Chapter Ten

Natasha Romanov

Under Zurich, Switzerland

2230 Hours Local

I was taking Leang, Alexis and Kassad down to the Yeerk pool. However each of them had on them several pounds of C3 Explosive. Kassad had somehow managed to buy it from the Black Market in Zurich and he said after he gave it to us that there would be no questions asked. For the sake of convenience, we spent the rest of the week preparing for it, and we would finalize our plans on Friday afternoon, and we had agreed to attack on Saturday night.

Anyways, our plan was to go in and have me cause a lot of chaos by firing indiscriminately at just about everything. Using that chaos, the Yeerk Pool guards would be too distracted to worry about the others who were planting the C3 everywhere. After they all planted it, they'd run, let me know by firing a signal flare (Black Market, no questions asked) and I'd run and detonate the explosives. The c3 was just enough so it wouldn't damage the city above, but it would cause massive, if not terminal damage to the pool.

Once we were in, I stole a dracon beam laser from a storehouse, set it to maximum power, let the others go, and started firing. The laser fired and vaporised several of the guards closest to the pool. As I was firing to provide the distraction, I must have hit some kind of unstable chemical storehouse causing it to go up in flames and knocking everyone that was close to it away like a toy. Secondary explosions started erupting as the surrounding areas began exploding too, adding their contents to the conflagration. Shrieks of terror rose up from several places at once, and I fired at the cages where the people were being kept. Hopefully, I could save a few of them before the entire place was blown sky high. The cage doors melted off, and the people inside charged out, and ran out of the pool complex. Weather they knew what was about to happen or not was irrelevant. They just needed to RUN.

I adjusted my aim and fired on another storage shed. This one exploded with a massive explosion that sent the construction vehicles nearby it to blow away as though some kid had thrown them away. Somebody grabbed me from behind, as I fired. The shot went wild and hit the ceiling, causing a small rockslide to occur right on the Yeerk Pool killing a fair amount of them by crushing their bodies. I managed to get loose from my attacker, and before I even thought about what I was doing, I fired.

My opponent wan none other then the guy that dragged me down here in the first place. His eyes went wide as a clean hold was burned right through his chest. I took my gaze off him, and saw the flare rising swiftly before it crashed into the roof and came down. Time to go. I thought as I armed the detonator. The others came back to my location a few seconds later, and we all ran like hell for the exit.

Even though there was no danger to us because the explosives weren't timed, we still wanted to get outside as fast as possible so the Yeerks wouldn't discover the little present we left for them. Eventually, we were outside, and I mashed the detonator button down as hard as I could. The ground beneath us shook violently less then a second later, and several windows were shattered in the tremor. I threw the detonator down on the ground and stomped on it. While that was unnecessary, because the explosives were all used up, I still didn't want to have the local cops to come and arrest me.

The next day, there were two REALLY big stories that hit the news that day. The first one was the small earthquake that had struck the city in the middle of the night. The other one was that the War was over. The Allied Forces had attacked Moscow with a new type of weapon that seemed to consist of teleporting. The Allied Generals were standing in front of a podium, talking to the world.

"The Soviet Union has been defeated by the superior might of us, the Allied Forces. Accordingly, we order all Soviet units to lower their weapons, and cease fighting. Joseph Stalin has been killed, as well as several other high-ranking officers in the Kremlin. Any other Soviet Military personnel who have not surrendered will be captured and tried as soon as they can be found.

"Furthermore, to ensure this never happens again, we, the representatives of each of the Allied Forces, declare that Alexander Romanov will be the new Premier of the Soviet Union. In addition, the Soviet Military must downgrade itself, in accordance with the war-end agreement."

Thunderous applause followed, and the Generals walked off the podium. Another person came up to it, and said in Russian: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Premier Alexander Romanov of the USSR." He walked off, only to be replaced by my father shortly afterwards.

More applause followed, and he raised his hands waiting until the noise subsided.

"Comrades," he began. "This is the dawn of a new era for Soviet people! As my first act as Premier, I officially appoint my son, Boris Romanov to the rank of Comrade General." My mouth dropped open at that, and I missed some of what was being said.

