"I think I'm losing my touch, Zimyat," said Dazdrapertrak Tarenin. "This attack would never have occurred in the early days of our administration. Nyet, the police would have captured the would-be bombers before they had even as much as spat the idea out of their mouths!"

"Don't talk like that, Dazda," replied Zimyat Kodudov, vice governor of the Chechen Republic. "You can't always catch every wrongdoer in Chechnya."

"Ah. I guess accepting defeat becomes harder as one gets older."

Kodudov leaned back on his seat. "Personally, Dazda, I think you've been working too hard in this office for too long. You should take a rest."

"Huh. You think I'm a workaholic, eh?" Tarenin chuckled. "But what about the government, Zimyat?"

"Don't worry about the government, Dazda. You've got me, remember? I'm sure it can function just fine without the great Dazdrapertrak Tarenin at its helm." The two politicians chuckled at the joke.

"So the rebels want my hide, eh? Bah! Screw them! They can find me in my dacha!"

"If you don't mind me asking, Dazda, where are you going to spend your well-deserved vacation?"

"I don't know; maybe Stavropol, Moscow, or Karelia. I think I'll surprise myself. Oh, and Zimyat? Do you want to know a secret?"

"What is it, Dazda?" asked Kodudov, making no effort to hide his interest.

Tarenin motioned for him to come closer and then whispered, "What I'm really worried about is that you might pull a '91 on me. But I'm sure you wouldn't do such a thing to me. I mean, I'm the one that recognized your potential and groomed you into what you are now."

"Yes, Governor, of course," Kodudov replied, almost stuttering in fear. Is he onto me, he thought. I hope to Allah he isn't!

"That's all, Zimyat, you may go," Tarenin said, waving his hand. Kodudov nodded, hoping that the governor didn't notice the sweat pouring from his pores or the sudden paling of his skin, and went out of the office. As that door closed, the one on the side of the office opened, and out came General Yaroslav Yevin. "Did he fall for it?" he asked the governor.

"Hook, line, and sinker," Tarenin replied. "He actually almost fouled himself when I told him about '91."

"And so begins Operation RED STAR. I must hand it to you, Dazda; your acting skills back there almost fooled me into thinking you were still friends with that backstabbing traitor. Tell me, Governor, where did you learn your acting skills?"

"I was a member of the Sukhumi Theatrical Troupe in my younger days, before I decided to join the Communist Party and become a politician."

"Arseni!"

Captain of Aviation Ivan Maksimovich Arseni of the Krakozhian Army Air Corps nearly fell out of his bunk as he heard his name being called. He was not on the alert lineup today—that was why he was sleeping right now—but he suddenly remembered that he had come in a little drunk last night. He already had two drinking misdemeanors on his file—all of them back when he was still a Private of Aviation, but in this case, it wouldn't matter—and if Command took note of this third one, then he was as good as grounded for two weeks.

A man in an olive flight suit entered his barracks. It was Segur Sonaria, his regular gunner. "You have an urgent call, Ivan Maksimovich. It's from General Yevin."

"What could it possibly be now?" He may have been transferred to the Federal Government Airlift Group now, but he was still technically under the Expeditionary Force.

"I don't know, mate. All he told me was to tell you that you have a call."

Sighing, Arseni got off of his bunk and followed Sonaria outside to the flight line, where a dozen helicopters and fighter jets stood waiting for the call to launch. Segur led Ivan into a hangar being used by the Spetsnaz as a training area and rally point, and inside was none other than General Yevin himself.

"I thought you said I had a call," Ivan told Segur.

"You do have a call, Ivan Maksimovich," Yevin replied. "A personal call." He beckoned the pilot closer. "I have a secret, special mission that I can entrust only to you."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ivan Maksimovich. Now, this is what's going to happen. Tomorrow morning, I want your helicopter fueled and ready on the flight line even if you're not on the alert lineup. You'll be picking up some special cargo that you must fly to Stavropol, to the headquarters of the 106th Tank Army, at once. I don't care how long you have to wait for the special cargo, just wait for it. Oh, and if you get a call to fly out of the airport, ignore it until the special cargo arrives. Also, utmost care must be provided to our special cargo. That means I can't have both of you crashing into a mountain somewhere in the Caucasus. Our ultimate victory may lie within your special cargo. Remember everything that I have told you about our special cargo, and we may just make it out of this alive. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Comrade General," Arseni and Sonaria replied at the same time.

"Good. I'll be seeing you off tomorrow." Yevin then turned around and left.

"What do you think could be our 'special cargo'?" Segur asked Ivan.

"I don't know, Meliton'ch," replied Ivan, "but if General Yevin thinks it's important, then I think it's important, too."

A/N: Once again, sorry for Carter and Rose's non-appearances. Bear with me, they'll come back next chapter!