Until the End
Chapter 15
Discontent
"Remind me the next time you ask for a favor that I should jump out the nearest window," Akane said as she struggled underneath the weight of both Ishii and Katsu. She put more weight upon her left leg as she rested her right. She kept her gaze on Akari, who was holding a small radio that was keeping her in contact with the rest of the team.
"And I will inform you once again that you are the one that wanted to be a part of this thing Akane," Ishii said, from on top of Katsu. "Now if you can just give me a little more of a boost I think I can reach the damn window."
Akane put forth a great amount of force and slowly raised both men higher using her arms. "I may have wanted to take part in this, but I sure didn't want to be a stepping stool," Akane said as she struggled to keep her balance.
Ishii chose not to reply and instead concentrated on opening the window without triggering the mechanical alarm. It was a very simple lock to overcome, and years prior spent in the Yakuza had given Ishii a very firm understanding of burglary. The problem was the window he wanted to enter was seventeen feet off the ground. Another problem at the moment was that him and the others were attempting to break into the Ministry of Intelligence, in order to steal computer files that they hoped they could use against the Japanese government.
Akane saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was Akari, and she was frantically waving at them.
"Uh oh," Akane said. She looked up at the two men she was supporting. "Looks like something's coming."
Ishii grunted from exertion and finally slipped the window open, keeping the alarm from triggering. " Bingo," he said and slipped inside. He turned around and hauled Katsu in as well; he then looked down at Akane. "Go find out what's happening and then come back."
Akane nodded and ran over to Akari. "What's up?"
Akari held up her hand and signaled Akane to wait. She pressed her ear to the radio. After a moment she lowered the radio and looked at Akane.
"On the east wing of the building the guard finished his sweep, and now he's heading over here. It should take him about five minutes to reach the floor Ishii just entered, so he's got to be quick."
"Five minutes? I don't think that's going to be enough time," Akane said.
"Well it's got to be, because I don't like their chances if that guard happens to stumble onto them as they're stealing files from the Information Minister's computer," Akari said.
Akane shook her head ruefully. "Maybe they could knock the guard unconscious if he catches them?"
"I don't think so," Akari replied. "If the guard manages to get a good look at Ishii's face, then it's going to be all over the news, and he'll be hunted down."
"Well, let's just hope that they're fast then," Akane said and ran back to the part of the building that Ishii and Katsu entered.
"Ishii!" Akane whispered sharply. No one responded. "Ishii!" she said louder.
"Are you trying to get us caught?" Ishii asked tiredly as he reappeared in the window.
"The guard finished his sweep of the east wing and he's on his way there. You've got about four minutes until he finds you so bust your ass getting those files," Akane called up to him.
"Shit," Ishii cursed and disappeared inside once again. He looked around the darkened room and tried to locate Katsu. He found him trying to open the door leading into the Information Minister's office with a small pair of burglar's tools.
"Katsu!" Ishii called sharply. Katsu looked up from his work and back at Ishii. "Leave this to me; you get the hell out of here."
"But Ishii-" Katsu started to protest but was silenced by Ishii.
"If you think that a life spent as a businessman will make you the ideal burglar than you are greatly mistaken my friend. Allow me to deal with this," Ishii said."
Katsu frowned, but got to his feet and walked to the window.
"If you are discovered and killed I am not accepting the blame," he said as he jumped from the window into the waiting arms of Akane.
"And I would not expect you to," Ishii called down after him. He quickly made his way through the room and over to the door Katsu had been working on. He chuckled a bit when he saw that the tools Katsu had been trying to use were intended to be used on magnetically channeled alarms on sliding panel doors with a glass interior.
Selecting the right tools, Ishii began to work on the door, absently checking his watch. Two minutes until the guard began his nightly sweep of the area. If he intended to get out of here undetected, he would have to do what Akane suggested.
The door was unlocked in fifteen seconds and Ishii quickly placed his kit back into his jacket pocket. He searched the room and found the minister's computer. He started the boot sequence and sat back in the minister's chair pulling the disks from his pocket and setting them on the desk. He checked his watch again as the computer came to the login scene. One minute.
He tried a few random passwords but none allowed him access. He was beginning to sweat as he was quickly running out of ideas. Thinking quickly, Ishii clicked on the "Help" icon and was immediately greeted with a new window. He quickly looked at his options and selected the "New User" icon. Another screen popped up, asking him to create a new password.
