Hoang has never been close to the sea, if the memories served him well. A long time ago, when he was only a few inches taller than his father's knee, he might have a looked at it, a lake that was larger than any other lake and was as bule as the sky in the clearest days. He remembers the sensation of a slime on the skin, the salty taste in the wind, the pleasant sound of the waves kissing the sandy beach and the face of his father. He was the happiest, most gentle father he ever knew
But maybe all these things were just illusions. Childish imagination and regret of adults were two perfect catalysts for fake memories. The child's part always thought about the successes they would have while the adults only cried for the long lost dreams. This conflict created a deep pain in the man's mind. A formless pain, a phantom pain but like any other physical pain, it needed a dose of morphine, an illusion to cling to.
However, Hoàng was still conscious enough to know what was right in front of him was not an illusion at all. The black wave nearly swallowed their tiny rubber boat and almost knocked Captain Lev and his partner, Sergeant Yuri Kochenkov into the sea. They were in the middle of the ocean, nearly two kilometers from the Japanese coast, on a paddle-boarded four-foot boat just as big as a Soviet ZAZ (A type of car producted in Soviet area, very small in size). Fishing boat named Northern Star which had been the transportation of four of them since Vladivostok could not come any closer to shore because of the shallow beaches around here like a dead trap so Lev decided to land by rubber boat.
The ship captain, who was a former Russian sailor of Black sea Fleet, tried to warn Lev about the erratic weather of this region but the Captain couldn't wait any longer. They were one day behind schedule so everything had to happen tonight.
The first twenty minutes of the journey took place very smoothly. The sky was clear and stars hanging above their heads, the sea surface was as gentle as the young maiden's love with Mischa's soft voice mixed in the sound of the rowing oars on the dark blue waves. A strange folk song of Russia and although Hoang did not have enough vocabulary to fully understand its meaning, he was also attracted and started to sing with her.
Those were the days my friend, we thought it never end. We sing and dance
Then all thing turned south unbelievably fast
He was the first to sniff the unusual in the air and tell Mischa. She said that to Yuri and when Lev started shouting "Go! Row faster! Hurry up! Faster! "Then Hoàng knew that they were about to meet their doom. Waves after waves tried to drown them with their scary black mouths and if it wasn't for extraordinary effort plus a bit of luck, the little boat of their would be under the bed of the ocean right now. But just like always, luck ran out and effort only was never enough.
A wave, though not as tall as the previous waves, but more virulent, suddenly displayed its demonic appearance when it was only ten meters away from them. Hoàng felt that his whole body had been lifted up into the air and then was the most audible sound he ever heard.
And that was all he could remember before waking up in a state of being dragged. The first thing Hoang felt was the dry, spicy salty taste of seawater coming out of his mouth and nose, causing him to cough chokily.
"He's awake" A voice came from the top of Hoàng's head, startling him. It took him a while to realize that it was Yuri's voice and he was the one dragging him on the sand.
"Bring him in here." A female voice. Mischa, he thought. It was clearly her but he didn't see her anywhere. It was dark around here, too dark that he couldn't see Yuri's face "Come here, put him down here. Yes, under the tree"
And under that tree, Hoàng coughed and vomited out the seawater and sputum left in his lungs, a horror experience that could be place after the detention center he used to live in when he was arrested.
"What happened?" He asked, the coughing had stopped. "I ... don't remember anything."
"You fainted." Yuri replied with his usual emotionless voice. "And we pulled you to shore. "
"You're lucky. "Mischa giggled as she sat down next to him," No, I have to say all four of us are very lucky ? "
All four of us? Oh right, they still had one person missing.
"Where's Lev?" Hoàng asked
"Go scouting around" Yuri answered in the dark "He told us to wait here."
But what if he didn't return, what would we do? Hoang only wanted to slap himself for that stupid though if he wasn't too tired to lifted up his arm after the exciting activity on the sea earlier.
"I shouldn't have such silly pessimistic thoughts, "he muttered." I'm no longer a boy. "
At least that's what he told himself after talking to Lev in Da Nang and he had repeated those words so much that they became a prayer. And like every pious believer, Hoàng truly hopes that one day his prayers would be answered.
