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It was a chilly night in early March at the safehouse in West Berlin. The night sky was free of clouds and the stars made themselves known by forming patterns and outlines, mapping the universe. The moon was not visible, as it was below the horizon and currently in its dark new phase. This made the stars more apparent in the deep abyss known as space.
Bell was sat on the frozen ground, their back leaning against a budding tree with their head tilted up to observe the star-filled darkness above them. Their eyes squinted in an attempt to see the stars’ colors and identify constellations in the hopes of easing their worry-filled thoughts.
Just a few hours ago, Bell had just learned from their briefing that they and Adler, with the help of their insider, Dimitri Belikov, were to infiltrate the KGB’s Headquarters in just a few days. Although they had worked for the KGB as an agent prior to defecting to the United States in 1965, this brought the young operative on edge; they didn’t remember working in the Lubyanka building, nor the people there. What if the staff recognized them? What if Belikov himself recognized them? Can Belikov really be trusted to help them break into the archives?
But there was one question that troubled Bell over the others: Why did Hudson react the way he did when he overheard Adler and suggested him to take Mason or Woods instead?
Bell knew that Hudson was not fond of the cryptographer and searched for answers to why the man despised them so much. After asking Park in the darkroom as to why Hudson disliked them, Bell was left with no definite answer and was told to “not dwell on it”.
Bell then asked Adler why he felt they would be the right person for this mission. The clandestine special officer had no concern about this operation going completely awry as the cryptographer had the right skillset for the op. Bell then dismissed themselves to let their handler further organize for the upcoming assignment.
Bell then briefly spoke to Hudson, wanting to know the reasoning behind his reservation as to why the operative should not attempt this mission. The older man proceeded to answer them that it was not of their concern, and they were the wrong person for this op, but nothing further.
Bell sighed, a cloud of vapor forming before them as the warm carbon dioxide from their lungs made contact with the chilly air. An icy breeze pierced through the operative’s grey sweater, giving rise to goosebumps on their pale skin.
They noticed that the lights to the safehouse were no longer lit, indicating that the team have all headed to their quarters to get a good night’s rest. They turned their head toward the sky once more, searching for more constellations that they have not yet found.
“You should head on inside before you get hypothermia.”
Bell jolted and turned their head to the man before them.
“Jesus H. Christ!” They brought their hand to their heart, clutching their sweater, sighing deeply when they saw it was only Hudson. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” They hissed.
“What are you doing out here?” Hudson asked, lighting a cigarette, and taking a lengthy drag.
Bell let out another long shaky exhale before turning their attention back to the cosmos, ignoring Hudson’s question. They heard Hudson’s footsteps crunching the frozen grass approaching them, seeing his face in their peripheral vision.
“May I?” He asked, pointing next to Bell’s sitting form.
“Be my guest.”
Hudson sat next to the cryptographer, crossing his legs, and leaning his back against the tree. He then brought his unshielded vision up to the stars above him, attempting to see what Bell was observing.
His gaze was brought to a bright, blueish star above the horizon. It was noticeably brighter than the other stars surrounding it.
“What’s that star up there?” He asked, pointing it with his index, trying to make conversation with them.
Bell followed his finger, immediately setting their eyes on the shining celestial body.
“That’s Sirius, the fifth brightest star in the sky and can only be seen in the winter months. It’s a supergiant, the stage where a star is near the end of its life.”
Hudson turned his head towards the young operative, his gaze resting onto the younger individual’s face.
“What happens to the dying star?”
“Well, it depends on the star’s mass,” Bell began, “A star as big as Sirius would collapse on itself before exploding and creating a giant colorful gas and dust cloud, known as a nebula. The core of the star can either become a neutron star, which emits radiation and cools down overtime, or it turns into a black hole. A star with a smaller mass, like our Sun, will eject material from its outer layers to form the nebula, and the core will cool, turning it into a white dwarf. Once it no longer emits heat or light, it becomes a black dwarf.”
Bell then brought their finger up and pointed to a dimmer, reddish star, located north-east of the bright blue giant. Hudson eyes focused in the night sky, eventually finding the celestial body.
“And that is Betelgeuse, another supergiant. Like Sirius, it’s one of the most well-known stars that can only be seen during the winter months in the northern hemisphere.”
The man took another drag of his cigarette before extinguishing it on the frozen ground.
“Didn’t know that you were an astrophile,” he said, putting a hand in his pocket, feeling the sherpa fleece warming his cold fingers.
“What can I say? The universe interests me,” Bell shrugged, their eyes never leaving the ocean of stars above them. “It makes me wonder how everything began; how the stars and planets formed, how a bunch of molecules came together to create living organisms, how life evolved to where we are today. It’s all fascinating to me.”
