Last week, i got a interesting review from a reader that i think i should address

"Why do I get the feeling that Kayle and Pina is going to be a thing. Oh God please say they're not going to be a thing."

Well i can assure you that it wont happen because Kayle and Pina are both straight and i myself found out that "girl on girl" thing is extremely hard to write. However, homosexuality do exists in Falmart society as it did in classical Rome where people didnt really looked down on this kind of stuff so at least i will mention this subject once or twice in my story.

Lev Sorokin watched the last guests leave the restaurant and couldn't help but be graceful of this. He hated the hustle and bustle of the city life and had already spent more than half of his life avoiding them. Growing up in the middle of the Far East part of Russia, where the prairies stretched out of sight then being molded in a concrete forest, to him, was a unnatural thing , like a bear was put in chain and cage. Da Nang was just a small city compared to Moscow or St. Petersburg but it was crowded and noisy enough to make his nerves tensed.

"Do you want to have anything else?" The waiter came to his table and asked Lev in English because his Russian was proved to be far more terrible as he was greeting him two hour ago. "Desert?"

"Thank you, but if it was fine then I want another plate of roasted peanuts, please." Lev thought for a moment and then add "No, two plate of roasted peanuts ."

"Anything else? A bottle of Volka, for example. "He suggested," We have the best Vodka in the city, originally produced in Russia."

"I don't drink." Or to be more precise, I used to drink. "Roasted peanuts, please."

"Really?" The waiter didn't seem to believe his answer and he had a reason to do so. How many Russians you had met was vegetarian and said no to Volka? "What about you, my gorgeous lady?" He turned around and asked the wo... girl sat next to Lev.

"Me?" The girl was caught by surprise. Her two cheeks flushed with that compliment "Oh come on, my dear husband, adding some wine to our romantic dinner is more than just fine" She said, "A bottle of Black Bear, please "

When the waiter had left. Her "dear husband" chuckled:

"You should not do that, Mischa "

"Do what? If you don't order drinks, it will be very impolite. Who on earth goes to a restaurant this big to only have roasted peanuts with mineral water? "

"I'm well aware of that. But it is not what I mean" Lev sighed. Hoàng had taught him quite a bit about the custom in this strange country but most of them didn't work well for someone who rarely went out and socialized like Lev "What I mean is why you keep calling me husband or darling for? We had agreed to pretend to be two colleagues went out for a late dinner already. Remember that?"

"Don't you like me as your wife? "Mischa gave him a sly glance, beautiful golden brown curls of her lightly touched skinny shoulders as she giggled. Like a daisies growing in the wild as she always is . Lev admited that he did got tempted by the idea but Mischa was only of half his age and whenever he looked at her, his mind was thinking of someone else.

"Not that. If they thought we are husband and wife, they would ask questions. Question that I don't want to answer, questions like if we have children? Where did we meet for our first date? Where our house was? Downtown or suburb or about the color of lounge chair in the living room for example? I'm sure one of our answers will be in conflict with the other's. "

"Nah..you and your always-on-alerts attitude would overcast the whole universe! "Mischa resentfully leaned her back in the chair, folded her arms then frowned "That is why I hate going out with you. Next time, I would go alone."

But you always invite me to go out with you as well as accept my invitation all the time.

For some time, with a little of surprise, Lev had found out that Mischa had a typical behavior of every females he had pleasure to meet. She might meant the opposite of what she was saying and she would not do whatever she she swore to do.

But still Lev hadn't fingured out how the girl in front of him could pass the qualifying exam then joint the rank of Specnaz yet ? During twenty years of dragging his ass from Chechnya to Bosina then East of Urkanie recently, he had encountered all kinds of people. Quick cunning Kazakhs with eyes as tiny as two peas, wine lover Cossacks who brought the scent of herring and Vodka to everywhere they went, and those terrified looking guys from the surrounding areas of Moscow who got so much tattoos on their backs that would make people mistaked OKP-1 from some kind of Bratva gang. The most insidious and awful collection of society according to Lev. Some of them he might consider as friends, the rest was so bizarre that he didn't want to be in the same room with. Sometimes Lev had a weird feeling that the Specnaz was just an excuses, a place for the gorvenment to get rid of the most insufferable alcoholic maniacs once the prison could no longer handle them.

