Covert Affairs s02e06 Episode Script

Come on up here.
We're almost there.
We've been almost there for six miles.
Come on, Reva.
Hasn't a week of hiking been at all fun for you? I am in tech ops.
I enjoy HDTV, cameras the size of dimes and playing with lasers.
See, this is the greatest part about our job.
We fly halfway around the world and spend a week in an amazing place.
Seeing things like this.
It's very pretty.
I'm sure it's also pretty when you look at it on Google Earth.
If you don't like being in the field, why did you take this assignment? Because it's a great opportunity to shepherd a new piece of technology.
I mean, you know what it means to build your bones at the Agency.
You press for key missions, succeed, and then, ride that success all the way to your own department where you no longer have to go into the field.
I think this is as close as we can get to the Belarusian border without crossing it.
Excellent.
You know how many nights I spent at the lab triple checking every circuit? And trying to impress my supervisors by refining the filters? And now I don't know.
It's just really, really cool to finally see these things in action.
Okay.
Great.
Everything looks good on my end.
AII right, I'll call it in.
Border Photography and Logistics.
This is your captain speaking.
Hey, Aug.
Last one fired and ready to go.
AII right.
Hold on.
Do you have it? Annie, the signal is bouncing off of four different satellites.
You're going to have to give it a minute.
Sorry.
I'm a little excited to get going.
Finally getting a chance to hike the Orla Perc Trail on your way home, huh, Walker? How did you know I was going to do that? When are you going to realize that I know everything? I don't know whether to be scared or oddly comforted by that.
Oh, comforted for sure.
Especially because I reworked your travel back to Warsaw.
The Polish government is so grateful that we're sharing these photos with them that they've offered you a ride to the airport.
Oh.
Reva will Iove you forever.
Why is that? Taxi to the airport.
Mmm.
I don't love Auggie but I'm appreciative of the ride.
She's thinking about it.
She's obsessed with me.
AII right, we've got a feed.
Okay.
We're good to go? Indeed.
Enjoy the ride.
Get home safe.
Will do.
Mmm.
AII right.
Let's get out of here.
Hot shower, here I come.
Wait.
There's something on the Belarusian side that's not on the map.
Looks like a town but there aren't any people in it.
That's weird.
Reva? Hmm? Reva.
Oh.
Annie, what's happening? What did he say? Damn it.
There's no internal latch.
The best time for escape is en route.
I know.
Otherwise, our chances of survival diminish greatly.
I mean, statistically speaking.
Let's think.
Um The rock camera was on.
Uh, it would have caught the license plate of the truck.
Langley will see that and contact the Polish Embassy right away.
Yes, except this truck didn't have a license plate.
Are you sure? Yeah.
And no one's contacting any embassy, either.
What do you mean? Those men weren't Polish.
Their accents and uniforms were straight out of Minsk.
They're taking us to Belarus.
Those guys were Secret Police? The last proud branch of the Soviet militia.
Okay.
Um We maintain our covers.
That's protocol.
We deny any knowledge of the CIA's cooperation with Poland.
We know nothing about anyone smuggling weapons over any borders.
Okay? We are just hikers.
That's all.
It's going to be okay.
We were trained for this.
Both of us.
Remember the exercises at the Farm? Well, I liked the ones where you practice code breaking.
I wasn't exactly good at the field work.
You know? You can do this.
We can do this.
Yeah.
Not because we calculate the right statistics, but because we work together.
Yeah.
What do you think they want with us? I don't know.
We're not the first hikers taken by a foreign government.
We make pretty good bargaining chips.
Tell me what you see.
Annie and Reva carefully obeyed the border.
The Belarusians made an incursion into Poland to capture them.
Have they made any demands yet? No, but we expect them soon.
I wish we had people in country.
Do you want to pull some operatives from St.
Petersburg? I have a better idea.
Your references and experience are very impressive, Mr.
Wilcox.
It seems like you would be a great fit for our risk management division.
Thank you.
It would be a privilege.
Well, I feel I have a good sense of your strengths, so let's move on to your weaknesses.