"What should we do with it, Mischa?" In the twilight scene, he thought Yuri was looking out of the sea. "It's still out there."
"Nothing!" Mischa huffed " Why do you keep asking me about that boat, dude? "
"Tomorrow the storm will end, the tide will push it to the shore and people will ask questions. "
The sergeant clamly and slowly gave his explanation to Mischa as if he were trying to teach a child how to tie her shoe. And according to Hoang's experience, it only made the female chestnut warrior more annoying.
"Nobody will notice a rubber boat drifting. There must be at least a dozen of them out there after the storm like this. "
"No, they will, "Hoàng interjected. He knew why Yuri was worried. "It's a Zodiac, only design for Spetsnaz operation, you can't simply buy it from the black market."
One of the four items that Lev brought to Vietnam to present to local military leaders, and because Hoàng was the one who checked the contents of the translated pages from Russian, he wouldn't be surprised if the unusual style of the Zodiac evokes the curiosity of people around here
"I think it should be reported to Lev first." Mischa somewhat persuaded, she saw the seriousness of the problem they were having. "Besides, what are we supposed to do, Yuri?" She jokingly asked, "Swim out there and drag it to the shore?"
Hoàng didn't see any chance in that and it was lucky for him because Yuri also share the same thoughts.
"No, I don't think so." He sat down on the wet sand. "You're right, it's useless."
So the three of them huddled and waited for Lev to return in the October cold, with wind blowing from the sea slapping rainwater into their face. Although Hoàng wore a layer of insulating clothing under the dark blue uniform, be still felt his body shaking every time the wind blew through the treeline. He didn't fond of the cold and this wet-to-toe condition only made things worse.
"Can we ... find some ... somewhere else?" Hoàng trembled, pointing to the forest that grew close to the beach. "I can't take it anymore!"
"No." Yuri shook his head "Lev won't be able to us in there. "
"Are you cold, Hòang? "Mischa nudged him on the shoulder, teasing "This is nothing compared to what we get on december"
"I am not a Russian like you" Hoang tried to put on his best smile "The children at Bely called me Matryoshka because every time the snow fell, I had to wear so many layers of clothes and they made me looked like a Matryoshka doll in the shop. You cant imagine the inconvenience when you slipped and fell on the ground wearing three layer of coats . I wouldn't able to stand up if there wasnt nobody around to help. "
" So you choose the wrong place to live? "She giggled." There are two things in Russia that you never lack of: Snow and Vodka. "
Like I have a choice. Russia didnt mean much to Hoàng before the day his father mortgaged their house to the bank, in his mind at that time, Russia was nothing more than a piece of land with a name like every piece of land in this freaking earth. Yet just four years later, he sat next to two OKP-1 soldiers, on another piece of land called Japan, to carry out a top secret mission directed by the Kremlin. A long and unbelievable step forward for a Vietnamese illegal worker, if he had a chance to tell this story to someone.
"Hoàng, I need to ask you something, if you don't mind" Mischa lowered her voice, very low as if she did not want Yuri heard the conversations they "What did Lev say t you when we were in Vietnam ?"
"He told me that he was authorized to ask me to join an extremely important task of OKP-1 I in Japan and I agreed "
"Anything else? Lev just said only that much and you agreed right away? "Mischa was surprised." There must be something else that makes you do this. For example, do they promise you money? "
" Lev didn't mention it. "
That's the truth. Lev didn't promise anything to Hoang and he found it no longer important since they couldn't give him what he really wanted.
"You're an idiot," Mischa punched him on the shoulder, blaming him for his stupidity "If I were you, then ten million rubles would only be start."
Some said that the happiness of a man lied in money and between the legs of a woman, or as in the more pragmatic version of the Hòang, that was the amount he must pay to own such love legs . Perhaps, at some point in his miserable life, Hoàng really believed in them but not here, not now. After so many things happened, he thought he finally understood what happiness really was.
"Silence!" Yuri hissed, "Someone is coming."
Like a beast sniffing out the danger in the air, Mischa grabbed Hoàng's collar and violently pulled him backwards, causing him to fall down on the beach , face buried in the sand.
"Hurry up! Hide behind me," she ordered. Because of all the sudden, surprise and panic, Hoang did not know how to react except to obey her order.