To a world sunk deep in vodka, blood and mud like that, the emergence of Mischa Galkin seemed like a strange bright color that couldn't be explain with normal logic. Four years ago, Lev had to rolled his eyes when seeing her standing there, at the door of his room in the baggy uniform and that tiny beret, smiling and chilling as if she were in the middle of summer camp

"Hello there. I'm Mischa, nice to meet you, sir".

Then he had to make a few phone calls to check her transfer order and a few months after that, whenever hearing her giggle on the march through forests of Donbass, Lev was even more sure about some mistakes had been made along the way.

"I have not decided where I will go tomorrow. This city has so many attractions and we only have two days left." She took a small map out of her pocket, looked thoughtful "Lev, do you want to go to Aquarium? "

"I want to stay back at the hotel. "

"Then we should go hinking. I count five mountains around here and the guide said on the top of every mountain, there would be a temple. There are rumors about how holy they are. "

"Holy? "Lev suddenly thought of the priests and their Holy toenails in his childhood and couldn't help laughing. It was also considered to be extremely holy, so holy that the monastery had to keep it in a small golden chest and rarely put the relic on the show for the public. Strange thing was when Lev asked whose nail it was, no one could give him a straight answer "I didn't expect you to believe those things Mischa."

"You don't believe someone above is watching over us?" She said as she looked up at the ceiling "I have ... met him once, you know"

"We have already talked about this." Lev sighed in desperation "You was in shock back then and lost quite a lot of blood. What you saw was just an illusion and that's it "

Mischa was shot at noon on June 2th in a small town near Donetsk airport. A failed raid. They had spent the entire week snooping, planing every direction for the attack, scouting for safe route, identifying each machine gun emplacements but totally forgot about the sniper in the church bell tower. Belov died immediately after the first shot, the second one hit right on Mischa's chest. Lev was forced to ordered the retreat and the whole squad had to run for their lives through the swamp under a strom of bullets, with a dying teammate on their backs. Up to five times, Lev had thought breathed her last breath, but no, Mischa was somehow alive when they brought her to the hospital. A miracle, god's will or result of doctor's amazing skill. Lev wasn't sure anymore, but Mischa believed all three and started going to church since then.

"Dyor believed me. He said it was a great blessing to meet God almighty and I had to be very special. "

"That guy will believe the unicorn is real as long as he finds his way to get into your ..." Lev paused. Anyway, he shouldn't be too crude in front of a girl. "He said that just to please you."

Fortunately, Dyor was discharged and he had one less problem to slove. Mischa has a lot of pursuers since it was too hard for the men to keep eyes off that blue polka dots dress and such a lovely smile. Lev didn't know if she did it deliberately or not but it was clear that for years, he had to play the role of a reluctant watchdog, growling and chasing away crooks around her. Lev in fact did it for the greater good . Having a women in a combat unit was a bad idea because sooner or later, jealousy would undermine the solidarity between men and men so it would be better if no one could have Mischa for himself. Moreover, Lev felt worried about his friend who was only half his age. Although outside she seems confident, optimistic, sometimes somewhat reckless but still a young girl after all. Somehow, Lev always had the feeling that the outward appearance was just paper shields that Mischa set up to cover up a fragile soul. Although it was only his speculation, prevention was better than cure.

"You always have an aversion to Dyor."

"He talked too much and it made my head hurt."

"Doesn't it mean you hate me too? When I was a kid, my friends said I was the mouthful one. But as you can see, I never talked too much, i just say things that I need to say and tell jokes. Tanya was a mouthful one. You haven't met her, have you? Of course not, she moved to Tula with the family when I was fifteen and eventually end up with a wood merchant in the east. Last year she called me and lamented about everything. She said life in the countryside bore her, her husband went out all day to leave her at home alone. Poor girl, She had to go to town on foot to buy food every week because the road was so bad that no cars can ... "

Lev kept letting Mischa talked on and on as usual. At home, his wife was also fond of this habbit. It seem like instinct did not allow women to remain silent for too long.

"Well, so I didn't .."Mischa paused as she saw the amusement on Lev's face, her cheeks turned red "I just say ... too much again."

"No" Lev shook his head "Not at all."