Tell me about some mistakes you've made in your career and how you'd strive to avoid making them again.
I don't know if this qualifies as a mistake, but, uh, perhaps I've been too much of a diplomat in the past.
I'm so sorry.
Please ignore that.
Please excuse me.
I'll just be a moment.
Hi, Joan.
I'm just finishing a meeting at London Station.
I know you had a job interview in Berlin, but we can talk about that later.
Really, Joan, do we Annie and Reva have been captured, an incursion by the Belarusians.
I need you to go to Poland.
Of course.
What are the details? Auggie will send you all the intel we have to your encrypted cell.
Hello, young ladies.
I'm Max Kupala.
Welcome to Belarus.
You are under arrest for espionage.
Sir, there has been a terrible mistake.
We are just hikers enjoying the beautiful primeval forest you share with Poland.
We never crossed the border into your country.
Is that a fact? Yes.
I'm sure you've heard of those Americans on the borders of Iran, Syria, and North Korea.
They, too, said they were just hikers.
I wouldn't know.
Former US Presidents flew halfway over the world just to rescue them.
They must be very important hikers.
Nice bag.
You bought this? Yeah.
In a camping shop in Toronto.
Let's see what else you bought there.
Ah.
Gayle Beacham.
Hello.
Look here.
These readings are sensitive within inches.
So, it must be pulling from multiple satellites.
Military satellites.
You did not buy this in a shop.
Souvenir.
We'll use only civilian made rides and weapons.
This is off book.
There are no post-mission reports on this one.
No paperwork of any kind.
And if we crash or are captured, there are no extraction contingencies for us.
Let's go.
AII right.
We're honing in on their GPS signal.
Stay frosty.
Gentlemen, scopes out and scanning.
There! Go, go, go.
Do not lose that truck.
Check those guys out! Don't move! Where are the two women you were carrying? Ned, translate for me.
Tell him to get out of the truck.
His friend, too.
Where are the two women you were carrying? He says he doesn't know about any women.
The Secret Police paid him to drive this truck from Hrodna to Pinsk.
Joan, I found Annie's GPS, but no Annie.
Where are we? This is a terrible mistake.
We're just hikers.
I promise.
I've never met a spy, but I imagine they Iook nothing like us.
Sit.
If I could just call the Canadian Embassy, I'm sure I could sort this out.
There would probably be a reward for our safe return, and your hospitality, of course.
There are many problems with everything you say.
But let us start with the problem of the phone.
There is no phone.
If there was, I would not Iet you use it.
If there was a phone and I did let you use it, it would be tapped.
So, whatever you have to say to the Canadian Embassy, you can say to me.
Nothing to say? See, the lack of a phone is not your problem.
Please, you don't have to do this.
First, we eat.
Thank you.
Stop.
That could be poisoned.
They've had multiple opportunities to kill us already.
They're feeding us because they need us alive.
Besides, it's rude to not eat what you're served.
Well, I wouldn't want to be rude to our kidnappers.
Eat.
I promise you it's not poisoned.
How much are they asking? The Belarusians' cable demands for Annie and Reva's safe return.
It's couched as "urgent economic aid," but we all know what that means.
It will go straight into the pockets of the Secret Police.
Mmm-hmm.
Nevertheless, how quickly can we send the money? We can set up an untraceable off shore account and wire Before we get to that, Joan, what were your people even doing there? We were putting eyes on an extremely porous border.
We suspect large caches of weapons have been traveling over it from Central Asia into Europe.
I just wish you had given us a heads up.
The State Department could have worked with you on this.
So, is that why you're dragging your heels? Because we didn't read you in? No.
It's just that we would strongly prefer to wire the funds as a last resort.
My operatives have been captured.
In your view, what does a last resort look like? It's what happens after diplomacy fails.
But we haven't tried yet.
One of my undersecretaries can go to Minsk.
We don't have time for diplomacy.
Pay the money.
If you're not comfortable with that, I can send an extraction team.
A military presence would be even more problematic.
