"So where did you go when you defected?" Stefan asked, "Wouldn't imagine that you could go anywhere else but Belka. My commander back on the western front advised us to be on the lookout for deserters like you when we advanced into Osea."
Larry finished off the rest of his drink and joked, "Yeah, I would think so. Having one of the Allies' best fighter pilots defecting would be somewhat serious." He then said, "Getting to the point though, I went with Wizard Squadron to Steir Castle, near the Belkan-Osean border. Once we had arrived, the leader of Wizard Squadton, Joshua 'Lucan' Bristow, introduced me to a man called Anton Kupchenko, although he was better known as 'Dr.' where we were. He had a suave character as we had a conversation about this situation I was in. I was invited to join their organization that was formed by members of the warring nations of Belka, Osea, and Sapin. At that point, they were just soldiers that were fighting an almost ending war that wanted to discuss what they should do next. As much as each individual nation tried to hide, everyone in the militaries in the countries were tired of the fighting and they were growing sick of it. This group was just a sort of gathering by some of those tired people that wanted something different from the chaos of what seemed like an infinite conflict. Anton told me of how they thought that the best solution was to never have another war in the future, for everyone to get along and to live in a peaceful world without the need for armies and navies. Even though I accepted war for what it is, I certainly didn't like any part of it, especially when people in power decide to have other people slaughter weaker populations for materialistic reasons, so the concept of a warless society sounded like the perfect solution to the moral and ethical problems war presented to the world. I wanted to help them in their cause, so I joined this group of soldiers who had the same ideals as I strongly held. Within a day or two, we finally came up with a name for our organization that, simply put, summed up our answer to a solution to war: A World with No Boundaries."
"So let me get this straight," Albert said, "You first join the BAF, then you defect to Ustio, and then you defect again to a terrorist organization?"
Larry looked at his father and answered, "Well, if you want to put it so rudely, then yes, I did, but it's just your opinion about my actions. The definition of terrorism is only subjective; strictly speaking, terrorism is when one person or group is terrified by another, the 'terrorist'. Were you not terrified when the Oseans bombed Hoffnung?"
Albert just sat there on the couch, unable to answer. A few moments pass by before Jessica gave Larry a hand gesture telling him to continue the story.
He looked at her and then back to the whole audience. "They've talked about how borders were the major causes of wars, which isn't too hard to agree with since most conflicts have been over controlling land, all because some greedy people high up the food chain aren't happy with what they already have."
"But what about when Belka invaded Ustio back in 1995? We needed the resources." Stefan pointed out.
"We should have just worked out a deal with the Ustians then; we didn't have to go in and destroy the whole country and in return have ours devastated over some mineral resources in B7R."
"B7R?" Jessica asked.
"Belkan Priority Airspace B7R." Vladimir explained, "It was the major combat area for the air forces of most of the nations involved in the war. It's on the Belkan-Ustian border and it stretches the whole length of the border."
"Even the Ustians had the same problem of wanting more land when the war turned to their favor. One good example of this was when the mercenaries were ordered to fly into the airspace over Glatisant to perform a 'nuclear inspection'. Supposedly, the Allied Forces had intel that showed that the Belkans were storing nuclear weapons within the Glatisant Fortress. When our flight was within twenty miles of it though, I saw a mass of troops and vehicles of the Ustian Army posed to strike once we've finished our mission. Once at Glatisant, I was surprised at the Belkan defenses there. Even though the anti-aircraft guns were abundant and we did take some loses, it was almost completely vulnerable to ground assault. Its ground defenses were really only the mountainous terrain and what looked like a few companies of Belkan troops." Larry explained, "Now, I was once in the Belkan military, so I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that Glatisant was in no condition to store such weapons. It didn't have any of the facilities needed to handle nuclear equipment in general, let alone the warheads used in nuclear weapons, and even if they did have that equipment, they certainly didn't have the required security that Belka would have used if they were indeed storing anything nuclear there."
"So what you're saying is that Ustio had imperialism on its mind?" Albert asked.
"That and even more likely Osea as well." Larry answered.
"And what was your organization going to do to solve such problems?" Stefan asked, "Did you want to destroy the Oseans or something like that?"
