Chapter Four
Author's note: thanks for the review Captain L, and the Animorphs copy is intentional, but where did you get Tom Clancy's books and Call of Duty from? This is about (in part at least.) Command and Conquer.
Boris Romanov
1830 hours
Undisclosed Location
Libya Desert
We moved to visit Prince Kassad, a GLA General and a very sneaky individual. We went to his main base (or at least, I THOUGHT it was his main base. He keeps changing them.) General Leang and I where moving through the base fairly easily, while Natasha kept bumping into buildings as she couldn't see them. (Leang and I often studied the base layout of all GLA Generals in case of a rebellion.)
"I see you've found us out, Commander." A middle-Eastern accented voice said from behind me. Leang and I turned, and saw Hassassin Kassad. Natasha, however, seemed to blunder into a SCUD Missile causing it to be set off a few seconds later. Kassad started yelling in Arabic at his troops telling them (wherever they where) to get back to work.
"Perhaps we should go into my Palace." He said after he got his troops back under control.
We went into his Palace, and Natasha was stunned at the decoration. Leang and me though, had seen it quite a lot during the GLA wars as they where now called. Normally, during those troubled times, I went to the legitimate governments asking for help to remove the GLA threat. The people I visited usually had royal palaces, and where quite well decorated. I normally didn't care much for GLA Palaces (in point of fact I usually blew them up…) we went to a secluded area of the Palace, Kassad never likes to be near windows, and he said, "So Commander, how did you find out about us?"
In silent reply, I showed him the photograph. He grinned, and said, "Well, as you know I am heavily involved in criminal activities. The wars where no exception."
Saturday, 10, 1945
Prince Kassad
0445 hours
Zurich Switzerland
Black Market outpost
I was walking through the Black Market, looking for someone who would buy the cube I had. So far, the highest offer I got was only 50 Euros. I kept trying, but that's all I got. Eventually, I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble, and just return the cube to its rightful owner. I put it in the Russian Embassy with a note signed "A Friend." Making it seem like I found the person who stole it, and returning it, in exchange for a finder's fee. Then, I started to make my way towards the Zoo. I walked through it for a while, being careful of security cameras and other detection methods. Eventually, I couldn't decide on what to acquire, plus, people would be around soon -it was almost opening time- so I decided to leave. I then disappeared into the city.
Sunday, 11, 1945
Natasha Romanov
1050 Hours
Zurich, Switzerland
Russian Embassy
Since the normal mail service didn't run on Sundays, (and because most of my mail was sent via the Russian Embassy) I went there to pick up my weekly mail. There was the usual, a military-issue Survival Pack from my brother (one .45 Caliber Automatic handgun with two boxes of ammunition, four days emergency rations, $100 dollars in Rubles, $100 dollars in gold, etc.) letters from my father, (the Soviet Union head General at the time.) and various things from my mother. (Usually news of the war, books, food, and some money in case I needed It.). But today, there was something else. A package with a note attached to it. I read it; it said, "Hello ma'am, I understand you're looking for this. I found the person that stole it, and he's taken care of. Now, I DO expect some kind of reward for this, however it doesn't have to be too much. Signed, A Friend."
I opened the package, and to my relief, the blue cube was there. One of the guards asked in Russian, "What is that?"
"Just a gift I got when I was young." I lied, but the Guard seemed to buy it.
I went back to the hotel, and told Leang and Alexis about the news.
"So, I guess leaving it in the safety deposit box is out of the question." Alexis said. "Maybe we should leave it in the forest somewhere."
"Nyet, no. It's too dangerous. Someone could stumble across it, or glimpse it out of the corner of their eye as I did. I think we should leave it with the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti." I said.
"The what?"
"The KGB," I said. "Russian Internal Security. Not unlike your FBI, NSA or CIA."
"That's the first place anyone would look for it." Leang said. "Perhaps you should leave it with someone you trust. Your brother, per say."
"No, I don't want him getting involved. Plus, he is already fighting a war. If we let him know about this, there is the possibility we'll get pulled INTO that war."
"Well, while you two argue about this, I have a job interview to get to. See you later." Alexis said then left.
I sat down, and turned on the Television to a news report.
"In world news," the anchor began. "The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has been pushed out of Canada and Alaska by the Canadians themselves."
The Canadians pushed us out of Canada and Alaska? I thought. How did THAT happen?
"Natasha!" Leang called. "Let's go get some fresh air. I have a feeling that today's going to be one of those days."
"Oh, I was already about to go." I said. "My Brother is on leave for a few days and he's decide to visit me. You want to meet him?" I asked.
Leang smiled. "Okay, let's meet your brother."
1550 hours
Airport
My brother's plane was at least an hour late when it finally came in.
"Flight 326 has now arrived." The PA said in German.
I got up and walked towards the Customs Gate. Boris was answering the Officials questions, and later walked out to collect his luggage.
"So," he began. "This is Switzerland." He looked around, obviously looking for me. I went behind him.
"Boo." I said. He spun in alarm and faced me. He smiled and hugged me, a little too tightly I might add.
"Boris, want to let up a bit?" I asked, trying to breathe. He let me go, and I caught my breath again. We went to a bench and sat down. Leang joined us a few seconds later, evidently lost in the airport.
"Who's your friend?" Boris asked.
Leang held out her hand, and said: "T'ing Leang." She said, wincing slightly at my brother's grip.
"A pleasure to meet you, T'ing."
"Likewise, but can just call me "Leang". Everyone else does."
"Okay, Leang." He said. "Does anyone know a good restaurant here in Zurich? That flight has made me hungry."
The three of us went to one of the many coffee shops in Zurich. Leang and I ordered our usual- a small cup of tea and a croissant- while my brother had a medium coffee and a bagel.
"So Boris," Leang began. "How is the war going?"
"So far, so good. We've taken over Germany and now we're moving onto France. On the eastern front, we're trying to take Japan, but it's so far slow going due to those blasted typhoons."
I gave Leang a look.
"What? If she wants to know about how things are going, then I have no qualms of telling her." Boris said.
We later finished our snack, and went to the hotel. I showed Boris around the room, and told him that I had a roommate. He said that he had no problems with that, and that he'd sleep on the floor for the time he was here. Eventually, Alexis came back from her job interview.
"Hey, Natasha! I got the job!" she hollered.
My brother gave her a look and said, "excuse me miss, but do you have the right hotel room?"
Alexis gave my brother a look (partly to decipher his accent.) and said, "Who's your friend, tash?"
"Alexis Alexander, meet Boris Romanov, my brother." I said.
"Ah… so this is the guy I've heard so much about." She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
We then spent the next few hours listening to Boris's war stories. Some about air engagements, some about front-line combat, some urban warfare, and some stories about being on submarines.
"So then, I decided that my Sparrow missiles where ineffective. I went to the two sidewinders, got a lock, and fired. They traced the plane and destroyed it." He concluded his latest air battle.
"Wow," Alexis said. "So that's what an air battle is really like?"
"Da, it is very fast up there. Very easy to get killed."
Eventually, I got him to start some hand-to-hand combat training with us. It went fairly well, up until Alexis got thrown for her fifth time, then she just gave up. (I'll admit, I was getting tired of being thrown as well, but I managed to throw him a few times.) Leang was also not very good to start with, but she quickly improved. In fact, she even managed to throw him a few times.
After a few hours of learning some survival tricks from Boris (such as lessening the effects of torture, general wilderness survival skills, and some first aid training.) we decided that that was enough for today.
End of chapter four.