Hudson deeply sighed as he brought his unshielded blue orbs to meet Bell’s light ones. He wasn’t one to know much about natural sciences, except for biology thanks to his studies in psychology.
Realizing that they stared in his eyes a bit longer than they should have, Bell quickly turned their head back to the cosmos and brought their knees to their chest, trying to warm themselves up from the chilly air. The moments of silence between them amplified the sound of the icy wind making contact with the tree branches, the wood crackling above them.
“Bell.”
“Hmm?” Bell’s sight never left the stars and planets, still searching for unidentified constellations.
“I wasn’t completely honest with you, back in the safehouse.”
The young operative’s light-colored eyes again met Hudson’s unshielded blue ones.
“About what?” They asked, confused.
“About not being the right operative for the upcoming mission.”
Hudson let out yet another long and deep exhale.
“The truth is… you do have the skillset for this op. You’re one of the best cryptographers that I’ve seen since I was in SOG in Khe Sanh, and knowing your background with the KGB, I can’t afford to lose you in case this mission goes completely fubar.”
It was then Bell’s turn to let out a long exhale, seeing their breath before them. They were puzzled; Hudson had never shown any emotion other than anger and disappointment. He never had anything nice to say to the cryptographer and would constantly put them down. This sudden compliment and concern for their safety were certainly unexpected and very unlike him.
Bell hesitated at first, but this may be their only chance to determine why Hudson had taken a dislike to them, especially now when he was not being a total asshole.
“Why are you being nice all of sudden? You hate me.”
“I never said that I hated you,” The agent settled a hand on the frosted grass and the other rested on his elevated knee, turning his body towards them. “As a matter of fact, it’s quite the contrary.”
“So why do you act like you despise me?”
The special agent breathed out a long exhale, possibly already feeling the regret of what he would be saying next.
“Bell, I’ve never been open about my emotions. If the team found out that I have a liking to you, I would never hear the end of it.”
Hudson brought himself closer to them and reached for the operative’s hand with his own, his thumb tracing their ice-cold fingers. Feeling the younger operative violently shiver from the frigid wind flowing though their sweatshirt, the special agent let go of Bell’s hand to stand on his feet and undo his jacket, revealing a black crewneck sweater underneath.
“Move forward a bit,” He ordered, and the cryptologist complied, their clothed back now completely exposed to the icy breeze. Hudson, with his jacket in hand, sat on the grass and wrapped the garment around the young operative’s shoulders.
The goosebumps on Bell’s skin dwindled as they felt the warmth from the sherpa lining the inside of the dark leather jacket.
“Thanks Hudson,” Bell’s voice quavered, still trembling from the frosty air. Their eyes then returned to gaze into the cosmos.
Seeing Bell was still having trouble conserving their body heat, Hudson moved closer to them before wrapping an arm around their waist and bringing their body to his. Bell was an ice cube compared to his, which was emitting a significant amount of heat.
As if he was the Sun itself.
Bell’s body fully relaxed as the warmth from Hudson’s jacket and torso enveloped and warmed their form, creating a strong barrier against the chilly air.
The young cryptographer then thought at Hudson’s earlier admission of him taking a liking to them. What did he mean by that?
There was no better time to ask than now.
“Hudson?” Bell broke the heavy silence between them, turning their head back to the older man beside them.
He hummed as his attention was brought to the cryptographer.
“About what you mentioned earlier… about never hearing the end of it if the others found out of your opinion of me. What do you mean by that?”
Hudson felt heat travel to his face, the lack of moonlight camouflaging the warm pink glow now lingering on his cheeks.
“Well, I, uh…”
He didn’t know what to say to them. Jason Hudson, a well-spoken but emotionally distant man, as per the nicknames Woods and Mason have given him, had difficulty to articulate his thoughts.
“I think it would be best for me to show you my opinion.”
He then brought a hand to the operative’s face, his thumb lightly caressing their cheekbone. Bell felt themselves leaning into his touch, surprisingly warm in this cold weather.
Bell’s orbs moved from Hudson’s cerulean blues to his lips, and closed their eyes as a small breath escaped their nose. They then felt the agent’s pair of lips connect with their own, returning the gesture after a second of hesitation.
Breaking the kiss, Hudson wrapped his arm around Bell’s shoulders, bringing them closer to him. The young operative laid their head on his shoulder, feeling his lips press a kiss on their hair.
The two remained sitting against the tree, watching the twinkling of stars and occasional bright streaks from meteors passing through the Earth’s atmosphere. Silence would be interrupted every now and then from Jason, asking Bell about the celestial bodies above them, until the latter had fallen asleep. This made Hudson chuckle, before he picked them up and carried them back into the safehouse and into bed.
Thus began Hudson and Bell’s journey, delving into the unknown.
To be continued…