After eating three plates of roasted peanuts and drinking the entire bottle of wine, the two left the bar. It was close to mid-night, roadside shops were closed, visitors were walking away, and soon they found themselves were only souls left on the wide avenue. Lev looked around for a taxi but none could be seen right now.

"We can walk." Mischa suggested.

"And that gonna be a very long one, our hotel is on the other side of the river."

"Is that your excuse? Come on."

If it was a normal day, two kilometers was not a problem to Lev but if anyone had a chance to spend the whole day with Mischa, then they would understand his hesitance. His knees were tired and his hips ached. She walked as if running. When Lev took a step, she had already taken two or three. He couldn't understand where Mischa got the hell of stamina from and even now, she didn't show any signs of fatigue.

"Maybe I'm getting old Mischa, my heart need a new piston " Lev said

"Citing Sholokhov again?" Mischa frowned, "I have to be honest with you that I'm not a fan of his work at all."

"Why? "

"They only always have sad endings and that is the reason why I don't like them? Aksinia died on the hand of Gergori, Andrey Solokov got fired, lost all of his children, his wife and even his godamn truck. Isn't an happy ending with everyone still alive would be more perfect? "

"He is a realistic writers not writing children books. Our life is reflected in what he wrote. "

"I tell you that there is nothing interesting about reading other people's sad stories. Let say if I got a cut on my hand, should I read the story of a person who lost both his hand to find myself lucky? "

"Sometimes a sad ending is inevitable, Mischa. Just like life. "

For a moment, Lev saw the fire burn in her green eyes.

Is she angry?

Until now, he had never witnessed Mischa being angry, sad or mourning. Even in the most dangerous and depressing situation, the smile never faded on that lovely lips of her.

"If we have already known the outcome," she said with a tone so icy that could cause blood frozen. "What the hell are we fighting for?"

Then Mischa turned around and trudged away, leaving Lev stood there dumbfounded, muttering to himself that why he was so stupid.

Oh my God ! What have I just done?

Lev hurriedly followed her in remorse and confusion. He had made a girl mad at him and didn't know how to handle it. Of course, he did knew some tricks to ease the storm in the girls' hearts, but that was the story of twenty-two years ago, when Lev was still young man and was pursuing his wife. Now, he was just an old man with wrinkles on his forehead and wounds in heart that never healed.

"Maybe I will go to the aquarium tomorrow with you." After rummaging through his memories, Lev thought that this was the best way "Or go hinking if you like."

Mischa didn't answer, her hand was put into the pockets and her eyes fixed on the empty road ahead where street lamps illuminated their pale yellow light on the half old, half new houses. Some houses in the city were built in pre-war, Hoang told him, but some might be older and even him didn't their actual age.

"Or we can go to see the water puppet show. Hoang told me that if I didn't watch it, it would be a waste." He saw a paper on the wall opposite the hotel this morning. A colorful poster with five dolls in traditional clothes standing hand in hand and because the advertisement only encapsulates the three big yellow words "PUPPET IN WATER" without any further explanation, so at first he did not understand what this show really was. Were they going to swim and control puppets at the same time? If that was the case, Lev also hopes to witness for once.

Mischa was always interested in weird things. When they were in the north, she demanded to see a thing called "Opera on the river" and insisted on him came along. It was a mistake, he did not understand the Vietnamese was bad enough but getting suck in a crowd of people on the river bank was even more terrible experience, especially for a man like Lev. The sound of people laughing and talking, eulogies from the orchestra and high female vocal ranges made him want to go mad.

"Has anyone told you that you are bad at consolation, Captain?" Mischa asked, half of her excitement returned "it maybe rude of me to say this, Lev but I really feel sorry for your woman."

"She get used to it already" Lev had a wide smile. "Every time I cried, my father gave me some beating so terrible that I had to stop crying if didn't want to die. God, the old man's slaps hurt like hell. The military was worse, their kind of comfort can make me actually died. "

"Is Tataya alright? "

Lev had taken Mischa home to meet his wife several times and since then the two acted as if they were some kind of long lost sister. Indeed, despite the difference in age, his wife and Mischa looked like sibling. Soft brown hair, amber eyes, talking non-stop about women stuffs and humming the tune of Million Roses when making cake. Coincidentally, they were both from St. Petersburg. He was also glad that Tatyana has a fellow countrywoman to talk with, Ryzan was too empty and remote for a lady of old capital.