"You have got to be kidding me," Ishii said and laughed slightly. So much for being the minister of intelligence, this guy wasn't suited to be minister of waste disposal.
After a quick search through the files Ishii found what he was looking for. He slipped his disk inside just as the door to the outer office opened.
"Oh shit," Ishii whispered under his breath.
===============
"What's taking him so long?" Akane said.
Akari lowered the radio from her ear. "It looks like the guard just entered the office. If he spots Ishii its all over."
Akane stared up at the window. "Come on stupid, get the hell out of there."
===============
The guard let his flashlight fall over a few of the cubicles that adorned the room and was about to turn back to leave when he noticed the minister's door was ajar. He remembered that he had said good night to the minister almost three hours ago, and that the last of the minister's aides had left for the evening.
Maybe the fool had left his door open. Shaking his head, he walked over to the door, intending to close it. Just as he was about to grasp the handle, his foot hit something. Looking down, the guard saw that he had kicked something small and metal. He reached down and picked up the object and examined it in the light provided by his flashlight. It seemed to be a kind of pick or something.
His curiosity aroused, the guard stepped into the office, and was startled to see that the minister's computer was turned on. Realizing that something was definitely askew, the guards hand went back to his club, which was his only authorized weapon, and he scanned the room.
The room was quiet, except for the gently whirring noise provided by the computer's internal fans. Walking over to the computer, he checked the monitor. The computer was just on the desktop, and no windows were on the screen. Shrugging his shoulders, the guard reached down and shut the monitor off. He chuckled a little at the thought of going on the minister's computer, but the thought of being caught quickly put it from his mind. Walking to the door, he grasped the handle and pulled the door closed.
Now in the outer office, the guard felt a chill as a cool breeze blew past him. He looked to the wall and noticed that one of the window's were open. It was the middle of winter, and considering that heating bills were doubling for this month, it seemed an odd occasion to have a window open.
The guard walked over to it and set his flashlight down. He grasped the top of the window and was about to slide it down when his eyes caught movement in the courtyard. He caught a slight glimpse of what looked to be a young woman standing in the bushes on the far west fence. His hand went to his radio just as something from behind grabbed him and he was thrown backwards roughly.
He toppled into a cubicle wall and crashed through it. He had drawn the club from his waist and was about to get to his feet when he saw the person that had attacked him. Getting to his feet quickly, the guard charged the figure and swung at him with his club. The man dodged and knocked him back again, this time not as roughly.
The guard was forced to move back a few paces when the man hit him in the side with a kick, sending him into the table where his flashlight had been resting on. He tipped the table over, but not before he had managed to get his flashlight back in his hand. He hit the ground, but rolled quickly and got back to his feet just as the man charged at him again. Reacting on instinct, the guard flashed his light right in the direction of the man's face, completely blinding him.
The guard lashed out and struck the intruder in the face with his club, the man recoiled from the blow, and when the guard began to follow through with another blow, the attacker seemed to recover and quickly evaded the strike and hit the guard two more times before pushing him roughly to the ground. The guard caught sight of the attacker jumping from the window just as his head impacted the corner of the table, sending him into unconsciousness.
===============
"Goddamn that hurts!" Ishii hissed as Akane applied more salve to Ishii's bruise.
"Sheesh," Akane said. "I can't believe you let yourself get caught, do you realize what's going to happen if he can remember what you look like?"
"Yeah," Ishii replied sarcastically. "I'll get arrested for sneaking into a government official's office and then I will be held on charges of treason and I will be hung in Tokyo Tower where the public can laugh at me."
"Can't you ever be serious?" Akane asked shaking her head.
"Look Akane," Ishii sighed. "I admit that I screwed up tonight but hey, at least I got the messages right?"
"And what good will those do when you get arrested and so do the rest of us huh?" Akane shot back. She let out a breath and began to gently brush some of the dried blood from Ishii's face.
Akari came into the living room and set her laptop down. She spun it around and showed the screen to Akane and Ishii.
The screen showed an e-mail that had been sent by the Prime Minister, it was addressed to the Minister of Intelligence.
I need to have the shooter taken care of. He has begun to be a thorn in my side and I would appreciate it if you could arrange to have him eliminated as soon as possible. He has threatened to leak the news to the public about my ordering the death of the Emperor.
