Spring of 1969

 

After a few weeks of processing, the Catholic Church helped them get settled in a small town near Ottawa. Much to her husband’s surprise, Marie had been fascinated by the Christian church and enjoyed the irony of acting out her cover role by attending church several times a week. Georgi occasionally went along but was never able to match her interest in religion.

All this time they had to hide their English language skills. There were a few Polish families in the general area, but the KGB had made it clear they were to avoid personal relationships with “other” Polish immigrants.

Marie’s dream was that someday they could return to Poland. She needed that dream and Georgi let her keep it. Her growing belief in Christianity was slowly eroding her zeal for Communism and the importance of the mission. He found work as a carpenter’s helper and, with the help of the church and Canadian social services, they lived modestly.

Georgi’s KGB mission was to make his way into the United States and eventually settle within thirty miles of Washington, D.C. He would be given control of an illegal network and a list of important Americans to neutralize just prior to the start of an attack on the U.S.

The intent was to confuse the American political and military chain of command prior to the initiation of a hot war. He would have a secondary mission of creating chaos in the civilian sector by spreading bacteriological agents, placing bombs in designated key areas, starting rumors, and sabotaging select targets. But first they had to establish themselves in Canada, improve their social and economic standing, and practice communicating with the KGB. It was a lifelong mission.

Georgi went to school nights and Anna attended a daytime English course run by the church, and within two years they had acquired an explanation for their ability to speak and read the English language. Of course, their teachers never knew that the only thing difficult about their study of English was the necessity to conceal their already proficient ability to read, write, and speak nearly native English. Marie especially got a kick out of pretending not to understand some people in everyday life. In the process of studying and living in Canada for two years, Georgi, and Marie to a lesser extent, acquired a slight Canadian accent that influenced their KGB handlers to make the Great Lakes area the couple’s first stopping point in the U.S. on the way to D.C.

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.