"She is doing fine, she just bought back a piano from second hand shop, you know? The next time you visit, you will have chance to enjoy the works of Bach and Mozart. "

"You are so lucky to have her, a house, a place to go back. "

There was something tormented in that sentence , like an old wound suddenly leaked blood. Lev suddenly realize that he did not know anything about the civil life of his colleague. Mischa didn't mention much about the time before joining the army. She was the only child of a middle income from , moderate grade in high school but exellent at physical ativities, those he knew for sure because her personal file were very detail on it, but there were some strange things. Mischa's mother name was Antonia Benzi while her last name was Galkin, and the place where her father's name should be filled was a blank. Lev guessed it was possible that Mischa was an adopted child, but often adopted children took the last name of the family took them in. Beside that, everything was blurry. When it was time for the vacation, Mischa always returned to St. Petersburg for several days and returned but ...

"What about you?" It seemed like it was a good time for Lev to be a nosy.

When Lev finished speaking, Mischa suddenly turned around and put a finger on his lips, as soft as a kiss.

"Shhh ..." She whispered. "Women always have their own secrets."

The girl smiled wryly and then continue to walk indifferently, the space was filled with giggle as her shoes pounding on the sidewalk. Lev stood still, feeling the heat on his lips melt into the cold. Somehow, he felt very comfortable.

"Is that a kiss?" He asked in confusion.

"What?" Mischa called back. She had already been way ahead of him with her ridiculous speed "I can't hear you."

"Nothing!" He said louder "You looks much more charming from behind. "

Mischa gave a bright smile:

"I will officially withdraw my comment earlier. You really aren't that bad, Lev. "

" Thank you" Lev said.

Like a daisies growing in the wild as she always is

In the early of the morning, Lev was waked by the sound of the phone ringing. The Russian captain got off bed and got grumpy a bit because as he remember, I didn't order a wake-up call yesterday. At the other end of the line, the receptionist tried to explain to Lev in a broken language that she called Russian that a man named Anton wanted to meet him in the lobby. Due to the hotel's regulations not allowing her to reveal the number of guests' rooms, Lev had to drag his butt down to the ground floor and meet that Anton guy face to face. He, to be honest, was not surprised as he saw Dmitriy Dmitriev down there, standing with his back against the counter and a black suitcase at his feet. Dimitri's hair had been as grey as autumn sea since they first knew each other in Chechnya, and that how he got the nickname "old man" from other comrades in 314th infantry batalion. After fifteen years, his hair didn't change much, only the face now looked like a real old man.

Lev invited his old friend to have breakfast because Dimitri said he had nothing left in his stomach since yesterday noon. They finished all six smoked sausages, four fried eggs and two delicious apple pie before going into the main business. The conversation started with the swing that Lev gave him in his wedding day as a gift, somehow, every time they met, that damn swing always appeared. The old friend was very pleased heard his gift had been just added a new layer of oil to prevent termite last month. Dimitri then started talking about Tataya and the close friendship between him and his family. Listen to it, Lev immediately interrupted.

"I still don't understand what you mean, Dimitri. Why are you here?"

Dmitriy Dmitriev was silent for a moment and put the cigarette on his lips, two fingertips on his right hand almost turned yellow

"OKP-1 has for a long time been long under the influence of Federal Security Service and the Federal Security Service only obey and received orders directly from the Kremlin. Any mission carried out by OKP-1 is at the highest level of security. "He said, the smoke lurked around him had the smell of roasted coffee." Lev, I have been acquainted with you for a long time, your wife is also very fond of me and I was even the godfather of your child so what I'm going to say here you should listen carefully. "

"Alright, Alright I'm listening." He nodded but couldn't help giggling "Let's see how serious it is that you have to come here yourselves."

"Tomorrow, they will contact you."

"They? Federal Security Service?" That did surprised Lev. They had never made a direct contact with him or any other member of the unit. According to the procedure, Lieutenant General Adrey Chenko would received the order directly, then order went to commanding staffs of OKP-1 before delivered to Lev.

"Who else do you think of?" Dimitri said indifferently. "That's why I'm here, old friend."

"Are you my contact?" Lev asked even though he did not think he was.

