Poisk

POISK Chapter 4

St Petersburg

The journey to the old Russian city had been a long one for the four men onboard the Kristina, but as the Peter and Paul Fortress came into view, with the spire of its cathedral rising high into the blue sky, the arrival to St Petersburg was an impressive one. Callen hadn't journeyed this way into the second largest Russian city before, and he had to admit, he loved arriving from the water. Majestic stone buildings, some three hundred years old, stood beside the shoreline, like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

The landscape had changed since they'd left Helsinki, where the land was hilly, and rocky outcrops edged the coast, with Baltic pines dotted over the green hills. As they headed east into Russian territory, the land flattened, with large sandy beaches. The land remained flat this side of Lake Ladoga, where the city of St Petersburg sat, it's buildings standing like a magical city at the end of the yellow brick road, except for them, it was the Baltic Sea.

Callen had more memories of this city as Leningrad, than it did for its current name, although it represented freedom for the people, since the Soviet Union collapse in 1991, nineteen months after the Berlin wall came crashing down. So much change had occurred in Europe since he'd first came here for work.

It was odd, he thought, that after all the years he'd come here for his country, that it was here, where he would find his father. Somewhere in Russia, Nikita Reznikov hid under a new alias. This country was part of who he was, and it was within its borders, where he would find the answers to his name. He hoped so anyway. He'd gone long enough without his true identity.

Their boat was small enough to enter the Neva River, where Mikko had arranged to dock the Kristina, near to the Palace Square. The intel Mikko had received since Callen and Sam had left Los Angeles, was that Arkady was somewhere near to this location. Somewhere close to the next river along, the Moyka River, where their suspect politician, Eduard Kozlov had a residence. Reports had also come through that Kozlov had flown from the capitol, Moscow, to St Petersburg only the day earlier—-proof that the information given to Gibbs and Sam by their captive, Kostyra Evanoff, had been true.

So far, NCIS had managed to keep Evanoff's location hidden from any FSB men that Kozlov had within the U.S., they needed his testimony to help put Eduard Kozlov away for good. Although at present, their agents were inside Russian borders illegally. They hoped they remained under the radar and could rescue Arkady without any international incident.

St Petersburg was no doubt a beautiful city. It's cathedrals, palaces, churches and museums were a display of true Russian architecture. Callen's eyes caught the tops of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, with its colourful onion domes. It was Callen's favourite building in all of St Petersburg, looking more like a castle out of a Disney movie, than a church. He wasn't certain why this particular building gave him a form of comfort, compared to most places. Other than his time in the orphanage, he had no link to religion. But he wondered if before his mother's death, he'd been to any Russian churches. It would make sense as to why this church gave him some solace, like the ocean did.

"You okay?" Gibbs stood beside him, as Sam tied the ropes to the jetty.

"Yes, I think I am."

"The last time we were here, that place meant something to you. You going to tell me why?" Gibbs nodded his head in the direction of the church Callen was thinking about.

Callen turned and faced his old friend. "I have no idea, but it makes me feel safe."

Gibbs studied him thoughtfully. "You think you came here with your mother?"

"With what I've learned about my parents, it's possible. But then again, I find the Pacific gives me that same kind of peace, and I know I never went there with either of my parents."