He heard the sound of gun reloading in the darkness but it was unclear if it was Mischa's gun or Yuri's, or worse it could be of ... the guy coming this way. He could see nothing or hear any other sounds besides the murmur of the sea and the thuds coming from his chest. Fear possesses people's bodies faster than the cold.
"Thirty meters, two o'clock, armed" The blond man whispered, "If that's not Lev, take him down."
"Confirm." Mischa quickly took cover behind a tree trunk then raised her pistol up. "I'll punch a hole between his eyes."
But Mischa never had the chance to do it. The stranger came out from the tree with his hands held high, the branches of the tree cracking under his feet. Hoang realized who it was immediately. There was one man only with that big and tall black shadow.
"Don't shoot, Mischa" Lev said as he walked closer "It's me."
"Damn it, Lev" She lowered her gun "You just scared the shit out of me"
In the darkness, Lev looked more like a bear than a man.
"How lucky I am" He said jokingly "You never miss at this distance."
He looked at Yuri who was kneeing beside a tree.
"Good job Sergeant Kochenkov " The captian gave tap on the Sergeant's shoulder, encouraging him with a smile but Hoàng still could feel the weariness in his voice. "Sit down, everyone sit down. We have something to discuss. "
Lev sat cross-legged on the sand, the AK was placed across his thighs, his hands were in the bag at attached to his waist before taking out an object he thought was a map. The three of them began to do the same thing, Mischa sat on the left, Yuri on the right and Hoàng in the opposite direction, forming a small circle on the beach. Yuri bend a light stick and threw it to Lev.
"Thank you, Sergeant."
Under the bizarre red light, Lev, Mischa and Yuri looked like a more tattered version of their own in the afternoon and Hoàng thought, if there was an miror here, he was sure not much better.
"It's a bit silly, but I have both good news and bad news." Lev spread out the map "Which news do you want to hear first?"
As usual, Mischa was always the one who spoke for them:
"Of course bad news first. I always like a happy ending, don't you remember that? "
Yuri grimaced at her, displeased at the attitude which he had called" unprofessional " many time before but Lev thought otherwise.
"Alright, alright, I remember." He laughed. "The bad news is that we have landed on the wrong beach."
He felt that "Drifting" sounded more accurate. Although he was uncertain what happened after being knocked unconscious by the wave, Hòang suspects that the fact they were this coast was intentional.
"How far?" Yuri asked, "Ten or a fifty?"
"Not sure, but the good news is that we're still in Chiba as a plan." Lev's index finger fumbled along the zigzag black lines on the map. "This road runs along the coast of Chiba and it is only about a mile north of us. "
"The coastline must be more than a hundred miles long." Yuri reminded him "How can we identify our location for the Host?"
"By signal generator and radio." Lev suggested, "We will find one spot near the main road, turn on the device and wait until the Host catch the signal. Once he goes into our radio coverage area, I will know where we are now. "
"But what if ... "
"We have to take the risk. "Lev folded the map and stood up." This is the best chance we got "
The plan sounded pretty good to Hoang but he couldn't say the same thing to Yuri. The grumpy blonde man muttered something to Mischa and got his answer in crazy fast Russian that seemed to make Hoàng's ears to explode. Hoang was always aware of the invisible wall between him and the OKP-1 members although Lev always said he was now part of the team. This is not the first time they use slangs and metaphors that only true Russian could understand when he was present, Mischa and Lev often do it in Vietnam when they don't want the conversation to be overheard
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't become a part of them , he thought bitterly. However, that was not the reason he came here.
"Everyone check your equipment." The Captain ordered "Two minutes."
The results showed was Lev was the only one "landing" on the coast with full equipment, Mischa left the Kalashnikov on the bottom of the sea and Yuri had nothing but a long machete behind her back. Lev handed the sergeant his shotgun and said:
"Standard formation. You behind me, and Mischa goes with Hoang, understood? "
" Yes, Captain, but I have something to report. "
" For the love of god! Screw that boat, Yuri "cried Mischa" What's the point of bringing it up? "
"Wait..What boat ? "Lev dumbfounded for a few seconds, then he stared at the far horizon" Oh ... right, that boat. She's right, Yuri, it's too late now. "
The blonde man silently nodded in agreement and they started to depart. The forest grows close to the coast was not dense but full of gravel, stone pebbles and big, smooth stones like tortoise shells. Hoàng tried to hold back his laughter when Lev stumbled on one of those tortoise shell and fell on the ground, but few minutes after, he himself also became victim of those weird rocks.