"No. We don't have this conversation. Remember that well." The gray hair man chucked "For the record, I didn't plan to come here. I'm on my way from Peru to Russia, Da nang is the first transit point. At the airport I got the in the wind so I took the opportunity to find you before they come."

"How do you know..." Lev paused. He picked up the glass of lemonade and took a sip. Sweet like candy, too much sugar to his taste. " Forget it, man. Say what you must."

It was best not to be curious about why Dimitri knows his colleague would be here tomorrow as well as how he knews he sleeps at this hotel. The trip to Da Nang was completely spontaneous. Mischa was the one who made this odd suggestion to the 2nd Vietnamese army corps commander and the way they responded was equally strange. Within four days, Lev and Mischa and the translator Hoang could freely explore Da Nang and rest at the most luxurious hotel in the city.

The task of training and introducing new weapons for Vietnamese special forces suddenly turned into an excursion trip. Honestly, Lev felt extremely embarrassed about this and almost refused to go if not for Mischa's stubbornness

"As I said, they will come to see you tomorrow." Dimitri said, "Those clown guys will call themselves Olga or Shasha, every time I go undercovere I use the name Shasha. But it doesn't matter now, what I want to say here is their purpose. They come to offer you a mission and it is extremely dangerous."

Wrong choice of word. The FSB, or in he rather said the Kremlin never offered, they commanded.

"Extremely dangerous?" Lev repeated with a smile on his lips, but Dimitri's serious gaze shut it down right away "How dangerous is it?"

"Dangerous and deadly" Dimitri rubs a cigarette into the ashtray "It's the nature of the world we live right? Yours and mine. But this time it's different. Have you ever heard of the name of Sankai?"

"Never have the plessure" Lev shook his head "It sounds like Japanese. Name of someone or a location?"

"A hot spring located in Hakone, Tokyo. A normal place with no tatical value before the FSB decides to raid it in about four months ago. Military style of course with the best of Alpha Team. "

Raiding a hot spring right in the middle of the Japanese capital, an nation that signed Mutual Treaty with America !? Lev did not know what the hell the Kremlin was thinking to act like that. And more importantly, what were their goals?

"Can you guess the result? Our twenty operator went into that cursed hot spring and no one came out.

Alpha teams of FSB are better than any other unit in Specnaz. The selection conditions were very strict and the training was so extreme that the number of Alpha member died in combat was lower than in the training. The FSB only needs disciplined killing machines, not some random thugs. If the person who was telling the story wasn't Dimitri, then Lev would immediately consider it as gossip. It was hard to believe a notorious force such as Alpha got ambushed by the Japanese so bad that none of them could even escape.

"Well it have been a while since my last rescue mission and suicidal one." Lev sighed at the possible propect of him soon joining his comrades in captivity "But at least, the Japanese wouldn't treat prisoner badly like the Chechen separatist did."

"There wont be a rescue mission, Lev." Dimitri bitterly shook his head. "They're all dead."

"Dead?"

"That's right. Dead or missing. I know this sounds unbelievable but it's the truth."

The Lev face then turned dark. He had vaguely figured out why the two FSB agents came to see him tomorrow. Of all the precious virtures of the FSB, the guts to accomplish the mission despite casualties was always outstanding.

"Now I understand why you use the word "dangerous" , Dimitri." Said Lev, his voice was low as things got serious "Do you want me to disobey orders?"

"They are not your superior. OKP-1 is still under the control of the military, not the FSB. For the love of God Lev, please do not do this. It is not the same as when we were in Chechnya or Ukraine. Hakone had just forced the FSB to take action to restore its honor. Of course they would act, an impulsive act and only God know if you are about to become a scarifice or not. "

Lev knit his hands together, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. What to do now? Dimitri perfectly had areason to tell him to turn it down because it was clear as day that he would likely add his name into death list while Tatyana at home must stand in line to receive subsidy every month. But could he refuse? Rejecting the FSB means rejecting the Kremlin's order, rejecting the request from the head of the government. It was only a matter of time before he was expelled from the army, his bank account was frozen and they got sue for some stupid crime.

"The coffee here is pretty good." Lev had had his final decision. "You should also try a cup before you go."

"Looks like ... I just come here for nothing," Dimitri said in disappointment. He then stood up, "I have to go now, goodbye."

