* * *
"Morning." Sally said to Sonic as she sat down for breakfast.
"Morning, Sal. What's for breakfast?"
"Not chilidogs." She said, answering the unasked question.
"Ah, man..." Sally shook her head. Truth be told, even a chilidog would have been preferable to what was being served in the mess hall. It was a thin, watery, bland broth and a slice of bread. Just bread, not even butter. From what Sally had been able to discern, this was pretty much the standard as far as meals go around here.
"No wonder they all look so thin." Sally murmured as she sipped her breakfast.
"Good morning." Came a voice. Sally looked up to see Olivia sitting opposite her. " 'ow'd you sleep last night?"
"Just fine." Sally said, wishing that it could've been a longer, UNINTERRUPTED sleep but...
"Olivia, may I ask you something?" She nodded.
"Of course. What about?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about Mikhail Sergeivich. If you'll forgive my saying so, he seems a bit..."
"Weird." Sonic cut in as he munched on his bread. Olivia shrugged.
"That's just 'is way. He's liked well enough around here. Well, mostly."
"Mostly?" Sally repeated.
"Weeelll, the thing of it is, you see, that 'e's the only one 'ere who can translate from one language to another. So if say, I 'ad to 'ave a conversation with Rosa, I'd need to get Misha to act as a translator. But that makes it impossible for anyone to 'ave a one on one conversation 'ere, because we need 'im to 'elp us understand each other. There's little privacy, as you can well imagine and some people kind of resent Misha for that. But the up side is that 'e can 'old a conversation in their native tongue. Most of us would go balmy if we couldn't 'ave a chat in our own language every once in a while."
"I see." Sally licked her lips in thought. "Overall, is he well liked?"
"I reckon so. There may occasionally be friction, but that 'appens to all of us at one point or another. And 'e does tend to get on rather well with the Overlanders, but that's just on account of the fact that Colonel Franklin was his tutor. But yes, on the whole Mikhail's well thought of. A bit deceptive, but-"
"-Deceptive?" Sally asked quickly. "What do you mean? Is he dishonest or-"
"No, I said 'e was deceptive, which is not the same bleeding thing. Look at it this way, when you first met Misha, wot was your first impression of 'im?"
"Well," Sally said with some thought "I guess I thought of him as being a bit...flighty. He seemed to go from one mood to the other so fast..."
"I figured as much." Olivia said sagely. "Wot you may 'ave not noticed is that 'e's been playing to your perception of 'im. You've seen 'im nice, polite, annoyed, earnest, curious, and just plain bleeding mad!"
"And how!" Sonic said in agreement.
"You see?" Olivia nodded.
"You're saying he's just acting? Trying to lull us into perceiving him in only one way? To get us to underestimate him?"
"Got it in one." Olivia said approvingly. "I don't think everything 'e says and does is a scripted act, but I think Misha does tend to exaggerate certain parts of 'is personality to throw others off. 'E may not even be aware that 'e does it. Misha's, oh wot's the word...multifaceted, that's it. Goes from one end of the spectrum to the other with very little warning. I guess it's a defensive mechanism of some sort, but all I know for sure is that 'e is very good at making others underestimate 'im."
"Kinda like what Ant does, only he tries to get others to overestimate him and he fails at it." Sonic said with a laugh. Sally tried not to laugh, but failed. The image was just too dead on. "He's pretty good at theatrics too." He added.
"Who, Mikhail?" Sally asked.
"Yeah, after he told Antoine off and you went to yak with Olivia-" Both girls snorted in derision and exchanged a glance of annoyance. "-I followed him to behind Sky Lynx's barn and he just started panting like he had been running for a month without a break. Then he started hacking like crazy! I thought he was gonna cough up a lung. Guess he musta seen me and decided to lay it on a bit thick, right Olivia? Er, Olivia?"
Sally turned back and saw the older girl visibly pale, which was quite a feat considering she was covered in fur. " 'e told me he was feeling better, damn him!" Clearly agitated, she bolted from the table and went outside, leaving a stunned Sally and Sonic behind at the table.
"Something I said?" Sonic asked in confusion. Sally was prevented from answering by Nicole's beeping. As she activated Nicole, she found that Uncle Chuck had sent the data she had been waiting for, along with an electronic note.
"SALLY. I'VE MANAGED TO CONTACT LUPE AND THE OTHERS AND RELAYED YOUR MESSAGE. I HAVE ALSO SENT THE FILES YOU REQUESTED, THOUGH THERE WAS ONE PROBLEM. THERE IS NO RECORD FOR AN OVERLANDER NAMED 'GENERAL FRANKLIN' IN ROYAL MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ARCHIVES. MY APOLOGIES, BUT I COULD FIND NOTHING ABOUT HIM. I HOPE THE REST OF THE DATA I SENT WILL BE OF SOME USE TO YOU. GOOD LUCK. UNCLE CHUCK."
Sally read the note aloud for Sonic's benefit then skimmed through the files Uncle Chuck sent. Most of what she requested was more-or-less what she expected. Maps, surveys, geological and topographical charts of the region, and so on. When she looked through the Dragoslav file, she stopped.
"Sonic."
"Yeah, Sal?"
"Go get the others. Have them meet us out back. Now."
"Sal? What's the big deal?"
Sally told him.
"I'll be back in half a sonic second." He said, oddly subdued. Sally barely felt the breeze caused by Sonic's usual high speed. Her eyes were still riveted on the report. Only three words could sum up what she was thinking.
"Oh dear god."