"Mind your footsteps, Hoàng." Mischa grumbled as she helped him up. "If you break your ankle, don't expect me to carry you."
You will carry me to Antarctica if I ask. Mischa was always like that, never doing the things she said out loud that she would do. A lovely trait for 24 year old girl and totally weird for a member of Spetsnaz. In Hoàng's imagination, those who chose killing as their profession must have a frighteningly rough appearance like Yuri or be as intimidating as Lev but he never once thought they would look like Mischa Galkin, a twenty-five year old brown haired girl who didn't ever take anything serious and humming the song "Windy" when was on a mission. Once he asked Lev how on earth she got into Spetsnaz but the captain just shook his head and said :
"You tell me"
"Yuri doesn't seem to like Captain's plan very much." He knew it would be more easily to get information from Mischa if she didn't realize it was a question.
"That guy always deduces everything in the most negative way possible." Mischa snorted. "if that, if this. Holy cow, I don't know why Lev think bringing him along is a good idea, Sergey is much better. "
" Something trouble Yuri, i can see that. "
" The transmitter that Lev mentioned is just a warning whistle, anyone hearing it if they are not deaf, do you understand what I mean? "
" You mean the Japanese can detect the signal and found out our position too? "Hoàng's eyes widened in horror." Why didn't you say anything? It is too risky. "
"Only when we are down on luck "Mischa laughs haughtily." Apart from the Host and Lev, no one knows the frequency of the transmitter, so it is very difficult for Japanese to accidentally detect it "
It was difficult but still possible and according to him, they were having bad luck since leaving Vladivostok. The three OKP-1 members would of course fight to the end if situation demand them to do so but with only a rifle and two handguns, they have no chance at all against the JSDF. A gunfight in this current situation promised a certain death for Mischa, Lev and Yuri.
But what about me?
He couldn't fight, he was not a soldier and wasn't armed, so might be the Japanese would want to take him prisoner. Prison wasn't as bad as people think when there was hot food and a decent place to sleep. After the horrific detention camp in Siberia, every Japanese prison they planned to put him in would be like a vacation trip. However, Hoàng knew that his prospect of imprisonment could hardly come true.
I was ordered to make sure that no one know about our mission at all costs
Lev told Hoang that in the hotel room in Da nang. Although it was somewhat vague, He was still able to guessed its true meaning. He and these people could not be captured alive, could not be interrogated by the Japanese and there was only one way to make sure those things wouldn't happen.
"Are you not afraid of Mischa?" Hoàng asked her
"Am I afraid?" She gracefully jump aside to avoid the roots blocking the road. " Don't be surprise if I tell you that I'm afraid all the time. When I was young, I was afraid of ghosts, of raspberries and that bitch Tonya. She was two years older than me and loved pulling my hair so hard until I broke down in tear during my day at elementary school. Now I still fear ghosts and raspberries but not Tonya. At the end of middle school, I had taught her a lesson that she would remember for a very long time. "
Hoang couldn't help laughing at that" But that is not what i... "
"Of course I do know what you mean" Mischa said "I know what he's doing and i trust him. After all, it doesn't help if you sit there and worry about something inevitable, Hoàng. A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once, do you ever hear of it? "
Hoang didn't think he had died that much, less than one hundred was more reasonable.
"Who said that?"
"Well ...I read it somewhere in the libary" She scratched her head in puzzlement. "Shit, I'm not sure either."
As they pressed on, it was getting darker and darker. The moon gradually obscured by clouds and completely disappeared after about ten minutes as they passed a small stream flowing straight to the coast. Lev ordered them to stop resting by the stream while he muttered and cursed something with the map, the compass and the light stick in his hand.
"Are we lost?" Hoang asked his female companion quitely and hoped "No" would be her answer.