"Is that all?" Lev laughed "A dead man would be mor convincing better than you was, Dimitri."

"I know how stubborn you are, Lev. I seem I cant change your mind but I wish you luck anyway."

"I was born lucky." Lev pointed to the scar near the temple. A long incision from the ear to the nape "How many people have shrapnel plugged into their heads and still alive?"

"Some bastards are hard to kill than others" He laughed except "Send my greetings to Mischa."

"I will but I warn you she wont be happy to know you here and not deliver it yourself ."

Lev accompanied Dimitri to the hotel gate. He asked the receptionist to call a taxi so that the two could have more time to chit chat before the car took Dimitri to the airport. When being asked if he intended to let Mischa join the next mission, Lev laughed and replied that if he didn't do that, he would get killed by her.

"It seems our little girl is getting more fierce than ever before."

"But not wiser," Lev said. "She's like a wild horse racing with her shadow."

"Never compare women with horses, Lev. God, after all these year and you are still that dull?" Dimitri laughed as he sat on the back seat "I feel sorry for Tatyana for marrying someone like you."

"This isnt the first time I hear that." He said and closed the car door.

Throughout the day, he took Mischa to visit the aquarium and the five idyllic temples as promised. Since Lev decided not to mention anything happened in this morning, their little trip went on in peace, except for an unfortunate incident; A local man violently snatched her Dior handbag at the foot of the mountain. Even when wearing a skirt, Mischa's fist was also terribly strong, enough to send the poor bastard straight to the hospital on a stretcher. Fortunately for them, their interpreter ,Hoang was also present at the scene, so the two of them wouldn't go to the police station to explain why a man had just been beaten half dead. It wasn't a easy task to begin with because Lev saw a lot of non- stop talking, hand waving, finger pointing were exchange between Hoang and two policemen in green uniform.

"The police agreed to let we go." Hoang returned to them after a long argument, sweat was on his forehead "The hospital say the guy is not dead so I told them the denfence ministry could handle paper work for us ."

"Do you really need to do that?" Frustrated Lev scold at her "He just tried to steal a handbag."

"A handbag?" The young girl raised her voice. "Dior's 203 silver calf leather model with limited numer. Do you know how much I have to pay and how long I have to wait to get my hand on one? A woman has just been attacked and you two turn to defend the criminal. What the hell wrong with you guys? "

Then she walked away in rage, leaving Lev and Hoang stood there staring at each other.

"Women." Lev chuckled and shook his head. "

"She will cool down soon." Hoang smiled "All you need to do is begging her for forgiveness, Captain."

"That responsibility belongs to her boyfriend." He immediately pressed on that matter. The rumor that he and Mischa were a couple was spread all over OKP-1 for a while now, though Lev found every ways possible to stop it. They whispered to each other from the barracks to the pub, even Lev's superior knew the story. And things get worse when he receives countless praise than disgusting snorts. "Do you want to take that responsibility?"

"I ... No, sir. You are ..." He was too scared to finish

"Her commanding officer. That's right and we will never talk about this subject again. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, now I want you to call Taxi. It is time to leave this damn place."

The panicked young man nodded, rushing down the stairs leading down the hill. Each time he looked at Hoang, Lev could see nothing but a panicked mouse in the corner of the kitchen. He was afraid of his loud voice, afraid of Mischa's freakishness and almost afraid of everything.

After finishing high school, Hoang went to the city to attend college dream like many other young people, but his happy days lasted only one and a half years. His father at home threw family fortune into a risky business before threw aways his son's educational path. Hoang went to Russia as export labor after being adviced by relatives. There are many ways to do that and he was surprised when Hoang chose to do it illegally. The nineteen-year-old boy arrived in the Siberia in June on a small truck with only clothes on his back, living in a even smaller room and working for an illegal sewing factory in the basement. His life could have continuted like thay for years to come if it wasn't for two fellow thieves taking pity on him.

They shared with him every pork thighs, can of vegetable, strawberry jars stolen from the supermarket nearby and almost shared the prison sentence. He received a three-month public service at the nursing home where Tatyana worked then became a offical employee there. When Lev told his wife that he would go to Vietnam for a few weeks, she introduced Hoàng to him. Despite being small and thin, Hoang also proved to be active and agile.