* * *
"Morning." Sally said to Sonic as she sat down for breakfast.
"Morning, Sal. What's for breakfast?"
"Not chilidogs." She said, answering the unasked question.
"Ah, man..." Sally shook her head. Truth be told, even a chilidog would have been preferable to what was being served in the mess hall. It was a thin, watery, bland broth and a slice of bread. Just bread, not even butter. From what Sally had been able to discern, this was pretty much the standard as far as meals go around here.
"No wonder they all look so thin." Sally murmured as she sipped her breakfast.
"Good morning." Came a voice. Sally looked up to see Olivia sitting opposite her. " 'ow'd you sleep last night?"
"Just fine." Sally said, wishing that it could've been a longer, UNINTERRUPTED sleep but...
"Olivia, may I ask you something?" She nodded.
"Of course. What about?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about Mikhail Sergeivich. If you'll forgive my saying so, he seems a bit..."
"Weird." Sonic cut in as he munched on his bread. Olivia shrugged.
"That's just 'is way. He's liked well enough around here. Well, mostly."
"Mostly?" Sally repeated.
"Weeelll, the thing of it is, you see, that 'e's the only one 'ere who can translate from one language to another. So if say, I 'ad to 'ave a conversation with Rosa, I'd need to get Misha to act as a translator. But that makes it impossible for anyone to 'ave a one on one conversation 'ere, because we need 'im to 'elp us understand each other. There's little privacy, as you can well imagine and some people kind of resent Misha for that. But the up side is that 'e can 'old a conversation in their native tongue. Most of us would go balmy if we couldn't 'ave a chat in our own language every once in a while."
"I see." Sally licked her lips in thought. "Overall, is he well liked?"
"I reckon so. There may occasionally be friction, but that 'appens to all of us at one point or another. And 'e does tend to get on rather well with the Overlanders, but that's just on account of the fact that Colonel Franklin was his tutor. But yes, on the whole Mikhail's well thought of. A bit deceptive, but-"
"-Deceptive?" Sally asked quickly. "What do you mean? Is he dishonest or-"
"No, I said 'e was deceptive, which is not the same bleeding thing. Look at it this way, when you first met Misha, wot was your first impression of 'im?"
"Well," Sally said with some thought "I guess I thought of him as being a bit...flighty. He seemed to go from one mood to the other so fast..."
"I figured as much." Olivia said sagely. "Wot you may 'ave not noticed is that 'e's been playing to your perception of 'im. You've seen 'im nice, polite, annoyed, earnest, curious, and just plain bleeding mad!"
"And how!" Sonic said in agreement.
"You see?" Olivia nodded.
"You're saying he's just acting? Trying to lull us into perceiving him in only one way? To get us to underestimate him?"
"Got it in one." Olivia said approvingly. "I don't think everything 'e says and does is a scripted act, but I think Misha does tend to exaggerate certain parts of 'is personality to throw others off. 'E may not even be aware that 'e does it. Misha's, oh wot's the word...multifaceted, that's it. Goes from one end of the spectrum to the other with very little warning. I guess it's a defensive mechanism of some sort, but all I know for sure is that 'e is very good at making others underestimate 'im."
"Kinda like what Ant does, only he tries to get others to overestimate him and he fails at it." Sonic said with a laugh. Sally tried not to laugh, but failed. The image was just too dead on. "He's pretty good at theatrics too." He added.
"Who, Mikhail?" Sally asked.
"Yeah, after he told Antoine off and you went to yak with Olivia-" Both girls snorted in derision and exchanged a glance of annoyance. "-I followed him to behind Sky Lynx's barn and he just started panting like he had been running for a month without a break. Then he started hacking like crazy! I thought he was gonna cough up a lung. Guess he musta seen me and decided to lay it on a bit thick, right Olivia? Er, Olivia?"
Sally turned back and saw the older girl visibly pale, which was quite a feat considering she was covered in fur. " 'e told me he was feeling better, damn him!" Clearly agitated, she bolted from the table and went outside, leaving a stunned Sally and Sonic behind at the table.
"Something I said?" Sonic asked in confusion. Sally was prevented from answering by Nicole's beeping. As she activated Nicole, she found that Uncle Chuck had sent the data she had been waiting for, along with an electronic note.
"SALLY. I'VE MANAGED TO CONTACT LUPE AND THE OTHERS AND RELAYED YOUR MESSAGE. I HAVE ALSO SENT THE FILES YOU REQUESTED, THOUGH THERE WAS ONE PROBLEM. THERE IS NO RECORD FOR AN OVERLANDER NAMED 'GENERAL FRANKLIN' IN ROYAL MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ARCHIVES. MY APOLOGIES, BUT I COULD FIND NOTHING ABOUT HIM. I HOPE THE REST OF THE DATA I SENT WILL BE OF SOME USE TO YOU. GOOD LUCK. UNCLE CHUCK."
Sally read the note aloud for Sonic's benefit then skimmed through the files Uncle Chuck sent. Most of what she requested was more-or-less what she expected. Maps, surveys, geological and topographical charts of the region, and so on. When she looked through the Dragoslav file, she stopped.
"Sonic."
"Yeah, Sal?"
"Go get the others. Have them meet us out back. Now."
"Sal? What's the big deal?"
Sally told him.
"I'll be back in half a sonic second." He said, oddly subdued. Sally barely felt the breeze caused by Sonic's usual high speed. Her eyes were still riveted on the report. Only three words could sum up what she was thinking.
"Oh dear god."
* * *