Shizuko
Ishii jumped to his feet. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "The dumb bastard, he just signed his impeachment papers!"
"Keep your voice down," Akane said. "God, I do not want the neighbors to hear you and call the police."
"Don't you see what this means?" Ishii said as he lifted Akane to her feet. "If we release this to the public than the Prime Minister will be out of there, and we can get the Japanese troops to pull out of Russia and Ranma can come home."
"I wouldn't go that far," Akari said from the other side of the table. "I found this message near the end, it was sent the day before the Japanese and Chinese troops entered Russia." She selected a different file and pulled up another message, this one longer than the first.
American satellites passed over the facility to the north about seven hours ago. We are unsure at the moment if this means that they are aware of the ICBM's that we have developed there, but we cannot assume anything. We need to get those warheads and missiles out of there and to ship them further south. We have about three hours before anymore satellites are expected to move over this area. That should give us enough time to move the missiles to a new location, please ensure that no information is leaked.
On another note, it would seem that the Chinese are very interested in our nuclear weapons, I received a call from President Zhisheng the other day and he asked if I would ever consider using our weapons on targets located in both the United States and Russia. I told him that if the opportunity arose, I would not shy away from it. This being said, the Chinese president has also asked if it would be possible for me to relocate some of our troops that are fighting in Russia at this moment, and move them to places of high military value in the PRC. I am unsure of why he asked this and I did not give him a definite answer. I need some advice on that subject.
Shizuko
Ishii slowly sank to his knees in disbelief. "N-nuclear weapons?"
Akari nodded her head sadly. "I don't really understand what this means, but if the Prime Minister gets threatened like were intending to do, won't this just make him desperate and the chances that he might use those weapons be more of a threat?"
"Yeah," Akane answered. "And if they use those weapons, and they get America or Russia, it will be our fault."
"What?" Ishii asked sharply.
"Well think about," Akane said. "We present this information, the Prime Minister freaks out over it and launches the nukes because of it, and they hit those countries, all because we came out with that info."
Ishii's face screwed up in thought. "Shit your right," he said. He slammed his fist down on the table hard enough to make the girls jump. "Goddamnit we were so close!"
Akane rubbed Ishii's shoulder. "What other choice do we have Ishii? We can't release this information if we actually intend to be able to live with ourselves."
"Your right," Ishii sighed. "I guess this means tonight was a pretty big waste huh?"
Akane smiled. "Not really, we finally got to do something other than sit around the house worrying. And were both very thankful for that."
"You are?" Ishii asked.
"Yep," Akane replied. "But next time I expect to have a bigger role than as the low woman on the totem poll."
"Alright," Ishii said. "Next time you'll have an even better job."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah," Ishii said with a grin. "You'll get to hold my tools next time. It seems I lost my pick when I was in there."
Ishii started to laugh, which was unfortunate for him, because he failed to see Akane's fist heading straight for his stomach.
===============
"I would think that one would be used to this by now," Lieutenant Gogol said as he tried to make his way through the very thick snow. He cursed as he felt his legs begin to numb as the cold began to seep into his thick pants. The sound of a helicopter flying overhead made him crouch down and move in behind a tree. He cast a wary glance to the sky and caught a glimpse of several helicopters moving in towards the open clearing. The helicopters came to a hover over the clearing but did not move to land.
Landing was obviously a bad idea as the snow would surely give way underneath the massive weight of the helicopters. Rope lines were thrown from the helicopter and the soldiers inside began to attach themselves to it. The men began their ascent from the helicopters.
Lieutenant Gogol realized at that moment that the men that were just touching the ground were not Japanese or Chinese, they were American. He quickly became aware that he was standing right in their vantage point, and a couple of soldiers were waving him in.
Realizing that they could have easily shot him from where he stood, Gogol moved down into the clearing where the men were waiting. He arrived just as the last of the soldiers touched down and the helicopters turned and banked to leave in the direction they had just come from.
Gogol was met by a very large black man wearing the insignia designating him as an American general. On impulse he saluted, and had the salute returned. He was surprised when the general spoke to him in Russian.
"Are you Lieutenant Gogol?" the American general asked.
"Yes sir," Gogol responded. "May I ask what the general is doing here?"