It was sunset when they arrived at the hotel with their knees tired and their faces covered with sunburn. After dinner, Lev immediately went into bed and fell asleep. That night, he had a weirdest dream ever. In the dream, Mischa was a brown fox, he was a bear and Hoàng was a goat with a broken horn. They were in the middle of a forest, facing a ghostly creature with body seemed to be made of mist and jaw made of steel lurking in the darkness that surrounded them.

Was it some kind of big cat? he thought to himself but then immediately changed his mind when he heard the shiverling howl ripped through the night. And at the moment that creature was charging at them with terrified ferocity, he awaked, sweating on his bed.

The dream distracted him all morning. It was strange that Lev could not get it off his head. At noon, two FSB agents posing as tourists also appeared as Dimitri foretold. One of the two was as big as a bull with a shiny bald head and a rough ugly face, Lev was not sure if he could beated this guy in hand-to-hand combat although he didn't do so badly at fist fight. The other one was more graceful but his slanted eyes made him feel more unconfortable than ever. They sat down at the table that he and Dimitri had had sat yesterday.

"You agree ?" The slanted eyes man that claimed himself as Maron asked in surprise.

"Of course I agree. I'm happy to accept this assignment." Lev found himself a little careless because he agreed so quickly, Maron would definitely pay attention to his attitude and asked questions. "It is really boring sitting in a place."

"We appreciate your spirit and skills." Maron gave a glare to the his companion. The bull nodded and reached his hand into the pocket and took out a USB . "Everything you need to know are in here. The information is not encrypted so you have to destroy it after reading and remember not to make any copies. Got it? "

"I got it." Said Lev "Is there anything else?"

Three of them discussed for another hour, mainly he and Maron did all the talking because the big guy just sat silently on the chair like a statue. The slanted eyes man said Lev was entitled to choose two or three person he felt suitable to join the team but the final decision still belonged to Federal Security Service. Lev immediately nominated Mischa, and Yurin, two veterans of OKP-1 without encountering any opposition or question from him. Maybe Maron had already known Lev's choice before coming here.

"The remaining members will be recruited by the General Department under the advice of the special committee so you don't need to worry about the quality of the team." Maron explained, "However, since this is not a military campaign, you absolutely have to follow to absolute orders and instructions from the Host."

"The Host ?"

"Local agents, informants, the middlemen, or local intelligence officers. You can use any name you want to, but we prefer to call him the Host for convenience. The Host is the one who get order from Moscow and directly command you in Japan. As we had said before, we do not go into special region to fight but to build relationships with the people of the new world, establish connection with them, study them. The Japanese had laid their foundation in the Special Zone and sooner or later Americans would do the same. Russia can not be left out of this but in the order to do it, our personnel had to get to the Imperial capital safely and that's your duty. "

"I understand. Honestly, I'm glad that I am not in charge this time. You know, espionage are not suit me well anyway, it's best to let the professional do their jobs."

This was completely true. Lev could see himself as a terrible spy. He hates lying, betrayal and fragile boundaries between friend and enemy in the spy life. Didn't Dimitri once complain to him that he nearly lost faith in the people he met no matter how pleasant or friendly they were? It is impossible to know whether the person in front of you was on your side or the enemy's side or both, so trusting someone was like signing a death sentence.

"I'm just a man who shoot better than others."

Maron smiled at Lev's sincerity. "Very well, Captain. Everything is almost done."

Almost? What does he mean by that? Lev wondered. The departure time, goals, personnel and command structure has been agreed, what else to be discussed?

A few minutes after Maron and the team break away, Lev enters the elevator and goes straight to Mischa's room. Now was the time to tell her everything. Contrary to Lev's expectations, she just sat silently in bed, listened intently to everything he said about Dimitri, Maron, the big guy, Hakone and the deadly mission they were about to get into.

"When will we start?" Mischa went to the closet and pulled out the big suitcase "Tomorrow?"

Lev saw that as the 'Yes' answer. "Tonight. They have already booked us a flight to Vladivostok, but we have something to do first before we go to the airport."

"What's it?" Mischa put a white shirt into the suitcase. "Hope there's enough time to say goodbye to Hoang. He helps us too much."

"Actually ..." Lev rub his head "It have something to do with him."