and acting on my own …

Yet they hid things from me. And here I thought I was supposed to be one of their best agents. So much for my promotion to HIVE.

I tossed the card in my hand to the bed, that word ... paradise stood out to me. There was no such thing as paradise for people like me, not here, not now, not ever.

This was ridiculous, I promised myself to go back to America, to go back home and to just calm down and think this through.

A phone call wasn't enough to make me defect.

I would not betray my country, even if there was a slim chance of finding ‘paradise’. I did as Major Donn told me, I went back home after my week was up.

And then never told anyone about what happened to me in Sevastopol.