The general smiled. "First let's get the introductions out of the way, I am General Phillip Parker, and the other soldiers you see are members of the Green Beret's. We have been sent by our President to see if we might be able to hold those chinks back."
Gogol, who was surprised over General Parker's behavior, did not respond, and instead glanced around at the Americans that had formed up behind the general.
"Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way Lieutenant Gogol, how's about you tell me where you last left our enemy," General Parker said.
Gogol, realizing that the general had asked him something, pulled his map from his pocket. He indicated to separate points on the map, the distance between almost three miles.
"I left half my platoon here," Gogol said, pointing with his finger, "and the other half here. I was on my way back to the waypoint that we had set up so the scouts that were assigned the duties of covering the enemy would be able to relay new information and to receive more rations and ammo if it happened that a unit was forced into action. I had been informed the last time I reached the waypoint that our forces were planning on mounting another defense, but this time just outside of Alden. Is this true?"
General Parker nodded. "Yes, but it was hoped that with our arrival we may be able to create enough confusion on the Chinese and Japanese side that you Russians could form an effective defense out near these coordinates," he said and pointed to the chart.
Lieutenant Gogol nodded his head but a look of uncertainty crossed his face. "As much as I would like to believe that our forces could actually be ready there general, from what I've seen it would take a lot of counteractions on our parts to actually delay these forces."
General Parker smiled. "Well lieutenant, that's where we come in."
===============
Author's Notes: Hello again. Despite my warning last time, it would seem that the writing of this chapter occurred much sooner than I anticipated. The actual reason is because I had originally been intending to go and organize a meeting of all the wives and dependants of soldiers that are in the Gulf right now. But it was cancelled, because of a large amount of declines to actually attend the get together if it had indeed occurred.
I do not blame them for declining, but I'm going to have to be making the rounds tomorrow so that I might persuade some of the others to come. It might seem like an odd thing to do when our loved ones are at war, but if you don't get out of the house you'll end up going crazy waiting for the commander of the post and the post chaplain to come walking up the front steps of your house. I learned that from when my husband went to fight in the first Gulf War.
I would like to thank everyone for reviewing last chapter, even if it was kind of short. And I would like to thank everybody that took the time to read it as well.
"Remind me the next time you ask for a favor that I should jump out the nearest window," Akane said as she struggled underneath the weight of both Ishii and Katsu. She put more weight upon her left leg as she rested her right. She kept her gaze on Akari, who was holding a small radio that was keeping her in contact with the rest of the team.
"And I will inform you once again that you are the one that wanted to be a part of this thing Akane," Ishii said, from on top of Katsu. "Now if you can just give me a little more of a boost I think I can reach the damn window."
Akane put forth a great amount of force and slowly raised both men higher using her arms. "I may have wanted to take part in this, but I sure didn't want to be a stepping stool," Akane said as she struggled to keep her balance.
Ishii chose not to reply and instead concentrated on opening the window without triggering the mechanical alarm. It was a very simple lock to overcome, and years prior spent in the Yakuza had given Ishii a very firm understanding of burglary. The problem was the window he wanted to enter was seventeen feet off the ground. Another problem at the moment was that him and the others were attempting to break into the Ministry of Intelligence, in order to steal computer files that they hoped they could use against the Japanese government.
Akane saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was Akari, and she was frantically waving at them.
"Uh oh," Akane said. She looked up at the two men she was supporting. "Looks like something's coming."
Ishii grunted from exertion and finally slipped the window open, keeping the alarm from triggering. " Bingo," he said and slipped inside. He turned around and hauled Katsu in as well; he then looked down at Akane. "Go find out what's happening and then come back."
Akane nodded and ran over to Akari. "What's up?"
Akari held up her hand and signaled Akane to wait. She pressed her ear to the radio. After a moment she lowered the radio and looked at Akane.
"On the east wing of the building the guard finished his sweep, and now he's heading over here. It should take him about five minutes to reach the floor Ishii just entered, so he's got to be quick."
"Five minutes? I don't think that's going to be enough time," Akane said.
"Well it's got to be, because I don't like their chances if that guard happens to stumble onto them as they're stealing files from the Information Minister's computer," Akari said.
Akane shook her head ruefully. "Maybe they could knock the guard unconscious if he catches them?"