"By the look of it, maybe." The brown hair girl replied to him with zero worry in her tone before picking up a stone by the stream and throwing it at a random pine tree and missed. This action instantly got her a terrified glance from Yuri. "Geez, alright alright. What a jerk!"
"You should not piss him off, Mischa."
"Nah, pissing people off is kinda my job. Did I ever tell you what happened in Donbass?"
There was a night when Mischa had too much Volka, she told him about how she burned down the fuel depot of Ukrainian 6th division. It was an incredible story but also hard to believe one because Hoàng couldn't believe that she entered a well-guarded area by telling the enemy the truth.
She told the guard that she was Mischa Galkin , member of special operation unit OKP-1 and she wanted to drink with them on her day off. With just that, They laughed and left her in. One of Ukrainian Lieutenant brought out a keg of decent Volka then they drank until night. The men smoke weird kind of joint they called "Burning Timber" and asked her if she want to tried.
"Shit, it tasted so bad that I had to throw it out of the window and then there was a big "Boom" and fire was everywhere." She said "The Ukrainians was pissed, they put a price for my head. 25.000 dollar they said and I also got suspended three weeks due to my violation on chain of command."
"Yeah, you did but this is different." Hoàng argued "We wont piss anyone off this time."
"Just wait and see, the Japs would be furious when I blow off their precious Gate to pieces."
That immediately staggered Hoàng " Bl…Blow it off? We came here to do that?"
He was well-awared that the Gate would have something to do with their mission but blowing it off wasnt in his expectation. It also led to many questions that he thought he wouldn't like the answers.
"Then what they need me for? I'm no expert on explosive."
"You may carry the bomb." Mischa said as she threw another rock at the pine tree, this time she didn't miss " Yeah, bulleyes."
"You are… kidding me right?" He asked with his nerves stretching like bow strings. "I came all way here to be a walking bomb?"
"Of course, I was playing with you" She giggled at his innocence " How the hell I know FBS are planning to do? Damn, even Lev don't have a clue and he is my commander."
When they got out of the forest, it started to rain. Lev led three people to a high mound where they could observe the the road he mentioned below. Despite being called a highway, Akai was actually just a small road between the two forests, just wide enough for two lanes and it was so dark. Hoang looked around and saw only one single street lamp standing in the middle of the thick black night, warming the raindrops falling around with his pale light.
If only I was a poet or musician, i would be more graceful
Lev certainly did not choose this location because it had something to do with poem. During the earlier equipment inspection, in addition to the lack of weapons, they only had one night vision goggles.
"Here is our plan" Lev pointed at Yuri and Mischa "You two will find a safe place fifty meters east of the lamp and keep an eye on anyone or anything moving in this direction."
"And what if that "thing" was JSDF?" Mischa asked him with a unusual deep voice " What should we do then?"
Hoang was a bit surprised because the questioner was Mischa, not her cranky blonde friend, and that made he felt the cold ran across his spine. She only behaves like that when thing got serious.
"We will temporarily withdraw and think about how to contact the Host later but in case we cannot withdraw ..."
Lev switched the safety off on his Kalashnikov, his mouth formed a bitter smile
"Then we will have no other choice. You all know what have to be done. I will give fire support from here. "
So that's what Lev will use to make sure no one know about their mission , a thought gliding over Hoang's head. He stared intently at the Kalashnikov in Lev's hands and suddenly realized he had seen it before. It was one morning in the outskirt of Hanoi when Lev wanted to prove to his potential customers that the version of Kalashnikov he brought along was so simple that a person who had never touched a gun like Hoàng could easily disassemble and assemble.
Are you kidding me?
Hoang silently prayed that it wasn't real and it was all just his imagination. It was miserable and ironic if he was gunned down by the gun that he help to assemble.
What is the difference between this and tie the noose and let people wrap it around my neck?
"Internal communication on two" Lev said. "I will use channel one with Host."
Mischa and Yuri nodded slightly and went down the mound. Hoang, for obvious reasons, attempted to follow them but Lev's big hand hand placed on his shoulder first. He said:
"You stay here with me."
Normally Lev's voice was always imposing and terrifying but it never sounded so scary to Hoang like this. Could he read his mind? Impossible! Lev was not a psychic and Hoang had eaten bullet for a long time if the captain ever found out he intended to surrender.