"Secondly, I appoint myself an advisor." My father said as another man walked onto the stage. He had some kind of metallic device implanted into his head, three symbols tattooed there, and he was also bald. "This is my Advisor Yuri Zhilkin." The crowd cheered again, and Yuri walked off the stage.

My father went through a list more of people to appoint in various positions before he finally concluded and walked off. The crowd went wild at that, and didn't subside for a long time. When it did, Alexis looked at me, with perhaps a trace of sadness in her blue eyes.

"So this is it then? Now that the War's over, will we see each other again?"

I nodded. "Probably. And if not, I'll keep in touch. And who knows? Maybe someday we'll both have the freedom to go wherever we please."

"Yeah… well, I gotta get my stuff together. You'd better do the same."

I nodded and we went into the bedroom. As I was packing up, I asked: "What about the Morphing Cube?" Alexis looked confused as I said that. "The blue cube thing, where did you put it? The Yeerks didn't get it, so you must still have it."

Alexis laughed. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe." She said as she pulled it out from what looked like a hidden drawer in the dresser. She passed it to me, and said: "here. You should keep it, seeing as though you found it in the first place."

I accepted it, and stared at it for a while. Strange… this one thing brought me closer to Alexis then I would have thought possible. The same with Leang. I didn't know her too well either, and the same with Kassad. I smiled as I put the cube in with the rest of my luggage. When we were finished, we hugged each other, said our goodbyes and went to help Leang with her stuff in the next room. We hugged and said our goodbyes again, and left for the airport.

I was going to miss Switzerland. Good food, plenty of friendly people, good friendships made… as I waited on the bench in the waiting area for the plane, Alexis put something into my pocket. I was about to see what it was, when she said: "when you're on the plane, okay? I gotta keep my image up here."

I nodded, and passed her a binder that was full of paper. It was something I was writing in my spare time. I hadn't got a chance to finish it yet, and I explained that to her. It was purely fiction of course. A German named Adolf Hitler rose from obscurity and managed to take over most of the world with the help of Imperial Japan. Together, they were almost unstoppable, and they were even moving to attack Russia and Britain. The British, with the help of the Americans and their allies managed to pull together and launch a surprise assault on Normandy. It was an assault code-named 'D-Day'. After that… well, I didn't manage to get any further. I probably would have had those allies break through and see the German atrocities.

Anyways, Alexis thanked me for that, but I didn't have anything to give Leang. Although, on the fly, I thought of something. A bracelet that I had bought here in Zurich. I liked the design, so I had bought it. I gave it to Leang without a moment's hesitation, and she gave me a hand-crafted model of a Chinese dragon. It looked like she must have made this in pottery class or something, but it was still exquisite. The model was about as long as my middle finger, and it screamed of the time and care that went into making it.

"I don't know what to say, Leang. This is just so beautiful. Thank you."

She nodded, and she was called to her flight. We each gave her one last goodbye hug and watched as she left onto the gate ant out of sight. Alexis and I were called onto different flights at the same time. We exchanged hugs, said our final goodbyes and went to catch our flights.

After I went through customs, and was let onto the plane, I waited until I was airborne before I read Alexis' message.

"Dear Natasha,

I know that we didn't get along when we first, met, but for that, I apologize. I don't tend to get along with people that well, and even back home in Maine, I don't have many friends. Although, with you… we seemed to just click. I never had a best friend before, but now… I know what it feels like to have one. You warmed my heart up from an ice block to something words can't begin to describe. I love you as a sister, and when I get back to the U.S., I'm going to write to you everyday. If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to ask you to do the same.

Yours truly, Alexis Alexander.

P.S.: if your brother starts giving you a hard time or whatever, punch him in the throat. That'll bring him down nice and quick. XOXOX"

I nearly broke into tears as I read that. Too bad there was no way for me to write anything to her right now. My pens and pencils were in with my luggage, and I didn't have any paper at the moment… I would find a way to meet up with Alexis again. I was sure of it. The same with Kassad and Leang. Eventually, we'd all meet up again. Although, as I looked out the window, I couldn't help but wonder: did we really stop the Yeerk invasion? Or did we just put it on hold temporarily? Well, if they did decide to come back, we'd be the ones to greet them at the door.