"I don't think so," Akari replied. "If the guard manages to get a good look at Ishii's face, then it's going to be all over the news, and he'll be hunted down."
"Well, let's just hope that they're fast then," Akane said and ran back to the part of the building that Ishii and Katsu entered.
"Ishii!" Akane whispered sharply. No one responded. "Ishii!" she said louder.
"Are you trying to get us caught?" Ishii asked tiredly as he reappeared in the window.
"The guard finished his sweep of the east wing and he's on his way there. You've got about four minutes until he finds you so bust your ass getting those files," Akane called up to him.
"Shit," Ishii cursed and disappeared inside once again. He looked around the darkened room and tried to locate Katsu. He found him trying to open the door leading into the Information Minister's office with a small pair of burglar's tools.
"Katsu!" Ishii called sharply. Katsu looked up from his work and back at Ishii. "Leave this to me; you get the hell out of here."
"But Ishii-" Katsu started to protest but was silenced by Ishii.
"If you think that a life spent as a businessman will make you the ideal burglar than you are greatly mistaken my friend. Allow me to deal with this," Ishii said."
Katsu frowned, but got to his feet and walked to the window.
"If you are discovered and killed I am not accepting the blame," he said as he jumped from the window into the waiting arms of Akane.
"And I would not expect you to," Ishii called down after him. He quickly made his way through the room and over to the door Katsu had been working on. He chuckled a bit when he saw that the tools Katsu had been trying to use were intended to be used on magnetically channeled alarms on sliding panel doors with a glass interior.
Selecting the right tools, Ishii began to work on the door, absently checking his watch. Two minutes until the guard began his nightly sweep of the area. If he intended to get out of here undetected, he would have to do what Akane suggested.
The door was unlocked in fifteen seconds and Ishii quickly placed his kit back into his jacket pocket. He searched the room and found the minister's computer. He started the boot sequence and sat back in the minister's chair pulling the disks from his pocket and setting them on the desk. He checked his watch again as the computer came to the login scene. One minute.
He tried a few random passwords but none allowed him access. He was beginning to sweat as he was quickly running out of ideas. Thinking quickly, Ishii clicked on the "Help" icon and was immediately greeted with a new window. He quickly looked at his options and selected the "New User" icon. Another screen popped up, asking him to create a new password.
"You have got to be kidding me," Ishii said and laughed slightly. So much for being the minister of intelligence, this guy wasn't suited to be minister of waste disposal.
After a quick search through the files Ishii found what he was looking for. He slipped his disk inside just as the door to the outer office opened.
"Oh shit," Ishii whispered under his breath.
===============
"What's taking him so long?" Akane said.
Akari lowered the radio from her ear. "It looks like the guard just entered the office. If he spots Ishii its all over."
Akane stared up at the window. "Come on stupid, get the hell out of there."
===============
The guard let his flashlight fall over a few of the cubicles that adorned the room and was about to turn back to leave when he noticed the minister's door was ajar. He remembered that he had said good night to the minister almost three hours ago, and that the last of the minister's aides had left for the evening.
Maybe the fool had left his door open. Shaking his head, he walked over to the door, intending to close it. Just as he was about to grasp the handle, his foot hit something. Looking down, the guard saw that he had kicked something small and metal. He reached down and picked up the object and examined it in the light provided by his flashlight. It seemed to be a kind of pick or something.
His curiosity aroused, the guard stepped into the office, and was startled to see that the minister's computer was turned on. Realizing that something was definitely askew, the guards hand went back to his club, which was his only authorized weapon, and he scanned the room.
The room was quiet, except for the gently whirring noise provided by the computer's internal fans. Walking over to the computer, he checked the monitor. The computer was just on the desktop, and no windows were on the screen. Shrugging his shoulders, the guard reached down and shut the monitor off. He chuckled a little at the thought of going on the minister's computer, but the thought of being caught quickly put it from his mind. Walking to the door, he grasped the handle and pulled the door closed.
Now in the outer office, the guard felt a chill as a cool breeze blew past him. He looked to the wall and noticed that one of the window's were open. It was the middle of winter, and considering that heating bills were doubling for this month, it seemed an odd occasion to have a window open.
The guard walked over to it and set his flashlight down. He grasped the top of the window and was about to slide it down when his eyes caught movement in the courtyard. He caught a slight glimpse of what looked to be a young woman standing in the bushes on the far west fence. His hand went to his radio just as something from behind grabbed him and he was thrown backwards roughly.