"Sit down." Lev pointed at the bush a few feet away from him and Hoang had no choice but to obey "Yes."
His position was well shielded. The thick bush in the front, on the right is a big tree stump with low branches, providing him a wide, clear view but also difficult to be detected. Lev was a veteran who had seen a lot of action (Mischa told him so) so for obvious reason, he didn't suddenly choose this mound as an observation spot.
"You made too many unnecessary movements, Hoang." Lev said, "It's not good for scouting."
" Unnecessary movements?"
"Movements that even you yourself didn't notice," Explained the captain "For example, I can see that you have a habit of scratching your head and looking back and foward every time you get nervous or stressed. Normally those things aren't worth talking about, but when you have to hide in the bush to track down your target, it's a matter of life and death. "
"I never thought they could be that harmful" he admitted. "How many people have made such mistakes?"
"Countless and few of them live to learn from that mistakes. Battlefield is a strict teacher. "Lev leaned against the trunk, the rifle crossed his thigh." The price for every mistake is costly. "
And they would pay a costly price if Lev made a mistake. Hoàng didnt like Yuri to be honest, the man was always cold and distant to him but Hoàng also has to admit that tha man had a point when saying this was a somewhat risky decision.
"I know Yuri will grumble about this." Lev reached into his back pocket and pulled out a object looked very much like a woman's lipstick. "But I don't have any better options."
"Is that the transmitter?" Hoang studied the strange object in Lev's hand. "I thought it would look like a radio or something."
"Things from the FSB usually don't have the appearance that they should have." Lev twirled the lipstick in the opposite direction "Just like this damn mission."
The Captain's frustration with the FSB wasn't something new. On the road from Da Nang to Japan, there was no chance when FSB was mentioned and he did not see Lev growling or hissing through his teeth. This man hated their superior for some reason and even Mischa didn't want to tell him.
"But at least you still knows your mission, sir. They didn't even let me know what i'm here for."
"The typical behavior of the FSB that you should get used to" Lev thrown his hands up, "Even if they tell you, large chance that isnt the truth anyway. Answers often bring more questions, Dimitri once told me that. You must have dozens of questions right now, right? "
"Not much."
Hoang just stopped asking questions last night, when the answers began to become gloomy and always ended with his own death.
"Then you must be a very brave or very dumb, Hoang" Lev laughed dryly "It appear that my threats don't work on you, doesn't it?"
You don't need to confess it to me.
Despite being frightened, Hoang didn't believe in the first place that someone like Lev would take down his comrades in cold blood even though he always looked like he was about to do it. Or perhaps the man was just like Mischa, he would never do what he vigorously claimed he wanted to do.
"So the FSB does not order you to kill me, Sir"
"Not really. They just stopped at the suggestion and lucky for you that I'm not Soviet Commissiar. But Yuri is another story. Now do you understand why I didn't let you go with him? "
Hoang felt like the sharp machete of the blonde man was plugging in between his clavicle and his neck vertebrae. If someone was willing to kill him here, it must be Yuri Kochenkov, the machine in the form of a human, a standard and cruel soldier, always doing what he is taught. Lev once said that both the enemy and teammates were afraid of Yuri, but only until tonight, Hoang finally understood what it meant.
"Yuri is not really a bad person but you know what he is like. Moreover ... "Lev hesitated." Besides, I have something to tell you, okay? "
Hoang remained silent for a moment and nodded in agreement. He did not know what Lev intended to say to him, but considering his attitude, this must be important.
"If the situation went sount, I wanted you to surrender to the Japanese, do you understand? Don't resist and don't try to run away. Sooner or later they will catch you no matter what and where are you going to run to? This whole damn country is a huge island in the middle of the ocean and the Host will certainly never risk finding you. That's not to mention the cliffs around here, just with one slip, you'll go to sleep with the fish. "
To die like that was not good option, but were surrendering and fleeing something that he should do now when they were the cause that he agrees to go with them to japan, on a highly risky mission? He would, of course live, if he followed Lev's advices, but like the words of wise man Mischa had mentioned before, he would be a coward who died one more time.