So, you're telling me that the State Department is not permitting me to pursue either option to bring my people home? Give me two days.
If our negotiations aren't fruitful by then, we'll send the money.
And you can guarantee my officers' safety until that time.
Joan, I have all my available resources on this.
We take the situation very seriously, I assure you.
I don't want assurances.
I want my people safe.
Joan.
The State Department wants me to pull you back.
You want me to pull back now? I said that's what they wanted.
I want you to remain in country.
Just find them.
Quick.
Check over there.
Thank you.
So, what's it like to work for the CIA? I wouldn't know.
I work in a travel book shop in Toronto.
But for being an American hiker, you know a lot about this country.
Huh? I'm not American.
I'm sorry.
A Canadian.
I've wanted to visit your country for a long time.
I admire the Belarusian people very much.
Yeah.
We are organized, hardworking, very kind to foreigners.
Your country has been sold, stolen, borrowed, occupied, and destroyed by everyone from the Vikings to Stalin.
Even now, you only exist because Russia allows you to.
Huh.
You learnt all that in a travel book store.
I like to read about the places I'm going to visit.
Is that also where you learned to speak Russian Iike a schoolgirl from Minsk? I like research.
Research? This is not research.
You didn't read a guide book about my home country.
You read the CIA files.
And they are pretty good in analyzing the vulnerabilities of a people, right? Huh? I just wish you could appreciate us for more than just our resilience.
We make a world-class motorcycle.
After being held against my will, I think I'll buy a Harley.
You better watch your pretty mouth.
I work for my government just like you work for yours.
We both have a job to do.
Right? Yours is to come here uninvited, and mine is to use your presence to help my country.
You're not going to help your country.
The money you get from this will go directly to the Secret Police.
And you'll get, what, 15%? Ten.
In both of our agencies, we have to work very hard to prove our worth.
To separate ourselves from our colleagues.
Right? I like working with my colleagues.
I have a family, and to support them, I have to prove myself all the time.
I hope your agency understands the simplicity of that.
Like I said, I don't have an agency.
Then, you will not stay here for much longer, in this cozy little house.
You have a good night.
I know Auntie Annie has some stickers in here somewhere.
I want the elephant ones.
I know you do, sweetie.
We'll find them.
AII right.
Now, if I was an elephant sticker, I would be there.
Mommy, did you find it? No, I didn't, sweetie.
Uh, why don't you guys run along and get a snack? And I will be right there.
You've reached Annie Walker at the Smithsonian Institution.
If I am out of the office, these messages will forward to my cell.
Thank you.
Yeah, hi.
Annie, it's your sister.
Little oops.
You left your passport here.
I know you've been in New York all week, so you probably didn't realize it's gone.
But if you're planning on traveling to Edinburgh for work tomorrow, you're going to need it.
Call me right away so I can figure out how I can get it to you.
Okay? Bye.
Follow my lead.
You okay? My stride is roughly three feet times an average of 1,700 steps per hour plus breaks.
Based on the general topography, I'd say we've gone about nine miles so far.
That actually helps me.
Helps you do what? Plan our route.
We've been heading southwest all morning.
Now, we can either go west towards Brest and cross the border before we hit the city, or we can go south towards Ukraine.
Uh, Poland is closer.
There's a US military base and an embassy with a record of our visas and a direct flight home.
So, it's expected, and the Secret Police will be looking for us there.
It's also where the CIA will find us.
Oh, Langley doesn't know this country Iike the Secret Police.
In a crisis, we should stick to protocol.
We have a greater chance of being rescued.
Reva, we can't count on being rescued.
We can't assume that the Secret Police won't cross other borders to come after us.
Doing the unexpected thing is the safer choice.
If we get caught again, they will not take us to some country house in the forest.
They'll take us to prison.
Okay, fine.
But I'm going to keep counting our steps.
I expected nothing less.
Auggie, just got your message.
Branch, thanks for coming down.
I need a favor.
The sister of one of my ops found her old passport.
A NOG passport? No, civilian.
But my operative's cover is that she's overseas, and I don't want her sister to keep digging.