Larry looked at him and responded, "Not at all, that would be crazy and only cause more war. I believe that in order to achieve peace and allow everyone to live together happily without such greed, people have to trust each other; without trust, there will always be hostilities between groups of people. The way we agreed that this could happen is if there wasn't anything to separate different types of people. Most of this was already solved by society; the rich get along with the poor for the most part, segregation has been eliminated globally, and criminal activity is low for the most part. Because of this, we agreed that the final step was to get rid of the borders that segregated nations. That's the source of hate and greed on the largest scale, where national and ethnical distrust are the most prevalent." As he talked about the cons of having borders, Larry continued to look at Stefan. Something seemed strange, this wasn't the same Stefan he knew back in the Air Force when they were young.
"So, by going by your view of society, the places with the most greed are Osea and Yutobania? They hold vast amounts of land conquered from a myriad of smaller nations and are now considered the greatest powers on the planet." Stefan said.
"They are considered superpowers, yes." Larry said, "But I don't believe that they are the most powerful simply by holding the most land, that was disproved when Ustio defeated the 'all-powerful' Belka on the eastern front."
"But what about the organization?" Stefan said, "Most of the members of A World with No Boundaries were either captured or killed by the new millennia. Do you think that there's still hope for a peaceful world, even without your friends back in the organization?"
"There's always hope." Larry explained, "War is something nobody ever personally wants; only those in power want it and even they don't want to fight it themselves, which is where the people below him come in handy. Some Belkan farmer, for example, doesn't want to be sent into a war against people he had most likely never seen before. No Osean or Ustian has bothered him or his family when he was raising him crops, so why should he feel comfortable killing another innocent farmer, shop mechanic, or whatever these soldiers were? Anything is possible so long as there are enough people behind the ideal. Most people would agree with me in that they want to live in a peaceful world, all that's needed is to allow them the chance to band together and refuse to fight any longer."
Stefan gave him a nod to Larry, gesturing that he understands what he was saying and to some degree agreed with him. He looked down and calmly slipped his hand into his pocket. Larry saw him fumble around with some object in that pocket and as Stefan pulled out his hand, he said with regret, "I'm sorry…" He stood up and walked out the door, closing it gently as he walked away. Albert, Jessica, and Jutta looked at each other dumbfounded; Larry and Vladimir did the same. Vladimir then quickly stumbled up in a stunned fashion and bolted towards the same door, running out and racing down the hallway towards the elevator.
"You moron…" Larry thought about himself as he too ran out the door.
Larry caught up with Vladimir, who tackled his cousin to the floor. He was ripping off his shirt as Stefan was trying to defend himself. He walked up to the two men fighting on the floor and as he was bending down to help his friend, he saw a black object with a wire fall out of Stefan's pocket. Vladimir picked it up as he turned around to show Larry, placing his knee on Stefan's chest to make sure he didn't move.
"He's bugged." Vladimir told Larry, pointing to the black object that was now identified as a tape recorder.
"Stefan looked up at Larry and said, "Wait, I can-" He was cut off when Vladimir punched him in the face.
"Shut it!" Vladimir commanded.
Larry did nothing but to look down at Stefan and asked, "Why?"
Vladimir reeled back his fist, ready to punch him again and Stefan said, "You don't understand buddy-" Again, he was sucker-punched right in the cheek.
"Hey! Chill Vlad." Larry said. He looked back at his cousin and said, "You went to my parents' house to spy on me and record my statements about my activities in the Belkan War and to catch me red-handed talking about a terrorist organization so you and whoever you're working for can arrest me, send me to prison, and most likely execute me. What don't I understand?"
"I didn't want to Larry, I swear!" Stefan responded, trying to convince him that he was innocent.
"So then why did you do it?!"
"I was only following orders!"
"Orders from who?!"
Vladimir checked Stefan's pockets and pulled out his wallet. Within it, he saw an ID card with a blue and white emblem with a star in the center. "He's with the Oseans" he said.
"What?" Larry said, snatching the wallet and looking at the card. Sure enough, it had the Osean emblem in the background, followed by a picture and personal information about Stefan. "Why Stefan?" he asked.
"After the war, some Belkan squadrons were recruited to the Osean Air Defense Force and my squadron was part of that. While some ace squadrons, like Ofnir, were assigned as air defense for some regions in Osea, we were given a special job from Osean Intelligence. They told me to find the Allied pilots that had joined A World with No Boundaries and their ace pilot, which happened to be you apparently. Every other spy they've sent after you has been killed, so it was believed that I would be able to successfully capture you since you might trust be more, me being your cousin and all." Stefan explained.
To Stefan's surprise, Larry whipped out a .45 Colt pistol and aimed it at him, saying, "Why shouldn't I just shoot you now then?"
He just laid there on the floor, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Vladimir starred at Larry as if he were a madman when Stefan started to beg for his life as Larry walked closer to him, the barrel of the gun getting closer and closer to his face.