"We are soldiers. We have obligations and vows. "Lev continued, his voice more urgent." You have no obligation to Russia nor swear anything under its flag so there is no reason for you have to die here. Shit you don't even have any reason to be here either. Accepting the FSB's offer was a mistake and ... "
"You're wrong, Lev." Hoang responded with all the courage he had. "I have all the reasons than any men alive to be here."
No Captain or Sir here anymore, simply two men together with an story as old as the sea. The meaning of life, something that Hoang had to pay an expensive price to understand.
"Listen, boy" Lev chucked "You shouldn't ..."
"No, I know what you mean ." Hoàng gently interrupted. "Have you ever wondered why I agreed to go with you, Lev?"
The Captain was silent.
"I don't think you do." Hoang smiled wryly. "Maybe you don't know this but I never wanted to go to the city, never wanted to go to college or get a high-paying job. For a country boy like me, such things were inherently far away from the beginning, but somehow my father thought otherwise. Because of his son's happiness, because of his pride, he put money into that crused investment so that I could get into the best school. The worst thing of it was I did not dare to protest, I was so afraid. What happens next, you had already know. Siberia, thieves, prisons, terrible things that I should have avoided if I had more courageous. "
"I do not understand."
"You don't see it, Lev? All my life I have always done what others want and see where it had led me to? I used to blame the cruelty of fate, treachery of men but the ugly truth was I was too coward to stand up for myself. I had to trade too many things but finally I had realized that a man's true happiness is freedom even if it means death. When you entered that room, you did not simply give me the choice between going or staying. You was the first man who give me freedom, freedom to do what I wanted and I chose here with you and Mischa despite all the dangers it brought. No matter what happens next, I don't care anymore. I am willing to accept all the consequences that come after my decision so I would rather die than leaving the three of you like a beaten dog.
If someone else heard what he said, they would immediately tell that there was something wrong with his mind. Hoàng wouldn't blame them because it was common for people to not understand what had never experienced. A man with a strong personality like Lev was a bad choice for him to confide but dying and forgetting to tell the world what he really felt was as bad as it was. Although Hoang could still die in this place, at least there was someone who knew he was not a coward.
"So you're ready to die just because you don't want other people involved in your decision?"
"That's right." Hoàng replied with a grunt "You can laugh if you want."
"No! I won't do that. "Lev shook his head." But you should have talked to me about this earlier. "
Lev then put his hand into the bag under his belt and took out a handgun. He carefully checked the mag before pulling the slide backwards.
"Because I need time to teach you how to use this properly." Lev put the gun into his hand. "Once you are determined to go with us, at some point you have to use weapons, but let hope that is not tonight because I am not a good training officer to begin with. Now the basic steps first. The safety pin near the hammer is currently on, using your thumb to switched it off . This Makarov is smaller than other type of handguns so you may find it a bit inconvenient "
"No, I feel it fits very well." Hoang's hands were not very big either. His mother once said it had many feminine features with long and round fingers. "What is next?"
"Aiming and pulling trigger, that is just enough for the time being. If we survived tonight, I will guide you to assemble and maintain your own personal firearm. "
Hoang rolled his eyes "Do you allow me to keep it?"
"Why not? You are part of the OKP-1. "Lev repeated what he had said a few days ago. "And there's there is one more thing left to do. Because you're a soldier under me, so there's something you need to do right now. "
"Yes?"
"Can you call me Captain or Sir ?" Lev tried to be serious but couldn't hide the smile on his face "Yuri will be upset greatly if he saw you addressing me by name. I get tired of him whining no- stop about how informal Mischa is and it's best not to add oil to the fire. "
"I see, Captain" He raised his hand to salute him and imitated Yuri's voice "I need an order sir."
Lev Abramovich couldn't help but giggling. It was hard to imagine when someone like him would be able to respond to his joke in the midst of such a critical situation like this one, but it seems it wasn't wrong to say that being at edge of death provoked craziness in every human being, even though that person could be a commander from Spetsnaz. Or might be from the start, the Captain had known there was no danger here because only a few minutes later, the thing that the four of them had long waited for had finally arrived. A husky male voice rang out on the communication channel:
"Host to Seagull, can you hear me, over?"