What do you need? Who do you know in the Scottish Affairs Office? I know everyone.
Then I came to the right man.
Hi, Joan.
We hit a small snag.
Bad weather? No, but, uh, the old saying is true.
What goes up must come down.
We are going to have to re-rig the field control.
How long will that take? Ned, how long is this going to take? AII day.
Not long.
Uh, it's not a problem.
Okay, because I'm not only lying to the State Department, but to several members of Congress about your very existence in Belarus.
I need you to work quickly and very quietly.
If the Secret Police find out you're there, it could jeopardize Annie and Reva's safety.
Understood.
I don't think you understand.
This is a very serious situation.
My sister works for the Smithsonian and she was supposed to travel yesterday to Edinburgh on business, but she's forgotten her passport.
See? Here it is.
She's not answering her phone, and I can only assume that she's in some sort of airport security jail.
Is your sister a criminal? She's traveling without a passport.
What else would they do with her? Look, she's been all over the world, but she has no survival skills to handle a crisis like this.
As I've explained already, it's not possible to enter Scotland without a valid passport.
If your sister doesn't have it with her, then she's not in Scotland.
Well, then, where is she? Ugh.
My apologies.
My name is Andrew, and I work directly with the Ambassador.
How may I help you? My sister, Annie Walker, is supposed to be traveling to Scotland on business.
She has forgotten her passport, so it's very important that I get it to her.
Oh, of course.
Oh, let's see.
Um, she was booked on a British Airways flight, connecting through London.
Huh.
I see here that the US consulate in Edinburgh issued her temporary paperwork to allow her to enter.
Oh! Thank goodness.
I'd be happy to FedEx this to her via the consulate.
They will contact her tomorrow about picking it up.
Don't worry.
Well, thank you.
I can't tell you what a relief this is.
My pleasure.
Auggie.
It's Andrew.
- Hey, there.
You owe me a very nice bottle of single malt, my friend.
What are you doing? Do you hear someone coming? No, I'm checking to see if the water is safe.
We're upstream and it's constantly moving.
No industry in the area.
Yeah.
That's what water should taste like.
Go ahead.
Mmm.
I always used to make fun of my crunchy granola friends for taking bottles down to the stream to collect water, but now, I get it.
I still don't get tempeh, though.
Uh, dark berries growing in the forest.
There's a 79% chance those will kill you.
They're black elderberries.
They're delicious.
They're not poisonous.
Also good for fighting the flu.
That information wasn't available at the Farm or in the CIA file.
My dad was in the military, so we moved around a lot.
When I was little, he was stationed in Sweden, and there were a bunch of fruit trees on the base.
My sister taught me which ones were safe to eat.
In the summer, we would stuff ourselves.
My mom loved to bake berry pies, but we usually ate them all before she could.
Reva, look.
Potato farm.
We'll be able to get some real food and a warm place to sleep.
We're losing the light.
Are you kidding? Why would I be? We're fugitives.
Political prisoners on the run from the Secret Police who have charged us with espionage.
Look, we're not going up to some strangers in the middle of nowhere to ask for potatoes.
These are Roma people.
They've been oppressed by the government for centuries.
They're not going to report us.
How do you know that? Because I know.
So, what's your plan? You're just going to walk up and introduce yourself? Explain to them that we just so happen to have lost all of our hiking gear, money, and identification.
Yeah.
Good luck.
What Where are you going? Back to Poland.
That's what procedure dictates and that's what we should have done before.
Don't you understand? That's where the Secret Police will be looking for us.
Great.
Let them find me.
Because then they'll make an official demand for my release and the CIA will pay for it.
Better that than wandering around in the wilderness eating berries.
Reva, come on.
We talked about this.
We can't let fear Iead to bad decisions or to not trusting each other.
Please be careful.
Don't follow me.
I'm not going to leave you here.
Neither of us should be alone.
Reva! Annie? I'm here.
Okay.
I need you to answer a few basic questions.
What's your name? Reva Kline.