He toppled into a cubicle wall and crashed through it. He had drawn the club from his waist and was about to get to his feet when he saw the person that had attacked him. Getting to his feet quickly, the guard charged the figure and swung at him with his club. The man dodged and knocked him back again, this time not as roughly.
The guard was forced to move back a few paces when the man hit him in the side with a kick, sending him into the table where his flashlight had been resting on. He tipped the table over, but not before he had managed to get his flashlight back in his hand. He hit the ground, but rolled quickly and got back to his feet just as the man charged at him again. Reacting on instinct, the guard flashed his light right in the direction of the man's face, completely blinding him.
The guard lashed out and struck the intruder in the face with his club, the man recoiled from the blow, and when the guard began to follow through with another blow, the attacker seemed to recover and quickly evaded the strike and hit the guard two more times before pushing him roughly to the ground. The guard caught sight of the attacker jumping from the window just as his head impacted the corner of the table, sending him into unconsciousness.
===============
"Goddamn that hurts!" Ishii hissed as Akane applied more salve to Ishii's bruise.
"Sheesh," Akane said. "I can't believe you let yourself get caught, do you realize what's going to happen if he can remember what you look like?"
"Yeah," Ishii replied sarcastically. "I'll get arrested for sneaking into a government official's office and then I will be held on charges of treason and I will be hung in Tokyo Tower where the public can laugh at me."
"Can't you ever be serious?" Akane asked shaking her head.
"Look Akane," Ishii sighed. "I admit that I screwed up tonight but hey, at least I got the messages right?"
"And what good will those do when you get arrested and so do the rest of us huh?" Akane shot back. She let out a breath and began to gently brush some of the dried blood from Ishii's face.
Akari came into the living room and set her laptop down. She spun it around and showed the screen to Akane and Ishii.
The screen showed an e-mail that had been sent by the Prime Minister, it was addressed to the Minister of Intelligence.
I need to have the shooter taken care of. He has begun to be a thorn in my side and I would appreciate it if you could arrange to have him eliminated as soon as possible. He has threatened to leak the news to the public about my ordering the death of the Emperor.
Shizuko
Ishii jumped to his feet. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "The dumb bastard, he just signed his impeachment papers!"
"Keep your voice down," Akane said. "God, I do not want the neighbors to hear you and call the police."
"Don't you see what this means?" Ishii said as he lifted Akane to her feet. "If we release this to the public than the Prime Minister will be out of there, and we can get the Japanese troops to pull out of Russia and Ranma can come home."
"I wouldn't go that far," Akari said from the other side of the table. "I found this message near the end, it was sent the day before the Japanese and Chinese troops entered Russia." She selected a different file and pulled up another message, this one longer than the first.
American satellites passed over the facility to the north about seven hours ago. We are unsure at the moment if this means that they are aware of the ICBM's that we have developed there, but we cannot assume anything. We need to get those warheads and missiles out of there and to ship them further south. We have about three hours before anymore satellites are expected to move over this area. That should give us enough time to move the missiles to a new location, please ensure that no information is leaked.
On another note, it would seem that the Chinese are very interested in our nuclear weapons, I received a call from President Zhisheng the other day and he asked if I would ever consider using our weapons on targets located in both the United States and Russia. I told him that if the opportunity arose, I would not shy away from it. This being said, the Chinese president has also asked if it would be possible for me to relocate some of our troops that are fighting in Russia at this moment, and move them to places of high military value in the PRC. I am unsure of why he asked this and I did not give him a definite answer. I need some advice on that subject.
Shizuko
Ishii slowly sank to his knees in disbelief. "N-nuclear weapons?"
Akari nodded her head sadly. "I don't really understand what this means, but if the Prime Minister gets threatened like were intending to do, won't this just make him desperate and the chances that he might use those weapons be more of a threat?"
"Yeah," Akane answered. "And if they use those weapons, and they get America or Russia, it will be our fault."
"What?" Ishii asked sharply.
"Well think about," Akane said. "We present this information, the Prime Minister freaks out over it and launches the nukes because of it, and they hit those countries, all because we came out with that info."
Ishii's face screwed up in thought. "Shit your right," he said. He slammed his fist down on the table hard enough to make the girls jump. "Goddamnit we were so close!"