"You can't be serious Larry. You can't shoot him!" Vladimir said, hoping that he wouldn't actually fire the weapon.
Larry stood there, pointing the Colt at Stefan. It appeared as though there was nothing stopping him, but after a few intense moments, he'd finally lowered his gun and offered his hand to Stefan.
Vladimir moved aside to allow Stefan up. The two grabbed each other's hand and Larry pulled his cousin up onto his feet.
As he stood up on his feet, Stefan looked Larry right in the eye and said, "Oh thank you so much Larry, I knew you'll understand."
"Of course." He replied. He backed up slightly to get out of Stefan's face as he smacked him outside the head with the pistol. Stefan instantly became limp as his unconscious body fell back to the floor.
Vladimir was stunned at his friend's actions, but he wasn't too surprised considering what Stefan was planning to do to him. "What now?" he asked.
"Most likely, he might have contacted his base between walking out of the penthouse and you tackling him. Staying here would bring about risking capture or even our deaths."
"You mean your capture or death." Vladimir corrected.
"Oh shut up." Larry said, "But yeah, you're right. Plus, this could mean risking my parents and my wife…"
Vladimir checked Stefan for any other devices he might have. He only found his cell phone, which was dead. "I doubt he got a word out of this building. Hell, the recorder doesn't even have a wireless transmitter. Unless he found some payphone and was able to use it fast enough, then nobody knows anything about what happen…yet."
"Even still," Larry continued, "by the time he wakes up, all he needs to do is ask someone for a phone and tell his boss or bosses that I've confessed my involvement in A World with No Boundaries and also mention attempted murder on a federal agent and I'm done for."
"True." Vladimir said, "I still think we should hurry up with this though. The longer we take, the sooner trouble will come and the closer you are to it. The more distance, the better."
"But how can I make sure my family is safe?" Larry asked, concern about their well-being.
"Let me handle that, just tell them what's going on. I'll be at my car taking care of Stefan and the tapes."
Larry breathed a sign of relief. "Thanks buddy. How could I ever repay you?"
Vladimir laughed, "Pay me? We're soldiers for hire, I get paid enough."
"Excuse me?" Jutta said after Larry explained his current situation.
"Stefan was used by the Oseans to capture and kill me in any way he can and it's possible that he and the Osean Intelligence will hold you guys for ransom, which is why I need you to come with me, now." Larry said, "Grab anything important and meet me us at Vladimir's car."
Jessica walked up to Larry and asked, "Why? Why does it have to be this way Larry?" She wrapped her arms around him and placed her head on his shoulder. A tear dripped from her eye and soon, more followed. She already knew that this would mean that they had to live separate lives from each other again.
Larry hugged her back, allowing her to let it all out as he said, "It's just how life is Jessica. I wish this didn't have to happen, but some things are unavoidable." He continued with a tone of regret in his voice, "It's all my fault flechazo, I should have just left the war altogether instead of fighting war itself."
"Well, it can't possibly be that bad. I mean, it wasn't like you didn't anything serious enough for them to want you that badly, right?" Jessica asked. Larry stood stil and silence.
"Right?" Jessica repeated.
He looked down on her and finally responded, "It's best if you didn't know."
"Wait," Jessica said, confused, "What's that supposed to mean? What did you do?!"
Larry ignored her question and said, "Just get your stuff together please. The sooner we leave the better."
Jessica hesitated but eventually obeyed him, walking away while Larry did the same, his regret slowly but surely rotting him from the inside out with depression.
As the Foukle family left their penthouse for the last time after locking the foor for good as Albert put the last of the six padlocks into place, they saw Vladimir removing the plates from Larry's SUV, replacing his official Osean plates from November City with faux Belkan plates. He finished up his handiwork and looked back to see the group walk towards him.
"Everyone ready?" he asked, knowing all to well that they were. The family nodded their heads sadly in agreement. "Okay then, we'll take both our cars and get out of here." Vladimir said, pointing to his and Larry's car.
"But we already have out car. Why don't we just use that?" Jutta asked.
"Remember how I said they might go after my family in order to get to me?" Larry answered, "The Oseans only want me and only me, so I want to make sure that they will never get to you guys and use you as pawns in this horrible game of life."
They knew he was right, so they just continued on with moving boxes into cars. Once everything was loaded, Larry and Jessica went into Vladimir's car while Larry's parents took his car. Without saying a word, they drove off out of the parking garage, destined never to return again.