The years passed and Peter blossomed. He was first in his class and a star soccer player. He grew up with his grandmother interchanging languages. She knew English, French, and Polish as well as Russian and a few Siberian dialects. Peter’s English had a natural American accent.

By the time he was in his tenth year of education in the Russian system he was known for his ability to speak and read several languages. Peter had the kind of a mind that could remember great amounts of detail and recall it when he needed it. Following his grandmother’s guidance, he focused on language courses and worked very hard in each of them.

With his language skills and being the son of two Leningrad war heroes, it was natural for the KGB to recognize his potential and put him in their special schools that trained spies to infiltrate the West after several years of training.

Before his Nana died, she made him promise to escape from the Soviet Union at the first opportunity and establish their bloodline in a free country. She told him that their true family name was that of her husband, his grandfather, the American soldier who had come from America to fight against the Communists. His name was John Brandon. She left nothing out and finished by saying his grandfather dreamed about taking them all back to America. Peter, his grandson, now had to make that dream real. She wanted the bloodline of her beloved warrior husband to be taken back to America to defend freedom, a freedom that would never come to Russia. From that revelation on, Peter thought about nothing but escaping from the deadly, boring rule of the Communist Party.

The KGB school for spies, or intelligence operatives as the students preferred, required constant focus. Failing was not an option. This was the path to the world Peter now dreamed of since he sat with his grandmother and listened to her stories of the family’s true history.

Ray, Peter’s English language instructor, was from Pittsburgh and would never be able to leave Russia. Ray was entrapped in Moscow ten years ago. He now had a Russian wife and family who lived in a special compound near the school. The KGB kept all their language instructors from enemy nations under tight control. They had seen too many undercover KGB officers to ever be allowed to leave Russia. They were lucky to get permission to visit Moscow or Leningrad.

Russian was never heard or seen in Peter’s part of the training facility. It was set up like a University with specialty training in different buildings. No one used their true names and cameras were not allowed other than in the areas for photography training. The restaurants, shops, exercise and medical facilities, entertainment, and even barbershops were all designed after their western counterparts.

Practical training in living under different identities was constant. Peter was now studying under the name Ivan Kalin. He disliked the name Ivan and preferred to be called Kalin. Peter was a whiz at languages and a straight ‘A’ student. He was now at home in the total immersion training in American English and culture. He knew he would soon be getting an assignment.

All of Barry Kelly’s novels are available in print and digital formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore. Visit www.factsandfictions.com for more by the author.