Akane rubbed Ishii's shoulder. "What other choice do we have Ishii? We can't release this information if we actually intend to be able to live with ourselves."
"Your right," Ishii sighed. "I guess this means tonight was a pretty big waste huh?"
Akane smiled. "Not really, we finally got to do something other than sit around the house worrying. And were both very thankful for that."
"You are?" Ishii asked.
"Yep," Akane replied. "But next time I expect to have a bigger role than as the low woman on the totem poll."
"Alright," Ishii said. "Next time you'll have an even better job."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah," Ishii said with a grin. "You'll get to hold my tools next time. It seems I lost my pick when I was in there."
Ishii started to laugh, which was unfortunate for him, because he failed to see Akane's fist heading straight for his stomach.
===============
"I would think that one would be used to this by now," Lieutenant Gogol said as he tried to make his way through the very thick snow. He cursed as he felt his legs begin to numb as the cold began to seep into his thick pants. The sound of a helicopter flying overhead made him crouch down and move in behind a tree. He cast a wary glance to the sky and caught a glimpse of several helicopters moving in towards the open clearing. The helicopters came to a hover over the clearing but did not move to land.
Landing was obviously a bad idea as the snow would surely give way underneath the massive weight of the helicopters. Rope lines were thrown from the helicopter and the soldiers inside began to attach themselves to it. The men began their ascent from the helicopters.
Lieutenant Gogol realized at that moment that the men that were just touching the ground were not Japanese or Chinese, they were American. He quickly became aware that he was standing right in their vantage point, and a couple of soldiers were waving him in.
Realizing that they could have easily shot him from where he stood, Gogol moved down into the clearing where the men were waiting. He arrived just as the last of the soldiers touched down and the helicopters turned and banked to leave in the direction they had just come from.
Gogol was met by a very large black man wearing the insignia designating him as an American general. On impulse he saluted, and had the salute returned. He was surprised when the general spoke to him in Russian.
"Are you Lieutenant Gogol?" the American general asked.
"Yes sir," Gogol responded. "May I ask what the general is doing here?"
The general smiled. "First let's get the introductions out of the way, I am General Phillip Parker, and the other soldiers you see are members of the Green Beret's. We have been sent by our President to see if we might be able to hold those chinks back."
Gogol, who was surprised over General Parker's behavior, did not respond, and instead glanced around at the Americans that had formed up behind the general.
"Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way Lieutenant Gogol, how's about you tell me where you last left our enemy," General Parker said.
Gogol, realizing that the general had asked him something, pulled his map from his pocket. He indicated to separate points on the map, the distance between almost three miles.
"I left half my platoon here," Gogol said, pointing with his finger, "and the other half here. I was on my way back to the waypoint that we had set up so the scouts that were assigned the duties of covering the enemy would be able to relay new information and to receive more rations and ammo if it happened that a unit was forced into action. I had been informed the last time I reached the waypoint that our forces were planning on mounting another defense, but this time just outside of Alden. Is this true?"
General Parker nodded. "Yes, but it was hoped that with our arrival we may be able to create enough confusion on the Chinese and Japanese side that you Russians could form an effective defense out near these coordinates," he said and pointed to the chart.
Lieutenant Gogol nodded his head but a look of uncertainty crossed his face. "As much as I would like to believe that our forces could actually be ready there general, from what I've seen it would take a lot of counteractions on our parts to actually delay these forces."
General Parker smiled. "Well lieutenant, that's where we come in."
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Author's Notes: Hello again. Despite my warning last time, it would seem that the writing of this chapter occurred much sooner than I anticipated. The actual reason is because I had originally been intending to go and organize a meeting of all the wives and dependants of soldiers that are in the Gulf right now. But it was cancelled, because of a large amount of declines to actually attend the get together if it had indeed occurred.
I do not blame them for declining, but I'm going to have to be making the rounds tomorrow so that I might persuade some of the others to come. It might seem like an odd thing to do when our loved ones are at war, but if you don't get out of the house you'll end up going crazy waiting for the commander of the post and the post chaplain to come walking up the front steps of your house. I learned that from when my husband went to fight in the first Gulf War.
I would like to thank everyone for reviewing last chapter, even if it was kind of short. And I would like to thank everybody that took the time to read it as well.