Black Flagged Redux

Chapter 20





11:40 AM

Astana International Airport

Astana, Kazakhstan





Daniel Petrovich rode an escalator down toward the vast lobby area of Astana International Airport. The modern airport completely upended his expectations for Kazakhstan. He had expected a complete shithole and had instead emerged from his Austrian Airlines flight into a structure that could be used for the next Star Trek movie. The newly constructed, glass and steel encased engineering marvel stood in stark contrast to everything he had envisioned about the former Russian satellite country. He glanced up into an immense dome structure that formed the roof of the modernistic lobby. The front of the dome, directly in front of Daniel, held a flat steel girder-supported window that towered several stories high. His first glimpse of the turquoise dome from the window of his sparsely populated flight reminded him that he was indeed landing in a Muslim country.

As he reached the bottom of the escalator, Daniel spotted Andrei sitting on a nearby bench, reading a Russian newspaper. Andrei folded the paper and walked toward him, speaking in Russian. Daniel did the same, hoping his slightly rough Russian wouldn't be a problem. He had sailed through customs as Dario Russo, using Russian only as a convenience for Kazakhstan customs officials. English or Italian would have been a challenge for them and would have attracted more officials to the customs kiosk. His passport had been stamped through Buenos Aires, which didn't raise an eyebrow given his cover as an advanced liaison for a South American industrial company looking to partner with a Russian mining company. Kazakhstan welcomed the industry and the money it brought to their doorstep. Glancing around at the space station known as Astana International Airport, he figured they had plenty of money rolling their way.

Andrei was dressed in a warm gray wool jacket that fell below his waist, which gave Daniel some concern that he might be underdressed. His Iberia Airlines flight had been delayed leaving Argentina, which caused him to miss his connection in Spain. By the time he arrived in Vienna, he had no time to make a purchase at the Vienna airport, where he could find some appropriate winter clothing. He would be the last member of the team to arrive in Astana, and he didn't want to put the operation further behind schedule.

"Good flight, Mr. Russo?"

"Very nice, thank you. Are we ready?"

"The rest of the group is with the SUV outside of Astana. We're loaded up and ready. It's going to be a little crowded. We have a guest," he said.

"I can't wait to meet him," Daniel said.

"He's a little green for this kind of work, but he comes highly recommended from our sponsor."

"Any way we can ditch him?"

"I doubt it. He's not that bad," Andrei said, and Daniel paused before the sliding glass door.

"What's the temperature like?" Daniel said.

"Cold, and the wind makes it worse. This place is flatter than Siberia. Nothing to block the wind. I have an extra jacket for you in the car. Yuri figured you'd need some wardrobe help."

"Yuri is such a mother to me. I can't wait to see him again," Daniel said, before he stepped through the door into a dusty wind.