Where are you? Unfortunately, still in Belarus.
Let me help you up.
Okay.
Ow! Damn it.
Okay.
AII we have to do is make it across that field.
I know you think that going to the farm is a bad idea.
But you're hurt and we need help.
I'm right about these people.
I'd bet my life on it.
Introducing ourselves to strangers out here means betting both of our lives.
I understand.
Come on.
Ow! Ooh.
Sura.
Sura.
Reva.
Wake up.
They're coming for us.
We've got to get out of here.
What? Okay, I'll help you.
Auggie.
Any news? The Belarusians sent a new cable changing their demands.
Instead of they now want 80, and they've changed the timeline we have to deliver.
They want the money in 24 hours or Annie and Reva will be sent to a government prison.
That's strange.
Prison is a standard Ieverage play.
No, I mean, why are they changing the terms so late in the game? They have no reason to think we won't send the money, unless What? Unless they've escaped.
Demanding more money in less time is supposed to make us panic.
That way, we'll send the funds before our operatives find a way to report in.
It would be brilliant if it wasn't so desperate.
I can't act on that.
It's just conjecture.
Jai.
Auggie, is Joan there? Right here.
There are rumors throughout the countryside of two foreign women traveling alone.
Their descriptions match Annie and Reva's.
Wherever they were being held, they've escaped.
I just said that.
Nothing? Nobody? Okay.
Joke all you want, but our situation on the ground requires that we be very creative.
What do you mean, "on the ground"? Just a figure of speech.
Hey, if you need it, I've got some ideas about where they're headed.
I can't I don't think I can go any further.
Yes, you can.
I know you can.
AII right.
Come on.
Come on.
Okay.
Come on.
I got you.
Come on.
Come on.
Whoa! Whoa! Look, we have to get across that river.
We can walk back downstream and cross at a lower point, but with them after us, we don't have time.
Okay.
We have to jump.
I know it's scary.
But on the other side of that river is the Ukraine.
We can contact the CIA station and get a flight home.
I know you can do it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I can.
Fear only prevents us from making clear decisions in the moment, right? Right.
Besides, I swam varsity at USC.
Come on.
You okay? Come on.
We're almost there.
No.
My leg.
I think it's broken.
Put your arm over mine.
That's Max.
Annie, they're here.
Okay? They found a way across the river.
It's Jai.
Come on.
Come on.
You got it? Yeah.
Hey.
It seems Belarus is using this fake village as a holding station for weapons and vehicles destined for hostile nations.
The CIA and Warsaw have been informed of this development.
We will be sending operatives to the area for further investigation.
Our case officers should be very proud of their good work.
Hey, congratulations on your promotion to the Advanced Technology Desk.
They're lucky to have you.
Thanks.
Maybe we can work together again.
Although I'd prefer for you to be the one in the field.
I mean, clearly, you don't need anyone to count your steps for you.
I'll see you.
Auggie.
Hey, there.
Walk with me.
AII right.
I heard about Danielle.
I'm so sorry for all the trouble I caused you.
Oh, Branch did most of the legwork.
Well, I'll apologize to him, then.
Uh-uh.
Hey.
Don't you ever apologize for any of it.
You have someone in your life who cares about you, who would take an entire day to go down to a foreign embassy just to help you out.
That's an amazing thing.
Speaking of which, here's your passport.
And I texted your sister on your cell phone number so she wouldn't be worried.
Thanks.
No problem.
Glad you're back.
You weren't worried about me, were you, Auggie? Not for a second.
Hey.
Hey.
Jai said you basically gave him directions where to find me.
How did you know I would go to the Ukraine instead of back to Poland? Because it's unexpected.
You always do the unexpected thing.
You're back! What a trip.
I'm exhausted.
I got your text.
So, everything worked out with the passport? Yes.
Thank you so much.
Let me see it.
Uh Mmm.
Look at your cool stamp.
Yeah.
So, am I a hero or what? You would have been totally stuck without me, right? It's true.
You got me home.
AII right.
What else do we need around here? Mmm, coffee.
Ice cream.